Encounter redirects here. For the song, seeEncounter (song).

Awild Pokémon^[a] (Japanese:野生(やせい)ポケモンwild Pokémon) is anyPokémon that is not currently owned by aPokémon Trainer.

In the core series games

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: encounter chances in newer games

Wild Pokémon are encountered in most parts of thePokémon world, most commonly outside of cities and towns, often intall grass, incaves, or on water. A Trainer may choose tobattle a wild Pokémon orrun from it. If a Trainer chooses to battle, they may either attempt tocatch the Pokémon with aPoké Ball or to defeat it outright.

Generation I

SinceGeneration I, wild Pokémon will appear to the player in a variety of locations, most often when the player is walking through or neartall grass. Other methods of encountering wild Pokémon include walking throughcaves or abandoned buildings,fishing,surfing on water, and interacting withPokémon in the overworld. The species andlevel of the Pokémon both depend on both the location and encounter method.

Each tile has a number that affects the chance of finding a wild Pokémon. Tall grass varies from 15 to 25 (except theSafari Zone, which has 30), caves vary from 10 to 15 (exceptMewtwo's room inCerulean Cave, which has 25), and all water tiles use the number 5. Each time the player takes a step in a tile with wild Pokémon, the game generates a random number from 0 to 255 (inclusive). If that random number is less than the tile's encounter number, the game generates a species and level.Repels prevent encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than theparty's first Pokémon.

When encountered, a wild Pokémon's moveset will generally consist of the most recent four moves its species would know by leveling-up; for example, a level 4Nidoran♂ will knowLeer andTackle when encountered in the wild inRed and Blue, while one encountered at level 22 will know Tackle,Horn Attack,Poison Sting, andFocus Energy.

At the beginning of every turn, wild Pokémon have an equal chance of selecting each move that they can use. If all the Pokémon in the player'spartyfaint while battling a wild Pokémon, the player willdrop some money in panic.

Generation II

Generation II introduced four encounter methods, namely smashingbreakable rocks,headbuttingHeadbutt trees, usingSweet Scent, androaming Pokémon. Additionally, the species of wild Pokémon depends on the currenttime andmass outbreaks.

In this generation, tall grass varies from 15 to 25, and both caves and water have encounter numbers between 5 and 15 (exceptDiglett's Cave in the daytime, which has 2).Pokémon March and the Ruins of Alph signal, played on thePokégear, will double the encounter rate, and the Pokémon Lullaby andCleanse Tag halve the rate. All of these multipliers stack with each other.

Repels prevent encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than theparty's first conscious Pokémon. Wild Pokémoncan hold items, which can be obtained by catching the Pokémon or using one of aset of moves, likeThief. Wild Pokémon that use one of those moves can steal the player's Pokémon's held item.

Generation III

Wild Pokémon can appear indeep sand. The random number varies from 0 to 2879. Tall grass and Rock Smash have an encounter rate of 320 (exceptRoute 119, which has 240, andSafari Zone, which has 400), caves anddeep sand have 160 (exceptSeafloor Cavern &Cave of Origin, which have 64, andAltering Cave, which has 112), and water and seaweed have 64 (except Safari Zone, which has 144, andPetalburg City &Sootopolis City, which have 16).

Bicycles,White Flute,Black Flute, andCleanse Tag multiply the encounter number by 0.8, 1.5, 0.5, and 0.66, respectively. Despite having a lower encounter rate, riding bicycles moves fast enough to overcome the reduction and results in more encounters than running. Additionally,certain Abilities affect wild Pokémon in various ways—many only gaining these effects inEmerald. Unlike Repels, these modifiers ignore whether the first Pokémon in the party isfainted.

Wild Pokémon cannot steal the player's Pokémon's held item regardless of what moves they use.

Generation IV

Honey has the same effect as Sweet Scent in the overworld. However, using Honey on aHoney Tree will attract a Pokémon from a different encounter table. FromGeneration IV onward, multiple wild Pokémon can appear at once. All but one of the Pokémon will have to be defeated before that one can be caught. In Generation IV, the only way to encounter multiple wild Pokémon at once is walking while accompanied byanother Pokémon Trainer.

