Pokemon Go Gym Details You Might Have Missed

The most recent Pokemon Go update was a big one, and one that completely overhauled the gym system. After they went down for some construction, gyms are popping back up and are ready to be taken over with some huge changes from how they worked before.

But with such a large update rolling out for Pokemon Go, plenty of players are still doing their best to simply catch up on all of the details. Some of the new systems, such as the raids, are rolling out to more players a bit at a time as the required level to participate in the multi-person battles gradually drops, so there’s new information constantly coming out about the update and how things work. The new gym badges can grant you some awards as well depending on what level your badge is, and players are reporting what kinds of rewards they can expect from the different tiers.

The raids, gym badges, news that gyms won’t be stocked with Blissey after Blissey anymore, and the changed amount of coins players can receive from gyms are likely the parts that players are most excited about, but there are also some other aspects that were changed with the update that you can look forward to. Check out these details from the update that you might’ve missed within the big news.

Items Exclusive To Raids

The raids that came with the new Pokemon Go update encourage players to work together to take down some high-level Pokemon. You’ll need a Raid Pass to contribute in the battle, an item that you can obtain either once a day from gyms or by purchasing them in the in-game shop.

With up to 20 players contributing to each raid, the prospect of catching a rare and powerful Pokemon is likely enough to motivate players to participate in the battle, but there’s also another reward that you can get from taking down whatever Pokemon you’re up against. Items will be awarded to players after a raid is accomplished as well, and some of them are items that can be obtained are exclusive to raids

Rare Candies and Golden Razz Berries are two of the potential rewards that look most promising. Unlike in the traditional games, Rare Candies won’t level a Pokemon up, but they’ll instead be converted to the Pokemon’s candy type when used on that Pokemon. Golden Razz Berries can either be used to drastically increase your chances of catching a wild Pokemon, or they can be fed to a Pokemon holding down a gym to fully restore its motivation meter.

The last two exclusive items are Technical Machines that come in either Fast or Charged versions. These TMs can be used to permanently teach a Pokemon a new Fast or Charged combat move.

Gym Badges Track Stats

One of the biggest additions that came with the Pokemon Go update that will definitely help players feel like true Trainers is the gym badge system that lets you keep track of everywhere you’ve been. Gym badges are unique to each gym, and you can check out your collection by going to your profile page and looking for them just between the customization options and the list of medals you’ve obtained. 

In addition to keeping track of these gym badges and where you’ve been, the badges will also preserve unique stats that are tied to each badge and its respective gym. If you’ve got one or two gyms nearby you that you find yourself frequenting, you’ll likely be able to see your badge’s stats quickly climbing.

So what kinds of statistics will these badges keep track of? You’ll be able to count all of how many battles you’ve won at the gym, and you’ll also be able to keep up with how many berries you’ve contributed to Pokemon that are defending the gym. If you’re a player who can keep your Pokemon atop the gym for a pretty decent length of time, you’ll also see a stat keeping track of how long you’ve defended a gym rising quickly.

Keep Up With Where You’ve Been Using The Gym Map

Staying on the subject of the badges, not only can players keep track of how they’ve been doing at each individual gym, they can also now keep track of what gyms they’ve been to as well.

This part of the update is one that will really encourage players to get out and play Pokemon Go a bit further from their homes, something that really wasn’t that hard to do anyway. Busting out the game in different areas to see what’s around you has now been made much more enjoyable since the game will be keeping up with your gym badges that you’ve obtained from visiting gyms around the world.

By taking a look at the world map for gyms, you’ll see all of the areas that you’ve been and how many gym badges you’ve collected from those areas. It’ll show a number that totals up those from your general area, but if you zoom in on the map, you can see much more specific badges and gyms that you’ve visited.

There’s no limit to how many gym badges you can add to your collection, so take advantage of the new gym map and preserve your journey as you take on gyms from new areas.

Start A Private Raid With Your Friends

Raids are what Pokemon Go has been needing to help promote community involvement as players across the three teams work together to take down Raid Bosses. But sometimes, you might not want to be grouped up with a bunch of random people, and starting a private raid will help you fix that problem.

Participating in a raid will cause you to be grouped with other players automatically, but creating a special code for you and your friends to use will ensure that your group gets to work a bit closer together as you attempt to take down the powerful Pokemon.

There’s nothing wrong with participating in the raid by the default matchmaking, but using the private raid feature will make sure that your friends get into the raid with you so that nobody is left out of the group. Creating a private raid won’t inhibit others nearby from joining their own private raids either, so each opportunity isn’t a first-come basis, but rather a grouping up to make sure you fight it how you’d like to.

Berries Help Your Team And Earn You Candy

With the new motivation system that’s been implemented to go along with the gym changes, players are able to feed berries to Pokemon that hold the gym in order to raise their motivation and keep them in control. It doesn’t even have to be your Pokemon either, you can feed berries to any Pokemon that’s part of your chosen team to help out your teammates.

But helping the team and upping your badge stat isn’t the only motivation to work together with berries. Using them on your team’s Pokemon can also grant you rewards for your cooperation.

By feeding the berries to Pokemon, you can get yourself some pretty easy Stardust depending on how often you give away the treats. One of the best rewards that you can get from helping out is also candies. Each time you feed a berry to a Pokemon, you have the chance to earn one of that Pokemon’s candy. Gyms are usually pretty full of some tough and rare fighters, so helping out is a prime chance to earn some candies for Pokemon that are a bit harder to come by.

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