The Basics
Gyms in Pokemon GO’s is one of the most interesting features of the game and will have players coming back for quite some time. For newcomers to the game however, they can seem like a daunting location to visit. There’s a lot going on, on screen, and Pokemon GO doesn’t tell you all that much about them and how they work.
Before we jump into all of the slightly more complicated aspects of Gyms, let’s run through the basics really quickly. Gyms are, for now, the only place that you can battle Pokemon. Upon reaching level five in the game you will be given the choice of joining one of three teams. Once you have chosen where your allegiances are going to lie for the entirety of your Pokemon adventure, there’s no going back, so be sure that you’re happy with your decision.
So where are these Gyms? You can spot one of them by their pretty large stature on your map. Most Gyms by now will have been claimed by one of the different teams, and will also be colored accordingly. Niantic has also placed them at local points of interest within the community, so you should be able to pinpoint where they are pretty easily.
Gyms are essentially King of the Hill spots that will be constantly contested by members of each different team. The mission is to keep the Gym under your team’s control for as long as possible to show that you’re the best team that there ever was. However, it’s not quite as simple as just picking Pokemon and battling it out. There’s a whole bunch of other things you’ll want to keep in mind.