8 'Pokémon Go' tricks that'll help you become a Pokémon master
So you're going crazy for Pokémon Go, aren't you? You can't stop thinking about it, tweeting about it and playing the darn game that's taken the entire world by storm.
You want to become a Pokémon master, right? Though the game's quite simple, it's also deep if you're a completionist and want to brag in front of all your friends.
Friendships and relationships are being tested over Pokémon Go. But to become the very best, you will need to know the game inside and out. We've cherry-picked seven useful tricks that will help you master the game that everyone can't get enough of.
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1. How to get Pikachu as your starter
Picking a starter Pokémon is tough. Do you go with Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle? Maybe you don't want to start with any of those three and want Ash's adorable electric rodent Pikachu.
When you first start the game, Professor Willow will ask you to catch one of the three aforementioned starters, but you can actually catch Pikachu with a simple "hack." Just keep walking away.
Some users have reported walking away from the starters and then going back to them several times, but Mashable has confirmed Pikachu appears if you simply walk away far enough. It took about 25 minutes of walking down five blocks, but Ash's best friend did eventually appear.
2. Apply spin for extra XP
Catching Pokémon in Go isn't hard -- you just need to swipe up and throw Poké Balls at the critters and pray the app doesn't crash -- but you can actually get some more XP by spinning the ball before you throw it.
This trick doesn't increase your capture success rate, but more XP points!
3. Lure Pokémon to you with incense
There are a handful of items you can collect in the game, but one of the most useful ones is the incense, which you can find randomly at Poké Stops.
With incense, you can lure wild Pokémon to your location for 30 minutes. In our experience, there aren't a whole lot of Pokémon that show up, but hey, better than nothing! You will have to leave your app open, though, because the timer counts down even if you close the app.
4. Pay attention to the footprints
Tap the "nearby" window in the lower right corner of the screen and you'll expand a window full of Pokémon that are located nearby.
See those footprints under each Pokémon? They tell you how close a certain Pokémon is to your location. One footprint means a Pokémon is close by, two means it's farther away and three means a Pokémon is out of your range and you need to walk farther away to run into it.
By paying attention to these footprints, it's much easier to catch new types of Pokémon.
5. Watch the circles
Most players blindly throw Poké Balls at wild Pokémon, but there's actually a logic to the catching madness.
As you press and hold your Poké Ball, you'll notice a circle on the Pokémon getting smaller and smaller. What you want to do is throw the Poké Ball when the rings are smaller. It's harder to aim at, but by doing so, there's a less likely chance a stronger will escape from the Poké Ball.
Pay attention to the color of the circle, too. A green circle is the most common and means catching the Pokémon should be easy. Yellow is harder, and red is the strongest.
6. Turn off AR to save battery life and reduce crashes
Pokémon Go is a battery guzzler. Maybe even more so than Snapchat. With the app already sucking down power because of its constant GPS usage, you'll notice your phone's battery drain quicker.
To squeeze out more battery life and reduce the chances of the app crashing right when you think you've caught a Pokémon, turn off the augmented reality (AR) by hitting the switch in the upper right corner of the screen when you've encountered a Pokémon.
Also, switching off the AR keeps Pokémon centered on the screen, making them easier to catch.
7. Use a drone to visit locations
Pokémon Go's entire premise is location-based and requires players to physically walk and travel to new places to catch Pokémon, collect items at Poké Stops and battle gym leaders at gyms.
Want to catch 'em all and be the best there is, but too lazy to get your butt off the sofa? Reddit user hyperion995 attached his smartphone to a DJI Phantom drone and flew it around to locations. He then used the AirDroid app to remotely control the phone.
Now, that's smart thinking!
8. Get a battery pack or case
It sounds stupid, but like we said earlier, Pokémon Go eats up battery life like there's no tomorrow. To enjoy uninterrupted monster-catching, a battery case or a battery pack is a must.
This AirCase one for the iPhone is the world's thinnest, and here are our eight top picks for any situation. We also like the most recent Omnicharge, which includes an A/C plug.
But really, almost any battery pack or charger with a large capacity will do. They're pretty cheap these days, too.
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Topics Augmented Reality Gaming Nintendo Pokemon
Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.
