Pokémon GO Announces Raid Battles & Overhauled Gyms

by

Pokémon GO will temporarily be closing gyms across the world, but exciting new features are coming to the game soon. You can read the official update below and also check out the blog post for pictures!

New Gym Features and Updates: Starting soon, Gyms are undergoing a major facelift. You’ll soon be able to spin the Photo Disc at Gyms to acquire items just as you do at PokéStops—but that’s only the beginning. More updates to Gym battles are also just around the corner. Gyms are no longer based on Prestige and training. Instead, they now feature six permanent slots that can be filled by the controlling team’s Pokémon. Each Pokémon assigned to these slots must be unique. For example, only one Blissey can be assigned to a Gym at a time. In addition, opposing teams will battle the Pokémon in the order they were assigned to the Gym.

At the heart of the update is a new motivation system that will significantly change how you interact with Gyms. When a Pokémon is assigned to a Gym, a motivation meter will be displayed. Pokémon assigned to defend a Gym lose motivation over time and as they are defeated in battle. As a Pokémon loses motivation, its CP will temporarily decrease, making it easier for opposing teams to defeat. To help keep the Pokémon motivated and in tip-top shape for their next battle, Trainers can treat their team’s Pokémon to some Berries, which restore their motivation. If a Pokémon loses all motivation, it will leave the Gym and return to its Trainer the next time it loses a battle, so you’ll want to keep your team’s Pokémon motivated by giving them Berries frequently!

Gym Badges: Now you’ll be able to earn Gym Badges when interacting with the many Gyms around the world. Gym Badges serve as mementos of your Pokémon GO adventures and reflect your contribution to a Gym’s success.

You’ll be able to level up your Badges by battling, giving Berries to the Pokémon in the Gym and spinning the Gym’s Photo Disc. You can earn the opportunity to receive bonus items and increased rewards from Gyms by raising the level of your Gym Badge.

New Raid Battle Feature: All around the world, you’ll soon be able to participate in the new Raid Battle feature at Gyms. A Raid Battle is a cooperative gameplay experience that encourages you to work with other Trainers to defeat an extremely powerful Pokémon known as the Raid Boss. Before a Raid Battle begins, all Pokémon assigned to the Gym will return to their Trainers, and a large Egg will appear atop the Gym. When the countdown above the Egg reaches zero, the Raid Boss will be revealed.

Before you can battle the Raid Boss, you’ll need a Raid Pass. You can get one free Raid Pass per day by visiting a Gym, but you can only hold one at a time. You can also get Premium Raid Passes from the in-game shop. Upon using your pass to join the battle, you and up to 20 other Trainers work together to defeat the Raid Boss. If you successfully defeat the Raid Boss within the five-minute time limit, you’ll have the chance to catch an extra powerful Pokémon of your own!

New Items: After defeating a Raid Boss, you’ll receive a collection of rewards, including some new items obtained only by defeating a Raid Boss: Rare Candies, Golden Razz Berries, and two types of Technical Machines—Fast and Charged. A Rare Candy is a mysterious candy that, when used on a Pokémon, turns into that Pokémon’s Candy. Golden Razz Berries will greatly increase your chances of catching a Pokémon you encounter in the wild and can also be given to a Pokémon assigned to a Gym to fully recover its motivation meter. Technical Machines are items you can use to permanently teach a Pokémon a new Fast Attack or Charged Attack.

To put these exciting changes in motion, we’ll be temporarily disabling all Gyms. Once the update has been rolled out to players around the world, Gyms will return. The Raid Battle feature will then be rolled out slowly over the next few weeks, starting as a beta, with raids visible only to a subset of players at certain Gym locations. Over a few days, we’ll invite more players to participate and enable raids at more Gyms around the world. Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates on when you’ll be able to start battling in raids. We can’t wait to see you outside battling at your local Gyms!

Phew! Lots of changes, but they certainly sound exciting!

Supporters

Nick F

Smearg

Foil Island

Conglome NERD

alcremie sundae

Radiant Blutle

Zachery

Dragoniteo

Austin John Plays

Help support our work by becoming a Patron on Patreon! Swadloon Platoon members and above will be added to our site supporters list!

1,299 thoughts on “Pokémon GO Announces Raid Battles & Overhauled Gyms”

  2. Well it’s that time again, I don’t feel like sleeping but my disgusting body needs all the energy it can get, work is gonna be extremely boring as always and the E3 Hype is cold and dead nothing to look forward until next month’s corocoro
    I spent nearly two 3 hours in the dark and rain, I wonder if anybody else is doing that right now and contemplating the whereabouts of her soulmate
    Night…

    Reply

          • I should’ve never existed
            Should’ve stayed Electric/Ghost and doesn’t need levitate while in forms
            It just so freaking annoying barely any weakness stupidly bulky, access to wisp and pain split
            It doesn’t deserve all this it needs a nerf
            Like only regular form gets Levitate while
            Wash gets Water Absorb
            Mow Harvest
            Heat Flame Body
            Fan Motor Drive
            Freeze Refrigerate

          • I can’t get pain split on it as I wanted to breed it in gen 7 so it could retain the Dive Ball. Really only Rotom-W and maybe Heat are any good. The Levitate thing is to retain a link to its’ ghost form.

          • Well it’s only a ghost only when it doesn’t have a machine vessel to inhabit
            I just want that stupid thing to get a downgrade

          • It is still a ghost, that is part of the design, like how Decidueye can still fly even though it loses the type. If Pokemon could have 3 types I’m sure it would retain the type itself.

