Yo-kai lurk in almost every nook and cranny around Springdale and its surrounding areas. Hit the town, and try to find as many as you can. Generally speaking, there are three ways to root them out. Once you do, it usually triggers a battle—but that’s your chance to make the Yo-kai your friend!
Use Watch Mode
If you’re near a place with hidden Yo-kai like tall grass, an electric pole, or even a vending machine, your Yo-kai radar will go off. You may see the magnifying glass icon pop up onscreen. Press 
and the view switches to Watch Mode, letting you search for Yo-kai with the Yo-kai Lens. Watch for the purple shimmer!
Look for Yo-kai in places where your Yo-kai Watch picks up a strong signal.
When your Lens reveals a Yo-kai in Watch Mode, you don’t immediately go into battle. First, you must keep your Yo-kai Lens over the target until the gauge around the Lens fills up. Some Yo-kai try to flee when spotted! Stronger Yo-kai are better at evading your Lens, making it harder to get a grip on them.
Yo-kai can be found in shimmering areas. Point the Lens toward that area.
The gauge fills up when you have the Yo-kai centered in the Lens.
Yo-kai Radar
You’ll also find Yo-kai in spots where your Yo-kai Radar picks up a strong signal and shows a “?” mark. This means that a Yo-kai’s right there
in the open, not hidden up a tree or under a car. But you still have to find it in Watch Mode. Press 
to bring
up your Lens and comb the local area. Once you spot the culprit and fill up the Lens gauge, the Yo-kai is officially found.
You’ll find Yo-kai in the area where the needle goes into the red zone.
Yo-kai won’t run from you in this case, so take your time and search.
Yo-kai Hangouts!
Some back alleys and buildings are hangout spots for aggressive Yo-kai. You’ll find them wandering around the place, fully visible to you. (Look for them marked as red icons on your map.) Exploring such places can be helpful if you want some quick EXP-boosting combat to level up your party—no need to mess around with Radar or the Yo-kai Lens.
Yo-kai won’t run from you in this sketchy area. Once a wandering hostile spots you, they’ll zoom right up to fight!