Niantic took Mobile Gaming by storm, making one of the most popular mobile games today. Pokémon GO has come a long way since the Summer of 2016, but it is missing a few key things that could make the game even better.
One of the biggest features that is in the DS versions of Pokémon is trading. Trading is important for those who want to collect them all. Some Pokémon are only available via trading and some could only evolve during this process. With Regional Pokémon in Pokémon GO, this feature would mean you wouldn't have to spend money on travel to complete your Pokédex. Niantic has talked about this feature, but no details have been given on if and when it could happen.
In the world of Pokémon, you train to be the very best, and part of being the very best is battling other Trainers. You can already battle other Trainers Pokémon in Gyms, but you can't battle the other Trainer in an individual contest. If implemented, encounters would probably be only with those in close proximity. It could also be another way to finish out the Ace Trainer badge if you didn't complete it before the Gym rework.
Instead of catching a Pidgey for the millionth time, imagine being able to fight it instead to earn additional experience and candy. The way Niantic could introduce this feature is to simply give you the option to either catch or battle after selecting the Pokémon on the map. This feature could already use your Buddy Pokémon and instead of rewarding you with Pidgey candy, it could reward you with candy that matches your Buddy.
A lot of games now have certain challenges you can complete daily or weekly to earn more rewards and reset when the period for the challenge is over, only to bring you more challenges. Pokémon GO already gives you rewards for spinning your first Pokéstop and catching your first Pokémon of the day. Bringing more challenges would keep people interested in the game and give the player base something to do in between the lull of events. They can range from Catch 10 Grass Type Pokémon in a day to Participate in 10 Raids in a week.
One of the biggest issues Niantic continues to have is the lack of communication it has between its players. While the Pokémon GO Twitter feed has seen more life in the past few months leading up to Legendary Raids and Events taking place worldwide, it wasn't always the case. Leaving players in the dark about the state of your game is never a good thing, especially when an issue arises that you don't acknowledge. You can't figure out your community if you don't talk to them.
Now that we've covered some ways Niantic can improve Pokémon GO, tell us in the comments what you think are some other ways the game can improve as well.