Magikarp Jump Guide

[VisualJae]

Suburban/Rural Player's Survival Guide

Suburban/Rural Player's Survival Guide

Since the beginning of Pokémon GO, the discrepancy between suburban/rural play environments versus urban has been huge. The availability of Pokémon species, PokéStops, and accessibility of Gyms all leaned heavily in favor of big city dwellers. Niantic has since made moves to improve the experience of rural players, but players still need to find ways to adapt and manage their limited resources.

Sections:
I. Introduction
II. Basic Best Practices
III. Planning Your Journey
IV. Visiting Hotspots
V. Species Nests
VI. Managing Resources
VII. Conclusion

I. Introduction:

Disclaimer: regardless of the pros and cons of different environments listed below, playing Pokémon GO in a rural environment can be irritating at the very least. A lot of the content here may be common sense, but to apply them to your play habits is another story.

» URBAN:
Pros:
+ Countless PokéStops for near infinite resources
+ Higher population density means more players, meaning more hotspots with active lures
+ Public transportation to get from one end of the city to another in short time
+ Accessibility to several nests at a time

Cons:
- Gyms frequently exchange hands, making coin collection an extremely difficult or near impossible task

» SUBURBAN:
Pros:
+ More diverse hotspots accessible via biking or driving
+ Gyms may be held for longer periods of time compared to city Gyms

Cons:
- No immediate PokéStops for resource collection depending on location
- Hotspots are hit or miss depending on location
- Pokémon diversity may be lacking depending on location

» RURAL:
Pros:
+ Low population density allows for Gyms to stay claimed for much longer periods of time and more coins over time
+ Higher chance of rare Pokémon appearing through Incense (anecdotal evidence)

Cons:
- Sparse PokéStops make resources a major issue
- Sparse PokéStops mean sometimes the player wouldn't even know if a rare Pokémon even spawned
- Few or no Pokémon nearby at all (none listed under Sightings)
- Hotspots are more out of the way and require a combination of more research and time invested into traveling

Bryant Park, New York vs. suburban neighborhood 70+ miles away (nothing to the north, south, east, or west)​

I live in a suburban neighborhood under 20,000 people, with the closest PokéStop being a 15-minute walk away and Gym a half hour walk away. There are some more Stops further out on the main road, but that's either a 5-10 minute drive or a way longer walk. I do, however, work in New York City (40-50 hours per week), so every day I see the night and day differences in activity for myself and other players alike.

I've visited rural areas out of state a few times in the past either for family or friends, places so off-road that Uber and Lyft don't offer service anywhere near there. Then there might be one PokéStop for a 10-minute drive and one Gym even further off. But almost always there's a town or exurban community nearby (subjective) within driving distance that offers clusters of PokéStops with one or more Gyms.

Not all communities are created equal. That's just the reality of things. While Niantic continues to make moves to improve the core gaming experience, in the meantime, suburban and rural players will have to do their own part to adapt.

II. Basic Best Practices:

There are some best practices to keep in mind in Pokémon GO, regardless of where you live. Without factoring in Mother Nature (because no one should walk 10km through a blizzard), these concepts are what allows you to get the most out of the game, should you be willing to follow through.

Keep walking: The foundation of Pokémon GO sits on constant exploration and movement. Rarely should you ever stay idle in one place if your main goal is to play the game. Even if you're surrounded by five active lures, you should be moving, whether it's walking in a perimeter around said lures, or on your own decided route.

Explore new areas: Not all environments are the same, especially for Pokémon sightings and spawns. Research has also been conducted on egg distributions through different PokéStops, determining that it's very possible that not all Stops are created equal either, giving more of a reason to expand the types of Stops you visit.

Connect with local players: Nothing is more powerful than word-of-mouth when it comes to discovering new things. Find players near you if possible, such as through online communities and chatrooms, and share insights with each other.

Bring a backpack: There's a reason why official artwork for Pokémon Trainers all have backpacks. You need to bring supplies and equipment with you if you want to play for extended periods of time. Water is absolutely essential with all the walking you'll do. An external battery pack is also critical and worth the investment if you plan on staying out for several hours.​

Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk!​

I can't emphasize enough that you must go out and keep walking and exploring. I've seen so many players complain that they're not finding anything, but half the time it's because they're staying within the same 1-kilometer radius around their homes. Understandably, not everyone always has the means to travel all the time, but if that's the case, plan ahead, which I will get to next.

III. Planning Your Journey:

When I'm at home on weekends, I'm left with few opportunities to hunt down Pokémon compared to the days when I'm in the city and working. However, I do have my alternative travel plans that have contributed to a lot of my overall progress.

