Pokémon will appear using your phone's GPS so if you're near water you chances of finding water-based Pokémon and at night psychic Pokémon, but this can be altered in some locations.
Check the bottom-right corner of the screen, watch the small tab it will display nearby Pokémon. Tapping the tab and it will open a window showing the rough distance you are from all Pokémon in the area. Distance is represented by foot steps; 3 Means it’s far 2 it's moderate & 1 close. It doesn't tell you the direction you’ll have to watch the changes in footsteps under each Pokémon icon.
Selecting one of the nearby Pokémon icons will show you the distance to that Pokémon.
So moving your phone around in different directions until a green light flashes around the white rectangle. This indicates the direction to head to find the Pokémon.
Checking in at PokeStops is a bit like tagging yourself on Facebook at various locations. You wouldn't do it for your local corner shop, but you might for Trafalgar Square in London, the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal – just for the bragging rights, right?
Well PokeStops, those blue triangular markers on the map, work in a similar way. Although you might get some useful items at the PokeStop down your road, heading to ones in well-known locations or busier city centres means you're getting all the best kit.
If you're walking about playing Pokémon GO, keep an eye out for PokeStops that are shrouded in falling pink petals. The petal indicate that someone else has left a lure module there and there's a Pokémon party going on - for the next 30 minutes anyway.
When you take a look at the Pokémon lurking in the surrounding area, Pokémon GO will offer up silhouettes for any Pokémon that you haven't yet bopped with a Pokéball. After something specific? You'd do well to learn its silhouette before you go pelting off into the night in your dressing gown after a Seaking that turns out to be to be a puny Magikarp.
It's a bit tricky as the GPS is not always reliable. Watch the pulsing rings around your trainer they will change as you get closer to the Pokémon. The footsteps will begin to decrease 3, 2, 1, zero.
When they disappear the Pokémon is right where you are.
Tap on screen, the Pokémon creature will appear in about 10 seconds or less.
When a Pokémon appears and it's on the screen, tap it and begin the catching process. It doesn't matter how far away it is from you.
The distance between you and a brand new Pokéfriend is measured in Poké paw prints.
One paw print suggests a Pokémon is very close by, two paw prints for a little further away and three paw prints for a Pokémon that can only be found after a right old trek.
If a Pokémon flees from you while you’re trying to catch it, check the map, it may still be around and you can try again.
Don't buy Pokéballs try using Incense and Lure modules! You can buy Incense in the Pokémon GO shop or grab it by leveling up. Incense attracts Pokémon and increases your chance of catching rare Pokémon. Incense also lowers the probability of them fleeing.
Lure modules work in a similar way. Apply to the Pokéstop in which you use them. Lures attract Pokémon to your location for half-an-hour. That benefits every players in the area. Look a spot on your map with pink confetti-like animation. Go to that spot for a better chance at finding Pokémon. If you use some incense then you’re likely to be swarmed by the little monsters.
How to train and evolve your Pokémon
When you’ve caught a 'Pokémon copy' the game is not over. In Pokémon GO you have to try and catch as many of each Pokémon as you as well as every Pokémon possible. The only way to power up and evolve your Pokémon is by feeding them candies and stardust. You can collect candies and stardust by catching Pokémon, hatching Pokémon, and then transferring them to Professor Willow. Just remember that transferring them cannot be reversed. Deposit only your weaker 'extra' Pokémon keep your strongest Pokémon.
How to evolving Pokémon with candies
Evolve Pokémon is one of the main goals of the game and it takes a lot of effort. In order to evolve, for example, an Eevee, you will need 50 Eevee candies. Every Eevee you catch nets you three candies, and transferring them grants you another per transferred Pokémon. For each extra Eevee you catch and transfer, you get four candies so you’ll need to catch about 13 Eevees to evolve just one.
