How to be featured in Pokémon GO as a Gym Trainer

Last Updated: January 26, 2022

During the Pokémon Go Tour: Johto, players around the world will be able to battle new, featured Pokémon GO Gym Trainers – Trainers just like you and I. And you could be one of them.

Ahead of the last Pokémon Go Tour – based on the Kanto region – applications were opened to the public to appear on other Trainers’ screens across the world as an in-game Pokémon Trainer. Now that the Pokémon Go Tour returns – this time concentrating on Kanto and Johto – players are getting that chance yet again. Whether you made the cut last time, didn’t make it in, or – like us – completely forgot to enter in time, here’s how to get your applications in this time round.

How to apply to be a Pokémon GO Gym Trainer

Applications to become one of the Pokémon GO Tour Gym Trainers are being accepted on Twitter, so you must have a Twitter account in order to enter. Then, to have your application considered by the Pokémon GO team, you need to post a Tweet featuring all of the following criteria.

• A screenshot of your trainer profile, showing your nickname and avatar
• Which Pokémon type you’ll be filling your team with
  • All three Pokémon must be the same type
  • You can choose from Normal, Fighting, Flying, Bug, Ghost, Ice, Dragon, or Steel
• The three Pokémon on your team
  • They must be from either Kanto or Johto and from the chosen type
  • No Mythical or Legendary Pokémon allowed, or Ditto
• The hashtag #PokémonGOTourContest

Upload your Tweet with all of the above information included before the closing date and time (below), and your avatar will be considered as one of the Pokémon GO Tour Gym Trainers! What’s more, you don’t need to have a paid-for ticket for the GO Tour event in order to enter.

According to the Pokémon Go blog post, successful entries will be chosen based on the consistency of the overall theme of your avatar and team, avatar item choices, and connection to your team’s type. For example, the above entry is very Ghost-themed, but perhaps you’re more a Flying-type fan, and you’d have Togetic on your team while wearing the Togepi Pattern Hoodie? Or maybe your Ledyba Pokémon Shirt perfectly matches your Ledian-led Bug team?

When are applications being accepted?

If you want to be in with a chance of being one of this year’s Pokémon GO Gym Trainers, you need to have your application in via Twitter before the following deadlines:

What is a Pokémon GO Gym Trainer?

While not much information has been given about these new Pokémon GO Gym Trainers yet, we can make some guesses based on the previous Pokémon GO Tour. Last year, the in-game trainers were called GO Tour Challengers, and they appeared at Pokéstops, similar to Team Go Rocket. Upon interacting with the Pokéstop, Trainers were able to battle the Challenger in a 3 v 3 face-off. Perhaps we can expect a very similar Battle interaction this year, but with the difference that your opponents will appear in Gyms instead of Pokéstops. This would be a good idea since it would bring a new level of interactivity to Pokémon GO Gyms, while leaving Pokéstops for Team GO Rocket Grunts and Leaders. Also, we know from main Pokémon titles and the anime that Pokémon Gyms are based on a specific type, which would also feed into the type requirement.

Whatever gameplay these new GO Gym Trainers offer, we’re certainly excited to see some of you in-game… And hopefully ourselves, too. Fingers crossed and good luck! Let us know in the comments below which team you’re choosing!