More NPC Trainers in Pokémon Go?

Pokémon Go Tour featuring Kanto is over and done, but a few things can be gleaned from its execution yesterday. One of them is the appearance of something that is a staple of the main series games but has not been present in the game until yesterday. That would be the appearance of (friendly) Trainers one can battle with to test one's skills and get nifty rewards. It's an addition that is both fascinating and notable, and it therefore deserves a bit of a discussion.

These are, of course, not really the first NPC Trainers, at least not ones that deserve to bear the classification. That honor belongs to the Team Go Rocket Grunts, Leaders, and Boss, who are by no means friendly, inviting, or skillful (in most cases at the least). As they are already in place, the new NPC Trainers can be considered to have expanded this framework in order to accommodate something similar yet completely different. Because they are or were involved in yesterday's Timed Research, it's clear that Research tasks can now account for them as well. With the system in place and expanded, they too can take on the world.

Even so, there are some improvements that can stand to be applied. It would be useful to mark PokéStops where they appear in similar fashion to the people involved with TGR, in order to avoid possible confusion with them should they appear side-by-side and to clearly identify which PokéStops they appear in, which would be useful in areas dense with them. Their rewards can also stand to be revamped, in terms of other items and their quantities; for example, the Trainers provided so many Poké Balls yesterday that the bonus box of 200 Poké Balls seems hardly necessary. The situation will certainly determine what they should reward.

If demand arises for them in the future, they might just be able to have a regular presence in PokéStops regardless of the time of year. Yet given that yesterday they were representative of contest winners, they might be more suited for special events like Pokémon Go Fest, Safari Zones, and so on, especially provided once the conditions of the world stabilize somehow. Repeat contests or event contents might also demand them to change in composition, perhaps additionally becoming suited to certain PvP leagues and allow specific challenges with them. All of that remain to be seen as Pokémon Go continues to develop.

For Pokémon Go, these new NPC Trainers are novel and unique, in comparison to the main series games that have had them since the very beginning. But as with Team (Go) Rocket, they're still worthy of inclusion, and if anything, the concept will continue to prove itself with future developments. It seems the prospect of Trainers in Pokémon Go is expanding, with more things to be had for all the current playing Trainers and possibly even ones that can stand to be challenged.

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