Best Pokémon Go tips and tricks you need to know! [Updated!]

What are the best Pokémon Go tips and tricks? Here are the ones every trainer needs to know!

I've been playing Pokémon Go since launch day. I'm currently level 35, have completed my Gen 1 North American Pokédex, and have hatched all the Gen 2 Pokémon babies currently available. Over the last many months, levels, events, and encounters, I've picked up a few tips and tricks that have helped me immensely. It's the stuff I know now that I wish I knew back when I started. Heck, I wish I knew some of it back when I hit level 30!

Check out these Pokémon Go cheats as well!

Guides: Pokémon Go tips and tricks | Pokémon Go cheats

1. Check your Nearby and Sightings

Pokémon Go now includes two distinct forms of detecting the Pokémon in your immediate vicinity. The first is Nearby, which shows you Pokémon hanging around the PokéStops in your area. The second is Sightings, which shows you the Pokémon hiding anywhere close by, ready to spawn.

The Pokémon tab at the bottom right of your travel screen shows you up to three Pokémon. Tap on it, and you'll see up to nine. Depending on what's in your area, they'll be all Nearby, all Sightings, or a mix of both.

Nearby > Sightings

Neither Nearby or Sightings shows you every Pokémon around you. If there are a lot of PokéStops in your area and a lot of Pokémon loitering at those Stops, Nearby will only show you one or two from each Stop. Same with Sightings.

Theoretically, rare Pokémon will be highlighted so you don't miss them. Theoretically. Nearby tends to overwhelm Sightings, though, so if a Snorlax is in the area but not at a PokéStop, you'd have to walk within 40m or so or risk missing it. Catch some of the Pokémon at the PokéStops, though, and you thin things out, letting Sightings back in. Then you might see that Snorlax sooner.

FOMO vs. YOLO

You can't watch Nearby and Sightings 24/7, and FOMO (fear of missing out) is best avoided, but if you do have a few moments here or there to tap open Pokémon Go and take a peak, do it. I was once out filming a video review, took a spare second to check, and found a Snorlax had spawned right on top of me.

When I arrived at a friend's house for dinner, I popped it open and saw a Lapras right on the street corner. It's only happened a handful of times, and I've no doubt missed more than I've caught, but catching any super-rare Pokémon that just happen to be around is better than none.

See how to find rare Pokémon in Pokémon Go

2. Know your nests

Most Pokémon have "nests", or consistent places where one to four of the same Pokémon will spawn regularly, sometimes even hourly. Sadly, very rare Pokémon like Dragonite, Snorlax, Lapras, and even Grimer don't have any known nests, but others like Electabuzz, Magmar, and Jinx do.

How nests and migrations work

Nests currently "migrate" every two weeks. These migrations occur at 12 a.m. GMT. (4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET) every second Thursday. That's good, because it gives you a couple weeks to stock up on any good Pokémon at your local nests, but also changes things up fairly quickly if you get stuck with a bad nest. So, over the course of a few months, your Charmander nest might become Slowpoke, Charmander again, Diglett, Drowzee, Paras, then Growlith, and so on. Nest migrations are seemingly random, though, so you never really know what you'll get.

Regular spawns vs. cluster spawns

Some nests only spawn one Pokémon type or only one interesting type along with some commons like Pidgey and Rattata. Others spawn multiple interesting Pokémon. For example, Staryu, Slowpoke, Polywag, Psyduck, and Magikarp often all spawn at the same water-side points.

Higher-level spawns

Occasionally, evolved Pokémon can spawn at base Pokémon nests. For example, a Starmie will once-in-a-very-while spawn at a Staryu nest, or a Slowbro at a Slowpoke nest.

Dratini spawn

And even though there are no Dratini nests, Dratini can very occasionally spawn from Magikarp nests. For example, if Magikarp spawn hourly, Dratini may spawn at the same place once or twice a day.

The Nest Atlas

You can either travel around your neighborhood and note down your nests, which is fun but time-consuming, or you can consult the online, crowdsourced, nest atlas at The Sliph Road.

3. Always throw Curve Balls

ABC: Always be Curving. Throwing a Curve Ball in Pokémon Go is believed to give you a 1.7x bonus to catch a Pokémon. (Catching means they don't break free from your Poké Ball or, worse, flee.)

The 1.7x bonus for a Curve Ball is higher than the 1.5x bonus you get for using a Razz Berry or switching to a Great Ball, and it consumes no resources. It's also cumulative, so if you do use a Razz Berry or Great or Ultra Ball, you still get a 1.7x bonus for curving. It's basically free bonus. All you have to do is get good at throwing it.

