Gym (GO)
A Gym (Japanese: ジム Gym) is a type of location in Pokémon GO.
In the Map View, Gyms are marked as color-coded towers with the Gym symbol above them. If the Gym belongs to a team, the top of the tower will swap between the Gym symbol and the Gym's newest added Pokémon.
Placement
Gyms are fixed locations in the real world that players must physically visit to battle. Gyms are generally in public locations, including (but not limited to) public artwork/murals, libraries, famous landmarks, churches, police stations, fire stations, and public parks. While players must be physically close to Gyms to battle them, they generally do not need to enter the building to be close enough (if the Gym is a building).
Gyms are based on a selection of portals from the Niantic game Ingress. Until 2015, Ingress players could submit proposals for portals which subsequently had to be approved by Niantic. Gyms are less common than PokéStops, which were also created from Ingress portals. This distribution was slightly balanced, after some PokéStops were converted into Gyms on June 19, 2017.
If for some reason a physical location is unsuitable as a Gym, players may send a request to Niantic via the Pokémon GO website or Niantic Support official Twitter account to remove it from the game. This could be due to safety concerns or if there is an error related to the Gym (the landmark no longer exists, never existed in the first place, or has been converted to a different use such as a private residence). It should be noted that this is considered more than a simple movement of the stop with the old one removed from the game and the new position being considered a new PokéStop. As a result, any active EX Raid invitations are revoked, but players will be compensated with five Premium Raid Passes and 
50,000.
Inspecting a Gym
If a Gym tower is visible in the Map View, it can still be inspected even if it is outside of range.
If the player is not on a team and below level 5, they will be advised to return at level 5. Once they are at least level 5, they will be given the option to select a team.
If the player is on a team, they can view the Gym screen, which shows the location's name and photo in the top-left corner and any Pokémon defending it. When a defending Pokémon is selected, the following information will be displayed:
- Pokémon name (or nickname if owned by the player)
- Hologram of Trainer's avatar with name and Trainer level
- Total time defending
- Number of Berries (treats) fed to
- Number of battles when defending
If the Gym is of the player's team, they may feed Berries to defending Pokémon to increase their Motivation and CP, and if there are less than six Pokémon already defending it, they may deploy a Pokémon at full health to defend the Gym.
Photo Discs
Like PokéStops, a player can search a Gym by spinning its Photo Disc to collect items and/or Eggs and gain XP; the Photo Disc can be accessed by tapping the Photo Disc icon in the bottom right corner, then spinning the Gym's Photo Disc while within range. Once the player has spun a Gym's Photo Disc, it will turn purple for that player only for five minutes; the player cannot search a purple Photo Disc until it returns to the Gym's color again.
The pool of items that can be found by searching a PokéStop or Gym increases with the player's Trainer level, with certain items not being obtainable until later levels. The player will not find Eggs at PokéStops or Gyms if they already have the maximum nine Eggs or no space left in their Pokémon Box. Multiple of the same item can be obtained from a single search. If a player does not already have a Gym's Badge, spinning its Photo Disc will award them the Gym Badge. If the player achieves their First PokéStop of the day bonus using a Gym, they will receive those bonus items.
Once per day, the player can obtain a standard Raid Pass from a Gym. If the player opens the Gym screen of a Gym they are in range of that has an active Raid Battle that they have not already completed, the player will receive a standard Raid Pass automatically if they do not currently have one and have not already received one that day. If the player spins the Photo Disc at a Gym while they do not have a standard Raid Pass and have not already received one that day, they will always receive a Raid Pass in addition to the other items found; even if the player's Bag is full, they can still spin a Gym if it would award them a Raid Pass.
Obtainable items
| Item | Min. level | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Poké Ball | 5 | |
 |
Great Ball | 12 | |
 |
Ultra Ball | 20 | |
 |
Potion | 5 | |
 |
Super Potion | 10 | |
 |
Hyper Potion | 15 | |
 |
Max Potion | 25 | |
 |
Revive | 5 | |
 |
Max Revive | 30 | |
 |
Razz Berry | 8 | |
 |
Nanab Berry | 5 | |
 |
Pinap Berry | 18 | February 16, 2017 onward |
 |
Dragon Scale | 10 | February 16, 2017 onward |
 |
King's Rock | 10 | February 16, 2017 onward |
 |
Metal Coat | 10 | February 16, 2017 onward |
 |
Sun Stone | 10 | February 16, 2017 onward |
 |
Upgrade | 10 | February 16, 2017 onward |
 |
2 km Egg | 5 | |
 |
5 km Egg | 5 | |
 |
10 km Egg | 5 | |
 |
Gift | 1 | June 21, 2018 onward |
 |
Beedrill Mega Energy | 5 | August 27, 2020 onward |
|
Raid Pass | 5 | Once a day, if the player does not already have one |
Number of items
Spinning a Gym yields a much wider range of item amounts compared to PokéStops, which largely depends on a variety of factors, especially the Gym Badge level.[1] Eggs, Gifts, and Raid Passes do not count towards the number of items received.
