The Challenge of Finding & Capturing Legendary pokemon

[Miss Doronjo]

To be honest, a recurring theme that has sorta disappointed me is the fact that the legendary pokemon are... becoming just a little bit more easier to find! I mean, in pokemon black 2 and white 2, along your journey, Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion are literally right along your path in the routes. Well, perhaps that was because of the main story line, but still; I find it just a little bit too easy that they are literally -right along your path-. Well, that's just my opinion anyway, but regardless!

How do you think the challenge of finding rare legendary pokemon should be like in these games? Should the majority of them require difficult puzzles or riddles for you to solve first? For example, the golem legendaries, Regirock, Regice, and Registeel, usually require you to solve a tricky step puzzle! In RSE though, you'd have to do something specific; you'd have to bring a Relicanth, and a Waliord, and swap them in a specific order. However, your only 'clue' is that there are tablets that are in braille. So, should the puzzles for example, be like that, where you'd have to read different languages, or styles of text, in order to do very, very, very specific and wacky puzzles, in order to find legendary pokemon?

Another thing I want to ask about is the journey to get them, and where to actually find them. How long should the journey be to find each legendary pokemon? Where should they be located to suit the themes that they represent? For example, take a look at pokemon R/S/E. You'd have to surf pretty far out in order to get to the Sky Pillar. Then, in the actual Sky Pillar, I remember how frustrating it was to use the Mach Bike to ride over each crumbled hole without stopping, because if you do, you'd fall down a hole, and have to climb back up all over again.

One last thing I want to ask about are the capture rates. How difficult should it be to capture legendary pokemon in these games? I mean, nowadays, catching a legendary pokemon are pretty easy; in fact sometimes, you can just catch it with a pokeball. Well, you can probably catch legendary pokemon in pokeballs in past gens too, but, again, even though legendary pokemon might be hard enough to catch as it is, should it be really restricted to be only captured by a high-quality pokeballs, have their capture rates be a little higher? Like, Rayquaza; it seems as though only very high quality pokeballs can capture it, but even then, it would kind of take a very long time, because the capture rates are... kind of low!

But, you know, as I ask these questions, try to relate them to what you speculate about the two new legendaries, as well as the possible appearance of the other legendary pokemon like the "third" legendary pokemon (you know, pokemon 'Z'), the trio legendary pokemon, the 'cute' legendary pokemon, as well as possible past gen legendary pokemon~

[BLOOOD-La-ti-]

Yeah I'm with you,
right along your path,seriously,what the hell?
And yeah I loved that challenge,that regi thing,the Sky Pillar was also a challenge to me though.
But I don't want the catch rates to be a little higher,I just simply want all of them with the catch rate of 3.

[PokémonShinySilver]

How do you think the challenge of finding rare legendary pokemon should be like in these games?
Well I think for some Legendary Pokémon, probably would only be about 7 or 8 new Legendary Pokémon counting Xernias and Yveltal, I think for the new legendary trio that would be in the Pokémon X and Y would have some sort of puzzle in which you'd have to complete somehow by using certain HMs or even bringing some other Pokémon to open up the doorway, in a similar manor to Regirock, Regice and Registeel in R/S/E. But I think the legendary trio in Pokémon X and Y would also require a certain item as well. And maybe by the time you reach them... they could end up flying away and have to catch them as roaming Pokémon?

How long should the journey be to find each legendary pokemon? Where should they be located to suit the themes that they represent?
As far as I think about it, what I'd like to see in the games... is Dragon-types of Water, Fire and Electric. Which I think the water one should be underwater and require Dive to get to an underwater cavern where you'd have to move through some waves that would push you back, then the Fire one should be in a volcano where you'd have to get through some slopes that require you to not stop on your bike while moving up the slopes, and the Electric one should be on a tower where it has plenty of traps, with ones that would send you down a floor. Upon reaching any of them on the top floor after completing a puzzle, they end up becoming roaming Pokémon.

How difficult should it be to capture legendary pokemon in these games?
Just about as difficult as a roaming legendary Pokémon would be, which would involve them fleeing from you, then having to re-encounter them again and again and again. You can only encounter these legendary Pokémon after defeating the Elite Four.

