Pokémon Go beta test starts today — here’s how battles work

The next big Pokémon release is coming to phones soon, and it’ll give you plenty of challenges in addition to catching ’em all.

A field test for developer Niantic’s location-based Pokémon Go game starts today on iOS and Android (you can sign up for an invite right here), and The Pokémon Company is going over some new details about how it all works. This new app, which opens up to everyone later this year, is available now to anyone with an invite to the test. Like the typical Nintendo games, it has players working to capture a number of pocket monsters — only Pokémon Go uses your smartphone’s GPS to have you physically walk around the world to find those creatures. We also now are starting to understand how you’ll deploy those captured critters to fight your battles as well. This is a big launch for The Pokémon Company as it looks to give one of gaming’s most important brands a larger presence in the $36.9 billion mobile-gaming market.

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Battling in Pokémon Go takes on a simplified form of what you’re likely accustomed to from the Game Boy, DS, and 3DS iterations on the series. Pokémon gyms are fundamental to Pokémon Go, and they exist in key, real-world locations. One of your primary goals as a trainer is to take over as many gyms as possible for your team. You do this by sending in your crew. They will automatically attack, but you can help the Pokémon avoid damage by swiping left and right on your screen to dodge.

Once you and your teammates battle a gym enough, you can take it over and then assign some of your pocket monsters to defend it. You can then build up your gym’s defenses by training your Pokémon by making them battle against other creatures.

Niantic is still developing Pokémon Go, but we should start getting a clearer picture of how it plays when reports from the test start leaking out over the next few days. Fans of the franchise are always excited for the next thing, and The Pokémon Company wants to please those fans because it could mean a powerful new revenue stream.