I know, I know... You've been hearing about Pokémon Go just about everywhere and you're either eager to learn more, or you're just about tired of hearing about it. Well, I'm here to help you out! I've been playing this game for about two weeks, and there's a lot of things I've found out by playing it. I thought it would be nice to share some of these things with other players in order to help you out on your Pokémon journey! Some of these things you may have known, and some of them you may have not. Either way, I hope I helped you in some sort of way!
Also, #TeamInstinct ;) 8)
Get Pikachu as your starter!
I really wish I knew about this little Easter egg when I first started the game, but oh well. Charmander is pretty cool too! When you first begin your quest, the three main starters, Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur will appear. However, if you ignore them and walk out of their view for a total of four times...
Pikachu will appear, and you can catch him and have him as your starter instead! If you didn't know about this before, I will show you how you can still get Pikachu and the rest of the starters later in this article.
Get the eeveelutions you want with this simple Easter egg!
So, you have enough candy and want a specific eeveelution. It's not as simple as picking the one you want and evolving. The one you get is completely random. However, there may be a way to hack the system. As you may know, in the anime, there were three brothers with each of the eeveelutions, and their names were Rainer, Sparky, and Pyro.
A Reddit user found out that if you name your eevee according to the eeveelution you want, you will get the eeveelution that you desire. Just name your eevee and click evolve.
Rainer = Vaporeon
Sparky = Jolteon
Pyro = Flareon
They do stress that it may only work one time and is not completely foolproof, but it does significantly heighten your chances of getting the eevee you want.
Don't drive too fast when hatching your eggs!
Unfortunately, you can't just hop in your car and drive as fast as possible to hatch your eggs that you get from Poké Stops. The game senses when you are going over 35 mph, and will stop tracking your data. It's much more effective to jog or ride a bike if you want a fast way to hatch your eggs, or, you can even use traffic jams to your advantage. Just as long as you don't go over the speed cap, your eggs will hatch.
If you want to know what Pokémon you can get from each type of egg, a Reddit user has put together a graph from the data he collected from other Pokemon Go players.
Sometimes, 2 km eggs will contain the starters, including Pikachu! So, if you didn't do the starter trick, you still have a chance to obtain them through egg-hatching!
Use a lure module and incense for tons of Pokemon!
You're stuck at work and can't go Pokémon hunting. What do? Well, there are items that bring the Pokémon to you, rather than you going to them. One of these items is a Lure Module, which you can get through a micro transaction, or by getting to level 8 for free. If your job is a Poké Stop, you can attach one to it, and it will "rain" petals, like down below. This will make Pokémon spawn around the area. People may even flock to the Poké Stop for rare finds too, and if you go to one, be careful. People have been using Lures to rob people!
The other item is an Incense. It's not as powerful as a Lure Module, but it essentially does the same thing. Pokémon will spawn around you. Now, when you use these items together, you have a chance of finding some rare, high-level Pokémon! Next time you're out, think of doing this method, because it really works.
You can use a lucky egg too, which you obtain first by reaching level 8. This will allow you to get double XP, and since you may be catching a lot of new Pokémon, and you gain roughly 600 XP when you catch a new Pokémon, this will double that! You will level up so quickly!
Transfer your duplicate Pokémon for extra candy!
You may find yourself catching a lot of the same Pokémon over and over again. Well, these extra Pokémon have a purpose. You need them for candy. Unlike traditional Pokémon games, which require a specific method or level to evolve your Pokémon, this game requires you to get a specific amount of candy, which you can only get for catching a Pokémon from the same evolutionary line as the one you want to evolve. You can also get an extra candy from transferring your duplicates. Just scroll down and hit tranfer, it looks like the photo below. This is also good for cleaning up your space, because as you progress through the game, you'll find yourself running low on space.
There you go, you're one candy closer to getting that Raticate, or Charizard you so desperately desire.
Keep in mind that as you gain levels, you will have a better chance of running into Pokémon with a higher cp, or combat points. Pokémon with higher cp are stronger, and these are the guys that you want to evolve if you plan on taking over gyms. Transfer your lower cp Pokémon to the professor.
Go to specific areas for different Pokemon types!
This game, like real life, has places that Pokémon are more likely to spawn. If you are looking for a specific Pokémon type, you may have to go to an area where they are known to spawn. There are 14 types in the game, and there are a number of confirmed places where they are known to pop up. In one city, eevees may be common and pikachu rare, but in another city, pikachu may be common, and eevee rare. It varies greatly from area to area.
Here is a list of places that you can look for specific types:
Fire types are common in residential areas, dry and arid climates, beaches and some say even around gas stations, parking lots, and on sunny days.
Water types are common around bodies of water. This includes: oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, etc. They are also common on cloudy, rainy days by some.
Grass types are common around grassy areas. Farmland, parks, forests, hiking trails, meadows, and other areas like these have a good chance having grass type Pokemon.
Electric types are common around highly populated areas like college campuses, schools, libraries, cities, and around power transformers. Basically, anywhere where there is electricity.
Rock types, like fire, are more common in hotter climates. You can find them around rocky areas like hiking trails, quarries, cliffs, and more.
Psychic types are a bit rarer. You can find them more commonly at evening and night hours. There are even reports of them spawning at hospitals or in parking lots.
Bug types spawn in grassy areas, similar to grass type Pokemon.
Ground types are common and residential areas like neighborhoods and parks. They also like grassy areas like grass and bug types.
Poison types like wetlands, marshes, lakes, and industrial areas like malls and shopping centers.
Normal types and flying types spawn just about anywhere. Pidgeys and ratatas pop up in the strangest places!
Dragon types are rare. People report them spawning around golf courses, lakes, beaches, and places of interest.
Fairy type Pokémon can be found frequently around churches, cemeteries, and landmarks.
Ghost types, like fairy types, spawn around residential areas and churches.
Fighting types can be found around real life gyms, sport centers and stadiums.
And finally, ice types spawn frequently around grassy areas, bodies of water, and icy climates.
Go to highly populated areas for rare finds!
Like stated before, the more populated an area, the more likely you are to find a rare Pokémon. Go into town where there is high cellular activity, and, more specifically, more people playing Pokémon Go. You can even go with friends and you may just find that Dragonite you're looking for.
Also, it's good to go around landmarks, monuments, tourist attractions or in large crowds. It has been reported that rare Pokémon spawn in these areas. There may be Lures up as well, which even further raise your odds of catching a rare Pocket Monster.
Save your battery!
And the most important part of your Pokémon adventure is...having enough juice to actually play the darn thing. Let's be real though, it uses up a lot of your battery. Never fear! There are ways to save battery, so don't stress.
Start by turning off AR, or the Augmented Reality on your device. While this is fun and can result in some funny pictures, it uses up a lot of your battery. You can turn it off when you're catching a Pokémon. As you progress, Pokémon become harder to catch and can even evade capture completely by running away. This also makes them easier to catch, as they aren't jumping around behind and below you. Just flip the switch off as shown below.
You can also turn off things you don't need. Close unused apps, or bluetooth and wifi when you're out and about. If your phone has a power saving mode, use that, and turn down your brightness. Perhaps you can bring a battery pack as well if you have the resources.
There's also rumors going around that you can turn your phone upside down, which will put the phone in a "sleep" state. This is good for when your phone is away in your pocket while you're hatching eggs.
Well, these were my tips and tricks I've learned by playing Pokémon Go! I hope these were helpful and that you use them. Happy Pokémon hunting! <3
Note: I know other people have written articles with the same things, but this is mostly things I've found out and learned by playing the game. So please don't tell me I copied because I didn't. :)
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