The new motivation system in Pokemon Go. (Niantic)
Gyms have officially re-opened in Pokemon Go. As soon as players start stationing Pokemon in gyms, they’ll notice that the Pokemon now have hearts above them, with this clearly being some sort of meter that can be drained. So what exactly does this heart symbol indicate?
The new hearts above a Pokemon indicate how much “motivation” it has. In the new version of the game, all Pokemon in gyms have a certain level of “motivation,” which starts full and is gradually drained the more the Pokemon loses in battle. The Pokemon also just generally loses motivation over time, regardless of whether it’s defeated in battle.
The motivation is not the same thing as CP, although they are connected, as a Pokemon loses CP as it loses motivation. Not every Pokemon does so at the same rate, though, as Pokemon with high CP lose motivation quicker, and Pokemon with lower CP lose it slower.
When a Pokemon has lost all of its motivation, the next time it loses in battle, it will be kicked out of the gym. The goal of fighting in gyms therefore has become trying to lower the motivation of all of the Pokemon in a given gym; once you kick out all six Pokemon, the gym can be taken over.
However, a Pokemon’s motivation can be restored by feeding it berries. Any type of berry will increase a Pokemon’s motivation the same amount except for Golden Razz Berries, which bring a Pokemon’s motivation all the way up to 100 percent. However, the Golden Razz Berry can only be obtained through Raid Battles, a feature that is not yet available.
If you want to fully restore your Pokemon’s motivation, though, you can’t just continuously feed it berries. That’s because when you feed a Pokemon multiple berries in a row, the berries provide the Pokemon with less and less motivation. This discourages players from simply visiting their gym over and over again and constantly keeping their Pokemon at high motivations so that no one can take the gym down. It also encourages cooperation, as although you can’t replenish a Pokemon by giving it many berries in a row, one of your teammates can give it a second berry which will provide just as much motivation as the first one you gave it.