Time to take hold of your dreams, become a Pokémon trainer, and catch 'em all!
Just about everyone knows about Pokémon, a game where you travel the world in order to collect every pocket monster on the planet. For over a decade it has won hearts, and now, Pokémon Go is coming to a mobile phone near you. Whether you are rocking an Android or an iPhone, this game is going to be available to play.
We've got all the details that you need to hit the ground running. We cover how to find and catch Pokémon, how Gyms and teams work, what items you can hope to find, and how evolution is going to work. Pokémon Go is still in the beta phase and not yet available to download but we've been deep in the trenches, catching, hatching, and evolving Pokémon ahead it's official launch, which is scheduled for sometime later this year. We've got the definitive guide to Pokémon Go. Keep reading for all the details!
In the world
Teams
Pokémon
Pokéstops
Capturing Pokémon
Items, items, items
Eggs and incubators
Gyms
Evolution
Leveling up
Pokémon Go Plus [AKA: Poké Watch]
Final Thoughts
In the world
While there is plenty going on in Pokémon Go, getting the hang of the basics is in your best interest. That way you can catch any Pokémon you come across without any issues. This includes knowing how the mechanics work, and how you access your backpack and Pokédex.
As you wander through the real world, the app will show you an animated version of Google maps. You'll be able to see roads, buildings, Gyms, and Pokéstops. As you move, your avatar will as well. As you walk in the real world Pokémon will pop up on the map, and if you tap on them you can try to capture them.
Avatar: Your avatar is you, inside the confines of the game. You'll be able to choose gender, eye color, hair color, shirt, hat, pants, shoes and the style of your backpack.
Player icon: At the bottom right is a player icon, if you tap on this you can see the specs of your character, as well as a list of in-game achievements.
Backpack: This is where all the items you pick up on your journey will go.
Pokédex: Your index of Pokémon, complete with information on all the species you've already caught.
Pokémon: From here you'll be able to see all the Pokémon that are in your possession.
Nearby Pokémon: Located at the bottom right of your screen this will inform you of which Pokémon are nearby.
Teams
When you reach your first Gym, you'll be asked to join one of three color coded teams: Blue, Red, or Yellow, named for the original US titles – Pokémon Red, *Pokémon Blue, and Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition. The team you chose doesn't affect the type of Pokémon you will come across in the wild, but you will be on the same team as hundreds or thousands of other players around the world. Each team will work together to become the most successful. Much like in Ingress, teams can turn Pokémon Go from a single player experience to a group sport.
Teams are how you join up with your friends to make a dent on the world. You and your team will take over and level up Gyms. There's no news yet on events that will give you more to do with your team, but we're hopeful that we'll see them after the game becomes fully available.
Pokémon
Over the years we've been introduced to, and fallen in love with, hundreds of pocket monsters. For now however it seems like we aren't getting access to all of the Pokémon that you might find on your Nintendo DS. Instead, it's back to basics. As of now we've seen a variety of Pokémon types, and even Pokémon in the wild that you might not expect, like Flareon and Jolteon. While we haven't spotted any Legendary Pokémon, that doesn't mean they aren't out there hiding somewhere as well.
Over 100 Pokémon from Pokémon Red and Blue are all available for capture. It's unclear exactly which Pokémon are out in the wild, so the only way to find out is by collecting all the pocket monsters that you find. Each geographical area has specific Pokémon though, so don't get discouraged if you keep finding the same type. You'll need to travel around a bit to find everybody, like heading to local lakes or beaches to find water type pokemon. If you aren't near a natural body of water, try heading to a pond at a local park.
Pokéstops
Pokéstops are an easy way to collect items, eggs, and experience. Each one is indicated on your map, and you can click them even if you're not in range yet. You won't be able to check in until the Pokestop is close by, but it's an easy way to see where a Pokestop is located before checking in there.
