'Magikarp Jump' Tips And Tricks: Avoiding Pidgeotto, Getting Gyarados And More

You might not have heard, but the next Pokémon mobile game, Magikarp Jump , has snuck itself into the App Store. It’s a mindless clicker with just a bit of strategy and Poké-nostalgia to keep fans of the franchise entertained, for at least a few minutes. I’ve created generations of Magikarp over the last couple of days, trying to create the ultimate flopper and beat all eight leagues. From my fishing expeditions, I’ve managed to learn a few tips and tricks that will help your orange fish bounce over mountains.

Retiring A Magikarp Isn’t Always Bad- Right after Magikarp Jump was released, fans flocked to reddit to share their first impressions. Many seemed horrified after getting a random event that involved their Magikarp jumping for some fruit, which led to a large Pidgeotto swooping their new fish pal away. Death has always been a part of the Pokémon mythos (remember Lavender Town’s Raticate grave?), but seeing it a mobile app just feels unexpected.

A Magikarp gets “retired” after fainting to a random event like a Pokeball on the ground being a shocking Voltorb or a shiny item in the water transforms into a fishing lure. When you are first leveling your fish, you want to avoid taking any of these chances. Getting a Magikarp to max level nets you a ton of experience from Mayor Karp and that fish gets to spend the rest of its life relaxing in your pond. You still get some experience when your Magikarp flies the coop, but not nearly as much.

I’ve found the best way to farm early levels is to take risks on encounter screens. Best case scenario, you get seven diamonds or thousands of JP. Worst case, your fish goes to the great Arceus in the sky and you end up with fish blood on your hands. If you have a trashy Magikarp, mainly one that isn’t golden or has bad stats, you should let it expire, get that quick experience and move on to the next generation. If you really just want to off the little sucker, tap on him so he jumps out of the pond repeatedly; a Pidgeotto will come by and swoop him right up.

Getting A Gyarados- In this small fishing town, people idolize their Magikarps. Trainers keep Everstones at all times to make sure they don’t evolve. If you do want to see the giant sea snake, it’s pretty simple: tap on your Magikarp a bunch until you get a prompt saying the Everstone broke and once your fish reaches level 20, it will evolve into a Gyarados. 20-foot tall leviathans aren’t fair contestants in Magikarp jumping, so Mayor Karp will come and take your little friend away. Your Everstone will get replaced when you get a new karp, so the evolution is more of an Easter egg than an actual useful feature.

Free Diamonds For Achievements- You should save up your diamonds as much as possible – decorations and partner Pokémon don’t come cheap. If you’re five or ten diamonds short of getting a Slowpoke, here’s a little track that’s easy to pull off. Take a photo of your pond, press Share and then go back to the game. Then, take a new picture and repeat the process five times to get the first sharing achievement. You don’t actually have to post the pic anywhere, as long as you exit the game briefly it still counts.

Few Smaller Tips

• To get the strongest Magikarp, you need to train whenever it’s possible. Leveling up your punching bag with coins early helps get you a stronger Magikarp to take on the Quick League.

• Whenever you level up, check the shop and buy whatever Berry or Training upgrade is available. Don’t waste your coins on leveling each Training session, you’ll just end up bored and weak.

• You can set your phone’s internal clock forward and then backwards to refresh your partner Pokémon or Training regiments, but I’m not sure that isn’t just a bug that will get patched out soon.

• Fishing up a Dratini is possible, but you don’t get to keep it. The snake dragon is holding an item, but since you are just looking for Magikarps, you have to throw it back.

• It’s a mindless clicking game. Don’t worry too much about strategy and you’ll be fine.