Niantic has today announced some exciting new features for Pokémon Go that include revamped Gyms and all-new Raid Battles.
Starting with the Gyms, Niantic says that the forthcoming “major facelift” will include being able to spin Photo Discs to acquire items at Gyms just as you already do at PokéStops. And in another major change, Gyms will no longer be based on Prestige and training, and instead will now comprise six permanent slots occupied by the Pokémon of the controlling team, each of which must be unique, i.e., you can’t have two Blisseys assigned to a Gym at the same time, for example. Also, opposing teams will now battle the Pokémon in the same order in which they were assigned to the Gym.
The new motivation system for Gyms is also very different. Now, when a Pokémon is assigned to a Gym, you’ll see a motivation meter, which will decrease over time, and when the Pokémon loses in battle. The more motivation a Pokémon loses, the more its CP will decrease temporarily, and the more easily it will be beaten by the opposition.
To help boost your Pokémon’s motivation, you can feed your Pokémon Berries. If it should happen to lose all motivation, it will exit the Gym and be returned to its Trainer as soon as it loses a battle.
It will also now be possible to earn Gym Badges when interacting with Gyms, which can be levelled up by battling, feeding Berries to the Pokémon, and spinning the Gym’s Photo Disc.
The new Raid Battle Feature is expected to roll out slowly over the next few weeks in beta form initially after the Gyms are first upgraded. Raid Battles are cooperative gameplay bouts where you get to work with other Trainers to defeat an incredibly powerful Raid Boss Pokémon. You can earn one free Raid Pass per day from visiting a Gym, and can only hold one at a time. Successfully defeat the Raid Boss within a 5-minute time limit and you can attempt to catch a super powerful Pokémon.
Source: Niantic