If you haven't already, do the following:

1. Conduct research on hotspots closest to you: Generally these tend to be more populated communities or community centers like parks and shopping districts. They may not be some massive metropolis, but if it's better than what you have in your immediate vicinity, why not pay them a visit? Many online communities will share this information, such as Facebook and Reddit.

2. Check for other activities in that area: Once you picked out a hotspot, look into other activities you can do there. Good food? Sightseeing? Shopping? Maybe just bring a friend or two and hang out there. While you can certainly camp in the area and play Pokémon GO for a few hours, sometimes it's a good idea to have other things to do to keep things fresh.

3. Transportation & routes: Plan ahead how you'll get to the hotspot. If you have your own car, then it's a no-brainer. If not, perhaps a friend or family member can carpool you. Use a bike if the distance is reasonable. Public transportation may also be an option. Knowing how you'll get there, is this trip replicable? Meaning, can you make trips like this on a frequent basis? If so, great. If not, try looking into an alternative hotspot.​

While there's barely anything in my suburban neighborhood, there are more densely populated communities north and east of where I live, each about a 20-minute drive away. So rather than spend several hours cycling through Incenses sitting at home and praying for something interesting to show up, I would rather take the time to travel to the nearest hotspot and spend my time there.

From left to right: Port Jefferson, Argyle Park, and Eisenhower Park in New York​

There are also a few parks that are approximately 30-40 minutes' drive away. They can take more effort to get to, but worthwhile to visit, especially if friends are involved. Might as well make a day trip out of it, run some errands at the same time, and get more for the time spent.

Again, I wouldn't have learned about these locations had it not been for connecting with local players like I mentioned in the Best Practices section. If you're unable to find any fellow players to exchange intel, then you'd fall on exploring new areas on your own. I have no doubt in my mind that I would eventually find my way here. All one needs to do is research the more densely populated towns and cities nearby and pay those areas a visit.

The planning stage is extremely important. If you cannot make these trips frequently, then you'll want to get the absolute most out of them when you can. Once you've done your research and you're ready to embark on your trip, keep the following section in mind...

IV. Visiting Hotspots:

Hotspots are everywhere. Think of them as your Pokémon GO gas station, where it doubles as a refueling spot and convenience store. You just have to find them. If you've gotten past the previous section and you're now in an area that's infinitely better than what you experience each day in your home neighborhood, then it's time to get to work.

Here's a checklist for things to do and keep in mind while you're visiting:

Stock up: If you're the type of player to run out of PokéBalls, Potions, and Revives on a weekly basis, then this is your opportunity to load up on items. Spin every PokéStop you see and plan a route to cycle through the Stops once every five minutes. If possible, plan a route that allows you to tag 10 different Stops in under half an hour in order to trigger the extra item rewards for doing so. In addition, try to keep track of how many items you use on a weekly basis. You may want to stock up on coins and expand your bag space to load up on more items to last you the week, or at least until the next time you can visit the hotspot to reload.

Following the sidewalk near roads to tag PokéStops is the convenient way, but you can always walk further in and tag all the Stops, if allowed. Never trespass!​

Observe the local fauna: Like I've mentioned before, not all environments are equal and not all areas have the same distribution of Pokémon. Is your hotspot near water? If so, what species do you observe spawning? What's on the Sightings/Nearby list? For non-Water types, what else is appearing? Are they spawning frequently enough that this area would be considered a nest? If so, keep this information in your back pocket. More on nests later.

Egg watch: This one is tougher to track, but can be worthwhile in the long run. Not all PokéStops are created equal. Observe what types of eggs you obtain from the Stops in this area. It would help to prepare beforehand by clearing out your existing egg inventory, but again, this is tougher to do. If you notice that a few Stops in the area hand out 10km eggs, you'd want to keep a closer eye on this place for revisits. But if you end up getting a bunch of 5km eggs with nothing particular of note, you may want to diversify your hotspots choices in order to expand possible egg collections.​

Other things to keep in mind include shelter, preferably places with food. In case the weather turns sour, you can hide out in a nearby facility (hopefully next to a PokéStop) and take a break while staying productive.

If you see other players in the area—not too difficult to do if you watch their hand motions and walk around them to peek at their screens—don't be afraid to approach them. They could be visitors like you, in which case you can consider teaming up with them to explore together, or they could be locals, in which case you should ask them for insights about the area. Remember, connect with fellow players for more intel! This is particularly important for the next section: Pokémon species nests.

V. Species Nests:

What are Pokémon species nests? Nests are areas of varying sizes that one or more Pokémon species (not counting common ones like Pidgey, Rattata, Weedle, etc.) make their homes. You'll know a nest when you see one. Either you'll spot several Pokémon of the same species occupying the Nearby list or multiple ones will appear in the overworld.

