Walkthroughs

How to catch Pokemon in Pokemon GO

Easy as one, two, butterfree

How to catch Pokemon in Pokemon GO
|
| Pokemon GO

We've been doing it for years in the mainline games, in the spin offs, and in our own magical back gardens, but how do you catch Pokemon in Pokemon GO?

Great question. Luckily, we've got a comprehensive guide, just for you. Read on...

What do the coloured rings mean? Pokemon GO

The coloured rings are easy, once you figure it out. Their colour denotes how easy it is to catch this particular Pokemon - green for easy, yellow for medium, and red for hard.

Size, meanwhile, determines how much XP you'll get - if you catch the Pokemon when the ring is at its smallest, you'll get an XP bonus. Neat!

How to get more XP?

Aren't you greedy? Well, you can throw curve balls to get 10XP more per catch.

All this means is holding your finger down on your Poke Ball and spinning the ball around a bit before you throw it. Then just make sure you toss it to one side of the Pokemon so the ball curves onto them, like so:

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

What do Razz Berries do?

Razz Berries increase your chance of catching the Pokemon sat in front of you, so they're less likely to burst out or flee.

You can find Razz Berries regularly in PokeStops from around level eight, and they're fairly abundant, so don't panic if you have to use more than one in a fight.

How about Great Balls and Ultra Balls?

As you level up, higher CP Pokemon will start to appear. Now that's all well and good, but this also means they're more likely to escape.

Lucky, then, that better balls start to drop (teehee) at higher levels: at level 12, you'll begin to get Great Balls in PokeStops, and Ultra Balls will start appearing at level 20.

Use these sparingly though, as they're still fairly rare.

How do you find Pokemon?

Well, you can use this little technique from Redditor DJToaster.

Pokemon GO

Make sure you also check out our more in-depth guide on how and where to find rare Pokemon, too. Delicious!

Oscar Dayus
Oscar Dayus
Oscar grew up playing games in the 90s, and as such can't help but jump on any sort of moving platform. He hasn't yet perfected the art of double-jumping in real life, though, so has now turned to writing instead.