How the catching game works

Choose your starter, pick an area to explore and search the tall grass. Each area is home to different types, so head to the lakeside for Water Pokémon or the volcano for Fire. When a wild Pokémon appears, your partner battles it using attacks that follow the real type chart. Lower its HP to raise your catch chance, but don't knock it out. Moves that could finish it off are flagged, and Gentle tap always leaves it standing. Then choose a Capture orb, Prism orb or Star orb and throw.

Your partner levels up as it battles. Every win and every catch earns XP, and wild Pokémon get stronger as your partner does. Reach the right level and your partner can evolve. Your partner's HP carries over between battles, so heal up with Potions or let it rest. You'll find Potions in the grass and get two with every daily bonus.

New areas open as your collection grows, from the cave at 5 catches to the dusk sky at 80. Common Pokémon turn up often, while strong and fully evolved Pokémon are rarer. Legendary Pokémon only appear once you've caught 100, Mythical Pokémon once you've caught 250, and both can flee if your throw misses. Want a particular Pokémon? Track it from its Pokédex page and it will turn up more often in its home area.

Orbs come from a daily bonus that grows over a seven-day streak, three new missions every day, the Rustle puzzle, the starter quiz, Who's That Pokémon streaks, badges and Pokédex milestones. Everything you catch is saved to your collection, and your trainer code lets you carry it to any device.

How the card pack game works

Open virtual booster packs of real Pokémon Trading Card Game cards from sets like Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Scarlet & Violet 151, Prismatic Evolutions, Surging Sparks and Mega Evolution. Each pack has ten cards with a rare card at the back, and modern packs can hold shiny reverse holos, illustration rares and secret rares. Every card goes into your binder, where you can see how many of each set you've collected.

Packs are always free and earned by playing: finish all three daily missions, catch every 25 new Pokémon, win gym badges, become Champion, climb the Battle Tower, keep a seven-day daily bonus streak or complete a region of the Pokédex. Spare copies can be swapped ten at a time for a new pack. There's nothing to buy, ever.

Open packs by set

151 packs Base packs Jungle packs Fossil packs Team Rocket packs Evolving Skies packs Crown Zenith packs Prismatic Evolutions packs Surging Sparks packs Journey Together packs Destined Rivals packs Mega Evolution packs

How the card battle game works

Pick three Pokémon cards from your binders and battle another trainer's team of three. Every card uses its real HP and its strongest attack from the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and weaknesses matter: if your attacker's type is the other card's weakness, it does double damage. Each turn you gain energy: attack, spend two energy on a power attack, guard to halve the next hit, or switch to a card on your bench to dodge a bad matchup. Knock out all three of the other trainer's cards to win.

It's simpler than the real Pokémon TCG, with no decks to build, so anyone can jump straight in. On Normal, trainers are matched to your cards and get tougher with every win that day. Champion difficulty is much harder, and the longest winning streaks go on a weekly leaderboard. Win seven battles in a day to earn a free card pack, and open more packs to find stronger cards for your team.

All the ways to battle

Battle your way through 8 Gyms in each of 9 regions, then take on the Pokémon League to become Champion. Every day a Legendary Raid Boss appears with one giant health bar that every player shares, so everyone's damage counts. The Battle Tower sends trainer after trainer at you to see how high you can climb. You can also build your own Gym for other players to challenge, battle a friend's team with a code, or battle with the Pokémon cards in your binders.

How the Daily Expedition works

Every day a rare special Pokémon hides somewhere on a new trail, and it's only there until midnight. Walk the trail with your partner and choose left or right at each of five forks. You can see shadows ahead: a small shadow in tall grass is a common Pokémon, a glowing shadow is a rare one, and a golden glow could be today's special. Some paths have a trainer to battle first, and others have berry bushes or useful items.

You get six capture orbs and two berries. Give a berry or let your partner attack to make a Pokémon easier to catch. At the end of the trail a giant Pokémon is waiting. Earn up to three stars a day: catch the special Pokémon, catch the giant and catch three Pokémon. Every special you catch adds a stamp to your card, and filling all seven stamps wins the Trail Explorer title, a card pack and a guaranteed shiny on your next trail.