A Bulbasaur nest.​

Nests shouldn't be confused with "fixed spawn points," or certain spots in an area that are known to spawn a specific Pokémon at regular intervals or at a certain time of day. A nest can yield dozens of Pokémon of a particular species throughout a given hour without making much effort.

It is possible for some suburban areas to be nests, though it may be difficult to tell with limited PokéStops to aid the Nearby list and the Sightings list does not include multiple instances of the same species. It will be up to you to go by foot and investigate. If the area is indeed a nest, you'll know from the spawns that manifest in the overworld.

Rural areas require even more work. If there is indeed a nest, it will purely be up to your investigation or through confirmation from other players. This is why I mentioned in the previous section that you should always pay attention to local fauna and figure out if there are patterns. When visiting neighboring hotspots, you need to find out if that area is a nest or not.

Why?

Nests can migrate. This means if the hotspot you're visiting is a Charmander nest today, but it could very well end up being a Bulbasaur nest tomorrow... or essentially the Charmander population migrates out somewhere else and the Bulbasaur population moves in to take their place. This is exactly what happened in the screenshots I provided above with the Bulbasaur nest. That is Central Park in New York City. Prior to it becoming a Bulbasaur nest, it was a Charmander nest. As of the posting of this guide, another nest migration is expected to occur.

Mass nest migrations occur worldwide and researchers have managed to pinpoint nest migrations once every two weeks. It's worth the effort to check in on known nests to see if the species have changed there.

VI. Managing Resources:

If you're unable to make frequent visits to hotspots to replenish supplies, then you have to adapt to conserve resources. Again, consider using some of the collected coins to invest in extra bag space. The upgrade is permanent and can greatly aid you in the long run.

These are not by any means rules to follow, but they are ideas and habits to consider:

Selective catching: Unless there's a strong purpose behind it, don't catch every single Pokémon you come across. Pokémon like Pidgey and Weedle are worth it for experience grinding through cheap evolutions. But Pokémon like Venonat, Spearow, Drowzee, etc. that may be common in your area are not. At 50 candies per evolution, you'll need a dozen of them to evolve and collect 500 experience. If they're low level, though, they can be worth the Poké Ball if you need the extra Stardust.

Better catch mechanics: In other words, improve your skills when it comes to catching Pokémon. If resources are limited, you should not just throw a Poké Ball straight at a Pokémon without a second thought. Always aim, go for the smaller capture ring, and always use curve throws.

Study showing significant increases in capture success when using curved throws. Source: Silph Road​

Understand that different species of Pokémon have varying distances from your throw origin. Pokémon like Pidgeot, Zubat, Golbat, Ponyta, Rapidash, Dragonair, Dragonite, etc. are all significantly further from you than other species like Pidgey, Weedle, and Rattata. Pokémon further off have less room for error. You can mitigate this by turning on AR or force swiping vertically on the left side of your phone's screen for the extra distance. But out of personal growth, it's advised that you practice with your aim and throwing habits. Practice makes perfect; play to improve.

Battle Gyms before transferring: If you bulk evolve Pokémon with Lucky Eggs for the extra experience gain, use the evolutions for battling opposing Gyms or prestige training your own. Rather than use your team of Pokémon and having to spend your Potions and/or Revives, use the Pokémon you just evolved to battle, then transfer them out, conserving your items.

CLAIM GYMS!: If there's anything that rural and suburban players have in advantage, it's the ability to hold Gyms for longer periods of time. Always have Gyms under your control for your daily coins and extra Stardust. If you're a lower level player and expect to have your Pokémon booted from a Gym in little time, plan ahead and have a list of Gyms within traveling distance you can get to each day to plug and turn in the defender bonus for immediate rewards. If that's not possible—whether it's because you're too low leveled to claim a Gym or prestige train one to make a spot—then it might simply be a matter of not being ready at all. You'll have to grind experience with what you have available and make it a point to power up Pokémon to competitive levels. We all have to start somewhere.​

VII. Conclusion:

In some cases, your predicament in terms of playing environment can be so bad that nothing here is remotely helpful. If that's the case, then I apologize and you have my condolences. The world is a very big place and there are certainly many places I haven't physically been to to tell whether or not the area is playable for Pokémon GO. But for the places I have visited for extended periods of time, those considered urban, suburban, and rural, I know for a fact that the player can adapt to get the most out of the experience.

Have you played in different types of communities before? Are you an urban, suburban, or rural player? What are your experiences? What advice do you have?

