Pokemon GO and Skateboarding Are Perfect, Here’s Our Pokemon GO Guide for Those Who Skateboard!
By now you’ve heard of Pokemon GO the amazing new Pokemon game and the first Pokemon app for iOS and Android. You move around the real world and the augmented reality part of the Pokemon app shows you wild Pokemon nearby, Poke Stops which give you items, and Pokemon Gyms which you can challenge based on your team. Pokemon GO is the most popular app and most popular game right now, and that’s perfect for skateboarders: we get around the real world better than anyone else. Becoming a skateboarding Pokemon trainer is easy, here’s our Pokemon GO guide to going from Pokemon GO Beginner to becoming the ultimate Pokemon GO Pokemon Master using nothing but your skateboard and our guide.
DISCLAIMER: BE CAREFUL WHEN COMBINING POKEMON GO AND SKATEBOARDING. ALWAYS WATCH THE ROAD.
Master the Basics of Pokemon GO
To max out your potential you need to know how Pokemon GO works. Download the app, get your account set up, and catch your starter Pokemon. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the way the map works, locating Pokestops, and locating gyms, you’ll be ready to use our Pokemon GO guide. Poke Stops are blue with a cube until you get close, then you open them up and swipe the circle image / coin. You will get items from Pokestops. Gyms are larger, typically a color from a team with a Pokemon on top. You need to become level 5 before you can fight and conquer a Pokemon Gym. Now that you’ve downloaded Pokemon GO and you know how to use it let’s get in to the details.
Get Informed – Know Your Pokemon GO
- Grass Shaking/Leaves – Seen on the map, a Pokemon may be at the grass or may *not* be at the grass. Wild Pokemon are simply more likely to be in the shaking grass area. The leaf / shaking grasses are found everywhere but are most common near parks or open areas. Try to find a park you can skate through to snag a bunch super quick.
- Pokemon Tab / Gray Pokemon Outlines – Seen on the map this lets you know which Pokemon are nearby.
- Footprints Below Pokemon – Seen in the menu in the map this lets you know how close a Pokemon is to you. The fewer footprints there are closer the Pokemon is. Rumor has it that 1 foot = 50m, 2 feet = 100m, 3 feet = +150m
- CP – This is the Combat Power of a Pokemon. The higher the better for use in battle. The higher your level the higher the CP of the Pokemon you catch.
- Stardust – Used to level up your Pokemon this stuff is gained from capturing Pokemon. You can earn it as part of you bonus for owning a Gym.
- Candy – Used to level up your Pokemon. Get candy from capturing Pokemon. You can get Candy from doing a Transfer, but you get 1 Candy for each Pokemon transferred.
- Eggs – You have an Incubator in your Items. Click to your Pokemon then swipe right to get to the Eggs tab. Choose an egg and start incubating. The egg will hatch when you’ve gone the distance on the egg. Your incubator is infinite but Incubators you buy with Coins have limited uses.
- Incubator – Used to hatch Pokemon Eggs. The Incubator only counts your steps if you are skateboarding or walking. It seems like driving does not work. App must be open.
- Coins – Buy them with real money or earn them each day by having a Pokemon defending a gym. Open up the Shop section and top right is a button. Make sure you have at least 1 Pokemon defending a gym to earn Coins daily.
- Alerts – The app has to be open for you to get alerts about Pokemon.
- PokeStop Refresh Time – 5 minute refresh.
PROTIPS: Pokemon GO and Skateboarding
- Watch The Road – There have already been reports on Reddit of people crashing on their skateboards and hurting themselves as well as *gasp* shattering their phones! You can hold your phone in your hand or pocket and get vibrations and sound updates. You’ll most likely be taking lines and alleys you haven’t taken before so stay sharp.
- Always Equip An Egg – If you’re skating around never forget your eggs. Unlike most people your eggs will be hatching 2x as fast because you’re skating. Eggs and skateboards are one of the best cheats for Pokemon GO.
- Drop Your Pokemon At the Gym – Before getting your daily bonus to get your Coins be sure to drop some Pokemon off to defend the local gyms. With your skateboard under your feet you’ll be able to roll from gym to gym quick.
