The [Unofficial] Pokémon GO Tutorial
If you’re reading this, you’re probably already aware of what Pokémon GO is. For the uninitiated: allow me to explain!
Pokémon GO is an augmented reality mobile game that uses your smartphone’s camera to place Pokémon for you to catch and train in the real world. It also traces your location via GPS, enabling you to catch different Pokémon depending on the geographical area.
As of July 6th Pokémon GO has reportedly been released to New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and England (London). However, several users in other countries have gained access to the app (including myself).
I was one of the lucky few who participated in the app’s field testing and I am so happy to jump right back into the game. It didn’t take me long to notice how the app has both changed and, well, not changed. As much as I enjoy seeing my fellow friends flounder about with the lack of instructions, I want to help my fellow Poké nerds. Thus, here is a collection of tips and tricks that will help you become the very best …like no one ever was.
OK. I Downloaded It. What Happens Now?
Just like in the original games, you start out by having a quick conversation with your Professor! You pick if you’re a boy or girl (because gender is totally not a spectrum) and then design your character with very limited options.
Once that’s out of the way, two things happen: 1) you get to pick one of the three original starters (yay nostalgia) and 2) the Professor gives you a quick explanation of Poké Stops and Gyms. You can easily pull up this information by clicking — what I call — the Poké Home button and then the TIPS button in the top right hand corner. Here’s a a quick summary:
Poké Stops — Go here to get pokéballs, eggs, potions, etc.
Gyms — Go here to claim or takeover a Gym (more on this later)
How To Catch ’Em All
You can do this in either two ways: 1) You go to the Pokémon or 2) You bring the Pokémon to you.
Walk Around
This sounds very simple, but how do you know where to go? On the bottom right hand corner of the main screen, click the white panel with grey-ed out Pokémon to bring up a list of all the NEARBY wild Pokémon.
On the beta version of the app, Pokémons’ distances were listed in meters. Now they’re using footprints as a unit of measure. Since 280 meters was the farthest the app ever showed me on the beta, I’m guessing that 1 footprint roughly equals 0–100 meters (0–0.06 miles).
If your smartphone has gyroscope capabilities, you can set the compass to point you in the direction of a wild Pokémon. After selecting one, you can now toggle the compass (on the top right of the screen) between showing North/South and the direction of the Pokémon! Follow the compass and, once you’re one footprint away, the Pokémon will start to show up on your screen.
Incense
In our second method, aka the lazy method, you use Incense to attract Pokémon to come to you. I don’t think there’s a hard set rule on how quickly or how often the Pokémon will come to you… at least, I haven’t come up with one yet.
Use Incense whenever you have no have no choice but to sit still and watch your screen fill up with Pokémon!
When You Come Across a Pokémon
Notice when you press the pokéball, a circle surrounds the Pokémon and then rapidly shrinks. You can earn extra Experience Points (XP) if you manage to throw the ball into the center of the circle. The bigger the circle, the higher chance of success.
There are three different levels of throws:
Nice Throw — 10 XP
Great Throw — 50 XP
Excellent Throw — 100 XP
For more information on XP, read the next section!
Which color the white line changes to also tells you important information!
Green — High chance of capture
Yellow — Medium chance
Orange — Low chance
Red — Lol good luck
You can increase your chances by either feeding the Pokémon a berry or using a more advanced ball, like a Great Ball or Ultra Ball.
How To Level/Power Up
For the first time in Poké-gaming, you can level up the trainer in addition to powering up your Pokémon.
The Trainer
As your trainer level grows, you unlock more items and wild Pokémon. In order to level up, you need to gain Experience Points (XP). Here’s a running list of all the ways you can earn XP:
Pokémon Caught — 100 XP
NEW Pokémon Caught — 500 XP
Nice Throw — 10 XP
Great Throw — 50 XP
Excellent Throw — 100 XP
Visiting a Poké Stop — 50 XP
Evolving a Pokémon — 500 XP
The Pokémon
In Pokémon GO, a Pokémon’s Combat Points (CP) determines its level. In order to power up, you need to use StarDust and Candies. You can get more StarDust through a Defender Bonus (see Gym section below!), catching Pokémon, or by leveling up your Trainer Profile. How do you get more Candy? Well…
Poké Candy (aka Catch Them All Again?)
As far as I’m aware, there are only two ways you can get candy: catch Pokémon and/or transfer Pokémon to the Professor.
Every time you capture a Pokémon, you receive 3 pieces of candies in addition to stardust (which you use to power up, or level up); however, this number very rarely nears the minimum requirement for evolution. You can also transfer Pokémon to the Professor and he will reward you with 1 Pokémon candy.