When a Pokéstop is within your range, you'll want to tap on it. This will bring up a screen, swipe across and you'll be rewarded with a variety of items. The items in questions can range from eggs, to various different kinds of Poké Balls, to revives or healing potions for the Pokémon in your roster.
Pokéstops are important or iconic areas around the city you are in. They may be special benches with dedication plaques, or permanent art installations, or historic landmarks. They will never be something as mundane as a stop sign. They will also never be in a location that is not accessible to the public, like inside a private building, or beyond a locked gate.
Capturing Pokémon
Once you've got the basics of gameplay, the next thing to do of course is go out and find Pokémon. While you're running around in the world, you'll see your avatar moving along the map using your GPS. When it comes time to capture Pokémon, they'll pop up on your screen from anywhere.
You will find Pokémon in the wild by physically walking around your city. Since it is dangerous to walk around with your phone in your face, the game is designed to allow you to keep your eyes free while you wander. You can keep your phone at your side while you walk, and when you are near a Pokémon, you'll get a notification in the form of a vibration and the Pokémon's unique call. You can then lift your device to try to capture it.
Capturing a Pokémon is fairly simple, but follows a slightly different process than the games have used. When you see one you want to capture, you'll want to tap on it. Doing this will drop you out of the map, and launch an augmented reality experience with the Pokémon dancing around in realtime. You'll need to pan back and forth until you find the Pokémon in question around you. Then, you'll throw a Poké Ball at the Pokémon, by swiping towards it. You'll need to aim accordingly, or you will miss. Once the Poké Ball hits the Pokémon, there will be a small animation showing it being captured, or escaping the Poké Ball. Be aware though, if you take too many tries, that Pokémon may run away.
More than one person can catch the same Pokémon at the same time. So, if you and your friend see the same Pokémon on the street, you can both capture it on your separate devices. It doesn't disappear just because another player catches it.
Items, items, items
In a game like Pokémon, having access to items is kind of mandatory. You'll need Poké Balls in order to capture Pokémon, potions to heal them, and revives to wake them if they fall during battle at a Gym. There is a store to handle some of your item needs. For now, you'll receive a daily allowance from Professor Oak, but that may change when the game leaves Beta. Currently, the store does not carry a handful of items only found at Pokestops such as potions, revives and razz berries.
You never know what you're going to come across at a Pokéstop but it's always helpful. Each item has a specific use in the game. For the most part items fall under recovery, and capture. That is, items either help your Pokémon to recover from wounds, or are one of a variety of Poké balls used to capture Pokémon. There are also incense to lure Pokémon to you, Lucky Eggs which grant you double experience for 30 minutes, Lure Patches which will draw Pokémon to a Pokéstop, Razz Berries which make it easier to catch more of the same species of Pokémon and eggs which can hatch into new Pokémon.
Eggs and incubators
As you move through the world, and collect items from Pokéstops you might just luck out and pick up an egg. You can incubate eggs in order to hatch them, which will net you a Pokémon in the progress. You start the game with a single incubator, although you can purchase more. The only way to get eggs though is by finding them at Pokéstops.
To hatch an egg, you must first place it in an incubator. When you place an egg into the incubator, it will let you know how far you need to physically walk in order to hatch it. Initially, you'll only have access to a single incubator which lasts forever. You can purchase more incubators from the store for 180 coins each, and those will last for 5 uses before breaking down. When Eggs hatch, you can generally expect to find Pokémon similar to common Pokémon from the Pokéstop where you found the egg but may occasionally find something you have not otherwise seen.
Gyms
Much like Pokéstops, Gyms are actual landmarks out in the world, and they are where real Pokémon battles happen. You can claim them for your team, or help level up a Gym already claimed for your team to gain build up its prestige. Trainers can take over an unoccupied Gym and claim it for the Red, Blue, or Yellow team. If your team's color is in control of a Gym, you are able to train in it. If a Gym is already held by an opposing team, you'll need to battle the Pokémon holding it to lower its prestige.
