They are the best for level 1 dungeons in MD1 though lol
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The Hardest Pokémon to Catch?
- Thread starter Altissimo
- Start date
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Xurkitree? yet. That thing is very annoying with Electric Terrain and Hypnosis to counter your own sleepers. And then Thunderbolt comes.
I literally had my team almost wiped out by him when trying to catch ideal Hidden Power one (granted, with Luxury Ball, but still)....
Maybe if I brought a Ground....
I literally had my team almost wiped out by him when trying to catch ideal Hidden Power one (granted, with Luxury Ball, but still)....
Maybe if I brought a Ground....
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He has a physical grass move that helps against Ground Pokemon (Was it Power Whip ?)
CTNC
Doesn't know how to attack
I think anything with Self Destruct, Explosion, Teleport, or Final Gambit is worth mentioning for obvious reasons. I save my Master Ball for in case I run into a Shiny that can KO itself or flee. (Ever since I started saving them for that, I haven't used any Master Balls.)
Xurkitree in Luxury Ball is annoying enough to makes me very thankful I prefer the Beast Ball for him, but he's not the worst. Dusk Ball Guzzlord is pain to catch. He may not sweep you, but it has an even lower Catch Rate of 15, can kill itself with Confusion from Thrash, and it all gets even worse if you're going for one for a Trick Room team. Just a tip for those who haven't caught it yet, don't use Shedinja as your False Swipe Pokemon. Guzzlord knows Gastro Acid.
Lightning Rod Alolan Marowak trivializes the encounter.
I know that this definitely isn't the hardest pokemon to catch, but it took me forever to catch a beldum for my team in Sun. Imagine trying to catch a pokemon with a catch rate of three, while not knowing where the thunder wave tm is, all while it keeps calling down allies, which barely even gives you a chance to attempt to catch it.
Deleted User 400951
Banned deucer.
It's even worse when all it knows is a recoil move and it hits decently hard so that recoil stacks up. I usually bring sleep instead of paralysis though, which really helps with Beldum especially. The allies are ridiculous and I've complained about them in the Annoying Things thread I think. If I didn't, I guess I might.
Thankfully I picked rowlet, and by then it had become a Decidueye, which meant I didn't have to deal with take down.
But you'd have to deal with Struggle if it was defiant enough to not let itself be caught.
So I'm mostly through completing the aloladex and there was one mon that really stuck out. 1% encounter rates like kanga are dumb, but the few mons that only appear during weather from SOS really take the cake and gabite is by far the worst offender. Unless you grab the safety goggles or have skarmory or something along those lines, you're either taking constant weather damage or weak to the ground types you have to farm off of. Your choices are Alolan Dugtrio, a mon that KOs its allies with Magnitude, Trapinch, which is fairly rare on its own to make up for it being the easiest to farm off of but also can stop switching and spams dig, and sandile, which side and front swaggers to confuse you or KO allies, and gets embargo, and spams dig for good measure. Then gabite itself is a 10% chance in sand and is plenty obnoxious on its own with sand veil and take down to self KO. It may not have the low encounter rates of other stuff but it feels far more like an exercise in patience that's only really rivaled by rse feebas and I assume some kanto safari zone stuff.
Shiny exploding Geodude in Emerald's Magma Hideout. Never forget.
same except in Platinum
Definitely this. Unlike the legendary hounds and Latios/Latias that are also hard to catch there is nothing to keep Chansey from running. It's literally either hit or miss. Bait? Rock? Ball? Pathetic gamble.
EDIT: Literally this. Very accurate.
I think the rarest Pokemon I ever caught was a Shiny Hitmontop from Colosseum. I mean, I knew it was rare because it was shiny but I didn't know how rare it was & wish I held onto it.
That would probably be followed by a shiny Wobuffet in Ruby.
The most rewarding capture for me however, was the first time I caught Articuno in Red. I didnt have any strategy guides or even know I was going to encounter that in seafoam island. And it was a pain in the ass because the poke balls would actually miss. But man, did it feel good to see the Pokedex entry. Ended up using that Articuno for the rest of my playthrough & that feeling was something I always looked forward to when playing Pokémon games.
That would probably be followed by a shiny Wobuffet in Ruby.
The most rewarding capture for me however, was the first time I caught Articuno in Red. I didnt have any strategy guides or even know I was going to encounter that in seafoam island. And it was a pain in the ass because the poke balls would actually miss. But man, did it feel good to see the Pokedex entry. Ended up using that Articuno for the rest of my playthrough & that feeling was something I always looked forward to when playing Pokémon games.
Deleted User 400951
Banned deucer.
TIL that Nintendo is fine with showing a person thinking about throwing a rock at an animal.Definitely this. Unlike the legendary hounds and Latios/Latias that are also hard to catch there is nothing to keep Chansey from running. It's literally either hit or miss. Bait? Rock? Ball? Pathetic gamble.
EDIT: Literally this. Very accurate.
I'll edit this and make it not a shitpost later
My steps for catching RB Chansey:Definitely this. Unlike the legendary hounds and Latios/Latias that are also hard to catch there is nothing to keep Chansey from running. It's literally either hit or miss. Bait? Rock? Ball? Pathetic gamble.
