The Zero-One The Zero-One is your mode of transport. It stays on a set track throughout the entire level, so you can't control its path. You can accelerate, but not brake, and you can look in a full 360 degrees in it, but not much else really. One important tip is that the Zero-One will stop momentarily if it comes into contact with a Pokemon, so use this to your advantage to snap some good pictures. At the start of the level, you come equipped with 60 shots on your roll of film, which is usually enough. You will be returned to the lab if you run out though.
Controls The control stick looks outside the Zero-One in all directions. To zoom in with your camera, you press Z, at which point you can press A to take a picture. Out of Zoom mode, you can use the C-Left and C-Right buttons to turn your field of view 90 degrees to the left or right. You can also point the camera forward with the C-Up button. Once you have acquired them, you can use A to throw an apple, B to throw a Pester Ball and C-Down to play the PokeFlute while out of Zoom mode. The R button accelerates the Zero-One, and this can be used at any time.
Items As you progress through the game, Professor Oak will give you a variety of items to help you take better pictures of Pokemon.
Pokemon Food When you amass a total of 24,000 points from your photography, Oak will hand over your first item - Pokemon Food. You can throw this apple using the A Button when you're not in Zoom mode. Using the Pokemon food, you can get pictures of happier Pokemon (which in turn scores you more points), or lure some Pokemon to specific areas.
Pester Balls If you have a total of 72,500 points from your pictures, Oak will give you Pester Balls after you've completed the River course. Use them by pressing the B button when you're out of Zoom mode. These are basically balls full of noxious gas. You can use them to chase Pokemon such as Scyther out of hiding, or you can throw them at visible Pokemon to make them pass out, earning you more points.
PokeFlute Piling up 130,000 points gets you a PokeFlute. To use the PokeFlute, you press the C-Down button out of Zoom mode. You can toggle through four different songs and the Pokemon nearby will react by waking up and/or dancing for you, which, of course, gets you more points than normal. Dancing Chansey for the win!
Dash Engine
Once Oak discovers the Pokemon Signs, he'll equip the Zero-One with a Dash Engine. The Dash Engine, triggered by the R button, increases the Zero-One's speed, and can be used while in Zoom mode. Note there is no limit on the number of times you can dash. Useful for getting to a certain Pokemon or area much faster.
Scoring System Professor Oak evaluates your pictures using a system with five main areas of interest - if the Pokemon is doing a special activity, the size of the Pokemon in the picture, the pose of the Pokemon in the picture, the technique of the picture, and whether or not more than one of that type of Pokemon are featured in the picture. It is important to get decent scores in size or pose, otherwise Oak will not evaluate the other criteria. Taking a picture with all areas addressed will get you a high score and make Oak happy.
Special
If you're lucky enough to catch a Pokemon in the middle of a special activity (such as Surfing Pikachu, Gust-Using Pidgey or Jigglypuff Trio on Stage), Oak will give you an added bonus.
Size Exactly what it says. Oak will rate the size of the Pokemon in your picture on a scale from 0 to 1000. If the Pokemon is too far away, he'll reject the photo and your score will be low. At the same time, getting too close, to the point where you chop off a good portion of the Pokemon will get you another bad score. That said, a good size to shoot for is one that fills up a lot of the picture but doesn't clip off any of the Pokemon.
Pose Oak will then rate your picture based on what the Pokemon is doing. If it's standing around staring at you or if the Pokemon isn't even looking at you, you obviously won't get as many points. Using Pokemon food, Pester Balls or the PokeFlute can liven up your pictures with different poses. It's possible to see Pokemon perform actions naturally, such as a Slowpoke yawning. Also, some Pokemon such as Rapidash are better pictured from the side, as it takes up more space for both the size and pose scores.
Technique Basically, technique is the most important aspect of taking your picture. By technique, all the game means is that the Pokemon is centered in the picture frame. While zooming in, you'll be assured your picture is centered if the red light flashes. The game isn't picky about centering; the Pokemon just can't be floating off to the side. If you take a centered picture, you earn a x2 multiplier on your other scores. Note that for Magneton, you need to aim the camera just under the top Magnemite to get the whole Pokemon centered.
Same Pokemon Simple enough. You get bonus points for having more than one type of Pokemon in a picture together. Be sure to keep the main Pokemon in the center of the frame, though. Finally, the more space taken up in the background by a similar Pokemon scores you even more points. Easy Pokemon to score this bonus with include Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.
Pokemon Report As you progress through Pokemon Island, Oak keeps a portfolio of your work, including how many points you've received through your best pictures and which of the 63 resident Pokemon you've seen; also saved are the best pictures you've taken of each species, what the score was, and where you took them. You can also rearrange the pictures however you like. Other options include a special screen for your highest scored photo, and pictures of the Pokemon signs you've found.
Photo Album Finally, you can choose to save any picture of your choice in your own personal photo album. Blockbuster Video used to have Pokemon Snap stations where you can print out these as stickers, but clearly these aren't in operation any more, unfortunately.
