How to find Pokemon in Pokemon Go

Perhaps the single biggest task in Pokemon Go is finding and catching Pokemon. Many millions of us have spent dozens of hours staring down at our screen just waiting to see what pops up next. As it turns out, there are a variety of ways to find Pokemon. Here’s how you can find Pokemon in Pokemon Go.

• Just starting out? Here is our beginner’s guide to playing Pokemon Go!

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By Walking Around

The majority of Pokemon that you’ll find are ones that you’ll see while you wander around. That means to find most Pokemon, you’ll need to be on the move. This can include walking, running, or even traveling by car if you’re the passenger (don’t drive and play Pokemon Go). Pokemon will randomly spawn and pop up in your path as you go and you can find them.

Usually, you’ll find common stuff over and over again. The rare ones do show up, but as the adjective implies, this doesn’t happen very often. There are also a variety of factors when it comes to finding Pokemon. They include:

• Location. Certain areas spawn certain types of Pokemon. There are resources to help you find what spawns where, including apps like Google Maps which can help keep track of where Pokemon are. Generally, there are sites that you can find and Facebook groups that you can join that alert you to Pokemon nests in the area.
• There are a few Pokemon that you can only get in certain regions. Tauros is only found in North America. Mr Mime is only found in Europe. Farfetch’d is only found in Asia. Kangeskhan is only found in Australia.
• On top of that, there are five Pokemon that are entirely unavailable right now. They include Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, MewTwo, and Mew.
• There is a Sightings feature that allows you to see which Pokestops the Pokemon on your Nearby screen are close to.

Aside from these factors, most Pokemon will spawn in varying numbers pretty much everywhere and you’ll just have to walk around and find them. Unfortunately, Niantic removed all real-time tracking functionality from the app (for now). That means you’re essentially walking around until one randomly shows up.

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By Using Items

There are also a couple of items that you can use to make Pokemon spawn near you. They are Incense and Lures. Incense can be used by you and make Pokemon spawn wherever you are. Lures are used on Pokestops and make Pokemon spawn around a Pokestop. Since these items are quite rare, you’ll want to make sure to use them when you have the time so you don’t waste them!

• Click here to read more on how Lures work!
• Or click here to see how Incense works!

Each item has varying mechanics, but they do bring in tons of Pokemon. Especially if you have a place in your area with many Pokestops that are frequently Lured by other players and/or businesses.

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Other Pokemon finding tips

There are tons of tips, tricks, rumors, methods, and hearsay that claims to help you find Pokemon. Due to this, it’s difficult to nail down exact information but we do know some things for sure. Here are a few.

• Google Maps has a list of nests that you can check out by clicking here. If you find a nest, you can submit its location and have it added to the map.
• Those frustrated by catching the same common Pokemon over and over will be happy to know that those Pokemon can be used to grind XP. Here’s how you can do that!
• There exists many mapping services that attempt to show you Pokemon that are actively available right now. They kind of pop up and go down frequently. Because of this, you’ll need to search for them as they appear and go down. You can find one here or here if you want to try it out. Use them while you can.
• Pokemon spawn and sit in a stationary location for about 10-15 minutes. Because of this, don’t be shocked if you’re trying to hunt down a specific Pokemon only to have it disappear randomly.
• You can find additional info on how Pokemon spawn in the game by watching the video linked above.
• Some have found success by spoofing their GPS. This is actually cheating and we don’t recommend it because we imagine that Niantic will do something about it eventually. It’s effective, but not a legit way to find Pokemon.

If you have any other fun tips on finding Pokemon, tell us about them in the comments! Also, once you catch a Pokemon, you’ll want to level it up and evolve it as well! Click here to see the latest Pokemon news!