Pokémon Go update finally leaves the game for real multiplayer

The ten people who still play Pokémon Go (myself included) must have noticed that the game's gyms are being temporarily shut down for a major update. Yes: the game is finally truly multiplayer and the gyms have gotten a lot more interesting.

For starters, gyms are no longer based on training and prestige. Instead of fighting to gain prestige and get more places in the gym or taking places away from your opponent, gyms will now have six fixed spaces for the team that controls them to place their Pokémon. And there can be no repetition, so no stuffing them with Dragonite or Blissey (phew!).

Battles will take place in the order the Pokémon was placed in the gym and are no longer arranged in ascending order by CP. Oh, and now you can also rotate gyms to get items, just like in PokéStops. Just look:

Also, Pokémon that are in the gym now have a "motivation meter", which works to measure their health in the gym: the more it is defeated, the more it loses motivation and the more it loses CP (temporarily) to make it easier to fight. be defeated. If your Pokemon is losing motivation, just give it a Razz Berry. When it reaches zero, your Pokémon returns to you after the next lost battle.

To encourage people to fight, it's now possible to earn medals for each gym you win. They can be boosted as you battle or increase your Pokémon's motivation and give you rewards when they level up.

Raid battles

This feature is brand new and looks pretty cool. A Raid Battle, still without translation into Portuguese, is a cooperative way to battle in gyms to beat Raid Boss, a very strong Pokémon. Seriously, really strong. Look at this Alakazam's CP in battle:

To enter a Raid Battle, the game needs to activate it (I imagine it shouldn't be something that happens every day). When activated, Pokémon that are in the gym return to their trainers and a huge egg sits on top of the gym with a countdown to indicate that it is in effect. So trainers come in with a Raid Pass, which you can get at the gym (but you can only carry one at a time).

When the countdown is over, the Raid Boss is revealed and you and 20 other trainers must defeat him within five minutes. If you succeed, you will have a chance to capture a very strong Pokemon that should spawn after the battle.

New items

The update will also bring new items to the game, but they can only be obtained if you beat a Raid Boss. These are:

• Rare Candies: Used in the original Pokémon to evolve a pet, in Pokémon Go they work as a candy for any Pokémon. That is, if you use it on a Magikarp, you will get a Magikarp candy.
• Golden raazz berry: Just like the regular Razz Berry, it increases your chance of catching a Pokémon you found. But it increases a lot. It can also be used to fully restore the motivation of a Pokémon that is in the gym.
• Technical Machines (TMs): Also like the original Pokémon, you can use TMs to teach a Pokémon an attack. With Pokémon Go TMs, you can teach a normal attack or a charged attack.

The gym update will only be available for the next few days; Niantic still needs some time with the gyms disabled to make the transformation. Afterwards, Raid Battles will “slowly” be made available to some players over the course of a few weeks. As a beta, players will be invited to test this feature and over time it will be available to everyone.