It seems like Pokémon GO always has some new event active, likely with its own set of Timed and Special Research. And as these events have stacked up one on top of another players have been flooded with new gameplay mechanics and smaller quirks that have actually been there for a while. One of these that’s been a particular headache is when you can’t complete your research due to a very specific error. Here’s the fix for Pokémon GO’s “you must complete your research encounter first” issue.
‘You Must Complete Your Research Encounter First’ Fix
This actually isn’t really a bug or glitch. It’s the system functioning as expected, but the way it’s implemented can be confusing. The short fix is to scroll down, and here’s why. On the research screen you have a list of all of your active and completed research tasks. Whether this is on the Today menu where Timed Research is shown, or the Special Research area players can encounter this error when they don’t complete a Pokémon encounter from a previously redeemed research task.
On whatever menu you’re seeing the “you must complete your research encounter first” error just scroll down and you should see the option to redo the ecounter. You need to make sure this is completed before you redeem any further tasks within Pokémon GO. Tap the encounter and finish catching the Pokémon and once you return to the research menu you should be all back to normal.
And that’s the quick and easy fix for Pokémon GO’s “you must complete your research encounter first” error. To avoid it in the future just make sure you finish catching whatever Pokémon you endounter while redeeming research tasks for rewards. If you back out or the game freezes and you have to quit you’ll have to scroll down to finish up the ecounter before anything else can be done.
