Pokemon Go maps will show you where to catch the rarest species

Pokemon Go is well on its way to becoming a global cultural phenomenon. The competitive aspects of the game have users aggressively seeking out the best and the brightest Pokemon combatants to join their team. As a result, a lot of research is going into identifying where exactly these rare breeds might be found. Pokemon Go maps have started cropping up on the internet, documenting where Pokemon spawn with varying degrees of accuracy.

Right now, we’re seeing at least three distinct Pokemon Go maps growing from a state of infancy. We’ll take a look at each of them here and consider the merits of each.

Pokecrew

Pokecrew is a site that isolates your current location and shows you a list of Pokemon near your region. Documented catches are charted, and you can keep track of how far away they were. Each Pokemon is assigned a “chance of sighting” rating, and the database keeps up with what times of day every species appears to be present.

Pokecrew is still fairly rudimentary. Anyone clicking around the site for just a few minutes will notice that documentation is scant in many places, and the commonality system hasn’t really received enough data to be reliable. Still, given enough community engagement, the site could develop into something fairly useful.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All

Gotta Catch ‘Em All is the strongest Pokemon Go map on this list. Pokemon sightings are catalogued with accuracy and sorted into categories of Common, Uncommon, Rares, Ultra Rares, and Epics. A wide array of sorting options are available for you to command, and the map updates to suit your preferences with tiny icons of the Pokemon you’re looking for. What could possibly be the downside?

Well, as it stands, Gotta Catch “em All is only available in the Boston area. Hopefully it will expand in the future, but as it stands, only residents of Massachusetts can make the most of this powerful Poketracker.

Pokemapper

Although Pokemapper isn’t as robust as Gotta Catch ‘Em All, it still offers some pretty decent tracking. Sorting options are fairly limited, and users in rural areas will note a lack of coverage. In fact, even larger towns have pretty scant data with this app. However, this is a worldwide map, so in spite of lacking the filtering capabilities of the other two maps, it may be the only option available to a broad userbase.

What do you think of these services that are becoming increasingly available to Pokemon Go players? Do they go against the explorative spirit of the game, or are they a useful tool for players who genuinely want to be the very best like no one ever was? Let us know your take in the comments below!