How to beat a gym in Pokemon GO

Spoiler alert: Your first gym isn’t going to be dominated by rock-types. Here is how you can beat a gym in Pokemon Go.

A lot of people are upset that you have to wait to get to Level 5 before you can hit up a Pokemon Gym in Pokemon GO, but it’s important to remember that you must walk before you run. Or, in this case, walk a lot before you can run the joint.

Once you reach Level 5, you have the opportunity to join a team: Instinct (Yellow), Mystic (Blue), or Valor (Red). The logos are styled after the legendary trio of Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres respectively.

Just like many other online multiplayer games and Niantic’s own Ingress title, after you pick a team, you join millions of other players around the world / available countries with Pokemon GO to establish world dominance. Think of it like, instead of Team Rocket trying unite all people within their nation and extend their reach to the stars above, it’s your team trying to keep hold of all the Pokemon Gyms. It’s almost like Capture the Flag, but with Pokemon.

When you reach a gym (another landmark on your map), it’ll be either unoccupied or controlled by Team Mystic, Instinct or Valor.

If your team controls the gym, you can train inside and earn prestige. If you’re trying to overthrow an existing team, you’ll have to battle all the existing Pokemon inside. As a member of a controlling gym, you can leave one of the Pokemon from your party there to help defend the gym from any insurgent forces.

Further, the more prestige your gym earns via experience points, the higher the level of the gym increases, and thus, the more trainers that can sit on it, i.e. Gym Leaders. Even if you lose at a friendly gym, the level improves.

So, how do you battle? Or, more importantly, I’m sure you want to know how to beat a gym.

Upon entering a gym, you start a battle. Much like the original games, there are various options to choose from while battling: tap to attack, press and hold for a special attack (once the blue bar at the bottom is charged), or swipe to dodge your opponent’s attack.

The biggest hint I can give you is that battling is not turn based. You have to be relentless until the opposing Pokemon hits 0 HP. Like traditional games, you can use up to six Pokemon from your party.

Once you take control of a gym, you’ll earn Pokecoins, which can be used to shop. Every day, you can replenish your coin cache based on how many gyms you hold.

If you’re having a hard time winning battles, check out our article on how to level up your Pokemon.

And for more Pokemon GO coverage, check out our  gaming hub page.