Pokemon Go 101: Understanding the Basics

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Pokemon Go 101: Understanding the Basics

Pokemon Go is all the rage these days and while thousands of people are playing it and running around catching Pikachus and finding PokeStops, there are thousands who are clueless about this game and have no idea what it’s all about.

Pokemon Go is not like any other video game that has ever been released. It uses augmented reality and you’ll need to be very active in order to do well in the game. Most video games require you to sit in some fixed spot and play the same scenarios over and over till your skills get good enough for you to make it to the next level.

With Pokemon Go, you will not be sitting in any one spot for long. You’ll need to walk around and follow your map as you look for Pikachus to capture, wild creatures to battle or Gyms to dominate.

Like most computer games, Pokemon Go is repetitive too but you don’t feel it because of the fantasy this game creates. You are actually a part of the game and in a way, it plays you just as much as you play it.

Your surroundings are all potential places where you could find these adorable creatures. Everything seems more exciting. We live in a world where most people constantly have their noses buried in their smartphones.

Pokemon Go is a free app that is installed on these phones and just about anyone can play it. You don’t need to buy any bulky game consoles or software to enjoy this game.

While Pokemon Go is so popular, it is a basic game and in no way matches the complexity and depth in games such as Assassin’s Creed or Fallout 4. However, it’s this basic nature that makes it so popular and appealing to so many people.

Pokemon Go is all about surprise, adventure, fantasy and accomplishment. You feel like a modern day Indiana Jones as you go about exploring for Pikachus and throwing PokeBalls.

Here are a few very common Pokemon Go terms you should know.

Combat Power (CP)

This refers to the strength of a Pokemon when it’s in battle with another Pokemon and you should use this to gauge a Pokemon’s attack strength.

Eggs

Like the name suggests, these eggs will hatch into Pokemon. You can find these eggs at poke stops. You’ll need to walk or cover a certain distance before the egg incubates and hatches.

Defender Bonus

This is your reward when you defend a gym successfully against attacks. The rewards can be converted into Stardust and PokeCoins which you can claim at the virtual shop within the game.

Battle

This is what happens when your Pokemon fights with a wild creature in the game. It’s also used to challenge rivals or even fight Pokemon that are friendly. Battles can only take place at gyms.

In the event you approach a rival gym, you have the opportunity to battle with the team running the gym and you can claim it for yourself if you win.
During battle, each time you defeat a Pokemon, the Gym’s Prestige level drops. Once it reaches zero, you’ve won and the Gym is yours.

Gyms

These are specific places for you to go and fight with rival Pokemon teams. You can even train your Pokemon by battling at gyms where your team members have assigned their own Pokemons.

Friendly Gyms are ones that belong to your team. Rival Gyms are gyms owned by other teams and Open Gyms have not been claimed by anybody yet.

Wild Pokémon

These are Pokemon running loose that have not been captured.

Candy

These are used to make your Pokemon stronger and help you evolve through the game. You’ll get these candies when you transfer your Pokemon to Professor Willow whom you met at the beginning of the game.

Lucky Egg

These eggs will double the XP that you accrue for 30 minutes for all the actions you undertake. You can either get Lucky Eggs when you reach a new level or you can buy your Lucky Eggs at the shop

Evolution

This refers to your Pokemon’s levels increasing as it becomes stronger and a highly evolved, advanced species.

Experience Points (XP)

As you progress through the game, the Poke-venture will track your progress and you’ll advance further in the game. If you increase your XP, you can reach Trainer levels that are much more beneficial.

Hit Points (HP)

This is a measure of your Pokemon’s health. When it reaches zero, the Pokemon faints.

Fainted Pokémon

This happens when your Pokemon has no more Hit Points, also known as HP. You can fix this problem by using Revive or Max Revive to wake up your poor fainted Pokemon and get it back in action.

Incubator

This is where you place your egg so that it hatches while you walk. Once you upgrade you incubators, you’ll need to cover less distance to hatch the eggs.

Incense

You use incense to lure the wild Pokemon to where you are. You get 2 incense at the start of the game and you need to buy them after that for 80 PokeCoins.

Lure Module

This is a stronger method of luring the Pokemon. When you use a Lure Module, all players in the vicinity will be able to see it and grab the opportunity to capture wild Pokemon even they’re not the one who set it up.

Medals

You be awarded medals as you progress though the game and meet certain objectives. Examples of awards are Breeder, Kanto, Battle Girl, Backpacker, Ace Trainer, etc.

PokeBalls

You use these to capture the wild Pokemon that’s running around. You can either get these at the PokeStops or you can buy them from the shop. There are different types of PokeBalls which have better performance and increase your chances of catching the wild Pokemon.
You want to look out for Ultra Balls, Great Balls and Master Balls.

