Hey I got this idea while I was running a few errands and thought I would drop it here before I forget.
Would it be possible to implement a player-controlled gym(s)? Say for the highest ranking player(s), or tournament winners, or through a battle system, they are granted control of a gym during a temporary period.
Benefits of the Gym could be gradual income gain, reduced item costs for potions, pokeballs, etc, or any other in-game features that are to be implemented such as temporary XP boost for your pokemon. This will help give end-game players a chance to compete for a structure at a constant pace. Say the Gym was contested every weekend or so.
The gym could have a badge that is only received when you conquer the gym and claim it for the duration of its timer. This could be expanded upon to have multiple gyms, thereby giving players additional structures to try for.
Once you obtain the badge even when you lose the gym you would still retain the badge indicating you had conquered it.
I'm just spitting out ideas but maybe this is something that could be worked with?
