30 Pokemon Go hacks and tips you need to know

15. How to get coins

Unfortunately, items in the store require Pokecoins to purchase. This in-game currency can be tough to obtain. Right now, however, there are two methods of getting them.

First off, you can pay real money, as seen in the screenshot above. 100 Pokecoins sets you back just $0.99, but a serious player might want to buy even more. It’s more efficient to buy the $4.99 or even $9.99 packages if you’re trying to stock up on certain items.

If you really, really need everything, you can drop anywhere from $19.99 to $99.99 on Pokecoins, with $100 getting you 14,500 Pokecoins.

However, there is a free method to obtain coins, albeit at a relatively slow rate. As reported by GamePress at the site’s Pokemon GO wiki, you can obtain coins by defending Gyms. That means assigning a Pokemon to an affiliated Gym. For every Gym you defend, you obtain 10 Pokecoins. The maximum is 100 Pokecoins for 10 Gyms defended.

Of course, you can only reap these rewards once every 21 hours. To get your free coins, simply go to the shop screen. At the top right of the screen, you’ll see a shield icon. Tap on it to get your rewards. It’s a slower method than simply buying as many Pokecoins as you can, but it’s free, which might be more important for certain players.