If the player achieves their 7-Day Streak Bonus at a Gym, they will receive a much larger item bonus instead of the usual Gym Badge bonus.
| Quantifier | Number of items | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 2 (90%) or 3 (10%) | |||
| Gym Badge | Basic | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
| +0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | |
| Team Control | Basic | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
| +1 | +1 (90%) or +2 (10%) | +2 | ||
| 10th Spin | 2× Base +1 if Team Control | |||
| First Spin of the Day | +2 (90%) or +3 (10%) | |||
| 7-Day Streak Bonus | Basic | Bronze | Silver | Gold |
| +10 | +15 | +20 | +25 | |
| +5 (10%) +1 Evolution item | ||||
Theoretically, a single spin can yield at most 40 items.
Gym Badges
The first time a player visits a Gym and spins its Photo Disc, they will receive a Gym Badge for that Gym. All subsequent actions taken at that Gym—stationing a defending Pokémon, participating in a Raid Battle, spinning the Photo Disc, or battling a Pokémon—will reward the player Badge Experience to level up the Gym Badge through Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels. Each additional level of the Gym Badge rewards the player an additional item when using the PokéStop at that Gym and an additional 25 Trainer XP (before team bonuses are factored in). Items obtained as a Badge bonus are shown in a yellow bubble.
| Badge | Min. Badge XP | Trainer XP | Bonus items | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rival | Friendly | |||
|
0 XP | 25 XP | 31 XP | +0 |
|
500 XP | 50 XP | 63 XP | +1 |
|
4,000 XP | 75 XP | 94 XP | +2 |
|
30,000 XP | 100 XP | 125 XP | +3 |
Earning Badge experience
Players can earn Badge experience the following ways:
| Name | Badge XP |
|---|---|
| Completing a Raid | 1,000 XP |
| Defeat a Pokémon defending the Gym | Defender's CP / 100 XP |
| Deploy a Pokémon to defend the Gym | 100 XP |
| Feeding a Berry | 10 XP |
| Defend a Gym | 1 XP per minute |
Control
Gyms are colored based on which team has Pokémon deployed to defend it. Controlled Gyms may be blue for Team Mystic, yellow for Team Instinct, or red for Team Valor. A controlled Gym will have the most recently deployed defending Pokémon on top of the tower marking the Gym. If a Gym tower is white, that Gym is currently not controlled by any team, meaning that a player from any team can claim it.
A Gym can house up to six defenders. If a player is in range of a Gym that is controlled by their team (or is not controlled by any team) and has fewer than six defenders, they can place one of their Pokémon that has full HP as a defender in the Gym. The player's current Buddy Pokémon cannot be placed in a Gym. While in a Gym, Pokémon cannot be evolved, powered up, traded, or used for any battle. Legendary Pokémon and Mythical Pokémon, except Meltan and Melmetal, cannot be placed to defend Gyms, but they can still be used to attack opposing Gyms and in Raid Battles.
Pokémon also cannot be deployed into a Gym that is currently "under attack". When a Pokémon gets knocked out from a Gym, a 10-minute timer will initiate, during which no new defenders can be deployed to that Gym. If a subsequent Pokémon gets knocked out during this 10-minute period, the timer does not reset.
If a player is in range of a Gym that is controlled by an opposing team, they can challenge it to lower the opposing Pokémon's motivation and attempt to remove them from the Gym. When a Pokémon loses a battle, its motivation decreases; while in a Gym, a Pokémon below maximum motivation has its CP decreased proportionally while it is in the Gym. (The Pokémon's CP is only decreased while it is in the Gym, and returns to normal once it returns to its Trainer.) When a Pokémon's motivation is 0 after being defeated, it leaves the Gym and returns to its Trainer fainted, giving a PokéCoin defender bonus based on how long it was in the Gym.
If a player wins a Raid Battle at a Gym under their team's control, they will also receive two bonus Premier Balls.