PokéCoins

This is the currency in the Pokemon Go game and you can exchange the PokeCoins for useful items that you find in the shop. You can also buy Poke Coins from the shop.

Pokedex

This is where you will be given instructions and information about the Pokemon Go game and the types of Pokemon you’ve captured.

PokeStop

These are specific locations that contain items such as potions, eggs, PokeBalls, etc. All you’ll need to do is find the PokeStop, touch it and spin the photo disc to collect your items. Do note that the PokeStop will change shape as you get nearer to it.

Potions

These are very effective for healing Pokemons with low HP. Use them and you can restore your Pokemon’s Hit Points so that they can engage in battle again.

Power-Up

This is a term used to describe increasing your Pokemon’s HP and CP.

Prestige

This is a measurement of a Gym’s standing in terms of how well it was able to defend itself against rivals.

Razz Berry

You use these to feed wild Pokemon so that you can capture them more easily. You can’t buy these Razz Berries and can only get them at PokeStops.

Stardust

This is used to increase your Pokemon’s power and you get it by incubating and hatching eggs.

Training

This is when your Pokemon battles with fellow members’ Pokemon and your experience points and the Gym’s Prestige goes up.

Trainer

These are people just like you who play the Pokemon Go game and enjoy all the adventure and battle that come with it.
Now that you know most of the terms used in this game, you’ll be better equipped to play it well and succeed.

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4 Tips To Improve At Pokémon Go

Pokemon Go Tips

Pokémon Go is the newest craze and it seems like everyone is playing! If you’re going to play however, you’ll want to maximize your experience so you don’t spend a lot of hours just wasting time.

Here are some tips that will let you have fun while leveling up and enjoying the experience!

1. Circles Matter

When trying to catch a Pokémon, hold your finger down on the ball so that circles show up on the target. A green circle means the target will be easier to catch than a yellow or red circle. The circle will shrink and grow. If you hit the Pokémon with the Pokéball when the moving circle is at its smallest, the Pokémon will be easier to capture. Hitting when the ring is at its smallest is particularly important if the ring is a color other than green.

2. Location Matters

Even if you aren’t unfortunate enough (relative to this game) to live rural, many housing and subdivisions lack a good frequency of Pokémon spawning. Sometimes this is even true if you’re willing to walk a distance. At times like these, getting in your car can be incredibly helpful! While you certainly should NOT play the game and drive, simply driving to a more populated area can greatly improve the variety of Pokémon you find as soon as you start walking. Historic areas of towns, shopping mall parking lots, community parks (particularly ones with lots of historical markers), and your local zoo can all be excellent places to spend your time.

3. Make The Most Of Potential Experience Points

Sometimes, leveling up can make experience seem hard to come by. This is especially true when you keep collecting the same type of Pokemon over and over! Fortunately, collecting a whole lot of the same isn’t a bad thing! Turn some of them in to Professor Willow for candy of that Pokemon’s type. Then get ready to evolve a whole lot of them from their first tier to their second tier! (Pidgey is a great one to do this with since it requires fewer candies than most for its first tier evolution.) Want to level up even faster? Hold onto them until you have a lucky egg and then evolve a whole bunch!

4. Pack A Spare Mobile Battery Pack

Running the game, the screen, and location data can be incredibly taxing on your phone’s battery. Often you will find your battery running out before your feet say it’s time to quit. A spare mobile battery or battery pack can give you a LOT more play time and the newer ones aren’t particularly expensive. Battery packs are rated in mA (milliamps) and larger ones will give you more play time than smaller ones.

Bonus Tip: Constant use of location data can rapidly chew up your existing data plan. This can leave you with no access or, worse, data overage charges, which will make you sad. Consider either increasing your plan or picking up a prepaid mobile hotspot so you can easily buy a few more gigs of data only when you need them. (If you’re hanging out in a parking lot, store, or near a PokéStops, be sure to check for free Wi-Fi nearby!)

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5 Great Tips For Finding More Pokémon Go Creatures

Pokemon Go Tips

The hot new mobile game, Pokémon Go, focus on one seemingly simple task: Gotta catch ’em all!

However, attempts to fill up your Pokédex (that’s Pokémon for a type of encyclopedia where your goal is to include one of each type), can be quite frustrating if you are having a hard time finding enough to keep you busy!

People seem to be running around randomly; constantly peering down at their phones with only one goal in mind: to catch ’em all!

