4th Gen D/P/P: Easy and Efficient Pokemon Catching Guide

[Q-Bone]

TehSpriter's Pokemon Catching Guide​

Hi people. I created this guide to help people catch Pokemon in D/P/P a lot easier. This guide will cover Teams, Battle Strategies, Chaining, Shiny Pokemon, Swarms and Miscellaneous aspects.​

Teams​

Firstly, to start the process of catching Pokemon in an easy, efficient way, you will need a team. There a several teams for hunting Shinies, Legendaries and wild Pokemon altogether, but depending on how you play the game, it will vary. For an example, I will show you my team. This is an ideal team. You don't have to, but you should have a Pokemon Hunting team which is somewhat like this:​

Pokemon: Sneasel/Weavile/Scyther/Scizor etc.
Reason: Can easily take Pokemon down to minimum HP with moves like False Swipe. There are more Pokemon that can learn False Swipe than what I listed, but these are, in my opinion, the best. It is essential to have a Pokemon with False Swipe, otherwise you risk killing the target Pokemon (which is a big deal with Legendaries).​

Pokemon: Butterfree/Beautifly/Dustox etc.
Reason: Bug Pokemon are the best Pokemon for inflicting moves which absorb HP (even though you could just use False Swipe), but their main qualities are having several moves which can cause Status Problems, which make a Pokemon easier as a target, and easier to catch.​

Pokemon: A Pokemon with Synchronise and the desirable Nature (optional).
Reason: Empoleon and similar Pokemon have the Synchronise abilty. It states that Synchronise only gives the opponent a Status Problem which the Synchronise Pokemon has. But it does not state an important factor. Most people desire perfect Pokemon. If you want a Pokemon with a certain nature, and a Pokemon with Synchronise has that nature, as long as it is involved in the battle, the caught Pokemon will 'catch' that type of nature.​

Any other Pokemon you would like to bring out with you is fine, but also, I have one more important thing to notice. If you are looking for an Electric or Steel type Pokemon, if a Pokemon has Magnet Pull (for Steel) or Static (for Electric) ability, you will have a higher chance of seeing that type of Pokemon, if it is in your Party.​

Battle Strategies​

This section will be moderately short. With a team which is somewhat similar to mine, you can quickly get your desired Pokemon quickly. Just read and follow:​

1) Search until you find your desired target.
2) Enter the battle with your Status Problem 'inflicting' Pokemon.
3) Paralyze, burn, freeze or whatever (burn and poison isn't recommended).
4) Switch to your False Swipe Pokemon.
5) False Swipe the target Pokemon (until 1HP).
6) Attempt to catch from then on in.
*) Bring your Synchronise Pokemon in before you catch it to give the nature.​

Simple. But with Legendaries, Battle Strategies may become more complex. In Legendary battles, I highly recommend that you freeze the opponent. if you cannot do that, use paralysis, or hypnosis (sleep).​

Chaining, Shinies and Swarms​

Chaining is all about finding Shinies in a fast manner. It is a lot more annoying and impatient than going out and catching Pokemon normally, but it delivers a very high chance of getting Rare and Shiny Pokemon. For this method, you should continue using your Hunting team, and you need to have finished the Pokemon League, and have seen all 150 Pokemon. After talking to the Professors for a bit, you should recieve a PokeNav. This is a Key Item which will be used to find your first Shiny! Register it. Now, you can either go out and attempt to find a random Shiny Pokemon, or instead, you can go to Dawn's house, talk to her Sister, and find out what and where the swarm is.​

In more detail, Swarms are Pokemon which are not usually seen in Sinnoh. You have an even higher chance of seeing a Shiny Pokemon from a Swarm than just a Non-swarm Pokemon. The problem is, the Swarm changes every day, and it may not be the Pokemon you may be wanting.​

Either way, to start Chaining for your Shiny, head to the desired location. Before you do this, is is advised you buy some Ultra Balls and around 100 Max Repels. Step into a spot of grass, use a Max repel, and then press 'Y' to use your PokeNav. You will see several spots of grass shake. Remember on how the grass shaked (if it was a weak, moderate or sparkly shake). Enter the battle, and kill the Pokemon. Now, some grass will automatically shake. Carefully head over to the next grass patch which shook exactly like last time, and ensure it is 4 tiles away. If it is more or less than 4 tiles away, carefully move from left and right repeatedly until you can use your PokeNav again. Use it, and head to an identical patch which is 4 steps away. This will not ruin your chain, but it will continue it. Also, remember to use Max Repels whenevr your previous one ran out, to prevent your chain from breaking.​

Now, this is why it is annoying. To first see a Shiny, you need to get a continous encounter of the same Pokemon 40 or more times. It will take several tries to get to a 40 plus chain. When your luck appears, an unusual glowing patch will appear. It is very distinctive and has a sparkling glow. Once you step on it, a Shiny battle will occur.​

Just a few things before we move on. As I said before, always use a Max Repel when the previous one ran out, to prevent occurance with Non-chain Pokemon. Yes, Chaining is frustrating. Secondly, don't get on your bike when Chaining, it destroys your progress. Also, don't leave the area and don't save your game and turn your DS off, because your going to switch it back on complaining that you lost everything. That's about it for this chapter.​

Miscellaneous​

This section is just to explain or go over anything which is unclear. Firstly, the reason Swarm Pokemon has an increased chance of being a Shiny than a Non-swarm Pokemon as Swarm Pokemon have a higher appearance rate than normal wild Pokemon. Secondly, the PokeNav can only be used in short grass, not long grass, or water. Thirdly, the chance of getting a Shiny child from Shiny parents is exactly the same as getting a Shiny child from normal parents. That chance is very, very low, approximately 1 in 8100. Finally, for those wondering what Pokemon have the Magnet Pull and Static ability; Magnet Pull can be obtained off Magnetons and Magnemites, and Static can be obtained off plenty of Electric Pokemon, such as Pikachu.​

I hope you enjoyed this Guide! For any help, you can reply in this thread, but the easiest way to inform me is by PM me.​

 

[Zebra Thunderhead]

We already have all this covered in the FAQ sticky.

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