Pokemon GO: Beginner's guide to starting the game in August 2021

While starting up Pokemon GO can be very exciting, it can also be painful for new trainers who go in without knowing some basics of the game.

The bottom line is that Pokemon GO is mostly about resource management. If trainers throw away their resources or spend them too quickly, they will have great trouble progressing in the game. Nothing is worse than being stuck at a low trainer level with weak Pokemon and a lack of items.

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What to trainers need to know when starting up Pokemon GO?

To begin Pokemon GO, players get the same choice as the main character from the Generation 1 games: Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle. If the player walks away for a bit, though, they will have the opportunity to select Pikachu, the mascot of the franchise.

Either way, this decision really doesn’t matter too much. To grind up one of these Pokemon to their final evolutions requires a ton of investment, so it’s better to find stronger versions of them in the wild later on.

Early on, every new player is going to want to stock up on three items: Poke Balls, Incense, and Lucky Eggs. Poke Balls are obviously necessary for catching new Pokemon. Using an incense can attract wild Pokemon to the user’s area. Lucky Eggs, when activated, increase the XP gain a player gets for a half hour.

To get the most out of the early days of playing Pokemon GO, trainers are going to want to catch lots of Pokemon. This isn’t necessarily to use all of them (infact, trainers shouldn’t invest in many Pokemon), but more so to save them for rewards.

Catching Pokemon comes with a small XP gain. Trainers can get more XP from evolving them later on, especially with a Lucky Egg active. A really smart player can wait for an event with double evolve XP to evolve Pokemon they don’t plan on using.

In order to catch lots of Pokemon, though, trainers are going to need to throw well. Throwing Poke Balls takes some getting used to, but it’s very important, so players should get accustomed to it. Try throwing curveballs; even if they fail, it will be good experience.

An issue players experience when starting the game is not having strong enough Pokemon to clear certain objectives. This is why they need to carefully select which Pokemon to invest resources into. Trainers should be looking for stronger Pokemon with high CP.

Of course, nobody will start the game and immediately find Mewtwos and Kyogres outside their house. Thankfully, though, there are commonly found Pokemon that can become powerful options. Examples of these would be Swampert, Charizard, Gyarados and most of Eevee’s evolutions.

Trainers will get access to more features and better Pokemon once they grind their trainer level up. This is something trainers will want to focus on early. The sooner they can start catching the higher CP Pokemon, the better.