Different Pokémon evolutions require different amounts of candies. Evolving a Ghastly to Haunter, only requires 25 Ghastly candies, whereas evolving a Haunter to a Gengar will require another 100 Ghastly candies. Candies only come in basic Pokémon varieties, and are rewarded for catching any Pokémon in a particular evolutionary chain.
For every Pokémon you catch you'll be gifted three or so of that Pokémon's particular flavour of candy. For example, you get three Pidgey candies per Pidgey, and another if you trade your Pidgey in to Professor Willow.
If you want to evolve a Magikarp to a Gyarados, you’ll need a whopping 400 Magikarp candies. While catching so many copies of the same Pokémon may sound tedious at first, it becomes addictive, especially when you consider that evolving your Pokémon greatly increases their CP and HP, or Hit Points, making them more effective in battle.
Powering up a Pokémon with stardust
Powering up a Pokémon requires fewer candies - generally just one or two - it also requires stardust. You can earn stardust by catching Pokémon and by claiming Gyms. The higher you increase a Pokémon's power, the more stardust each upgrade will require. Like evolving, powering up increases the HP and CP of your Pokémon, only at a slower rate. The half-circle meter that rests above your Pokémon shows how far along it is to reaching its full potential, but it is relative to your current level. As a general rule of thumb, try to hold off on powering up your Pokémon too much before they’re fully-evolved, as evolving is a better use of your candies. You’re also more likely to find higher CP Pokémon the higher your level, and the more you play. So powering them up doesn’t add too much value in the early stages of the game.
Lucky Eggs
Lucky Eggs are in-game items that you receive after hitting level 9, or you can purchase them in the shop. They double the amount of experience points you collect in a span of 30 minutes. One trick you can use to level up quicker is to hold onto every type of Pokémon you catch. Then, activate a Lucky Egg and begin evolving your common Pokémon. While doing this, you should also try to activate a Lure Module or Incense to catch as many Pokémon as you can - it also doubles the amount of experience points you get. Fighting a friendly or enemy gym helps, too. Doing all this will maximize the amount of points you can get, and it’s all doubled thanks to the Lucky Egg.
Until Nintendo introduce trading, the only other way to collect Pokémon besides catching and evolving them is by hatching Pokémon eggs. You collect Pokémon eggs as rewards for leveling up, and randomly at Pokéstops. Eggs do require a couple things in order to hatch, however.
What to do if your bag is full
At some point, however, your bag will be completely full but don’t stop accessing the Pokéstops. Keep tapping and spinning - you might not be getting items, but your trainer will be getting experience for every Pokéstop you access. And since Pokéstops reset every five minutes or so, you can access them again and again for items and experience.
On top of the items you get from Pokéstops and leveling your trainer, there is also a store in the game where you can spend real-world money on Pokécoins - $1 equates to 100 coins, which you can use to buy items via in-app purchases. These include rarer items like incense, lucky eggs, and lure modules, along with large quantities of Pokéballs and expanded item or Pokémon storage.
Unlike the classic game series, battles in Pokémon GO are relegated to team-versus-team battles over the control of Gyms. What gyms you can challenge depend on what team you join, and your Pokémon’s efficacy in battle relies on both careful planning and quick reflexes. Use this guide to make the most of your Pokémon’s combat abilities, and come out victorious.
Picking a team
At level 5, you’ll be able to join one of Pokémon GO‘s three teams: Instinct (yellow), Mystic (blue), or Valor (red). Although picking a team is a binding decision, which one you go with doesn’t matter all that much. All it does is determine what gyms you are allied with or rivaled against, despite what some on the internet may have you believe.
Gym battles and how to control gyms
In your travels, you will come across gyms. These are currently the only way to challenge your might against other trainers’ Pokémon. To challenge a gym, you’ll need to be close enough to the real-world location to begin a battle. Once you’re in proximity to it, you’ll be able to assemble a team of up to six Pokémon to battle against that gym’s team if it is held by a rival team.
