Pokemon Go: How to Cheat, Bugs, find, hunt, and catch rare Pokemon

Pokemon Go: How to Cheat, Bugs, find, hunt, and catch rare Pokemon

How to catch Pokémon: A complete guide to finding, hunting, and catching Pokémon, including basic capture advice and tips on tracking down rare creatures. Whatever your ability level, we've got some tricks that will help you out.
At this point, there's very little left to say about Pokémon Go. Unless you've managed to avoid all your friends, all media coverage, and stayed off social media, you should be fully informed on the current Pokéfever that's spread across the world.

Perhaps you've managed to abstain from downloading for a few days. If so, well done. But as you'll come to learn, the fever eventually gets us all, and as such, you should probably be prepared for your Pokémon Go exploits, inevitable as they are.
One of the game's biggest mechanics is finding and catching Pokémon. With that in mind, we've put together a few helpful tips on how to track down and capture the little creatures.
Here's all you need to know.

How to find Pikachu in Pokémon Go

Before we get start explaining how the hunting and capture system works, you might be interested to know this easy tip. When the game first starts, you'll be asked to choose between three starting Pokémon: Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander. What you may not be aware of is that you're not limited to these choices.
If you fancy nabbing Pikachu as your starting Pokémon, all you have to do is walk away from the three creatures you've been offered. Keep walking until your phone vibrates and they reappear. Repeat this about five or six times and Pikachu should pop up alongside the other Pokémon. Tap on him to start the capture screen and he should be yours. Simple.

Although Pikachu won't come with any particular power advantage, the little beast is an electric-type Pokémon, which seem to be quite rare in the game. As they can be effective against water-type creatures, it's worth trying to capture Pikachu if you can.
That said, you may well run across him in your travels throughout the rest of the game, although he seems to be quite rare.

Finding Pokémon – The Basics

So, you've signed up and you're ready to start catching Pokémon. By now, you should be aware that the game uses real-world maps, so finding the little beasts is a matter of actually walking around your local area.
Pokémon will crop up as you walk around and the ones closest to you will be represented by small rustling grass symbols. Walk towards these symbols and, providing the seemingly constant server issues don't prevent it, the creature should appear on the map. Once it's visible, simply tap it to start the capture screen (more on this in the next section).

The type of Pokémon that appear depend on the environment you're in. Parks are more likely to yield grass-type beasts, while going to the beach, or anywhere near water, should ensure you get a good helping of water types.

If you want to start finding the rarer ones, you'll have to up your player's level. We'll go into that more in a later section.

There are certain things you can do to draw Pokémon to you as well. If you find yourself in possession of Incense (see our Pokémon Go beginner's guide for more information), you can use it to attract creatures to your location for 30 minutes.

Alternatively, if you've got a Lure Module in your backpack, you can drop it at a Pokéstop to bring Pokémon to that location. Again, see the beginner's guide for an explanation of these terms.

Catching Pokémon

Once you've found a Pokémon, you'll have to capture it in order to add it to your line-up of creatures. Although the capture system is fairly straightforward, there are a few tricks you can use to make things easier.

The basic mechanic involves you swiping upwards on your screen to launch Pokéballs at the Pokémon. Using your index finger rather than your thumb should improve accuracy. If you manage to hit it, the ball will open up and the Pokémon will be encased.
Mostly, you should find that's the end of it, but sometimes the creature will break out. In which case there are some things you can do to try and up your capture game.
Capture circles
First of all, you'll notice when you tap and hold the Pokéball, before you swipe to throw, a circle appears around the Pokémon itself, with a coloured circle within it. This coloured circle gets progressively smaller and will be either green, orange or red depending on how difficult the Pokémon itself is to capture.
Wait until the circle is as small as possible, then try and throw the Pokéball so it hits the creature right in the circle itself. The smaller the circle was when you threw the ball, the more chance you have of ensuring a capture – as long as the ball lands within the circle.