 

[MizEileen]

One thing you left out is how to scope another neighborhood on Google Maps (and sometimes Bing Maps). If you look at my map (URL below), you'll see Pokestops all over the place in about a ten mile radius. I found the ones up in Tucker and the Toby Grant area by doing a search on a mapping utiility for church. Churches equal Pokestops. You can also search for post offices. This lets you know where you are likely to find at least one Pokestop. My guess is you can search fro Starbucks, Sprint, and Boost Mobile locations and get similar success. Also a purse works as well as a backpack. I carry a charging kit (Haven't bought an extra battery yet), and find places with plugs and juice up. Also when I'm down to between 50% and 30% battery, it's game over for the day.

 

[VisualJae]

One thing you left out is how to scope another neighborhood on Google Maps (and sometimes Bing Maps). If you look at my map (URL below), you'll see Pokestops all over the place in about a ten mile radius. I found the ones up in Tucker and the Toby Grant area by doing a search on a mapping utiility for church. Churches equal Pokestops. You can also search for post offices. This lets you know where you are likely to find at least one Pokestop. My guess is you can search fro Starbucks, Sprint, and Boost Mobile locations and get similar success.

Yes, that's along the same vein as what I meant here:

1. Conduct research on hotspots closest to you: Generally these tend to be more populated communities or community centers like parks and shopping districts. They may not be some massive metropolis, but if it's better than what you have in your immediate vicinity, why not pay them a visit?

I would consider churches and post offices to be under "community centers."

I know the only clusters of PokéStops near my home happen to be sandwiched between the local post office and a Starbucks (ironically neither the post office nor Starbucks are PokéStops; they're Gyms).

 

[Taemin]

I can vouch for this entire thread, I never find anything unless it's warm enough outside from my friends and me to grab snacks and water, load up the car, and head into a local parks / forests. It's definitely a pro that you get to explore areas you wouldn't usually touch, but it's a big con that unless you can regularly go to a park, into our city's plaza, you barely get to play.

I'm half tempted to move into the city just for more stops, though. Lol

 

[Spyro]

Get hooked line and sinker with the latest mobile game that's making a splash - Magikarp Jump!

Come Learn To Swim

Written by Soapy, bobandbill, and Rainbow. Edited by Radiating.

 

[bobandbill]

If you have your own pieces of advice to offer up, please do so! We can always update the guide. =)

 

[colter519]

There's a couple details about some of the events that are wrong from my experience (they were wrong on serebii too), but the mystery drink fully restores training points if successful, and macho karp can raise your magikarp's max level if it's successful.

 

[bobandbill]

There's a couple details about some of the events that are wrong from my experience (they were wrong on serebii too), but the mystery drink fully restores training points if successful, and macho karp can raise your magikarp's max level if it's successful.

Cool, cheers for pointing those out! I've adjusted the article and added your name in the credits. :) (Johnny also verified the Macho Karp one. I haven't even unlocked it myself...).

 

[Afterglow Ampharos]

What does Popplio's sunken treasure do? The guide doesn't say.

 

[Spyro]

What does Popplio's sunken treasure do? The guide doesn't say.

It does the same as usual sunken treasure you may find! Random amount of coins, and sometimes lots of food appears!

 

[colter519]

One more correction to the guide! The negative consequence in Jumping Lesson is a loss of coins, not JP

 

[Spyro]

One more correction to the guide! The negative consequence in Jumping Lesson is a loss of coins, not JP

Fixed! Thank you :)

 

[bobandbill]

Jump to the Max: Magikarp Jump Advanced Strategy Guide!

This guide was written by Johnny! Good work, Johnny!

Do share your own advanced tips here!

 

[Spyro]

So as you may know I'm starting my game over! I'll check out your strategy Johnny :)

 

[jombii]

Also, do not wait for your level to max up when trying out the league. You still get coins even if you lose. :)

 

[Greenest Grovyle]

It's a clicker game, so the best thing to do is just.. wait..

 

[VisionofMilotic]

This guide is awesome!

One question. I don't want anything to hurt my karp and try to watchout out for enemies like pidgeotto and voltorb. However, I wanted to ask about keeping Magikarp healthy during training sessions. I have heard if your magikarp gets overworked it can turn out disastrously.

I read the guide but did not see anything about overtraining magikarp, but I avoided the spoilers section so perhaps it was there. Is it indeed possible for your magikarp to give out under training?

 

[Absolitetion]

Never witnessed such thing.

 

[VisionofMilotic]

I haven't had that happen to me either... at least not yet *knocks wood*

In this article it shows some twitter comments, and one guy claims that he lost the magikarp forever because it was overworked. https://www.google.com/amp/s/esist....pokemon-can-die-in-the-new-magikarp-game/amp/

I found another forum ( trying to search for the exact link) where someone claimed this accident gets triggered if you don't let your magikarp have long breaks with enough berries before and after training. I have no idea If this is true or just an urban legend. I hope its not the case, but ya never know...