4th Gen Pokewalker "!!" and "!!!" exclamation points: Useful to hesitate?

[JuiceeHugS]

Before I go on, I'd like to ask the moderators to not move my thread into the HG/SS thread or any other thread for that matter. Whenever a thread of mine is moved, it doesn't generate many replies or it is totally ignored. This is a specific question/series of questions that I'm asking and I'd like to see this thread develop and generate useful responses.

Based on my experiences so far, when searching for wild Pokemon in bushes and waiting for exclamations points to pop up, I believe that there is a random amount of time that passes by from the moment the exclamation points appear until the moment they go away. For example, it takes about 5 seconds for the first (!) bush before the Pokemon gets away, about 2-2.5 seconds for the second (!) bush, and about 1-2 seconds for the third (!!) bush. I think that if you hesitate just long enough before clicking an !/!! exclamation bush, it will increase the odds of a !! or !!! bush appearing.

Again, I'm not entirely sure about any of this, but do you think that what I'm saying is accurate? Does hesitating before clicking on a bush really help you get more !! and !!!'s? Or are their frequency solely based on luck? If waiting before clicking a !/!! bush doesn't help increase the odds of a !! or !!! appearing, I'd save myself the trouble of letting Pokemon get away from me as a result of waiting too long.

Please share your thoughts and experiences with hunting for Pokemon in !! and !!! bushes, and any certain techniques you use.

 

[myrrh25]

This got me thinking, and I will definetely by trying this next time I use my PokeWalker.

As I have fund it, the more steps you have increases the chance of getting a "!!" and then a "!!!", but hey, there could be more involved with it.

 

[JuiceeHugS]

Yes having more steps increases the odds of rarer, higher-exclamation point bushes to appear. I know that having an advantageous type cuts the amount of required steps for the rarer Groups by 25%, but does it also help you advance to the "!!" and "!!!" bushes? And if so, by how much does it increase the frequency by?

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

You actually need certain amounts of steps just to unlock the !! and !!!, according to Serebii.

Then again, I don't trust that Pokéwalker page after finding a TM after taking 31 steps somewhere.

 

[RuRuBell]

I also usually wait for !! or !!! to pop up in a bush, though sometimes if you wait too long the Pokemon escapes.

 

[John-117]

One time, I got !!! and I met Azurill

 

[Vulpixer]

I've never thought of that before. I'll definitely try it!

 

[Kavii]

You actually need certain amounts of steps just to unlock the !! and !!!, according to Serebii.

Then again, I don't trust that Pokéwalker page after finding a TM after taking 31 steps somewhere.

In regards to the !!! and !! being unlocked by steps and a type advantage unlocking it 25% sooner, I believe that is fully correct as I have tried and tried and tried to see what kinds of Pokemon I would get before the !! and the !!! requirements were met in regards to steps and have never once gotten the !! and !!!. Maybe someone else has had a different experience?

In regards to the TM finding, I 'met' with my friend's Pokemon before I had walked 100 steps and I received a Rain Dance TM and I also found a Sandstorm TM before I reached the 5K mark.

I suspect that the numbers at Serebii and everywhere else are simply very good guesstimates rather than absolutes.

Like how everyone goes 'OMGNO!' at how someone could catch a legendary in one throw with a regular Poke Ball without dealing any damage whatsoever, I think super low percentage chance of variances in the item finding IS possible as I have encountered such situations before.

I suspect that type advantage has something to do with who and what sorts of Pokemon you run into in the Pokewalker and then there has just GOT to be a matter of simple/dumb luck. I have put into the same course different Pokemon - different types, different Pokemon of the same type - and it seems that without fail, some of them have 'better luck' than the others do.

For example, my Scyther roaming around on the Beautiful Beach or whatever that Beach-y path is produced no fewer than 5 incidents of 'Found 50 Watts!' within 5K-7.5K steps in addition to running into Staryu at pretty much every try once I hit 5K.

My Dratini on the other hand had no such luck and is supposed to be at a type advantage. Some advantage!

Anyone else have any similar experiences?

 

[ソラ]

I ran into a !!! in Yellow Forest, but stupid critical hit ):
anyways I'm done with the Pokewalkers for right now xD taking a break :3

 

[JuiceeHugS]

I suspect that the numbers at Serebii and everywhere else are simply very good guesstimates rather than absolutes.

I suspect that too. It'd be nice to see a fully comprehensive guide to the Pokewalker with statistics...if anyone can link me to one that already exists, that'd be great.

Anyway, sometimes I'll accidentally click on a "!" bush as soon as I hover the cursor over it and it will still grant me the next "!" bush. Does this mean that it's possible to get to a "!!!" bush without having to hesitate? (I haven't tried this yet since I'm kinda stingy about wasting valuable watts [I usually get watts when I walk at work...I hate mindlessly shaking the Pokewalker])

 

[Kavii]

I suspect that too. It'd be nice to see a fully comprehensive guide to the Pokewalker with statistics...if anyone can link me to one that already exists, that'd be great.

