So hubby and I have joined the latest craze, Pokemon-Go .
I've been reading up bits and pieces but it just goes to show that you learn more about a game and think up best strategies while you're actually playing it.
Last weekend, some friends organized an attack on a nearby gym. We all went there, attacked (it was super easy to defeat the gym defenders!) and took over the gym. I didn't really know what I was doing, just kept tapping on the screen and whatever icons happened to come out. At one point, one of the kids who were with us glanced at what I was doing and said "you're not even attacking, Tita Popcorn, you're just moving around.".
Haha, kaya pala akala ko madali lang.
They showed me how to get to the store and check out the gold coins you earned for defending the gym.
After that get-together, I sort of had an idea of what to do now. But it wasn't until afterwards, when I started going out and attacking gyms myself when it dawned on me what A said previously. She had made a comment on how we should've entered the weaker pokemons first, that would give a chance for the stronger ones to kill them.
I didn't get the point because we were on the same team, why'd there be a need to defeat the defenders ?
It wasn't until I actually went out and attacked gyms myself and tried to hold them when I realized the A's point.
- You can't fight in a gym until you get to level 5 and pick a team - red, blue or yellow.
- When you see a Pokemon Gym, there is a level indicator. The level tells how many pokemons are currently defending the gym. For example, a level 5 gym will have 5 monsters defending it. A level 2 will have 2 defending it and so on.
- A gym can either be unclaimed (soft gray / white color) or claimed, in which case it will show a badge in the color of the team currently holding it.
- If you have a pokemon parked in a or defending a gym, you earn 10 coins for every day that you hold the gym. Coins can be withdrawn once every 21 hours (there is a timer), you can only get coins for gyms you are currently defending. This means that even if you have been in the gym for a long time but was defeated just before you got to withdraw your coins, you lose them all.
- When you have a pokemon assigned to a gym, you cannot use that pokemon elsewhere. This is where I realized that having 1 strong pokemon of each type isn't enough. You'll need more than 1 if you plan to use it to defend a gym.
- There's no use attacking and holding a gym if there's just you. 1 pokemon isn't enough to hold on to a gym if someone starts attacking. It's better to look for a gym that's currently being held by your team already and when you initiate a friendly fight, it is a training session. Defeating pokemon(s) in a friendly team's gym will increase the prestige points of the team in that gym and eventually will level up the gym. This adds a spot which you can then quickly claim.
And yes, there is nothing stopping someone with very good timing coming in at the last moment and claiming that spot for himself even if he wasn't the one who worked to create that spot.
and this brings me to the next part of my post....
Remember that gym I mentioned attacking and claiming at the start of my post ? Anyway, at some point while I was still there, someone started attacking me. It wasn't difficult because it was only a level 1 gym and only had 1 monster defending it. I watched my pokemon die and saw the gym turn white / gray color that indicates it is unclaimed.
I clicked on it and then that little icon on the corner that lets you put someone inside and was so surprised to see that I actually got to claim it again! As I watched the gym get attacked again, I quickly healed my other monsters and got ready to step in and claim the gym again right after it gets defeated.
Hubby and I were cackling with glee and were so amused at what we considered to be pure evil genius moves. It was super fun.
Repeat 15x +++
It did get tiring after the nth time. And seriously, I did wonder how long i was going to want to sustain it ? But pride pushed me to stay. Eventually, the attacker gave up and I left too.
I defeated 2 other gyms afterwards, held them for a short period of time and realized that I was wasting my time because I was going to get defeated again as soon as I left. So I went and looked for a gym that was already being held by my team. It was a level 5 with 1 pokemon that I could defeat (all the others were too strong!). It took me more than 10 training sessions because since I could only defeat one monster each time, I was only increasing the prestige points a little at a time. I eventually got it to level up and was able to enter a monster.
Let's see how long this lasts.
