How Gyms Work in Pokemon GO

If you started playing Pokemon GO over the weekend, you probably spent most of your time searching [...]

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If you started playing Pokemon GO over the weekend, you probably spent most of your time searching for and catching Pokemon. Once you've reached Level 5 and joined a team, you can start battling and training at Pokemon Gyms. So what's the point of a Pokemon Gym? In addition to acting as points of pride for your team, they're also the only way that a player can earn PokeCoins without spending money.

When a player takes control of a gym for their team, they can leave a Pokemon behind to guard it. Opposing teams will have to battle that Pokemon when attacking that gym. Each victory and loss will either raise or lower a gym's prestige, making it easier or harder to capture.

When a gym builds enough prestige, it will gain a level, allowing another player from the same team to leave a Pokemon behind. The higher a gym's level, the more Pokemon that can be stationed at the gym to guard it. When a gym loses enough prestige, one of the Pokemon stationed to guard it will flee, making it even easier to capture.

Players can bring up to six Pokemon to attack a gym. You'll want to check which Pokemon are guarding a gym beforehand and pick out Pokemon that have a type advantage. It might make more sense to bring a weaker Pokemon with a type advantage than a strong Pokemon with weak attacks. Check your Pokemon's moves before attacking a gym to determine which Pokemon is most effective in battle.

The actual battle mechanics in Pokemon GO are pretty simple. You can quickly tap on the screen for your weaker default attack and hold down on the screen to activate your strong attack. The strong attack has a limited amount of uses (indicated by the blue boxes underneath your Pokemon's health bar) but the strong attack does recharge over time.

The easiest way to take a Pokemon gym is to team up with other players from the same team. When two players from the same team attack at once, both Pokemon will appear on the battle screen to attack defenders at the same time. This is a great way to quickly take down a gym and encourages players to work together.

Players can train at gyms controlled by their gyms, which will increase a gym's prestige by a small amount and earn the player XP.

Battling Pokemon in Pokemon GO isn't the most intuitive system, but with a little bit of practice and teamwork, you'll quickly be able to capture gyms and build your team's strength.

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