[Mac]

I would really like the legends to be a bit less obvious than they were in B2W2 for some Pokemon. Like, oh look there's Virizion. Whoopty-doo. Oh, Cobalion is in the road... or there's Terrakion in the grass... I thought that was a bit lame, tbh. Hopefully they'll make it a bit more creative this time, at least in BW you had to defeat Cobalion who was hidden away in a cave off the beaten path before you could get the other two.

[SolarAbusoru]

Originally Posted by Mac

I would really like the legends to be a bit less obvious than they were in B2W2 for some Pokemon. Like, oh look there's Virizion. Whoopty-doo. Oh, Cobalion is in the road... or there's Terrakion in the grass... I thought that was a bit lame, tbh. Hopefully they'll make it a bit more creative this time, at least in BW you had to defeat Cobalion who was hidden away in a cave off the beaten path before you could get the other two.

The reason the Muskedeers were right in your face in B2W2 was because as mentioned by Rood, they were actively seeking YOU out, so they weren't meant to be hard to find cause they wanted you to find them.

I do agree though that in this gen, legendaries do need to be more of a challenge to find , especially the ones at the very back of each national dex.

[Miss Doronjo]

Originally Posted by Mac

I would really like the legends to be a bit less obvious than they were in B2W2 for some Pokemon. Like, oh look there's Virizion. Whoopty-doo. Oh, Cobalion is in the road... or there's Terrakion in the grass... I thought that was a bit lame, tbh. Hopefully they'll make it a bit more creative this time, at least in BW you had to defeat Cobalion who was hidden away in a cave off the beaten path before you could get the other two.

Yeah that too! I really want more -mystery- to these legendary pokemon; make them nothing but like, mere folklore and rumored to be just... a rumor. It can make finding them a little more trickier.

[Arlo]

Yeah - it should be relatively difficult to find legendaries. It's hard to rationalize the notion that a unique pokemon known only by legend is plunked right down there in plain sight and within easy reach of anyone.

I think there should be a fair amount of rumor and hints from NPCs, so you know there's something out there somewhere, and then it should be an appropriately long and difficult trek to actually find them. However, I think the bulk of the challenge should be finding them, and fighting them, if necessary. Once found, I'm not convinced that the catch rate needs to be particularly poor. In fact, in cases like the Musketeers, who obviously wanted you to catch them, the catch rate should be quite high. It seems to me that it's only with the overtly hostile or skittish ones that the catch rate should be notably low.

The only other opinion I have about legendaries is that I don't ever again want to play a game in which, at the last battle, I suddenly get a legendary forced on me. I went to a lot of trouble to assemble and train a team because I wanted to use THAT TEAM and suddenly the game's asking me to boot one of my loyal team members out because some dragon thing is trying to horn in. Yeah - I get that they were trying to set up this whole concept of some sort of mighty showdown between the two perennial foes, but all it really meant was my only choices were to kick out a better pokemon to make room for a mediocre dragon that didn't fit in with my team anyway or undermine the whole point of the story by not doing it, and neither one was a satisfying choice.

[Sydian]

I would love for the RSE style to return. They made you really hunt your legendaries, and that's what it's all about for me. It was fun and made it all the more special, and it really felt like you were a real trainer, uncovering mysteries and searching for this legendary Pokemon. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of how you unlock the areas to get to the Regi Trio. Probably the most fun I ever had, and still have really, finding and catching a legendary.

I'm not saying Braille needs to return, but it'd be nice to have a build up to the legendaries we're looking for and not have them in the middle of the road like SOME games...

The reason the Muskedeers were right in your face in B2W2 was because as mentioned by Rood, they were actively seeking YOU out, so they weren't meant to be hard to find cause they wanted you to find them.

Playing B2W2, I liked that concept that they were looking for you, but gameplay wise, it made it boring. So while it has a good reason, it's still something I wouldn't want to see in XY or subsequent games for that matter. The saving grace for legendaries in B2W2 is that there are a few you have to actively seek yourself, so just those three being out like "hey here I am" is overridden by many others that need more effort.

