Uncatchable Pokemon

[metapod23]

I was just wondering if there was a way we could take special 0x156 for the ghost Pokemon battle in Fire Red and remove the beginning where it has the silph scope identify the ghost - basically just have it open up with the Pokemon identified and no ghost message.

This would be essentially the same as having an uncatchable Pokemon. I'm using JPAN's engine, which allows pretty much any Pokemon to appear, but I want to use it to make various special Pokemon appear in wild battles as actual Pokemon (not ghosts) that are not intended to be captured by the main hero

Having the silph scope or not shouldn't be a problem, since you can just give that to the player before the special and remove it afterwards.

I know there would be some ASM involved, but I'm hoping it wouldn't be overly complicated.

[Darthatron]

Would setting the catch rate to 0 (zero) not have the same effect? If not, I think it would be easier to add a "Branch if zero" command before the catch check routine. Using this seems a tad silly to me.

[Banjora Marxvile]

Originally Posted by Darthatron

Would setting the catch rate to 0 (zero) not have the same effect?

I think the idea is a special event sort of thing, where the Pokemon can be fought then, yet not captured, but other Pokemon of that can be caught later in the wild, like a Mew that you are advised not to catch early on, due to it needing to do something to balance everything out, yet able to catch it later on.

[Darthatron]

In that case, hacking the Pokeball routine to say "Now is not the time to use that..." if a flag is not set would probably be the best option. Frankly, changing the Ghost routine seems like a strange way of doing it. Not to mention it wouldn't work with Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. :\

[metapod23]

Originally Posted by Darthatron

In that case, hacking the Pokeball routine to say "Now is not the time to use that..." if a flag is not set would probably be the best option. Frankly, changing the Ghost routine seems like a strange way of doing it. Not to mention it wouldn't work with Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald. :\

The Marowak/Ghost battle has a routine where, when you throw a Poke Ball, the Pokemon dodges to the side so the ball misses and a message is displayed that says "This Pokemon cannot be captured." That's what I want most of all. If the routine for when the Pokeball is thrown can be changed so that when a certain flag or variable is set, that routine will activate in Fire Red, that would be perfect.

I wish I knew how to locate/display different routines/assembly instructions in the game. If anyone knows the location of the Poke Ball routine and how to hack it to add the Marawak Poke Ball routine when a certain flag/variable is set, let me know.

[Derlo]

Wow..
I have done this routine for over a year ...

To do this simply just set a bite in the right place.
(dont remember where XD).

When I have free time, put a video of it here.

EDIT:


Is not complete.. i forgot inser the routine to remove the text of MAROWAK GHOsT. v

[sonic1]

Yeah i remember this. Derlo, we both worked on this together, dont we remember (im darkrayquaza from myutsu).´

Actually im not in my usual Laptop of hacking, but i believe this is the offset (in ram): 02022B4C <-- Just mess around with values when you're in black screen right before the wild battle to get different effects.

Derlo, confirm the offset plz

~Sonic1

[metapod23]

Originally Posted by sonic1

Yeah i remember this. Derlo, we both worked on this together, dont we remember (im darkrayquaza from myutsu).´

Actually im not in my usual Laptop of hacking, but i believe this is the offset (in ram): 02022B4C <-- Just mess around with values when you're in black screen right before the wild battle to get different effects.

Derlo, confirm the offset plz

~Sonic1

Can you tell me exactly how I would go about changing the values in the ram?

[sonic1]

Go to tools menu in VBA and then go to memory viewer and in the blank box put the offset 02022B4C. Click enter and then edit the first 00 numbers that are in the memory viewer.

The reason you want to do this its because that changes the behaviour of the battle and its type. Example: if you set (exactly when the battle music starts, but before the black screen, WHEN THE VALUE IS 00 IN THAT OFFSET) 01 to that offset you get a wild double battle. if otherwise you put 08 to that offset, you get a trainerbattle (even if its a wildbattle!!). Find the value that makes the pokemon turn uncatchable. I already did that but i forgot what byte is....

~Sonic1

[metapod23]

Originally Posted by sonic1

Go to tools menu in VBA and then go to memory viewer and in the blank box put the offset 02022B4C. Click enter and then edit the first 00 numbers that are in the memory viewer.