For lower-level Pokémon, it doesn't really matter whether you hit the coloured circle or not – a direct hit on the Pokémon should end in a positive result. But for the higher-level creatures, you're going to want to try and hit the the circle at its smallest. You'll know if you've been successful in doing this, as a 'Nice' or 'Great' message should appear on-screen. What's more, you'll gain extra XP for performing these moves correctly.
Curveballs
Trying to catch one of the more belligerent Pokémon? Some of the creatures have taken to batting Pokéballs away or dodging throws, so you might run into some trouble every now and then. If you find yourself in this situation, you can try throwing a curveball to make things easier.
Just use your finger to spin the Pokéball before you throw it. Doing so will add a curve to its trajectory, making it harder for the Pokémon to dodge. It takes some getting used to, but can make the difference between nabbing a rare creature and walking away empty-handed.
Better Pokéballs
When you first start the game, you'll be using the normal Pokéballs, but as you progress through the levels, you will start getting more powerful versions. Other than the standard type, you'll also start to get Great and Ultimate balls from Pokéstops as you move up the levels.
We started noticing Great Pokéballs at around level 11, and are yet to encounter any Ultimate balls – which, from the sound of it, is a good thing. Once you start picking up these upgraded Pokéballs, you'll want to save them for the rarer Pokémon.

 Throw from the top

Some Reddit users are claiming that throwing the ball from the top of the screen improves your chances of hitting the shrinking coloured circle. We haven't tried it yet, but by all means, give it a go and see what you think.

Switch off AR

A simple way to make throwing Pokéballs easier is simply to switch AR mode off by tapping the slider in the top-right of the capture screen. This will centre the Pokémon, making them easier to chuck Pokéballs at

Razzberries
You should find yourself picking up a few Razzberries from Pokéstops as you travel around. During a capture scenario, tap the backpack icon in the bottom-right and select the fruit from the list. Now just tap the screen to throw it at the Pokémon. This should endear the little creature to you, making them easier to capture.

Using the Nearby tracker

When it comes to hunting down rarer Pokémon, the first tool at your disposal is the Nearby tracker, which can be opened by tapping the icon in the bottom-right of the screen. This shows you the Pokémon that are in your immediate vicinity. The one in the top right is the closest to you, while the one in the bottom left is furthest away. Distance is represented by the little footsteps below each creature in the list.

Thanks to Forbes writer Paul Tassi, we've got a pretty good idea of how the system works now. The thing to remember is to keep the grid open when you're tracking a particular creature. This way you can keep an eye on whether it's moving up or down the grid. You can tap on its silhouette in order to mark it within the grid itself. Start walking around and keep an eye on the Pokémon you want to capture. If it starts moving down the list or gaining more footprints, walk in a different direction until it starts moving up the list.

Here's a helpful diagram on the Nearby tracking from Reddit user DJToaster:

Of course, this method limits you to the Pokémon in your particular area, and won't ensure any rare creatures pop up. But if you do happen to see an interesting silhouette appear on the tracker, it's the best way of making sure you get close enough to bag it.

So how the hell do I get some rare Pokémon?

There are two types of rare Pokémon: Rare and Legendary. Obviously, the Legendary beasts will be more elusive than the Rare ones, but both are difficult to come across. It seems that rare creatures in one area could be quite common in another, so the best advice for capturing these Pokémon is to travel around as much as possible.

The other way to ensure you start seeing rarer Pokémon is to move up the levels. The higher you are, the more likely you are to see rarer and higher-level beasts appear.

And finally, the guys over at Poké Assistant have compiled a list, based on user feedback from thousands of players, of what they say are 20 rare Pokémon:
Charizard

Ditto

Omastar

Charmeleon

Dragonair

Muk

Vaporeon

Machamp

Ivysaur

Venusaur

Blastoise

Nidoqueen

Nidoking

Vileplume

Poliwrath

Alakazam

Weepinbell

Victreebel

Slowbro

Marowak

And that's all there is for now. We'll be updating with more tips as we discover them, so check back over the coming weeks for new ways to become a Pokémaster.

 

Cheerss,

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