Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm, mixing nostalgia, augmented reality gaming, and social gaming into an intoxicating concoction. Everyone's addicted! But if you wanna catch 'em all, you need a little help, apart from a good smartphone.

There are some Pokemon Go tips every beginner needs to know, but once you get a hang of these basics, it's all about finding more Pokemon in your surroundings, and powering up and evolving them. That's where a few choice resources on the internet can help you get the edge on others.

By knowing all about the Pokemon Go game, finding out where you can find more characters, and figuring out how to take down enemies at gyms, you can be on your way to becoming a Pokemon champion!

The Silph Road (Web): The Ultimate Pokemon Go Resource and Guide

If you haven't heard about Silph Road yet, get ready to have your mind blown. This is the ultimate resource center for anything and everything you might want to know about a Pokemon species, individual values (IVs), and more.

The Species Stats has every single Pokemon's stats listed, and the same goes for Moves. The IV Rater is the hidden gem among the tools. By calculating your Pokemon's IV, you can figure out whether it's worth it to use stardust or evolution candy on them. For starters, use it just to compare two Pokemon and see which one you should stick with.

Apart from all these resources, The Silph Road is an active Reddit community, and becoming part of it can give you access to some extra features on the website.

Most importantly, it'll connect you with fellow serious Pokemon Go players in your area, helping you build connections and maybe take down some gyms together! After all, meeting the neighborhood is one of the ways Pokemon Go can improve your life.

PokeVision (Web): Real-Time Pokemon Maps Around You

The virtual reality map on your phone is quite useless and annoying, isn't it? You want a way to find actual Pokemon, maybe by using Google Maps. That's exactly what PokeVision gives you — a real-time view of all the Pokemon that have spawned around you.

It's a simple Google Maps, but you only get one refresh every 30 seconds. So you'll want to first scroll to where you are. This has to be done manually by searching for a nearby landmark or your area and then dropping the pin marker in the right location. Once you're done, click the red button to find Pokemon near the marker.

PokeVision has one feature that other such Pokemon-spotting map apps lack. It shows you how much time is left for a Pokemon before it despawns and disappears, so you can prioritize which one to go to first! It's a web app and works best on the desktop, so this is exactly what you need to play Pokemon Go on a Windows PC from your home.

Another similar app is PokeCrew, which uses crowdsourced data from other Pokemon Go players to tell you where to find a Pokemon. I liked PokeVision a lot more, but you might want to give PokeCrew a try too.

Poke Radar (Android, iOS): Find Pokemon Around You on Google Maps

Poke Vision is great, but when you're using Pokemon Go on your phone, you want a smartphone app that shows you Pokemon around you on a simple Google Map. That's one of the reasons Poke Radar is a must-have.

The other reason is its filter system. If you have an abundance of bulbasaurs and charmanders, collecting more of them is a waste of your time. I'm sure you'd rather be hunting down a Pinsir, right? With Poke Radar, you can filter which Pokemon it shows, so you aren't wasting your time.

The app works perfectly on both Android and iOS, and there's a web version coming soon too. The ads are a little annoying, but that's a small price to pay for more efficient Pokemon hunting! Plus, checking out the locations beforehand is a good way to safely play Pokemon Go.

Note: The Android app isn't on the Play Store yet, so you'll need to manually install or sideload the APK on Android.

Download: Poke Radar for Android (Free) and for iOS (Free)

PoGo Toolkit (Web): Calculate Which Pokemon to Evolve

So you've collected enough candies to finally evolve one of your Pokemon. But which one should you go for? It's a tough decision, because if you choose wrong, you'll end up wasting precious candy on a weak character.

Before you take any step, go to the Pokemon Go Toolkit. Key in a Pokemon you have and its current Combat Power, then click Evolve to calculate its max Combat Power, as well as how many candies you'd need for it.

Quickly compare the two-three characters you were thinking of evolving, and the decision will become simple. More importantly, it takes out surprise factor of evolving the wrong character.

The Gym Guide (Web): The Battle Type Chart and Strategies You Need to Win

Once you reach level five, your trainer has to pick Team Valor (Red), Team Instinct (Yellow), or Team Mystic (Blue). Then you can start hitting gyms to battle other players.

Before you do that, you need to understand gyms. If you've already been to one and won, you still need to pay attention to Prima Games' guide for gym strategies and battle type charts.

The chart is the most important aspect, as it tells you what a Pokemon type is strong or weak against, and if it has any special attributes. Understanding this will help you pick the best squad before battle.

The guide also has strategies and advice for the best Pokemon types to defend a gym that you have captured. It also tells you which types you should be holding on to and which are more expendable.

Take two minutes to read this and then bookmark the page, because you're going to need to refer to it later. And yeah, before you head into a gym battle, you probably want to make sure you have a good Pokemon Go battery pack with you.

Are You Playing Pokemon Go?

Nintendo's augmented reality game has taken the world by storm, including several folks here at MakeUseOf. What about you, readers? Have you been bitten by the Pokemon Go bug?

If you're a fan, we'd also love it if you shared any other such websites or apps in the comments below to help other players get the most out of the game!