[Twilight Sky]

Going to address the whole "capturing Pokemon with pokeballs" thing first.

When challenging Cobalion, I chucked as many Ultra, Great, and Pokeballs as it as I could. I really think that it kind of really comes down to luck, even if that Pokemon is sleeping, paralyzed, or even burned. So it's really just a matter of getting lucky. x_x

As far as the difficulty of finding legendary Pokemon? I'd like it to be like finding the Regis and Kyogre/Groudon/Rayquaza in R/S/E. I'd like to have some puzzles to complete, as it makes the whole battle definitely more exciting in the end. :3 All in all, I definitely wouldn't mind challenging more legendary Pokemon in their caves~ That being said though, the journey shouldn't be too difficult to get them, but eh, I wouldn't mind if it was made to be more difficult, I like a good challenge here and there. :3

[CourageHound]

I do agree with some of the points you make. I'll just answer them in order.

How do you think the challenge of finding rare legendary pokemon should be like in these games?
For non mascott legendaries I think there should be some sort of trial to find them. Like say for cobolion, terrakion, and virizion, you maybe have had to battle them and defeat them once or twice(after each battle finding its next location), before it deems you ready to fight and capture it for real in its home/habitat/territory. Like how you had to chase suikune around jhoto and khanto(but shortened). Oh the legendaries would be noticibly stronger in its fight with you until it is actually caught, just to make it more of a challenge.

How long should the journey be to find each legendary pokemon? Where should they be located to suit the themes that they represent? For each version mascott, I beleive the time you start the game and until the time where you climax in the story where you fight the legendary suites well for pretty much every game if i'm not mistaken. In B/W 2 you cant even catch Kyreum until after its rested back in the giant casm. And in the originals you get reshiram or zeckrom in the final battle with N. So I think its all right.
As for the other legendaries, I do agree that you must face a bit more of an ordeal to find each legendary but I cant think of any that at the momment. But I do think that the non-mascott legendaries should reside in their chosen home unless given a reason to be out and about when you capture them.

How difficult should it be to capture legendary pokemon in these games?
I dont beleive anything is wrong with they capture rates as they are exceedingly low with all legendary pokemon. People just get realllly lucky. However I think a sauitable feature for legendaies(that suites their legendary status) for all legendaries to be immune to pokeballs, greatballs, or special pokeballswhen they are not using their advantagous effect( ex.: using duskball in day light = no capture. In darkness the capture is possible).

[dontstay96]

well not something as hard like the regis in RSE but with a bit of challenge

[Miss Doronjo]

I just want to ask (and I realized I sort of forgot to), for those of you who do use legendaries in-game, how early should you be able find these legendaries? Let them stick to tradition and generally make the mascot legendaries available just before the pokemon league? Maybe earlier than that (for certain legendaries?) Or, should they be only available post game? Then again... would that interfere with the challenge of finding them

I dunno, I was thinking that maybe the mascot should have the option to purely battle it and capture after you've become the champion (as still part of the storyline). That'd be nice for a change imo~ Well, BW1 "sort" of did that, which was great, I quite enjoyed that! Cobalion was also tecccchnically available at a mid-point of the game, so, could it be like that as well?

[vaporeon7]

I want it to be really challenging to catch them, it just makes it more fun. I want there to be lots of little puzzles to solve, and I want my intellect to be tested as well. Also give some of them Rest so that they're really hard to catch like Rayquaza. And almost all should only be available after the E4.

[Sydian]

I like the idea of the trio being available pre-E4 and then you getting your version mascot perhaps at the climax of the game, though I wouldn't mind it being after the main story really. Or it could be optional, like in Emerald. You don't have to go get Rayquaza after the climax of the story is over, but you can if you want. As long as every single one of the legendaries aren't available before the E4, I'm good. I like stuff to do after the main story, and legendary hunting is always fun.

[Venitardus]

I think there should be some type of riddle/puzzle to finding the legendaries, like with the regi's. you had to decifer what the description says and do what its asked of you to do.

