Tag: tips

You can link your Pokémon GO account to three login methods: Pokémon Trainer Club (PTC), Google, and Facebook. Link all three. If one of them stops working, you can still log in with another and keep access to your account.

Example: you forget the password

You have only ever logged in with Facebook. One day you get logged out of Facebook, you have forgotten your password, and the password reset does not work. Without a linked PTC or Google account, you cannot log in at all.

Example: you switch phones

You log in with Google on your old phone without knowing the password. On the new phone, you are already logged in with the wrong Google account. If you also have a PTC account linked, you can log in with that instead, without having to fix the Google account first.

How to link more login methods

1. Open Pokémon GO and go to "Settings". (If you are on the map, tap the Poké Ball at the bottom center, then the gear icon in the top right corner.)
2. Select "Account".
3. Link the missing login methods, one at a time.

Do this ahead of time, not after something has already gone wrong.

Pokémon GO

Friendship level goes up when you interact. Normally max 1 step a day, but more during some events or when you complete a weekly challenge with your friends. The most common interaction is opening gifts. Trading and raiding each count as their own interaction.

When you have interacted with each other, the friend gets a blue "halo" in the friend list. Friendship has already gone up for that day and cannot go up again until the next day.

You can send unlimited gifts, but only open 30 a day, 40 during some events or conditions. With up to 650 friends, opens are genuinely scarce, and it is pure waste to open from someone I have already interacted with when I could have opened from someone else instead.

That is also why I do not send gifts to those who have already interacted with me, even if they are "giftable". It would be a waste for them if they open a gift from me the same day.

My goal is to interact with as many friends as possible each day, but without unnecessary work. Below follows my routine, somewhat simplified:

Morning and day: sending

I search for "interactable&giftable" and send a gift to everyone shown, until the list is empty. When they open my gift, the same day or another day, it counts as that day's interaction, and I do not have to open their gift myself later (if they sent one).

Evening: opening what is left

In the evening I search for "interactable" and sort so that those who have already sent me a gift show up first.

When I still needed XP, I tried to open every gift that gave 50,000 XP or more during a raid hour with a lucky egg active, for double points. This is often called "syncing". I do not do that anymore, so be aware that I also open gifts like that on any day now.

Priority order

Since I cannot always send to everyone, and can never open everyone's gifts, I prioritize in this order:

1. Friends who have not reached Forever Friends. An interaction still gives friendship level progress, with a lucky trade as my goal, remote or in person. The search string "friendlevel-4" means every friend up to and including level 4.
2. Forever Friends with a Pokémon for remote trade. The friendship is already maxed, but I am happy to do a lucky remote trade. The search string "friendlevel5&!stale" means everyone at level 5 (Forever Friends) except the ones I have nicknamed "stale", see below.
3. Forever Friends without remote trade. Last in line. They do not seem interested in remote trade, the friendship cannot climb any further, and I do not need more XP, so you could say the friendship has stagnated. I have given these an alias of "stale" so I can easily exclude them in the search string above. I try to contact them via Campfire, but rarely get a reply. I may not even send gifts to these friends.

PS. If your item bag drops below a limit of five gifts, you get a refill after a short while so you have five in total. As far as I know, this refill can happen twice a day.

Pokémon GO

Many players think the big benefit of a Mega Evolved Pokémon is that it gets stronger in raids. I think the biggest benefit is bonus candy instead. As long as you have a mega active, you get bonus candy and a chance at Candy XL every time you catch a Pokémon of a type your mega boosts.

My favorite active mega (technically Primal, but it works the same way) is Kyogre. Groudon and Rayquaza are also good choices, since together they give bonus candy across three different Pokémon types.

• Primal Kyogre: Water, Electric, Bug (types boosted in rainy weather)
• Primal Groudon: Fire, Grass, Ground (types boosted in sunny weather)
• Mega Rayquaza: Flying, Dragon, Psychic (types boosted in windy weather)

Mega level 3 (Max) usually gives 2 extra candy when the type matches, and XL candy about every third time on average.

So most mornings I search for "mega3" and mega evolve a Kyogre, Groudon, or Rayquaza that doesn't cost Mega Energy.

In this screenshot I have caught 59 Pokémon of boosted types:

Pokémon GO

Search for "mega1-" in Pokémon GO to see which of your Pokémon are already Mega Evolved.

• mega1 (Base): reached right after the first mega evolution. Normally costs 100-400 Mega Energy depending on type. Mewtwo costs 7,500.
• mega2 (High): reached after 7 total mega evolutions of that individual Pokémon.
• mega3 (Max): reached after 30 total mega evolutions of that individual Pokémon.
• mega4 (Super Max): costs 5,000 Mega Energy, and only applies to Pokémon that have a Super Mega form.

So you cannot reach Super Max just by mega evolving over and over, the most efficient way is doing many Super Mega raids to gather the Mega Energy. That hopefully gives 400 Mega Energy on average per raid. You can also collect Mega Energy by walking with a buddy of that type, which gives 5 Mega Energy per kilometer.

I usually mega evolve everything matching the search string mega1-2 once a week, without spending any Mega Energy. After 30 weeks they reach level 3.

You can mega evolve more often, or raise the mega level faster, by "paying" with Mega Energy, but I spend almost all my Mega Energy on the first mega evolution and on Super Mega, not in between.

There is also a "Successor" medal that requires 1,000 mega evolutions for platinum. If you do 20 mega evolutions a week, you get the medal in just under a year.