The reason you want to do this its because that changes the behaviour of the battle and its type. Example: if you set (exactly when the battle music starts, but before the black screen, WHEN THE VALUE IS 00 IN THAT OFFSET) 01 to that offset you get a wild double battle. if otherwise you put 08 to that offset, you get a trainerbattle (even if its a wildbattle!!). Find the value that makes the pokemon turn uncatchable. I already did that but i forgot what byte is....

~Sonic1

Thanks, after some research I can say that it seems that 0x02022B4D is the byte that determines the ghost battle itself. If it's set to A0, B0, C0, D0, E0, or F0 it becomes an identified ghost (Silph Scope reveals it) Pokemon that can't be caught. If set to 80 or 90 it is the unidentifiable ghost which cannot be caught or battled.

Is this the information I need, and if so, what do I do with it?

EDIT: Also, interestingly, if you change the second part of the byte at that offset, it goes from the old man catching a wild Pokemon to a dialogue box that says "Items can't be used now" whenever you select "Bag."

[sonic1]

Well now you would need to search where is the routine (the part of it) that sets the byte at 02022B4C to 00. In case you haven't noticed yet, the routine writes values to that adress (Which i usually call Battle Flag, so lets call it for now on) 2 times. The first time its for resetting the flag to 00 and the second time is to ADD (NOT SET!! <--IMPORTANT!) a value depending the original event (trainer or wild battle).
To help you, here's the offset of the final write (the one that's going to decide what type of battle it is): 0801065C. At this location you're going to find an asm command "str r1 [r2, #0x0]". This is when the routine sets the the value for the battle. Make a branch there and change r1 into the value whatever A0 or whatever the value you need to put the ghost battle before that command is executed.

~sonic1

[metapod23]

Originally Posted by sonic1

Well now you would need to search where is the routine (the part of it) that sets the byte at 02022B4C to 00. In case you haven't noticed yet, the routine writes values to that adress (Which i usually call Battle Flag, so lets call it for now on) 2 times. The first time its for resetting the flag to 00 and the second time is to ADD (NOT SET!! <--IMPORTANT!) a value depending the original event (trainer or wild battle).
To help you, here's the offset of the final write (the one that's going to decide what type of battle it is): 0801065C. At this location you're going to find an asm command "str r1 [r2, #0x0]". This is when the routine sets the the value for the battle. Make a branch there and change r1 into the value whatever A0 or whatever the value you need to put the ghost battle before that command is executed.

~sonic1

^ But I want to remove the ghost part of the battle, like in the video Derio posted except without the Silph Scope message and transformation animation. The A0 value still causes all these things to happen - I need to alter the way the ghost battle itself works.

[NarutoActor]

What I would do is have a check. If 0x8000 is set to 0x1 then go to the new edited version of the ghost battle, if not continue to the original ghost battle. That way you can have both routines, and have the new routine not be constricted by space.

[metapod23]

Just bumping because I'm still interested in executing this, but still don't know what I'd need to do (what sort of routine I'd need to write and where the original routine is located) to alter the Marowak battle to remove the transforming sequence and the Ghost/Silph Scope text that appears.

[Jambo51]

Originally Posted by metapod23

Just bumping because I'm still interested in executing this, but still don't know what I'd need to do (what sort of routine I'd need to write and where the original routine is located) to alter the Marowak battle to remove the transforming sequence and the Ghost/Silph Scope text that appears.

Do you still NEED the Marowak transformation thing? If not, it would be slightly easier to do. Do you still need the Pokémon in question to dodge the Poké Ball, or do you just want it to be "uncatchable"? (What I mean by this is do you want to be able to get it in a Poké Ball, but can't catch it).

IIRC, there is a message isn't there? I think that'd be easy enough to hack.

Tell me the answers to the above stuff, and I'll see what I can do!

[metapod23]

Originally Posted by Jambo51

Do you still NEED the Marowak transformation thing? If not, it would be slightly easier to do. Do you still need the Pokémon in question to dodge the Poké Ball, or do you just want it to be "uncatchable"? (What I mean by this is do you want to be able to get it in a Poké Ball, but can't catch it).

IIRC, there is a message isn't there? I think that'd be easy enough to hack.

Tell me the answers to the above stuff, and I'll see what I can do!

All I need is the Poke Ball being thrown and the message that says "This Pokemon cannot be caught" when you try to use a Poke Ball.

I don't want any transformations or transformation messages (A wild Ghost appeared; the Silph Scope identified the Ghost" etc.) - I want it to be like the ghost Marowak battle, except as if Marowak wasn't a ghost, lol.

