'Pokémon GO' December 2016 update features news: New update to bring PvP battle and Pokémon trading to the game?

A man uses a mobile phone in front of an advertisement board bearing the image of "Pokémon GO.Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

After the successful November event that happened in "Pokémon GO," players are now wondering if something similar will happen this holiday season. It is now speculated that Niantic, the game developer, will roll out a big update next month to bring in additional features to the game.

Fans of the augmented reality game are looking forward to many things to come. One speculated feature that is expected to arrive is the PvP Battle, where players, together with their trained Pokémon characters, battle against other people on the playing field. It is believed that the PvP Battle is an entirely new feature that is different from the current Gym Battle. This type of battle scenario is common to many online games.

According to BGR, Pokémon trading is another feature anticipated to be available in the game soon. This will allow pocket monsters to be traded or exchanged for. This has been in the rumor mill for a while. Additionally, the game could also allow players to have baby Pokémon, which will be nursed and trained by the players themselves. This could be an additional means for acquiring Pokémon characters aside from hatching eggs.

Legendaries are also expected to arrive soon. These are the super rare and often very powerful game characters. Many veteran players are looking forward to its arrival.

The latest patch released by the studio has hinted that Generation 2 characters will also arrive in the game. The new set of codes that was uncovered by data miners revealed that there already a hundred Pokémon coded into the game and simply needs activation to go live.

Meanwhile, players have observed that spawn time has increased dramatically since the latest update was rolled out. Players do not need to excuse themselves during a workday to go out from the office in order to catch a rare one, at least in Belgium. This was after a community user named koerrie observed that it now takes 30 to 60 minutes before a Pokémon goes away. Prior to the update, players have only 15 minutes to catch the Pokémon monsters, according to TechMic.

"Pokémon GO" is available for Android and iOS devices.