The Pokemon Go craze has hit Singapore. Unless you live a social-media-free life, your news feed is probably swamped with all things Pokemon. Like it or not, this craze is probably gonna be around for a couple of months. Whether you’re already playing, or late to the game, here’s our guide that will help you ace Pokemon Go!
Hidden Tips Every Trainer Should Know
Get A Pikachu When You Start
The first thing you do when you start is pick a ‘Starter Pokemon’ and you get to choose between Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. But if you’re patient enough, you can actually pick a Chu as your first Pokemon. All you have to do is ignore the 3 (we know they’re cute and hard to ignore) and walk to a new location. They’ll reappear but you have to ignore them and keep walking away. Repeat this for four times and on the fifth, Pikachu will join the 3 starters. Ta-da!
Catching A Wild Pikachu
Catching a wild Pikachu takes technique and patience. Besides aiming really accurately, you must feed the Pikachu Razz Berries! We fed our wild Pikachu a total of 7 Razz Berries before it would stop breaking free from the poke ball! Feed, Poke Ball, Feed, Poke Ball – keep repeating until you’ve caught Pikachu!
Where to get Razz Berry? You can get them at Pokestops! Where have we sighted or caught our Pikachus? Gardens By The Bay (near the car park exit), and Bishan CPF building!
Switch Off AR To Make Capturing Easier
Yes, capturing Pokemon in AR is fun, especially when they pop up at funny places. But it’s actually WAYYYYY easier to catch without thinking about aiming your phone camera and it saves battery life! Also when you’re on the streets, strangers, especially those who are not into Pokemon, might not like having phones pointed at them. There’s enough Pokemon shaming out there so let’s not increase the social anxiety. To turn it off, just tap the AR toggle when a wild Pokemon appears.
Throw ‘Curve Balls’ For More Points
One way to get more points in the game is to throw a Beckham-esque curve ball. To throw a curve ball, give the Pokeball a nice spin and then flick your finger up as if you’re drawing a half circle. It will require some practice but once you’ve mastered it, you won’t be wasting too many Pokeballs. If it’s done properly, you’ll receive a 10XP “Curve Ball” bonus. For more tips on curve balls, check out here.
Use Incense To Lure Pokemons
Incense is extremely useful if you want to bring Pokemon towards your location. To activate Incense, tap the Pokeball, followed by ‘Items’ and click Incense (make sure you have Incense in your inventory, otherwise, get it at Pokestops). A robot vacuum cleaner looking item will show up and you’ll need to tap it one more time to activate it. A clock will appear and count down for 30 minutes. Incense works really well when you’re on the go. If you activate Incense when you’re static, you’ll only be able to lure one Pokemon in every 5-6 minutes.
Make Good Use Of Pink Petailed PokeStops
Ordinary Pokestops are blue in colour. However, if you do come across one that has pink petals, make full use of it!! The pink petals indicate that someone has used a Lure Module at that particular PokeStop and this Lure Module will draw Pokemon to the location for 30 minutes. It functions a lot like Incense but this one allows other Trainers to benefit from it. Maybe you can make a new friend or two when you share use a Lure.
Use Special Powers In Battles
Once you’ve reached Level 5, you’ll be able to access gyms and put your mons in battles. Gym battles can be a little chaotic mess of tapping and swiping (tap to attack, swipe to dodge). During battles, you should keep your eyes at the series of squares underneath your Pokemon’s HP bar. When all the squares turn blue, you can unleash your mon’s “Special Power”. You can only use this special power once per battle.
Catching Pokemon For Candy
You’ve probably come across a whole bunch of Ratata and Pidgey. It might feel a little redundant but our advice is to catch ’em all. You earn stardust (for future use) and points (good for levelling up) for catching Pokemon. More importantly, catching a Pokemon will give you 3 candies! You can then transfer the duplicate Pokemon to the Professor in exchange for 1 candy. In total, you have 4 candies from catching the pokemon! Candies will help you Power Up and Evolve your Pokemon.
How Rare Is My Pokemon?
Want to know how rare is the creature you’ve just caught, just check out the Rarity Chart below:
Where To Catch ‘Em All?
Now that you’ve got some tricks up your sleeves, head to these hot spots around Singapore to expand your Pokedex. Just remember to be aware of your surroundings! Don’t put yourself and others in danger.
1. Orchard Road
Just look at the number of PokeStops! No surprise that Singapore’s most happening road is one of the most happening places to Poke hunt. According to Straits Times, ION Orchard’s management will be releasing Lures until August 21. Trainers, capitalise this and catch as many mons as you can!
2. Wildlife Parks
According to the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), eight Pokemon Gyms and 78 Pokestops can be found at 4 parks – Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari and the Singapore Zoo. The WRS has also developed Poke maps to help Trainers get the most from their hunt. One word of advice: Animals generally do not like intruders. Do not enter any of the animal exhibits!
3. Botanic Garden
According to a Redditor, “there are 5 Gyms, and Pokestops every 10 steps” at the Singapore Botanical Garden. And the best part of all, the Garden is shaded with many pitstops selling drinks and food. We’re pretty sure you won’t want to be Singapore’s first Pokemon Master to be hospitalised for dehydration! Other than that, do wear proper shoes and beware of dog poop
4. MRTs
If you’re just too sore from all the walking, or just plain lazy, hop onto the MRT and travel from one end to the other. You’ll be surprised by the number of Pokemons lurking around MRT stations. Also, most MRT stations are either Pokestops or gyms. You just need to be really quick with your fingers to get the most out of it. However, do note that the Downtown Line is not a hot spot for Pokemon! You might want to pick another line to avoid disappointment.
5. Tourist Attraction/ Landmarks
Hmmm.. it seems that Pokemons enjoy visiting tourist-ey places cause Marina Bay Sands, Gardens By The Bay, Resort World Sentosa, Universal Studios Singapore and SEA Aquarium are extremely hot spots for not only tourists but also your favourite monsters. RWS even released a statement claiming that they are trainers too!
6. Chinese Garden
If you think tourist-ey landmarks can get a little too crowded, head to Chinese Garden in Jurong for a more spacious Poke hunt. According to The Straits Times, this garden houses “no less than three gyms and at least 20 Pokestops”. Besides, a little greenery after glueing your eyes to your smartphone’s screen is actually a good thing.
We know we’ve said this TOO many times but do be mindful and aware of your surroundings when playing the game. Do not play when you’re driving and if you need access to religious institutions, be respectful and courteous. Remember, your safety (and other people’s as well) is wayyyyy more important than catching a super rare Pokemon. Having said that, go all out and catch ’em all!
Header image source: maxres
Also read: Better Safe Than Sorry? But These 10 Hungry Ghost Superstitions Are Unbelievable!
