Finding Pokemon
Pokemon will appear randomly on screen as you walk around with the Pokemon GO app. The Pokemon you find depends on your location and any holidays or events that might be ongoing. For example, if you are near a river there should be more water Pokemon in the area. If it is April and the game is having an Easter event, expect to find Pokemon with rabbit and egg features.
To increase your odds at finding wild Pokemon, use an Incense on yourself or attach a Lure Module to a PokeStop. Both items can be purchased from the in-game Shop or obtained randomly from PokeStops.
Once you find a Pokemon, tap it to enter the catch screen. On the catch screen, AR+ can be enabled (top-right corner of the screen) to place the Pokemon on a select location using your phone’s rear camera. Disable AR+ to place the Pokemon on a green field, which makes catching the Pokemon a lot easier!
You can run from a Pokemon encounter by pressing the run icon on the top-left corner of the screen. The Pokemon should remain on screen in the same area for a short time. If there are no remaining Poke Balls, the Trainer will automatically run from battle.
Rare, Legendary, and even Mythical Pokemon can be found by completing special field research challenges or completing Raid battles. More on those in their own sections.
Catching Pokemon
Throw a Poke Ball, Great Ball, or Ultra Ball directly at the Pokemon on screen to attempt to catch the pocket monster. The ball you are using to capture the Pokemon can be switched by tapping the Poke Ball icon. Great Balls have a better capture rate than Poke Balls, and Ultra Balls are better than Great Balls.
Hold the Poke Ball with your finger to see the Pokemon’s capture rate indicator: a colored circle within a white circle. The color of the circle tells you the chance of success for capturing the Pokemon on screen. Green is a high chance of success, yellow is average, orange is low, and red is the lowest.
Throw the Poke Ball directly within the colored circle to get an extra capture bonus. The bonus ranges from Nice (large circle), to Great (medium circle), to Excellent (small circle). The circle will stop shrinking once the Poke Ball has been thrown.
Berries can also be used to help capture Pokemon. There are only three types of berries in Pokemon GO, each with their own use. Additionally, silver and gold berries can be found with upgraded functions. Once a Poke Ball connects with a Pokemon, the berry will be consumed. If the Pokemon breaks free from the Poke Ball, another berry must be used to gain its effects again.
| Berry | Description |
|---|---|
| Nanab Berry | The Nanab Berry calms down the wild Pokemon slightly, making them move around less. |
| Pinap Berry | The Pinap Berry doubles the amount of Pokemon candies received after capturing a Pokemon, but makes the Pokemon move around more. |
| Razz Berry | The Razz Berry slightly makes it easier to catch the wild Pokemon, changing the capture ring from red, to orange, to yellow, to green. |
Spin the ball before throwing it diagonally (instead of directly at the Pokemon) to perform a curve ball. This is a move done by expert players to gain another XP bonus and increase the odds of successfully capturing the Pokemon. If spinning the ball counterclockwise, throw it diagonally to the right. If spinning the ball clockwise, throw it diagonally to the left. Some Pokemon are closer to the screen than others. Throw a Poke Ball further and with more force by swiping quickly.
Once a Pokemon is in a Poke Ball, it will shake three times before being captured. Capture numerous Pokemon and you might encounter critical captures. A critical capture is when a Pokemon becomes captured after the Poke Ball shakes just one time.
Capture at least one Pokemon a day to create a capture streak. The capture streak will give you bonus XP on your first capture of the day, and up to 2000 XP on the seventh day before resetting.
Pokemon Storage
Only a maximum of 250 Pokemon can be stored at once. An additional 50 Pokemon can be stored by purchasing a Pokemon Storage upgrade from the in-game shop for 200 Gold Coins. A Trainer can max out their Pokemon storage at 3000 Pokemon, though this limit might be increased as time goes on.
Capturing many of the same species of Pokemon is part of the purpose of Pokemon GO. Appraise the Pokemon to see its stats, then transfer the Pokemon with lower stats. Pokemon candies will be given to you for the transferred Pokemon.