What's a gym?

• Gyms are in-game locations that are typically tied to major real-world areas - such as the Bryant Park Fountain or Times Square - where you can battle other trainers.

What is a team, and why do I need to join one?

• When you get to level 5, you'll be asked to choose a team. There are three teams: Team Instinct (yellow), Team Mystic (blue), and Team Valor (red). Once you pick a team, your job is to fight for control of the Pokémon Gyms around your city-if an opposing team controls a gym, you can battle them for dominance; if your team controls a gym, you can train at the gym or place one of your Pokémon at the gym to defend it from opposing teams.
• If you control a gym-or if you have a Pokémon defending a gym (you don't necessarily have to be the gym leader)-you will get a defender reward of PokéCoins and Stardust once a day. The main incentive to control gyms is pride, naturally, but PokéCoins can be used to purchase items in the Shop.

Which team should I pick?

• It doesn't really matter which team you pick, but if you have friends playing the game you'll probably want to get on the same team so you can take over gyms together. The best team, in my unbiased opinion, is Team Instinct!

How do I claim a gym?

• You can claim an empty gym by assigning one of your Pokémon to defend it. To do this, tap the gym on your map and tap the assign button in the lower left corner.
• If a gym is currently occupied by an opposing team, you can claim it by battling its current defenders.

How to Battle:

• Gyms held by rival factions need to be battled for. You can take six Pokémon with you into battle, however Pokémon face off one-on-one, and can use one of two attacks: tapping on the enemy pokémon to do a low-damage light attack, or tap-and-holding to unleash a special attack once your meter has filled.
• You cannot use items during a battle, but you can dodge enemy attacks by swiping left and right.
• To throw a Pokéball, simply "flick" a Pokéball on your phone screen at a Pokémon. Watch out though, toss it too near or too far, and the Pokéball won't do anything. You have to get it just right in order to actually hit the Pokémon.
• Battles continue until one of the pokémon has fainted. And of course, standard pokémon damage type rules are in effect: water pokémon are effective against fire types, fire against grass, etc. Pokémon can be healed or revived using potions and revives that you can obtain from visiting pokéstops.
• Battling in gyms gives your pokémon experience and raises their prestige. The higher the prestige, the more pokémon that can be stationed at the gym, which in turn grants higher daily bonuses of stardust and pokécoins that can be earned.

What is gym prestige?

• Gym power is determined by prestige-the higher a gym's prestige level, the harder it is for an opposing team to conquer it.
• Every time the gym's defenders win a battle against an opposing team, the gym's prestige level gets higher. And every time the gym's defenders lose a battle against an opposing team, the gym's prestige level lowers. If the gym's prestige level is lowered to 0 (by multiple lost battles), the gym opens up and can be claimed by any team.
• Gym prestige can be increased if friendly team members train their Pokémon at the gym (more on training below). As the gym's prestige increases, more defence slots will open up, allowing more friendly team members to assign their Pokémon to defend the gym.
• Higher-level gyms have more slots-a Level 6 gym can have six defending Pokémon, while a Level 10 gym can have 10 defending Pokémon.
• With each gym level increase, the maximum prestige level also increases. So a Level 1 gym has a maximum prestige level of 2,000, but a Level 3 gym has a maximum prestige level of 8,000.

How to Train:

• You can "train" your Pokémon at a friendly gym (a gym owned by your team) by fighting against the Pokémon defending it. To do this, walk up to the gym, tap it, and tap the train icon in the lower right corner.
• When you drop a Pokémon at a defending gym, you will lose the ability to level it up or evolve it until it's defeated and comes back to you. You will not get a notification if your Pokémon faints or is injured in battle and the gym is taken over by another team, but it will show up in your roster to be healed. Keep in mind that you can only take one Pokémon into battle when you train.

What's a gym leader?

• Gym leaders and gym defenders get Stardust and PokeCoins every 21 hours. If you are controlling or helping to defend a gym at the 21st hour, you will get these benefits by going to the Shop and tapping the shield icon in the upper right corner. The highest CP Pokémon defending a gym determines the gym leader.