Here's How to Get Free PokéCoins on 'Pokémon Go'

Although, Pokémon Go is free to play, some of the game's earliest advanced players have discovered that you'll probably have to pay up if you really want to be the very best and catch 'em all. Eventually, you'll have to break down and purchase packs of PokéCoins in order to get more Magic Eggs, Poké Balls, and Lure Modules. However, it looks like there's currently at least one way to get your thumbs on precious PokéCoins for free.

As the name suggests, PokéCoins are Pokémon Go's in-game currency that you exchange for premium items in the game's Shop section. Perhaps the easiest (and most tempting) way to obtain PokéCoins is to simply buy them via in-app purchases with your real money (100 PokéCoins costs 99 cents, for example), but why spend your hard-earned cash -- and go down the slippery slope of spending more over time -- when you don't have to? Thankfully, there's another way, and while it's admittedly not as easy, it's totally free. Oh, and it involves kicking some serious [insert your rival team name's] ass, too.

Of course, a quick Google search for "free PokéCoins" will yield tons of results for cheats and hacks that promise unlimited free PokéCoins, but it turns out the only surefire way to truly get them for free involves battling and training at your local Pokémon Gyms, according to a report by Forbes. Specifically, you'll earn PokéCoins by stationing your Pokémon at the Gyms. This can be done two ways: 

1. Training your Pokémon at a friendly Gym (held by your team) to increase its prestige and earn yourself a spot to leave your Pokémon there. 

2. Defeating a gym held by an enemy team, which allows you to claim the Gym for your own team and leave Pokémon behind to defend it. 

Pokémon Go

You'll earn 10 PokéCoins and 500 Stardust for each Pokémon you've successfully placed on a Gym, according to a report by Android Authority, meaning if you have three Pokémon on three different Gyms, you'll earn 30 PokéCoins and 1,500 Stardust. Once you've taken the Gyms, you can cash in by going to the app's Shop section and tapping on the green shield in the top right corner of your screen. However, the game will only let you cash in your PokéCoins once a day and only rewards you for up to 10 Gyms held by your Pokémon, for a maximum of 100 PokéCoins and 5,000 Stardust a day, per the report. For perspective, one Lure Module costs 100 PokéCoins.

Basically, amassing your PokéCoin fortune will require actually going out, training your prized Pokémon, and aggressively battling at gyms, but that's the point of the game, right? In other words, why spend precious hours and Eeevee candy on getting a CP 1,000+ Vaporeon if you don't intend to use it in battle? We hope additional and easier ways of earning free PokéCoins will emerge as the game progresses and changes over time, but until then, have fun battling your way to Pokémon Master glory.

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Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and wants all the PokécoinsSend news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.