17 Pokemon Go Tips That Are Actually Useful

Alright noob, there are a few things you need to know.

1. Pokemon are surrounded by 2 circles,
2. The grey circle is the Pokemon's hit box and is static and does not change size. It represents the Pokemon's hit box.
3. The colored circle represents the area for good(+10xp), great(+50xp), and excellent(100xp) shots and changes in size. The smaller the size, the higher the xp bonus and the higher chance you have of capturing the pokemon. It also changes in color depending on your liklihood of catching the Pokemon with a hit. Green is easy and you can likely snag it on your first shot, red is very hard and make require stronger balls or a Razz Berry.
4. Pokemon move further back after your first hit with a Pokeball, making them harder to hit. That means you need to make your first shot count or you could burn balls missing them when they move back.
5. If you spin the Pokeball with your finger, you can get a "Curve shot" bonus of +10 XP. This is not really worth it in light of the possible 50-100xp bonus on great/excellent shots. However, it's absolutely critical for #6.
6. Maybe the designers are assholes, but certain things seem to force your Pokeball to curve. Razz Berries will force your Pokeball to curve after using them, and Great/ultra balls seem to have a high percentage chance to curve on their own. This means you have to practice curve balls anyway, and is also why it's critical to make your first shot count because if you need to amp up your throws, you will HAVE to curve them. It's easy to land a curve before the Pokemon has backed up (#4). So juice up with a Razz Berry, use a Great/Ultra ball, and curve shot away!
7. To add to this sneakiness, you won't know the color of the circle, and thus how difficult the Pokemon is until after your first shot so you have to get used to which Pokemon are easy or difficult to catch.
8. However, the higher the CP a Pokemon is, the harder it is the catch. The type, rarity, and CP contribute to how difficult it is to catch a Pokemon.

1. Pidgeys are your friend. An evolution grants +500xp, Pidgeys are the most common Pokemon that only take 12 candies to evolve. Tons of experience. Unlike Zubats. Fuck Zubats.
2. Eggs grants a lot of candy. You probably didn't notice, but eggs are amazing not because of the Pokemon you get (though you get rares from a 10km egg) but because of all the candy you get. I've gotten up to 20 candy for the Pokemon I hatched.
3. Stockpile, then pop a Lucky Egg and evolve everything. A billion pidgeys and a lucky egg can easily grant you 2 levels at once. Especially hold on to evolutions you've never had before for the extra +500xp just for it being a new pokemon. You get +500xp for the evolution, +500 for it being new, double it to +2000xp and it's easy leveling.
4. Walking around is usually the best way to make progress, but double and triple luring Pokemon stops is decent too. It heavily depends on the density of stops in your area, but in a typical city there are enough stops and Pokemon hanging around to making walking a worthwhile endeavor. Especially if you're hatching eggs. If the density of stops is low, and you don't have extra incubators, then sitting on lures might be the better option.
5. Fighting other teams at gyms gives good xp, training for your own color does not. It's kind of lame actually the xp you get from training is minuscule. You're better off slamming another color until you take the gym, claiming your bonus from the shield in the shop, and walking away. Come back later when they re-take the gym and get the xp again.

1. You can claim Pokestops slightly before the the Pokestop actually enlarges.
2. If you select a Pokemon to chase, a green box will pulsate from the bottom right corner of the screen when you are walking in the direction of that Pokemon.
3. You cannot pick up missed Pokeballs. Seriously. You can't. Don't listen to the garbage.
4. Your GPS location will sometimes fluctuate a little bit even while standing still. This does accrue distance on your eggs.