Life

Everything You Need To Know About Lucky Eggs

by Georgina Lawton

By now, there's no reason for me to explain the Poke-hype or the countless ridiculous and amazing things that have happened as a result of people playing "Pokemon Go." So let's just skip straight to it, shall we? You need to know what a lucky egg in "Pokemon Go" is — and I'm going to tell you. You know why you're here, and I know why you're here. It's totally fine. And if you're also looking for answers to the Poke-conundrum concerning XP and whether or not lucky eggs can help you with it, I can confirm that you, seeker of miniature cartoon creatures, are in the right place. Lucky eggs are important in "Pokemon Go," because they produce double trainer experience points, also known as XPm, for 30 minutes.

If you're somehow still existing outside this phantasmagorical '90s world and you want the full lowdown on eggs and how to hatch them, maybe come back to this post after you're clued up. Or if you need to go back to basics completely, then our Pokemon guide for beginners could ease you in gently. (Or compound your feelings of utter confusion. It's a close call if you haven't played it yet.) But the subject right now is lucky eggs. So here are six need-to-know pieces of information about them in order to enhance your "Pokemon Go" experience even more than you already have. They don't call it augmented reality for nothing, after all.

1. Lucky Eggs Boost Your XP For A Limited Time

As I previously mentioned, using a lucky egg will double the amount of XP you earn for any actions taken in the game for 30 minutes. Since XP is essential for leveling up, using lucky eggs will allow you to level up faster.

2. Leveling Up Gets You Lucky Eggs

According to Polygon, you'll get lucky eggs simply when playing the game and reaching levels 9, 10, 15, 20, and 25.

3. Evolve Lots Of Basic Pokemon With Lucky Eggs

Evolving your basic Pokemon always nets you XP, and if you evolve with a lucky egg in use, you'll get even more XP for taking, say, your Rattata to a Raticate. What's more, there's nothing stopping you from evolving many Pokemon while your lucky egg is working and amassing an incredibly large amount of XP for it, advises Polygon. To do so, you'll need to catch a large number of Pokemon out in the wild first and make sure you have enough candy to evolve them. Then activate the lucky egg, start evolving, and watch the overwhelming amount of XP go to your trainer profile.

4. Only Evolve Your Weak Pokemon With Lucky Eggs

Apparently, it matters what kind of Pokemon you evolve en masse. An article from Lifehacker advises catching the Pokemon with less weight (such as Pidgey, Rattata, etc.) and building up a stash of candies, noting that when you activate the lucky egg, you'll usually get 1,000 XP for every evolution instead of the standard 500 XP — except for the Pidgeotto. Writes Lifehacker, "Pro tip: don’t evolve Pidgeottos into Pidgeots while you do this! Evolving four Pidgeys into Pidgeottos will cost you 48 candies and net you 4000 XP with a lucky egg activated, but just one Pidgeot will cost you 50 candies and only get you 1000 XP with a lucky egg."

4. Use Lucky Eggs Near PokeStops

You don't have to do this, but it might be a good idea. First, going to a PokeStop will let you stock up on Pokeballs before you enact your giant egg-hatching scheme. Second, Pokemon tend to congregate around PokeStops. And third, you can also drop a Lure Module at the PokeStop to make sure there are plenty of Pokemon for you to catch when you use your egg. Catching more Pokemon nets you more XP, so everybody wins here.

5. If You Need More Lucky Eggs, You Can Always Buy Them From The Shop

...And spend money IRL for something that doesn't exist IRL, but no judgment. If that's what you want to do, go for it!

Images: Lucia Peters/Bustle; Giphy (5)