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how do i catch not-easy-to-catch pokemon more easily?
trying to use this forum is kind of complicated... like... what even are these categories about? what if i want to talk about older games? ;-;
the thing is. ive been trying to catch kyurem in bw and it's Hard okay. ive always had it struggle after hundreds and hundreds of turns, making it fall asleep with hypnosis or/and leaving it at 1hp just wont help... ive had thid same problem with the metagross i tried catching and ugh!!!! how do i do this!!!
Answers
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Master Ball
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Jk but if you drag the battle out a really long time you could use a timer ball…
Or open the battle immediately with a quick ball…
In general use things better than normal Poke Balls2 -
The actual membership is quite small, so they seem reluctant to divide the forums into sensible subcategories. If nothing else we need an off topic forum, but I think the mods want to discourage it if anything, however they are not prepared to ban it outright, so we are in this weird middle ground where the main board is full of random nonsense.
Anyway... it sounds like you know what to do to maximise your chance of capture. Use a Master Ball or just keep trying with the best balls at your disposal. Dusk Balls and Timer Balls are probably your best bet.
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They already answered your question... but about the forum, one thing that would help is if random talk like Community Lounge didn't appear in the Trending Topics or Recent Discussions... and add a new global game discussion section.
The way this is now it's mostly a pile of garbage and repeating topics that new arrivals get lost in… plus members often post in the wrong sections.
The whole thing feels like DMs between a handful of members… which is a bad look for the community... the forum admins should review this forum structure for sure.
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I skipped Generations 3-8(with most of 2 too because I played a friend's Gold version) so questions regarding anything outside of Kanto are effectively out of my realm of expertise. However, Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are notorious for being difficult because they have a low catch rate.
Generally when facing these Pokémon I ask myself the following questions:
- Does it roam? Gen 2 introduced me to that with the Johto three and therefore you have to take that into account first. If they roam, trapping them is your first priority, but if they have Roar or a move that can end Wild Battles(like Self-Destruct and Explosion), then you have to go to plan B and work with Sleep up 24/7(if possible).
- How do I increase my catch chance? Three factors play a role here. Amount of HP Pokémon has(lower it is the better. False Swipe is a move that leaves them with 1 HP. Doesn't work on Pokémon like Giratina because they're Ghost Types so you have to try and whittle it down as much as possible), Status condition(Sleep or Freeze work best here and Sleep is way easier to apply than Freeze with moves like Yawn, Spore and Sleep Powder) and what type of Ball you use. Specialty Balls typically have the best odds compared to the old trio of Poké/Great/Ultra. Quick Balls are great when opening a Battle because you never know when luck is on your side. Timer Balls are for when the battle has dragged on for 10+ rounds. Heavy Balls are for really heavy Pokémon and so on. In general though, Ultra Balls are your best bet(unless its Gen 1 where id argue Great Balls given the cost and that your catch chance requires only 50% HP).
Then it's merely the luck of RNG. Sometimes you get insanely lucky and requires only one Ball while sometimes it takes 30 Ultra Balls. I oftentimes use debuff moves like Sand Attack because whittling down their accuracy preserves the life of your Pokémon. Catching Pokémon with low catch rates are insanely frustrating at times because of said RNG. Only advice I can give is to keep your chin up and persevere.
If all else fails or you simply want to catch it without fail: Master Ball.
As for the Forum, they could definitely use a makeover or reorganization with a Classics board for Gens 1-8(and soon 9 if you think about it), a board for the latest Generation and then General, TCG and Unite(for as long as it lasts).
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So the general strategy I do is when I encounter I first throw a quick ball and if that doesn't work then I use false swipe to lower HP and then keep on throwing PokeBalls at it until it catches (I prefer catching it at night/caves due to dusk balls having a good catch rate during those conditions. I also make sure the Pokemon I send out is beefy enough to take hits and last the encounter. There are some strategies I do if it is a special encounter/get really annoyed:
- Quick Ball cheese: If I had spent way too long trying to do it the normal way and I don't want to waste too many PokeBalls I do the cheese. For the cheese I basically redo the start of the encounter over and over again always starting by throwing a quick ball since it has a high catch rate at the start of the encounter and continue until it works. This is very good if the Pokemon is at a much higher level than you or if you are broke.
- Roam pain: If the Pokemon roams what I do is first make sure that I can apply chip damage to it and that it keeps said chip damage as it roams. If it cannot keep the chip damage I just go at it and use an arena trapping move then try to lower its HP enough to be reasonable and catch it in that go. If it can keep the chip damage I try to lower its HP to 1 and let it escape, when I feel its HP is at 1 or close I encounter it again with a Pokemon that knows an arena trapping move and status condition moves (non-harmful ones like hypnosis or paralysis) and catch it there. Regadless hours will be wasted, I am glad Roaming is no longer a mechanic.
- The easy way: Throw a master ball and call it a day… except you only have one so yeah. Use it to catch that lvl. 100 Magikarp (remember that some Pokemon have a catch rate of 100% due to being scripted catches so be mindful of that).
From my experiences RNG is the major factor that determines if you are catching a Pokemon or not and it goes above all mechanics. I have had some very long catching sessions in the past and some very short ones too, it is all really RNG and I loathe that. But gotta catch'em all!
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