How to Earn Medals and Unlock Rewards in Pokémon GO

There are a total of 60 different medals and most of them have three ranks: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Here’s everything to know.

Medals are a fun way to show off your accomplishments and earn exclusive bonuses in Pokémon GO. Any progress you make in Pokémon GO, whether by catching Pokémon, winning Gym battles, or evolving Pokémon, is automatically counted towards a corresponding medal. There are a total of 60 different medals, with most having three ranks: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Your medal will automatically upgrade to a new rank once you meet the criteria.

Both medals and gym badges feature three ranks, but don’t confuse the two. You get Medals for completing various objectives, whereas you gain badges by earning experience at a specific Gym by participating in Gym-specific activities. Such as defending the Gym or winning a raid. You can also earn rewards by achieving higher ranks of your Gym badges, and you can learn more about them in this guide.

There are three major categories of medals. The first focuses on gameplay progression, which includes tasks such as capturing Pokémon, winning Raid Battles, hatching Eggs, and other aspects of normal Pokémon GO play. The second category focuses on catching specific types of Pokémon, such as Psychic-types or Rock-types. The third category is for medals that you can only receive for participating in real-world events, such as annual Pokémon GO Fests.

If you want to catch the Mythical Pokémon Celebi, it’s worth noting that one of the Special Research tasks requires you to earn the Gold Johto Medal. To do so, you’ll have to catch and register 70 unique Johto region Pokémon to your Pokédex. Here’s everything you’ll need to know about medals in Pokémon GO

Medals which increase the catch rate of Pokémon

Many medals offer bonuses to catching a specific type of Pokémon. The more Pokémon you catch of a particular type, the closer you’ll get to earning medals that make that Pokémon type easier to catch. The Bronze medal requires you to catch 10 Pokémon of a particular kind, Silver requires 50, and Gold requires 200. As a reward, the catch rate is multiplied by 1.1 for Bronze, 1.2 for Silver, and 1.3 for Gold.

While these medals have cool names, echoing Trainer classes you’d encounter in traditional Pokémon games, your Trainer in Pokémon GO will not earn any title. Alas. Here’s a list of all of these medals and their requirements:

• Bird Keeper medal – Catch Flying-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver: 50, Gold: 100)
• Black Belt medal – Catch Fighting-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Bug Catcher medal – Catch Bug-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Delinquent medal – Catch Dark-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Depot Agent medal – Catch Steel-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Dragon Tamer medal – Catch Dragon-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Fairy-Tale Girl medal – Catch Fairy-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Gardener medal – Catch Grass-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Hex Maniac medal – Catch Ghost-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Hiker medal – Catch Rock-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Kindler medal – Catch Fire-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Psychic medal – Catch Psychic-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Punk Girl medal – Catch Poison-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Rocker medal – Catch Electric-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Ruin Maniac medal – Catch Ground-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Schoolkid medal – Catch Normal-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Skier medal – Catch Ice-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)
• Swimmer medal – Catch Water-type Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver 50, Gold: 100)

Gameplay progression Medals which unlock cosmetic items

Select medals will unlock access to exclusive cosmetic items in the store. Unfortunately, you’ll still have to spend PokéCoins actually to obtain these items, but you can learn how to earn PokéCoins without spending real-world money in this guide. The following medals unlock store items when obtained:

Ace Trainer medal – Train against Team Leaders # times (Bronze: 10, Silver 100, Gold: 1,000)

The Ace Trainer medal unlocks the following items in the Store:

• Bronze: Ace Pants (for male Trainers), Ace Skirt (for female Trainers)
• Silver: Ace Boots
• Gold: Ace Vest

Battle Girl medal – Win # Gym battles (Bronze: 10, Silver 100, Gold: 1,000)

The Battle Girl medal unlocks the following items in the Store. These items are available to female Trainers only:

• Bronze: Battle Girl Gloves
• Silver: Battle Girl Shoes, Battle Girl Shorts
• Gold: Battle Girl Tank Top

Fisherman medal – Catch # big Magikarp (Bronze: 3, Silver 50, Gold: 300)

The Fisherman medal unlocks the following items in the Store. These items are available to male Trainers only:

• Bronze: Fisherman Cap
• Silver: Fisherman Shorts, Fisherman Shoes
• Gold: Fisherman Tank Top

Great League Veteran medal – Win # Trainer Battles in the Great League (Bronze: 5, Silver 50, Gold: 200)

The Great League Veteran medal unlocks the following items in the Store:

• Silver: Ace Gloves, Ace Earbud (for male Trainers), Ace Visor (for female Trainers)
• Gold: Veteran Pants (for male Trainers), Veteran Leggings (for female Trainers)

Gym Leader medal – Defend Gyms for # hours (Bronze: 10, Silver 100, Gold: 1,000)

The Gym Leader medal unlocks the following items in the Store:

• Bronze: Gym Leader Gloves
• Silver: Gym Leader Shoes, Gym Leader Shorts
• Gold: Gym Leader Shirt

Jogger medal – Walk a certain distance (Bronze: 10km, Silver 100km, Gold: 1,000km)

The Jogger medal unlocks the following items in the Store. These items are available to male Trainers only:

• Bronze: Jogger Sunglasses, Jogger Visor, Jogger Watch
• Silver: Jogger Shoes, Jogger Shorts
• Gold: Jogger Tank Top

Master League Veteran medal – Win # Trainer Battles in the Master League (Bronze: 5, Silver 50, Gold: 200)