EDIT: Literally this. Very accurate.
1. Save
2. Encounter
3. Throw Rock. Every time.
If it flees, then tough, but without a rock you're going to miss. This goes for Pinsir, Scyther, Tauros, and Kangaskhan as well. Speaking of Tauros, it is an incredible Pokemon for the rest of the game, rivaling Snorlax as a powerful Normal but actually moves first sometimes. Kangaskhan is similar.
As mentioned earlier in the thread, I think numbers-wise, RS Wynaut is the hardest Pokemon to get purely because Mirage Island. Nothing else comes close to it's rarity.
I would say Guzzlord, actually. Yes, it seems to be extremely weird to be "a difficult to catch pokemon" despite Beast Balls work really well on this guy, but thing hits like a goddamned tank (because of its massive level and the +2 attack it was given since the start of the turn), and can easily plough giant holes into your team even though it shouldn't be THAT threatening, and is so hard to catch. To add fuel to the fire this guy snowballs like hell because of Beast Boost and hits even more harder until it is too late to block it. Almost got my team ruined by this thing when I was trying to get a better nature/spread.
I wonder how Chansey does not faint from the physical attacks you throw at it :P
But at least it appears in Cerulean Cave, so it's not THAT difficult unless you want to use it before beating the Elite Four (why would you, I dunno).
Fortunately Celesteela does quite well as a wall all things considered - even with 0 IVs and EVs at base level it avoids the 2HKO from Thrash off a 31 IV +Atk Guzzlord. Doesn't prevent it from killing itself with confusion damage unfortunately, which is why Alolawak is also pretty good, but it does require a pretty high level and some EVs in order to survive two Heavy Slams in the worst case scenario.
Feebas hasn't been mentioned yet but maybe that's cheating, as once you find one catching it isn't so hard.
But the hard part is finding the dang thing. Especially in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum where it's on Mt. Coronet and there's only 4 spots with one out of 528 water tiles (so, 1/132 chance). This is worse than Route 119 in R/S/E, which is 6/436 or 1/73.
To make it worse, Feebas had an increased appearance rate on the tiles in R/S/E, but not in D/P/Pt. So assuming you only fished on each tile once the chance of missing Feebas on a Feebas tile was a low 1/64 on Route 119 but a high 1/16 on Mt. Coronet.
And for the cherry on top, the water tiles in Gen 3 were dependent on the trendy saying in Dewford, which didn't change that often unless you did a lot of multiplayer (unlikely, given no online capabilities in Gen 3). But in Gen 4 it changes every single day.
But the hard part is finding the dang thing. Especially in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum where it's on Mt. Coronet and there's only 4 spots with one out of 528 water tiles (so, 1/132 chance). This is worse than Route 119 in R/S/E, which is 6/436 or 1/73.
To make it worse, Feebas had an increased appearance rate on the tiles in R/S/E, but not in D/P/Pt. So assuming you only fished on each tile once the chance of missing Feebas on a Feebas tile was a low 1/64 on Route 119 but a high 1/16 on Mt. Coronet.
And for the cherry on top, the water tiles in Gen 3 were dependent on the trendy saying in Dewford, which didn't change that often unless you did a lot of multiplayer (unlikely, given no online capabilities in Gen 3). But in Gen 4 it changes every single day.
Unfortunately I am playing Sun at that time and no Celesteela for me :/
Not difficult to find, but difficult to survive and actually catch, and I'm surprised this one hasn't come up yet after nearly two pages.
You know how the cover legendaries of most Pokemon games are pretty easy to catch starting with Dialga and Palkia in Diamond and Pearl? Game Freak probably sets their catch rates in the 45 - 70 range so the player can viably capture these Pokemon when they encounter such a titan in the main story. Being able to snag a powerful Pokemon like Xerneas when you aren't even the Champion yet is an empowering moment. Unfortunately, the first time Game Freak ever FORCED an encounter with a Legendary as part of the story, at the time, you could not have chosen a worse Pokemon to fight than Groudon in Ruby or Kyogre in Sapphire.
These two are LUDICROUS to fight at this point. Not only do they have stats rivaling those of Mewtwo, but both of them have abilities which alter the weather in their favor for the ENTIRE battle unless you provide your own weather effect. Furthermore, Groudon knows Bulk Up, and Kyogre Calm Mind. It's no Recover, but boosting their own stats makes these Pokemon even more impressive threats than they already were.
All of this said, if you asked me whether one is more difficult than the other, I'd have to weigh things in Groudon's favor for a couple of reasons.
1.) Kyogre is a Water Pokemon, which means Net Balls are more effective against it, giving you more options to easily catch Kyogre. There isn't an equivalent Ball for Ground-types like Groudon.
