If you’ve played Pokemon Go enough, you’d know that taking over a Pokemon Go gym in Singapore is no simple feat. The competition is intense – you take over one Pokemon Go gym, only to find that your prized Pokemon gets unceremoniously kicked out mere minutes (or even seconds) later.
However, just because it’s tough to win a Pokemon Go gym doesn’t mean you should miss out on the fun! After all, battling has always been one of the most exciting aspects of Pokemon, and also because winning simply feels awesome.
We know how shiok it feels like when you finally manage to take over a Pokemon Go gym (even if it’s just for 10 seconds). That’s why we’ve done the research. Here are some tips that will make it easier for you to take over a Pokemon Go gym!
If you’d like to know how to become a Pokemon Go gym leader with less effort, simply read on!
Image Credits: The Daily Dot
But first… What’s so great about becoming a Pokemon Go gym leader?
That’s a good question. Aside from bragging rights and a sense of accomplishment, being a gym leader allows you to earn PokeCoins.
These can be exchanged for really useful items like Incense, Lure Modules, incubators and so on in the shop. The more Pokemon you have stationed in gyms, the more coins and stardust you get.
The rewards can be collected every 21 hours, so the longer you can keep a gym, the more rewards you reap as well.
Image Credits: Isaac Wendt
Now that you’re convinced, it’s time for the 5 tips you’ve all been waiting for!
1. Battle smart – know what works well and what doesn’t
If you’ve attempted battling some gyms, you’d probably have noticed the words “super effective!” or “not very effective…” appearing from time to time.
That’s because different Pokemon have different types (such as water, fire or electric). They also have different move types. All of which have their various strengths and weaknesses.
2. Pokemon types
Some of these are pretty straightforward.
- Water is super effective against fire.
- Fire is super effective against grass.
- Electric is super effective against water (because water conducts electricity, you know).
These are a little more complicated:
- Psychic-type attacks are super effective against Poison- and Fighting-type Pokemon
- Bug-type attacks are strong against Psychic- and Grass-type Pokemon
- Dragon-type Pokemon are weak to Fairy-type, Ice-type and Dragon-type attacks
- Flying-type Pokemon are weak to Ice-, Rock- and Electric-type attacks
- Psychic-type Pokemon are weak to Bug-, Ghost- and Dark-type attacks
Some, however, are pretty tricky. If you didn’t know much about Pokemon before you started Pokemon Go, you may find them tough to remember.
If you’re not sure what type your Pokemon is, it’s reflected at their profile page! Jynx – Ice & Psychic. Pikachu – Electric. Vaporeon – Water.
Some Pokemon have dual types (like Jynx), further complicating the matter.
According to Bulbapedia, “if the defending Pokémon is dual-typed, the modifier is calculated as the product of the modifiers for both of its types: a Flying-type move would hit for 4× damage on a Bug/Grass Pokémon, while a Ground-type move used against the same would do only a quarter of the normal damage. (A complete ineffectiveness against either type will make the move deal no damage, since 0 multiplied by any number is 0.)”
To put it simply, Pokemon that have dual types can have their strengths or weaknesses multiplied further (or neutralised even) based on the moves that are used on them. That makes for even more combinations to memorise. Confusing, isn’t it?
Image Credits: Tumblr
3. Table of Pokemon types & moves
Below is a table of Pokemon types and move types, as well as their respective effectiveness against various other Pokemon types.
1x denotes a normal amount of damage, while 1/2x denotes half the amount of damage (“not very effective”) and so on.
Image Credits: GameFAQs
Really complicated stuff, eh?
So, why does all this matter? Knowing what works against your opponent makes for a speedier and easier battle, so you won’t have to spend too much time or resources simply battling one gym.
Image Credits: VS Battles
4. Pokemon commonly found in gyms in Singapore & and how to defeat them
Alright, so this is a continuation from the tip above. Since it’s impossible to remember everything all at once, we’ve decided to shortlist some Pokemon often seen in gyms in Singapore and how to go about defeating them as efficiently as possible.
Gyarados:
Image Credits: compute.info
A dual Water- and Flying-type, this Pokemon is doubly weak against Electric-type moves, so bring out that Magneton, Electabuzz or Jolteon!
Lapras:
Image Credits: YouTube
Lapras is both a Water- and Ice-type Pokemon, so again, Electric-type Pokemon can do the trick. Fighting-, Rock- and Grass-type attacks should be able to score some hits too. although Rock- and Grass-type Pokemon are weak to Water- and Ice-type attacks too, so exercise some caution.
Dragonite:
Image Credits: Imgur
As mentioned above, Dragonite is weak to Dragon-, Fairy- and Ice-type attacks. However, as both a Dragon- and Flying-type, it’s also weak to Rock-type attacks, while Grass-, Bug-, Fighting- and Ground-type attacks are practically useless against this powerful Pokemon.
Steel-type Pokemon (such as Magneton) also resist Dragon-type attacks, so you may want to take that into consideration as well. That being said, if you have the Fairy-type Pokemon Clefable or Wigglytuff, you’ll probably fare pretty well too.
Snorlax:
Image Credits: YouTube
This Normal-type Pokemon may have a lot of HP and good defense stats, but it’s weak to Fighting-type attacks, so use a Machoke, Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan if you can!
If you don’t have a good Fighting-type Pokemon, fret not, because Pokemon like Magmar and Pinsir possess Fighting-type moves sometimes. Ghost-type attacks also don’t work on Normal-type Pokemon, so don’t bring your Ghost Pokemon into battle!
5. Take down gyms with fellow teammates
Although you may now know various tips and tricks to taking over gyms, doing it alone is still really tough. And that’s why you need to call your friends for backup!
Fighting together means that you can take the Pokemon down much quicker. You’ll notice extra attacks from elsewhere targeting the opponent, which means your own Pokemon are less likely to faint. It’s really much faster this way, and you can save on those precious Super and Hyper Potions too!
Image Credits: International Business Times UK
Of course, even with all this knowledge, it’s still important to have strong Pokemon, so that you’ll be in better position to battle as well as hold on to your Pokemon Go gym leadership.
Remember: be sure to collect your PokeCoins from the shop as soon as you’ve taken over (unless you’re super confident you can hold on to that gym for a while). Otherwise, your efforts would have been wasted.
Now that you’ve read these tips, we hope that you’ll be more well-prepared to take over some gyms and finally be able to conquer ’em all! Let’s go!
Header credits: Imgur
Also, read Singapore’s Late Night Eats Near MBS, Yishun And More For Pokemon Go Addicts!
