Catching
Every ball you throw is one roll against a chance. Here is exactly how that chance is built, from the same formula the game rolls with.
The formula
Every factor is a multiplier on the whole chance, so a bonus is worth more on a better ball. The result is capped at 100%.
chance = Capture rate ÷ 255
× HP
× Ball
× Weak species
× Type medal
× Weather
× Ball shell
× Shiny
÷ 6
The Master Ball skips the formula entirely and always catches — shinies included.
Every factor
| Factor | Value | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Capture rate | ÷ 255 | The species' own capture rate, shown on its Pokédex page. 255 is the easiest; the rarest pocket monsters sit far below it. |
| HP | ×0.99 | A ball can only be thrown at a wild you have already defeated, so its HP is always as low as it goes and this factor never changes. |
| Ball | see below | The ball you throw. Each ball's multiplier is listed under this table. |
| Weak species | ×2 → ×1 | Weak species give in more easily. A base stat total of 250 or less gets the full ×2, 450 or more gets nothing, and it slides evenly in between. |
| Type medal | ×1.1 / ×1.2 / ×1.3 / ×1.5 | Your type medal for the wild's type, by tier. A dual-type wild averages its two types. It can never go above ×2. |
| Weather | −5% / +10% | Outdoors only. A wild the weather favours resists the ball; one the weather works against gives in more easily. |
| Ball shell | ×1.05 | A Masterwork Premier Shell crafted by Spherecrafting and fitted to the ball. No shell can ever be worth more than ×1.25. |
| Shiny | much harder | A shiny wild is many times harder to catch than the same wild in normal colours. Only the Master Ball ignores it. |
| Difficulty | ÷ 6 | A global difficulty setting, applied to every throw except the Master Ball. |
Poké Ball
×0.65
Great Ball
×1.5
Ultra Ball
×2
Master Ball
Always catches
A worked example
A wild with capture rate 45 and a base stat total of 350, a Great Ball, and a maxed type medal for its type. No weather, no shell, not shiny.
| Step | Factor | Chance so far |
|---|---|---|
| Capture rate | 45 ÷ 255 | 17.6% |
| HP | ×0.99 | 17.5% |
| Ball | ×1.5 | 26.3% |
| Weak species | ×1.5 | 39.4% |
| Type medal | ×1.5 | 59.2% |
| Difficulty | ÷ 6 | 9.9% |
That is 9.9% per throw — about 10.1 balls per catch on average.
Easy, Fair and Hard
The grade the Pokédex and the hunt picker show is counted in throws. Easy means a catch inside 3 throws on average (33.3% or better per throw); Hard means more than 10 throws (under 10.0%). Everything between is Fair.
Worth knowing
- A miss spends the ball anyway — so the balls a catch costs you are 1 ÷ the chance, on average.
- Every throw is an independent roll. Missing several in a row does not make the next one likelier.
- The Master Ball always catches, whatever the wild.
- A shiny's penalty multiplies with everything else, so the best ball and a maxed medal matter most there.
Every species' odds with every ball are on its Pokédex page · How weather works