Defender bonus
When the defending Pokémon returns from Gym to its trainer, it brings a defender bonus in the form of PokéCoins. This is the only way to obtain PokéCoins for free.
The player receives 
1 per 10 minutes defended, capped at 50 per day (achieved by defending for 8 hours and 20 minutes). Daily limits on defender bonuses are counted towards the day the Pokémon returns from Gym. If a Pokémon was placed in a Gym on Monday and returned the following Tuesday, the PokéCoins earned will count towards Tuesday's daily limit. If the Pokémon were to return on Wednesday, the bonus will count towards Wednesday and will not receive any for Tuesday.
If the player changed their team using a Team Medallion since placing the Pokémon in the Gym, the player will not earn any PokéCoins once the Pokémon is defeated.
Motivation
Every defender Pokémon has a level of motivation represented by a heart-shaped meter. A defender at 100% motivation will have 100% of its total CP, while a defender at 0% motivation will have 20% CP. A Pokémon initially deployed to defend a Gym will start at 90% motivation (about 92% of its CP). If a defender's motivation falls to 20% or under (about 36% CP), its motivation value will be displayed in red, and its Trainer will be notified that their Pokémon needs a Berry treat. If a defender's motivation is at 0% after losing a battle, it will be knocked out of the Gym and return to its Trainer.
A defender's percentage of CP in relation to motivation is:
A defender may lose motivation in several ways:
- Motivation passively decays at a rate that scales with the defender's maximum CP
- If defeated, the defender will lose about 35% motivation (or 28% CP)
- If victorious (by knockout, forfeit, or timer expiring), the defender will still lose 2% motivation (or 1.6% CP)
Motivation decay
Even when not battled, a Pokémon defending a Gym will gradually lose motivation over time at a constant rate directly off the Pokémon's maximum CP, updated every 15 seconds. The following table shows how long it would take for a Pokémon to passively decay from 100% to 0% motivation. [2]
| CP | Total hours |
|---|---|
| ≤300 | 72 |
| 301 - 2323 | 250.35 - 72 × log10(CP) |
| ≥2323 | 8 |
The following table calculates motivation and CP decay for every hundred CP values. Decay for CP values between listed entries can be approximated by taking a weighted average of the upper and lower bounds.
| CP | Total hours | Hourly motivation decay | Equivalent CP decay |
|---|---|---|---|
| ≤300 | 72.00 | 1.39% | 1.11% |
| 400 | 63.00 | 1.59% | 1.27% |
| 500 | 56.02 | 1.78% | 1.43% |
| 600 | 50.32 | 1.99% | 1.59% |
| 700 | 45.50 | 2.20% | 1.76% |
| 800 | 41.33 | 2.42% | 1.94% |
| 900 | 37.64 | 2.66% | 2.13% |
| 1000 | 34.35 | 2.91% | 2.33% |
| 1100 | 31.37 | 3.19% | 2.55% |
| 1200 | 28.65 | 3.49% | 2.79% |
| 1300 | 26.15 | 3.82% | 3.06% |
| 1400 | 23.83 | 4.20% | 3.36% |
| 1500 | 21.67 | 4.61% | 3.69% |
| 1600 | 19.65 | 5.09% | 4.07% |
| 1700 | 17.76 | 5.63% | 4.51% |
| 1800 | 15.97 | 6.26% | 5.01% |
| 1900 | 14.28 | 7.00% | 5.60% |
| 2000 | 12.68 | 7.89% | 6.31% |
| 2100 | 11.15 | 8.97% | 7.17% |
| 2200 | 9.70 | 10.31% | 8.25% |
| 2300 | 8.31 | 12.04% | 9.63% |
| ≥2323 | 8.00 | 12.50% | 10.00% |
Restoring motivation
Players in range of a friendly Gym can restore the motivation of the Pokémon defending it by feeding them Berry treats. Each time a Berry treat is fed, the player earns 30 and 10 XP towards their Gym Badge. Occasionally, feeding a Berry may also yield a Candy of the fed Pokémon. If a player has a Pokémon defending a Gym, they may remotely feed Berries to any Pokémon at that Gym, but only at 25% effectiveness. Each type of Berry restores motivation at a different rate, with Golden Razz Berries always restoring a Pokémon to full motivation, regardless of distance or number of Berries already fed. While a raid is active at a Gym, the motivation of Pokémon defending that Gym is frozen; their motivation does not decay over time and players cannot feed Berry treats to them.
