In the new arenas of Pokémon GO you can expect thrilling battles, Pokémon motivation and gym badges. We will show you how the new features work.
As a Pokémon Trainer, you can show how strong your Pokémon are in gym battles. You can expect cool badges as rewards.
Niantic has significantly revamped the gyms and now offers you new features in and around the battle arenas. We will show you how to fight, take over gyms, increase your Pokémon’s motivation, and finally earn the defender bonus and gym badges.
Gym Update – Here are the new gyms
In Pokémon GO, you can battle against Pokémon from opposing teams in gyms. Trainers from all teams compete for control of the gyms. Each controlling team can assign six Pokémon to the gym to defend against attackers. If the attackers win, the gym comes under the control of the attacking team.
- What are HP and CP: The success of a Pokémon in battle primarily depends on hit points (HP) and combat points (CP). HP indicate how much life a Pokémon has, while CP is a measure of the Pokémon’s strength. Monsters with high HP and CP can take a lot of hits but can also dish it out.
- Motivation: Each Pokémon in a gym has a motivation meter. This shows how eager the Pokémon is to defend its spot. Trainers from the opposing team battle the defenders to lower their motivation. Defenders lose motivation through lost battles (and automatically over time).
- Low motivation = Low CP: If a Pokémon loses its motivation, its CombatPoints decrease and it becomes weaker.
- Motivation at zero: If a monster’s motivation drops to 0, it will leave the gym after the next battle lost and return to its trainer.
The goal at your team’s gyms is to increase the motivation of the Pokémon. You can do this with tasty berries.
The goal at an opposing team’s gyms is to gain control over them. You do this by demotivating the defending Pokémon in battles.
Gym Battles – Here’s how to win the fights
In a gym battle, you face off against the defending Pokémon of an opposing team. Each time you defeat a defender, their motivation decreases. When motivation hits zero, it leaves the gym after the next defeat. If you manage to defeat and send home all defenders, the gym is ready for your team’s takeover.
If the defenders of a gym are too strong, you can team up with other trainers to take the gym. Gyms can be challenged by multiple trainers at the same time. Players from two different teams can even join forces to take down a gym of a third team.
You fight in the order the defenders were assigned to the gym. The Pokémon that has been in the gym the longest will be your first opponent.
This is how to start a gym battle: Move within range of an opposing gym and tap the gym to enter. Then, choose up to six Pokémon you want to use as attackers. To fight, tap the corresponding battle button.
Attacks and Actions in the Gym – Here’s how to fight
If you ventured into the gym before the update, you will already know the three actions. For newcomers, these three moves are important:
- Fast Attack: Tap on your screen to perform a fast attack. These attacks charge your “Charged Attack”.
- Charged Attack: Once the Charged Attack meter is full, hold your finger on the screen to execute this attack. This will deal substantial damage to the opposing Pokémon.
- Dodge: Swipe left or right with your finger on the screen to dodge the opponent’s attacks.
If you manage to lower the opponent’s HP to 0, the opponent faints and you win the round. After each round, you can decide whether to play another round or end the battle.
If all six of your Pokémon faint, you lose the battle. To replenish your fighters’ HP, you can use potions. Pokémon that have fainted can be revived with revives.
Taking Control of a Gym – Here’s how to occupy a gym
Neutral (gray) gyms can be occupied by trainers from any team. If you see an “open” gym on the map, you can go to that location and place a Pokémon there to bring the gym under your team’s control.
- Each team can assign up to six defender Pokémon to a gym. However, a single trainer can only assign one Pokémon from their collection to a gym. Therefore, you need help from your teams to fill a gym with defenders.
- Additionally, it’s new that only one Pokémon of a species can be in a gym at the same time. If a Snorlax is already assigned as a defender in a gym, no second Snorlax can fit there.
- Taking over a gym for your team: Move to the location of a gray gym and tap it on your display. Then tap on the add Pokémon button to assign a monster to the gym:
Caution: Your Pokémon will be assigned to the gym until it loses its motivation and is kicked out of the gym. Keep this in mind when choosing your monster.
Once a Pokémon from your collection is stationed in the gray gym, the color of the gym changes to that of your team (Red, Yellow, or Blue). Your monster stays in the gym only as long as it is happy. Treats like berries can increase its motivation so it can fulfill its role as a defender longer.
Replenishing Motivation – Increase Your Pokémon’s Motivation
If you find a gym in your team’s color, you know it is friendly towards you. To strengthen an allied gym, you can feed demotivated Pokémon berries. This increases the defender’s motivation and makes it harder for opposing teams to take the gym.
You can feed berries to all Pokémon in a friendly gym, not just your own. Pokémon are not picky eaters, so you can feed Berries (including golden ones), Nanab Berries, and Sanan Berries. Almost all berries produce the same amount of motivation. The exception is the golden berry, which fully restores a Pokémon’s motivation.
Earning Stardust in the Gym: When you feed Pokémon with berries, you receive Stardust and experience points as a reward.
How to feed defenders berries?
- Visit a gym controlled by your team (Red, Yellow, or Blue). There you will notice that each Pokémon has its own motivation meter.
- Tap on a Pokémon whose motivation you want to increase.
- Then tap on the berry you want to feed the Pokémon. Each berry will increase the defender’s motivation.
Note: You can check the motivation of your own Pokémon anytime via the gym badges in your badge overview.
Earning Gym Badges – How to Get Them?
If you are active at a gym often and, for example, fight as an attacker, defend a spot with a Pokémon for a certain time, or feed Pokémon with berries, you earn a badge as a reward. These badges come in four categories/levels:
- Standard
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
You unlock the new badge levels by engaging more with the gym. As a reward for your efforts, the gym badges provide rewards. When spinning the photo disc, you receive additional items based on the badge.
Where are the gym badges?
- To view the gym badges, tap your trainer profile icon during the map view in the game.
- Scroll down to find the badge overview.
- Tap the list button to see all badges.
- To get more details about the badges, you need to tap the corresponding badge.
- To see your badges on an extra map, you can also tap the badge map button.
Defender Bonus – Coins from the Gym
If you can station your Pokémon in a gym for an extended period, you will receive coin rewards. You can use these coins to purchase items in the Pokémon GO in-game shop, such as lures or other items.
You can earn a maximum of 100 coins per day.
How to earn coins in Pokémon GO is detailed in a separate article: Pokémon GO Coins: How to earn them, how many you can get
Raid Battles – Win against the Raid Bosses
Arena becomes a very special venue when a Raid takes place. Raids are cooperative experiences where you must battle a very strong raid boss (a Pokémon with extreme CP) in groups of up to 20 players.
These raids are announced by an egg above the gym, with a countdown ticking down. The raid boss will appear shortly after and is ready to be defeated by you for the next hour.
If you manage to defeat the bosses, strong rewards await you. You even have the chance to catch the boss. In our Pokémon GO raid guide, we explain all about this topic: Raid Battles, Bosses, Rewards, and More – Here’s how Raids work in Pokémon GO
