Pokemon GO's tracking system has left a lot of players frustrated and looking for alternatives. Here's how to locate specific Pokemon while Niantic is working on an upgrade.

Pokemon GO has been an unbridled success for Niantic and Nintendo, a mobile gaming killer app that has somehow managed to capture the imaginations of dedicated fans and middle-aged adults who had never so much as chosen a starter Pokemon before alike. That being said, however, the same game that has already been downloaded 75 million times by fans across the world is still struggling to keep its already limited features functional.

Of these bugs, one of the most frustrating by far has been the one that has seen the Pokemon GO tracking tool become completely ineffective at pinpointing the location of a given Pokemon. For a game that has been built upon the spirit of exploring the world in search of increasingly rare creatures that spawn on a mobile device's screen, not having the tools to locate these Pokemon is borderline unacceptable.

Luckily for trainers around the globe, there is an alternative to the Pokemon GO tracking tool called Pokevision. Pokevision is a website that is currently being used by a large number of players as a substitute for the broken tracking tool, and has helped keep aspiring Pokemon trainers engaged on Pokemon GO while Niantic sorts out whatever problems exist within the software.

For those unfamiliar, or who don't know all of the features of Pokevision, here's a quick guide on how to use the website to maximize the effectiveness of Pokemon-catching excursions whenever the need arises. Players who are looking for specific kinds of Pokemon will find Pokevision an invaluable tool in expanding their teams.

Pokevision - A Summary

Pokevision is essentially the Google Maps of Pokemon GO. Players can input a specific location into the search bar and Pokevision will find that place on a map and display all the Pokemon that are nearby. Each Pokemon present is helpfully shown by a small sprite on top of its approximate location, a feature that makes it very easy for trainers who know exactly what they're looking for.

On top of this, however, one of the most useful features that Pokevision has is the small timer that appears below each Pokemon's sprite. The timer indicates how long that Pokemon will remain in the area it's being displayed in, and although it's not always one-hundred percent accurate, it's a huge step above the currently broken tracking system native to the Pokemon GO app.

Using Pokevision to Locate Specific Pokemon

One of the more nuanced ways to use Pokevision might not be immediately obvious to newer Pokemon GO players. Trainers can use Pokevision to see where certain kinds of Pokemon are more likely to spawn in their hometown or areas they frequently travel, and dedicated users will be able to employ Pokevision to discern which areas rarer Pokemon frequently call home.

While this might take a little effort, the pay-off can be immense. Locating a hotspot for Pokemon who are great at holding Pokemon GO Gyms like Vaporeon and Dragonite, or even their prior forms in Eevee and Dratini, can be the difference between a long grind to higher levels or bonus Stardust and Gold every day or so. Those interested can punch in addresses they know they'll be around later and figure out where to head in order to maximize each trip away from their home turf.

Pokevision has also recently implemented a feature that makes locating specific Pokemon even easier. Gamers now have the option to tell Pokevision not to display specific kinds of Pokemon - now trainers can focus on bolstering their team while ignoring all of the Pidgeys and Zubats that never seem to go away.

It's important to note that Niantic hasn't made an official statement on how the company feels about players subverting some of the mystery of Pokemon GO using Pokevision, so gamers should be wary of the possibility that Pokevision will be considered a breach of gameplay etiquette or worse. Pokevision also uses data mined directly from Niantic, so there's also the possibility that the developer simply finds a way to shut off access for the website.

Of course, players could always simply follow the massive hordes of people sprinting through the streets with their phones held out in front of them. Those kinds of migrations are usually the result of a rare spawn in Pokemon GO, and there's nothing quite so obvious like a grown man in a Pikachu hat out-running people on bikes to ensure he catches a Snorlax.

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Pokemon GO is available now in select regions on both Android and iOS mobile devices.