Defending a gym with a high CP rare pokemon that has had its name changed?

Question

Gym attackers get first mover advantage; they get to choose the match-ups. But, what if I defend with a pokemon that most have never seen before, and I change it's name? Then, the attacker can't identify it (without visually searching which is a lot of effort), and so they won't know the type, and attack moves, of what they are fighting. Thus, the attacker can't get the best match-ups. imho: allowing attackers to choose the match-ups makes gym defense impossible.

Is there a flaw in that strategy?

Answer 1

Even if other players could see the nickname you added, which they can't, this still wouldn't work. You're assuming players cannot identify a pokemon or at least its type by looking.

Even if you somehow found a pokemon that people couldn't identify, and obscured the username somehow, your opponent would identify its type after fighting it once and then defeat it.

And even if they couldn't, your opponent has 6 pokemon.

Answer 2

The attacker will still see the Pokemon in the gym and while they don't have it's name, maybe they know or have a friend who knows it based on looks alone. If they really didn't have any clue what that Pokemon was they can go online find any Pokedex and scroll through until they found it. So yes you may slow down some but not those really determined to take gyms.

I would be willing to bet that most of the higher level Pokemon Go players have been playing Pokemon a long enough time to know all of the generation 1 Pokemon by now.