Learn how to throw the perfect curve ball every time

Medal bonus

Once you catch 10 Pokémon of the same type, you get a bronze medal for that type. Catch 50 and you get a silver medal. Catch 200, gold. The bonuses for those medals work out to 1.1x, 1.2x, and 1.3x respectively, but once you have the medals, you literally have to do nothing else but enjoy the bonuses.

Stack, stack, stack

Bonuses stack together, so if you use a Razz Berry then throw a Curve Ultra Ball at a Pokémon you have Gold Medal for, and hit the Excellent Bonus, you catch rate multiplies through the roof.

Poké Ball: x1.
Curve Poké Ball: x1.7.
Curve Ultra Ball: x3.4.
Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry: x5.1.
Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry + Excellent: x10.2.
Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry + Excellent + Gold Medal: x13.26.

How to stack bonuses and catch any Pokémon in Pokémon Go

Don't throw good balls after bad Pokémon

When you a see a Pokémon on your catch screen you also see the CP (Combat Power) of that Pokémon. If the CP is low we tend to think the level is low, making it easier to catch. But CP doesn't just depend on level, it also depends on stats (IV).

So, a Pokémon with low CP could be a low-level Pokémon with good stats... or it could also be a high-level Pokémon with lousy stats that's super hard to catch.

In other words, if a low CP Pokémon has a red or orange ring around it and keeps escaping your Poké Ball, odds are it's a lousy Pokémon that just happens to be high level and may not be worth your continued time and resources to catch.

4. AR = Augment your range

Augmented Reality (AR) Mode, where Pokémon are superimposed on the real world as seen through your phone's camera, is the default in Pokémon Go. Conventional wisdom is to turn it off to prevent distraction and reduce battery drain.

Most of the time that's exactly what you want to do. Sometimes, though, AR can be your best friend.

That's when a Pokémon is standing or flying further away and it's more challenging to hit them successfully. Flying Pokémon like Golbat love to do that. So does Dragonite.

Sure, you can practice on long-range Pokémon to hit those long-range Curve Balls and Nice, Great, and Excellent bonuses. But you can also tap on AR mode, tilt your phone, and bring those long-range Pokémon into close-range.

It can be especially useful if you're missing a lot and wasting a lot of Pokéballs, Great Balls, or Ultra Balls.

So, give it a shot. (Haha!)

5. Catch 'em all, seriously

You may be tempted to ignore more common Pokémon or Pokémon you already have for rare Pokémon and the ones you still need to complete your Pokédex. Don't. If you have enough Poké Balls, there's more than enough reason to keep catching the more common or already registered Pokémon.

Grind Pidget, Caterpie, and Weedle for XP

Pidgeys, Caterpie, and Weedle only require 12 candies to evolve. So, basically, you want to catch as many as possible to get as much candy as possible, then drop a Lucky Egg and evolve them all at once to get as much XP as possible. It's called grinding and it's a huge accelerator when it comes to leveling up. (Even Rattata at 25 candies can be used to grind.)

Get your medals — and bonuses!

Each Pokémon has one or two types, and each type has a medal. Typically, if you catch 10 of the same type, you get a bronze medal. Catch 50, and you get a silver medal. Catch 200, and you get a gold medal. Why bother? Bronze medal earns you an extra 1.1x bonus for catching Pokémon. Silver gets you a 1.2x bonus and gold gets you 1.3x. It's not as high as a Curve Ball bonus, but it's also effortless once you have it. And any bonus you get to catching that Dragonite might matter!

Read how to stack your bonuses to catch any Pokémon

That Stardust

To power up Pokémon you need candy and Stardust. Candy has to come from the specific Pokémon you want to power up (or one of its evolutions — Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur all use Bulbasaur candy). Stardust, though, can come from any Pokémon you catch or hatch, among other ways.

In other words, if you want to evolve a Rhydon, you need to catch, hatch, or walk Rhyhorn or Rhydon as much as possible to get as many candies as possible. If you want to power up your Rhydon, though, you can catch or hatch anything for the Stardust.

Catching as many Pokémon as possible means you have as much Stardust as possible to power up.

6. Eek the most out of Eggs

There are two kinds of eggs in Pokémon Go: Pokémon Eggs that hatch Pokémon and Lucky Eggs that double the XP you get for catching and hatching Pokémon and performing other in-game actions. Pokémon Eggs are free and you can only get them from spinning PokéStops. You can buy Lucky Eggs but you also get them as rewards for hitting some levels.

Regardless of the kind of egg you have, you want to get the most out of it.

