In addition to catching wild monsters, an important part of Pokémon GO is participating in raids. But there is not always a local community that supports you in battle. That’s why our MeinMMO author Franzi Korittke created the “Poke Genie” app tested and explains how you can complete raids with it.
What are Raids? In Pokémon GO, Pokémon can be caught not only in the wild, but also with the help of raids. These are battles between trainers and a raid boss, i.e. a specific Pokémon that occupies the respective arena in the game for a certain period of time.
Depending on how difficult the raid is, you can do it alone or sometimes you need support from other players for some monsters. This is especially the case with Legendary Pokemon in the Level 5 Raids.
But not all trainers have access to a local community, which is why long-distance raid passes are particularly popular in the game. With these, you can have friends invite you to raids in other regions of the world.
If you are poorly connected here too, you can use various apps to be invited to these raids. I tried it out for you using Poke Genie and I’ll explain how it works.
With Poke Genie you can participate in raids
What is Poke Genie for an app? Poke Genie was originally designed to allow you to rate your monsters in-game. However, this is not welcomed by Niantic and violates their terms of service. Under certain circumstances, this could mean a ban, which is why you should only use this app for these purposes at your own risk.
A function that has also been available since the introduction of long-distance raids in Poke Genie: You can network for raids. This allows players to host raids in their area via the app and thus invite other trainers to do so.
Does Poke Genie cost money? No! Poke Genie is basically free. However, depending on which raid you want to do, you may need to be patient. The ultra beast Kaguron caused long queues at the raids.
This is how Poke Genie works
How to get invited to raids? In order to be able to participate in one of the raids, you must first create an account. Your trainer name and trainer code will also be recorded. In order for everything to work, this information must match your information in the game.
If you have successfully registered, you can start. To be invited to a raid, you should proceed as follows:
If this was successful and the other player accepted your request, you will receive a list of all participants in the raid in the app. Now you can switch back to the game and get ready for the invitation to the corresponding raid.
What’s next? The further procedure is the same as with any other long-distance raid. The bar in the lower right corner lights up orange and you only have to click on the respective raid and join it via remote raid.
Are you through with the raid and had the encounter with the raid boss, you have to switch back to the Poke Genie app. Here you now have the opportunity to rate the hosted raid.
Can you also host raids yourself?
Yes, you have to click on the “Host” category under the Raids section of the Poke Genie app. Now you can start an overlay. Clicking on the corresponding button opens your game and you can scan the respective raid. Afterwards, you have to answer a few questions about the raid in the Poke Genie app, such as the weather conditions or how many additional players are taking part.
If you have successfully hosted the raid, you will end up in a queue. Your placement will be displayed accordingly. That way you can estimate how long it will take. When it’s finally your turn, the list fills up with names. Now you can go into the game and accept the friend requests.
Once all trainers are ready, you can invite them and run the raid normally. You should then switch back to Poke Genie and rate the raid accordingly.
My personal verdict on Poke Genie
Benefits of the app: With its app, Poke Genie offers a good opportunity to be invited to long-distance raids. This is particularly interesting for players who do not have a fixed community or trainer friends who regularly invite to raids. Thus, these players also have a chance to secure the corresponding raid boss.
Furthermore, there are always problems with invitations to long-distance raids with friends because players leave the lobby shortly before the raid starts. This is rarely the case with Poke Genie because the trainers are explicitly waiting for participation in this raid.
In addition, players can also host their own raids, which saves on long-distance raid passes.
Disadvantages of the app: What really annoyed me about using the app is the constant switching between apps. I’m not using the latest smartphone, which is why it tends to freeze with so many app changes. This is especially annoying when you’re about to invite another trainer and aren’t back in the Poke Genie app in time to confirm it.
For this reason, I used a second smartphone, after which I started Poke Genie. So I would like a somewhat simpler approach, or at least a corresponding overlay that allows me to interact in both apps at the same time.
Another sticking point from my point of view is the fact that the app also offers the rating of monsters, which, as already mentioned at the beginning of this article, is not particularly popular with Niantic and therefore represents a certain risk.
Would I continue to use Poke Genie? In general, I think Poke Genie is a good thing, especially if you really want a certain monster and can’t find another trainer to participate.
Also, there are occasional monsters that only appear in raids in certain regions. Here, too, it is helpful if you can connect quickly and easily. Therefore, I will continue to use Poke Genie from time to time to participate in raids. Still, I prefer raids with friends.
By the way: In order to get long-distance raid passes in Pokémon GO, you have to dig deep into your pocket. I finance the coins in the game with Google surveys and show you how you can do the same.