Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Pokémon Go decoded: Data miners dig into Niantic's hot new app

If your only experience playing Pokémon was when you were a kid, and you beat the Elite Four with your favorite Pokémon, disregarding stats, and maybe even types, to play with creatures that over many hours became your friends — look away, now. The world of Pokémon has come a long way since then, and as the gamers grew older, they min-maxed everything, turning Pokémon into a game of numbers.

As you might expect, the same can now be said for Pokémon Go. Just a couple of weeks after the augmented-reality Pokémon game was released, digital wizards have managed to dig through its code base to find the numbers that power the game, giving us much greater insight into how to be the very best (like no one ever was) at the expense of a real loss of mystery.

Recommended Videos

Seriously, if you want to continue playing Pokémon Go as it was intended, with all of the mystery of discovery, the seemingly obfuscated stats, and many of its yet-to-be-discovered secrets, don’t read on, and certainly don’t head to PokemonFortress, which lists the findings in full.

With fair warning out of the way, get ready number crunchers, as this data dump is a doozy. Here’s a selection of some of the information that decoders have managed to discover:

  • Pokémon trainers have a level cap of 40, but you’ll need 20 million experience to get there.
  • Once trainers hit level 30h, the Pokémon you find won’t automatically have a higher CP.
  • Moves do have an accuracy and hit rate.
  • Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) carries over from other Pokémon games and is present in Pokémon Go.
  • Legendary Pokémon like MewTwo, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres, are all in the game, as is Mew, but it’s Mythic rank.
  • There is a Master Ball in the game, but nobody has any idea where it might be.
  • Dragonite has the strongest base attack of all Pokémon, other than the legendary ones.

There’s a whole lot more that PokemonFortress claims to have discovered, so follow the link to see the full list if you want. However, we cannot confirm the accuracy of most of these claims, as they have yet to be tried and tested in the game. No doubt that will happen over the ensuing months, and it may be that some of the more mysterious content discovered in the dump is set to release in planned updates in the future.

Download for iOS Download for Android

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…
Pokémon No Day: Why fans are boycotting Pokémon Go today
Style your in-game avatar however you want.

Pokémon Go fans are boycotting the popular mobile video game today with a protest dubbed Pokémon No Day. The boycott, which has gained traction on Twitter, is intended to speak out against Niantic rolling back the game's COVID-19 friendly updates.

As the world fell into a lockdown in 2020, Pokémon Go developer Niantic had to act fast. Pokémon Go used to require that players go outside and walk around to catch some Pokémon. However, with COVID-19 spreading, doing so became dangerous. To keep players playing, Niantic opted to make it possible to play Pokemon Go from home. However, the developer is now rolling back those changes, even as a new Delta variant of the virus spreads. Understandably, fans are not happy and are taking today to boycott the game.

Read more
Pokémon Go gets a special New Pokémon Snap event featuring a shiny Smeargle
Pokemon Go

Pokémon Go is getting a special event to celebrate the release of New Pokémon Snap. Players will be able to grab some photography-themed goodies and have a chance to catch a shiny Smeargle.

New Pokémon Snap, a sequel to a 1999 Nintendo 64 photography game, comes to Nintendo Switch at the end of the month. Pokémon Go's special event lines up with the game's release window. It'll begin one day before the Switch game launches on Thursday, April 29, and end on Sunday, May 2.

Read more
How to catch Ditto in Pokémon Go
ditto: pokemon go

Pokémon Go has had players venturing all over the real world in search of their favorite Pokémon. Now including Gen 6 Pokémon, Pokémon Go still has one very elusive little fellah that players are clamoring to get their hands on -- Ditto. Because of Ditto’s shapeshifting nature, it can show up in a range of different Pokémon.

Unlike the main series, there’s no way to know if a Pokémon is normal or a Ditto disguise until you catch it; you just have to hope for the best. That said, knowing which Pokémon Ditto can take the form makes the quest to catch one that much easier. As it is one of the most unique Pokémon in existence, Ditto will be a significant addition to your collection. Whether you plan to use Ditto in battle or just show it off, here's how you can find your very own in Pokémon Go.

Read more