10 Jul 2016

Pokémon GO has taken the world by storm, sending everyone outside collecting old Pokémon favourites through augmented reality.

So what’s the deal? You go around, catch the Pokémon by throwing Poke-balls at them, sus out the Poke stops for some little extras and keep going on your merry way. Is that it? That and a million Zubats?

If you’re not a childhood Pokémon fan, what’s next? Well, understanding which Pokémon are rarer than others takes time, but here are some basic tips to maximise your XP.

1. Make sure you tap and hold when trying to capture your Pokémon for better accuracy- you’ll get extra XP for that too!

2. When you see a Pokémon with a yellow circle around it, it means it has a higher CP. So it has a higher Combat Power- it’s stronger and harder to catch. Red is higher again!

3. Make sure you put your eggs in an incubator! As you walk, the egg will incubate. Only one egg per incubator! Different eggs require different distances. And don’t forget to use your other little things, like the incense to bring those Poké-babies to you.

4. You can find more Pokémon in their natural habitat. I.e. dark Pokémon at night, water Pokémon near ponds/lakes/bodies of water, grass-type in the bush. Of course, you can find them elsewhere, they’re just more concentrated there! What a great way to get you outside and active…

5. Hey, in Settings, there’s a battery saver mode. Even on 20% you can still enjoy the greatness of this app!

6. Rustling leaves? There’s wild Pokémon nearby! Want to see how many others are close by? Those little footprints on the bottom right will show you exactly how far that Pokémon and a bunch of others are.

7. Have you got duplicate Pokémon? Send them to the Professor (click Poké ball, and then click the Pokémon sub menu). You get candies and extra objects for your double-ups!

8. The more popular a landmark is, the more lucrative it will be. Get to the Opera House, folks!

9. Once you finnnnaalllyyy get to level 5, that’s where the real fun begins! You can battle in gyms and join teams. All that ‘CP’ will finally mean something. You’ll be able to join one of the game’s three teams and with those teams you’ll be able to take over gyms and guard them with your most powerful Pokémon.

10. Once you’re up to Level 5, evolve your Pokémon after being knocked out and you’ll give them full health.

11. You can rename your Pokémons! Click the little pencil beside the name of your Pokémon and name it literally anything in the world.

12. At a Poké stop, don’t forget to spin the circle thingy! Oh man, it took me ages to figure out that was what you were supposed to do and when I got all the free things I was the happiest little Poké-camper!

Alright, head out on out for a good ol’ Poké walk and catch ’em all!