How To Play Pokemon Go?

How to play Pokemon GO

• When you first launch Pokémon GO you need to select the clothing for your avatar. At the moment there is no way to alter this later, so pick carefully.

• You are then offered three Pokémon, of which you get to choose one to try to catch. Tap on the Pokémon and your camera app will open showing the Pokémon somewhere near you. Find it, then try to catch it. This is achieved using a PokéBall, which you flick at the Pokémon aiming at the circle that appears over its head. The smaller the circle the easier the Pokémon will be to catch, but the better your aim will need to be. 

A green circle means the Pokémon is relatively easy to catch, orange is medium difficulty and red is hard. Top tip: You can get Pikachu as your starter Pokémon if you are the patient type. To do so, ignore the starter Pokémon you are offered and walk away. Do this four times and you should eventually be offered Pikachu.

• Now it's time to go out and about to find Pokémon in the wild. Pokémon GO displays a map of your surroundings, and nearby Pokémon are shown as leaves rustling on the ground. A bar at the bottom right shows which Pokémon are nearby, and just how close they are is represented by the number of footsteps displayed beside them. If there are no footsteps you're basically sitting on top of a Pokémon. If the Pokémon is greyed out then it is one you haven't seen before and is not yet in your PokéDex.

• You'll find different Pokémon in different areas. For example, near a lake or river you might find water Pokémon, and in towns and rural areas you'll likely find a lot of normal Pokémon. In our experience some of the most common are Pidgeys and Rattatas, but both can become quite powerful when powered up fully and then evolved.

• For every Pokémon you catch you'll get 100 stardust and 100 XP points. If it's a Pokémon you haven't seen before you will get an extra 500 XP when it is added to the PokéDex. You can also earn extra XP by completing a nice throw. You also get a number of candies which are required when you power up or evolve a Pokémon; the exact number depends on the Pokémon you catch.

• Soon enough you will run out of PokéBalls. You can collect more from PokéStops, which are usually found in towns and cities or places of interest. Alternatively, PokéBalls are among the items you can buy with coins in the Shop; you will receive some coins for levelling up, or you can make an in-app purchase.

• You can see which Pokémon you have at any time by clicking the PokéBall at the bottom of the screen and choosing Pokémon. The aim of the game is to power up your Pokémon so they are sufficiently powerful to win gym battles, which become accessible from level 5.

• Our best tip is to power up Pokémon in their first stage as far as you can before you evolve them, and you will get a much higher combat rating in return. If you have a Pokémon with a low combat power that has already been evolved it's not worth keeping. You can power-up, evolve or trade a Pokémon by selecting the PokéBall icon, tapping Pokémon and then choosing the Pokémon in question and scrolling down to choose one of those options. If you trade a Pokémon you cannot get it back later, though you will get one candy in return.

• Until you hit level 11 the number of XP you need to progress through each level goes up in increments of 1000XP. After level 10 you need 10,000 XP to progress to each new level.
• Once you hit level 5 you get to choose your team: Team Instinct (yellow), Team Mystic (blue) or Team Valor (red). You will be prompted to do so when you first visit a gym. Choose carefully: you can't change your mind later.

• You'll see four types of gyms on the board: grey, yellow, blue and red. Grey gyms are unclaimed, and you can walk straight up to these and add a Pokémon, although the game has proved so popular you'll be very lucky to find a grey gym.

• If a gym matches the colour of your team you can enter and train your Pokémon in order to increase the Prestige of the gym (which makes it more difficult for rival teams to win). If you level up the gym through training you will also be able to leave behind one of your Pokémon to help protect that gym from rival teams.

• To begin training in a friendly gym you enter and press the glove icon. Battle will commence, and you will use a single Pokémon to beat as many of the Pokémon defending that gym as possible, so it makes sense to choose your strongest Pokémon. Tap your opponent to fight (but be careful not to tap too fast or the game may glitch), and long-tap to perform a special move. If you know your Pokémon you'll know some types are better at fighting certain types than others - you can pick which Pokémon you take into battle by tapping on it and selecting a new one before the contest begins.

At the end of the battle, whether you win or lose, the gym's prestige will increase and you will earn XP. However, your Pokémon will also lose HP. You can increase its health with a Potion, Super Potion or Revive, which can be picked up from PokéStops or when you level up and are found in your Items (click the PokéBall and choose Items). If you manage to level up the gym, click the icon with the plus to add a Pokémon of your choice.

• If a gym is not friendly and you want to battle in an attempt to take it over, visit the gym and scroll left and right through the defending Pokémon to see whether your Pokémon are powerful enough to take it on. If you think you can do it, press the star icon to begin. You get to choose six Pokémon to take into battle with you, and if you manage to take out any of the Pokémon defending the gym you will lower its prestige. Again, your Pokémon will lose health, so you may need to revive them in between battles. When the gym's prestige hits level one a win will turn the gym grey, or neutral. At this point it is free to anyone, so get in there quick to add your Pokémon before the rival team beats you to it.

• If you can hold on to a gym for a day you will receive stardust and XP in return. If you don't regularly visit an area where there are lots of Pokémon to catch, for instance a city centre, this is one of the easiest ways to gain stardust.

• The ultimate aim of the game is to catch all the Pokémon. You can hold 250 Pokémon in your inventory without upgrading it; likewise, you can hold only 350 things (such as PokéBalls) in your items without upgrading your bag.

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