Almost a year on from the release of Pokémon Go, and the hunt is, in some ways, more challenging than ever before.
It's still easy to amass a stack of Pidgeys or Rattata, but zoning in on the biggest prizes is an imprecise science requiring patience and luck.
RELATED: Find rare Pokémon using this handy map
Thankfully it's possible to hone your skills by adhering to a few simple rules.
Whether you're craving a Charizard, desperate for a Dratini or must have a Generation 2 gem, we've got some tips that should help you find the rare Pokémon in Pokémon Go.
1. Know which are the rarest Pokémon
It's all well and good knowing what a Pidgey, Rattata, Zubat or a Drowzee is, but when it comes to the rare Pokémon, you might just be testing your '90s cartoon/videogame knowledge.
Thankfully, the extremely helpful RotomGuy on Reddit has compiled a handy chart of different levels of Pokémon rarity (here in the EU at least). He sadly doesn't include any of the evolutions, and the chart was produced before the release of Gen 2, but it gives you an idea of how easy it's going to be to find many of the Pokémon available in Pokémon Go.
Note those continent exclusives – Mr. Mime is only available in Europe, Farfetch'd in Japan, Tauros in North America and Kangaskhan in Australia.
With the release of Generation 2, Heracross is only available in Latin America and and Corsola in the Tropics.
Aside from those little pesky jet-setters, you're looking at six Legendary Pokémon to find in Pokémon Go – Mew, Mewtwo, Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos and Ditto.
From extensive trawling on the internet and various social media, it seems like no-one has caught any of the elusive six, which makes us wonder whether they're in the game at all (yet).
2. Level yourself up as much as you can
Unless you're very lucky indeed – or at least in the right place at the right time – the higher your Trainer Level, the more likely you are to come across the rarest of Pokémon in Pokémon Go.
So use our extensive Pokémon Go tips and tricks guide to help you rise up the ranks, using Lucky Eggs, battling, collecting and of course walking about racking up those kms.
Related: Pokémon Go tips and tricks – How to catch 'em all
3. Try out the Buddy system
Pokémon Go has a Buddy system that you can use to get yourself some rare Pokémon.
To get yourself a new Poké BFF, tap your little face in the bottom left-hand corner and then tap the burger menu in the bottom right.
You'll notice there's a new option for "buddy", which lets you choose the Pokémon from your collection you wish to have as your newest friend.
Doing so will allow you to collect candies for said critter the more you walk. We chose Charmander so we could work our way to getting that coveted Charizard and you get one or two candies for every 3km you walk.
The amount of kilometres you have to walk varies on the Pokémon you've chosen as a buddy, with distances set at 1km for the most common (and Pikachu), 3km, or 5km for the single evolution Pokémon like Hitmonlee, Chansey, Electabuzz and Snorlax.
That way, you only have to walk to get yourself the rarer Pokémon, as long as you've got one of the base level Pokémon of course.
4. Keep walking and hatching those eggs
Unless you're willing to travel all over the country (and the world for those exclusives), the easiest way to get yourself some rare Pokémon is to hatch eggs.
You'll pick up eggs from PokéStops all over the place, with you able to hold a maximum of nine at a time. But in order to start hatching them, you'll need an Incubator. You'll get an unlimited use Incubator early on in the game and as you make your way through the levels, you may pick up another couple of limited-use Incubators.
As soon as you get one, shove an egg in one and start walking, as you can only hatch an egg by walking the prerequisite distance.
There are three tiers to egg-hatching distances – 2km, 5km and 10km – but don't be fooled into thinking that the rarest Pokémon are only found in the 10km eggs.
The excellent folks over at Serebii.net have worked out the various distances you need to travel in order to be in with a chance of hatching certain Pokémon.
Here are a few highlights:
- Bulbasaur - 2km egg
- Charmander - 2km egg
- Squirtle - 2km egg
- Pikachu - 2km egg
- Ponyta - 5km egg
- Machop - 5km egg
- Lickitung - 5km egg
- Porygon - 5km egg
- Chansey - 10km egg
- Snorlax - 10km egg
- Lapras - 10km egg
- Omanyte - 10km egg
- Kabuto - 10km egg
- Aerodactyl - 10km egg
- Dratini - 10km egg
5. Make sure you're watching the Nearby Pokémon tab
When you've levelled up, got some eggs waiting to hatch and are just raring to get yourself some high-powered, super rare PokéFriends, make sure you're also keeping a keen eye on the Nearby Pokémon tab in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
Make sure that you learn your Pokémon silhouettes – you can take our Pokémon Go silhouette quiz to test your skills – and make sure you're not missing any rare Pokémon by not checking the Nearby tab regularly enough.
6. Travel
Getting the same old Pokémon on your commute? We'd advise taking a wander down a new (but still safe) path, as you're far more likely to come across new Pokémon by going somewhere new.
7. But don't be afraid to revisit the same spot
It's become clear that certain types of Pokémon are tied to real-world locations, but spawn irregularly. Just because you didn't spot Mew in the park, doesn't mean that it will never appear there. If you've heard reports of rare Pokémon spawning in locations you've already been to, it's definitely worth heading back to check it out again.
8. Take advantage of the Pokémon Go Catch Bonus
As of October last year, the Medals you earn in Pokémon Go are worth more than pride. You get them for a variety of things you do in the game from walking certain distances to catching multiple Pokémon of a certain type.
But thanks to a new update, a new feature called the Pokémon Go Catch Bonus, your chances of catching Types based on the Medals you've accrued just increased dramatically.
Check what medals you've got by tapping the Trainer icon in the bottom left hand corner, and you'll notice they're sorted into two sections and then three ranks.
The top ones aren't associated to Catch Bonuses but the bottom ones are. The higher the Medal, the stronger the Catch Bonus you'll get for that Type - Bronze is worth +1, Silver is +2, Gold is +3.
9. Raids mean powerful Pokémon
Earlier this year, Niantic introduced "raids" to give players the chance to snag rare, powerful Pokémon. There's a catch though: raids require whole groups of players to participate in order to win the prize.
You can tell a raid is live if an egg appears above a gym. This means that there is currently a high-level beast occupying the gym. Fighting these Pokémon usually requires multiple players to attack at once. Once it is defeated, each player is then given the chance to catch a copy of the raid boss.
This is also the system Niantic is using to distribute Legendary Pokémon like Articuno. Watch out for "Legendary Eggs" above gyms.
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