Two weeks after it's initial release and Pokemon Go still has the world gripped (Well, except for Japan, poor buggers). The bare-bones nature of the game and the lack of a solid tutorial has led millions of players wondering how certain mechanics of the game work and what Easter eggs lie in wait. And where there is mystery there is baseless speculation and bullshit. Time to bust the biggest myths surrounding Pokemon Go!
The Nearby Tab Flashes Green When Facing The Direction of a Tracked Pokemon
Image Credit: forbes.com
The Nearby tab is a mysterious beast. Right now, the footsteps mechanic has broken for almost all users. It used to show a 0-3 footsteps tracking mode that showed how far you were from a Pokemon, but once it broke, people looked for new methods to track monsters. One rumour that made rounds of communities all over the internet is that the green flash on the tab, when it's closed, would indicate you were facing the direction that you should walk to run into a wild Pokemon.
BUSTED
That green flash is in fact an indication that a new Pokemon has entered your nearby tab and you can now start tracking it, if you happen to be the Nintendo version of Bear Grylls. It has no bearing on which direction you face. The only thing your facing direction impacts is the position of your player on the map.
Tapping A Missed PokeBall Puts It Back In Your Inventory
Image Credit: otakukart.com
When failing catching a Pokemon, your PokeBall may roll off into the distance for a good amount of time. Early into the apps release, there was a rumour that you would be able to retrieve Pokeballs that missed your target by tapping them before they disappeared, so long as they were rolling on the floor.
BUSTED
Tapping lost balls does absolutely nothing, as proven by several users including myself. In fact, you stand a chance of wasting more balls trying to reclaim that one you missed with. Just be patient and visit some PokeStops to restock.
Flicking The Screen Wildly Before An Encounter Begins Will Result In An Instant Nice/Great/Excellent Catch
Image Credit: thehindu.com
Everyone wants to guarantee that they can catch a Pokemon, nobody wants to waste time, energy and resources failing to catch the monsters they're after. So, when YouTubers began reporting on a glitch catch technique that involves repeating the throw motion before your HUD even appears in an encounter, players were obviously keen to try the method themselves.
PROVEN (With some caveats)
Surprisingly, this does work... most of the time. After trialling it myself, about 75% of the time, this works and does give you anywhere between a nice and excellent rating. However, there are circumstances in which this method will not work. For one, glitch catching can become, well, glitchy. A lot of times, I launched a PokeBall at a Pokemon only for the ball to rocket into the sky, casting a shadow on the ground big enough to cover the entire stage and crash the game. Other times, Pokemon would instantly use their attack animation and squander the dream altogether. And of course, good old Schrodinger's PokeBall (Where the Pokemon is caught, but the ball does not shake, forcing you to quit the game) can come into effect more often when using this trick. My advice is to refrain from using this technique when encountering Pokemon you haven't yet caught, but feel free to try it out when catching that 6,000th Rattata.
Eevee's Special Attack Determines It's Evolution
Image Credit: moviepilot.com
Pokemon Go's simplified version of evolution does not lend itself well to the multiple Eeveelutions available in the first generation. However, people began speculating that Eevee's evolution simply couldn't be random. A prevalent theory stated that the Eevee's special attack, the one that uses the blue meter in battle, was the indicator of which Eeveelution your Eevee would evolve into; Dig for Flareon, Swift for Vaporeon and Body Slam for Jolteon.
BUSTED
However, it's total bullshit. Many users disproved this when their Eevees evolved randomly into one of the three Eeveelutions despite their special attacks and to a degree this evolution is still random. Well, save for one technique...
Nicknaming Your Eevee After One Of The Eevee Brothers Determines It's Evolution
Image Credit: pokemon.com
This one seems a total longshot. In the English dub of the Pokemon anime, three brothers named Sparky, Pyro and Rainer were trainers who owned Jolteon, Flareon and Vaporeon respectively. A rumour soon started that nicknaming your Eevee after one of these three brothers would force an evolving Eevee into your desired Eeveelution. But that seems utterly ridiculous, right? Well...
