With so many Flying and Water type Pokemon showing up in the early stages of Pokemon GO, the Electric types can be incredibly valuable to possess. However, unlike your typical Bug or Grass Pokemon, these can be a bit tricky to catch if you do not live in a major city. It appears that electric types, more specifically Voltorb and Magnemite, like to appear in urban-based environments such as New York City or Los Angeles. We’ve actually even been lucky enough to obtain a Jolteon while walking through a city.
There is clearly a pattern when it comes to these shocking pocket monsters, as I myself experienced a torrent of Voltorbs when traveling through both New York City and Newark, New Jersey. This does make sense as the high amount of cable and electrical wires could serve has good environmental settings for this type. Given there is no real “electric” area, cities are clearly the best choices for finding them. This also includes rarer Electric types such as Electabuzz and Pikachu as they seem to frequent urban environments far more.
If you are in desperate need of an Electric type early on, you actually have the choice to nab Pikachu as a starter. Apparently, you just have to act like Ash and miss out on the original starters for the mouse to appear. Though keep in mind, you might have a difficult time leveling one up since they are far less frequent than other electric types in Pokemon GO.
Finally, we can confirm that thunderstorms do not affect the frequency of electric type Pokemon in any way. We also don’t recommend tying your phone to a kite during a lightning storm in hopes of summoning a Jolteon. Not that we tried, or anything…
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