The ultimate guide to Pokmon Go

The player
Pokmon Go is a bit different from earlier games in the series, because the
Pokmon trainerthe little character you make at the beginning of the game
gains experience points to increase his or her level. In the original games, each
Pokmon has its own experience points and level, but not so in Go.
There are two main reasons you want to get to a higher level:
- As your level increases, you will encounter and be able to catch more and
stronger Pokmon.
- Handy items get unlocked at certain levels. The Razz Berry, for example,
which makes Pokmon easier to catch, is unlocked at level 8.
Here are all the ways you can gain experience points (well explain how to do
these things):
Capture a Pokmon
Nice capture
Great capture
Excellent capture
Curveball capture
2km egg hatch
5km egg hatch
10km egg hatch
Evolve a Pokmon
Discover a new Pokmon
Visit a Pokspot
Train at a gym
Battle at a gym

100
10
50
100
10
200
500
1,000
500
500
50 or 100
Depends on how you do
Depends on how you do

Lucky Eggs
A very useful item for leveling up is the Lucky Egg. Using an egg sets off a 30minute timer, during which you will gain double experience points. Be sure to use
this wisely by consulting the table above to see which high-XP tasks you can
finish in that 30-minute window. You might time a Lucky Egg with several
Pokmon evolutions, or alongside a lure that sends lots of Pokmon your way, to
get the most bang for your buck.
One Lucky Egg is awarded at level 9, and others at subsequent levels. Lucky
Eggs can also be purchased at the store with PokCoins.
Catching Pokmon
At the core of the game is, of course, catching Pokmon. Heres everything you
need to know to catch em all.
Catch a Pikachu:
Like the original games, when you start playing Pokmon Go, you can choose one
of three Pokmon as your first companion: Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle.
But theres a hidden fourth option, too: Pikachu. To get a Pikachu, you just need a
little patience. You have to ignore the first three Pokmon presented to you by
Professor Willow and simply walk away. The three Pokmon will follow you around
for a bit and then disappear before reappearing. Do this four times, and a
Pikachu will eventually show up. Then you capture it. Catching Pikachu doesnt
appear to have a strategic advantage, since youll likely encounter stronger ones
later on, but why miss an opportunity to hang out from the outset?

Find nearby Pokmon: To see what Pokmon are lurking nearby, look at the
bottom-right corner of your screen. Clicking that menu will show outlines of up to
nine nearby Pokmon, along with one to three footprints underneath each of
them. The fewer footprints there are, the closer the Pokmon is. The Pokmon in
this menu are also sorted by distance. The one on the top-left is closest to you
while the one on the bottom-right is farthest.
How to throw a Pokball:
Unlike the original games, you dont battle wild Pokmon in Go. Instead, you
jump straight to capturing them, which really just means flicking a Pokball on
your phone screen at a Pokmon. Toss it too near or too far, and the Pokball
wont do anything. You have to get it just right by actually hitting the Pokmon.
When you press on a Pokball, a ring shows up around the Pokmon. A green ring
means the Pokmon is easy to catch, while a red one means its tougher to
catch. The rings also change in size as you hold down a Pokball. Your odds are
improved, especially for harder-to-catch Pokmon, if the ring is smaller when you
release the Pokball.
Throw a curve ball:
Curve balls arent just stylish, they also increase a players experience points if
the technique results in a capture. To initiate a curve ball, move your finger in
small circles on the screen while touching the ball and then toss it. Its still
unclear if curveballs actually increase the chances of capturing a Pokmon,
though they do definitely give you an XP bonus. Some players say thats the
case, while others report its harder.
Supercharged Pokballs:
Once players surpass level 11, theyll start to collect Great Balls and Ultra Balls
at PokStops, which are more effective at capturing wild Pokmon, particularly
the rarer ones.
Turn off AR:
Turning off the camera (the augmented-reality layer) has helped some players
capture Pokmon more successfully. With AR off, Pokmon are shown in the
middle of the screen, making them easier targets. Its less fun, though.
Lure out Pokmon:
The items Incense and Lure Module draw Pokmon out from hiding. The Lure
Module is more potent and can be attached to a specific location for a period of
time. A PokStop with an attached Lure Module is marked by fluttering pink
petals. Lure Modules make PokStops good places to find and catch Pokmon. As
you wander around, youll see Lure Modules put down by other players, and
youll probably see lots of other people hanging around them.
Catch em all:
In Pokmon Go, quantity is key. You might not want a whole flock of Zubats, but
theres strength in numbersor more specifically Stardust and Candy. When you
capture Pokmon, youll receive both items, which are used, respectively, to
power up and evolve Pokmon. Stardust can be used on any of your Pokmon,
but the kind of Candy you get is specific to the species (e.g., you get Zubat
Candy when you capture a Zubat). Generally, you get about 5 to 10 pieces of
Candy when you catch the first of a species and then 3 to 5 for subsequent
catches. You also get a piece of Candy when you transfer a Pokmon to Professor
Willow.
Pokdex:

