Catching Basics
Throw a Poké Ball at a wild Pokémon. If the shake holds, it's yours. PBG uses the standard stock catch formula.
Encounter flow
Wild Pokémon spawn in their preferred biomes. You have two ways to start a catch:
- Direct throw — right-click an empty Poké Ball at the wild Pokémon's overworld entity. The shake check resolves immediately.
- Battle first — engage the wild Pokémon, weaken it, then throw the ball from the battle UI.
For tough catches the battle route is usually safer, since you can lower HP and apply status before the shake.
Ball types
| Ball | Effect |
|---|---|
| Poké Ball | Baseline. |
| Great Ball | 1.5× catch rate. |
| Ultra Ball | 2× catch rate. |
| Net Ball | 3× on Bug and Water types. |
| Dive Ball | 3.5× when the target is submerged underwater. |
| Quick Ball | 5× on the first turn of battle. |
| Timer Ball | Multiplier ramps with turns spent (max 4×). |
| Dusk Ball | 3.5× in full darkness (unlit caves, dead of night); 3× in dim light. |
| Beast Ball | 5× on Ultra Beasts (otherwise 0.1×). |
| Heavy Ball | Scales with target weight, up to 4× on very heavy species. |
| Repeat Ball | 3.5× on species already in your Pokédex. |
There's a longer list of balls too (Lure, Moon, Friend, Love, Level, Fast, Premier, Cherish, Park, Master, Ancient Origin). The table above is what you'll reach for day-to-day; the rest are situational or unlocked through specific systems.
What moves the catch rate
- HP percentage — lower is better. False Swipe (always leaves 1 HP) is the staple.
- Status condition — Sleep and Freeze help the most; Paralysis, Burn and Poison help less.
- Ball type — see above.
- Species base catch rate — some species, including legendaries and Ultra Beasts, are simply harder to catch.
In-battle setup
If you choose to battle before catching, lead with a Pokémon that knows False Swipe and a sleep move such as Spore or Sleep Powder. False Swipe → status → Ultra/Dusk/Timer Ball is the standard sequence for hard catches.
Shiny odds
The base shiny rate is 1 in 11,000. Catch combos (see below) push your shiny odds even higher the longer your chain gets.
After the catch
- Build a Catch Combo to scale shiny odds, perfect IVs, and hidden-ability rolls.
- Store overflow in your PC via the Storage page.
- Breed for IVs at the Daycare.
- Polish stats and nature with the PokéBuilder.