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What's your catch technique?

Lucky1Yena

Just some guy
156
Posts
11
Years
I weaken them, paralyze, freeze or put them to sleep, then throw balls at the Pokémon. If I have more than one type, I cycle through them in the order they appear in the bag (minus the master ball (reserved for roaming legendaries) and balls designed for a specific thing like the Dusk Balls. Those only come into play at night and in caves)
 

Guy

just a guy
7,128
Posts
15
Years
When it comes to a normal capture, I usually don't do anything more than your basic attack, weaken, and catch. For Pokémon more rare or for legendaries, I'm usually a bit more crafty. Inducing paralysis or sleep is my go-to strategy, and if I have it, I lower the HP down to one with False Swipe just to better my odds.

I also like to use Pokéballs that are beneficiary to my surrounding, time of day, or to the Pokémon m trying to catch. This is usually a big help in most cases, if not the most useful.
 

Name

Moémon Master
340
Posts
15
Years
i've made nearly a million pokebucks now.
i use tons of duskballs now because they are cute.
 

Meganium

[i]memento mori[/i]
17,226
Posts
13
Years
I throw a Pokeball first. If I'm lucky enough I might catch it on the first try. If not, then I attack with lighter attacks such as tackle or double-edge, which does help lower the HP. If I get the HP to lower itself, I'll be able to catch it.
 

Boilurn

Scald Pokémon
612
Posts
11
Years
I use duskballs as well, and I usually set the season to Winter when the nights get longer, so therefore I have more time to catch the Pokemon I want. Watchog is my preferred Pokemon, as it has two great moves in Super Fang and Hypnosis to reliably get the wild Pokemon down to low health.
 
8,571
Posts
14
Years
My fairly basic routine of catching Pokemon is trying to lower their HP as much as possible (or down to 1HP if I have someone with False Swipe), then I either put them to sleep or paralyze them. Then, depending on what point of the game I'm at, I'll either use the best Poke Ball available to me at that point, or a Dusk Ball once I have a good stock of them (since a majority of my Pokemon gaming is at night). Generally I'll just keep throwing balls or put it back to sleep/paralyze it until I catch it, sometimes using a random ball at some point just to see if I'm lucky.

One thing I've always done though, is hold up+B the moment the Pokemon goes into the ball, even though I've known for years it doesn't do anything. Just more of a habit at this point, I guess.
 

Shrew

is a Shrew
838
Posts
10
Years
1. Always lower the pokemon's HP as low as possible, unless if a crit would be too risky.
2. Use a ball that fits the pokemon's design. Heal Balls for girly pokemon, Dive Balls for water pokemon, Nest Ball for grass types, Premier Balls have a burst of red light suitable for fire types, etc.

3. Use the touch pad or analog stick to follow the pokeball's shaking pattern, and tap the screen right when the pokeball clicks.
 
5,283
Posts
14
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen today
For any pokémon in Sinnoh I throw a Fast Ball first. For legendaries I then weaken it, throw Ultra Balls (Around 20) or Dusk Balls (Same numbers, if in a cave or at night), then alternate around every 10 between Ultra / Dusk and Timer Balls.

If I have a pokémon with a sleep move i normally only weaken to about 1/2 hp then put the wild pokémon to sleep. I've been doing this in LeafGreen with Butterfree (and normally do it with Bulbasaur if I chose that as a starter - at lv. 70 Venusaur will still have Sleep Powder and Leech Seed xD), or paralyzing with Pikachu if Butterfree isn't an option.

Or if I have a pokémon that's a lot weaker than mine, doesn't matter if its lv. 40 and its only weak because I'm using lv. 80s from my last HeartGold / Platinum saves, its Quick Ball then Nest Balls all the way.

I've only just kicked the habit of holding down AB when the ball opens up to the end of that turn on Gen III, and alternating between that and going A when it opens, B, L+R when it closes (All held down) from Gen IV. Obviously I knew they did nothing, but it was just a habit.
 

Falsever

Nation Blue
184
Posts
10
Years
I always lower its HP by False Swipes first.
Then throw a Ball, I used Poké Balls for weak Pokémon and Ultra Ball for strong Pokémon.
Once I throw a Ball, I always press A and B repeatly, because I think it'll increase the chance to capture it.
 
7
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 32
  • Seen Sep 6, 2013
I always seem to be able to to get the HP really low without making the Pokemon faint, then throw a Dusk Ball. Dusk Balls have a high catch rate when it's night time or you're in a dark place, like a cave, and they work AMAZINGLY well. Seriously, I'm pretty sure Dusk Balls even have a higher catch rate than Ultra Balls. When I finally gather my things together and go for the legendaries, I'm probably gonna wait until night time first.
 

Name

Moémon Master
340
Posts
15
Years
I always seem to be able to to get the HP really low without making the Pokemon faint, then throw a Dusk Ball. Dusk Balls have a high catch rate when it's night time or you're in a dark place, like a cave, and they work AMAZINGLY well. Seriously, I'm pretty sure Dusk Balls even have a higher catch rate than Ultra Balls. When I finally gather my things together and go for the legendaries, I'm probably gonna wait until night time first.

From what i recall ultraballs have a 1.5% catch rate while duskballs have an 8% if it's dark.
then you figure in all the other numbers....
but yeah, dusks have a higher catch rate.
 
1
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 33
  • Seen Sep 8, 2013
Lower H.P, throw a Pokeball, then rapid fire that 'A' button! Which probably has no effect besides making me look slightly challenged... but its a habit more than technique! (sometimes I change it up to the 'B' button, XD)
 

atomtanned

Delinquent
151
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Oct 17, 2022
So funny to read about people holding down B when they catch Pokemon... I do that too! I remember being CONVINCED it worked because I read about it on a website when I was young... (probably one that had rumors about Pikablu and PokeGods on it)
 
41,093
Posts
17
Years
Weaken the Pokemon to the orange or red zone. If it's an easy to catch Pokemon, like the ones towards the beginning, I won't bother to give them a status ailment and just toss the Pokeball. Later on I weaken them to the orange or reds and then paralyze usually, before throwing an Ultra/Dusk Ball. :o
 

Dreg

Done after the GT.
1,496
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Jul 11, 2016
I try and paralyze the Pokemon, then use False Swipe to get it down to 1HP. I then lower the accuracy as much as possible so it has less chance of hitting me when I try to catch it.

I seem to do more than hold the B or A button. I hold both, as well as L and R. Funny, right?
 
38
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 34
  • USA
  • Seen Mar 22, 2014
I usually just chuck Ultra balls at it while holding the A or B button. I strategically try capturing it if it's a shiny Pokemon though.
 
10
Posts
10
Years
  • Age 42
  • Seen Jun 17, 2014
Well, lowering the Pokémon's HP has worked well enough since Red and Blue. I haven't really needed to do anything else... except maybe put one to sleep once in a while.
 

Flushed

never eat raspberries
2,302
Posts
10
Years
  • Seen Nov 5, 2017
Throw ball.

Unless I save in front of the Pokemon, odds are the first attack will faint it, like it always does.
 

Captain Gizmo

Monkey King
4,843
Posts
11
Years
I use a move that doesn't do a lot of damage and depending on how low the HP goes, I either use a status inflicting move or I throw a ball that depends on the catch ratio of the Pokemon.
 
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