Catch rate blues

[lostxemiel]

Ever have a Legendary just refuse to be caught? I just went through about 75 Ultra Balls and an unknown number of Pocketballs trying to get Articuno in SoulSilver.

He was so low on health that I practically could not see the sliver of red left, and he was paralyzed [I know sleep works better, but my Sleeper is a Noctowl, who died way too easily to bother with].

Mind you, since he was paralyzed, he lost a good number of turns to paralyzation. And yet, the battle finally ended not with capture, but with him suiciding by Struggle backlash.

I think I'm going to go cry now.

 

[Falconwing]

Raikou. Damn guy wants as much screentime as he can get before I stuff him away until I need him the Pokeathlon.

 

[Magnagarde]

Anything with a catch rate of 3 hates me. I actually kind of enjoy a long and drawn out catch fight, a struggle for power, me vs them. But I like Master Balls too.

 

[Ghost]

The Pokémon I had the most trouble catching was Kyogre in Emerald. I used 100+ Ultra Balls when it had one H.P. and multiple different status conditions. After seven times of this happening, I finally caught it.

 

[Tonks]

It's impossible to catch Zapdos in LeafGreen. I beat him within a literal millimeter of his life AND paralyzed him, but I ended up throwing every single one of my Ultra and Pokeballs and he broke out of every single one. Except he seemed to stay in a few Pokeballs just a little longer than the Ultra Balls.

I think it's because he used Agility so much. I've never heard that increased speed can make it more difficult to catch something, but maybe it's plausible? I didn't have any trouble with Articuno and Mewtwo wasn't much harder to get, but after a couple of Agilities, Zapdos refuses to be caught.

 

[lostxemiel]

Well Articuno was certainly fond of Agility, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't affect it. The problem is, probability on this order acts funny. In theory, with no health [or at close to it as you can get without killing it], paralyzed and in an Ultra Ball, it should take around 28 balls to have a 50% chance of catching him [if I recall correctly; I did the math a few days ago]. But even so, each individual ball still has a redunculously low catch chance, so every single ball you throw is by FAR unlikely to succeed.

It's like shininess, on a less-obnoxious scale: some people are going to get a shiny after a reasonable number of tries, while others could go thousands of attempts more with no results. It's just frustrating. I really wish there was a better ball out there for Legendary-capturing. Not the Master Ball; I tend to use mine on something appropriate. In Pearl, I captured Palkia in the Master Ball even though he's actually easier than that obnoxious wandering Lake Legendary [I forget which one wanders, but you know what I'm talking about].

I finally have my Articuno, one good enough to keep. He's Gentle, which isn't completely ideal; but his IVs are 30.5/28.5/22.5/28.5/22.5/22.5 [at level 50 the calculator narrows it down to one number or another, so I figure the half-way point is the best way to look at it until it's a higher number]... the low Defense IV along with Gentle hurts, but his Speed is acceptable, he can take Special hits well and he can dish out the damage, so I'm happy. Happy enough that I'm not putting myself through the hell of another capture, anyway Oh, and on this attempt, I think it actually took me less than 20, which is a statistical blip in the other direction now. After last night's frustration, I'm not complaining

EDIT: On a related note, I really wish I'd known about this IV calculator [if anyone's curious and, like me, didn't know about it, it's at Veekun.com]. I just took a look at my Lugia and I want to cry. Lugia's got a 0~2 in Attack and a 1~3 in Special Defense, with a nature that harms Special Defense. Since he's a Special attacker, I don't care about the low Attack, but his Special IV is only 18~19, and that's his second highest [Speed, my personal favorite stat, is both his highest IV and boosted by his Naive nature, so that's about the only saving grace he's got]. I so wish I could go back and try again.

 

[Wrave]

Beldum in D/P/Pt. Royal pain in my a$$

 

[PDL]

Beldum in D/P/Pt. Royal pain in my a$$

They have Beldum and Metang in the Safari Zone in HG/SS

I imagine that less then 10 people worldwide have ever caught one there.

 

[arcanine99]

LUGIA was a pain to catch (in Hg)

but what's worse is the safari zones larvitar (again HG)
That thing was hard to even find and it was insane to catch.
the safari zone rules didn't help either

 

[shinysharpedo]

For some reason, on my pokewalker every single pokemon I want will only evade. Stare down 8 times, it has full health, I have one, and it runs.

 

[thetifftiff]

Anything with a catch rate of 3 is a given but dusk balls would be more effective at catching the ones in caves than ultra balls are, I suggest you invest in some. In fact, I caught groudon after tossing two heavy balls at it. Ultra balls are alright in certain situations but the better balls are more efficient for the harder to catch pokes, especially if you want one with good stats and will likely have to catch it multiple times before you're satisfied.

They have Beldum and Metang in the Safari Zone in HG/SS

I imagine that less then 10 people worldwide have ever caught one there.

That's why you catch them on Winner's Path in the pokewalker, I think I've only had three get away there.