My strategy for catching legendary Pokėmons

[Polizard]

I remember struggling with Mewtwo a bit as a kid but I can honestly say I don't struggle against legendries to much.


I usually just have over 100 ultra balls use false swipe and then put the Pokemon to sleep and catch it. If it wakes up more than 3 times I usually just paralyze it I honestly never use more than 30 balls.


If false swipe can not hit the Pokemon I just use a move that gets it to red and then follow the original plan.

 

[Bounsweet]

I have a Breloom with False Swipe and Spore that's been pretty reliable. When I encounter legendaries, I usually have a Kirlia in the front of the party with the nature I want, and I have it get KO'd before the battle begins so I can lead with my Breloom. I got a Modest Kyogre with 4 perfect IVs within like 30 minutes using this method.

 

[Sopheria]

In my second Deoxys encounter, I've found that using Spite to whittle down its Recovery PP to be quite helpful--I got it to run out PP pretty quickly. Pokemon such as Deoxys who know recovery are a particular pain to catch, so using a move like Spite (or even Grudge) on it makes things a whole lot easier!

 

[Hikamaru]

I mostly used a Breloom with False Swipe, but there was one that the tactic failed on due to its low Sp. Defense (I think it might have been Cresselia which I only caught after six balls) but I did use Mega Sableye on one and it'd been quite effective at blocking Cresselia's attacks.

 

[Starry Windy]

Lately I've been relying on using Quick Ball and trying to weakening the Pokémon's HP without KO-ing them, and then resort to using Ultra Ball. However, I would resort to using Breloom's Spore + False Swipe combo and utilizing Capture and Attack O-Power (because False Swipe is Physical move) if it comes to tougher Pokémon like Legendaries.

 

[Phillip_]

Try luck with quick ball, and then hypnotise it, take it to red HP and then throw hundreds of ultra balls at it. Usually works for me.

 

[VisualJae]

If it wakes up more than 3 times I usually just paralyze it

In terms of raw increase in chance, you should always use sleep-inducing moves.

Highest multiplier for catch rates is tied between sleep and freeze. Considering there isn't a move that can guarantee freeze, you go for sleep.

Paralysis, poison and burn all have lower multipliers, but are multipliers nonetheless. You only decrease your chances of making a successful capture by switching sleep to paralysis.

Making a successful capture is all about utilizing as many multipliers as you can throw in at once. These all include the catching O Power, which status condition you can inflict, and which ball you use (Quick Ball → niche ball e.g. Dusk Ball → Timer Ball).

 

[esperance]

My "strategy" (because I don't particularly try to maximize my chances or anything) involves whittling down the legendary's HP, throwing in a Pokemon that can take the legendary's attacks, and throwing however many of the Poke Ball I want to catch the legendary with as it takes.

 

[Rousch]

I press the a button in time with the shakes. To my surprise it's easy to catch them but I need to mash the button at three shakes or it may not work. Got an enter, ho-oh, azelf, and several others

I press the a button in time with the shakes. To my surprise it's easy to catch them but I need to mash the button at three shakes or it may not work. Got an enter, ho-oh, azelf, and several others

Sorry autocorrect has messed me up several times

 

[Dunsparce]

I press the a button in time with the shakes. To my surprise it's easy to catch them but I need to mash the button at three shakes or it may not work. Got an enter, ho-oh, azelf, and several others

Digging through the coding of all the pokemon games revealed that pressing any button while a pokeball is wiggling actually has no effect whatsoever. The rumor that it actually does something has been around since 1st gen, but it isn't true. Nowadays I don't push anything and I can catch things easily because whether or not a pokemon is successfully caught is actually determined by things that, while we can manipulate to a point by giving them status effects and lowering their health, still is up to the random number gods.

The situations you were in were merely coincidences that has nothing to do with the buttons you pressed.

 

[Rousch]

Digging through the coding of all the pokemon games revealed that pressing any button while a pokeball is wiggling actually has no effect whatsoever. The rumor that it actually does something has been around since 1st gen, but it isn't true. Nowadays I don't push anything and I can catch things easily because whether or not a pokemon is successfully caught is actually determined by things that, while we can manipulate to a point by giving them status effects and lowering their health, still is up to the random number gods.

The situations you were in were merely coincidences that has nothing to do with the buttons you pressed.

Huh.....guess I'm just lucky then. Usually only takes 10 balls

 

[GiovanniViridian]

Recently I tried to catch Rayquaza in Pokemon Ruby and I managed to catch it within 2 tries. (As in, restarting and reloading) I wasted my Master Ball for Groudon (for some reason) so I'm left with my Gyarados' Ice Beam and Ultra Balls and hope for the best.

 

[Megan]

I've used Gallade in X and Breloom in OR and they both worked pretty well. But thinking about it, Smeargle is probably the best choice for catching (any) Pokemon. Give it something like Spore/Thunderwave+False Swipe+Soak+Recovery/support move and you should be good to go.

Spore/Thunderwave give you a better catch multiplier, False Swipe allows you to get its HP down and Soak makes sure, that all your moves actually hit. The reason it's neccessary is because of Grass types being immune to Spore, Electric types being immune to paralysis (in gen 6 at least) and Ghost types being immune to Normal type attacks, which False Swipe belongs to.

Whether you use Spore or Thunderwave depends on if you want to use Spore every 3-4 turn, since sleep only lasts 1-3 turns (but with a higher multiplier), or if you want a consistent status that has a decent multiplier and occasionally fully paralyzes the opponent, giving you another free turn.

As for balls:
- Quick Balls for an easy first turn catch, especially when the Pokemon has a high catch rate (cover legends, etc.)
- Dusk Balls when catching at night and in caves
- Net Balls when using Soak on the Pokemon you want to catch

It's also useful if the rest of the team has all moves that are neccessary for the game (HMs for area accessability, etc.) and having some backup that can finish the job in case Smeargle faints is also nice.