Pokemon Go Phone

With Pokémon Go becoming an overnight sensation, eager trainers have been out and about, walking around like never before. The viral GPS-based app has infected popular culture, growing even past the point of the franchise's initial fanbase. With gamers and non-gamers alike answering the call to become Pokémon masters, many players have quickly found that the mobile game does not hold the user's hand in regard to advanced or even basic instructions.

Aspects of the game such as evolving and powering up Pokémon are key for players who want to take on gyms for their respective teams and even for those who simply wish to collect all 151 creatures. The only problem is that many players do not truly know the proper time to do either of these tasks.

Knowing the right time to evolve your Pokémon is key, and luckily, it is also simple. The temptation for most players is to evolve a Pokémon as soon as they have enough candies (character specific evolution and enhancement items) to do so, but that might not necessarily be the best move.

Wait For A Lucky Egg to Evolve

Generally speaking, it is better to evolve a Pokémon when a Lucky Egg is active. Lucky Eggs are items that double a player's XP for 30 minutes – granting users the ability to level up twice as quickly. Since these items are limited – although they can be purchased within the app's in-game store – making the most of this 30-minute period is critical for those looking to level up quickly and efficiently.

In a 30-minute time period, a player can evolve approximately 60 Pokémon (one evolution taking about 30 seconds or so). Therefore, having at least 60 Pokémon ready to evolve before a Lucky Egg is activated is advised in order to get the most bang for the buck. To assure that the evolution process goes smoothly, it is additionally recommended that each of these evolution-ready Pokémon is favorited (this can be done by touching the star on the top right-hand corner of the creature's stat page) and that the captured Pokémon page is sorted to show favorited characters first. This process may sound tedious at first, but the organization behind this method will assist in making sure your half hour of double XP is being used effectively.

Pokemon Go Gold Stars

Most veteran players advise stockpiling the commonly found Pidgeys, Weedles, and Caterpies due to their low evolution price of just 12 candies a piece, and while that is certainly true, we recommend that players catch every Pokémon that crosses their screen, so long as they are not running low on Poké Balls of course. Not only does each additional capture grant users XP, but this philosophy will serve to work toward even more evolutions as well.

As stated earlier, most players are tempted to evolve a Pokémon as soon as they are able to, and this especially holds true when evolving into a brand new Pokémon, never before seen in the Pokédex. That being said, players will also want to hold off on evolving these Pokémon until a Lucky Egg is activated. Evolving a Pokémon that a player already has registered on his or her Pokédex will result in 500 XP, but an evolution that results in the registration of a brand new Pokémon will net the user 1000 XP or 2000 XP when a Lucky Egg is active. Suffice it to say, it pays to wait.

Save Candies to Power Up Higher Level Pokemon Later

This sentiment holds true in regard to powering up Pokémon as well. The immediate reaction may be for players to enhance their creatures CP (combat power) as soon as possible, but Pokémon Go rewards patience. When encountering Pokémon in the wild, each creature's CP is generated at random but influenced by a player's level. In other words, the higher the level you are, the more powerful Pokémon you are likely to find, so it does not pay to waste candies and stardust on a character, when you are likely to find an even more powerful Pokémon in a level or two.

This advisory only holds true until around level 20 or so. After that, it becomes extremely difficult to advance with XP requirements jumping after each level. Even then however, players will want to be selective concerning which Pokémon they want to level up. With resources such as candies and stardust being hard to come by in some cases, it is recommended that only a handful of Pokémon are leveled up initially. Isolating a core group of varied types of Pokémon is important in regard to taking gyms as well as defending them, so choose which creatures to power up wisely.

These are only a handful of tips, but when utilized properly, they will go a long way toward power leveling your characters, taking on and defending gyms, and potentially catching all 151 Pokémon. It's all about the long game.