You've caught your Pokémon, levelled them up and are ready for your first scrap.
Which means taking them along to a Pokémon GO gym.

The gyms are essential parts of the game and mastering them will help you climb the ladder to becoming a Pokémon master.

Unfortunately, they're also absolutely baffling for newcomers.




But fear not - here's all the information you need to understand and compete at the Pokémon gyms in your area.

What is a Pokémon gym?

 

Gyms are specialised locations in the Pokémon GO world. They're pretty hard to miss as they're represented by giant towers - usually with a Pokémon at the top.

At any one time the gyms can be held by one of the three teams - red, blue or yellow. You'll be able to tell which one from the colour and emblem on top of the tower.

The job of the team is to defend it by leaving high-level Pokémon there. If the gym is a different colour team from you, that's when you can battle there.


The overall point of fighting, owning and defending gyms is to gain Pokécoins that can be spent in-game on items.

Levels and prestige

 

Each Pokémon gym has a level and a certain amount of prestige. The level indicates how many slots there are for defending Pokémon. So, five trainers can leave Pokémon at a level five gym.


Prestige is simply the ranking of a gym - similar to the way trainers have experience points. More prestige means a higher level and it's gained and lost through battles.

How to fight battles

 

The main point of gyms is to battle other trainers. You can activate a battle by tapping the little boxing glove icon when you're close enough to the gym.

After selecting your Pokémon you'll be transported to an arena screen. In order to fight, all you have to do is tap the screen as fast as you can.

You'll notice there are blue bars underneath your Pokémon's health. When this is full, you can press the screen for longer and unleash a more powerful attack.


The fighting is pretty simplistic but you can also dodge attacks by swiping left or right. What's more, Pokémon come in different types (water, fire, etc) and this can be advantageous during a fight.
During a battle you can also access your backpack and use items like potions and revives to help out.

How to take an enemy gym

When you're fighting at a gym held by another team, you'll need to defeat all the defending Pokémon before it can be claimed. If it's a high level gym then this takes some doing.
Each enemy you defeat will lower the prestige of the gym and once the prestige reaches 0 you can take control of the gym for your team.

How do I get Poké coins?

 

Pokécoins are earned by defending a gym. The game refreshes every 21 hours and you'll get 10 coins per gym you defend. If you have enough Pokémon - and they've got sufficiently high combat points (CP) - then you should occupy as many gyms as you can if your aim is to accumulate coins.
There's more to Pokémon GO than battling in gyms and we've compiled a handy list of tips, tricks and cheats to help you become a Pokémon master.