Pokemon GO has added a mountain of new features since its launch, and many fans have enjoyed seeing all of the new ways to play Pokemon in their own hometowns. And, of course, the game remains simple enough for the Pokemon newcomer to pick it up, customize their trainer, and wander about in their first Pokemon journey. But, despite the deceptive simplicity of the game, there are many mistakes that new players end up kicking themselves for down the line.
Pokemon GO's varied mechanics often seem straightforward, but many trainers find themselves overlooking easy fixes or free items in their pursuits of bigger and better Pokemon. In order to ensure the smoothest Pokemon journey possible, experienced players should make sure they aren't maintaining any bad habits they've kept since they were rookies.
10 Not Trying to Catch 'Em All, Even Duplicates
It's understandable to avoid the five-hundredth Pidgey on the street, especially after catching all the common Pokemon and setting sights on the rarer prizes. But don't fall into the trap of walking past easy catches. Pokeballs are some of the most plentiful assets in a player's backpack, and trainers often find themselves lacking stardust.
To prevent stardust-starving in the later stages of play, mindful trainers make sure to catch everything they come across when playing. Rattatas and Pidgeys may be tiresome after a while, but the stardust builds up, and the better Pokemon won't level themselves.
9 Forgetting To Send And Open Gifts
It's easy to forget the gifts when diving straight into Pokemon catching, trading, and battling. After all, it's tucked away in a separate menu and doesn't immediately offer the sweet rush of a new Pokemon. But the gift system is well worth a player's time. Not only are they free, but sending and receiving gifts daily grants a hefty amount of experience; for those who keep up the habit, Best Friends status grants additional experience boosts.
And this doesn't even mention the potential of one of the friends becoming a Lucky Friend. Trading Pokemon with Lucky Friends boosts the IV minimums, making the process of grinding out perfect IV Pokemon significantly faster. If all else fails, the Friend system is a great way to get more free materials, which, as any trainer knows, seem to disappear fast.
8 Spending Stardust Incorrectly
Everyone has gotten caught up in a fad but spending too much stardust on a short-term investment is a recipe for headaches. The competitive meta changes every day, and just because a certain Pokemon seems to be on every competitive team now doesn't mean it'll still be in fashion after investing all that catch-up stardust. By the time a trainer levels up the Pokemon that everyone else is using, the counters will have already reared their ugly heads to shift the meta. It is always smart to do a little research before splurging on a Pokemon; taking the time to figure out which Pokemon have the best long-term potential will always end up reaping rewards.
And don't be fooled by perfect IVs! It's very exciting to have, say, a cool shiny Pokemon with great stats, but that doesn't mean the Pokemon itself is that useful. Spending buckets of stardust on a C-Tier Pokemon with perfect IVs will only return middling results, even if the Pokemon is performing at maximum capacity.
7 Not Paying Attention To IVs
IVs, much like in the mainline Pokemon games, are a crucial detail for any competitive player to pay attention to. While getting a rarer Pokemon is exciting and may encourage a trainer to immediately begin dumping stardust, it's all too common for such investment to end up sour if the Pokemon isn't performing at maximum potential.
Before investing heavily in Pokemon for competitive battling, take a look at its stats to see if it's worth the time and energy. If so, great! If not, maybe try catching a few more, or perhaps trade with friends to try to up the chances of a perfect IV Pokemon.
6 Trusting The Recommended Pokemon in Raid Battles
Yes, they may be recommended, but they definitely aren't perfect. The game's algorithm chooses Pokemon based only on overall stats and typing, and not necessarily their usefulness in raids. While a casual player may not notice the difference in effectiveness, players hoping to be more consistent in their performance should always go into a raid with a pre-made team.
Do a bit of research to see if there's any other, possibly more effective Pokemon that could help the raid attempt. Take the time to put together an effective team will be worth it than dealing with the confusion and frustration of ineffective recommendations.
5 Ignoring Gym Battling
While some players consider Gym battling an archaic remnant of Pokemon GO's earlier era, Gyms remain one of the only sources of free PokeCoins in the entire game. Overlooking them in an effort to get to the newer, shinier content will mean slowing down and pulling out the wallet once a player's PokeCoin well runs dry. Raid Passes, Incubators, Star Pieces, and more all rely on players having PokeCoins to throw around, so try not to end up in a drought simply due to laziness.
Max out those free 50 Pokecoins every day, since missing out on these free assets could mean all the difference when it comes to affording bundles of items. For players looking to stay competitive while remaining free-to-play, Gym battles are the best alternative to dropping bundles of cash on the game.
4 Not "Re-Rolling" For Better IVs
Many players don't realize that trading does much more than shifting Pokemon from Player A to Player B. For players with rare Pokemon with terrible IVs, trading is a much better alternative than simply transferring the lackluster monster. Players can trade any Pokemon in their possession to 'reroll' its IVs as many times as they want. This allows groups of friends to hunt for the best IVs without needing to catch the same Pokemon over and over.
Each trade only costs only 100 stardust (as long as both players already have the Pokemon in their Pokedex) and also completely randomizes the Pokemon's stats. To sweeten the deal, there's even a 5% chance that trading the Pokemon turns them Lucky. That means 50% stardust when powering up the Pokemon!
3 Ignoring Limited-Time Events
Pokemon GO pumps out special events often enough that it isn't uncommon to lose track of what's happening when. An attentive player can reap the rewards of these limited-time events, however. From Community Day moves to increased Pokemon spawn rates to the appearances of otherwise regionally-exclusive Pokemon, Pokemon GO often has some upcoming event that rewards particular actions or encourages training particular Pokemon.
Even if it isn't centered around a player's favorite Pokemon, each event usually offers unique and time-limited rewards, or, at the very least, the opportunity to acquire materials at a much faster rate. Taking advantage of these events will help improve a player's Pokemon collection at a much faster rate.
2 Forgetting To Keep An Egg In The Incubator
It happens to everyone. The egg that was already in the incubator hatches, it's an exciting new Pokemon (or a forgettable one to be transferred), and the player gets invested in rearranging everything else in their lineup... and the incubator sits empty for miles. Most trainers know that they should have an egg in the incubator, but often forget to replace their most recent one once it hatches.
While having multiple eggs incubated at once may require the investment of a lot of materials, a player's personal egg incubator can be used an infinite amount of times (albeit with only one egg at a time). Experienced players should get into the habit of checking on their incubator frequently to ensure that they always have an egg working its way towards hatching.
1 Keeping AR-Mode Enabled
Yes, seeing a wild Pokemon hopping about on the neighborhood sidewalk does have a great deal of charm to it. It also puts an enormous strain on the phone's battery life. Not to mention that often it makes the Pokemon deceptively difficult to catch. Keeping the phone's camera on typically means a lot less time playing Pokemon GO, as well as a trickier time throwing Pokeballs at the semi-stationary AR Pokemon.
Switching off AR mode typically means a lot more time actually chasing and catching the Pokemon a player is looking for, as well as ensuring that no Pokeball misses its target in frustrating ways. Everyone loves seeing Pokemon in their hometown, but the appeal wears off once players realize they'll only be able to see a handful before their battery goes the way of the dodo.