Hatch as much as you can

Incubators are one of the very few things I'll pay for if I need to. Sure, you'll get a lot of common Pokémon, but you'll also get some rare Pokémon that would take you a long time to catch in the wild, and it's currently the only way to get the Gen 2 Pokémon babies.

Stack your Lucky Eggs for max XP

If you have a Lucky Egg, a bunch of Pidgey, Caterpie, Weedle, and Rattata you want to mass-evolve for leveling, and a slew of Pokémon Eggs available to hatch, start your 10 KM eggs incubating. When you get to 5 KM on them, start your 5 KM eggs incubating. When you get to 8 KM / 3 KM, start your 2 KM eggs incubating.

Coordinate your KM

When they're about to hatch, drop your Lucky Egg and start your mass evolution. You can do one evolution every 20 seconds, so if you have enough Pokémon and enough candy, you can really make an XP dent. (Some people like force-quitting each evolution to speed up the process — your mileage may vary.)

Fold in your Stops and streaks

If you can time your daily PokéStop spin bonus (see below) — or better, your weekly spin bonus — all the better. And if you happen to hatch something new, your Pokédex bonus will get doubled as well!

When everything comes together, you can not only get some new Pokémon, candy and Stardust to evolve more great Pokémon, and a huge amount of XP towards your next level.

Here's how to hatch Pichu, Topegi, and the other Gen 2 Pokémon babies

7. Measure twice, evolve once

I know the feeling. You finally have the 25 candies you need to evolve Bulbasaur to Iveysaur, Charmander to Charmeleon, Geodude to Graveler, Polywag to Polywhirl... or Dratini to Dragonair. But then those 25 candies are gone and you need to hatch, catch, or Buddy walk another 100 candy to evolve Venusaur, Charizard, Golem, Polywrath... or Dragonite.

Better base Pokémon = better evolutions

And during that long, long span of time, you might just hatch or catch a better Bulbasaur, Charmander, Geodude, Pollywog... or Dratini to evolve.

If all you care about is finishing your Pokédex, it may not matter to you. But if you care about evolving the best Pokémon possible, ones with the highest CP (Combat Power) and HP (Hit Points) to attack or defend Gyms — or just show off! — then you'll need the best base levels to evolve from.

Hard as it may be, wait until you have the full 125 candies to evolve to the final stage before you pick which base Pokémon you want to evolve. Also: Don't power up before you level up for similar reasons.

The Pyro, Sparky, and Rainer trick

Oh, and in case you're still waiting to evolve your first Floreon, Jolteon, or Vaporeon from a truly awesome Eevee, remember you get to control it exactly once: Just name the Eevee Pyro, Sparky, or Rainer respectively before you hit the evolve button.

Find out about the best Pokémon to evolve for attacking or defending Gyms

8. PokéStops and Bonus Streaks

Pokémon Go encourages you to play regularly by giving you daily and weekly bonuses not just for catching Pokémon but for spinning PokéStops. They're called "streaks". Your first spin of the day will get you extra items and XP. Spin every day and you get an even bigger weekly bonus on the seventh day. Also, if you spin ten PokéStops in a row, with no more than ten minutes between each one, you also get extra items. So...

Stocking up from spins

Spin as often as you can. Once you get comfortable with the PokéStops near where you live, work, learn, and play, and along your regular travel routes, spin them whenever possible. It costs you nothing but can significantly boost your stock of Pokémon Eggs (so you can hatch more Pokémon), Poké Balls, Great Balls, Ultra Balls, Razz Berries, Potions, Super Potions, Hyper Potions, Max Potions, Revives, and Max Revives.

Letting your items lead you.

If you're not sure what you want to do on any given day, check out your items and let the numbers lead your way. Have an excess of Balls? Go hunting for Pokémon to catch. (And walk off those extra Pokémon Eggs at the same time!). Too many Potions and Revives weighing you down? Go battle at some Gyms.

Not only is it a great strategy for getting as much free stuff as possible, it helps keep storage open so you never lose out on a Pokémon Egg or anything else you desperately need just because your bag is full of stuff you don't.

9. Pick your battles

Whether you're attacking a Gym being held by an opposing team or prestiging up a Gym held by your own team, learning even the basics of type matching will help you do it faster and more efficiently. (That means without needing as many Revives or Potions afterward.)

Know your types

Every Pokémon has its strengths and weaknesses. You can learn them all if you want to, and figure out precisely the best attacker or prestiger for every possible defender, but odds are you'll be seeing the same high CP Pokémon in most Gyms, most of the time. So, even if you only remember those, you'll be off to a good start.

Movesets really matter.