Unlike the handheld games, where battles play out in turn-based RPG fashion, Pokémon GO‘s battles are real-time, action-based affairs. To attack, you tap your Pokémon, or hold down on the screen to use a special attack. Swiping left or right will also allow you to dodge the enemy’s attacks. Dodging can be a bit finicky depending on your connection, and even laggy at times.
To ensure victory, even in the face of a spotty connection, follow these tips:
A Pokémon’s strength is measured by its CP, and Pokémon with higher CP will almost always outmatch a Pokémon with lower CP. That said, you can always evolve or power up a Pokémon with candies and stardust to increase its CP. However, even if your Pokémon are weaker than the enemy’s, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll lose because…
Pokémon have certain weaknesses and resistances. Pay attention to the types of Pokémon you’re going up against, and the attacks your Pokémon know. Each Pokémon knows two attacks - a basic attack and a special attack - that have a type associated with them. Peck is a flying-type attack, for example, while water gun is a water-based attack. If you’re going up against fire, take a Pokémon with water type attacks, because they’ll do more damage. Other examples: water is susceptible to electric, grass is susceptible to fire, etc. There are several elemental types in the game, and each has its own weaknesses. Check out the handy chart below to maximize your Pokémon’s effectiveness in battle.
Pokémon-go-types
Two Pokémon of the same species will not always know the exact same attacks. You may have a Pidgey with peck, and another with tackle. Keep that in mind when building your team.
As you attack, tiny blue bars under your Pokémon’s health gauge will fill up. Once they’re full, you can unleash special moves by pressing and holding down on your Pokémon. Special attacks do more damage than regular attacks.
If your Pokémon faint or become injured during battle, revive and heal them with revives and potion (both found at Pokéstops) before attempting another battle.
To ensure that an allied gym doesn’t fall into enemy hands, you can increase its level to add more Pokémon. A level 2 gym, for example, can hold two Pokémon. Each player can only assign one Pokémon per gym. If a friendly gym is only at level 1, you can raise its prestige by defeating the defending Pokémon with only one of your choosing. Defeating them will increase the gym’s prestige and once it reaches the next level, you or another player, will be able to add a Pokémon. The higher the gym level means more Pokémon will be defending it - that also means it will be tougher for the enemy team to claim it.
Join forces with other trainers. You can fight against enemy gyms alongside other players, and that makes taking down a rival gym much easier.
For every Pokémon you defeat at a rival gym, you’ll knock down the gym’s prestige level, and your Pokémon will gain experience. So, even if you fail to beat every Pokémon at a gym, you can still whittle down the gym’s prestige, and make it easier for other trainers on your team to take it over. Again, teamwork pays off!
How to get Pikachu Gold
Well, it's all down to the Pokémon Gyms. When you battle a fellow trainer and their team and win, you'll grab yourself some gold. If you can defeat every trainer currently sitting at that Gym, you'll take the Gym for your Team and then you'll earn Gold as long as you continue to hold it.
You receive 10 coins and 500 dust for holding a Gym every 20 hours - but actually holding on to a Gym for that long is pretty tricky.
There's a less violent way to get yourself some gold. If you pass a Gym that's already taken by your Team, you can leave a Pokémon there to help defend it while you're away.
You can leave 10 Pokémon at Gyms at any one time, just make sure to tap the shield in the top right hand corner every now and then to see if you have any gold to collect.
You can spend real-world money on Pikachu Gold. 100 Coins is 79p, 550 Pokécoins is £3.99, 1,200 is £7.99, 2,500 is £14.99, 5,200 is £29.99 and a whopping 14,500 Pokécoins is £79.99.
How to catch Pikachu as a Starter Pokemon
At the start of the game you'll be offered one of the three main Starter Pokemon - Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur. But, if you want Pikachu there's a workaround. When you notice the three startup characters waiting, don't tap them or walk towards them. Walk away from them until your phone vibrates and the trio pop up again. Keep going until they've reappeared four or five times and then suddenly Pikachu will appear. It's up to you to catch Pikachu.
