Pokémon GO can be played all over the world. You can also encounter remote gyms – including long-standing defenders.
What is the longest time one of your Pokémon has spent defending a gym? Especially in rural areas, it can happen that your monster suddenly finds a second home and just doesn’t come back.
Because: Pokémon defending gyms only return when they have been defeated. However, the most remote gyms can sometimes go weeks, months, or even years without being challenged again.
Recently, a player found such a gym in Pokémon GO and shared his experience in the subreddit about the game.
A lonely gym in the forest
As the user describes, he found a castle in the forest that acts as a gym. Two Pokémon have been stuck there for quite a long time:
- Arcanine, for 1733 days, almost five years
- Zurrokex, for 2027 days and thus more than five years. The Zurrokex has even been fed a total of 519 berries over time.
The user wondered whether to take over the gym or leave it alone. The opinions in the comments are divided.
From what I’ve read in other posts, the owner would surely be very happy to get it back
, writes user whereisbeezy.If you don’t defeat it, you’ll lock these Pokémon away forever
, says juggernaut_jacob2002.If you don’t mind saying goodbye to one of your Pokémon for more than five years, then sure, LMAO
, thinks bluekii.
The problem with long-term gyms
What does MeinMMO author Max Handwerk think? From personal experience as a long-time Pokémon GO
trainer, it’s actually a cool thing when one of your Pokémon defends a gym for a long time. It’s fun to check the game weeks later and see that a Snorlax left behind on vacation is still defending the abandoned gym near the beach.
But: It brings almost nothing in terms of gameplay.
That’s the big problem with long-term defending. The purpose of defending is to collect coins: If you defend a gym for a day, the Pokémon brings back 50 coins upon return. But that’s also the maximum – it doesn’t matter if it’s been in the gym for one day or a million days. In the end, you’ll get at most 50 coins. This has been troubling players for a long time.
Moreover, it is impossible to withdraw a Pokémon from the gym yourself if it is not defeated. Accordingly, you also do not get your Pokémon back if it is defending a gym somewhere in the middle of nowhere – just like in the example above.
One advantage is that you can continue to feed the defending Pokémon with berries, even if you are far away. For this, you receive stardust and sometimes candies for that specific Pokémon. Additionally, there is a gym leader medal that requires you to have defended gyms for a total of 15,000 hours for its highest level. How would you deal with the lonely gym? Tell us in the comments! And here you can find out what Pokémon GO brings in April 2026.