PROVEN
It's totally true. Many trainers have reported this as working 100%, as can I. My Eevee was nicknamed 'Rainer' and had the move Body Slam (Previously associated with Jolteon), and still evolved into Vaporeon. It's probably one of the coolest and most useful Easter eggs in the game!
NOTE: This trick only works if you nickname your Eevee and then allow your game to sync with Niantic's servers. This means closing and re-opening the game fully to ensure the nickname data is registered to your profile. Nicknaming the Eevee and going straight for the evolution has a chance of not working, especially during peak play hours.
NOTE: This trick only works if you nickname your Eevee and then allow your game to sync with Niantic's servers. This means closing and re-opening the game fully to ensure the nickname data is registered to your profile. Nicknaming the Eevee and going straight for the evolution has a chance of not working, especially during peak play hours.
People Can Steal Your Pokemon Spawns
Image Credit: srcdn.com
Ever wanted to be a real life Team Rocket and go around stealing Pokemon from under peoples noses? Well, just beat them to the catch when a monster spawns in! Watch your fellow trainer cry as you take their opportunity to catch that elusive wild Ninetails!
BUSTED
Except you can't. Spawns are individual. If you can see it, it's yours, and more importantly, if it's on your screen, chances are every other player can see and catch it as well. Spawns are based on location to a spawn point and not on placing a single monster into the wild.
Some Pokemon Can Only Be Captured in Certain Continents
Image Credit: nintendoeverything.com
It seemed for a while that 'searching far and wide' was going to be taken very literally. Rumours began that Tauros, Mr Mime, Kangaskhan and Farfetch'd were going to be exclusive to North America, Europe, Australia and Asia respectively. Notice my past tense here?
BUSTED
It's 100% not true. Tauros, Mr Mime, Kangaskhan and Farfetch'd all belong to the 5km egg group and can be hatched in any continent. Also, reports of these four Pokemon being caught outside of these specific regions have come up in their droves. On top of that, Pokemon Go hasn't even been launched in Asia yet, so this theory couldn't even be proven to be somewhat correct before it was immediately disproved. This one is totally fake. Cancel your flights.
The Blue Glow Behind Your Pokemon In Your Bag Means It Will Be Super Powerful When Evolved
Image Credit: gamereviewsau.com
HEY GUISE MY WEEDLE HAS A BLUE GLOW SO MY BEEDRILL WILL BE LIKE 3000 CP SO YOU BETTER NOT--
BUSTED
That Blue Glow means that you recently caught it. Settle down, children, you didn't find a god Weedle.
Pikachu Can Be Your Starter
Image Credit: pc-magazin.de
Say you want to be like Ash and you want your first Pokemon to be Pikachu. If you ignore your starters by walking away from them. They will then respawn and prompt you to select one. Do this 4 times and you will encounter a Pikachu alongside Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, which you can select as your starter instead of one the 3 Kanto starters.
PROVEN
It's totally true! What, you though Niantic would ignore one of Nintendo's biggest mascots? Of course you can get Pikachu at the start! Only, your first Pokemon is utterly worthless after a few hours into the game so... I mean, it's up to you, really.
Pokemon Has Been Delayed In Japan Due To A Brand Deal With McDonalds
Image Credit: cloudinary.com
The birthplace of Pokemon, Japan, has yet to see the insanely popular app launch there. Whilst many people believe this is to fix servers to cope with the unprecedented number of people in Japan who will play this game, supposed leaked documents said that the delayed launch in Japan was due to a partnership deal with McDonalds that would see each of it's almost 3,000 Japanese locations turned into a PokeStop.
PROVEN
It's totally real. The deal was made official via official statement in Excite News, which confirmed the partnership. Due to this, no exact release date is given for the Japanese launch, but developer Niantic said that they were 'working diligently' to ensure a smooth rollout for Japanese players with this deal intact.
We're still not done with Pokemon Go, so be sure to check back in the future for more PoGo themed articles and podcasts in the near future!
We're still not done with Pokemon Go, so be sure to check back in the future for more PoGo themed articles and podcasts in the near future!
By Mike Owen
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of our podcasts, and currently pens Pop Culture Club and The Death of Video Games