A Pokemon Go player has shared their sadness at losing a Pokemon to a Gym, as it hasn’t returned from its mission for over 200 days.
In the mainline Pokemon games, players must conquer Gyms by bringing their best Pokemon to bear against the Leader. In Pokemon Go, you’re also expected to defend a Gym in the name of your chosen team.
Once a Gym has been claimed, you can dispatch a Pokemon to defend it, giving other teams a chance to reclaim it. Protecting a Gym is valuable to most players, as you can earn PokeCoins while doing it, which is Pokemon Go’s premium currency that usually costs real money.
The downside to defending a Pokemon Gym is that you lose access to the Pokemon while it’s away. This means you can’t use it for battles against other players or Raids against powerful Legendary Pokemon.
A Pokemon hasn’t returned from a Gym for over 200 days
A user on the Pokemon Go Reddit has shared a screenshot of the Gardevoir they sent to defend a Gym. This stalwart Gardevoir is doing an amazing job, having held its position for over 200 days, preventing it from returning to its owner.
“This is honestly one of the lamest things in pogo. You should be able to recall a Pokémon after a week or some amount of time,” one user wrote, while another said, “Poor thing comes back after a year with only 50 coins to show for it.”
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One user had a suggestion for lengthy Gym stays. “I would love to see some sort of mechanic implemented to prevent accident Pokemon abandonment at gyms. Perhaps a maximum limit that your mon can be at a gym (10 days for example) before it’s automatically kicked out.”
“Perhaps an option to recall your Pokemon after a certain amount of time. Perhaps even the same mechanic, but you earn coins for every day that your mon is in a gym past the initial day (5 coins a day for example).”
The reason for most lengthy stays in Pokemon Gyms is location. People who protect Gyms in busy cities will face many challengers, while those who claim Gyms in remote locations won’t have as much competition, so a powerful defender can hold off competition for indefinite periods of time.
The fact that there’s a PokeCoin limit on Gym stays is a huge waste, as it would incentivize players to battle for Gyms longer. As it stands, that Gardevoir will only bring back as many coins as a Bidoof who protects a Gym for a fraction of the time.