We've all felt the burn of a low-CP Pokemon breaking free of a Poke Ball and running away. But a new update to Pokemon Go aims to reduce that particular stress and make catching wild 'mons just a bit easier. And once they're part of your team, you'll have even more opportunities to use them, thanks to the new way gym training is handled.
The update adds capture bonuses based on the medals you've collected and/or will collect throughout your journey. Capture 10 Pokemon of a specific type and you'll get a +1 bonus to capturing more of that type. Capture 20 and the bonus increases to +2. Capture 500 and the bonus rises again to +3. I imagine trainers everywhere are gonna have a lot fewer problem catching Flying and Bug types in particular. Freaking Pidgeys and Weedles everywhere.
As for gym training, you'll now be able to take a team of six with you into a gym of your team's color. This should be a monumental help to more casual players, since even an incredibly strong Pokemon can be worn down when it has to take on six challengers instead of just one. Remember, it's not just gyms of opposing teams you want to visit - strengthening gyms of your own color means there'll be an opening for one of your 'mon, thus earning you some Stardust and Poke Coins.
Last but not least, the update also makes it so you can keep track of how far you've walked your eggs better, without players having to close and reopen the screen every time they want to check in.
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Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.