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Occasionally, you can see little tufts of leaves blowing in spots on the map

Leaves blowing

More leaves

Do these mean anything?

Ben
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3 Answers3

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Yes, the rustling leaves usually indicate that there are pokemon near that area. Going and walking around near that area gives you a higher chance to encounter Pokémon.

Keep an eye out for rustling leaves, hinting at where critters may be lurking and simply hang out in a suspected region for the increased chance of an encounter. - Source

Edit:

I've been running and testing the leaves thing for a bit, and even though there have been reports that it increases the odds of finding Pokémon, I personally find using the step indicator to be far more reliable. An additional benefit is that you can actually use the steps to select a Pokémon you want to catch, and specifically go after that one. Here's how:

Step 1: Open up the nearby list and decide which pokemon you want to find.

Step 2: Keep walking in a direction until you see that pokemon move a spot in the list. If it moves closer to the upper left corner, you're walking towards that pokemon, so continue walking that way. If it moves down the list, backtrack and choose another direction to walk in.

Step 3: Continue to triangulate until you find your pokemon (also pay attention to the 'footsteps' underneath the pokemon, these should go down from 3>2>1>none).

Step 4: Benefit.

Source

I believe these mechanics (steps + leaves) could possibly be meant to be used together to track down Pokémon the most efficient way. Use the steps to get a general bearing of the target location, then look around for leaves to home in.

I've had a Wartortle spawn inside the leaves before, and I believe the leaves are an indicator of a possible Pokémon spawn point. This does not mean that Pokémon are currently at that location, just that Pokémon spawn (and despawn) there - based on my findings and players I've spoken to.

Community
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Codestrife
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    Is there a source for this? – Nelson Jul 08 '16 at 08:21
  • @Nelson added sources and additional info. – Codestrife Jul 08 '16 at 08:55
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    That last source on the nearby bar blinking is doubtful - several other users have said it does nothing, so it's hearsay at this point. – jackwise Jul 08 '16 at 17:13
  • @jackwise Correct, updated. – Codestrife Jul 09 '16 at 09:20
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    -1 I'm fairly sure the leaves signify nothing (and neither of the sources given are official or even convincing imo), and the edited in bit about the footsteps is an answer to a different question, not this one. – Set Big O Jul 20 '16 at 18:02
  • From my observation, the position in the "near by" list is just historical -- newly approached pokemons are just added to the top, and they don't swap with each other. – Nakilon Jul 21 '16 at 17:50
  • @Nakilon Please keep in mind that currently the step indicator is bugged. This answer was posted pre-bug.

    As an additional note, I've talked to dozens of players who can confirm this is the way the near by list worked pre-bug. I've also had hours upon hours of testing myself - and I'm quite convinced this is the way it works and have answered according to this belief. If you disagree, feel free to post your own answer based on your own personal findings. That is what stack is for.

     – Codestrife Jul 21 '16 at 20:46
  • This answer is wrong. The leaves mean nothing - they are a remnant from Ingress (exotic matter) and signify nothing in Pokemon Go. – Mdev Jul 28 '16 at 17:46
  • @Matthew please supply a source for your information so I can update this answer. – Codestrife Jul 28 '16 at 17:52
  • There's no official source on it. If you look around, no one seems to agree on what the leaves mean, but anything that says they mean something are from the first days/week of the game when people also thought the blinking tracker meant you were getting closer. There's tons of misinformation going around and the leaves meaning something is one of them. So far I can only find people saying that it's a likely spawn point but doesn't indicate it means there's anything currently there. From personal experience the leaves mean literally nothing. – Mdev Jul 28 '16 at 18:01
  • You can test it yourself by using pokevision and/or visiting rustled leaves areas. Leaves in an area are consistently in the same spot and don't seem to spawn pokemon any more than any other random area. – Mdev Jul 28 '16 at 18:03
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A flurry of leaves (although I don't think you see them anymore) signifies a CERTAIN spawn point, or in other words, a nest. Unfortunately, I haven't seen one recently, meaning I cannot test it out for you.

Xetrov
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  • Thanks for your answer. As a matter of fact, this feature was actually removed a long time ago, in the early versions of the game. If there is a new version of this, you should state it, as it would be very helpful to regular players! – Ben Apr 01 '17 at 16:40
  • I am so sorry @Ben . I didn't notice that it had been removed. I liked the graphics – Xetrov Apr 01 '17 at 21:18
  • It's all good :) so there is no new version of this? – Ben Apr 01 '17 at 23:18
  • Don't think so, you could use third party software/sites , such as Silph Road – Xetrov Apr 02 '17 at 09:04
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I've seen no significant difference when im around leaves. Ive stood on top of them for 20 minutes with an incense and nothing happened.

Xero
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