Pokémon GO is made by Niantic, the same company that released the geocaching combat game Ingress using a similar map system back when they were owned by Google. What many don’t know is that there is a trick where you can use Ingress as a guide to find rare, very rare and epic Pokémon. Read on for the guide on how to do just that!
First, download the Ingress game off of the App Store or Google Play. Then play the game, get through the tutorial and start playing that game just as you would play Pokémon GO. One of the main mechanics in Ingress is that you have to collect white dots, known as XM, in order to gain energy.
XM is located where there is a lot of cellular traffic – specifically, where Google has access to a Google member’s location information, especially for the purposes of Ingress itself. This is why shopping malls tend to be a huge source of XM, as well as other stores, downtown areas and shopping centers.
Go to a high XM area, then switch back to Pokémon GO, and you’ll start coming across loads of Pokémon, including a higher number of rare ones. If you see a rare Pokémon on the “Nearby” list of Pokémon GO, and it’s two or three footsteps away, go to Ingress and find an area nearby with higher XM, and then go to Pokémon GO and you’re likely to come across the location of that rare Pokémon, or of other rares that hadn’t popped up.
Ingress’s portals have generally been carried over to Pokémon GO as Pokéstops and Gyms, but there are many that have not been carried over, so if you see one that hasn’t or you are an experienced Ingress player and you know where some of these portals are that haven’t been converted, head to them as there is still a high chance of finding a lot of XM, ergo a lot of rares.
If people have collected XM in Ingress recently, then it will take some minutes to respawn, so if you suspect there should be a lot of XM in an area, wait around a bit or open the app later to check it out and see if there is XM around. Otherwise, head to a different area and hunt for XM and/or Pokémon.