Pokémon Go Gyms: How to defend, attack, earn coins, get stardust and more

How do you attack a rival Gym?

The attacking process in Gyms is pretty straight forward.

Pokemon Go Attacking Gyms

Pokemon Go Attacking Gyms (Image credit: iMore/Rene Ritchie)

1. Approach a Gym until you're within range. It has to be controlled by a team other than your own.

2. Tap on the Gym.

3. Tap the Battle button.

4. Tap a Pokémon to swap it out for a different Pokémon. (One better suited to counter the rival Pokémon)

Pokemon Go Attacking Gyms 2

Pokemon Go Attacking Gyms 2 (Image credit: iMore/Rene Ritchie)

5. Tap on Go Battle.

6. FIGHT!

7. Tap to attack with a Quick Move.

8. Touch and hold to attack with a Charge Move. (When the charge meter is full.)

9. Swipe left or right to dodge an attack.

10. Tap the Quit button, middle right, to abandon the fight. (Looks like a runner.)

11. Tap the Swap button, bottom right, to switch Pokémon during a fight. (Looks like up and down arrows.)

The battle continues until your six Pokémon lose all their CP, or you run out of time and lose, or all the defending Pokémon lose all their CP, are defeated, and then lose some Motivation.

How do you kick Pokémon off the Gym?

Pokemon Go Gym reduce Motivation battles

If a defender's motivation is already empty, you can kick it off after one battle. If its motivation is full, though, you have to first empty it, then you can kick it off.

If no one is feeding it while you attack, a Pokémon with full motivation takes three battles to kick from a Gym.

Daryl Baxter
Features Editor

Daryl is iMore's Features Editor, overseeing long-form and in-depth articles and op-eds. Daryl loves using his experience as both a journalist and Apple fan to tell stories about Apple's products and its community, from the apps we use every day to the products that have been long forgotten in the Cupertino archives.

Previously Software & Downloads Writer at TechRadar, and Deputy Editor at StealthOptional, he's also written a book, 'The Making of Tomb Raider', which tells the story of the beginnings of Lara Croft and the series' early development. His second book, '50 Years of Boss Fights', came out in June 2024, and has a monthly newsletter called 'Springboard'. He's also written for many other publications including WIRED, MacFormat, Bloody Disgusting, VGC, GamesRadar, Nintendo Life, VRV Blog, The Loop Magazine, SUPER JUMP, Gizmodo, Film Stories, TopTenReviews, Miketendo64, and Daily Star.