I'm stuck catching my first Pokémon over and over

I started playing Pokémon go yesterday and tried to capture my first Pokémon.

When throwing my Pokéball on it a screen comes where nothing is happening except I see a motionless Pokéball lying on the ground.

I can't interact with anything, and the only way to get out of it is closing the app. After opening it again it once again starts from the beginning where the professor tells me there are Pokémon nearby.

I tried this now multiple times on my way to work but nothing is changing. What causes this and is there a fix or workaround to it?

Solution 1:

This is a server issue. The only thing that works is to force close the app before you fight. This way you don't risk the Pokémon to get away while stuck.

Before you battle them, check the upper left part of your screen - if the loading ball is stuck on repeat, just reboot the app. The Pokémon should still be there, and you can try to catch it again. If you don't, you'll risk getting stuck on the capture screen.

Source: Reddit

Solution 2:

Sounds like the servers are having a hard time keeping up with demand. A motionless Pokeball is a sign of that happening. Try it a few hours later and see if it still happens.