Mini Hacks for Pokemon GO Players

Before you try to catch your selected Pokémon, you have the choice of using augmented reality, which uses whatever your phone’s camera is seeing at that current moment.

If you’re using augmented reality, you’ll need to locate your Pokémon so it appears directly on your screen. If there are arrows appearing to the left or right of you, you’ll have to move the phone in that direction. But if you aren’t using augmented reality, the Pokémon will appear right in front of you, without you having to fool around with where your camera is pointing.

Now, with the Poké Ball bouncing in front of you, you’re ready to catch your first Pokémon.

You’ll see these images are not using augmented reality. Grab the Poké Ball by holding your thumb or finger on it. Then swipe the ball upward at the monster while releasing.

You’ll probably need to practice it a few times to get your throw just right, but if you’ve ever played a skee-ball or bowling game on your smartphone, the ball-throwing process is pretty similar.

Once your ball has been released, it will need to make contact with the Pokémon to successfully catch it. Sometimes the Pokémon can jump in the air or move around or even throw an attack at you, making it more difficult to catch. Here you can see I messed up a few times trying to catch Pikachu and Squirtle.

But if you make solid contact, the Pokémon will then be transported into your ball.

Your phone’s screen will slowly zoom in on the ball as it rotates back and forth, almost as if the Pokémon inside is trying to break out. If it rotates three times and stars then shoot out of the ball with a message that says “Gotcha!”, that means you’ve successfully captured your Pokémon.

But if it rotates once or twice, and the Pokémon appears on your screen again, your monster has sadly broken free, and it’s up to you to try and capture it again.

Why didn’t it work when I tried to capture it the first time? Perhaps the Pokémon might be too powerful to be captured by a regular Poké Ball. Perhaps you went to an area where there wasn’t good cellular reception. Regardless of why, you have the option of trying to capture your monster again.

Here are things to consider if you’re having trouble trying to capture Pokémon.

When you select your Poké Ball, a colored ring will appear on your monster, suggesting how difficult it is to catch. Green means the monster is relatively easy to catch, orange means intermediate, and red means they’ll be the most difficult.

The size of the ring matters too, as the smaller the ring, the better the chance you have of capturing the Pokémon.

Depending on how well you throw your ball, it will influence how many XP you receive from catching the Pokémon. If you manage an Excellent! shot, where the colored circle is smallest and the Poké Ball is aimed just right in there, you’ll get a hundred XP bonus. If you hit the circle just right when it’s about half the size, you’ll get a Great! shot with a ten XP boost. And when the circle is at its largest, you’ll get a Nice! shot with a ten XP boost. XP is what is needed to level you and your player up, which can get you more items, can allow your Pokémon to become stronger, and can help you progress through the game.

A Razz Berry can be fed to Pokémon before you throw a ball at them, and will increase your chances at capturing the creature. Simply select a Berry from your items list, press it when it appears on the screen, and you’ll notice energy from the Berry shoot into the Pokémon.

Berries aren’t foolproof, as Pokémon can still escape and a new one needs to be used before each throw. But they still make the process of capturing Pokémon easier in the wild. You can get these items after visiting PokéStops, leveling up, or by purchasing them in the shop.

You won’t be able to get access to better and stronger balls until you reach certain levels in the game. Some of these better balls are called Great Balls and Ultra Balls, and help make catching Pokémon easier. You won’t find as many of them as you would regular Poké Balls, so be careful of how many you use.

You can press the Run button in the top left-hand corner and that’ll allow you to go back to the map. Here’s a Pokémon I didn’t want that badly, and pressing that button allowed me to go back to the map.

Your cell phone might have a bad connection, which you can tell if you see a spinning, silver Poké Ball in the top left-hand corner. You can try finding a new a place with better cell phone reception, or see if there’s a Wi-fi network to connect to. You can also try turning off the phone and turning it back on again. On the previous page you can see me getting a bad connection because of the ball in the top left corner, just when I was walking around.

Want to try out for the New York Yankees while playing Pokémon GO? Then try throwing a curveball when you’re catching Pokémon! Simply hold the Poké Ball down like you normally would before throwing. Then, make a circular motion around the ball as it starts to shoot stars. Then, in the opposite direction of where the ball’s spinning, throw a curve and nail your Pokémon. If you’re throwing from the right, you’ll want to aim a bit more right than you normally would if you were throwing straight. And if you’re throwing to the left, you’ll want to aim a bit more left than normal. Curveballs are fun ways to catch Pokémon and show off your skill at the game. Here you can see me trying to use a curveball on two different Pokémon. I eventually caught one of them with a curveball, but it took a lot of practice.