What is your preferred way to catch Pokémon?

[Sweet Serenity]

Whenever I play Pokémon, I try to catch every Pokémon that I can on that particular route before moving on. Also, I always ensure that I have a Pokémon that can learn False Swipe and status moves to make catching easier. Also, when I catch Pokémon, I use a guide to see exactly what Pokémon spawn on each route to know if I caught everything before moving on. In what way do you catch your Pokémon?

Do you do it the same way I do?
Do you only catch the Pokémon you want on your team?
Do you use False Swipe or not?
Do you prioritize completing the story first before filling your PokéDex?
Do you not really care too much about catching Pokémon during your play-through?

Tell me your methods!

 

[Drayton]

Only catch when I need a new pokemon for my team and I normally leave their 10% or less remaining HP before I can catch it also like using mean look to lock them in place in case you just encounter roaming legendaries.

 

[Sweet Serenity]

Only catch when I need a new pokemon for my team and I normally leave their 10% or less remaining HP before I can catch it also like using mean look to lock them in place in case you just encounter roaming legendaries.

I have no clue why I never thought to use Mean Look on roaming Pokémon. I mean, it's probably the most simplest thing to do, but I never thought of that. Maybe I just assumed that it wouldn't work? I don't know. lol

 

[Devalue]

Checks maybe ten encounters. Catches anything new. Saves time for completing the Pokedex after the main story. Becomes less thorough once the team fills up. (Still catches anything new.)

Typically relies on one Pokemon for catching duty, barring bad type matchups. Usually knows Thunder Wave or Nuzzle. (Picks up very few Pokemon with a Sleep move, for whatever reason.) Only teaches False Swipe in postgame, due to multiple legendaries ahead. Might do it earlier, temporarily, in the event of a legendary with a self-heal.

Chucks an opening Quick Ball starting in postgame, also. Works fairly well. Begins earlier sometimes, but not until at least deciding the full team.

Avoids looking at guides during a first playthrough for anything other than team Pokemon. Scours them upon hitting postgame, or in challenge runs at any time. Plans ahead for encounters in the latter.

 

[Amore]

I've only had the paper guides as of this year, but I know when I last restarted playing Pokémon in 2017 I used Bulbapedia's walkthroughs. I never used to care about the Pokédex as I knew I couldn't complete it, but when I started playing during lockdown I decided to tally up what, exactly I was missing. So my HeartGold save from that time is super-completed, 488/493 Pokédex with the entire Johto Pokédex completed before I challenged the Pokémon League, thanks to completing the Pokéwalker (hospitality involves too much walking) and spending hours in Safari Zone (plus fudging the clock for Apriballs).

Now I am very much in the vein of OP in that I won't move on until I've caught everything on the route (made an except for Wild Area due to how long it takes, but still spent so much time in there before advancing that I was 10 levels ahead of the next gym at a minimum). I haven't tended towards a dedicated capture Pokémon during the game, but in Gen IV onwards I will always have a Gallade - named after police from film / tv: (Marshal Samuel) Gerard [The Fugitive], Raylan (Givens) [Justified], Sgt. Angel [Hot Fuzz], and PC Butterman [Hot Fuzz]. Considering renaming the last one 'Danny'.

In the early stages of Sword I did find my corgi Cheddar using Nuzzle to be very helpful!

Because I play so slowly I rarely replay games, but I have found in my Shining Pearl playthrough that rather than evolving everything, if its unavailable in the wild and I have one in HOME I've just moved that across for Pokédex completion, means I'm about 80% complete on the Sinnoh 'dex with 7 badges! (Barely bothered with Grand Underground once I left Eterna City too, although I did quite a few quests).

If I get SV close to release (unlikely given I only started playing beyond Gen V in April, by which I mean I've partially completed Gen VIII and not touched the 3DS ones) I'll obviously play through without a guide, which should be an interesting change of pace - more like my Emerald, LeafGreen, and Diamond experiences where I didn't know what I was doing!

 

[Squirtkipfan01]

Catch everything once
Make a team as you go based on favorites or trying new things
Invest in quick balls as early as possible
Profit

 

[The Foogle]

So when i catch a 'mon, it usually goes like this:

Plan A: Use a quick ball, but if that fails/Pokemon's catch rate is too low for a quick ball to work:

Plan B: Status it, usually with Paralysis or Sleep. False Swipe until 1 HP, unless it has a self-damage move, i.e. Take Down, Explosion

Part 2 of Plan B: Chuck ultra balls, or timer/dusk balls depending on the location/situation.

Plan Legendary: Master ball lmao

 

[Corveone]

I normally catch what I care about and move on, 'What I care' meaning what I might add to the team, or what I might want to catch for some other reason.

