However that has changed. In an announcement on the Pokemon GO website, Niantic has announced that the game will be getting a new Raid Battle feature. “All around the world, you’ll soon be able to participate in the new Raid Battle feature at Gyms. A Raid Battle is a cooperative gameplay experience that encourages you to work with other Trainers to defeat an extremely powerful Pokémon known as the Raid Boss.”
In order to participate in a Raid Battle, players will be required to own a Raid Pass. This pass can be gotten free by visiting a Gym but is limited to one per day, and players can only hold one at any time. There are also Premium Raid Passes that are available from the game shop, but that will cost you money. Each Raid Battle will allow a maximum of 20 other Trainers to take part in and give players a chance to catch extra powerful Pokemon.
According to Niantic, these changes will be instituted over the course of the next couple of weeks. In the meantime all Gyms will be temporarily disabled while the changes are being made, so do keep an eye out for it if this sounds like something you could be interested in.