2.) Kyogre's Drizzle compounds with its Water-type to turn Hydro Pump into a 270 power attack! However, neither Ice Beam nor Body Slam are boosted by the rain, although Ice Beam can become more potent through Calm Mind. As a Ground-type, Groudon is not gaining STAB from Fire Blast, and Fire Blast does come off Groudon's weaker offense. However, Drought grants Fire Blast a power boost anyway (180 power), and being a Ground Pokemon sizes Groudon's Earthquake more, the latter of which comes from Groudon's stronger offense. And with Bulk Up, both Earthquake and Slash get better. Basically, when you fight Kyogre, you're facing one lethal attack, while the other two are good or even meh. Groudon, however, has two dangerous attacks plus one which is still pretty good thanks to Groudon's high Attack.
3.) Drizzle doesn't defend from any of Kyogre's weak points, but Drought helps Water attacks fizzle out in this fight. TBF, Drought would make Solarbeam more deadly against Groudon, but who uses Solarbeam in-game?
One minor point in Kyogre's favor of difficulty, though: nothing in Hoenn is immune to Water and Ice damage (Ghosts are immune to Body Slam, though). Yes, Water Absorb was an ability in RS, but Poliwag, Lapras, Vaporeon, Wooper, and Mantine weren't in RS, so no Pokemon in Hoenn had Water Absorb. Meanwhile, you can find Pokemon who are immune to each of Groudon's attacks (Ghosts for Slash, Fliers or Levitators for Earthquake, Duskull for the previous two, Vulpix / Ninetales for Fire Blast).
AFAIK, this was still the age when you got one shot at catching the legendary Pokemon, too; if you blew it by KO'ing Groudon / Kyogre, tough luck.
It wasn't just that these Pokemon were difficult to catch due to low catch rates, nor is it just them being powerful. Groudon and Kyogre were two of THE most powerful Pokemon in the entire series when RS were released because they bend the game to their favor so much on top of being powerful regardless of their abilities. Making a boss fight like this MANDATORY in those games is absolutely brutal and a mistake which should not be repeated.
...which is one of several reasons why I think ORAS sucks.
You know how the cover legendaries of most Pokemon games are pretty easy to catch starting with Dialga and Palkia in Diamond and Pearl? Game Freak probably sets their catch rates in the 45 - 70 range so the player can viably capture these Pokemon when they encounter such a titan in the main story. Being able to snag a powerful Pokemon like Xerneas when you aren't even the Champion yet is an empowering moment. Unfortunately, the first time Game Freak ever FORCED an encounter with a Legendary as part of the story, at the time, you could not have chosen a worse Pokemon to fight than Groudon in Ruby or Kyogre in Sapphire.
These two are LUDICROUS to fight at this point. Not only do they have stats rivaling those of Mewtwo, but both of them have abilities which alter the weather in their favor for the ENTIRE battle unless you provide your own weather effect. Furthermore, Groudon knows Bulk Up, and Kyogre Calm Mind. It's no Recover, but boosting their own stats makes these Pokemon even more impressive threats than they already were.
All of this said, if you asked me whether one is more difficult than the other, I'd have to weigh things in Groudon's favor for a couple of reasons.
1.) Kyogre is a Water Pokemon, which means Net Balls are more effective against it, giving you more options to easily catch Kyogre. There isn't an equivalent Ball for Ground-types like Groudon.
2.) Kyogre's Drizzle compounds with its Water-type to turn Hydro Pump into a 270 power attack! However, neither Ice Beam nor Body Slam are boosted by the rain, although Ice Beam can become more potent through Calm Mind. As a Ground-type, Groudon is not gaining STAB from Fire Blast, and Fire Blast does come off Groudon's weaker offense. However, Drought grants Fire Blast a power boost anyway (180 power), and being a Ground Pokemon sizes Groudon's Earthquake more, the latter of which comes from Groudon's stronger offense. And with Bulk Up, both Earthquake and Slash get better. Basically, when you fight Kyogre, you're facing one lethal attack, while the other two are good or even meh. Groudon, however, has two dangerous attacks plus one which is still pretty good thanks to Groudon's high Attack.
3.) Drizzle doesn't defend from any of Kyogre's weak points, but Drought helps Water attacks fizzle out in this fight. TBF, Drought would make Solarbeam more deadly against Groudon, but who uses Solarbeam in-game?
One minor point in Kyogre's favor of difficulty, though: nothing in Hoenn is immune to Water and Ice damage (Ghosts are immune to Body Slam, though). Yes, Water Absorb was an ability in RS, but Poliwag, Lapras, Vaporeon, Wooper, and Mantine weren't in RS, so no Pokemon in Hoenn had Water Absorb. Meanwhile, you can find Pokemon who are immune to each of Groudon's attacks (Ghosts for Slash, Fliers or Levitators for Earthquake, Duskull for the previous two, Vulpix / Ninetales for Fire Blast).
AFAIK, this was still the age when you got one shot at catching the legendary Pokemon, too; if you blew it by KO'ing Groudon / Kyogre, tough luck.
It wasn't just that these Pokemon were difficult to catch due to low catch rates, nor is it just them being powerful. Groudon and Kyogre were two of THE most powerful Pokemon in the entire series when RS were released because they bend the game to their favor so much on top of being powerful regardless of their abilities. Making a boss fight like this MANDATORY in those games is absolutely brutal and a mistake which should not be repeated.
...which is one of several reasons why I think ORAS sucks.