The Master League Veteran medal unlocks the following items in the Store:

• Silver: Ace Shoes, Ace Shorts (for male Trainers)
• Gold: Veteran Boots

Pikachu Fan medal – Catch # Pikachu (Bronze: 3, Silver 50, Gold: 300)

The Pikachu Fan medal unlocks the following items in the Store:

• Bronze: Pikachu Fan Headband
• Silver: Pikachu Fan Shoes, Pikachu Fan Shorts
• Gold: Pikachu Fan Shirt

Ultra League Veteran medal – Win # Trainer Battles in the Ultra League (Bronze: 5, Silver 50, Gold: 200)

The Ultra League Veteran medal unlocks the following items in the Store:

• Silver: Ace Top (for male Trainers), Ace Long Top (for female Trainers)
• Gold: Veteran Jacket (for male Trainers), Veteran Coat (for female Trainers)

Gameplay progression Medals which offer no additional benefits (but are still cool)

These medals offer no significant advantage and exist solely as achievements for your progress in Pokémon GO. You’ll gain nothing for earning these medals except the satisfaction of being the very best like no one ever was:

• Backpacker medal – Visit # PokéStops (Bronze: 100, Silver: 1,000, Gold: 2,000)
• Battle Legend medal – Win # Legendary Raid Battles (Bronze: 100, Silver 100, Gold: 1,000)
• Berry Master medal – Feed Pokémon # Berries at Gyms (Bronze: 10, Silver: 100, Gold: 1,000)
• Breeder medal – Hatch # Eggs (Bronze: 10, Silver: 100, Gold: 500)
• Cameraman medal – Encounter # Pokémon while taking pictures with GO Snapshot (Bronze: 10, Silver: 50, Gold: 200)
• Champion medal – Win # Raid Battles (Bronze: 10, Silver: 100, Gold: 1,000)
• Collector medal – Catch # Pokémon (Bronze: 30, Silver: 500, Gold: 2,000)
• Gentleman medal – Trade # Pokémon (Bronze: 10, Silver: 100, Gold: 1,000)
• Hero medal – Defeat # Team GO Rocket Grunts (Bronze: 10, Silver: 100, Gold: 1,000)
• Hoenn medal – Register # Hoenn Pokémon to Pokédex (Bronze: 5, Silver: 40, Gold: 90)
• Idol medal – Become Best Friends with # Trainers (Bronze: 1, Silver: 2, Gold: 3)
• Johto medal – Register # Johto Pokémon to Pokédex (Bronze: 5, Silver: 30, Gold: 70)
• Kanto medal – Register # Kanto Pokémon to Pokédex (Bronze: 5, Silver: 50, Gold: 100)
• Pilot medal – Combined distance between all Pokémon trades (Bronze: 1,000km, Silver: 100,000km, Gold: 1,000,000km)
• Pokémon Ranger medal – Complete # Research Tasks (Bronze: 10, Silver: 100, Gold: 1,000)
• Purifier medal – Purify # Shadow Pokémon (Bronze: 5, Silver: 50, Gold: 500)
• Scientist medal – Evolve # Pokémon (Bronze: 3, Silver: 20, Gold: 200)
• Sinnoh medal – Register # Sinnoh Pokémon to Pokédex (Bronze: 5, Silver: 30, Gold: 80)
• Unova medal – Register # Unova Pokémon to Pokédex (Bronze: 5, Silver: 50, Gold: 100)
• Unown medal – Catch # Unown (Bronze: 3, Silver: 10, Gold: 26)
• Youngster medal – Catch # tiny Rattata (Bronze: 3, Silver: 50, Gold: 300)

Special, event-only medals

There are a handful of exclusive medals that could only get these by participating in real-world Pokémon GO events. Once an event has passed, the medal is no longer available. These medals exist at Gold rank only and are in the medal list only for those who have obtained them.

• Pokémon GO Fest medal – Obtained at Pokémon GO Fest event in Chicago, Illinois in July 2017
• Pikachu Outbreak 2017 medal – Obtained at Pokémon GO Park event in Yokohama, Japan in Aug. 2017
• GO Safari Zone – Europe 2017 medal – Obtained at Pokémon GO Safari Zone event in Europe in Sept. 2017
• Pokémon GO Fest 2018 medal – Obtained at Pokémon GO Fest event in Chicago, Illinois in July, 2018
• Pokémon GO Special Weekend medal – Obtained at Pokémon GO Special Weekend event in Japan and South Korea in July 2018
• Safari Zone Yokosuka medal – Obtained at Safari Zone Yokosuka event in Yokosuka, Japan in August and Sept. 2018
• Safari Zone Porto Alegre medal – Obtained at Safari Zone Porto Alegre event in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in Jan. 2019
• Safari Zone Sentosa medal – Obtained at Safari Zone Sentosa event in Sentosa, Singapore in April 2019
• Pokémon GO Fest—Chicago 2019 medal – Obtained at Pokémon GO Fest event in Chicago, Illinois in June 2019
• Pokémon GO Fest—Dortmund 2019 medal – Obtained at Pokémon GO Fest event in Dortmund, Germany in July 2019
• Pokémon GO Fest—Yokohama 2019 medal – Obtained at Pokémon GO Fest event in Yokohama, Japan in Aug. 2019
• Safari Zone Montreal medal – Obtained at Safari Zone Montreal event in Montreal, Canada in Sept. 2019