The Pokdex, which you access by tapping the Pokball on the main screen,
keeps track of your Pokmon and shows how many species youve yet to
encounter. For species of Pokmon youve seen and caught, the Pokdex will
show detailed information, including its weight, height, type, and evolutionary
chain (e.g., Charmander evolves into Charmeleon, which evolves into Charizard).
Training Pokmon
Once you catch a Pokmon, its your job as a trainer to, well, train it. There are
three aspects of a Pokmon to keep in mind when training in Go:
Stats. CP, or Combat Points, is by far the most important of a Pokmons stats,
and determines how much damage it deals inbattle. There is also the Hit Points
(HP) stat, which is the amount of damage a Pokmon can take, but HP tracks
closely to CP, and the two upgrade simultaneously, so its fine to focus just on CP.
Type. Each Pokmon has a type, such as Flying, Bug, or Water, that
determines what other types it is weak and strong against.
Moves. In Go, each Pokmon has two moves, a standard move and a special
move. Each move also has a type.
Improving a Pokmons stats
Pokmon in Go dont have levels and experience points like they do in other
Pokmon games, but they can still be made stronger with your help. There are
two ways to improve your Pokmons stats: give it a Power Up or, if possible,
evolve it into a better version of itself.
Power Ups: A Power Up improves a Pokmons CP and HP. To perform a Power
Up, you need one thing that is fairly straightforward and another thing that is a
bit more complicated. The straightforward thing is Stardust, which you
automatically collect any time you catch a Pokmon, and will need a certain
amount of for each Power Up. The more complicated thing is Candy, which
comes in a different form for each evolutionary Pokmon line. What do we mean
by each evolutionary Pokmon line? For example, even though Pidgey evolves
into Pidgeotto, both simply require Pidgey Candy for Power Ups.
Evolution: Bringing a Pokmon to its next evolutionary step requires only Candy,
no Stardust. But you might need to collect a rather large amount of it. For
example, to convert Magikarpa useless fishinto its badass dragon successor
Gyarados, you will need a whopping 400 Magikarp Candy.
Evolving gives a Pokmon a big CP boost, and gives your player a good amount
of experience. There is one thing to be careful of when evolving: Your Pokmons
moves will change afterward. So if you have a highly rare Pokmon with your
preferred move, it might be worth leaving it as is until you can catch another
one.
A quick note on CP: Not all Pokmon were created equal, and it is simply
impossible to create an elite squad just by powering up and evolving common
rodents like Zubats and Rattatas. Each Pokmon in fact has a CP limit, which you
can see if you go into its detail page.
Types
Types are an important concept in all Pokmon games, and Go is no exception.
Each Pokmon and each move has a type. Go appears to use the sixthgeneration Pokmon type system, which includes 18 types, such as obvious
things like Water, Fire, and Lightning, as well as weird stuff like Dark and
Fairy. Each type is effective against some other types, and resistant to others.
For example, Water is extremely effective against Fire, but Grass is resistant to