Whenever you evolve, Pokémon Go randomly generates a moveset for the new evolution. Some movesets are amazing and can tear through even theoretically tougher Pokémon on a Gym. Others are not so amazing, and can make even a powerhouse Pokémon less than the some of their stats. In other words, next to movesets are everything. That means you may have to evolve the same Pokémon several times to get an ideal moveset. (Another reason to keep catching 'em all!)

Cloyster or Lapras (with Frost Breath and Blizzard) to counter Dragonite.
Rhydon (with Mud Shot and Earthquake or Stone Edge) to counter Snorlax.
Vaporeon (with Water Gun and Hydro Pump of Aqua Tail) to counter Rhydon and Lapras.
Jolteon (with Thunder Shock and Thunder or Thunderbolt) to counter Gyrados, Vaporeon, and Lapras.
Exeggutor (with Zen Headbutt and Solar Beam) to counter Vaporeon and Rhydon.
Dragonite (with Dragon Breath and Dragon Claw), by virtue of its stats, is also one of the best attackers in the game.
Snorlax (with Lick or Zen Headbutt with Body Slam or Hyper Beam), also has massive stats, so also makes a great attacker.

It's especially important when you consider prestiging a Gym with a team where each of your Pokémon has half or less the CP of every defender will earn you double XP, making the process much, much faster.

GamePress has a complete list of defenders, if you want to dive deeper.

12. Play smarter not harder

Pokémon Go has really helped me get out and go. Going for hikes of 5KM or more is a lot more fun when I'm catching and hatching Pokémon along the way. That said, sometimes my schedule or the weather makes it hard to get all those KM in. So, I play smart.

Make your movement count

You can leave Pokémon Go on while you're doing housework, shopping, walking the dog, even riding in slow-moving transports like ski lifts, trams, ferries, buses in traffic, and more. Around 10KM is the sweet spot for hatching eggs and walking Buddies, but stop and go can still add up.

The Apple Watch advantage

If you have an Apple Watch, the Pokémon Go extension can make all of the above even more efficient. It counts steps and can credit you for distance the phone app sometimes misses.

The lazy way

Stuck at home or in the office? GPS drift — where your trainer runs around because Pokémon Go can't get an exact fix — can add up to extra KM for hatching eggs or walking your Buddy as well. Even if there's no PokéStop where you are, there might be a spawn point that'll still bring you ample Pokémon to Catch. And you can always drop an Incense, which will bring you a bunch of common Pokémon every few minutes and maybe even one or two more exciting Pokémons.

Gym wins

Gyms are easier to take down now than the use to be. As a result, Gyms are getting taken down more often — even level 10 gyms. So, if you're out and about, it's always worth checking a Gym to see if it has a free slot, or would be trivial to take down or prestige up to get you a free slot.

Taking advantage of travel

Traveling fits right into this as well. I've built up series KM walking through airports, being stuck in cabs and Ubers on the way to hotels, and having my trainer run around while I'm in the hotel. Many big city hotels have multiple PokéStops within range as well, perfect for Lures if you have them. (Likewise coffee shops — warm, safe, and PokéStopped!)

Bonus: An ounce of Gen 2 preparation...

Pokémon Go has begun releasing the Gen 2 Pokémon from the Johto Region in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games. Currently, all you can do is hatch the babies, and evolve Togetic, but more will be coming over the next few months, including new evolutions. So, how should you prepare?

Basically by stockpiling enough evolution candidates and Pokémon candy as you can. Until Pokémon Go officially launches the new Gen 2 evolutions, all we can do is make an educated guess as to how much candy will be needed. Still, it's worth the guess.

100 Zubat candy for Crobat
100 Oddish candy for Bellossom (split)
100 Poliwag candy for Politoed (split)
25 Eevee candy for Espoen (split)
25 Eevee candy for Umbreon (split)
50 Slowpoke candy for Slowking (split)
50 Onix candy for Steelix
50 Scyther for Scizor
100 Horesea or Seadra for Kingdra
50 Porygon for Porygon 2
50 Chansey for Blissey

To cover your split evolution bases, you'll really want 3x to 5x for those Pokémon. Sure, evolution items might control them but you still may need a few tries to get a moveset you like.

Gen 2 in Pokémon Go evolutions: What you need to prepare!

Your best Pokémon Go tips and tricks?

These are my Pokémon Go tips and tricks. Others have their tips but these ones are mine. I'd love to learn yours, so if you have any — or you have any questions! — drop them in the comments below!

Pokemon Go

from iMore - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch blog http://ift.tt/2cVMIRf
via IFTTT

CIT Daily

Breaking News