aicosu:

Just some things I’ve learned that when I share some people don’t seem to know yet! 

• CATCH DUPLICATES. Catch them and then return them to prof willow. You can do this by clicking on the pokemon’s stats, scrolling down and hitting transfer. You get pokecandy for this which you can use to evolve/power up your original! 
• Make sure you compare and contrast CPs of your duplicates. One pikachu might be 10cp and the other 56cp. Keep the higher one, transfer the other. 
• That being said DONT waste your time evolving/powering your pokemon just yet. You might work hard to power your eevee to 100cp only to catch one at 150cp the next day. WAIT. In fact, I started only powering up my highest evolved pokemon. (ninetails, fearow, etc)
• Pokestops refresh every 5 minutes. You can visit them for an unlimited amount of time. I live right on top of one and check back in whenever I remember to. 
• Leveling up will give you LURES, INCENSE AND INCUBATORS. So don’t think you NEED to buy these from the shop. 
• If your wary about spending money for coins, you can GET COINS by having pokemon in gyms. This is the ‘defender bonus’ Theres a shield icon in the shop section that you can refresh every 21 hours. You can have up to 10 pokemon in 10 diff gyms for a total of 100 pokecoins and 5000 stardust a day.(10 Pokecoins and 500 stardust per pokemon)
• Your gym alliance makes it so that ANY GYM you fight of your own alliance, your pokemon WILL NOT FAINT.  Their hp will reduce to 1 and they will need healing, but they won’t faint. You also gain gym prestige this way which helps strengthen your alliance territory. Any rival gyms however will faint your pokemon and they will need a REVIVE to keep being used. You can also transform them into candy at this point if you are a heartless monster. 😦 
• A gym has a max of 3 pokemon traners/defenders. If you find a gym of your alliance with only 1 or 2 pokemon in it, you can ADD YOUR POKEMON WITHOUT FIGHTING YOUR FELLOW TEAM. Just drop a pokemon in there and keep walking! Free defender bonus. (Do this by clicking the bottom left icon of ‘add pokemon’)
• More than one trainer can fight one gym leader at a time. Getting a friend to fight with you is the best way to beat the gym!! You attack at the same time.
• ITS NOT TURN BASED ATTACKS. Its real time! Click once for a basic attack, swipe to dodge, and hold down a click for a SPECIAL ATTACK!
• My best method is not to dodge at all but just click forever. So long as I have a bigger CP I usually win lol. 
• Do NOT put your best pokemon into a gym. Your second or third only. You cannot recall your pokemon once its in a gym and you will need it to fight other gyms.  (they get returned to you after they are beaten)
• Everyone gets one free incubator that lasts forever. Any extras you find or receive from leveling up only last 3 hatches before breaking.
• TRACKING POKEMON! Sparkling grass doesn’t guarantee a pokemon showing up. The ‘nearby’ tab is the actual tracker. The highest on the list is the closest. Selecting a pokemon in it will make the tracker pulse when you get nearer to it. 3 footsteps away mean THREE RINGS away (or more). 2 footsteps means TWO RINGS, one footstep means one ring and NO RINGS MEANS YOU CAN CLICK ON THAT POKEMON AND IT WILL APPEAR IN 10 SECONDS.
• Battery saver mode, found in settings, works as follows: Once clicked on, if you drop your phone to your side as you walk, with the top of your phone facing the ground, the screen will dim so only the pokemon logo shows. It still tracks your steps for your eggs and it will vibrate and beep when a pokemon shows up. As soon as you lift your phone to your face (right side up) the screen will appear again as normal!
• The higher level you get, the more rare pokemon you come across.

I think that’s all I’ve learned so far. Send me an ask or message if you want me to add or change any info here! Happy hunting!!!! 

mastergiegue:

This turned out a little long so I’ve bolded main points for TL;DR skim readers.
This post covers some current issues and some beginner tips.

