It’s a lot easier than you think and no, it isn’t cheating

So you’re not immune to the Pokémon Go craze and you’ve downloaded the app much later than everybody else. Now you’re worried you’re too far behind, there might not be enough eggs (but there is) and you just can’t lose. You want Lapras to raise its mystical blue head already and Scyther to unleash its steel badassery, now. But all that work—the longs walks—can be tiring and sometimes lead to disappointment (read: Rattatas). So here’s a primer to getting those Pokémon Eggs and hatching them, fast!

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THE EGG HUNT

You can pick up an egg at a PokéStop and will be able to keep as much as nine of ‘em at a time. Pretty easy, right? If you happen to get pokéballs first, keep trying.

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EGG-CUBATOR

Every player gets an Egg Incubator at the start of the game. But you’ll need to buy more if you want to hatch more than one at a time. Spend your Poké Coins (6 Pokémon GO In-app Items Worth Your Precious PokéCoins) wisely because a purchased incubator is only good for hatching three.

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HATCH IT

To hatch these babies, select one and tap “start incubating.” Eggs come in three varieties—2km, 5km and 10km—or the required distance to hatch them. Make sure the app is open for your steps to register.

Note that that the longer the distance an egg requires, the rarer the Pokémon. The big but? 5km eggs can also contain Pokémon shown in the 5km and 2km chart while 10km eggs span from the 2km to 10km chart. So you could have walked 6 miles and end up with a pretty useless character. In any case this happens, think the extra stardust will help anyway.

Pro tip: Set your app game on vibrate so you don’t have to keep checking your phone when a Pokémon appears or an egg is ready to hatch. This helps save battery, too, as the screen blacks out when your mobile is by your side or in your pocket

Photo via Running Competitor

THE HACK

So you really want it that fast in less time or half the work?

Multi-task

Make every step count and switch on Pokémon Go for every activity that requires you to do some walking, i.e., morning run, commute to work, coffee break and errands!

Paid Service

There’s a service called Fantastic Services, which offers people to do the legwork for you, like collect goodies and catch Pokémon for a fee. While it’s not available here, you can do the exact same thing and get somebody to do it for you while you get some real work done.

Move It

It isn’t necessarily cheating, but let’s say you’re too tired to walk a mile and the FOMO is getting to you. Strap that phone on to anything that moves: a turntable, the blade of a ceiling fan, a toy train—if you have kids—or your dog. Just make sure it’s not going too fast or too slow.