The Art of Pokéwalking: Getting Started

**Published with an earlier date to avoid showing up ahead of some vacation posts

I have four Pokémon GO accounts and got better and better at starting with each one. While it took days and days to get to level 5 with my first account, I did it in 30 minutes with my 4th.

To start an account, you want to make sure that you have an hour or two of free time and can walk around in a well populated area, like the downtown of a major metropolitan area, or in a popular park. Download the app, create an account, and create your trainer.

Choosing a Starter

When you first start your account, you will see three Pokémon: a green Bulbasaur, an orange Charmander, and a blue Squirtle. If you want to get Pikachu instead on one of these, you will need to walk away from these three until they disappear from the screen three times. I found that I had to walk at least one city block before they disappeared, and the fourth time that they reappeared, Pikachu showed up a few seconds later.

Level 5 in Less than an Hour

When I started my first account, it took me days of playing (very casually, I guess) to get to Level 5, but I was learning as I played. With the second account, I got there in a few hours, and even needed even less time for account three. With the fourth account, I got there before my first incense ended. I did it in Downtown Houston on a Friday evening by walking in straight lines past plenty of Pokéstops with lures and catching Pokémon. It only takes 10,000 xp to get to Level 5, which, believe me, will seem like nothing after a while, especially once you hit Level 20. Here are some pointers for making this as productive as possible while also preparing for getting as much xp as possible later on:

• Find a location with a good number of Pokéstops, preferably with lures. Parks are good for this.
• If you are around a LOT of lures (4 or more in close proximity), do not use your incense. If you cannot find such a place, use one of the incenses that you have and walk in straight lines.
• Start incubating your first 5km egg (or 2km, if you get that first, which I did with account 4) as soon as you get it. Monitoring the progress of your egg will also help you know when you can turn a corner without losing much credit for walking.
• Do NOT catch any evolved Pokémon. Yes, you get 500 xp for new Pokémon, but if you get a new Pokémon while evolving with a lucky egg, you will get 1000 xp for the Pokémon instead. See my Efficient Evolution section for more on this.
• There is a slight opportunity cost lost when doing this. For every evolved Pokémon you do not catch, you do miss out on that 100xp (plus any throw bonuses) and 100 stardust. However, evolved Pokémon are rare, and you're typically going to get more xp by waiting to get the new monsters while evolving than by catching. This is especially true of those that take 12 or 25 candies to evolve.
• Do not evolve or power up anything during this time. Instead, bank your Stardust and candies. You can safely transfer all Pokémon of a certain kind and be assured that your candy will not disappear. 
• Get a Buddy to monitor when the game gives you credit for walking too. Pidgey, Weedle, Caterpie, and Rattata all gain one candy per kilometer. Most others require 3 kilometers, and some require 5.

Why walk in straight lines? Because Pokemon GO is not a pedometer. It uses GPS to measure your distance traveled between certain points in time, and this distance is measured "as the crow flies", irrespective of streets or buildings. This impacts your egg hatching, incense effectiveness, and Buddy progress. Here is a link to a site with more info.

And as for evolved Pokémon, this site shows full evolution charts. There are some on here that do not include the lowest possible state in Pokémon GO. These are Pikachu, Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Chansey, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, Magmar, and Snorlax - from what I can tell. With my fourth account, I was often tempted with Metapods, Kakunas, Golbats, and even an Arbok. I do, actually recommend catching Butterfree, Beedrill, and Pidgeot if you can find them. It isn't worth it to use 50 candies to get these while using a Lucky Egg, as I explain in Efficient Evolutions.