Pokemon Go! Tips

As of now, I'm a level 28 Pokemon trainer and my pokedex is up to 130 caught.  I seem to be making pretty decent progress, so I thought I'd share some tips! 

1.  When you're first starting out, you need to level up.  The best way to do this is the Pidgey/Weedle/Caterpie leveling trick.  In case you aren't aware of it already, the idea is to capture a ton of Pidgeys, Weedles, and Caterpies, then mass evolve them, preferably with a lucky egg active.  Evolutions are worth 500 xp a piece, and with the lucky egg active, they're worth 1000 xp.  The reason you use these particular Pokemon is that they are absurdly common and only costs 12 candy to evolve.  You can throw a few Ratatas in there too, but keep in mind that they cost 25 candy to evolve.

2.  Once you start leveling up, it's time to make a decision on whether you want to try to capture as many Pokemon as possible, or if you want to get some strong Pokemon to hold gyms with.  If you want to catch Pokemon, you're probably going to want to find a place with a lot of pokestops, and use lures to grab some commons and uncommons to start with.  Once you have a decent amount of Pokemon, you're going to do the same thing gym fighters should do from the start:  hatch eggs.  In the long run, hatching eggs is the best way to get new Pokemon, get large amounts of candy and stardust, and get some of the best Pokemon to hold gyms with.

3.  An important thing to keep in mind is that just because a Pokemon is common, doesn't mean it's bad.  In addition to that, just because a Pokemon is rare, doesn't mean it's good.  For instance, Bellsprouts and Oddishes are fairly common Pokemon, but their highest evolutions (Victreebel and Vileplume) are very powerful Pokemon.  In the same vein, Pokemon like Onix, Jynx, and Chansey all come from 10 km eggs and are very difficult to find in the wild.  However, they are trash when it comes to power.

4.  The biggest reason you're going to want to hatch eggs is that most of the best gym Pokemon are rare Pokemon that are difficult to obtain unless you're hatching 10 km eggs.  Even then, there's no guarantee you're going to get one, but it certainly increases your odds.  It can also depend on where you live and where you collect Pokemon.  For instance, where I live, Dratini's are difficult to find, so getting them from eggs is a more viable way for me to get them.  Two of the best gym Pokemon, Snorlax and Lapras, are found in 10 km eggs as well.

5.  When you first start trying to land some decent Pokemon in terms of power, try evolving Eevees.  They are very common and Vaporeon is considered an S Tier Pokemon.  It's the easiest S tier Pokemon to get, and getting multiples isn't a bad thing if you want to try to take on multiple gyms.  Flareons are pretty good, too.   

6.  Curious about the best Pokemon in the game?  Allow me to tell you which ones they are, in order, and the best way to get your hands on them. 

Dragonite:  These are the 3rd evolution of Dratini (Dratini - Dragonair - Dragonite).  If you hunt Pokemon in an area where Dratini are common, this one shouldn't be that hard to get.  If you don't, they hatch from 10 km eggs, with a nice helping of candy to go with them.  It's not completely out of the ordinary to see a Dragonite out in the wild, either.  I personally caught one. 

Snorlax:  I caught mine in the wild.  They hatch out of 10 km eggs, but I haven't seen that happen yet.  Considering you're probably going to want to power this one up, it would probably be better to get one out of an egg for the candy. 

Lapras:  I got mine out of a 10 km egg.  They hold gyms really well.  I haven't seen a single one of these in the wild. 

Arcanine:  This one isn't too hard to get.  He's the evolution of Growlithe.  If you live in an area where Growlithe's are common, just catch enough to get 50 candy.  If not, still not that big of deal, as they drop from 5 km eggs. 

Vaporeon:  The easiest S tier Pokemon to get.  It evolves from Eevee.  Name your Eevee "Rainer" for a guaranteed Vaporeon!  Strangely, Eevees hatch from 10 km eggs, but the plus side is that you get 25 candy with the egg for an instant evolution! 