As of typing (7/7/16), Pokemon Go has been released in Aus, NZ, US, and JP.

• The game does not work on Windows OS, or Android versions older than Lollipop.
• You need GPS location tracking enabled on your phone, as well as a constant stable internet connection. The GPS is a major battery drain.
• The AR cam decimated my Samsung Note 4′s battery in minutes, disable it for more play time.
• Data usage is minimal, but more Data is used when battling Gyms from my observance.
• You can sign up with either a Google Account (or whatever Apple use) or a Pokemon Trainer Club account. Right now Trainer Club is having periodic connectivity issues. (“Unable to Authenticate.”)
• When starting the game, you’re offered a “starter Pokémon”, its 100% preference as you can catch starter Pokémon later.
• After capturing your “starter”, you enter your username. Alphabetical/Numeral Characters only, no spaces, Names must be Unique. They cannot be changed, currently, if ever.
• The game must be actively open for it to find Pokemon, but you do not need to be staring at the phone. Stay safe and be alert of your surroundings, your phone will vibrate if something pops up near you.
• The “Nearby Pokemon” tab seems to double up as a tracker, tap a “nearby pokemon” in the list, Footprints indicate its distance, and the tab pulses more as you approach the nearest/targeted Pokemon.
• Small towns have no shortage of Pokestops and Gyms, but residential areas understandably have very few.
• Catching Pokemon is simple, you start with ~50 Pokeballs, you gain many more from Pokestops, you can carry a limited number of combined items (350) without bag upgrades. Do not buy Pokeballs from the cash shop, they are essentially an infinite free resource.
• Pokestops go Purple when used, the cooldown is incredibly short but the cooldown does not reduce if you stay near the stop.
  
• Battles are not explained, at all. Tap the opponent Pokémon to launch a “Fast Attack”, and accumulate charge for
  your Strong “Hold” attack. Swiping your Pokémon to dodge attacks is very important.
• Teams are “Instinct” Yellow, “Mystic” Blue, and “Valor” Red. There is no benefit to joining a specific team, just pick the one you want/agree with.
• A Grey Gym is unclaimed, simply deposit a Pokemon to defend it and claim it as your own. Warning: Deposited Pokemon cannot be withdrawn from the Gym until it is defeated by the opposing team, avoid depositing your strongest Pokémon when defending Gyms.
• At a Friendly Gym, you can battle your own defending Pokémon (and the Pokémon fellow teammates have deposited) and give your Gym more Prestige. Prestige is essentially the “health” of your Gym, and if the opponent teams reduce it to 0, the Gym becomes unclaimed. You may struggle to train if you deposited your strongest Pokémon.
• At a Rival Gym, your goal is to defeat as many of the Rival Pokemon as possible. Your 6 Selected Pokemon will be allowed to assist you in battle, but only two may faint. You may switch at any time.
  
• Pokémon defeated in a training session are reduced to 1 hp and can be healed with a Potion, however Pokémon defeated while battling an rival gym become fainted, and a Revive must be used. These items can be obtained at Pokestops from level 5 onwards.
• You can challenge a Gym as many times as you are able.
• The Strongest Pokemon in the Gym is the one sat atop the tower on the Map.
• I do not know if Eggs are Pedometer related or distance related, but you should get off your lazy ass and walk because its good for you. It took me approximately 7000 steps to hatch a 5km Egg.
• YOU MUST INCUBATE AN EGG IN ORDER FOR IT TO HATCH. You are given one Incubator to start with unlimited uses. You can buy more, but they break after hatching 3 eggs.
• Evolution is not level/CP based. They use Candy to evolve.
  Candy Evolution requirements vary. Pidgey needs 12, Spearow needs 50.

• Eevee Evolve Randomly, according to screenshots.
• Each Pokemon gives 3 candy of its species upon being caught, 6 if hatched. You can power up a Pokémon’s CP using its candy and “stardust.”
• Magikarp makes me cry.