- The Grass Is Always Greener – Grassy areas and parks are the prime locations to pick up new Pokemon. Poke Stops are usually at nearby landmarks and Pokemon Gyms are at major landmarks. Skaters have the advantage as often Poke Stops will be along pathways and parks cars are not allowed on and other trainers will have to walk.
- Get Electric – You need battery power. Between filming skate clips, watching skate clips, and playing Pokemon GO your skateboarding session is going to wreck your phone battery. Make sure you’re fully charged and keep your charger on you.
- Capture Everything – To get Candy and Stardust you need to capture Pokemon and you’re going to get a lot of Zubats and Ekans as you’re rolling around. Capture everything you can while on your skateboard so you’re always finding new Pokemon as you’re skateboarding.
- Pump Yourself Up – Some phones will allow you to play music over Pokemon GO. Turn off the music in the Pokemon GO settings and blast your usual skating playlist to keep yourself pumping the kilometers.
- Pokemon Move With Your – If you get to catch a rare Pokemon but its floating out in the street don’t stress, it doesn’t actually move away as you move away. You can powerslide to a stop and hit the sidewalk so you have the time to make a Great Pokeball throw.
- Roll Deep – Get to your friends in your crew before anyone else does to make sure you’re all on the same team. Once you pick a team color in Pokemon GO you cannot change your team color. After you’re all on the same team it will be easier to take down gyms as a squad. Roll deep to smash your opponents and get tons of prestige for your gym so its invulnerable.
Skateboarding Tricks While Capturing a Pokemon
So far we’ve done is a little curb slapper while catching a Charmander but one of the finest parts of skateboarding and playing Pokemon GO is getting a rolling capture or making a trick. Trying to hit a Pokemon with a Pokeball while skateboarding and busting a trick is no small feat! We’ve also been getting screen captures with the AR turned to get Pokemon in the shot.
Pokeskate
Ash Ketchum may ride a bicycle but Pokemon GO is a skateboarding game for sure. We were busting tricks at every gym location earlier today and were considering a system whereby you had to do a trick based on which Pokemon you caught. Either way Pokemon GO is getting dominated by skaters rolling from gym to gym claiming the rarest and best Pokemon Gyms for themselves. Now that you know the Pokemon GO basics and you’ve got the Pokemon GO PROTIPS, its time to hit the streets.
No Look Pokemon Capturing – Pokemon GO Plus
Pokemon GO Plus is the wristband attachment made by Nintendo made for capturing Pokemon without needing to hold your phone. Skating around staring at a screen can be exhausting after a while so Pokemon GO Plus is a Bluetooth wearable Pokemon GO wristband that notifies you when a Pokemon is near without needing to have the Pokemon GO app open. Perfect for those who roll the distance in areas where there aren’t really a lot of Pokemon the Pokemon Plus wristband isn’t available yet but will be released this year by Nintendo. The Pokemon GO Plus wearable is already up on Amazon.com so we can see what it looks like, and Nintendo *is* taking preorders but no one has had a real chance to do a Pokemon GO Plus review yet. When we do get one we’ll do a Pokemon GO Plus review for sure.
Pokemon GO Plus Preorders / Pokemon GO Plus In Stock
The Pokemon GO Plus release date says December 2016, but that is only when it is sold out. With the popularity of Pokemon fever hitting peak right now Nintendo has been taking Pokemon GO Plus preorders and the Amazon.com offering says its Currently Unavailable when the Pokemon GO Plus is not in stock. If you want to see if Pokemon GO Plus preorders are working or if Pokemon GO Plus is in in stock click here.
Pokemon Gear
We’ve seen mad people rolling around in Pokemon clothes, from Pokemon Tshirts to Pokemon Hats. There’s some rad Pokemon gear floating around, (outside of Ash Ketchum snapbacks), to help other Pokemon Trainers recognize you at a spot. Not everyone on their phone is out training their Pokemon so its nice to know who’s playing the game and who’s not before you start creeping on people. We’re in to the Pokeball Tshirts, Pattern Pokemon Tshirts, and some of the Pokemon Backpacks out there. Here’s some of what’s floating around out there:
Send Us Your Illest Pokemon Trick Shots!
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