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Pokemon GO is a timeless title and has managed to take over the world in popularity since its release in 2016. If you recently felt a desire to “Catch ‘em all” and found yourself on the street with this game open on your phone, it is highly likely that you want to learn the most efficient ways to get better at this title. A lot has changed over time, but the fundamentals have more or less remained the same.
Since it offers a lot of content, it can be hard to figure out the important things you need to know about as a beginner. As such, this article will go over 10 points that you need to note to become a better player.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.
Here are all the things you should consider doing in Pokemon GO in 2023
1) Participate in in-game events
In-game events have always been an integral feature of Pokemon GO. These typically last for a week and you will generally find them having a central theme based on something from either the Pokemon franchise or a real-life holiday like Halloween, Lunar New Year, or Valentine’s Day. It may seem daunting at first, but you can keep up with the events without a hitch.
Completing these offerings are usually highly rewarding as they do give you a lot of useful items. These include Egg Incubators, rare candy, Candy XL, encounters with rare Pokemon, Raid Passes, and more.
2) Spotlight Hours
Recurring short events can be some of the most important activities in Pokemon GO. Spotlight Hours are weekly events that happen every Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm and you can think of this as a power hour where a predetermined Pokemon starts spawning en masse everywhere in your area.
The developer temporarily adds additional spawn points, and you will usually have a bonus that is attached to them. These can be double Stardust or candy or experience points per catch, double candy from transferring and double experience points per evolution. This can really help you power up both your character in game and also the featured Pokemon in the event.
3) Community Days
Community Days are another form of recurring short events. These are very similar to Spotlight Hours, but they happen only once every month. You will also have a boosted shiny rate for the featured Pokemon, with buffed up odds being 1 in 25 encounters. Further, the chosen Pokemon gets an exclusive Community Day Attack when evolved withing the duration of the event.
These events are extremely important to progress through the game as some of the Pokemon that get exclusive attacks are extremely Meta relevant. Further, you also get a lot of stardust and experience points, which happen to be very important resources in the title.
4) Legendary Raid Hours
This event, like Spotlight Hours, happens once a week on Wednesday from 6pm to 7pm. During Legendary Raid hours, every gym that can host a Raid will hatch a five-star Legendary Raid Boss.
You will see these Raid Eggs on the top of gyms 20 minutes before they are ready to hatch. The boss that hatches out of them is always whatever the Legendary or Mythical Pokemon is part of the current Raid rotation.
Needless to say, these Legendary Raid Hours are very important. Since getting candies and XL candies for Legendary and Mythical Pokemon is extremely difficult, utilizing these weekly events is a great way for you to collect whatever amount of candy you want.
5) Special Research
Special Research your free-to-play method for getting various rare Pokemon, premium items, and of course, Mythical Pokemon. You should definitely consider completing these tasks as much as possible at all times.
You may run across some roadblocks when trying to complete these Special Research storylines, as most of them are catered to the content of their time. However, you can eventually complete all of them if you are just active over a long period.
6) Team GO Rocket
You may have noticed dark-colored Pokestops in your area on occasion. When you approach these Stops, they will transform into a black-colored location with a red “R.” These are Team GO Rocket Stops. When you spin them, you will be able to engage a Team GO Rocket Grunt, and these battles can be very difficult.
You will need a good amount of high level pokemon to take them down. If you defeat these grunts, you will receive a Mysterious Component that you can use to craft a Team GO Rocket Radar. Further, you will also catch an encounter with a Shadow Pokemon. These are similar to their non-Shadow version, only they will do way more damage in battle.
Therefore, catching them should be a high priority. The only caveat, however, is that they will come with the Charge Attack Frustration, which deals very little damage and cannot be removed. The only way to change Frustration into a regular move is to wait until a Team GO Rocket takeover happens in Pokemon GO.
These quarterly events typically have the bonus that allows you to remove Frustration off your Shadow Pokemon with Charge TMs and Elite Charge TMs.
7) Raid Battles
These have been in Pokemon GO for a long time, but this system has been changed several times over the past few years. There are four difficulties of raids that you will typically see. Of all the ones present, Mega Evolution and 5 Star or Legendary Raids are the most rewarding.
This is the prime end-game content of Pokemon GO. In order to get Legendary and Mythical Pokemon, you will need to participate in these Raids. It is important to note that they are the most difficult raids in all of Pokemon GO.
8) Long-form gameplay
These aspects of Pokemon GO take a very long time but the rewards at the end of it are always worth it. The higher you reach, the more premium your rewards will get.
Once you cross Level 40, the way you can level up your character changes a bit as there will be challenges that you must complete. You will need to farm for experience points as well, and with each level you complete, you will be awarded a ton of really good premium items and even an encounter with Mewtwo once you hit level 50. Thus, this is definitely something you should be working on.
9) Buddy Adventure
You probably did not know that you can increase your Pokemon’s level beyond the max cap of 50. If can get it into the Best Buddy in the Buddy Adventure System, it will have two additional levels when you have it as your companion, giving it an additional boost in its combat power (CP).
Getting your critter to Best Buddy in Pokemon GO is not difficult, but it can take a really long time. You need to collect 300 hearts in order to reach the said level. The highest number of hearts you can get every day is 27, and it will require you to get your Buddy excited through activities or Poffins, which is a premium route and you can naturally choose to avoid it.
Having Pokemon become your Best Buddy is very useful as it can help get Candies and Candy XL for that concerned critter. And on rare ocassions, it will also bring souvenirs for you as you are out and about on your daily adventures in Pokemon GO.
10) Mega Evolution levels
Every time you Mega Evolve a Pokemon in Pokemon GO, you actually increase their Mega Evolution level. As you increase it, you will gain various bonuses and benefits when the Mega Evolution is active. It is imperative that you continuously Mega Evolve your Pokemon, as these benefits are extremely important.
In case you didn’t know, Mega Evolutions are some of the most powerful creatures in Pokemon GO, and they also temporarily boost the damage off other Pokemon with a similar type. Therefore, this is one system you should actively engage in.
These are the various activities that you should focus on in Pokemon GO if you have just started playing the game. Keep in mind that it is the journey that makes it the timeless game that it has become.