Within every 30-minute interval, a player can only feed up to 10 Berries to the same Gym defender and up to 10 different defenders. Within the same time span, Berries fed from the same player to the same defender have a diminishing effect on the motivation restored. The following shows the amount of motivation (and CP) restored from feeding each Berry, while in range of the Gym, within a 30-minute interval.
| Berry | 
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 15% (12%) | 18.75% (15%) | 30% (24%) | 100% | |
| 2nd | 6% (4.8%) | 7.5% (6%) | 12% (9.6%) | 100% | |
| 3rd | 3% (2.4%) | 3.75% (3%) | 6% (4.8%) | 100% | |
| 4th | 1.5% (1.2%) | 1.875% (1.5%) | 3% (2.4%) | 100% | |
| 5th | 1.2% (0.96%) | 1.5% (1.2%) | 2.4% (1.92%) | 100% | |
| 6th - 10th | 1% (0.8%) | 1.25% (1%) | 2% (1.6%) | 100% | |
| Total | 31.7% (25.36%) | 39.625% (31.7%) | 63.4% (50.72%) | 100% | |
Battle mechanics
Battles at Gyms are between one or more players' Pokémon and an AI-controlled Pokémon. For Gym battles, the AI Pokémon is a Gym defender deployed by another player; for Raid Battles, the AI is the Raid Boss. The AI stands at the middle of a circular arena, and the players' Pokémon at the circle's edge. When battling at a Gym, the player selects a team of six Pokémon of their own to battle against the AI.
Up to 20 players can work together to battle at Gym, with the AI Pokémon's HP being shared between players and attacks affecting all challengers. Moves used by the AI will also damage all challenging Pokémon simultaneously. An icon with a number will appear underneath the countdown timer of the screen indicating the number of players currently fighting that Gym. Challengers who have high Friendship levels with each other will deal extra damage per attack.
A Pokémon starts off with zero energy when it is sent out (even if it previously battled but was switched out) and gains energy by casting Fast Attacks. For every HP damage taken, the Pokémon also gains 0.5 energy. If the Pokémon stays on the battlefield after defeating an opponent, the Charged Attack meter is retained. The energy meter is displayed at the bottom of the screen below the Charged Attack button.
The amount of energy required by a Charged Attack depends on the number of bar segments for that move (visible on the status screen). Charged Attacks with more bar segments use less energy for a single use, so can be used more frequently than Charged Attacks with fewer bar segments. Typically, Charged Attacks with higher power require more energy per use. Consequently, weaker Charged Attacks can typically be used more frequently than stronger ones. Previously, before the Charged Attack button was added, the Charged Attack appeared in the top right of the screen below a Pokémon's HP and was activated by holding down on the screen.
- See also: List of moves in Pokémon GO
Combat actions
During battle, the player's Pokémon can perform one of three basic actions:
- Fast Attack: tap the screen.
- Charged Attack: tap the Charged Attack's button when the energy meter is sufficiently charged.
- Dodge: swipe left or right on the screen. Dodging has a duration of 0.5 seconds.
Challengers may swap out a Pokémon for another in their battling party at any time by tapping the button on the bottom-right of the screen. This action has a one-second duration.
In both Gym and Raid Battles, the AI Pokémon behaves in the following pattern:
- Does not dodge attacks
- Pauses for 1.5 to 2.5 seconds between attacks
- Has a 50% chance of casting a Charged Attack, given enough energy
- If a defender knows two Charged Attacks and has enough energy for both, it will randomly cast either one
Dodging
The player can mitigate damage from the AI's attacks by successfully dodging them. For every attack that the AI executes, a yellow flash with outward speedlines will appear, signaling a 0.7-second dodge window for the player to dodge the attack. If the player dodges within this time, then the total damage from the attack will be reduced by 75%. The flash will always appear 0.7 seconds before the start of the move's damage window, and dodging takes 0.5 seconds.
Note that for Charged Attacks, text at the bottom right of the screen will indicate when a Pokémon has executed its attack, which players often use to help dodge them. However, the time between execution and the damage window varies greatly across moves.
- Draco Meteor's damage window starts at 3 seconds. The yellow flash will appear 2.3 seconds after the text.
- Return's damage window starts at 0.1 seconds, which is below 0.7 seconds. The yellow flash will actually appear before the text does.
Gym battles
Gym battles have a time limit of 99 seconds. Each time a new defender Pokémon is sent out, the battle timer will reset to 99 seconds. Gym defenders are battled sequentially, in the order they were deployed. Unlike the player, Gym defenders cannot switch out or dodge. Gym defenders also have their stats scaled down to adjust for lost motivation, but with a 2× multiplied to their HP.
