Pham Hoang Minh - Pokémon Go--guide to Help You Catch em All

Guide to help you catch 'em all

Table of Contents

P okmon Go - the location-based free-to-play game that has taken the iOS and Android app stores by storm, allows players to use the original 151 Pokmon in real-world locations, as Google Maps data turns parks, shops and churches into places where you can capture, train and battle creatures.

Despite the seemingly straightforward premise, there's lots of hidden, unexplained or not-so-obvious elements throughout the game, and we have a series of Pokmon Go guides that can help.

In December 2017, an update offering the second wave of Heonn region creatures went underway. As with the Gen 2 update earlier in the year, it also offers some major new features - including weather effects that change the way Pokemon appear and behave!

In spite of crippling server issues and gruesome discoveries, Pokmon Go has soared to the top of app charts, added billions to the market value of Nintendo, and sold millions of dollars of Pokballs and other virtual goods, as people engage in nostalgia for the original Pokmon games and discover the joys of playing games in public.

The game is deceptively complex. At first, it seems like all you do is wander around, catching random fake animals. But unlike many mobile games, Pokmon Go leaves most of its complexity unexplained. Much like in life itself, you are dropped into a world that you must master at the same time as you figure out how it works.

Instead of exploring at random, there are ways to track specific creatures in Pokmon Go with Nearby and Sighting radars thanks to an in-game radar in the bottom right corner of the screen, which allows you to hone in on what creatures are nearby and by PokeStops. You can also track creatures by their Type in real-life locations - such as water Pokmon being near rivers, canals and lakes - as well demanding players travel to entirely different continents to get region-exclusive creatures.

Daily Bonuses are now available, and give you some decent sized rewards simply for checking in once a day to play the game, and completing a couple of minor tasks. Check out our guide to the daily bonuses below for some more details on how the work

For hatching eggs, you start the game with an incubator that you can use as many times as you like, and also find or purchase additional one-time-use incubators so you can have multiple eggs brewing at once.

When you have more than one available, it pays to be smart about where you put your eggs; placing longer-lasting 10km eggs in the finite supply will make them last longer, since they're based on the number of uses, not distance used.

Another trick that players have discovered that if you leave the game open when you're not moving - such as on your desk at work - your Trainer can sometimes step slightly from side-to-side as the phone continues to narrow down your GPS position. These little movements count as walking towards hatching, so it might be worth keeping the app open to slowly chip away when you can - assuming you can trust co-workers not to mess with your phone away from your desk, of course!

Since the game uses the amount of distance you have travelled to hatch eggs and unlock certain medals, you might think that catching a bus or train is a quick way of travelling large distances. However, the game will know that you are travelling too fast, and won't register the movement at all - and even gives you a warning when it happens. As if things were that easy!

That said, if you're not needing to track specific Pokmon, then using public transport is a great way to increase your chances of encountering them out in the wild, especially in busier urban areas.Remember you can complete a capture without having to stay in a fixed position, so don't worry if the bus or train speeds away.

While public transport also isn't a great way to interact with Gyms, since they require you to be in their radius for the duration of their use, can 'queue up' a PokStop interaction up ahead before you pass through it, and then spin the screen at the right time.

When browsing your Pokmon, you might have noticed some have a blue glow to them - this means they have been caught in the past 24 hours.

CP is one of the most important values for a Pokmon, but it hides a number of hidden stats that determine how effective a Pokmon can actually be. Just like the main games, fans have discovered there are a series of Individual Stats - or IVs - that act as an individual Pokmon's genes, dictating whether and how much a particular Pokmon's stats deviate from the norm of their Base values.

A combination of a Pokmon's hidden Base Stats, IVs, and Level (the white bar above the Pokmon) are what dictate its CP. While the higher the better, remember that your initially brilliant Vaporeon might only be strong because it's a high Level, and could get swept aside by more naturally strong, high-IV alternatives later on.

A surprisingly helpful time saver is knowing that you don't need to tap every single item that floats up the screen when you spin a PokStop. If you tap the cross at the bottom of the screen, you'll be given every item automatically, which is particularly useful if you need to get back to the map to turn your attention to another PokStop or Pokmon out in the world.

As well as throwing balls within a shrinking circle to get Nice, Great and Excellent catches - increasing your chances of success - you can also get a little fast XP on top with Curveballs, a sort of trick shot that sees balls curl towards their target.

To throw a Curveball, start by holding the Pokball and rotating it round. When you throw, it'll then curve in the rotation you spun the ball - if it's clockwise, then it'll go to the right, and if anti-clockwise, to the left.

They're hard to pull off, but thankfully players recently discovered a technique that allows you to easily throw them with great success. After a spin, move the ball up the left-most side of the screen, and release at the same height as the Pokmon. Assuming the Pokemon didn't move or attack, it should land and start the capture process.

As well as plenty of shortcuts, tips and tricks that the game doesn't tell you about, there's also a few secrets hidden away by the developers for players to find, from finding a fourth starter Pokmon at the start of the game to using hints from the TV show to evolve Eevee the way you want - links to those articles below!

And apparently there's more - at Pokmon Go's San Diego Comic Con panel, developer Niantic revealed that there are several Easter Eggs in the game that fans had not revealed yet, so expect more secrets to emerge in the coming weeks and months as players pick the game apart.