This triggers a fun mini-game where you'll need to attack the opposing Pokémon, and dodge their attacks. When battling, you have three options. You can tap the screen to attack, press and hold the screen to initiate a special attack, and swipe left or right to dodge an opponent's attack. Just like in traditional Pokémon games, the goal is to reduce your opponent's Pokémon's hit points to zero.
Gyms earn prestige when either you train your Pokémon in one that your team controls, and lose prestige when opposing teams win battles against the Pokémon left there. Your team's Gym will earn experience points to gain prestige, which will amount to leveling up the Gym. As its levels increase, so do the number of Gym Leaders. For example, if your Gym has reached level three, you can have three Gym Leaders in it, which makes it harder for opposing teams to overthrow.
To steal control of a Gym that is already occupied by an opposing team, you must win your battle against all of the Gym Leaders' Pokemon in it. Beating all the leaders in the Gym will lower the prestige but it will take multiple battles against the same Pokémon in order to occupy it for your team.
Evolution
Evolution is a natural part of Pokémon that's to be expected in any Pokémon game and Pokémon Go is no different. However, evolution doesn't work the same way in Pokémon Go as it does in the classic games, though. Pokémon don't evolve when they level up through earning experience from battles with other Pokémon trainers. Instead, you'll need to grab up duplicates of the same Pokémon, which drop Candy and Stardust. Candies are Pokémon specific and can be used to level up any Pokémon in that evolutionary line. For example, you can use Candy that Charmander has dropped to evolve a Chameleon. Once you have gathered enough of a single type of Pokémon, you'll be able to use the Candies to evolve it. However you are still saddled with all those duplicates you gathered up. The game does allow you to send unwanted Pokémon to the Professor but be careful. Once sent to the Professor, you can never get a Pokémon back.
In addition to giving you the next evolutionary stage of a Pokémon, evolving will raise a Pokémon's CP and HP. CP represents how strong a Pokémon's attacks are while HP represents how much damage a Pokémon can take. Stats may also be increased by combining Candy and Stardust.
Leveling up
You'll gain experience as you move through the world by exploring Pokéstops and battling at Gyms. With the first five levels, your trainer unlocks access to higher quality Pokéballs. In addition to this, Niantic has said that higher trainer levels are more effective when it comes to battling at Gyms. The higher your level, the easier time you're going to have. If you have a higher level than the trainer, or trainers, who left a Pokémon at the Gym you've got a better chance of taking it over. This is especially true when it comes to fighting multiple trainers to take over a single Gym.
Pokémon Go Plus [AKA: Poké Watch]
If you decide to go all-in and invest in a Pokémon Go Plus wearable, you can play the game without having to take your phone out of your pocket. The device comes with a detachable band and a clip, so you can wear it on your wrist or lapel, or backpack, or wherever.
When worn, the Pokémon Go Plus acts as a notification device, alerting you when a Pokéstop or Pokémon is nearby. You will receive a different vibration, depending on what you are near. You can then use the Pokémon Go Plus to activate a Pokéstop or even catch a Pokémon without having to look at your phone at all. To activate a Pokéstop or catch a Pokémon, you will press the wearable device in a specific pattern.
Final Thoughts
There is tons to explore with Pokémon Go whether you've been playing the games for years, or you're checking it out for the first time. This is just the beginning too. There are sure to be plenty of new features, and changes to the game as it moves from Beta to open release.
The awesome part is that it doesn't matter whether you're an Android fan, or more comfortable with an iPhone, Pokemon Go will be available to you. It's a global game, which means that it also doesn't matter where in the world you are, although finding Pokemon will require you to travel a fair bit.
You can check out our first impressions of Pokemon Go from Jen on Android Central, or Pokemon Go with Lory over on iMore if you want more details. For now, the game isn't available to the public since it's still in Beta but the full release should be here before you know it.
Have you been waiting for more news on Pokémon Go? Itching to get out there and catch 'em all? Be sure to jump into the comments and tell us about it!