Bulbapedia Expanding List of Pokémon by catch rate

[kelvSYC]

I'd like to poll the forumers on expanding the list of Pokémon by catch rate to incorporate other statistics based on it: what should we include?

* Catch rate with a Heavy Ball
* Multipliers with Fast Balls or Net Balls
* Probability of catching one at full health with a Poké Ball
* Probability of catching one on the first turn with a Quick Ball
* Approximate probability of catching one at 1HP with a Poké Ball (approximate as the HP multiplier never fully reaches 1x, but for our calculations we will assume 1x, except for Shedinja as it's 1/3x or nothing in that case)
* Generation III Safari Zone adjusted catch rate (the catch rate used in the catching formula, which excludes the 1.5x Safari Ball multiplier, when you throw a Safari Ball at the Pokémon without rocks or bait taken into account; due to rounding error this is generally lower than the standard catch rate - as an example, Pikachu, in the 190 tier, has an adjusted rate of 178, which is below that of catching, say, a Machop, in the 180 tier, with a Great Ball outside the Safari Zone - it's only a ~2% difference, but still...)
* Probability of catching one with a Safari Ball, based on adjusted catch rate therein.
* Probability of catching one with a Safari Ball given a modifier (+1/-1 to +6/-6) in the Generation IV Safari Zone (in other words, the odds of catching that Safari Zone Beldum if you really really make it hard on yourself - BTW, it's 0.15% with a -6 Safari Ball.)
* Probability of catching a Pokémon in 30 Safari Balls or less.
* Number of Poké Balls needed to ensure a 50% chance of capturing the Pokémon (assuming HP remains constant)
* Smallest multiplier (ball x status x HP) which guarantees capture, if any (eg. You could guarantee capture if you use a Level Ball on a sleeping low-level full-health Munchlax, in the 50 tier with a 16x multiplier. You can't do it without a cheating device, mind you, but...)

 

[SnorlaxMonster]

The catch rate of a Pokémon never changes, not even when influenced by those factors. It is like how each species of Pokémon has base stats - they do not change, but are the basis of another calculation. That kind of information is more suited to catch rate's page itself. We don't (and shouldn't) include that maximum and minimum stats on List of Pokémon by base stats.

However, the Generation III Safari Zone adjusted catch rate may be a good idea to add to that page.

 

[kelvSYC]

I'd posit that the critical capture odds be posted to some degree of detail. While, say, it is pretty apparent that a normal capture of a Pokémon with an Ultra Ball has double the odds of a regular Poké Ball, it is definitely NOT the case for a critical capture. Furthermore, the critical capture odds isn't apparent from the normal capture odds. Here's our extremes, represented by Patrat and Kyurem (assuming no Entralink powers, no dark grass penalty, and full health).

Patrat, normal capture, Poké Ball: 43.87%
Patrat, critical capture, Poké Ball: 75.99%
Patrat, normal capture, Ultra Ball: 73.78%
Patrat, critical capture, Ultra Ball: 90.36%
Kyurem, normal capture, Poké Ball: 1.57%
Kyurem, critical capture, Poké Ball: 25.03%
Kyurem, normal capture, Ultra Ball: 2.64%
Kyurem, critical capture, Ultra Ball: 29.76%

Clearly, you can't really tell the critical capture odds from the normal capture odds unless you can mentally calculate a cube root. And you can't really tell the critical capture odds of an Ultra Ball from a Poké Ball unless you can multiply by the cube root of 2 in your head. And woe to the person who wants to combine the square root of the critical with the 30% bonus from Entralink, the 70% penalty from dark grass, and the 15.75x from Dusk Ball sleeping 1HP...

(BTW, all the template figures are based on the G4 capture formula, which no longer applies in G5...)

Furthermore, there is no longer a linear step up in probability if you consider the probability of catch only given a Poké Ball (ie. combining normal capture with critical capture) at a 30+ Pokédex tier (where criticals come into play). As an example, Patrat in normal grass at full health (no status) with a Poké Ball (no capture powers) and 601+ Pokédex is 70.63% (75.99% critical, 43.87% normal, with 83.33% chance of critical capture), while with a Great Ball it's 84.09% (guaranteed critical).