Pokémon Go tips and tricks: How to catch new Pokemon Meltan and more

Pokémon Go’s mobile app first made headlines back in 2016, as hordes took to the streets to get in on the action. And though numbers have died down since the initial furore, there’s still a steady stream of passionate players who refuse to relinquish that wholesome Pokémon goodness.

That’s not all; new Pokémon Go events are always taking place, so it helps to stay on top of your game, whether you just dabble from time to time or you’re a serious player. The most recent event is the mysterious release of Meltan, a new and previously-undiscovered Pokémon that we’ll likely hear about more in the near future.

Read on for our best 13 tips and tricks to hack your way to Pokémon Go greatness.

Pokémon Go hacks: 13 of the best tips and tricks

1. Pokémon Go hacks: Catch new ‘mon Meltan

For the first time ever, a Pokémon has been released in Pokémon Go that isn’t in any of the main Pokémon games. You can catch it in the wild, if you’re very lucky.

Meltan is a mythical steel-type Pokémon. It looks very similar to a Ditto but with a nut as its head. According to the Pokémon YouTube channel the creature is available to catch in the wild, although very few trainers have managed to find it so far. Many people have found Meltan only to discover it was in fact Ditto, but perhaps the creature itself will be discovered soon.

The site for Pokémon: Let’s Go suggests that finding Meltan in Pokémon Go is neccessary to catching it in the upcoming Pokémon: Let’s Go games, so it’s possible that you’ll be able to catch Meltan for real when they are released on 16 November. For now, keeping hunting, in case it’s released before.

2. Pokémon Go hacks: Hatch eggs faster with this one (maybe two) neat trick(s)

Egg hatching can be a chore. It requires you to use incubators and walk miles at a time to crack open an egg only to find that you’ve already go the same Pokémon multiple times over. Snore. Thankfully you can cut down the actual distance you have to walk to hatch eggs by simply leaving your phone running Pokémon Go while sat on your desk.

Yes, that’s right. Thanks to your phone’s GPS trying to resolve your location, your avatar will shuffle left and right a few steps without you having to do anything at all. It’s small, but it means it chips away at your incubation counter without you having to go anywhere at all.

Another trick is to manage your Egg Incubators too. Use your infinite Incubator for your 2km and 5km eggs and buy single or multi-use Incubators to keep your 10km eggs hatching efficiently.

3. Pokémon Go hacks: Make the most of the daily bonuses

Pokémon Go offers up Daily Bonuses simply for you playing the game. Checking in every day and simply doing a couple of bits and bobs is enough to nab a daily bonus and means you can still get by without having to spend hours entrapped in Niantic’s world.

What’s more, if you manage to maintain your daily upkeep for a week, you’ll get an additional Weekly Bonus. All that you need to do is keep that streak going – just spin the odd PokéStop here and there, you’ll generate stardust and XP, and you’ll be able to cash in on your Weekly Bonus.

4. Pokémon Go hacks: Repeat Pokémon are a blessing

It’s always worth capturing a Pokémon you’ve already caught instead of simply ignoring them in favour of something slightly rarer. Indeed, catching common Pokémon can be a blessing because you can use them for levelling up.

By capturing these Pokémon you can send them to the slaughterhouse and get yourself some candies to boost the power of your main team. It’s really easy to get candy by simply opting to “transfer” a Pokémon to the professor in exchange for candy. You can even combine this with a lucky egg and maximise your XP.

5. Pokémon Go hacks: Instantly know your most recent Pokémon

If you’re curious to know which of your Pokémon are the most recent but don’t want to organise by “Recent”, Pokémon Go has a very simple, very visual way of letting you know. Every Pokemon that’s omitting a blue glow has been caught in the last 24 hours.

Why should you care? Knowing your most recent Pokémon is really helpful when you’re trying to figure out if your latest Pokémon is better or worse than your previous one. Eyes peeled for that telling blue light.

6. Pokémon Go hacks: There’s a quick way to get items from PokéStops

Here’s a quick and simple way to grab all the items floating out of a PokéStop at once, which saves you tapping on each individual item; tap the “X” at the bottom of the PokéStop page you’ll automatically be gifted every item without all the effort. Handy to know.

7. Pokémon Go hacks: Throw the perfect curveball

If you’re looking to earn some great XP with relatively little effort, curveballs are a dream. It always pays to get Nice, Great and Excellent catches by throwing the ball within the shrinking circle, but curveballs always pay out – when you land them, that is.

