TIPS/TRICKS | pokedave

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EXTRA TIPS AND TRICKS

Because there are so many other amazing tips and tricks to the game, I decided to consolidate them all onto this page here. If you find anything that needs to be added be sure to let me know!

NESTS

Know Your Nests

Most Pokémon have "nests", or consistent places where one to four of the same Pokémon will spawn regularly, sometimes even hourly. Sadly, very rare Pokémon like Tyranitar, Mareep, Dragonite, Snorlax, Lapras, and even Grimer don't have any known nests, but others like Electabuzz, Magmar, Totadile, and Jinx do.

How nests and migrations work

Nests currently "migrate" every two weeks. These migrations occur at 12 a.m. UTS. (4 p.m. PST / 7 p.m. EST or 5 p.m PDT / 8 p.m. PST) every second Thursday. That's good, because it gives you a couple weeks to stock up on any good Pokémon at your local nests, but also changes things up fairly quickly if you get stuck with a bad nest. So, over the course of a few months, your Charmander nest might become Slowpoke, Charmander again, Marril, Drowzee, Yanma, then Growlithe, and so on. Nest migrations are seemingly random, though, so you never really know what you'll get.

Water and other Spawns

Water spawns aren't nests because they don't migrate and have multiple water-type Pokémon that spawn together. For example, Staryu, Slowpoke, Polywag, Psyduck, Chinchou, Remoraid and Magikarp often all spawn at the same water-side points. And if Magikarp are spawning hourly...

... Dratini may just be spawing daily.

Same goes for a few others, like electric spawns. Find a big electric center at a university or other large strucure and don't be surprised if you find Magnamite and Voltorb aplenty along with it.

THROWING YOUR BALLS AND GETTING BETTER CATCHES

ABC: Always Be Curving

Throwing a Curve Ball in Pokémon Go is believed to give you a 1.7x bonus to catch a Pokémon. (Catching means they don't break free from your Poké Ball or, worse, flee.)

The 1.7x bonus for a Curve Ball is higher than the 1.5x bonus you get for using a Razz Berry or switching to a Great Ball, and it consumes no resources. It's also cumulative, so if you do use a Razz Berry or Great or Ultra Ball, you still get a 1.7x bonus for curving. It's basically free bonus. All you have to do is get good at throwing it.

Max out your medals

Each Pokémon has one or two types, and each type has a medal. Typically, if you catch 10 of the same type, you get a bronze medal. Catch 50, and you get a silver medal. Catch 200, and you get a gold medal. Why bother? Bronze medal earns you an extra 1.1x bonus for catching Pokémon. Silver gets you a 1.2x bonus and gold gets you 1.3x. It's not as high as a Curve Ball bonus, but it's also effortless once you have it. And any bonus you get to catching that Dragonite might matter!

Consistency counts, use Razz berries, use better balls!

Bonuses stack together, so if you use a Razz Berry then throw a Curve Ultra Ball at a Pokémon you have Gold Medal for, and hit the Excellent Bonus, you catch rate multiplies through the roof.

Poké Ball: x 1.
Curve Poké Ball: x 1.7.
Curve Ultra Ball: x 3.4.
Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry: x 5.1.
Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry + Excellent: x 10.2.
Curve Ultra Ball + Razz Berry + Excellent + Gold Medal: x 13.26.

Golden Razz Berry raises the catch rate even higher, and after a few Raids you'll have plenty. Don't be shy to use them on the Pokémon that mean the most to you

Razz em up!

Use Razz Berries when you need to. Unlike Great or Ultra Balls, you can't miss with a Razz Berry and its 1.5x bonus will last until you hit. For the new Golden Razz Berries, it's 2.5x!

Use better balls

Use Great and Ultra Balls to maximize your odds. You get an extra 1.5x for a Great Ball and 2x for an Ultra Ball so use them to get those super rare or hard to catch Pokémon.

Pinap Power

Use a Pinap Berry to get double Candy for any Pokémon you really want to evolve or power up. You can't use a Razz Berry as well, so use an Ultra Ball to make up the difference.

Nanab ain't nothing

Ostensible a Nanab Berry calms a Pokémon down, making it easier to hit. In the current game, though, it seems to make little to no real difference.

Don't throw good balls after bad Pokémon

When you a see a Pokémon on your catch screen you also see the CP (Combat Power) of that Pokémon. If the CP is low we tend to think the level is low, making it easier to catch. But CP doesn't just depend on level, it also depends on stats (IV).

So, a Pokémon with low CP could be a low-level Pokémon with good stats... or it could also be a high-level Pokémon with lousy stats that's super hard to catch.

In other words, if a low CP Pokémon has a red or orange ring around it and keeps escaping your Poké Ball, odds are it's a lousy Pokémon that just happens to be high level and may not be worth your continued time and resources to catch.