How to defend your gym
If you manage to beat all the Pokémon at a given gym and lower its prestige to zero, you’ll can take over it. You’ll have to assign a Pokémon to defend the gym, and if multiple trainers in your team add Pokémon (depending on the gym level), the one with the highest CP becomes the gym leader. You may even come across an unclaimed gym while wandering around. If you do, post up one of your stronger Pokémon to defend it on behalf of your team. Be aware that putting a Pokémon in a gym means it will be unavailable until it is defeated and returned to you.
Maintaining control of a gym does not impart any bonuses or benefits to your Pokémon; it simply increases the prestige of the gym, and a higher prestige means more trainers can add Pokémon to defend it. So, maybe don’t leave you’re highest level Pokémon behind — they could be gone for a long time. However, that shouldn’t stop you from trying to power up your team and take on as many gyms as possible, as every day you maintain control of a gym nets you daily bonus items, including stardust and Pokécoins. You can only collect these bonus items every 20 hours.
Before long, you’ll have a cadre of high-powered Pokémon and probably a few gym captures to your name. However, there’s always more to learn. Here are a few final miscellaneous tips to help you before you set out.
Don’t forget daily bonuses
Don’t forget your daily bonuses for controlling a gym. These can include rare and helpful items — even Pokecoins.
Walk, don’t ride
Walking and running is better than playing on the bus or train, as it will be easier for the game to accurately know your GPS position. Also, please don’t play while driving a car or riding a bike. Not only is this extremely dangerous and hazardous to others, your catching skills will suffer due to your lack of attention. If you need to catch a Pokémon while driving, bring a friend along to play in the passenger seat. Even this can be problematic though, as moving at high speeds will sometimes confuse the servers, which, in turn, can mess up the appearance of Pokémon. Moving too quickly can also cause Pokéstops to stop working properly, and can prove problematic when you’re trying to cover more distance.
Keep the app open
Pokémon GO can be a battery hog, but if you’re serious about finding Pokémon and hatching your eggs efficiently, then try to keep the app open and running for as long as possible. Of course, only do so if you can manage the distraction. Keep it off while driving or operating vehicles, stay aware of your surroundings, and don’t drain your battery just for a potential shot at a Dratini. But, if you’re in a suitable location, and can spare the battery life, then what are you waiting for?
Pokémon GO will get trading, more customisation in bi-weekly updates
First, you’ll need an incubator. Trainers will be rewarded with an incubator with unlimited uses early on for leveling up, and you can collect limited-use incubators at Pokéstops. These are usually good for about three uses. Once you’ve got your egg in an incubator, you’ll need to walk. Each egg will have its own distance requirement, ranging from 2km, 5km, and 10km. Once you’ve walked the required distance, the egg will hatch. The longer the distance requirement, the more likely it will be a rarer or stronger Pokémon. However, don’t neglect hatching smaller eggs. They still yield more experience and candies than if you were to catch the Pokémon.
WARNING: You can only hold nine eggs at a time, and any excess eggs you get from Pokestops will be discarded. Such being the case, keep your eggs incubated and hatch them as quickly and often as you can so not to miss out on any rare Pokémon.
Pokéstops are helpful in that they award you with plenty of items like Pokéballs, and a small chunk of experience points that will aid you on your adventure. They appear in the game as small blue beacons that animate as you get close to them, usually at important real-world locations and landmarks. You’ll want to hit up plenty of them to keep your reserves well stocked and ready for whatever Pokémon you encounter.
Accessing Pokéstops is usually a quick and simple activity — just tap on the stop once you’re nearby, spin the picture, and collect your items. However, there are some small ways you can maximize your Pokéstop use.
First, instead of tapping on each item spawned by the Pokéstop, just spin the picture and close it. The items will automatically be added to your inventory. This is especially handy if you’re commuting and quickly passing multiple stops, or if you need to move quickly to find a Pokémon.