Exeggutor:  This one was a pain for me to get.  They are the evolution of Exeggcute.  If you live somewhere where Exeggcute's are common, this shouldn't be too bad for you, but I don't seem them much.  They hatch from 5 km eggs, but it took me some time to get enough of them for an evolution. 

Gyarados:  This one just sucks to get.  It requires 400 Magikarp candy.  Magikarp are very common near water, and pokestops with lures on them tend to bring a lot of them too.  Magikarps hatch from 2 km eggs, but don't expect much candy from them. 

Flareon:  Another Eevee evolution.  Name your Eevee "Pyro" for an guaranteed Flareon! 

Muk:  Muk is the evolution of Grimer.  I can't help too much here as I have yet to find either one of these Pokemon, and they're known for being hard to find.  Grimer hatches from 5 km eggs, but I haven't gotten one yet. 

Slowbro:  The evolution of Slowpoke.  Slowpokes are pretty much everywhere in my chosen Pokemon hunting ground, so this one was pretty easy to get.  Slowpokes hatch from 5 km eggs, and I've gotten quite a few of them that way, too. 

Machamp:  This one is a pain.  I still don't have it, but I'm close.  It's the third evolution of Machop (Machop - Machoke - Machamp).  I've seen a few Machops in the wild, but they seem pretty uncommon.  They hatch from 5 km eggs. 

Venusaur:  I don't have one yet, but it's the third evolution of Bulbasaur (Bulbasaur - Ivysaur - Venusaur)  None of the starter Pokemon are particularly common, but I do tend to see them in lured pokestops on occasion.  They hatch from 2 km eggs, so you won't get much candy, but at least the eggs are easy to hatch. 

Charizard:  Don't have this yet either.  It's the third evolution of Charmander (Charmander - Charmeleon - Charizard).  What I said about Venusaur applies here too. 

Victreebel:  The evolution of Bellsprout.  One of the easier S tier Pokemon to get your hands on.  Bellsprouts are pretty common in the wild.  They also hatch from 5 km eggs. 

Poliwrath:  The third evolution of Poliwag (Poliwag - Poliwhirl - Poliwrath).  For a three evolution Pokemon, this one isn't too bad.  Poliwags are pretty common around water, and tend to show up a lot at lured pokestops.  They also hatch from 5 km eggs. 

Blastoise:  The third evolution of Squirtle (Squirtle - Wartortle - Blastoise).  I still don't have this one.  See Venusaur and Charizard, same applies here. 

Nidoking and Nidoqueen:  These are the third evolutions of the male and female Nidoran (Nidoran - Nidorino/Nidorina - Nidoking/Nidoqueen).  Both of these Pokemon are really common, especially around lured pokestops.  I'm pretty sure they hatch from 5 km eggs, but I'm not 100% certain on that. 

Vileplume:  Another easy S tier Pokemon to get.  They evolve from Oddish.  Oddish are pretty common in the wild.  You can get them out of 5 km eggs, too. 

7.  If you take a look at your pokedex, you'll notice there are 149 pokemon.  You may be thinking to yourself, "I'm going to catch them all!"  Well, no, you're not.  The three legendary pokemon, (Moltres, Zapdoes, and Articuno) are currently not available in the game.  In addition to that, no one has found a Ditto yet.  He may not be in the game yet, or he may just be very elusive. 

8.  In addition to the Pokemon that aren't released, there are a few Pokemon that are region exclusive.  Tauros can only be found in the North America.  Mr. Mime is a Europe exclusive.  Kangaskhan can only be found in Australia and New Zealand.  Farfetch'd can only be caught in Asia.  As I understand it, these can still be found in eggs, but it is very rare to find one in an egg.  I haven't yet.  If you're interested in trying to get one, Kangaskhan, Farfetch'd, and Tauros can be found in a 5 km egg, while Mr. Mime is found in 10 km eggs. 

Hopefully these tips help you on your journey to catch them all! (or at least, catch most of them)