Have you still not jumped on the Pokemon GO bandwagon? Well, we’ve got the beginner guide for you. Here are the top 5 most important things beginners need to know about Pokemon GO.
5) The Basics
We’ll start up with a roundup of the basic information about the game.
You download and install it, then sign up.
After you sign up, you’ll create your character and select your username.
Once you’ve done that, the professor will give you a chance to select one of the three starter Pokemon (Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur).
If you don’t want any of those three, then you can get a Pikachu by physically running away from all three of these starter Pokemon. Do this three times, and the professor will offer you a Pikachu.
Once you’ve done that, then you’re ready to explore the world of Pokemon GO. Walk around your town or city and wait for your phone to buzz. Then, throw Pokeballs at the Pokemon to capture it. Tapping and holding on your Pokeball makes it easier to capture new Pokemon.
Pokemon are stored in your “inventory” and registered to your Pokedex.
Your goal is to fill up your Pokedex with all 150 Pokemon.
While exploring your town, you’ll encounter PokeStops. Tap a PokeStop to open it, then spin the disc around or press the X button to gather new items – like PokeBalls and potions.
4) Capture All the Pokemon You See
You may think, “I already have a Pidgey, why would I need another one?” The truth is: you should capture every Pokemon you see. You can send unwanted Pokemon back to the professor for a reward. You get Pokemon candy in exchange for sending Pokemon to the professor. Pokemon candy is used to level your Pokemon.
Another reason to capture every Pokemon you see is that their combat power changes as you level up. that Pidgey you caught at level 2 might only have a CP of 24. But by level 8, you could be catching Pidgeys (or Pidgeottos) with CPs of 150 or higher.
The third reason to capture every Pokemon you see is that it doesn’t really cost you anything.
You have a limit of 250 Pokemon in your inventory at all times. You’re not likely to hit that limit any time soon. You’re more likely to run out of Pokeballs – so make sure you keep hitting up those Pokestops.
Get rid of your lower CP Pokemon and keep your higher CP Pokemon. You’re going to need them for gyms.
3) How Do Gyms Work?
Gyms are found throughout your town or city at major stops. There are three teams in Pokemon, including Team Valor (red) Team Mystic (blue) and Team Instinct (yellow). At level 5, you’ll pick your team (although you have to go to any gym to pick your team).
Once you’ve picked your team, you can start battling for control of gyms. You’ll need to physically travel to gyms to take part.
If an opposing team controls a gym, then your job is to fight for control of that gym.
If your own team controls a gym, then you can train your own Pokemon there or place them at the gym to increase their dominance.
Why control a gym? Well, every time you take over a new gym, you get a big reward in the form of in-game items. Then, for every additional day you have control of that gym (specifically, every 21 hours), you’ll receive another burst of items – including Stardust and PokeCoins.
You can take 6 Pokemon into battle with you against a gym. Every time you win a battle, the gym’s prestige will drop. Your goal is to drop the gym’s prestige to 0, at which point the gym will open up and you can assign a Pokemon to defend it.
2) Battle Basics
Battling in Pokemon GO isn’t intense, but it does require you to use a few moves.
You have three actions in battle: standard attack, special attack, and dodge.
You’ll want to start off with standard attacks, which you can perform by tapping the enemy Pokemon repeatedly.
You’ll also want to dodge as frequently as possible, which you can do by swiping to the left or right.
Finally, after enough standard attacks, your Pokemon’s special attack meter will have grown (look at the blue bars underneath your name). At this point, you can tap and hold on the enemy Pokemon to perform a special attack. If you see multiple blue bars fully charged, then you can perform this attack multiple times.
If your Pokemon “faint” or get injured during a battle, then you’ll need to use potions and revive potions to either heal them or bring them back from the dead. There are no PokeCenters where you can instantly heal all of your Pokemon (although you can get revives and heal potions from any PokeStop).
Keep in mind that you can only place fully-healed Pokemon in a gym. So if you’re having trouble placing your highest-CP Pokemon in the gym, then you probably have to give it a few potions first.
1) Rooting is The Only Way to Become a Pokemon Master
If you still haven’t rooted your phone, then Pokemon GO gives you an excellent excuse. Rooting your Android is the only way to spoof location data, letting you travel around the world and capture different Pokemon in different locations.
Without rooting, you’d have to manually travel to these areas – which is the entire point of Pokemon GO. But if you want to skip the exercise and get right to the Pokemon part, then rooting your Android with something like One Click Root is what you need to do.