          • Well at least if it was Electric/Ghost/Water it can have its weakness to Ghost and Dark back which means knock off city

          • I all want is more options to kill this thing otherwise it can just absorb blows and heal with pain split, cripple with wisp and just a super powerful stab Hydro Pump

          • Well there are quite a few counters. I tend to hit it with strong neutral attacks. Knock Off still ruins its’ longevity. Grass attacks if you can fit them on usually finish it fairly well. Toxic also helps and Taunt. Sleep is a less reliable option as is confusion.

          • There are very few Grass types I would use
            Mainly Breloom or Tangrowth

            At least back in the day Ol Seismitoad used to stop Washtom in its tracks
            You couldn’t use Volt Switch or Hydro Pump and though could burn him he’s a special attacker

          • You can just use Grass moves, don’t need the type.
            Part of your problem is that you play by smogon rules so are limited by tiers. I don’t really so I guess that’s partly why I see it as less of an issue.

          • Well what grass moves could I possibly get on non grass types
            You think Crawdaunt can just get power whip or Energy Ball on a something not grass
            And a non stab move would never kill it entirely

          • You don’t have to always 1HKO. Grass moves don’t have great distribution I agree. Part of the problem may also be your choice in Pokemon. But as you don’t like to budge much on those Idk what else to suggest.

          • Why would a lawnmower get harvest?
            Admittedly Fan retaining Levitate is bullshit and I would want it to have speed boost just because it needs SOME sort of benefit

          • Well I say that because it’s not a plant and wouldn’t benefit from chlorophyll and seeing how a lawnmower just munches up whatever plant matter in its way I thought harvest would be appropriate

            And Fan was hard since I won’t let it have gale wings but unlike other forms this one has a motor so why not motor drive take in thunder waves and get speed

            Seriously this thing needs to go down a couple pegs, if Gengar can lose levitate so can a washing machine

  6. Me: Shit! Helix has crappy defaults
    ARMS: here’s a Chilla and an electric homing explosive arm
    Me: thanks m8

    Reply

  8. I have a fanmon who I feel like would work better as one type but it would overlap another mon that appears in the same area

    Reply

  10. Nintendo Switch firmware update

    Register a channel to receive News for specific games To register, head to News > Find Channels
    Add friends from your Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Friend Lists To add friends, head to your My Page on the top left of the Home Menu > Friend Suggestions
    Receive notifications when your Friends go online To turn this ON/OFF, head to System Settings > Notifications > Friend Notifications
    Find paired controllers within communication range by activating the vibration feature To search, head to Controllers > Find Controllers
    Change the user icon order on the Home Menu To change order, head to System Settings > Users > Change Order
    Select from 6 new Splatoon 2 characters for user icon To edit your user icon, head to your My Page on the top left of the Home Menu > Profile
    Change the system volume from the Quick Settings To access Quick Settings, hold down the HOME Button
    Lower the maximum volume for headphone or speakers connected to the audio jack To lower the max headphone volume, head to System Settings > System > Lower Max Headphone Volume
    This settings will be ON when Parental Controls are enabled
    Change display colors to Invert Colors or Grayscale To use this feature, head to System Settings > System > Change Display Colors
    Connect a USB keyboard to the dock to type whenever the keyboard is on the screen
    Use the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller via wired communication by connecting the USB charging cable To enable, head to System Settings > Controllers and Sensors > Pro Controller Wired Communication
    The NFC touchpoint on the Pro Controller will be disabled while the controller is using wired communication.
    Update connected controllers To update, head to System Settings > Controllers and Sensors > Update Controllers Added a feature that suggests deletion of software data when insufficient space when downloading other software
    User save data is not deleted
    General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience, including:
    Resolved an issue that caused game software updates to fail and prevented the software from starting
    Improvements to prevent unintended HDMI input change with certain TVs while the console is docked in Sleep Mode

    Reply

  11. People think that FNAF, Undertale, and Steven Universe have bad fanbases but dont even talk to me about that when the DaddyOfFive Youtube channel has a fanbase. A fanbase literally defending abusive parents.

    Reply

  12. Update on Nuzlocke.
    I literally barely survived through Victory Road. I had to avoid Trainers! My sole survivor was my Jabu (Poliwrath). I only have 6 pokemon in Total left.
    Jabu (Poliwrath)
    Heather (Noctowl)
    Baile (Lombre)
    Quagmire(Quagsire)
    Bash(Pumpkaboo)
    Le0(Wartortle)
    These re my last 6 pokemon, and its time to take on the league. If I lose once, its all over! Wish me Luck!

    Reply

  14. Tip: NEVER throw both arms out at once against a Ninjara unless they are unable to block or warp
    Doing this makes you an easy target

    Reply

  17. I feel like I almost forgot about Ultra Sun and Moon already due to the Pokemon Switch news and everything else from E3. They definitely did a smart thing by holding that Pokemon Direct, but they really need to bring that hype back. I feel like with Metroid Prime 4 and Pokemon people are focusing a lot on the far future rather than what we’re getting in less than 5 months (which is actually great, it means Nintendo is doing something right)

    Reply

  18. Did my first attempt of Grand Prix earlier with Ninjara on difficulty 4… had some insane games and really awesome saves, even if I had to repeat the final boss three times. The AI is no joke. I can’t even imagine what a difficulty 7 would be like…

    Reply

  22. my best friend’s step-mother makes $85 hourly on the computer . She has been fired from work for nine months but last month her pay check was $17089 just working on the computer for a few hours. see it here ++++++++++
    ➜➜➜http://www.TopUSAGlobalJobsThinkPrime/Wage/Home….
    ✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹✹ik314

    Reply

Leave a Comment