Water, while Grass is vulnerable to Fire, et cetera. The permutations can get a bit
weirdBug, for example, is highly effective against Psychic, and Dragon
has no effect whatsoever on Fairy.
The type of a move does not always correspond to that of its Pokmon. A Dark
Pokmon, for example, might be able to perform a Psychic-type move. A dragon
might be able to do both Fire and Flying moves. And so on. As you build your
team, consult a list of Pokmon types (like this one) and make sure you are not
heavily vulnerable to any one type and have a favorable matchup against any
possible type. (There are also more out-there strategies like using only Normaltype Pokmon, which have just one vulnerability, but well leave that aside for
now.)
Moves
In Go, Pokmon have just two moves, a standard move and a special move.
When battling, the standard move will be used most of the time, while the
special move needs to be charged up over time. Unlike in other games in the
series, a Pokmons moves cant be changed, and are assigned randomly. The
moves will also change randomly again upon evolution.
Pay attention to a moves:
Damage
Energy requirements (special moves only) Type
The damage is just a number that tells you how much hurt it puts on your
opponents. Higher energy requirements mean a special move will take longer
to prepare. The type is where more strategy is involved, as some Pokmon are
able to balance weaknesses of their own type with advantages in their moves.
When deciding which Pokmon is worth your time and effort to train, make sure
it has the moves you want first. You can consult a full move list (like this one) to
see which moves each Pokmon is capable of learning, so you can determine
which is best for your squad. Also keep in mind that you will want a core fighting
team of just six Pokmonthe most you can send out against enemies.
Collecting items at PokStops
Pokmon Go is based on another popular Niantic game called Ingress. Both titles
encourage players to explore the world around them, rewarding them with virtual
items when they reach real-life landmarks highlighted by the app. In Ingress,
these points of interests are called portals; in Pokmon Go, theyre called
Pokstops. Niantic used a small subset of the location data from Ingress as the
basis for Pokstops in Pokmon Go.
Pokstops are marked on the games map with a floating blue cube. Tapping
them will show more details about the landmark, including a photo. Players can
only collect items if they are close enough to the PokStop (sometimes this
means you can be across the street from it, sometimes this means you have to
get right up to it). If the app deems youre close enough, swipe the image of the
landmark to spin it, and itll spit out three or more items. When you claim items
from a PokStop, the icon turns from blue to purple, but PokStops refresh about
every five minutes so you can return to collect more items.
For players who are just getting started, most of the items available at PokStops
are Pokballs and the occasional egg. Eggs, when placed in an egg incubator, will
hatch into Pokmon after players have traveled a certain distance. All players
start with one egg incubator, and an additional one can be purchased with
PokCoins.

Once players start leveling up, the items available to them at Pokstops get
more special:
At level 5, players start collecting Potions, Revive, and Incense. Potions and
Revive both aid injured Pokmon. Revive brings Pokmon that have fainted back
to life, while Potions heal weak Pokmon by increasing their HP. Incense is used
to lure wild Pokmon out.
At level 8, players receive Razz Berries and a Lure Module. When Razz Berries
are fed to wild Pokmon, theyre less likely to run away and escape Pokballs.
Lure Modules are like incense but more potent and can be attached to
PokStops for 30 minutes, making PokStops good places to find Pokmon.
At level 9, players start getting Lucky Eggs. Using a Lucky Egg doubles
players experience points within a 30-minute window.
At level 12, theyll collect the more powerful Great Balls, which increase the
likelihood of capturing a wild Pokmon.
At level 20, they start getting the even more effective Ultra Balls.
Gyms
Around the Pokmon Go map you will see, in addition the small PokStops, large
structures. These are gyms, and you can access them once you get to level five.
When you enter a gym for the first time, youll be asked to swear allegiance to a
team, each represented by a color and a characteristic: Yellow (Instinct), Blue
(Mystic), and Red (Valor). Selecting a particular team doesnt appear to make any
difference to your individual character, but that could change in future versions
of the game.
Each gym is controlled by one of these three teams. Because it is still so early in
Pokmon Go, there is a lot of turnover in gym control, particularly in densely
populated areas, so dont worry too much about selecting the best team in
your area. However, if other massive online games are any guide, dominant
political forces will eventually emerge.
There are three ways you can interact with gyms:
1. Train and test your squad by battling friendly Pokmon in a gym controlled
by your team.
2. Defend a gym controlled by your team by contributing one of your Pokmon
to it.
3. Attack and attempt to take over gyms controlled by opposing teams.
Gym Prestige
Gyms in the Pokmon universe are partly about training, but mostly about cred.
The goal is to stake a claim for your team and create a gym that is difficult to
defend. Crucial to this in Pokmon Go is the concept of a gyms prestige, and all
three of the things listed above are related to it.
Each gym has a level, which corresponds to the number of Pokmon that can be
used to defend it. So a level 5 gym can have five different defending Pokmon.
If your goal is to attack and take over a gym, you will need to reduce its prestige
to zero. You will first need to take out all of the Pokmon defending the gym. But
that is only the start, as this does not necessarily give the gym over to you; it
only reduces its prestige level. Youll have to keep defeating the entire gym until
its prestige gets all the way to zero, at which point the gym will become gray,
and youll be able to move in.
You can also help fortify gyms belonging to your team by training and testing
your Pokmon there. A gym gains prestige for each battle it wins, even if it is

