2016 Jul 21
1. Visit parks with multiple PokéStops (Viharamadevi is packed!)
While pokemon aren’t overly difficult to find, if you want to find swarms of pokemon, you’ll want to go to populated areas. The area around Town Hall is packed with pokemon, just driving down those roads will cause you to run into at least 4 pokemon. Parks are generally your best bet to find pokemon, especially those with bodies of water, (I found a lot near Cinnamon Lakeside just by the poolside shisha lounge). Make sure there are a lot of pokestops though, in order to ensure that you don’t run out of Pokeballs. If you really want to hit the jackpot, when you find an area with a few more pokestops than usual, attach a lure because PokeStops also encourage the spawning of more Pokemon.
2. Hunt in groups
Pokemon aren’t exclusive to one phone/trainer, when they appear, they appear for everyone and can be caught by every person within the vicinity. Not only is it a fun way to bond with friends, but it also allows you to cover more ground and easily find more pokemon. Local groups are currently starting Lure Parties and Go Hunts, where several Lankans meet up in places like Viharamadevi Park or Independence Square and join together to Catch Em All!
3. Use your radar ring to discover Pokémon
While you travel the streets of Colombo and beyond, you’ll notice that your character has a small pulsing ring that glows around them. This is your personal radar (This is what determines whether or not your close enough to raid a pokestop) This radar is has the ability to pull Zero Footprint pokemon out of hiding.
After tracking a pokemon to zero steps, it means it is directly within your grasp, so if you remain still for a few minutes, your radar should bring it out of hiding. So no, you don’t have to jump into Aunty Sunethra’s garden of petunias to find that hiding snorlax, just give it a second and your radar will present it to you.
4. For random Pokémon spawns, look for moving leaves
Unlike in the original games, you can’t walk through tall grass and find pokemon. But you will notice that there are some rustling leaves that will be around you as you walk. Those leaves generally indicate a Pokemon Spawn point, which means if you hang out there long enough, a pokemon will likely appear without it actually seeing it on your radar.
5. Parking Lots
Parking lots seem to be packed with Pokemon, especially ones with one or two Pokestops in them. The parking lot over at our office at TB Jayah Mw is usually filled with pokemon around 8 pm when we leave the office!
6. When catching Pokémon, turn off AR
As cool as it is to see Zubat spawn in front of you while you’re taking your morning “bokka”, Augmented Reality (AR) usually makes it slightly more difficult to catch the critters, it also drains your battery even more than the app itself. So keep AR off for most instances, and maybe turn it on if you find one on your dad’s bottle of Johnny Walker Gold.
7. There is a power saving mode!
We all know how deadly it is to be the very best, like no one ever was, on our Smartphone’s battery and we cant all afford to be carrying powerpacks around with us just so that we can catch that 430 CP Scyther near Liberty Plaza. So the wonderful people at Niantic have embedded a fantastic Power Saving Mode as a feature. To access this just simply go to settings and chose Battery Saver and you’re good to go!
(But seriously, turn off AR, it’ll help…a lot.)
8. Keep only your strongest Pokemon
Every creature your capture will have a “CP” (Combat Points) number, which I’m sure you all know. The higher the number, the better. If you find yourself with multiples of the same Pokémon, keep the one with the biggest CP. Everyone else should get transferred. You transfer Pokemon by tapping on them, scrolling down, and selecting the Transfer option and it will send the Pokemon to the professor, and in return, he will give you a candy for that pokemon.
Now this does not, by any means, mean that you shouldn’t catch multiples of the same pokemon. YOU SHOULD. Every time you catch a pokemon you get 3 Candies for that Pokemon and every time you transfer a pokemon you get one more candy which means your rounding up a total of 4 candies every time you catch a pokemon.
So if you’re trying to evolve that Pidgeotto into a Pidgeot, then all you’ll need to do is catch 13 Pidgeys!
9. Play while riding in the car
Though your eggs wont hatch when you’re travelling at certain speeds, this is a great way to tackle all the Pokestops and capture as many gyms as possible. While you’re in the passenger or the back seat (Please do not play while driving) You can ask your driver to slow down every once in a while when you see a pokestop or a gym to conquer.
Tip: The stretch between Liberty Plaza and Odel at Ward Place is absolutely cluttered with Pokestops.
10. Get the “Eeveelution” that you want
Eevee is the cute little criter that everyone always wants, yet there is a hidden secret on how to get Jolteon, Vapereon and Flareon. The Electric, Water, and Fire Type evolutions of Eevee will usually come at random. But if you nickname our tiny little friend, you can manipulate what he/she would evolve into.
| Sparky | Jolteon |
| Rainer | Vaporeon |
| Pyro | Flareon |
Have fun!