There’s a really simple way to ensure you (nearly) always get a curveball. Start by rotating the Pokéball round and then throw the ball in the direction you spun the ball. If it’s spinning anti-clockwise, flick it to the left; if it’s spinning clockwise, flick it to the right.

After you’ve spun the ball, flick it off in an “L” shape in the right direction. Release it at around the same height as the Pokémon and you’ll likely land the ball perfectly on the Pokémon without issue.

What’s more, the better the throw, the more stardust you get. It’s a relatively minimal amount, but every little helps! Nail the curveballs, and you’re nailing Pokémon Go.

8. Pokémon Go hacks: Pick the right Pokémon for a Gym

Gym battling in Pokémon Go is a little bit of an art, but knowing how to hold down a Gym is a totally different ball game. In Pokémon Go, putting an offensive Pokémon isn’t actually the best way to keep a Gym in your team’s possession.

Back in the day, if you put a high-level Pokémon in there, you’d have a chance of staying for a long time and gaining coins. The degradation system now means that your Pokémon will lose health over time.

Instead, choose a Pokémon without a particularly high CP – a Pokémon with under 3,000 CP will lose health slower, meaning they could potentially stay there for longer. Now you know.

9. Pokémon Go hacks: Trainer level is the game’s most important stat

Once you start playing Pokémon Go you’ll want to hit the big leagues and bag all the rare Pokémon you can. However, Niantic keeps those bad boys at bay until you’re good and ready to tackle them properly.

The higher your trainer level, the stronger the CP level of each Pokémon you come across will be. Your chances of encountering rare Pokémon also ramp up and each new level gives you more powerful items and Pokéballs to boot. So, whatever you do, make sure you’re always on the lookout for gaining XP as easily as possible – you want to climb the ranks ASAP to gain access to the Pokémon with the highest CP levels.

10. Pokémon Go hacks: Battery saver is your saviour

Pokémon Go is an absolute battery hog – that’s no secret. Even if you don’t use the camera mode, keep your screen brightness down and turn off all audio, Pokémon Go loves to guzzle your battery like nobody’s business.

Thankfully, Niantic has stuck a battery saver mode into the Pokémon Go options screen. It’s not the most effective battery saver in the world, granted, particularly not on power-hungry devices like the iPhone. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to bolster the amount of battery you save by activating battery saver mode (alongside your usual roster of tricks).

READ NEXT: Dos and don’ts for better battery life

And if you really want to go the whole hog you could invest in a battery pack to keep your phone topped up during your Pokémon Go outings. Hardcore fans rejoice.

11. Pokémon Go hacks: Learn how to track Pokémon in the wild properly

Knowing how to spot a Pokémon in the wild ahead of your phone buzzing is an invaluable skill if you want to get anywhere with Pokémon. It won’t take long when you look at the game’s map regularly – intuition will soon kick in – but a tell-tale sign is a rustling of the grass or leaves shuffling around on the map. Head towards those and you’re more than likely to find a Pokémon lying in wait for you.

12. Pokémon Go hacks: Keep a Pokémon in focus when trying to catch it

Pokémon Go in AR mode is a bit of a pain, but it’s got one great feature that makes catching Pokémon all that easier. Some Pokémon, such as Zubat, tend to display on the screen either quite far away from your Pokéball or high up on your screen. But this can be (relatively) easily rectified.

If you enable your AR mode and then turn it back off, your Pokémon will snap to front-and-centre of the screen. That should make everything much more in focus – and much easier to catch.

13. Pokémon Go hacks: Maximise Candy from Trades

While Stardust is certainly an asset in Pokémon Go, Candy is also key, and shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s obtained via trade interactions, so the key here is to be wily when weighing up your exchanges.

If you transfer, you’ll get one Pokémon Candy. If you trade a Pokémon locally, you’ll also get one. A local trade and a transfer will score you two; a long distance trade three; and the combination of a long distance trade and a transfer will get you four.

One of the best ways to maximise on your exchanges is to use your Alohan hatches. Gifts can be sent from pals who are quite the distance away, making it likely that Alohan Eggs will give rise to Pokémon who qualify for the distance bonus.

It might take some extra grafting, but you’d be mad not to capitalise on all the Candy you can get, particularly when you’re aspiring to power up a Pokémon or even reach a new evolution.

We’ll be updating this page regularly with all of the best tips and tricks to make sure you nail Pokémon Go, so be sure to check back in.