against a player of its own team. So you can battle against friendly Pokmon
repeatedly until your gym gains another level, which will then open up another
defensive spot, and allow you to contribute one of your Pokmon to the gyms
fortification. Keep in mind that whichever Pokmon you leave behind will not be
available for anything else unless it gets kicked out of the gym by an enemy
team.
Benefits of gyms
The gym system is a bit complicated, and you may be wondering why you should
be bothering with it at all. There are two main benefits of interacting with gyms:
experience and bonus items.
Each battle you win at a gym gives you XP, which becomes increasingly scarce
as you catch all of the most common Pokmon. Also, for each Pokmon you have
stored in a gym, you will receive 500 Stardust and 10 PokCoins once every 24
hours. Aside from using real money, this appears to be the only way in the game
to earn PokCoins.
Battling
In Pokmon Go, battles only happen at gyms. If you are training with your
Pokmon at a friendly gym, you can select one Pokmon to send out against your
teammate. If you are challenging an enemy gym, you can select a squad of six
Pokmon that will be sent out in turn.
Battles involve one of your Pokmon facing one of your opponents. If a Pokmon
loses all of its HP and faints, it gets called back. If there are any left, a
replacement is unleashed. In battle, you can do one of four things:
Standard move: Tap once on the screen. Each tap will execute a standard
move.
Special move: Watch the blue bar underneath your Pokmons HP. As you
perform standard moves, it will fill up. One blue block means you can execute a
special move, by long pressing on the screen.
Dodge: Swipe left or right, or tap the left or right side of the screen to dodge
incoming attacks
Swap Pokmon: Tap the up-down-arrow button on the bottom-right of the
screen to switch the current Pokmon with another one
Important battle tips
Special moves are not always good: Its tempting to use the special move as
soon as it is charged, but if its a big one, it might be best to wait until it can be
used as a finishing blow. Because the special move will leave you static and
unable to dodge, and may have a cool-down time, firing it will open you up to a
frenzy of attacks. Also be sure to take advantage by relentlessly attacking your
enemies when they are charging up a special.
Practice dodging: In your first battles, youll probably just tap furiously away at
the attack buttons, and this is probably a decent strategy if your Pokmon has a
much higher CP than its opponent. But in order to win close battles, or battles
where you are the underdog, you will need to get good at dodging, particularly at
dodging big special attacks.
Know your enemy: As we explained in the types section, an important concept in
Pokmon is knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. Before
going into battle, be sure to check your enemys type and use or train Pokmon
that have type advantages over the opposing team.

Swap for types: Swapping out a Pokmon leaves it vulnerable to attack for a few
seconds, so you may be hesitant to do it. But if you can swap for a type
mismatch, like bringing out a Water Pokmon against a Fire enemy, it will be
worth it so long as their CPs are close.
You dont have to go it alone: You can join up with other members of your team
when battling to take over enemy gyms. Your teammate can attack the same
enemy Pokmon as you, and you can make your way through the enemy gym
together.
Dont let the Pokmon you want to leave at the gym faint: If you successfully
take a gym, you wont be able to leave behind a fainted Pokmon to defend it. So
make sure your preferred choice survives the battle.
Healing your embattled Pokmon
Rather tediously, Pokmon Go does not have the lovely Pokmon Centers of
other games in the series, where your Pokmon all get instantly healed. You will
need to use two types of items to heal your Pokmon after battle:

Revive: Wake up a Pokmon that has fainted.

Potions: Restore a specific amount of a Pokmons HP: