[Legends: Arceus] Who is your "catcher"?

[Sir Mister]

So as we know, KO'ing opposing Pokemon is easy. Sometimes, a little Too easy. Whether you're facing off against a Legendary / Mythical, or just a level 13 Burmy of a type you need which popped out of a tree against your level 60+ party, the real challenge all too often is keeping both your pokemon and the pokemon facing you alive long enough to catch it.

To that end, there's some common things which help:
- Bulky defensive stats
- Good defensive typing
- False Swipe or other moves guaranteed to get them low but not KO
- Non-Damaging Status condition infliction, the more accurate (like Thunderwave and Spore) the better
- HP Recovery Moves like Roost save on potion costs

So who are you using? For me it's Scizor, the great typing, minimal weaknesses, strong attack with False Swipe does good enough, and it's a great pokemon to use. It's far from the only viable choice however. So when you're in battle but need to capture rather than KO a Pokemon, who do you turn to in your party?

 

[Sheep]

I barely have a couple. My best two are Machamp and Leafeon because they have two weak moves I can use that most likely would not faint something - Bullet Punch and Quick Attack. I don't use any status-inflicting moves since they can shake them off more easily in this gen, plus catching things is not too hard for me fortunately. Scizor with False Swipe would have been perfect if I hadn't already gotten so used to my current team. :x

 

[Corveone]

From my definitive team it was mostly Electivire, (Thunder Wave, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch)

Reliable typing with just one weakness, Thunder Wave is self-explanatory, and if I needed to catch a low level Pokémon usually using whichever Punch was not very effective did the trick. Debuffing moves' power using Agile style was also helpful quite a few times.

Other than that, Kirlia/Gardevoir also helped earlier in the game with Hypnosis, which gets a nice accuracy boost in Strong style.

 

[WildShiro]

I don't really have a catcher, as soon as the battle starts I lob a heavy ball and it usually catches it instantly. If I really need to weaken I just use one of my training mons( either they're on the team to evolve or to use a move for the Pokedex)

 

[TwilightBlade]

I'm using a level 80+ Gliscor with False Swipe. I've been needing to get a Gallade or Scizor as my main catcher, but I obtained Gliscor's evolutionary item first. It then became a part of my main team. It has bulky defenses and immunity to Ground/Electric. It has been plenty useful for the post game / filling up the Pokedex.

 

[Lucifer]

I never found catching difficult enough to use a "catcher" but I sometimes used Sleep Powder Torterra. He ironically was probably my most arduous capture as I did it while under-leveled (granted, I have not faced Arceus yet).

 

[giradialkia]

In most games, Legends Arceus included, I get myself a Gallade. He learns False Swipe and Hypnosis, so that's all I really need.

Before him, I just dealt damage as carefully as I could, then switched to my Torterra (or Parasect) and used Sleep Powder (or Spore).

 

[Amore]

I've become a Gallade fan too - when I started playing Pokémon again in 2020 (no prizes for guessing what lead to that), I resolved to actually capture legendaries with good natures and IVs (but apparently decided this after my HeartGold playthrough - despite completing the Pokéwalker and coming a Glameow and Purugly away from the Diploma on the National 'dex). Of all the options I was stoked that I could actually use a pokémon I liked - was always a Ralts fan, then when Gen IV gave him an evo with dual-wielding sword arms?! Heck yeah. Hypnosis, False Swipe, Swords Dance, and Mean Look holding Leftovers.


I name them after fictional U.S. Marshals - (Samuel) Gerard in Gen IV, Raylan (Givens) in Gen V, Cahill in Gen VIII.

My Gen IV was a bit trial and error, I bred and EV'd for maximum offense and speed. In Gen V (well, bred it in Gen IV so Raylan is Gerard's son) I instead used Smogon's capture guide to note the highest speed stat I'd need to hit to beat all legendaries, made sure I could hit it (0 EVs at Lv. 100), then maximised Attack, hit the highest Leftovers number I could, then put the rest in his weakest Defence stat.

Obviously with the all the changes to PLA I won't be able to nickname...probably won't do whatever passes for IV-breeding in this game either. But I will have the fun of pretending it's Gerard's ancestor!