Tip #1: Capture Pikachu As Your First “Catch” As A Pokémon GO Hunter
When you start the game, the Professor will ask you to catch your first Pokémon – traditionally Squirtle, Charmander or Bulbasaur. But rather than catch one of them, you can walk away – in real life – until your phone vibrates. You’ll be prompted again to catch one of them. Walk away again until you get the next prompt and repeat this process five times. Then Pikachu will appear and you’ll be able to capture it as your starter. Surprise your friends, co-workers and acquaintances with your coveted Pikachu catch.
Tip #2: Visit PokéStops Often
These flashing blue portals can reward you with nice prizes. Most importantly, prizes can include Pokéballs to catch Pokémon. You’ll need to get close to them before you can spin them and reveal the hoard. It takes about half a minute for the board to spin, but the time spent is well worth it.
Tip #3: Enable “Battery Save” Mode In Your In-Game Settings Panel
Both iPhones and Android phones have optional battery-saver modes in the in-game settings menu that will help prolong battery life. I definitely recommend activating this before playing, as the game does drain your battery very quickly. I went from 50% battery to 12% in a very short period of time walking around catching Pokémon’s. If anything it’s taught me to have a backup battery ready when going for the long 2k/5k/10k+ walks required to catch more Pokémon’s. Alternatively, make sure you phone is charged up completely before heading out to “hunt”.
Tip #4: Visit PokéStops In Busier Areas For The Best Prizes
Although you might get some useful items at the PokéStop in an out-of-the-way area, heading to ones in well-known locations or busier city centres means you’re getting all the best stuff.
Tip #5: Trade Your Duplicate Pokémon’s Back To The Professor
There’s no point hoarding a load of the same Pokémon. If you want to level up or evolve your Pokémon faster, you should trade any duplicates you have back to Professor Willow. He’ll give you candy when you do, which are really important for evolving your Pokémon and nabbing yourself some powerful allies.
Tip #6: Don’t Pass On “Catching” A Duplicate Pokémon
Don’t dismiss a duplicate Pokémon just because you’ve already got one in your Pokédex. It’s actually a good idea to catch multiple of the same critters because of the unique candies you’ll get. For every Pokémon you catch you’ll be gifted three or so of that Pokémon’s particular flavour of candy. You can then use those candies to evolve your Pokémon by feeding them their specific candy type.
Tip #7: Only Trade Pokémon’s With The Lowest CP Score
Make sure you only trade Pokémon’s with the lowest CP scores, which means the less powerful ones. Otherwise you’ll find yourself vastly outranked when you hit the Pokémon Gym. The Pokémon Gym is a place where you can battle other Pokémon’s and win prizes, but you can only access it when you reach level 5.
Tip #8: Choose A Pokémon Team Carefully
When you hit level 5 and tap a Pokémon Gym, you’ll be asked to pick a team. It doesn’t take that long to get Level 5. I’ve only been playing for a day, have caught 2-3 Pokémon, and I’m already at Level 2. There are three options when choosing a team, but once you’ve chosen, there’s no going back. All the teams are technically the same, however you should probably take into consideration the teams that are popular in your local area. You may see that one team is dominating the scene near you, so you might want to join them or try and overtake them by joining their competition. Also, talk to your friends, co-workers, and acquaintances. You may discover that everyone’s decided to go for a specific team.
Tip #9: Attract Pokémon’s Into Your Area Using Incense And Lure’s
Don’t spend your hard-earned Pikachu gold on Pokéballs to catch Pokémons. Don’t worry about balls, because every time you check in at a PokéStop you’ll probably get a good supply of Pokéballs. A better way to attract new Pokémon and capture them is having a wealth of incense and lures in your rucksack. Incense is “a mysterious fragrance that lures wild Pokémon to your location for 30 minutes“, while the Lure Module “attracts Pokemon to a PokéStop for 30 minutes“. Note that if you sit and wait you will only attract 1 Pokémon every 5 minutes, meaning you will only be able to you will catch 4-5 Pokémon during the 30 minutes. But, if you walk 200 meters (or roughly a 7.5 jogging pace), you will get 1 Pokémon every minute, resulting in catching between 10 – 30 Pokémon during the 30 minutes. Perhaps this is just as well, as it will get you to exercise more.
Tip #10: PokéStops That Are Shrouded In Falling Pink Petals Are The Best Places To Nab A Pokémon
As you can see from the image above, keep a close eye out for PokéStops that are shrouded in falling pink petals. The petals indicate that someone else has left a lure module there and there’s a Pokémon party going on – for the next 30 minutes anyway. So hurry over there during the next half hour because you can take advantage of someone else’s lure and nab yourself a pocketful of new Pokémon.
