In just a few short weeks, Pokemon Go has taken over our lives. Auckland has been overrun with people glued to their phones and sporting battery packs—and we’re guilty of joining them. After doing some thorough ‘research’, we’ve compiled the ultimate cheat sheet for you all budding PokeTrainers out there. It will, err, help you be the very best (sorry, we had to).
Get Pikachu As Your Starter Pokemon
If you haven’t downloaded Pokemon Go yet (weirdo), make sure you follow this hack when you do. The app has three main starter Pokemon that appear when you start playing: Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle. Whichever one you decide to ‘catch’ will become your starter Pokemon.
However, if you want to make like Ash and have Pikachu as your starter, you can! When the three Pokemon appear, ignore them and walk away. If you ignore them for long enough, Pikachu will eventually show up and he’s all yours to catch—hooray!
Catch All The Pokemon
If you wanna catch them all, make a beeline for highly populated areas. Pokemon are designed to spawn in areas with high phone traffic, so you’ll need to brave the crowds—think tourist attractions and the inner CBD.
They also tend to spawn near their ‘natural habitats’. Water Pokemon hang out near beaches and lakes, while grass-like creatures can be found near forests and parks. Spots that are particularly good in Auckland include Mission Bay, Mt Eden and Queens Wharf.
And if you want ghost Pokemon (such as Ghastly), you’re gonna have to stay up past your bedtime because they only come out at night.
Save Your Battery
Pokemon is fun and stuff but damn does it chew up your battery. The hard core PokeTrainers amongst us can be seen shamelessly rocking battery packs but if that’s not for you, allow us to introduce to battery-saver mode.
Tap on the Pokeball on the main screen, click on settings (top right-hand corner) and select the bubble that says ‘battery saver’. If you hold your phone upside-down the screen will go almost completely dark.
The app will continue to track your movements and vibrate when Pokemon are near—it just won’t display them on your screen. Slide your phone in your pocket and you’ll be away laughing.
Evolve Your Eevee
The power is yours when it comes to evolving Eevee. Yup, you can evolve this critter into a stronger evolution simply by changing Eevee’s nickname.
Once you’ve collected 25 Eevee candy, tap on the pencil icon next to the Pokemon character and rename to “Sparky” to become the proud owner of a Jolteon. Type in “Rainer” and you’ll get a Vaporeon. If you’re after a Flareon, you’ll have to rename it to “Pyro”. If you want all three, you’ll need to catch three individual Eevees.
Level-Up Faster
If you want to level-up faster (you do), you’re gonna need to activate a lucky egg. Lucky eggs allow you to gain double XP (aka experience) over a half-hour period.
Evolving a Pokemon is the fastest way to get XP. An evolution gives you 500 XP, so evolving a Pokemon with a lucky egg running will give you 1000 XP. Activate this bad boy and evolve as many Pokemon as you can in the 30-minute window and watch the XP pile up. Level 100, here you come!
There are currently two ways to get a lucky egg. You can purchase them in the shop and you’ll receive one as a reward when you hit certain levels (9, 10, 15, 20 and 25).
Avoid Wasting Pokeballs
Don’t go wasting your precious Pokeballs! In order to maximise your chances of catching a Pokemon, take note of the size and colour of the circles.
Wondering what the different coloured-circles around the Pokemon mean? Well, my PokeTrainer friend, let us tell you! The colour of the circle represents how difficult it will be to catch the critter. The circles come in a spectrum of hues with green circles appearing around the weakest Pokemon and red circles around the strongest.
As for the size of the circles, place your finger on the Pokeball and you’ll notice the circle starts shrinking. The smaller the circle, the higher the chance the Pokemon will stay within the Pokeball. Better Pokemon’ing, everyone!
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Image credit: Pokemon