How the Catching Contest works

The Catching Contest is a 60-second round in the park. Pokémon pop out of nine patches of grass, and you tap them before they hide again. Rarer Pokémon are worth more points, and every catch in a row builds your combo, up to four times the points. Watch out for golden star Pokémon: they hide fast but are worth 300 bonus points. Don't tap the smoke puffs, because they cost three seconds and your combo.

Each week has a new theme. In a Water Contest, Water-type Pokémon score full points and other types score half. In the Giant Contest, giant Pokémon score triple. You get three rounds a day, your best round of the week goes on the leaderboard, and the top catch from each round joins your collection. The contest ends on Sunday at midnight, and on Monday the top ten trainers win prizes, with a card pack for first place.

How the weekly competitions work

Every week there are three competitions to win. In the Catching Contest you catch as many Pokémon as you can in a 60-second round, with bonus points for the week's theme. In the Who's That Pokémon 60-second challenge you name as many Pokémon from their shadows as you can before the clock runs out. In the Card Champion competition you win as many card battles in a row as you can on Champion difficulty.

Each competition ends on Sunday at midnight. The winners get a free card pack, and the next nine trainers in the Catching Contest win orbs too. Prizes are waiting for you the next time you visit, so there is nothing to claim by hand.

How player Gyms work

Every trainer on Tall Grass Club can open one Gym. Give it a name, pick one of the 18 types, design a round, star or shield badge and choose a line to greet challengers. Then pick 3 of your own Pokémon to defend it. Your Gym team is played by the computer, so other players can battle it any time, even while you're away.

Come back to see how your Gym did: who challenged it, which of your Pokémon stopped them and who won your badge. The toughest Gyms of the week are ranked by how many battles they win. To challenge a Gym, pick 3 of your Pokémon and knock out all 3 of theirs. Beat a Gym for the first time to win its badge, and every 8 badges earns a free card pack. Your Pokémon's HP goes back to normal after every Gym battle, so challenging never costs you anything.

How to play Pokémon memory match

All the cards start face down. Tap two cards to flip them over. If they show the same Pokémon, they stay face up. If not, they flip back, so try to remember where each Pokémon was. Find every pair to win.

Easy has 6 pairs, Medium has 10 and Hard has 15. Play with the original 151 Kanto Pokémon or all 1,025 for a real challenge. Your best time and fewest moves are saved for each level, and your first win of the day on each level earns orbs for catching Pokémon.

How to play the Who's That Pokémon? quiz

Each round shows a Pokémon in silhouette with four names to choose from. Pick the right one to keep your streak going. Choose a single region to make it easier, switch to Cry mode to guess by sound alone, or try Clues mode, where you only get the type, region, size and a chart of its base stats. Every five correct answers in a row earns you a Prism orb to use in the meadow.

Every Pokémon cry in one place

The Cry jukebox has the cry of every Pokémon from Bulbasaur to Pecharunt. Search by name or number, filter by region, or press Play all to hear a whole region back to back. For the first 649 Pokémon you can also switch to the classic cries from the original handheld games.

How Rustle works

Rustle is a daily Pokémon guessing game, a bit like Wordle for Pokémon fans. If you enjoy Wordle or Pokédle-style puzzles, you'll feel right at home. Everyone gets the same mystery Pokémon from Generations 1 to 3 each day. Type any Pokémon as a guess and the board shows whether its types match, and whether the mystery Pokémon is from a later or earlier generation, bigger or smaller, and stronger or weaker. You have eight guesses. Solve it to earn 5 Prism orbs and a Star orb, then share your result grid with friends. Play today's Normal puzzle, then try Hard mode with all 1,025 Pokémon. Keep a daily streak going, or look back at every past answer.

Check your team's type coverage

Add up to six Pokémon to see your team's weaknesses and resistances against all 18 attacking types, ranked from the biggest problem to the best covered. The coverage chart shows which types your team can hit for super effective damage with moves that match their own types, so you can spot gaps before a battle.

Find your partner Pokémon

Answer eight quick questions about how you spend your time and treat your friends. Your answers pick between Grass, Fire and Water and between three personalities, matching you with one of nine starter Pokémon from Kanto, Johto and Hoenn: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Treecko, Torchic or Mudkip.