If a Pokémon I'm not interested about for that playthrough incidentally gets in range for an easy catch, I try to catch it as well, but I don't go out of the way to catch mons that will serve no purpose in the current playthrough.

For my team I allways try to catch them using different Ball types as long as they're available, preferably that match the Pokémon color or theme.

 

[Orion☆]

Well, I have never been particularly interested in completing the Dex during the main story, so I just get the Pokémon I'm interested in for my team. Lately I have been challenging myself to catch all the members of my team in regular Poké Balls (or failing that, Premier Balls because they're still red and white) as well, just to keep some consistency.

 

[Amore]

Lately I have been challenging myself to catch all the members of my team in regular Poké Balls (or failing that, Premier Balls because they're still red and white) as well, just to keep some consistency.

I sometimes do this! It became my default way of playing outside of Johto, until I caught up to the modern era where you can breed the balls. I caught everything available in LeafGreen (minus Mewtwo, who always gets Master Ball, and the roamer because of the glitch with Roar) and Black in a regular Poké Ball!

 

[Zeostar]

Quick Balls.

It's pure laziness.

 

[soulzzii]

if its a pokemon im really looking for:
- i do a quick google search to check their location in game + how easy they are to catch
- stock on poke/great/quick/ premier balls, anything goes lol
- have one pokemon with a move to help me catch them, thunderwave is generally what i use
i did this for vulpix on pokemon silver and for eevee on pokemon X, and i will definely do this for future games

if its an pokemon which im not looking for, just lowering its hp and using a pokeball does the trick, since they probably wont get off the pc lol

 

[ReKoil]

During the playthrough I just catch what I see or happen to bump into, assuming it's a Pokemon I don't yet have in my dex.
Nowadays, after completing the main game, I'll actively hunt down whatever is not in my PokeDex, looking up where it is if I can't find it myself.

False Swipe is great to have, but sometimes none of my mons can learn it and I ain't ditching a team member for it.
Quick Balls are great though... pretty much always toss one at the start of a battle. If the battle lasts more than 10 turns I start chucking Timer Balls. In between that it's usually Ultra or Dusk Balls.

 

[Palamon]

I'm very picky with the Pokemon I catch nowadays because I want to catch the Pokemon I know I'd use. So, my Pokedex entries during my main story playthrough always end up being very low, honestly? After I beat the game, that's when I catch more. There's times in a game where I only have about maybe ~10-20 Pokedex entries registered because I'm not focused on catching, just using the Pokemon I'd like to.

Although, in Sw/sh, I did catch Raid boss mons whenever I could, and did shiny hunt a Skwovet in Shield, so /shrugs.

I don't have a method, though, really. Either use Quick Balls or Ultra Balls. If those aren't available, I just damage the Pokemon and throw whatever else I might have and hope for the best.

 

[_confused_piplup_]

I do things quite mixed. I like to catch some pokemon in the early routes, but box most of them. I firstly try to get my team done. If I am on a challenge or I have a particualr team in mind, I don't even bother catching pother pokemon, than the ones needed. On a normal Journey, I pretty much just go with the flow. If I see a pokemon I like, I catch it. I generally go for completion in the post game and yes, I generally use a paralyzing move to catch a pokemon. That's also because always choosing the water type pokemon, I often find myself with an electric type pokemon in my team. Another thing I do is that I like having all the pokemon in my party of the same kind of pokeball. So, I often catch all the pokemon with a pokeball. As for the others, I often just go with ultraballs. I am a lover of luxury balls as well, but they cost and they aren't available too early.
For tradition, I catch the legendary pokemon with the masterball. I am sentimental on this lol

 

[Piedrozan]

I only catch Pokemon that I use.

 

[Fairy]

Irresponsibility and indiscriminately spamming Pokeballs in every encounter with zero regard for game mechanics or common sense until I'm financially bankrupt or the Pokémon has severe blunt force trauma, whichever happens first. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Fact Checking Gardevoir]

If I can, I use "Thunder Cage + Sword Dance + False Swipe", then my 20 Ultraballs stock. Revert to last save if needed, until the pokémon is caught. If I cannot use any of these moves, I try lowering the pokémon's HP to yellow if not red, then the Ultraballs, etc...
Then, there was this Genesect on Insurgence, who liked to use Destruction on a whim... After a few tries, I went for one move to put its HP to yellow, then Ultraballs from the second turn, etc... Repeated the process 20 times or so until I caught it.

I prefer to do the story first, then start catching more when I have the best means to catch pokémon. I like to catch every pokémon I can get, then make them gain levels, learn new moves and evolve.

 

[Ivysaur]

I always carry a ton of quick and timer balls to be ready for both ends of the spectrum.

Also, sleep powder is your friend.

 

[Fairy]

Also, sleep powder is your friend.

severe blunt force trauma