While PvP trainer battles have always been a staple of the Pokémon franchise, the popular mobile game Pokémon Go has lagged behind its traditional counterparts in that feature. Pokémon Go only just added a friends system and trading in June of this year, roughly two years after the game's launch. But according to developer Niantic, players will not have to wait too long for trainer battles.

Speaking to Polish publication Gram, Niantic head of product marketing in EMEA countries Anne Beuttenmüller stated that not only is Niantic actively working on a PvP mode, but the feature is "the next thing" that the developer wants to add, for a release by the end of 2018.

Beuttenmüller offers no further details on how battling other players will work, and she was equally vague in speaking about upcoming improvements to the trading system. Beuttenmüller did detail some changes to the friend system of the game, including the option to "add a note to your friend," allowing for players to label certain people in their friends list, and the ability to "segregate your friends list," which presumably means that players can organize their friends list by certain categories.

Pokémon Go is available on Android and iOS, with a PvP update due by the end of the year.