Thanks in a advance for any help.

[Jambo51]

Originally Posted by metapod23

All I need is the Poke Ball being thrown and the message that says "This Pokemon cannot be caught" when you try to use a Poke Ball.

I don't want any transformations or transformation messages (A wild Ghost appeared; the Silph Scope identified the Ghost" etc.) - I want it to be like the ghost Marowak battle, except as if Marowak wasn't a ghost, lol.

Thanks in a advance for any help.

That sounds like a simple edit of the Pokéball throw routine actually. I assume all Poké Balls have a mutual check to have this effect in the Marowak battle, If I can edit this mutual check to include a variable check or something, It should be easy enough to replicate the dodge without any of the other stuff.

[metapod23]

Originally Posted by Jambo51

That sounds like a simple edit of the Pokéball throw routine actually. I assume all Poké Balls have a mutual check to have this effect in the Marowak battle, If I can edit this mutual check to include a variable check or something, It should be easy enough to replicate the dodge without any of the other stuff.

Yes, it would be perfect if I could just have a routine that checks to see if a certain variable or flag is set, and when it is, have the wild Pokemon go into the dodge animation and the dialogue saying the Pokemon can't be captured box come up whenever a Poke Ball is thrown. I just don't know where the Poke Ball routine is located, or where the routine for the Poke Ball dodge in the ghost script is so that it can be called in a new routine.

[NintendoBoyDX]

To clear something up 02022b4c is value checked by several routines (for more than one thing). This value is set at the routine for special 0x156 (this routine is called by a special pokemon battle, not the special). It checks a word at 02022b4c, if the 3rd byte of the word is 80, you don't have the silph scope, marowak doesn't appear and can't be battled. If it's set it to A0 you do have the silph scope, marowak appears and can be battled. Either way, it is still uncatchable. Also I say "3rd byte of the word" but when the game writes the value, it writes it as a halfword.

Example of what the byte would look like: 0000A000, 00008004
Special 0x156 routine: 0807F904

If you go into a wild battle, and have it break at the first write to 02022b4c, then write 0000a000, you'll get the ghost to show up, and the marowak-animation sequence with an uncatchable pokemon. If you write 00008000, you'll get the ghost to show up, but you won't be able to identify or battle it. No matter what, the pokemon is uncatchable. So I'm sure that the catchable/uncatchable value is either stored somewhere completely different, or at 02022b4c at a different point in time.

Also, while testing, I found that setting the last byte to 1C will get you the tutorial battle with Gary/Oak.

The script that the marowak uses: 081634B8

Spoiler:

'---------------
#org 0x1634B8
lockall
textcolor 0x2
msgbox 0x817A2F8 MSG_KEEPOPEN '"Be gone[.]\nIntruders[.]"
special 0x187
compare LASTRESULT 0x2
if 0x1 goto 0x81A7AE0
wildbattle2 0x69 0x1E 0x0 0x6
special 0x188
compare LASTRESULT 0x0
if 0x1 goto 0x81634F5
applymovement MOVE_PLAYER 0x8163512
waitmovement 0x0
releaseall
end

'---------------
#org 0x1A7AE0
release
end

'---------------
#org 0x1634F5
preparemsg 0x817A30C '"The ghost was the restless spirit\..."
waitmsg
checksound
cry 0x69 0x0
waitkeypress
waitcry
msgbox 0x817A342 MSG_KEEPOPEN '"The mother's spirit was calmed.\pI..."
setvar 0x4059 0x1
releaseall
end


'---------
' Strings
'---------
#org 0x17A2F8
= Be gone[.]\nIntruders[.]

#org 0x17A30C
= The ghost was the restless spirit\nof CUBONE's mother!

#org 0x17A342
= The mother's spirit was calmed.\pIt departed to the afterlife[.]


'-----------
' Movements
'-----------
#org 0x163512
#raw 0x11 'Step Up (Normal)
#raw 0xFE 'End of Movements

Special 0x156 is never used, but it's routine is called by the wildbattle2 (or it could be one of the two other special commands for all I know).

0807F730 is a check for a regular pokemon vs wild ghost pokemon battle. If 0 is set then 0 is stored at 02022b4c and you get a regular battle, if 1 is set then you get a unidentified ghost pokemon battle.

Also while messing around, I found out that the tutorial battle vs gary happens when you set the last byte equal to 1c. It does take priority over the ghost battles so that gets mention.

