Gotta Catch Em All: An Insider’s Guide to Pokémon hunting

09 Aug 2016 - 12:41:49 in Achievement
sam3.jpg

Computer Graphics PhD student Kieran Carnegie has walked an extra 50 km a week since the release of Pokémon GO, so he’s the perfect person to share his experiences with other dedicated Pokémon hunters...

“I got into playing Pokémon GO as a mix of nostalgia and the fact that my lab mates were also playing. It’s a social game and running around the university catching Pokémon is a lot of fun.

I’m currently at Level 22. I walk to and from uni, so I hatch a 5 km egg every day, which really helps for getting Experience Points (Exp). I also save my lucky eggs until I have multiple eggs to hatch and then I mass-evolve Pokémon like Pidgeys to gain a massive amount of Exp in 30 minutes.

Pidgeys are useful as they are common, and evolve really easily. Eevees are also really common in Wellington which is nice – they are one of my favourite Pokémon from all those years ago.

In terms of rare Pokémon, a Ninetails got away from me in the Cotton building yesterday! Wandering around Wellington has also been good for nabbing a few other rares: I have hatched a Snorlax, caught an Aerodactyl at the hospital and, after a dead sprint across the university, caught a Charizard on Boyd-Wilson field!

One of the biggest advantages of Pokémon GO is is that it gets gamers outside. According to the in-game tracker, I walk around 50 km each week with it open. You also get to meet all sorts of people while out hunting.

The disadvantages include issues like trespass or people looking at their phones and walking into traffic. I’m not a fan of people spending their entire lives looking at a cellphone screen. Wellington has some amazing walking tracks and you don’t have to be married to your phone for the entire track!

A hardcore Pokémon GO gamer is someone who is willing to walk out of their way to find Pokémon, and who spends long days going for walks to catch Pokémon and long nights taking over gyms when no one else is awake to contest them.

Finally, here are my top tips and tricks for other Pokémon players – you’ll have to be a player to understand them!

  • If you are going to spend money on Pokémon GO, the egg hatchers are the best bet for improving Exp gain and getting rarer Pokémon – just don’t use them on 2 km eggs.
  • Take it easy! The game will be around for a long time and will be rebalanced and modified, so don’t try to do everything at once.
  • Don’t bother with Zubats. Catch Pidgeys, Caterpies and Weedles for mass evolution.
  • Combat Points (CP) values on gym defenders are irrelevant. You can take a gym that is 500CP above you with a type advantage, and 750-1000CP above you if you can time dodges well.
  • Multiple people on the same team can attack a gym at once to make it easier.
  • Team Valor is the best.
  • If you are going to use lures, the Botanical Gardens, Frank Kitts Park and Victoria University all have locations where three PokeStops overlap. These are the best lure spots - lots of people get to use them, and you get to spawn lots more Pokémon.”

Share