1. Hunt With A Friend

Not only can walking with a friend give you someone to laugh and joke around with, but more importantly it speed up the process of finding Pokémon that are ‘two-footstep’ or ‘three-footstep’ away on your indicator. Having someone to help you by walking the other direction when there is a question of left or right can be incredibly helpful.

2. Hunt At Night

While you need to be cautious about your safety in doing so, night hunts can reveal types of Pokémon that are not present during the daytime. Many players report finding a lot more fairy type Pokémon in the evenings. Always use your common sense however and preferably hunt with friends if you plan to go out at night. (Be wary of lure-enabled PokéStops at night if you do not have friends around, as these can unfortunately be abused.)

3. Pay Attention To Your ‘Nearby’ Menu

This menu tells you which Pokémon are one-unit, two-units, or three-units away. Unfortunately each unit is designated as a footprint but the distances are much much larger than just a footstep! You’ll need to watch this closely to see if footsteps increase or decrease to let you know if you are getting nearer or further away. This is sort of like a game of Marco Polo with Pokémon! Once you are down to a single footprint, then wander around and allow your radar ring (the pulsing circle around your body) to help you pull the Pokémon out of hiding.

4. Watch For Moving Leaves

While moving leaves do not indicate that a Pokémon will definitely spawn there, they DO indicate that the general area is a spawn point for Pokémon. If you’re in an area with those little green fluttering leaves showing up on your map, stay alert because you’re quite likely to find Pokémon showing up there!

5. Visit Parking Lots – Particularly Those of Shopping Centers And Major Stores

No one is really sure why parking lots seem to be a favorite spawn point for Pokémon, but they sure are! The more active and busy the parking lot is, the more likely you are to find a lot of activity there. Sometimes parking lots around shopping centers are even more Pokémon active than Lure-attached PokéStops! Since multiple people can all collect the same Pokémon, these can be a fun way to meet and greet people as well.

Bonus tip: Pidgey is one of the easiest to acquire Pokémon in the early levels while having one of the lowest “costs” to evolve. Save up a handful of them and enough candy to do the evolving. Then either acquire or purchase a Lucky Egg. These eggs double your experience earned for 30 minutes. Once you’ve used the Lucky Egg then evolve a whole bunch of Pokémon during that time for a massive level boost!

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6 Pokemon Secrets No One Is Telling You About!

Pokemon Go Tips

You must be living on Mars if you haven’t heard of Pokemon Go by now. Even if you don’t play the game, you might have been annoyed at people getting in your way with their phones as they look for creatures. It’s that popular and this craze is sweeping across the US.

Unlike normal video games, Pokemon Go requires a lot of physical movement and a certain amount of strategy if you wish to do well. If you go in without a plan, you’re probably going to end up exhausted, 20 pounds lighter and still not be at a level that you want.

While losing excess weight is good, you are in it to win. In this article, you’ll learn several secrets that the good players are using to kick you to the dirt. Adopt them and use these tips well.

1. Playing while moving.

When you’re playing while on the move, it’s crucial that you be fast on the PokeStops. A common problem is that you end up out of range before you have a chance to spin.

When you’re engaged in battle with a Pokemon while you’re moving, you can rest assured that you will always be within range. You will never go out of range so there is no need to panic and hastily do battle with a wild creature if you’re not ready yet.

2. Pokemon have a variety of moves.

Unlike most video games where the characters have fixed capabilities and moves, with Pokemon Go, the Pidgeys have different levels of combat power. They also have different moves. So, keep your mind open to the possibilities and don’t let high CP be the only criteria you deem important.

3. The higher your trainer level, the better.

This is a point many people miss. In order to have a super high CP Pokemon, you absolutely need a high trainer level. Only with this can you boost your chances of finding rare and powerful Pokemon. Do not rely on luck if you want powerful fighters. You MUST level up.

4. PokeStops refresh constantly.

While everyone is running around in a mad rush looking for PokeStops, one secret you should know is that PokeStops refresh once every 5 minutes. So, if you’re in the vicinity of 4 PokeStops, you can just walk one round, hit them all and collect all the special items.

5. Get more candies by transferring your duplicate Pokemon.

If you play the game long enough, you will end up with more Pokemons than you need and you’ll run out of space. You really do not need to keep every single one. Just transfer them to the Professor by clicking on the Transfer button and you’ll remove the duplicate Pokemon and also get a monster candy.

6. Save your battery power

This game seriously drains your phone’s battery power and since your battery power is crucial to keep playing the game, you need to conserve it wisely. You can do that by downloading the maps to your phone.

This will mean that you don’t need WiFi to play the game. You’ll save battery power and also cut down on your data usage by playing the game offline.

Remember these 6 secrets and use them to gain an advantage over everyone else playing Pokemon Go.

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