Capturing Legendaries in Pokeballs

[JohnnyGolduck]

I must say I cheated when I played Black and White. My friend had an action replay and he gave me 99 Masterballs so all the Legendary Pokemon I caught were with ease. Since then I figured I'll go back to all the games I have and try to capture all the available Legendary Pokemon in Pokeballs. No Ultra Balls or Great Balls or Quick Balls. Just Pokeballs.

I'm sure a bunch of you guys have done this. How difficult is it? Are there any tips or tricks to it? I caught Kyogre with a Pokeball and he seemed fairly easy but I heard whatever Legendary is on the cover of a game, it's easier to catch. Any truth to that?

 

[Fannie]

I do this every playthrough. I like all my Pokemon in uniform balls but now that I'm aiming for bankballs I might mix it up. It can take a few restarts for me. You need a lot of patience.

Although, to my surprise I caught Kyogre using one Pokeball. I don't know if that's happened to anyone else? I thought at the time that the game made you automatically catch it or something because it's never happened before.

 

[8bitpokemon]

Its really easy to catch legendaries with just pokeballs. First, stack up on as much pokeballs as you can, and have a team full of stalls or false swipers. Then, save before the pokemon and battle! I normally catch them first try. If you fail, soft reset.

 

[OuterTsuchinoko]

I used to do this for the older games, now I just go with great/ultra balls. I still throw pokeballs every so often to see if it'll get lucky.

As for tips it's really as simple as doing what you normally do to catch a pokemon, status effect them and keep them at low HP. Then chuck as many balls until you catch it.

 

[Hiatus]

I've done this a couple of times before--capturing legendaries with PokeBalls only. It's not easy at all, I'd say; it requires a lot of time and patience.

 

[Imperator161]

I don't generally bother, as I tend to reset all of my legendaries for good IVs nowadays, and I get sick of having a difficult catching job over and over again. If I can get a nice color scheme with a particular ball, I go for that. Otherwise, I just use dusk balls.

That said, the theory is fairly straightforward, and is the same one I use for hard-to-catch Pokemon besides legendaries (though I don't normally need to bother). Put the Pokemon to sleep and false swipe it to 1 HP (assuming it doesn't have a recoil move; if it does, and it's a normal type move, use a ghost type). Then, chuck Pokeballs at it until one sticks. When it wakes up, put it back to sleep, and if it can recover HP, lower it back down to 1 HP again.

 

[JohnnyGolduck]

So far I've been using Breloom with False Swipe and Stun Spore and Spore (for pokemon that can't be paralyzed) Also have an Aurorus with Thunder Wave in case it's a grass type. Since Brelooms damaging attacks are Mach Punch and False Swipe, I'm gonna have to switch some stuff around for Giratina.

 

[noahr94]

When we were still in middle school (or final years of elementary school, one or the other) my big brother caught Regirock with a Poke Ball on Pokémon: Sapphire on his first try. I was so jealous. Until about a near decade later, I caught Terrakion with a Great Ball on OR.