After defeating a Pokémon, the player has ten seconds to decide whether to battle the next defender or leave. If the player leaves, it won't be considered as a player's defeat. If the player chooses to re-battle again, they will again start by battling the first defender in the lineup.
Each defending Pokémon defeated will award XP to both the player and their associated Gym's badge. Defeating only one defending Pokémon counts as a victory towards earning medals and completing certain Field Research tasks, regardless of how many of the player's Pokémon fainted. Conversely, each time a player's Pokémon is knocked out, it counts as a victory towards the Gym defender.
If the player forfeits, runs out of time, or has no more usable Pokémon left, it counts as a victory for the defending Pokémon. The challenger can immediately rebattle the Gym, in the same order of defending Pokémon.
When a Gym defender is knocked out of the Gym, then a 10-minute timer begins that blocks the defending team from deploying any more Pokémon. Knocking out any more Gym defenders during this time does not reset the timer.
Players who participated in the battle that resulted in the last Gym defender being knocked out will be given "battle winner" priority. For a several seconds, only battle winners will be allowed to deploy a Pokémon to defend a Gym until the Gym is assigned a team.
Raid Battles
- Main article: Raid Battle (GO)
Occasionally, a Gym may be temporarily taken over by a Raid Boss, a wild Pokémon typically one much stronger than can be found in the wild. Using a Raid Pass, players can battle the Raid Boss as if it were a Gym defender. If victorious, participants will also be given a chance to capture the Pokémon. Many species, including most Legendary Pokémon, are exclusively obtained by completing Raid Battles.
During a raid, a Gym's defenders cannot be challenged nor fed Berry treats. Additional Gym defenders also cannot be deployed.
Gym System updates
|
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: more information on updates |
There have been many updates introduced to the Gym system since the game's implementation, mostly related to the players quality of life. Various changes include moving the Charged Attack gauge and changing the execution from a long press on the screen to a button, moving around the other elements of the UI, and adding a small battle log to the bottom right delivering players information regarding move effectiveness.
Early Gym system
- Main article: Prestige
When the game first released the Gym system was very different. Each Gym was capable of having ten defenders, and there was no limit on the species of Pokémon defending. They were ordered with the lowest CP Pokémon at the bottom, going up in rank to the highest CP. Instead of motivation Pokémon had prestige, and players of the defending team could train at the Gym to increase this value and make it harder for opposing teams to defeat the Pokémon and ergo the Gym. Furthermore, the defender bonus was determined by the amount of Pokémon you had in Gyms, for a collection of a hundred PokéCoins a day.
This caused a lot of stagnation and power imbalances early on in Gyms during the release of the game as weaker players had issues taking down Gyms with especially powerful Pokémon defending them. It was significantly more time-consuming and difficult to defeat Gyms as Pokémon never lost CP and only lost Prestige as they were defeated. Players that had positions in ten Gyms had no reason to take down other Gyms rather than maintain their positions in the current Gyms as Gym Badges weren't yet implemented. Additionally, if your Pokémon was at the top of a level ten Gym, a players position was fairly secure as attackers would have to battle their way through the previous nine Pokémon before being able to fight the top position. It created a situation of the strong getting stronger, with the weak being unable to catch up, due to the "free" in-game currency and the bonuses one could buy with it (such as incubators and bag space) and extra Stardust which allowed them to strengthen their Pokémon.
The new system improved on all of this by introducing the motivation mechanic, limiting species within a Gym, lowering the amount of Pokémon defending a Gym, and only rewarding PokéCoins once a Pokémon was returned to its player.
In the anime
A GO-style Gym appeared in Vermilion City in Ivysaur's Mysterious Tower!, though it was still under construction. Ash and Goh followed a horde of Bulbasaur and Ivysaur there and learned the construction site used to be a grassy field where Bulbasaur and Ivysaur gathered. The Seed Pokémon proceeded to climb to the top of the unfinished building, followed by Ash and Goh. Team Rocket showed up to steal the Seed Pokémon, but even with a Gyarados and a Tyranitar at their disposal, they were defeated by Ash's Pikachu, with the help of the Ivysaur. Afterwards, the Ivysaur evolved into a group of Venusaur, while the Bulbasaur evolved into a new group of Ivysaur. The Venusaur then released pollen from their flowers to be carried away by the wind, causing flowers to bloom all around the city.
External links
References
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This article is part of Project Sidegames, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames. |
