If you've downloaded Pokemon Go within the past week, Congratulations for being a part of the tsunami that has touched almost every person in America. If you haven't downloaded yet, then shame on you.
We here over at YCMC have been raving about Pokemon GO since the first day it came out, and over the past couple of days, we have compiled 10 different tips besides the super obvious ones that will help you catch them all, hopefully.
1. How to evolve your Pokemon
This is number one because this is what the game is all about! Having the toughest Pokemon to whoop other Gym Leader's butts, right? Anywho, when a wild Pokemon is caught, it adds two things to the inventory: Stardust and Candy. Candy is specific to the earliest evolution stage of a Pokemon species. For example, catching a Pidgey gives Pidgey Candy, and catching a Pidgeotto also gives Pidgey Candy. A Pokemon can also be "transferred" (i.e. sold forever) to Professor Willow for one candy.
Pokemon require a certain number of their specific Candy type to evolve. The amount of Candy needed varies, but basically if you want to evolve a Pokemon, catch more of it to build up that Candy collection! Candy can also be used to strengthen a Pokemon by raising its Combat Power. This stat dictates how a Pokemon performs in battle. Evolution also raises the CP levels and CP cap of a Pokemon.
2. How Gym's Work and What Your Team Color Means
When you reach level five, Professor Willow introduces you to gyms and the option to choose your affiliation--Instinct, Mystic, or Valor. There is one of three scenarios that may appear when you are close enough and can tap on a Pokemon Gym. Either the Gym is unclaimed (White), owned by a rival team, or owned by your own chosen team.
If you interact with a gym representing your team, you can either train your Pokemon for XP by battling others or store them there for bonus Poke Coins and Stardust, which can be claimed once every 24 hours. However, when you encounter an opposing team's gym, you can only do battles with its Pokemon. If you defeat its entire roster, you'll take a large amount of Prestige Points away from that gym. High-level gyms with a large amount of Prestige Points may need to be defeated multiple times before they can be claimed.
3. Why Catching the same Pokemon over and over is O.K
So say you run across a Pidgey, and you catch it. Good. Now say you run across it again, your first instict may be to run away from it because you're thinking, "Why do I need two Pidgeys?". Don't think like that, catch those extra Pidgeys! When you get extra Pokemon, you can "transfer" these Pokemon to the Professor for candies to evolve that Pokemon.
4. How to Finesse the "Nearby" Feature
The Nearby feature if used right can be your bestfriend. Here's how: Click the nearby box. Out of the 9 that pops up, click the one you really want to find, and close out of it. The pokemon icon that you want to find should now be bigger than the nearby box and have foot steps next to it. After this, click the compass and the view will then turn in the direction of the Pokemon. The number of foot prints will go down as you get closer.
5. It's all about the Razzberries
To ensure a Pokémon doesn’t bust out of the first ball you throw, start off by pulling a Razz Berry out of your pack to make it docile. You don’t get access to Razz Berries until Level 8 in Pokémon Go, but once you do, make sure to keep plenty in stock for the rare Pokémon.
Well there it is folks! The top 10 hacks that you will need to know in order to be the Ultimate Pokemon Master... besides the super obvious hacks that are currently floating around the internet. If you have any other hacks that you would want to share, leave them below!