To transfer, click the Poké home button, Pokémon, and the Pokémon you would like to transfer. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click TRANSFER.
The following dialogue will pop up:
How To Evolve Pokémon
In order to evolve a Pokémon, you need to collect a certain amount of Candy that is specific to that Pokémon’s evolutionary line. Take a look at Charmander, for example.
I need 25 Candies in order to evolve Charmander into Charmeleon. Once I do that, I will need to collect even more candy to evolve into Charizard.
Fun fact: There is no such thing as a Charmeleon candy. Candies are named after the first Pokémon in the evolutionary line.
Therfore, for this example, I will need to get more Charmander candy in order to evolve it into Charizard.
How To Battle
Just like in the field test version, there is currently no way to battle among your friends. The only way to battle is to travel to your local Gym. Check out the TIPS page for basic information on how Gyms work.
If there is one pro-tip I can offer you about Gyms, it is to try and claim as many Gyms as you can. You earn what’s called a “Defender Bonus” for each Gym you successfully claim for 24 Hours.
Based on what happened in the field test version, the Defender Bonus consists of Stardust (which can be used for powering up your Pokémon) and Coins (which can be used to buy more items). To claim the bonus, click the Poké Home button, SHOP, and then the shield in the top right hand corner.
How to Hatch an Egg
Welcome to your new fitness motivation. Once you start receiving eggs from Pokéstops, put it in an incubator and start walking.
If your phone doesn’t have gyro capabilities, the app will actually count distance based on your Location information rather than steps. This is a black hole in the software since people can keep the app open and let their stats climb. Most likely, this bug will be addressed in future updates.
Others, like myself with gyro phones, will have to do hatch our eggs the old fashioned way. Or research ways to confuse the sensor. One of the two!
Strategy Pro-Tips & Other Tricks
Look for Active Lure Modules
Unlike with Incense, other Trainers can reap the benefits of Lure Modules. Scan your surroundings for any Poké Stops with cherry blossom-like petals falling around. That means a Lure Module has been placed and a bunch of Pokémon are heading there!
Level Up Your Trainer Through Evolving
Right now, there are two events that can trigger the highest level of XP: capturing a New Pokémon or evolving a Pokémon.
Not everyone has the luxury of traveling to different towns or neighborhoods to discover new Pokémon. If you focus your attention on evolving common Pokémon with low candy minimums (i.e. Pidgey, Caterpie, Rattata), you’ll be able to rack up more XP in a shorter amount of time.
Pikachu As Starter
This one is all over the Internet. At the beginning of the game, get your character to walk away from the three original starters four times. Then, a Pikachu will pop up as an homage to Pokémon Yellow.
How Eeveelutions Work
According to an image making rounds on the Internet, Eevee’s evolutions are not random. The evolutions are based off of Eevee’s second move.
For those who can’t read the image: Jolteon comes from Eevees with body slam as their second move, Vaporeon from ones with swift, and Flareon from ones with dig.
A number of places on the Internet seem to doubt the accuracy of this, but it seems to be true for my circle of friends. Let me know if this wasn’t true for you!
FAQ (Because This Has Become a Necessity)
Q: Nothing’s working for me??????
A: The servers are overloaded. Exit the app. Go drink some boba. Chill. Come back to it after a couple hours.
Q: Can I battle my friend through xyzblahblah?
A: As of now, no. You can only battle through gyms and with the Pokémon people have left there.
Q: Lol I caught a Pokémon at my toilet.
A: Nintendo did say that water Pokémon would be found near bodies of water.
Q: Why is my Pokémon so fat?
A: Not all Pokémon are created equally and they’re all perfect. #BodyPositivity But having a fat Pokémon might give your Pokémon a higher base stat. Just a theory for now.
As I said earlier, this covers all the tips and tricks that I have discovered over my time with the beta. I will continue to update this document as I learn more in the coming weeks.
Like what you’ve read? Please hit that ❤ and give it a share. If you have any tips that are not on this list, please let me know (twitter @nattersaur) and I will add them (with credit, of course!).
Last Updated: July 9th 11:10 PM PST —Added tip in the Strategy section & updated Catch section.
July 8th 11 11:08 PM PST — Revised Catch section and added a sub-section. Updated XP section. Also Added Egg section & additional Pro-Tips section.. Thanks to @minroecatches for the extra tips!
July 7th 4:15 PM PST — Added Level/Power Up section & Candy section.
July 6th 11:23 PM PST — Added Gym section.