[Miss Doronjo]

Originally Posted by vaporeon7

I want it to be really challenging to catch them, it just makes it more fun. I want there to be lots of little puzzles to solve, and I want my intellect to be tested as well. Also give some of them Rest so that they're really hard to catch like Rayquaza. And almost all should only be available after the E4.

XD..

Yeah, rest is awfully annoying on a legendary, especially on Rayquaza. And that's a good point too; I'd like legendaries to be even trickier to catch, because of their movesets, like Rest, or Heal Bell / Recover.

Another thing I wanna mention is that in R/B/Y, pokeballs - even ultra balls even 'miss' pokemon like Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno, which it can be kinda annoying and pretty difficult to capture legendaries if that sort of trick came back as well.

[Totaldile]

I would approve if we weren't just randomly forced into catching the title legendary. Like a lot of others here have said, Emerald was pretty damned brilliant when it came to dealing with the legends. I remember getting totally frustrated when my little 7-year-old hands would simply not react fast enough to get across those damned falling tiles. Then that idiot Rayquaza spammed rest and I felt like such a boss when I caught it. Catching the Regi's was also a challenge. Even trying to track down the Lati you chose was difficult but rewarding, especially since you had to Pokedex it every five seconds - but you still felt like a boss when you caught them. I haven't played b/w2 so I can't comment on that, but I was kinda irritated when they forced me to catch Reshiram - i didn't go there with the purpose of catching some faffy dragon, I went there to win the elite 4 ;w;. D/P/Pt was also a little bit irritating, Platinum was better because you had the crazy distortion world to navigate. But they just overused Roamers.

I would like to see a title legendary you have to seek out, that is available before the Elite 4 at an actually acceptable legendary level. Like, level 70 or something. Of course, that would require a longer storyline (which i would not object to). But yeah, I want to have to solve puzzles and navigate places just to find the damn thing. I don't want it to be presented to me, I want to have to find it. Legendaries shouldn't really give a stuff about lowly humans unless to the world is imbalanced or something. Let me explore some crazy-hard to get to environment, to finally get to find this legendary. Let me explore ocean depths, and sky-high mountains, untamed jungles/forests to seek out a chance to capture them. Then give them an insanely-low capture rate so I can sleep 'em, fasle-swipe 'em, then rage when they use rest or something. That is the true victory of capturing those danged legendaries.


/woah what a rant

[Chrisaur]

How do you think the challenge of finding rare legendary pokemon should be like in these games?
I'm gonna go all Skylanders on this one, but for me, I would like it if you could buy the Legendaries.
Yeah, I know its unbelievably expensive. Now there's a new game coming out called , Disney Infinity.
So why not with Pokemon X and Y as well ? But ONLY, with the Legendaries ?
Maybe you can purchase a Pokeball of some sort with the 2 Legendary Pokemon (like the Portal and 3 Skylanders)


How long should the journey be to find each legendary pokemon?
.....and then while playing,somewhere near the end, you get prompted to make an InfraRed connection and insert the Legendary Pokemon in the Pokeball, and then it will appear in the game.

Where should they be located to suit the themes that they represent?
I can picture something like this : there's like a BIG BUSH of some sort and its shaking shaking shaking (like something's in it)
and you go closer but nothing happens. then as you go even closer and press a button, you get asked to make an IR connection with the Pokeball and the figurine you have to put inside it (lets say Yveltal)
And all of sudden it's a cut-scene where he comes flying out of the bush roaming the skies making it's loud cry! And it comes towards you, picks you up and flies off with you to some other place, where you get to battle it ...and then capture him


How difficult should it be to capture legendary Pokemon in these games?
Well, if it's with this Pokeball and figurine method (like Skylanders) it should not be too hard, cos you already have the figurine If you faint it while battling, you can just IR it again.

Well, I know it's gonna be expensive, but it's gonna be fun as well! And you can "buy' the other legendaries as well , let's say there's gonna be 3 more.
So it's gonna be all up to you whether you want Legendaries or not.