Does the color of the target ring reflect the real-time catch rate?

It may, but given how hard it is to "read" slight variances in color spectrum, it's better to think of it as a rough guide. It's easy to see the difference between a Poké Ball and an Ultra Ball, and with or without Razz Berry as well. Medal bonuses are tougher to discern.

The target color can be anywhere on the spectrum from red (hard catch) to green (easy catch) with yellow in between. So, to artificially freeze-frame the catch rates:

Reddish: "0"-20%
Orangish: 20-40%
Yellowish: 40-60%
Limeish: 60-80%
Greenish: 80-100%

EVVEE (The most underrated Pokemon)

How do you force evolve Eevee into Gen 2's Espeon or Umbreon with the nickname trick?

Many of the Gen 1 to Gen 2 split evolutions require the new "evolution items" to force the old Pokémon into its new form. Not so Espeon or Umbreon. Instead, the same easter egg that worked for forcing a first-time Eevee-lution into Vaporeon, Flareon, or Jolteon also works for forcing a first-time Eevee-lution into a psychic-type Espeon or dark-type Umbreon.

All you have to do it re-name the Eevee you want to evolve after its trainer from the original Pokémon animated series.

Sakura for Espeon
Tamao for Umbreon

Remember, it only works for the first Espeon and Umbreon you evolve, so choose wisely — your highest stat (IV) and CP Eevee's!

How do you evolve more Umbreon or Eevee in Pokémon Go Gen 2?

Already use the nickname trick above and want to get more Umbreon or Eevee? If all you do is hit the Evolve button, all you'll get is a Vaporeon, Flareon, or Jolteon. To get Umbreon or Eevee, it takes friendship:

Make the Eevee you want to evolve your Buddy. Don't switch or swap it in any way or for any amount of time.
Walk with your Eevee Buddy for at least 10 KM and until you get 2 Eevee candy.
While keeping Eevee your Buddy, hit the Evolve button:
- During the day (game screen in bright) to get Espeon.
- At night (game screen is dark) to get Umbreon.

How do you force evolve Eevee into Gen 1's Vaporeon, Flareon, or Jolteon?

Eevee is different than the other Gen 1 Pokémon: Instead of a linear evolution, its Eevee-lution is split. That means, when you hit the Evolve button, you random chance decides if you get a water-type Vaporeon, fire-type Flareon, or electric-type Jolteon.

Almost.

You have the ability, once and once only, to force Eevee to evolve into each of its split evolutions. That's one Vaporeon, one Flareon, and one Jolteon, guaranteed. All you have to do is use this magnificent easter egg:

Rename the Eevee you want to evolve after the name of its trainer from the original Pokémon animated searies. That's:

Pyro for Flareon
Sparky for Jolteon
Rainer for Vaporeon.

Remember, it only works once for each. After that, you're back to random chance. So, choose wisely. Pick the highest stat (IV) and highest CP Eevee you can for each one.

And since Vaporeon is the most powerful Eevee-lution in the game, and Jolteon can counter Vaporeon (and Gyarados!), make those your first and second best respectively! (Sorry Flareon!)

INVEST IN THE BEST OF THE BEST (....YES)

Pick your Pokemon wisley

With the old Gym system gone, the old "evolve the Pokémon with the highest CP possible so they sit as high, and last as long, in Gyms as possible" is gone with it.

Now, Blissey and Snorlax below 2999 CP are all that's left of the old defenders focus, and attention is shifting towards attackers in general, and Raid Battle attacks in specific.

Here is a list of Pokemon worth investing Stardust into. Spend your time looking for 90% or higher IV's too.

Remember that Lugia, Articuno and the other legendary birds are definietly a good add to the list here, but keep in mind that they cannot be gym defenders!

For more info on the best movesets visit our other page here

Prepare for Gen 4

Pokémon Go Gen 2 has just arrived but it's never too early to start preparing for Gen 4! These are the Pokémon that will be getting new evolutions in the not-so-distant — we hope! — future. Catch more so you're ready when they arrive!

Magnemite to evolve Magneton into Magnazone.
Lickitung to evolve into Lickilicky.
Rhynhorn to evolve into Rhyperior.
Tangela to evolve into Tangrowth.
Elekid to evolve Electabuzz into Electivire.
Magby to evolve Magmar into Magmortar.
Eevee to evolve into Leafeon and Glaceon (Split).
Porygon to evolve Porygon2 into Porygon-Z.
Aipom to evolve into Ambipom.
Yanma to evolve into Yanmega.
Murkrow to evolve into Honchkrow.
Misdreavus to evolve into Mismagius.
Gligar to evolve into Gliscor.
Sneasel to evolve into Weavile.
Swinub to evolve Piloswine into Mamoswine.
Togetic to evolve into Togekiss

So, get those high-start 'mon and all the candy you can!