Why You Should Catch The Same Pokemon Over & Over

Playing "Pokemon Go" in New York City has gotten a tad monotonous lately, as it seems the only Pokemon I come across as I walk the streets of Brooklyn are Pidgeys, Rattatas, and Spearows. If you are suffering through a similar déjà vu-like situation in the game, you may be wondering: should you catch more than one of the same Pokemon? Is it even worth doing the extra work and expending precious Pokeballs to add yet another 13 CP Caterpie to the ol' Pokedex? Will you ever find that adorable Pikachu and finally be able to be truly happy??? The answer is an emphatic "Yes!"

When we first collectively fell in love with "Pokemon Go" it seemed like every Pokemon was a new Pokemon. We dutifully caught all the pixelated beings we came across, faithfully building up our Pokedex. Two weeks have past since the augmented reality game's epic release, and we no longer can get our thrills from collecting any old Rattata; but if you still desire "to be the very best, like no one ever was," you cannot rely on novelty alone.

There are a few reasons why you might want to catch all the Pokemon you come across, regardless of type. The first and simplest reason to "catch 'em all" is that you need multiples in order to evolve a Pokemon into its more powerful form.

Each Pokemon requires a certain number of candies to evolve — between 12 and 400 depending on the Pokemon. You can amass candies by capturing wild Pokemon and hatching eggs. Collect enough candy specific to the evolutionary family of the Pokemon and you will be able to power it up. Lifehacker recommends only evolving your most powerful Pokemon, and trading in the rest of the type to Professor Willow. In return for each Pokemon trade, the player receives one candy from the Professor, which can then be used to evolve a Pokemon or increase a its Combat or Health points. Now you know what to do with that pile of Squirtles!

The game-focused blog Kotaku points out that having a bunch of low level Pokemon of the same variety can also help you level up faster as a trainer. To boost your trainer level, Kotaku recommends catching every garbage poke you come across until you have a Pokedex full of unwanted Doduos and Diglets. Regardless of type or CP, every Pokemon captured nets you 100 XP (experience points). The secret is that you also gain XP for every Pokemon you evolve, and all those lower tier Pokemon have smaller candy requirements. You will gain at least 500 XP for each Pokemon you evolve, but to really cash in, save up your low level Pokemon and evolve them all at once when employing a Lucky Egg.

The Lucky Egg, which you will find under items, will give you double XP for 30 minutes. That means that you will turn that unwanted Pidgey into a Pidgiotto and gain 1,000 XP in the process. As your trainer level increases you will begin to find more rare Pokemon with higher CP, and will be able to dominate at the gyms in your neighborhood!

While the Pokemon fatigue may be coming on, capitalizing on your Lucky Egg and you'll be level 20 in no time!

Images: Screenshots/"Pokemon Go"