Natural spawn habitats?

[Squirrel]

Now that we've had plenty of time to get to grips with GO and how Pokémon appear to us in the overworld, it's time to break it down and work out the nitty-gritty mechanics and how we can abuse them. Right now I'm mostly interested in Pokémon spawning locations relative to where that Pokémon species would 'naturally' spawn in the Pokémon world. This would take the form of Poliwag being much more likely to spawn near rivers, Tentacool in large bodies of water and Ponyta in wide open fields.

Have you noticed that Pokémon tend to spawn more frequently in their 'natural' habitats, or do you find that it all just ends up feeling completely random?

 

[Altairis]

Super random. I find Staryu in the middle of the street and Poliwag on trains, and I don't live anywhere near the water :( Also what's up with Zubats being in the middle of cities? Wouldn't bats not like the cities so much?

 

[TheSeattle206]

at this local park/fishing spot, there was an Onix Spawn, but it changed to a Doduo spawn. Behind this furniture store, at the :35 of every hour ( e.g. 12:35) theres a water pokemon that spawns (next to a river) its always random. gotten polywag, polywhirl, magikarp, staryu

 

[CoalCraft]

Only consistent pattern I've noticed is that water and grass pokemon seem more common near water. There are consistent spawn points of certain pokemon, eg pikachu comes up a lot in my local park, but I can't tie that to a certain type of terrain.

 

[Phoenixstarz]

i used to get lots of water pokemon around the river but the last update turned the psyducks to Digletts.
Niantic said that omantye's/kabuto's/aerodactyls were supposed to be around areas with lots of fossils but only ever seen 1 on nearby but our area is famous for fossils, we even have a pokestop at an ammonite!

 

[Count]

I do feel like it makes sense most of time. In usual neighbourhoods around here, I'll mostly find Pidgeys, Spearows, Weedles, Rattata's. Basic stuff. Other bug types and grass types tend to appear more outside of town. Water types and Dratini's mostly appear near bodies of water, although that might be coincidental because we just have water everywhere in the Netherlands.

Zubats in cities make sense. They're a pretty common sighting where I live. At night, that is. I wish they would take daytime/nighttime into account more. It still feels off to find Zubats and Gastly's during daytime.

There's a park near my boyfriend's which is full of Drowzees and Hypno's. While not making that much sense in terms of natural habitat, it was a nice find during my evening run.

I remember before I started playing, a friend found a Jynx in a park nearby. It just felt so random, Jynx wouldn't live in a city park, or in our country in the first place. They should make her exclusive to colder countries or winter or something. Makes me wonder if Ice types are more common up north.

 

[Sirindu]

Now that we've had plenty of time to get to grips with GO and how Pokémon appear to us in the overworld, it's time to break it down and work out the nitty-gritty mechanics and how we can abuse them. Right now I'm mostly interested in Pokémon spawning locations relative to where that Pokémon species would 'naturally' spawn in the Pokémon world. This would take the form of Poliwag being much more likely to spawn near rivers, Tentacool in large bodies of water and Ponyta in wide open fields.

Have you noticed that Pokémon tend to spawn more frequently in their 'natural' habitats, or do you find that it all just ends up feeling completely random?

First, it's worth noting that I've only played in Two different Biomes.

River and Woodland.

I've found those two to be very consistent. When I go downtown (Indianapolis is built on a river and a canal system) and get close enough to the water, it's all Poliwag, Magikarp, Psyduck, Goldeen, Staryu, with a few others thrown in. But the Caterpie and Oddish and Bellsprout are GONE.

So that's consistent.

In the woodland biome further out from downtown where it's much more wooded, Bellsprout, Oddish, Eevee, and Caterpie dominate (aside from the regular Pidgey and Rattata which are literally anywhere).

That's also good and consistent.

Where things seem to go off track is other types like Electric--I have seen no consistent Biome for electric yet. I've found Pikachu literally where I live, on a college campus, in a park's parking lot, and at random intersections. And Fighting type? Dunno. Have found very few. Also seems completely random. Fairy? Have gotten them where I live, have gotten them in the urban center... also seems random.

 

[jstaylor62]

I've hunted around a college football stadium and an NBA arena and have yet to catch any fighting types ...

 

[Maserati777]

There's a trailer park and a mechanic shop near my work that have Zubat, Jynx and Drowzee nests.


I've also seen Tauros, Dratini, Squirtle, Wartortle, Rattata and Hypno's there.


I'd say spawns are completely random here.

 

[Squirrel]

I think I can jump on board the whole "completely random" train too! I'm not 100% sure as there's a river running throughout my village and the village is full of Water-types which does make me wonder if that's a potential hint at habitat spawns, but otherwise I've seen a lot of Pokémon in very strange places and most of the Water-types here aren't even near the river so... It's hard to say but I think the answer is random for now haha.

 

[VisualJae]

I believe Pokémon can show up anywhere, but some are more likely to show up in appropriate environments. I find more Magikarp than I know what to do with near lakes and rivers (take it from me, I'm a few Magikarp candies away from my fifth Gyarados). Nidoran of both genders and their evolutions swarm places with dense vegetation (take it from me, I already evolved three Nidoking and Nidoqueen each, and that's ignoring as many Nidoran as I can).

