* Updated as information is available *
Pokestops
- When you are within range of a pokestop it will open up and become clickable. You can then swipe the center circle which contains an image of the landmark.
- Swiping the circle will cause several items to pop out in bubbles. Tap the bubbles to collect items.
- Items found at pokestops include: potions, revives, pokemon eggs, and razz berries
Note: once you've used a pokestop it turns purple. After 5 minutes it will turn blue again and you can get more items
Catching pokemon
- they pop up on the map and you have to tap them to enter battle
- swipe the pokeball at the bottom of your screen and aim for the green circle that gets larger and smaller on the pokemon as you hold your finger on the ball
Note: generally you want to keep pokemon with higher CP (CP stands for "Combat Power")
Note: the same type of pokemon can have different moves. So even if the CP is higher you may want to keep the one with stronger moves
Note: to make a pokemon easier to catch you can use a razz berry found at pokestops
Threat circles (the inner circle of the circle you have to throw pokeballs through)
- the SMALLER the ring is, the easier the pokemon will be to catch
- Hold your finger on the pokeball to adjust the ring's size
- In the beginning threat level is almost always green.. use a regular pokeball, no worries
- Threat level yellow or red, use razz berries to calm them down (will change yellow to green or red to yellow.. etc.) or a stronger pokeball (you will get great balls, ultra balls, or master balls from pokestops as your level increases)
Note: threat level yellow or higher pokemon can flee or escape!
Throwing curve balls
- Hold the pokeball and make a rotating motion until it sparkles.. then let go
Nearby pokemon
- In the corner of your screen you will see icons indicating nearby pokemon.
- Tapping those icons will open up a larger screen showing a hint of how close that pokemon is to you. Each footprint is about a block. As you move you will see the footprint decrease or increase depending on if you're getting closer or further.
- exact measurements are 10, 20, and 30 meters (or 10 meters per paw)
Note: 10 meters is approximately 32 feet
Finding more pokemon
- Use incense (an item in the shop) to increase the frequency of pokemon encounters for only you
- Use lures at pokestops to increase the frequency of pokemon encounters for anyone near the pokestop
Leveling up your trainer
- Evolving a pokemon gives you +1000xp
- You get bonus XP for hitting the green circle when you catch a pokemon (good throw)
- Adding a pokemon to your pokedex gives you bonus xp
- Every pokemon you get gives you XP
- Visiting pokestops gives you XP (+50 I think)
Pokemon Eggs
- you can see your pokemon eggs by going to menu > pokemon and then tapping the eggs tab
- store pokemon eggs in an incubator and travel 5 km to hatch them (1km = 0.6 mi)
- pokemon eggs can become any random pokemon
Pokemon Teams

- You will be able to choose a team once you reach level 5.
- There are 3 teams to choose from.. Blue is the best ;)
- To level up, perform actions such as catching pokemon or visiting pokestops
Gym battles (must be level 5+)
- each pokemon has a standard move you can use by tapping the pokemon and a special move that fills up underneath your health
- up to 6 pokemon can be chosen to battle
- to use a special move, make sure the gauge is full enough and then hold your finger down on your pokemon
Note: you can dodge enemy attacks by swiping right or left at the right time
How to heal and revive pokemon (don't worry about this until you are level 5+)
- click the pokeball on the main screen to open your menu, then go to items.
- Potions will heal 20 HP of a single pokemon
- Revives will revive a fainted pokemon and restore 50% of its HP
Note: you can buy potions and revives using pokecoins in the shop
Note: for free potions & revives, visit a pokestop. Swipe the circle image in the center. 3-4 items will appear that you must tap to retrieve. The items include revives and potions
Leveling up pokemon
- To make your pokemon stronger, defeat pokemon in gym battles
- do a power up by spending stardust and candy
note: you can reach the power up and evolve options by selecting a pokemon from menu > pokemon
note: if you have a lucky egg, save up your pidgey and rattata. once you have a ton of candies and pokemon, use the lucky egg and evolve them all for 1000xp each! transfer your pidgeottos for pidgey candy as evolving them costs too much and doesn't give you any additional XP.
Pokemon candy
- Earn pokemon candy by transferring the pokemon in an evolutionary chain to the professor (IE. pidgey, pidgeotto, and pidgeot will all generate pidgey candy)
- To initiate a transfer: 1. open the menu 2. select the pokemon you want to transfer 3. scroll down to the transfer button
Note: transferring pokemon is non-reversible! don't accidentally transfer the wrong pokemon
Items
- Potion: A spray-type medicine for treating wounds. It restores the HP of one Pokemon by 20 points
- Revive: A Medicine that can revive fainted pokemon. It also restores half of a fainted Pokemon's maximum HP
- Lucky Egg:
- Incense: Pulls a pokemon to you every 5 minutes if standing still and every 1 minute if walking for every 400m.
- Poke Ball
- Lure Module
- Razz berry
- Egg Incubator
Other tips/tricks
- Evolving fainted pokemon gives them full health
- walking about 300 ft and then waiting will probably have the greatest result in pokemon encounters. This is due to server response times between Niantic and Google Maps. If you are moving quickly the pokemon encounters can't load fast enough because you enter into multiple geo-zones.
- you can give your pokemon names by touching the pencil on their status screen to the right of their default names
- at pokestops you can spin the picture and then close it without popping the bubbles. All items will automatically be added to inventory (useful if driving)
- if you see a grass animation on your map, that means it is more likely there are pokemon there
- Rename your Eevee to force what it evolves into:
Pyro - becomes Flareon
Rainer - becomes Vaporeon
Sparky - becomes Jolteon
Pokemon battle tactics
Pokemon is basically a giant game of rock-paper-scissors.
fire beats grass, grass beats water, water beats fire.