As a huge Pokémon fan this game was a disappointment. It was a great idea but one of my favorite parts of playing Pokémon was leveling them up through battles not constantly catching others. Also battling other in gyms were fun but lost its appeal quickly for me. Maybe gym badges from the gyms someone would beat the first time around would be a good motivator to travel for more competitive players.
Batmànn about Pokémon GO, v1.37.2