Superstitious Pokemon Gaming

Started by Necrum October 2nd, 2014 10:40 AM
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  • 25 replies

Necrum

I AM THE REAL SONIC

Male
Portland, OR
Seen August 20th, 2019
Posted July 13th, 2017
5,080 posts
10.9 Years
We all do it, we all have something that we think is lucky or unlucky, or behaviors that we insist affect the gameplay but really don't, and all kinds of crazy stuff with absolutely no hard evidence. What are your superstitious habits or beliefs in Pokemon games?

For me, Red Gyarados will forever be the most lucky Pokemon ever, and shiny Gible will be the bane of my existence, as the Pokemon I blame for me losing about $400+ in handheld gaming stuffs the same day I caught it.

Hiatus

Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 24th, 2021
12,283 posts
10.8 Years
I used to believe that when capturing legendary Pokémon, closing your eye-lids and saying something along the lines of "please catch" repeatedly would drastically raise the chance of you actually being successful. Had this belief for an extremely long time, because when I was first attempting to get a hold of Lugia in Pokémon Silver, this is what I did, and it... did work, haha.

Though, above doesn't have any effect in actuality at all, but it's still a fun thing to rely on; personally, I find it to be pretty helping when it comes to motivation, and prevents me from giving up.

Alongside, another thing I used to believe is that if you'd constantly hit A while trying to catch a trainer's Pokémon, it would glitch and things would actually proceed. It never did happen, but whenever I did such a thing and failed, I'd still keep me believing by saying to myself "you're not doing it right."
Age 33
Female
Goldenrod City
Seen March 28th, 2021
Posted October 19th, 2014
398 posts
14.9 Years
If I'm running around a patch of grass and whatever I'm looking for hasn't shown up...I have to change directions and run up and down instead of left and right, or vice versa. Or maybe they're all hanging out in the grass on the very edge or the bit in the very center...

Maybe it's weird, but it makes me feel better to think I'm not being unlucky, I just haven't looked in the "right" spot yet. :P

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Wicked3DS

Until the very end.

Age 31
Male
New Jersey
Seen February 24th, 2022
Posted October 5th, 2021
4,592 posts
9.7 Years
I heard something where if you held A when you choose an attack and let go just as the text displayed, you would get a critical hit. Not sure if that actually worked in the earlier games, but I would do it later on too. I also close my eyes or close my DS when trying to catch a Legendary/difficult Pokémon to catch.

Musicality

~Musical Melodies~

Male
Cherrygrove City
Seen November 16th, 2014
Posted November 13th, 2014
306 posts
8.7 Years
Ahaha. Don't know where I heard the rumors from, but I would always press B and up when catching a Pokemon because a friend of mine told yours truly a few years ago that it would really raise the catch rate. Especially since I did try the button presses when I was down to my last five Pokeballs when catching Victini, and apparently it did work at the last Pokeball. I've been doing it ever since, despite what they all say. Ignorance is bliss, no? xD





Milotic, the Tender Pokemon

"Milotic is said to be the most beautiful of all the Pokemon.
It has the power to becalm such emotions as hostility and anger to quell bitter feuding."




Hiatus

Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 24th, 2021
12,283 posts
10.8 Years
If I'm running around a patch of grass and whatever I'm looking for hasn't shown up...I have to change directions and run up and down instead of left and right, or vice versa. Or maybe they're all hanging out in the grass on the very edge or the bit in the very center...

Maybe it's weird, but it makes me feel better to think I'm not being unlucky, I just haven't looked in the "right" spot yet. :P
I used to do something similar, haha. Definitely helps in lending motivation, and keeping you away from giving up.
Age 28
Male
Distortion World
Seen December 13th, 2020
Posted February 26th, 2018
2,473 posts
12.9 Years
Oh, great topic.

It's funny how everyone did the B + down thing for catching Pokemon.

I, on the other hand had the entirely different method I stzill use.

When I am trying to capture a Pokemon, I tilt the Nintendo DS Lite in the direction of the Pokeball tilting, as if I am the one doing the pokeball shaking thing. right...left....right. :D

"The future you see is the future you get."

Altairis

take me ☆ take you

Female
database database
Seen December 29th, 2022
Posted October 5th, 2018
5,170 posts
11 Years
Like many others, I thought that pressing down buttons would increase chances of capture, but instead of pressing one button I thought the more you pressed the more your luck would increase... haha. I really don't think that there's anything else I'm superstitious about, I'll think about it~

ORAS/XYBW

PlatinumDude

Nyeh?