EDIT: I've figured out how make a pokemon uncatchable.
During a battle set the word 02022b4c equal to 0x8000. After refreshing the battle(go into your bag or something), it becomes an uncatchable ghost.

If you set it to 0xA000 however, it becomes an uncatchable pokemon.

It's worth mention that setting it to 0x2000 does not make a pokemon uncatchable. So it's not 1 bit that makes it uncatchable.

0x8000 - (00000000000000001000000000000000) Uncatchable ghost, does not change the name to ghost though.
0xA000 - (00000000000000001010000000000000) Uncatchable pokemon.
0x2000 - (00000000000000000010000000000000) I speculated that it would make the pokemon uncatchable but it does NOT. YOU get a regular battle, a catchable pokemon if you set it equal to this.

- However, the problem with setting it equal to 0xA000 before the battle is the text still prints that a "ghost appears" and then it goes through the animation and prints "it was a mother marowak."
- I think the bit set with 0x2000 is the silph scope bit somehow.

[sonic1]

NintendoBoyDX, In the memory viewer please set to 8bit, so you can see the offsets of my table.


Thats basically what you can mess with the battles.

Hope this helps, because i want this feature too, for my own researchs.

~Sonic1

[Mr.Pkmn]

Originally Posted by sonic1

NintendoBoyDX, In the memory viewer please set to 8bit, so you can see the offsets of my table.


Thats basically what you can mess with the battles.

Hope this helps, because i want this feature too, for my own researchs.

~Sonic1

I wonder if with this we could make use of the third parameter of the trainerbattle command (used for oak's tutorial). It would allow battle tower-like trainers in fire red...

[ShadowMrk]

It seems to me that you guys are drawing this out longer than it has to be. If all you want is the Pokemon to be uncatchable then just do this:

-First, find the place in RAM that holds the current wild Pokemon's catch rate and find at what place it stores that data into a register.

-Then make a check right before the game calculates the catch rate for a certain address that isn't used for anything that you can use to see whether or not this battle is of the uncatchable type.

-If that variable IS set then jump to a custom routine that sets the temporary catch rate to 0 and stores the original catch rate into another unused variable.

-Then make another jump after the catch rate calculation that sets the temporary catch rate back to the original catch rate.

-Then make two more routines, one to set the uncatchable variable and another to clear it. Then use those routines in a script before and after an important wild Pokemon battle. Tada! You don't even have to touch the Ghost Marowak ASM.

It was late at night when I wrote this so if I missed something please tell me. Also, if the game doesn't store the catch rate into a temporary location (which is doubtful that they wouldn't) then doing this would be alot harder ,but not impossible.

[Jambo51]

Originally Posted by ShadowMrk

It seems to me that you guys are drawing this out longer than it has to be. If all you want is the Pokemon to be uncatchable then just do this:

-First, find the place in RAM that holds the current wild Pokemon's catch rate and find at what place it stores that data into a register.

-Then make a check right before the game calculates the catch rate for a certain address that isn't used for anything that you can use to see whether or not this battle is of the uncatchable type.

-If that variable IS set then jump to a custom routine that sets the temporary catch rate to 0 and stores the original catch rate into another unused variable.

-Then make another jump after the catch rate calculation that sets the temporary catch rate back to the original catch rate.

-Then make two more routines, one to set the uncatchable variable and another to clear it. Then use those routines in a script before and after an important wild Pokemon battle. Tada! You don't even have to touch the Ghost Marowak ASM.

It was late at night when I wrote this so if I missed something please tell me. Also, if the game doesn't store the catch rate into a temporary location (which is doubtful that they wouldn't) then doing this would be alot harder ,but not impossible.

While this would work, it's not what the OP actually wants.

I've managed to track down what I believe to be the ghost check for the Pokéball throw. This could be a useful lead.

[metapod23]

Originally Posted by Jambo51

While this would work, it's not what the OP actually wants.

I've managed to track down what I believe to be the ghost check for the Pokéball throw. This could be a useful lead.

Awesome. I really appreciate you looking into it.

[ShadowMrk]

Originally Posted by Jambo51

While this would work, it's not what the OP actually wants.

I've managed to track down what I believe to be the ghost check for the Pokéball throw. This could be a useful lead.

Nonetheless, this has motivated me to do some research on it. If I could the function(s) that display text and a textbox on the screen then we could still do it the way I suggested while giving Metapod what he wants.