Again, I can also sometimes find them in random places, but their numbers skyrocket in certain areas. I just prefer to all these nest locations, when it's possible to encounter at least one roughly every 5-10 minutes.

 

[Limey-chan]

I remember watching a YouTube video which suggested that spawns may be based on location names; there's no concrete evidence to prove it either way, but it would explain why I keep getting water spawns near me despite not living anywhere near the sea, or any rivers, ponds, lakes etc. The part of town where I live has quite a water-themed name, which could explain why I keep seeing Seels, Poliwags, Shellders and the likes. Just a theory, but it may hold water...

...i'll get my coat.

 

[CoalCraft]

It's certainly not true that Pokemon only spawn in their appropriate environments, they're just more common there. You don't have to[/b] be near water to get a magikarp, for example, but while you are near water magikarp are more likely to spawn. Aside from water and water pokemon though... Maybe bugs are more common in open grassy areas?

 

[Paras16699]

I've heard that Miami is a Dratini nest. Is that true?

 

[Aslan]

There's a lot of Spearows and Pidgeys at the local park but other than that, it's quite random where they place the pokemon. I found a Magikarp on the side of the road, a Slowpoke hiding underneath a bench at a bus stop and a Zubat on my salad so I don't think there is any real pattern to it. At least I hope there isn't, because having a bat on your salad doesn't sound very hygienic!

 

[Lunar]

From my experiences, Pokemon can show up at pretty much any location, but certain types (e.g. water) are more likely to show up in specific areas. With this being said, I have several large ponds in my town and have yet to see any water types appear there, so maybe the game needs to notice a large body of water in order to make those specific Pokemon spawn.

 

[Squirrel]

I remember watching a YouTube video which suggested that spawns may be based on location names; there's no concrete evidence to prove it either way, but it would explain why I keep getting water spawns near me despite not living anywhere near the sea, or any rivers, ponds, lakes etc. The part of town where I live has quite a water-themed name, which could explain why I keep seeing Seels, Poliwags, Shellders and the likes. Just a theory, but it may hold water...

...i'll get my coat.

You should be ashamed of that pun Limey! Nice hearing this kind of info though - I assume that was a TrainerTips video? If so I may try to find that soon, is it a decent one? I love that series haha. Do you think/do they think there's much credibility to this assumption or is it just a generic "this could be a thing" test without too much ground to back it up?

I believe Pokémon can show up anywhere, but some are more likely to show up in appropriate environments. I find more Magikarp than I know what to do with near lakes and rivers (take it from me, I'm a few Magikarp candies away from my fifth Gyarados). Nidoran of both genders and their evolutions swarm places with dense vegetation (take it from me, I already evolved three Nidoking and Nidoqueen each, and that's ignoring as many Nidoran as I can).

Again, I can also sometimes find them in random places, but their numbers skyrocket in certain areas. I just prefer to all these nest locations, when it's possible to encounter at least one roughly every 5-10 minutes.

This makes the most sense to me but it's tricky knowing which areas will house which species, and more importantly whether the game knows a wood is a wood, a farm is a farm, a beach is a beach, etc. In cities I can imagine this being pretty reliable but do you think this is the case with less populated areas too? The stuff I see around here always feels pretty random so that's why I'm so curious about this topic haha.

There's a lot of Spearows and Pidgeys at the local park but other than that, it's quite random where they place the pokemon. I found a Magikarp on the side of the road, a Slowpoke hiding underneath a bench at a bus stop and a Zubat on my salad so I don't think there is any real pattern to it. At least I hope there isn't, because having a bat on your salad doesn't sound very hygienic!

Soapy you need to start a journal I want to see pictures of this stuff! I love seeing the world through your eyes, only you would notice this kind of stuff and think to bring it up haha. Keep me updated on the progress you make!

 

[Limey-chan]

You should be ashamed of that pun Limey! Nice hearing this kind of info though - I assume that was a TrainerTips video? If so I may try to find that soon, is it a decent one? I love that series haha. Do you think/do they think there's much credibility to this assumption or is it just a generic "this could be a thing" test without too much ground to back it up?

Clicky

In short, they just said more or less the same thing I said in my post, about how there's no real concrete evidence but there were a few spawns which were quite coincidental. I think they went and tried it out and though there were a few cases where keywords could have explained spawns, it was all still pretty inconclusive.

 

[Squirrel]

Clicky

In short, they just said more or less the same thing I said in my post, about how there's no real concrete evidence but there were a few spawns which were quite coincidental. I think they went and tried it out and though there were a few cases where keywords could have explained spawns, it was all still pretty inconclusive.

The "stadium" tag spawning Fighting-types nearby is quite an interesting one but I feel like there was someone earlier in this thread saying the opposite about this example so it's hard to know what the case is here haha. Do you think there's much credit to it?

 

[Limey-chan]

Do you think there's much credit to it?

Welp, like I said originally, it would explain why I keep seeing water types such as Shellder, Goldeen, Squirtle around despite not living anywhere near any rivers, ponds etc (the part of town I live in has quite a watery name).