Entertainment

Can You Battle Pokemon In Your Own Team’s Gym?

by Mary Grace Garis

There's no better cheap thrill than overtaking a gym in Pokemon GO, even if the victory lasts but a few glimmering moments. Rivalries between the three teams in the app have already flared up, so the temptation to conquer the opposing team's station at your local Dunkin Donuts is strong. But then there's the inherent confusion about what to do when your team is presiding over Dunkin Donuts. Is there a point to battling in your own team's gym? Well, let's set up a hypothetical and see how that would even go down.

If you couldn't already tell by my meticulous way of dissecting this game, I'm very strongly Team Mystic. I also happen to live next to a Pokemon gym at the park across that street. At several different points of the day that gym will get overtaken and shift from red, to yellow, to blue and back again; we all know how frequent gym turnover is. However, let's just say for argument's sake that today Team Mystic is occupying the gym (conveniently enough, today it is being occupied by Team Mystic). To me, this is a "Friendly Gym,"and sending my Pokemon in for a duel is less about conquer and more about boosting team spirit.

So when I send in my Exeggutor to battle the local Pinsir, think of it more like a sparring match, a training session. The outcome should be positive for Team Mystic because it'll certainly bring up Gym prestige, and if I'm able to take down the Pinsir that's stationed there. And if I can power through the Pinsir, the Golduck, and the Gyarados (by some kind of black magic) I can station my Pokemon there... maybe.

This is all depends on the current prestige level of the gym. For example, if the prestige of the gym hits Level 5 but you only have 4 You'll see a button with a "+" sign on the lefthand side. Upon clicking it, it'll give you the option of picking out a Pokefriend to be stationed at said gym (so long as they're at full HP). This will subsequently strengthen your gym, and give you a Pokecoin boost for as long as your monster is stationed there. Although, you know, good look surviving the 21 hours needed to collected Pokecoins.

Essentially, once your Team occupies a gym, your goal isn't to leverage yourself up from rando Lass to Erika by overthrowing your other teammates and becoming the supreme leader. Girl, no. Instead, fighting in your own gym is all about training and breeding team solidarity. And while at this current juncture we're not quite sure what the outcome of gym occupation signifies, there's something magic about banding together to paint the town red... or yellow... or blue.

Images: 4Kids Entertainment (1); Pokemon GO (1)