5th Gen When "Critical Capture" is actually critical...

Ok, so we all know what Critical Capture is, right? Weird noise, lower-than-normal-angle poké ball throw, only one shake and it's done capturing that everyone says never fails.

Well, firstly I've seen it fail - poké ball on Reshiram made the critical capture noise, did one shake and Reshiram escaped.

I've also noticed how it comes at times when it's unneeded, i.e. when capturing a Pidove. I'm sure this has definitely affected you all.

What I want to know is: Have there been times where you've been in desperate need of a Critical Capture, and if so, did it come, and did it work?


I'll give my own story (The main reason for this thread :P):

I was in the Dreamyard, catching the rare Friday Musharna with my Emboar. He used Flamethrower, and it went down to just above 50% health. This was fine. However, when I used Flamethrower again, Musharna was burned, and the burn damage nearly KO'd it! So, obviously I was thinking "I need a critical capture or something...it's going to faint and I forgot to save...", and what happened? Critical Capture, so yet another high-level pokémon caught in ordinary Poké Balls for me :D

So, yeah, discuss your crit. captures guys!

EDIT: I looked at its' summary, and it's got a Quiet nature, which is pretty damn nifty, so it's now my sixth team member!

From my experience, it's about the same as a critical hit, although it seems less as you have more battles, and therefore more opportunities for critical hits, than you do captures.

I spent ages trying to capture a Kyurum with no critical captures. I finally used a timer ball. About 1 hour later I caught a patrat for a crap trade and guess what.......CRITICAL CAPTURE!

Amore said:

and what happened? Critical Capture, so yet another high-level pokémon caught in ordinary Poké Balls for me :D

Click to expand...

You dont really need crit capture to catch pkm like that just get it 2 1 HP and i got it on my first pokeball.

Ive got 2 but they were just when i was catching like lvl 10 pokemon.

Ah, I remember when I was browsing SPPf and first read about critical captures. Serebii screwed up and said the down + A trick now worked in B/W, and I freaked the hell out.

Ahahaha, memories.

Anyways, I've always wanted to see myself do a critical capture. However, since I don't capture anything I don't want on my in-game team, I rarely even try to capture Pokemon, only further decreasing my chances. Wish I had a story to tell, but I don't.

I feel left out as my play time is over 100 hours now, I've caught maybe 113 Pokemon and not once have I experienced this Critical Capture you guys are talking about. :|
So unfair haha.

I've only experience a critical capture around 7 times.
In fact, that's how I caught the dreamyard Musharna.

Too bad it didn't happen when I was trying to catch Kyurem >>

Catching Litwick, wondering what a critical capture is like.
Weird noise. One shake in mid air. *Click*
"Ooohhh..."

I've actually had it happen a few times, but I didn't know it was called a critical capture. I didn't notice the noise either. The one time I clearly remember it happening is I poisoned a pokemon and I threw a pokeball and it only shook once. I think it was a sewaddle or something. Nothing big. Though I will definitely keep an eye out for it happening now. :)

Well, it wasn't a particularly rare Pokemon, but the one I caught was sure being a pain: a Jigglypuff. She was really low and health and just wouldn't stay in anything I threw at her. But I just kept chucking balls, closing my eyes every time, waiting for when she'd break out. Only, this time, the ball only shook once. And then I remembered that I'd heard the little noise before she went into the ball. I was so happy. (:

I think I might have had another one the other day on something pretty worthless/not annoying, so I guess it's a mixed bag for me on whether or not it's actually 'critical' when it occurs.

Agreed on having critical captures much earlier in the series. That way, legendaries and Skarmory alike will be easier to catch.

But in BW, I think I've never had a critical capture. Probably because I don't catch Pokemon that often. If I have, then I must have failed to notice it...since there really isn't much difference, and I'm not that good at sensing subtle hints. I haven't really felt the need for these instant captures so far, though, since I haven't encountered a single legendary yet.

Critical Capture is basically useless to me, as I only use Master Balls.

I hadnt even heard of a critical capture before now >.< Don't think I've had one either - I tend to watch how many times the ball shakes like a hawk and I would have noticed if it had only done it once.