Evergreen
Gyms in Pokémon GO: Battling, Defending, Berries and Gym Badges
A practical guide to Pokémon GO Gyms: taking one over, choosing defenders, keeping them fed with berries, earning PokéCoins and levelling up your Gym badges.
Gyms are the landmarks on the map where Pokémon GO's three teams compete for control. They host raids too, but day to day they're a tug of war: one team holds the Gym with a handful of defenders, rival teams knock them out, and the cycle repeats. Gyms are also the main way to earn PokéCoins without paying: Pokémon you leave defending are paid when they come home.
How a Gym works
- Each Gym belongs to one of the three teams, or stands empty. You pick a team when the game asks you to; our guide to Mystic, Valor and Instinct covers that choice.
- A Gym holds up to six defending Pokémon, each placed by a different trainer from the controlling team.
- A Gym can't hold two of the same species, and you can only have one Pokémon in any single Gym.
- You can't battle a Gym your own team controls, but you can feed its defenders or fill a free slot.
- Every Gym also has a photo disc you can spin for items, just like a PokéStop.
Taking over a rival Gym
- Check the defenders. Tap the Gym to see which Pokémon are defending, and so which types you'll be up against.
- Build a team of six. Choose attackers that hit the defenders' weaknesses. Our type chart shows every matchup, and the game's suggested team is a reasonable starting point.
- Battle each defender in turn. Tap for fast moves, press and hold to fire a charged move once its energy bar fills, and swipe sideways to dodge big attacks. Teaming up with other trainers from your team at the same Gym wears the defenders down much faster.
- Repeat as needed. Each defeat drains a defender's motivation, and once it has run out, the defender is knocked out of the Gym when it's beaten.
- Claim the empty Gym. When the last defender is gone, the Gym becomes empty and anyone nearby can place a Pokémon to claim it for their team.
Heal your team afterwards with Potions and Revives.
Defending: placing and feeding
Placing a defender
Your Pokémon needs to be at full HP to be placed. Not every Pokémon is allowed to defend: Mythical and Shadow Pokémon, for example, have not been allowed, and the game will tell you if one can't be placed. Pick something you don't need for raids or battles, because it will be away until it's knocked out. Bulky Pokémon take longer to wear down than fragile, high-attack ones. To see which of your Pokémon are out defending, type defender in your storage search; our guide to storage search strings lists more filters like it.
Motivation and berries
Every defender has a motivation meter, shown as a heart. Motivation drops slowly over time and faster each time the defender loses a battle. As it falls, the defender's effective CP falls with it, making it easier to beat. Once motivation runs out, losing a battle sends it home.
Feeding a berry restores motivation. Any team member standing near the Gym can feed berries to its defenders, and Razz, Nanab and Pinap Berries all work. A Golden Razz Berry restores far more than an ordinary one, so save those for defenders that are close to being knocked out. Feeding also rewards you with a little Stardust and, sometimes, candy for the species you fed, which is a handy way to pick up candy for Pokémon you don't have. Our items guide covers what each berry does outside Gyms.
What you earn from Gyms
| Action | What you get | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Spinning the photo disc | Items, plus a free Raid Pass | Free pass normally once a day, only if you hold none; events can change this |
| Battling defenders | XP, and the chance to take the Gym | Only Gyms held by another team |
| Feeding a berry | Stardust, sometimes candy of that species | Gyms your team holds, while you're in range |
| Placing a defender | PokéCoins for its time in the Gym, paid when it returns | One per Gym, at full HP, and only when a slot is free |
| Raiding at the Gym | Raid rewards and, if your group wins, a chance to catch the boss; when your team holds the Gym, the reward screen has included bonus Premier Balls | Needs a Raid Pass |
Every one of these also earns progress on that Gym's badge.
Your Pokémon earns coins for the time it spends defending, up to a daily limit across all your Gyms, and they're paid out when it comes home. A defender that holds a quiet Gym for a week still pays no more than one day's limit when it returns, so if coins are your goal, defenders that come home daily earn more over time.
Gym badges
Every Gym you interact with gives you a badge for that Gym. The more you spin, battle, feed and raid there, the further the badge levels up, moving from a basic badge through bronze and silver to gold. Higher badge levels have given extra items when you spin that Gym's photo disc, so it pays to concentrate on a few Gyms you pass often. Your Gym badges also double as a record of places you've played.
Gym questions
Why did my defender's CP drop?
Lost motivation. Feed it a berry to bring its CP back up. Unfed, it keeps getting easier to beat, and once motivation runs out, losing a battle sends it home.
Can I battle my own team's Gym?
No. Training at friendly Gyms isn't part of the current Gym system. For battles against other players, use Trainer Battles or the GO Battle League; for low-stakes practice, you can battle your team leader.
Will the Gym system change?
It has been reworked before, and specific rules can be adjusted at any time. If something here doesn't match what you see in the game, trust the game.
Guides to catching, raiding and battling all start on the Trainer Hub homepage.