The Pioneer-medal is awarded for capturing unique Portals.
Mechanics[]
In order to count as a capture, you have to place the first Resonator 
to the Portal. Using Flip Cards (ADA Refactor 
or JARVIS Virus 
) to capture Portals do not count towards the Pioneer-medal.[1]
Strategy[]
Being a very difficult medal to obtain in Onyx (Black), it requires Agents to venture out to new areas, and even Portal-dense areas. Using the Intel map and the "Captured" layer in the Scanner, Agents can see which Portals they have already visited and plan routes accordingly when venturing to maximize the number of unique Portals they visit.
Any captured Portal using the Captured Layer on the Intel map and in the Scanner will be circled in red.