Format Switcher: Pick style...Buttertotally free Celebi Modern DewgongAxe-MurdererDialga Scyther Shiny NinetalesNidoking MewHellfire Spectrum Articuno Torkoal
Gen I Record Mechanics

Special thanks to a_magical_me, who started analyzing the algorithm, let me usage his notes and also then offered me with an assembly dump to pick up wright here he left off. The hacking genius is largely his.

You are watching: Pokemon yellow why do pokeballs miss

If you were an avid player of Red, Blue and Yellow, you may have actually review the other capture mechanics sections and also fleetingly wondered, "But what about the times in R/B/Y when it would certainly say, "The ball missed the POKéMON!"? What was going on then? How much of this stuff was the exact same back then, anyway?"

How a lot, indeed? As it transforms out, bacount any. The R/B/Y capture algorithm is drastically various from that of the later on games; in certain, it really is an algorithm quite than mainly a straightforward formula. And it is likewise, as it happens, rather amazing - especially if you, choose me, have constantly kind of wondered specifically exactly how that functioned. So sit earlier, relax, and let"s take a look at the insides of the game. Or, well, if you do not treatment around the insides of the game, you deserve to constantly skip dvery own to the basic summary of just how capturing is different in R/B/Y.

Meanwhile, if all you want to do is uncover out how likely you are to capture a Pokémon in R/B/Y, you"ll want the capture rate calculator.

Table of ContentsWhat It Means

The Algorithm

The capture algorithm appropriate, as listed below, uses to continual wild Pokémon battles. A few sanity checks are tackled prior to we gain to that part:

If you"re not in fight, you can not usage a round. "OAK: This isn"t the moment to usage that!" If this is a trainer battle, the capture immediately stops working. "The trainer blocked the BALL! Don"t be a thief!" If this is not the Old Man"s tutorial fight at the beginning of the game, then if both your party and your existing box are complete, you can"t throw a ball. "The POKéMON BOX is full! Can"t use that item!" If this is a fight versus an unidentified ghost, or if the Pokémon is a Marowak and also the player"s existing area is the 6th floor of Pokémon Tower (in an unmodified game, the last will certainly only take place for the unique gorganize Marowak), the capture instantly falls short. "It dodged the thrown BALL! This POKéMON can"t be caught!"

Otherwise, to determine the outcome of a thrown round, the game executes the complying with procedure (cleaned up and tweaked for human presentation, of course). Note that any time it speaks of division, it suggests integer division: the outcome is an integer and also the remainder is simply discarded. Therefore, for instance, if it states "Divide 5 by 2", the result is simply 2, not 2.5.

See more: How Many Atoms Are There In H2So4 ? How Many Atoms Are Present In 49 G Of H2So4

If the round being thrvery own is a Master Ball, the Pokémon is immediately caught. Skip the rest of the procedure. (Yes, the Master Ball is an automatic guaranteed success, as lengthy as you pass the sanity checks over. Tbelow is a really persistent rumour that it actually has a 1/256 or 1/65536 chance of missing; whatever you might have heard, wherever you heard it, it is not true. It is true that moves that were meant to be 100% precise would certainly have actually a 1/256 possibility of absent in R/B/Y, yet this has actually no relation to just how the Master Ball works in any game; it constantly ssuggest skips the calculation totally.)Generate a random number R1, through a range depending on the sphere used: If it"s a Poké Ball, R1 arrays from 0 to 255 (inclusive). If it"s a Great Ball, R1 ranges from 0 to 200 (inclusive). If it"s an Ultra or Safari Ball, R1 ranges from 0 to 150 (inclusive). Create a standing variable S: If the targeted Pokémon is asleep or frozen, S is 25. If the targeted Pokémon is poisoned, burned or paralyzed, S is 12. Otherwise, S is 0. Subtract S from R1 (to stop confusion with the original R1, I will certainly describe the result as R*).If R* is much less than zero (i.e. if the generated R1 was much less than S), the Pokémon is effectively caught. Skip the remainder of the procedure.Calculate the HP element F: Multiply the Pokémon"s max HP by 255 and save the result in F. Divide F by 8 if the sphere provided was a Great Ball. 12 otherwise. Divide the Pokémon"s current HP by 4 (if the result is zero, bump it as much as 1). Divide F by this number and also make that the brand-new F. If F is now higher than 255, make it 255 instead. If the base catch rate of the Pokémon is much less than R*, the Pokémon immediately breaks free. Skip to action 10.Generate a 2nd random number R2 ranging from 0 to 255 (inclusive).If R2 is less than or equal to the HP element F, the Pokémon is caught. Skip the rest of the procedure.If we obtain below, the capture falls short. Determine the appropriate animation to show: Multiply the Pokémon"s base catch price by 100 and keep the lead to a wobble approximation variable W. Divide W by a number depending on the sphere supplied, rounding the outcome down: If it was a Poké Ball, divide by 255. If it was a Great Ball, divide by 200. If it was an Ultra or Safari Ball, divide by 150. Multiply W by F (the HP factor calculated above). Divide W by 255. Add a number if the Pokémon has a status affliction: If the Pokémon is asleep or frozen, add 10 to W. If the Pokémon is poisoned, shed or paralyzed, include 5 to W. Sexactly how the computer animation and message equivalent to W: If W is much less than 10, the round misses ("The ball missed the POKéMON!"). If W is between 10 and also 29 (inclusive), the ball wobbles when ("Darn! The POKéMON damaged free!"). If W is between 30 and also 69 (inclusive), the ball wobbles twice ("Aww! It appeared to be caught!"). Otherwise (if W is better than or equal to 70), the round wobbles 3 times ("Shoot! It was so close too!").

What It Means

(Psst, if you do not soptimal math, you deserve to skip down to the ordinary English summary, which has actually almost no math at all. It"s easy, I promise!)

So what does this algorithm actually mean for recording in R/B/Y? How is it various from the later games? (In the remainder of this discussion, I will assume you are not utilizing a Master Ball; that case is trivial and also it would be a bother to store pointing out it.)

Well, initially, let"s look at what the framework of the algorithm actually theoretically means for our possibilities of recording the Pokémon. (This gets a bit mathematical, yet bear through me.) Let"s speak to the Pokémon"s base catch price C and produce a ball modifier variable B to stand also for the selection of the initially random number R1: 256 if the round is a Poké Ball, 201 if the sphere is a Great Ball and 151 if the ball is an Ultra Ball. (Note that this is one better than the maximum numbers disputed in the algorithm above; this is because a random integer between 0 and also X inclusive have the right to take on X+1 feasible values, the means that 0–2 inclusive means three worths, 0, 1 and 2.) Depending on wright here R1 falls in this array, 3 various things have the right to happen:

If R1 is less than the standing variable S, the Pokémon is immediately caught.If R1 is higher than or equal to S, but less than or equal to S + C, the game calculates a second random number R2 between 0 and also 255 inclusive and an HP aspect F. These numbers are then compared: If R2 is much less than or equal to F, the Pokémon is caught. If R2 is better than F, the Pokémon breaks free. If R1 is higher than S + C, the Pokémon breaks cost-free.

Of the total of B feasible R1 values, S of them bring about the initially path (auto-capture), C + 1 of them (as much as a maximum of B - S, since there are just B - S worths left) lead to the second course wbelow R2 and also the HP variable F are calculated, and the remainder (if any) lead to the 3rd course (auto-failure). We have the right to visualize it choose this: