Pokemon GO Player Takes Down Gym That Had Been Defended for Nearly 3 Years

gamerant.com:

A Pokemon GO player found a gym in the mountains that had been defended for nearly three years. Pokemon GO gyms have been in the augmented reality mobile game since the very beginning, and at first, they represented one of the few ways players could battle in the game.

Pokemon GO players are able to take over a gym for their chosen team and then fill it with Pokemon to defend it. Players can earn coins for successfully defending gyms, which can be spent on helpful items like egg incubators, raid passes, and more. Pokemon GO updates have since added more extensive methods of PvP, but taking over and defending gyms remains an integral part of the experience.

Recently, a Pokemon GO player discovered a gym in the mountains. Reddit user ozgureyb explained in their post that the last time they visited these same mountains, there was nothing Pokemon GO-related in sight, but in the four years since their last visit, a gym had been added. The gym is located in a «small village of 30 people with limited internet access» and most of whom are «elderly people.» The gym was being defended by a shiny Jolteon who had been stuck in there for nearly three years straight, having defended it successfully for 967 days, 6 hours, and 25 minutes.

The Reddit user noticed that the gym was owned by Team Mystic, and since they are Team Valor, they were able to knock the shiny Jolteon out using their Nidoking. The trainer who was defending the gym was only level 25, and so it's unlikely that they even play Pokemon GO anymore, but it would be interesting to learn if they notice that their shiny Jolteon has returned to them.

There have been other reports of isolated Pokemon GO Gyms defended for extensive periods of time. In fact, there was one Pokemon GO gym that was defended for six years by a Weedle. As long as other Pokemon GO players don't find the gyms, one could theoretically defend a gym forever, though there really isn't any in-game advantage to such a feat. Any Pokemon GO players that