AND, this gives you the change to get both Xerneas and Yveltal in the game! Instead of having to trade one over, you just buy both and in certain areas of the game you get prompted to do the IR thing for them. Maybe for Xerneas before you face the Elite 4, and then Yveltal after you have beat them
aaand, once you captured each of them, the area where they appeared becomes "locked" meaning, you cant capture either of them anymore.

Yeah, I know my idea of "The Challenge of Finding & Capturing Legendary pokemon" is very expensive, but I would go for it. Giving out that extra few dollars for a Legendary Pokemon and it's figure

[synerjee]

As said above, finding and capturing the legendaries should be as challenging as possible. The challenges should be tricky, but not completely unsolvable as that might deter people who dislike puzzles from finding and catching the legendary.

The locations and when the legendaries are able to be captured should be near the end of the game when the true purpose of what the legendaries resemble are clearly known. I'm sure there will be a perfect time and a perfect place.

As for capturing the legendary, the capture rate should be of normal legendary capture rates; not too easy but also not exceedingly difficult. A couple of Dusk Balls or Ultra Balls should be able to do the trick.

[RedWing]

I'd like it if there were no legendaries pre-credits. It's always been a bit of a bother to me that you can capture these supposedly "legendary" Pokemon before even proving yourself by becoming the Champion.

I'd love to see more challenges involving them, also. Not simply traversing a mountain or cave, but having to gather specific items, or completing puzzles. They're legendary for a reason, they shouldn't just be there waiting for you.

And, please, no more Legendaries on routes Absolutely ruined the Musketeer Trio for me.

As for the challenge? I'd like to see special battles where certain tactics and maneuvers don't work or are harder to pull off (For example, the use of Spore/Hypnosis only works 50% of the time). I'd also like it if Legendaries could knock back weak PokeBalls (Like when you try to capture a Trainer's Pokemon) and a message would pop up saying: "You can't capture it with that weak thing!"

[Twilight-kun]

Challenge: Put them in a dark cave filled with level 70 Zubats
Catch rate: raise it to 5, I hate spamming 50 pokeballs to catch them =_=

and I like catching Legendaries in Unfitting pokeballs

"Oh, hey, Arceus" *spams Nest Balls*

[Aerilyn]

Originally Posted by Sydian

Playing B2W2, I liked that concept that they were looking for you, but gameplay wise, it made it boring. So while it has a good reason, it's still something I wouldn't want to see in XY or subsequent games for that matter. The saving grace for legendaries in B2W2 is that there are a few you have to actively seek yourself, so just those three being out like "hey here I am" is overridden by many others that need more effort.

I think they should have used the Suicune approach for the trio in B2W2. Rather than have them just standing there out in the open waiting for you, they'd first play a game of run and chase instead before you finally get to battle / catch them. At least that would have made it a little bit more interesting.

Originally Posted by dontstay96

well not something as hard like the regis in RSE but with a bit of challenge

On the contrary, I would love to see more puzzles involved. Those were a ton of fun in my opinion. It doesn't have to include Braille like in RSE, but something similar would be nice. Anything to add some challenge to the hunt for the new legendaries.

[Forever]

Originally Posted by Twilight-kun

Challenge: Put them in a dark cave filled with level 70 Zubats
Catch rate: raise it to 5, I hate spamming 50 pokeballs to catch them =_=

and I like catching Legendaries in Unfitting pokeballs

"Oh, hey, Arceus" *spams Nest Balls*

That isn't really a challenge if you have a level 71... something and Flash. ;) Although if HMs couldn't be used that'd certainly be more of a challenge. XD;

[Magmaruby and Aquasapphire]

Hopefully they make it like the regis and Beasts...maybe have them hidden than the legend flees from the cavern it's been awaken from...maybe a small minor disaster is caused by the curiosity of the player unleashing said legend.

[ZetaZaku]

The Regi challenge was too difficult for children. At least I couldn't find them as a kid, although I did find about the code, and used up lots of batteries to translate it. Instead of writing them down, I think I translated them directly on paper, which was a bad idea.

It would be nice to actually do something. Maybe like Articuno? That cave is a pain even nowadays. I really hate it haha.