Anyway, sometimes I'll accidentally click on a "!" bush as soon as I hover the cursor over it and it will still grant me the next "!" bush. Does this mean that it's possible to get to a "!!!" bush without having to hesitate? (I haven't tried this yet since I'm kinda stingy about wasting valuable watts [I usually get watts when I walk at work...I hate mindlessly shaking the Pokewalker])

I've gotten the !! and !!! without hesitating. Actually, it doesn't seem to matter to me if I hesitate or not. And honestly, if you hesitate once the second ! pops up, the chances of missing it completely is higher. At least, in my experience that is true.

I have my Larvitar in my Pokewalker right now and I'm in Yellow Forest trying to catch a Volt Tackle Pikachu and I poked around in the grass at least 3 different times before I got past the ! and the second ! and the !!. After that, I got 3 !!! in a row. I currently have 12K+ steps.

Really, I don't think hesitating or not hesitating matters as I have gotten both single !s and !!!s, but I don't mind testing it out more.

 

[JuiceeHugS]

Thanks for your input! I'll try NOT hesitating, because I do let several Pokemon get away as a result of waiting too long.

 

[GlitchCity]

I ran into a !!! in Yellow Forest, but stupid critical hit ):
anyways I'm done with the Pokewalkers for right now xD taking a break :3

I had that expierence not too long ago, Im still trying for a flying pikachu. I think it takes 10000 steps to get a high precentage according to serebii.

 

[Kavii]

Give it a shot and see what happens. :)

I have a suspicion that the game makers have a formula to determine the probability of catching the !! and !!! Pokemon that involves type-advantages (though honestly, Scyther did not have a type advantage of any sort on Beautiful Beach), which Pokemon is in the pokewalker (I have noticed that that does affect what Pokemon I have available to catch), how rare the !!! Pokemon is (finding Staryu with Scyther was a piece of cake while finding !!! Pikachus were a pain!), and just plain simple chance.

Also, I have been curious to find out if a Pokemon's Happiness level has anything to do with it as well (eg: improved dowsing abilities, finding more watts, better chances of running into the rare Pokemon, etc).

 

[Omn]

Give it a shot and see what happens. :)

I have a suspicion that the game makers have a formula to determine the probability of catching the !! and !!! Pokemon that involves type-advantages (though honestly, Scyther did not have a type advantage of any sort on Beautiful Beach), which Pokemon is in the pokewalker (I have noticed that that does affect what Pokemon I have available to catch), how rare the !!! Pokemon is (finding Staryu with Scyther was a piece of cake while finding !!! Pikachus were a pain!), and just plain simple chance.

Also, I have been curious to find out if a Pokemon's Happiness level has anything to do with it as well (eg: improved dowsing abilities, finding more watts, better chances of running into the rare Pokemon, etc).

I think Happiness does affect cause I carry my Vaporeon around all the time and when I check on it I usually get around fifty watts.

 

[JuiceeHugS]

A happy Pokemon will find more watts for you. I've had my Pikachu give me 10, 20, and 50 watts. I heard that you can find 150 watts, though this hasn't happened to me yet. And I don't know if having a happier Pokemon will increase the odds of finding !! and !!! Pokemon, though it would be awesome if it did.

 

[Kavii]

I carried my Furret around in my Pokewalker and she loves me the most out of everyone in my gang (always cuddling, always looking at me with adoration, always 'putting in extra effort', etc) but she only found 10 to 20 watts where my Scyther who hadn't love me yet (was in the 'really trusts you a lot' range) found 50 watts multiple times.

I'm confused! I'm guessing that maybe this is when type advantages/disadvantages and/or Pokemons being suited to the right course matters?

 

[bobandbill]

For the record I'm fairly sure the numbers given from serebii are from the result of an awful lot of trial and error in a thread over there - many are quite accurate, but maybe some thing slik items may be up in the air... but then again people found out the exact secret ids required to have the 'chance' of finding a shiny on the Pokewalker, etc, so maybe a good amount of that is 100% accurate.

I have no qualms with further discussion on this though - could be a fun Pokewalker-investigation thread in itself, actually. BTW, on the above bit I have read that the amount and/or frequency of having your Pokemon finds you watts depends on their happiness... of course to be really sure, extended amounts of testing would be reqiured. It's got some luck involved in it as well I believe to an extent.

I've had my Pikachu give me 10, 20, and 50 watts. I heard that you can find 150 watts, though this hasn't happened to me yet.

I havn't heard about the 150 watts thing there, and have only gotten 10/20/50 myself.

 

[GlitchCity]

I havn't heard about the 150 watts thing there, and have only gotten 10/20/50 myself.

Well im not sure if your pokemon can find 150 watts (or more) but Im pretty sure you can get more than 50n watts by communicating with your friend.

And I triend the hesitation thoery a few times and the furtherest i got was two "!!'s"

 

[myrrh25]

The interesting thing about the PokeWaker is that it probably has more power and capabilities inside it than the original gameboy did.