The game principle in Pokémon GO is basically quite simple. Nevertheless, both new and experienced trainers frequently make mistakes in the game. We at MeinMMO will show you what those mistakes are and why you should avoid them.
What is it about? Those who play Pokémon GO regularly know that the game mostly explains itself. However, there are one or two mistakes that both new and experienced players regularly make.
MeinMMO author Franzi Korittke has been playing Pokémon GO daily for over two years. She has participated in numerous events of the game and has made connections with other players. She has noticed time and again that sometimes certain things are overlooked while playing.
And she herself has made these mistakes as well. Therefore, below you see the most common 8 mistakes and why it makes sense to avoid them.
Error 1: Not clicking on and catching all Pokémon
This is the mistake: The easiest part of the game is probably clicking on and catching Pokémon. However, there are always monsters appearing on the map that you have already captured significantly or that do not help you in the game due to their poor stats. For this reason, many players no longer click on them at all.
Therefore, you should avoid this mistake: It is still worth clicking on and catching every Pokémon. For each catch, you will receive not only the corresponding candies, but also precious stardust and XP.
Moreover, behind this monster could be a shiny specimen. You should definitely not miss this chance. With a bit of luck, you might encounter a shiny that you still lack in your collection.
Error 2: Wasting trade actions
This is the mistake: Each player has a daily trade limit of 100 trade actions. Trainers often do not take advantage of this opportunity at all. However, you should change that in the future, as trading can be very beneficial for you.
Therefore, you should avoid this mistake: With a bit of luck, you can increase your chances of getting a lucky Pokémon through daily trade actions and get one or even several.
This is particularly true for monsters that frequently spawn in the wild during this time. Additionally, you are diligently working towards your Platinum medals “Gentleman” and “Pilot”.
Furthermore, trading can also allow you to evolve a Pokémon for free. You can find out which monsters they are in our overview:
Error 3: Not evaluating Pokémon properly
This is the mistake: Many trainers try to keep some space in their Pokémon storage and therefore send away their bad monsters that have a 0, 1, or 2-star rating. However, this can be a big mistake that you should avoid in the future.
Therefore, you should avoid this mistake: Before you send a Pokémon to Professor Willow, you should evaluate it. That may sound totally simple and obvious. But trainers who occasionally or even regularly participate in the PvP league should take a closer look here.
While Pokémon with a 3 or even 4-star rating are excellent for use in raids, the evaluation in the PvP league behaves somewhat differently. Often, it has an optimal strength when the attack value is as low as possible.
Thus, the best candidates for the GO Battle League usually have a lower star rating. So those who want to actively participate in PvP battles should consider not only the total stars but also the individual values (attack, defense, and stamina).
The attack value plays a crucial role primarily for the selection in the Super and Hyper League. Here, the Pokémon you can use is limited to a certain CP value. In the Super League, it is a maximum of 1,500 CP. The Pokémon must not exceed this.
The CP value is calculated based on the attack, defense, stamina, and level of the respective monster. However, the attack value has the greatest influence on the calculation. So if the attack value is lower, the other values can be significantly higher.
Error 4: Leveling up Pokémon too quickly
This is the mistake: If you have caught a strong Pokémon, you obviously want to level it up immediately. However, this will cost you significant amounts of stardust and some candies. If you do not need the Pokémon immediately for use in a raid or PvP battle, you should prevent this mistake and wait a bit with the Power-Ups.
Therefore, you should avoid this mistake: Regularly, tasks arise in field research, special research, or timed quests that ask you to level up a Pokémon.
If you have already leveled up all your strong monsters, then you are wasting valuable stardust and candies on weaker Pokémon that you might end up sending away. So be a little patient.
Tip: Use the tagging feature in the game to have a quick overview of the strong monsters you want to push. This way, you can easily find them again when you have an appropriate task.
Error 5: Not opening gifts
This is the mistake: Have you formed friendships with other trainers in the game? Then those players can send you packages, and you can send them too. However, these packages are often not (all) opened. You should definitely do this, as it brings you multiple benefits.
