While catching Pokemon is one of the key aspects of "Pokemon Go," another one that quite a few gamers have difficulty with is taking over rival gyms. Once a gamer completes level five, he/she becomes eligible to join one of the three teams in the game and start battling in gyms. This is exactly where the real game begins.

So, how do you battle? What exactly gym levels mean? And can you make a Pidgeot a strong Pokemon Gym fighter? We've got answers to all that and much more!

Locate You Local Gym

If you've spent any time playing the hit augmented-reality game, chances are you've come across your local Gym.

A "Pokemon Go" Gym is a place where gamers put their Pokemon against each other in a fight. Besides, a Gym is also an important facet in the world of Pokemon as they are where trainers train their Pokemon. They're just as important in the realm of "Pokemon Go" for exactly the same reason. But, there is twist in "Pokemon Go," you have to choose one of three team - Valor, Instinct, or Mystic - and this is tied to the gyms you take over. If you notice a grayed out gym on your "Pokemon Go" map, that's an unclaimed gym that you can walk up to (in real life) and then claim for the team you belong to.

That being said, most gyms at this point are already claimed.

Practice Battling In A Friendly Gym Before The Real Thing

Don't fight a Pokemon that you can't defeat. If your best Pokemon doesn't have higher CP rating (combat power), chances are you'll lose the fight. It is important to train up your Pokemon first by going to a gym owned by your team and compete in friendly battles. Aside from learning the ins and outs of battling, you'll also get XP for leveling up.

Moreover, your team gets "Prestige" from your battle, and this is how gyms become higher level. In other words, by battling in friendly matches at a gym controlled by your team, you're actually making that gym stronger against any future attacks from other teams.

Understanding Gym Levels

So you're all set to battle. Great! But before you make your next move, it is important to know what do these stats and numbers and stuff really mean?

Knowing the gym's level is crucial as levels indicate how many Pokemon you may be squaring off against. For instance, if the gym is level 1, you have only Pokemon to fight and defeat to take it over. Similarly, if a gym is a level 2, then you have to fight and defeat two Pokemom, and so on, TheBusinessInsider reported.

To find out which Pokemon you'll be squaring off against and in which order, simply swipe through the Pokemon listed for a given gym.

What Does CP (Combat Power) Mean?

Every Pokemon will have a number that is marked as 'CP' by their name even when you first encounter them to catch in the wild. This information is shown in the menus and beyond. CP simply stands for "Combat Power," and is an essential measurement of a Pokemon's strength, replacing the level system from the older games, VG 24/7 reported.

Gamers should bear in mind that it is imperative to first train up your Pokemon to fairly high CP levels before battling Pokemom at a gym.

How To Pick The Pokemon You're Going To Battle With?

"Pokemon Go" automatically decides a roster of six Pokemon you own to do battle. However, you can change the order they'll appear in or if you don't want to use any of the six Pokemon, you can change that by tapping on any of the Pokemon in your set up and replacing them before battle.

How Do I Battle?

You'll need to know three basic commands i.e. Tap, swipe and long press. Here's how each works:

Fast Attack (tap): Simply tap your Pokemon to execute a fast attack. Fast attacks charges your special attack meter too.

Dodge attacks (swipe): In order to dodge attacks, simply swipe left or right.

Special Attack (long press): As soon as your special attack meter is charged, you can perform a special attack by long-pressing your Pokemon. Special Attacks result in a lot of damage to the opponent.

Although you're likely to be defeated in your first battle, the good news is that your Pokemon that lost a fight are still there.

How To Make Pidgeot A Strong Pokemon Gym Figher?

Quite a few players ignore Pidgey when they come across them in the wild, not realizing that an aptly evolved Pidgeot could be a great Pokemon Gym fighter. Here's how you can make Pidgeot a strong Pokemon Gym fighter.

Reedit user yoadknux posted quite an interesting observation about evolving a Pidgey to a Pidgeotto to its third evolution i.e. Pidgeot. With its flying wing or hurricane attack this Pokemon is a great choice in gym battles.

Despite the low stats, the Pidgeot's Hurricane attack is cited as one of the most powerful attacking move in gym battles.

Pidgeot - Gym Fighter

Based on its CP, Pidgeot is quite effective in offensive attacks against Fighting, Bug and Grass Pokemon types. However, when it comes to real battle gyms, there are hardly any fully evolved Grass type Pokemon creatures in the game. Moreover, trainers are not confident about leaving Bug type Pokemon as defenders in gyms.

Usually, gamers go for Fire Type Pokemon rather than Pidgeot. This choice is actually understandable considering the fact that Pidgeot is a weak gym defender.

Hatched Pidgeys Boast Higher IV than Wild Ones

Due to some sort of error, the Pokedex allots higher IV to hatched Pidgey than those that were actually caught in the wild. As a result several Pidgeots fail to evolve the right movesets.

Taking this into consideration, players are advised to avoid evolving their Pidgeotto to Pidgeot and just transfer them instead. Another benefit of not evolving the Pidgeotto to Pidgeot is that trainers will not end up wasting the much-valued EXP just for evolving a Pidgeot, which probably boast just one good moveset out of six. The Hurricane moveset is currently the Pidgeot's best weapon; while the other five are not as effective.

In other words, it is not worth level points as evolving the Perfect Pidgeot is dicey at best.

Watch the video below for more information about how to evolve the best Pidget Pidgeotto Pidgeot and share your experience about using your strongest Pokemon in a gym battle in the comments section below!