Pokémon GO 101: Here's your guide to becoming a true Pokémon Master

Pokémon GO has been all the rage worldwide in last 2-3 days. The world has gone insane about the game and Nintendo couldn’t be happier. Their stock has taken a parabolic surge , and the growth is unbelievable. There have been an enormous number of articles written online about the game. The entire concept is riding on nostalgia in addition to the technology being employed. People are getting way more exercise than they are used to. People are even using the app for dating, or so says a  report on comicbook.com .

The demand is such that the rollout has been halted by the company because servers continue to crash under the enormous load. The company has asked for some time while it fixes the issues with Pokémon GO servers. The buzz and interest generated by the coverage has not gone unnoticed in India where the game is not available officially. Despite that, people are going online and installing the game through alternative means like downloading the APK (downloading the installation file). 

For the people who still have not yet tried the game, here’s a little guide to get you on your feet. Getting started First of all, you need to install the game, and since it is not officially available in India (yet), Google is your friend. Locate the APK and then proceed to install (which for most users will include going to Android phone settings, locating the Security menu and enabling “Unknown sources”). If you’re on iOS, you can only download the game if you’re using an Apple ID with a location set to US. Setting up a new US-based Apple ID is as simple as creating a new account and setting the location as US. Then, head down to the login screen (YES, I just caught a Pokémon and levelled up!). Though it’s weird that the Pokémon appeared in the office) and log in using your Google account. I would suggest you use this method to sign since the alternative involves VPNs. Signing up using the Pokémon Club will require you to use ‘art of deception’. This involves using VPNs to fool the servers into thinking you’re in the US. You can use any VPN service you prefer. I used Snap VPN for Android. [caption id=“attachment_324589” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Image Credits: The Pokemon Company[/caption] After signing up and logging in and getting past the terms and condition screen, Professor Willow will greet you and walk you through the basics of the game. Next, you will be asked to choose your character, including customization options. After setting up the character, you will be sent to the map location where you will be asked to choose between the starting three Pokémon (Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle). You will need to throw your Pokeball to catch the first one. Consider that swipe to be symbolic of the start of your journey. After choosing the Pokémon, you will be asked to choose your screen name, which probably is the most frustrating experiences of the entire app where typing in"idontcareletmeplayyyy" and the likes are reported back as not available *sigh.* You will be pushed to the main screen where the lower left bottom shows your profile and level. The central Pokeball button gives you access to settings, ‘Pokedex’, ‘Shop’, ‘Pokemon’ and ‘Items’. The right bottom shows the nearest Pokémon locations where three footsteps mean farthest and one footstep represents the closest Pokémon . Game tips and tricks

• Start off with Pikachu: This is like that perfect dream retracing journey that Ash takes on the original show. To do this, in the beginning, while choosing the starting Pokémon, ignore the available Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle and after a while, wild Pikachu will appear on the screen.

[caption id=“attachment_324588” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Image Credits: The Pokemon Company[/caption]

• Make the most of the battery using the in-app battery saver function. Once you enable the feature, the screen will turn off and turn into a Pokémon logo while consuming the minimum power. It will still vibrate to let you know when a Pokémon is near and  it will continue to count steps.
• To make the capturing the Pokémon easier, you can turn the AR function off.
• Water-type Pokémon appear near waterbodies in the real world like lakes, ponds or sea while forest and grassland type Pokémon appear near parks or natural forests.
• Most of the better items are usually available on the landmarks in the app like the local sculptures, monuments, landmarks, schools, post offices, etc, and you can revisit the pokéstops for more items.
• While catching the Pokémon when it appears, wait for the white circle around them to get smaller. The smaller the circle, the more the chances the chances of capturing the Pokémon. The color on the inner circle represents the ease or difficulty of catching the Pokémon. Green signifies easy, yellow signifies moderate and red points will be hard to catch.

[caption id=“attachment_324590” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Image Credits: The Pokemon Company[/caption]

• The actual fun begins when you reach level 5 because only then can you join teams, battle in Gyms and soon be able to trade Pokémon according to developers.
• If you are finding a lot of duplicate Pokémon you can transfer them to Professor Willow and he will give you XP in return. The XP helps you to level up faster, and another way to level up is to battle in Pokémon Gyms.
• You will find better and unique Pokémon if you get out at night including Gastly, which only gets out at night. Collecting eggs will help you incubate Pokémon . Incubation only works when you walk so it’s better to start incubation before starting a long Pokémon adventure. Though it only registers footsteps if the app is open.

[caption id=“attachment_324584” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Image Credits: The Pokemon Company[/caption]

• If you, like me, are stuck in the office and can’t go on your Pokémon adventure, then use incense to attract Pokémon. The rustling of leaves on the map signify the presence of a Pokémon at that location.
• In addition, if you want to increase the length of your Pokémon adventures and don’t want your phone to die, then some basic things can help you. Things, like keeping your phone brightness at the minimum. Investing in a battery case for the phone and/or a separate battery back, will help. Also turning off the AR will also assist with increasing the battery life of your device.

Safety warning Despite the warning on the app loading screen for users to be aware of their surroundings and not engage in any risky behaviour, users have posted YouTube videos of playing the game while driving a car. Some of them have been seen mindlessly walking while completely engrossed in the game. This has lead to things where a teenage girl found a dead body in river while trying to find a Pokémon . According to the Guardian , Pokémon Go was used by armed, teenage robbers to lure several people into a trap. Pokémon GO has already directed people to weird places that include strip clubs, Abortion Memorials, Gravestones and the Church of Scientology building as reported by Gizmodo . In addition to the dangers posed by the amalgamation of the real with the virtual world, there is a malicious version of Pokémon GO on the internet. The malicious version is infecting the devices with remote access tool called DroidJack. This was reported by motherboard.com , which pointed out at the malicious version taking advantage of the excess demand. To be absolutely safe, download the Android app only when it comes on the app store.