Pokémon Rumble Rush is the newest Pokémon title on mobile, and the latest in the Pokémon Rumble series. This free-to-play game features microtransactions – but with some patience and management of your resources and time, you can advance fairly quickly in this game without spending anything! In this guide we’ll go over the basics and offer tips on how to manage your Gears, Ores and Pokémon.

The basics

Gameplay

The gameplay in Pokémon Rumble Rush is fairly simple, and even more so than other Pokémon Rumble titles. Your Pokémon will automatically run towards enemies and attack. You can tap to attack manually, hold and release for a charged attack, or swipe to roll out of the way.

Charge attacks are worth doing. You can deal over three times the usual damage with a charge attack, depending on the move your Pokémon knows.

Summon Gears can be used to do a special move from a supporter Pokémon. KO’ing five Pokémon will fill up the Summon attack gauge – so if you’re fighting a boss, consider taking down its helpers throughout to recharge your Summon attack.

If your Pokémon is knocked out, you lose the level. You can switch Pokémon anytime during a map, but cannot reassign Gears mid-map.

Progression loop

The general progression loop is as follows:

• Do levels, and obtain Pokémon from the map. What you get is essentially random.
• Redo maps containing Pokémon you want (e.g. Water types to take on a Fire-type boss) to find a stronger one.
• Power up chosen Pokémon further through Gears.
• Satisfy requirements to take on area boss.
• Defeat boss, and unlock a new one.

Every boss has a Combat Power (CP) requirement. You need to have a Pokémon with a high enough CP to be able to take on the boss. Later in the game you will have to use Gears to be able to reach this. Other requirements can involve catching different species of Pokémon, or a particular species or type.

Additionally, there are tournament maps you can attempt once a day. These are essentially a boss gauntlet mode.

Levels are selected by clicking on the map. You can redo any of the last three maps you have beaten as well – any new levels started will replace the oldest one you have done. This is somewhat random, but you can see what Boss Pokémon occupy maps from other players before selecting.

There are coins (given in units of P), which is used for upgrading Gears. There are also Diamonds, primarily used for refining Ore.

Getting stronger Pokémon

Obtaining Pokémon

The only way to obtain controllable Pokémon is to knock out those you encounter. Their CP is random, but will be within a range that depends on how far you have progressed in the game (or essentially, how many bosses you have defeated). Even bosses can drop, but this is not common.

You can increase the ‘Catch Level’ of a species of Pokémon by catching more of them. You get a notification of any Catch Level increase at the end of each level. This means it can be more beneficial to grind on unevolved Pokémon than hoping for a strong Boss to appear.

Pokémon with sparkles will be obtained when defeated. When a Pokémon gets dizzy (stars appearing above its head as it wobbles on the spot), an attack that knocks it out will ensure you obtain it as well. 

You can only hold so many Pokémon at a time. Transferring Pokémon will earn you one coin (or 1P) each.

Gears

Each Pokémon can have two or three slots – one for a Summon Gear, and either one or two for Power Gears. Gears are used to power up your Pokémon. You can also upgrade them via Upgrade Kits – each one is specific to the type of Gear.

As mentioned, there are two kinds of Gears, with each able to be levelled up via Upgrade Kits:

• Power Gears – these boost the stats of your Pokémon. The most important are [Type] Move Plus Gears (e.g. Water Move Plus Gears). These increase the CP of a Pokémon by 30 at level 1, provided they know a move of the same type. An additional 10 CP boost is granted for each additional level the Gear has. For instance, a Ponyta with Flame Wheel will have an additional 50 CP with a level 3 Fire Move Plus Gear. A Ponyta with Stomp will not get a CP increase with this gear, but will with a Normal Move Plus Gear.
• Summon Gears – these summon a support Pokémon with a corresponding Attack (e.g. Quick Attack Rattata). These are vital to achieve victory against Boss Pokémon. Summon Gears are rarer.

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You also can only hold so many Gears at a time. Transferring a Gear will give you three Upgrade Kits.

Ores

Ores are the only way to obtain Gears, and also provide money. You can hold three at any time, and can only refine one at a time (without purchasing, that is). Thus they act like a time gate on progress. You can speed up the refining process by using Diamonds, or a Refining Ticket.

There are three kinds of Ores:

• Once you progress past the tutorial, you can lock one map out of the three you have done previously. Select the lock icon on the top left of the map summary. This prevents it from being removed if you do a new map.
• You get three Refining Tickets a day as a log-in bonus (six ever seventh day). Use them wisely! We suggest using your three Daily ones on an Unusual Ore, or saving a bunch on Rare Ore, to open them up at once. Regular Ores contain less Gears and so are worth less.
• Refine Rare Ores (10 hour waits) overnight when you’re not going to play.
• Upgrade Gears as you get them! Send spare ones away for Upgrade Kits.
• If you are going to pay, then invest your diamonds into refining Ores. You will also get coins back from the process, and speed up your progression.
• Every two weeks you will be rewarded Diamonds based on your position on the leaderboard. This depends on the CP of your three strongest Pokémon. Make sure to add Move Plus Gears to three high-CP Pokémon before the current area finishes! This will move you up the rankings.

Have a helpful tip of your own for Pokémon Rumble Rush? Let us know in the comments!

Edited by Rabinov and Sheep.

Source: Daily.pokecommunity