Age 29
Male
Canada
Seen July 31st, 2020
Posted May 30th, 2020
12,958 posts
12.7 Years
I believed that certain button combinations made it easier to catch Pokemon. The one I was taught was to hold down A and B, let go of A as the Poke Ball opens while holding "down" on the D-Pad, and mashing the D-Pad as the ball shakes. Now I know it doesn't really work anymore.

Brendino

The Ruins of Alph
Seen 16 Hours Ago
Posted April 6th, 2023
8,567 posts
13.5 Years
When I was younger, I found that Down+B never worked for me, so I was convinced that I wasn't doing it right. Eventually I tried Up+B when Pokemon Gold came around, and I had a great string of luck using it, so that's what I continued doing in future games. Even to this day, I know that pressing Up+B doesn't actually do anything, but it's almost become a habit that I have to press it whenever I'm trying to catch a Pokemon.

CJoE

スマイルは無料で �� �� ��

Male
adventuring ♥
Seen January 30th, 2017
Posted December 27th, 2016
1,180 posts
8.9 Years
When i was a kid, i usually press the A button when the pokeball threw out and everytime it roles. But when i tried in Pokemon black, it didn't work but i tried other method like pressing B when the ball threw out.


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Zeffy

g'day

Male
Seen December 1st, 2022
Posted January 30th, 2021
6,395 posts
14.1 Years
I had a belief when I was a child that the characters in the game could hear me. So naturally, every time I faced a trainer, I talk to my handheld. Additionally, I screamed every time I try to capture a legendary. My parents got so pissed that they took away my game lmao

Khoshi

とてもかわいい!

Age 24
Male
Sydney, Australia
Seen January 3rd, 2020
Posted October 16th, 2019
2,646 posts
10.1 Years
Clicking the a button at the exact time a poke ball would close when catching a Pokemon would raise the chances of successfully capturing the Pokemon
I've done that, and it's...actually worked a few times. Though, I later learned it was all luck, instead of my Konami Code-esque button inputs. I also used to do other things in addition to the rhythmic A button taps, like:

- tapping the touch screen rhythmically
- doing button combinations
- holding every button on the DS and
- doing a combination of the 3rd and 2nd methods.

It usually gave me the illusion of working, so I continued doing so until I came upon a forum post somewhere saying it didn't help.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
Like most others I used to think pressing certain buttons increased the chance of successful captures. Turns out that was never indeed the case.
Gone forever for personal reasons.
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Pendraflare

Age 32
Male
Pennsylvania
Seen July 30th, 2021
Posted March 29th, 2021
6,263 posts
9.8 Years
In my early days I was always told that mashing A would raise the chances of catching things with lower catch rates, i.e. legendaries. I may have had moments of doing Up+A or something like that, too.
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May someday resurface in full. We'll see what happens down the road!

Arc

Male
ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ
Seen March 17th, 2018
Posted January 31st, 2017
2,023 posts
15 Years
Back when I played Emerald, I had embedded into my head that Premier Balls had a higher chance to catch legendaries, solely based on the fact that I caught both Groudon and Kyogre in Premier Balls, haha. Of course, by Gen IV, I learnt that was false. But, in the back of my mind, I feel like I should always carry Premier Balls when catching legendaries. (funnily enough, I have a dedicated box full of legendaries that have been caught in Premier Balls.)

Hiatus

Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 24th, 2021
12,283 posts
10.8 Years
Zeffy--I used to do the same, sort of! Didn't exactly believe that my player would be able to listen to whatever I happen to be saying, but I still thought screaming from time to time, especially when you're frustrated in general and want to move forward (whether it be when capturing a legendary, trying to defeat some Gym Leader or Elite Four, and so forth), things would actually go your way.

Though, it didn't always help, haha. I wish it did.
Seen January 15th, 2015
Posted November 3rd, 2014
25 posts
8.6 Years
Down-B for catching pokemon. For a while it was madly mashing all available buttons.

For a long time as a kid, I thought nicknaming your pokemon would increase their luck/strength/leveling. I relied religiously on the name rater's judgement.

I also thought doing certain things with the egg would make it hatch faster. - Like biking. It ended up working, but more due to the fact that I was constantly taking 'steps' and not stopping to battle in the tall grass. (verses the idea that biking was inherently better for the egg)

I got into the habit of trying to obey the 'rules' of the world - Like, if there's a shrine for a certain god pokemon, respecting its boundries or having my character read inscriptions and stand for a while 'paying respects'
Like, it doesn't actually DO anything, but I become more immersed in the world if my character is acting like a person in the world, instead of a telescope into the world for me.
Hail Helix