Therefore, you should avoid this mistake: During the day, you normally have the opportunity to open up to 20 gifts. However, that limit is regularly increased through events, allowing you to open more packages.
You should definitely take advantage of this opportunity because, on one hand, it increases your friendship level, and on the other, it rewards you with stardust. You receive this for each opened package. Additionally, there are lots of items awaiting you, such as balls, berries, and potions. This is how you find new friends worldwide for Pokémon GO.
Due to the currently ongoing Light Festival, the limit for opening gifts has been increased to 45 per day. Additionally, you advance twice as fast in your friendship level.
Error 6: Not properly utilizing friendship level-ups
This is the mistake: Those who have regularly opened their friends’ gifts or interacted with them in other ways will eventually find themselves facing a friendship level-up. However, some trainers make this level-up without thinking, which can cost them some XP.
Therefore, you should avoid this mistake: Depending on which friendship level you are rising to, there are different XP amounts. However, you can also increase these by using a lucky egg. Once you set the egg, you will receive double XP for 30 minutes. So if you don’t set it, you are wasting this bonus.
The following XP await you per level-up:
| Friendship Level | XP | XP with Lucky Egg |
| 1 full heart | 3,000 | 6,000 |
| 2 full hearts | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| 3 full hearts | 50,000 | 100,000 |
| 4 full hearts | 100,000 | 200,000 |
You can see the current status of your friendship level by clicking on the heart bar for your respective friend. If you click on the last filling heart, it will show you how many days you still need to play together until the level-up.
Tip: To make it worthwhile, you should also wait for a Community Day and gather several friends for a level-up. To inform friends about this level-up in the game, many players rename their buddy Pokémon accordingly, e.g. “LvlupCD11CET”.
This designation would mean that the level-up takes place at 11 AM Central European Time on the next Community Day. This way, trainers can prepare for setting a lucky egg.
Error 7: Not playing Raids
This is the mistake: Every player receives one free raid pass daily. However, not every trainer redeems it. This is a mistake you should definitely avoid.
Therefore, you should avoid this mistake: If you do not use your free raid pass for two consecutive days, you will forfeit all subsequent free raid passes until you redeem it. This way, you miss not only a Pokémon but also valuable stardust, XP, and items such as golden razz berries or special candies.
For this reason, it pays to use the daily raid pass. Especially level-5 raids offer interesting legendary Pokémon for you. Many of them are now also available in their shiny variants in the game. You shouldn’t miss this chance, as with a bit of luck, you might encounter a shiny. Currently, you can find the raid bosses Cobalion, Virizion, and Terrakion there.
Your chances of a shiny monster with legendary Pokémon are also not too bad. We have summarized the shiny probabilities of the individual monsters for you here.
Error 8: Not using berries properly
This is the mistake: Even when using berries, some trainers make mistakes. Especially the Nanab berries are often neglected in the bag. Once the item bag is full, these berries are often the first to be discarded. However, you should better change this in the future, as they can bring you great benefits.
Therefore, you should avoid this mistake: You should avoid this mistake and use your berries properly. The Nanab berries grant you double candies when catching a Pokémon. So, those who take their daily rounds should sometimes feed a Nanab berry to strong and rare monsters. This helps you to evolve or even level up the monsters faster.
But berries are also perfect for regularly feeding Pokémon in gyms. Because even if you are not currently being attacked and are relatively safe in a gym, it is worthwhile to feed some berries to yourself or teammates.
For each feeding, you receive stardust or, with a bit of luck, a candy of the respective monster. This is especially worthwhile for rare Pokémon like Dratini. Additionally, this way you can get your gym to gold status a bit faster. And you also get a step closer to the “Berry Master” Platinum medal.
Before you dispose of the berries during your next full item bag to spin PokéStops and gyms again, you should better use them to feed your monsters.
Which mistakes have you already made in the past that you want to avoid in the future? Or do you know other mistakes that many players make? Feel free to share your opinion here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange views with other trainers.
Trainers have experienced a big surprise in recent days. Suddenly, there are many more gyms in Pokémon GO. We looked into what happened and are showing it to you.