Pokémon GO

In-game weather boosts certain types. A boosted Pokémon always has a guaranteed minimum of 4 in each stat, in attack, defense, and HP, instead of the usual minimum of 0. This makes a 0 percent (nundo) impossible to find, and raises the chance of finding a perfect 100 percent (hundo). Boosted Pokémon also have higher CP, both in the wild and in raids.

Check the weather before you go out. It pays off to hunt the right type in the right weather.

How much better are the odds?

Without weather boost, each stat can be anywhere from 0 to 15, so there are 16 possible values. The chance that one single stat lands on exactly 15 is 1 in 16. All three stats must land on 15 for a hundo, so you multiply them together: 1/16 × 1/16 × 1/16 is 1 in 4096.

With weather boost, the floor is 4 instead of 0. Each stat can only be between 4 and 15, so there are 12 possible values. The chance for one stat becomes 1 in 12, and all three at once becomes 1/12 × 1/12 × 1/12, which is 1 in 1728.

4096 divided by 1728 is about 2.4. So the chance of getting a hundo is about 2.4 times higher during weather boost.

Picture three raffles in a row, one for each stat. Normally each raffle has 16 tickets, and you need to draw the best ticket in all three raffles to win. With weather boost, the game removes the 4 worst tickets from each raffle before you draw. With fewer bad tickets left, the best ticket is easier to find.

Pokémon GO

Routes give you several benefits at once. Here are the ones I can think of right now.

• Your buddy gets excited faster, without a Poffin.
• The distance to your buddy's next candy gets shorter.
• Regional Pokémon can spawn. Walk a route in the UK, for example, and you might get a Stonjourner.
• You can meet Mateo. Normally once a day, but three times on Sundays right now. He gives you postcards from different parts of the world, useful if you have not collected all the Vivillon patterns yet.
• You can get a 7 km egg from another part of the world, if you have room in your bag.

It is easy to create your own routes between Pokéstops or gyms near you. They just need to be at least 500 meters long. Create routes that match the paths you already walk.

Want your buddy to get excited as fast as possible: walk several short routes rather than one long one.

Pokémon GO

If you have a Black Kyurem that knows the charged attack Freeze Shock, you get an adventure effect. Wild Pokémon you meet act as if you always threw a Nanab Berry. They stand still, so they are much easier to hit. This is very useful when you catch tough Pokémon in raids or on community day. Kyurem does not need to be your buddy for the effect to work. It just needs to know the attack.

How to get Freeze Shock

1. Get a Kyurem and 30 Kyurem candy.
2. Get a Zekrom and 30 Kyurem candy.
3. Collect 1000 Volt Fusion Energy for Kyurem, for example through special research or an event. This is the hardest part.
4. Fuse Kyurem with Zekrom to get Black Kyurem. It then automatically knows Freeze Shock as its charged attack.

When you want to use Freeze Shock, it costs 5,000 stardust and 5 candy per 10 minutes, and you can activate it for up to two hours at a time.

White Kyurem and Ice Burn

If you fuse Kyurem with Reshiram instead, you get White Kyurem, which knows Ice Burn instead of Freeze Shock. Ice Burn is its own adventure effect, separate from Freeze Shock. I prefer Freeze Shock and Black Kyurem myself.

Save Rare Candy for Kyurem

Since the fusion needs new candy every time, Kyurem is a good place to spend Rare Candy on, so you always have candy ready to fuse again.

Pokémon GO

You cannot buy a Sinnoh Stone in the shop. Here is how to get one:

• 7-day Research Breakthrough. Collect one stamp a day for seven days in a row, then you have a chance at a Sinnoh Stone as your reward.
• GO Battle League. A chance at a Sinnoh Stone as a reward after a finished set.
• PvP battles with friends. Up to three chances a day. Note that the loser seems to have a better chance of getting a Sinnoh Stone than the winner.
• Beat a Team GO Rocket leader (Cliff, Sierra, Arlo, or Giovanni). A small chance each time.

You use a Sinnoh Stone to evolve certain Pokémon, for example Electabuzz into Electivire, Roselia into Roserade, and Togetic into Togekiss.

Pokémon GO

If you make your buddy excited (without a poffin), you can probably get between 14 and 24 hearts in what might take around four hours without switching buddies in between, even though you only need to interact once every half hour. You can probably repeat this 3 times per day, so let's say 42–70 hearts per day.

If instead you give your buddy 6 hearts (feed, play, snapshot, battle × 3), switch buddy, and repeat 20 times, you can get 126 hearts per day! According to my video below, it takes about two and a half minutes per buddy. You could probably push it down to 2 minutes if you really focus. However, it still takes 42–52 minutes in total, so I rarely do all 20 switches myself! If you walk routes, you can switch buddy after each route for an extra heart. If you explore new places, you can switch buddy after every new PokéStop or gym you spin.

Bonus hearts (gift, souvenir) are not included above.

Details on how to give your buddy 6 hearts in less than two and a half minutes:

1. Feed: give a Golden Razz Berry (fastest) or three other berries (for example regular Razz Berries)
2. Play: rub your buddy’s cheek until you get the correct reaction
3. Snapshot: take a photo of your buddy (tip: disable “AR Buddy” in the app settings), and you do not need to save the photo
4. Battle × 3: do trainer battles with Blanche, Candela, or Spark three times. Leave the battle as soon as possible after it starts, you still get the heart.

I demonstrate this in the video below, where I also happen to get a souvenir.

As we say in the IT industry: Nine women cannot make a baby in one month. There is also an extension to that saying: Nine women can make nine babies in nine months.

Pokémon GO