InHeartGold and SoulSilver only,running raises the chance of encountering wild Pokémon each time the player takes a step.

Generation V

Starting inGeneration V, wild Pokémon can appear inpuddles orphenomena. There is the chance of two Pokémon appearing at once indark grass. Two types ofPass Powers (Encounter Power ↑ and Encounter Power ↓ ) modify encounter chances. Wild Pokémon can steal the player's Pokémon's held item.

Generation VI

InGeneration VI, wild Pokémon can appear insnow,ambush encounters, and whilesoaring.Hordes of five Pokémon may appear. TwoO-Powers (Encounter Power and Stealth Power) modify encounter chances.Repels prevent encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than theparty's first Pokémon.

Generation VII

InGeneration VII, a wild Pokémon cancall for an ally, turning the battle into a 2-on-1 scenario. InUltra Sun and Ultra Moon, encounters can be prevented by usingRoto Stealth, even if the player's lead Pokémon is lower than the level of the potential encounters.

While the player is riding aPoké Ride, the encounter rate will be adjusted:

Generation VIII

Repels preventhidden encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than theparty's first Pokémon. They have no effect on other encounters.

InPokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, if the wild Pokémon has two or moreIVs of 31, the camera shows theplayer first.

Generation IX

InPokémon Scarlet and Violet, there are fixed encounter locations where the same Pokémon always spawns at the same location, even when de-spawned by going off-screen. This includes wildTera Pokémon, which always have the same Tera Type when encountered on the overworld. After a fixed encounter is defeated, it will not respawn until the clock rolls over to the next day.

Encounter messages

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Any missing variants of the message

There are times when the usual messageYou encountered a wild <Pokémon>! will be replaced by another message:

Availability

In the spin-off games

Pokémon GO

In Pokémon GO, wild Pokémon appear on a map of the real world (based on the crowdsourcedOpenStreetMap project),^[1][2] with the player moving in the game by traveling in the real world. When a Pokémon is nearby, the player's phone vibrates. The player can encounter a nearby Pokémon by tapping it in the Map View. Different kinds of Pokémon will appear in different environments; for example,Water-type Pokémon are more common near water.Weather also affects which Pokémon are common.

In a wild encounter, the player attempts to catch a wild Pokémon in aPoké Ball before it runs away. Unlike in thecore series games, these encounters do not involve battle. At higher levels, the player can use various Berries to make wild Pokémon easier to catch or use more powerful Poké Balls likeGreat Balls andUltra Balls. While pressing and holding a Poké Ball, a ring will appear around the Pokémon. This ring shrinks over time; once it reaches its smallest size, it immediately returns to full size, and the cycle repeats. If the Poké Ball is thrown while the ring is very small, the capture is more likely to be successful. Throwing the ball while the ring is as far out as it can be, or halfway in the outer circle also provides small bonuses.

Encounter messages

There are times when the usualA wild <Pokémon> appeared! will be replaced by another message: encountering a defeatedRaid Boss or aShadow Pokémon will yield this message:Bonus Challenge! Catch <Pokémon>!

Pokémon UNITE

InPokémon UNITE, wild Pokémon spawn in fixed locations across thestages. Each game mode has its own specific Pokémon, and the more important ones are detailed on the map overview of Casual and Quick Battle selections in the lobby.

Ordinary wild Pokémon appear on the minimap of a battle as yellow dots. They yield different amounts ofexperience andAeos energy depending on the species and time within the match and since the last captured wild Pokémon in their respective spots. Their spawning may be influenced by the number ofgoal zones on either team's side. During a match's Final Stretch, regular wild Pokémon may evolve or despawn.

A special class of "objective" wild Pokémon appear as yellow generic enemy faces on the minimap. These Pokémon spawn at set times and provide various team-wide benefits, and thus are one of the focal points of a match.

InCatch 'Em andPanic Parade Quick Battles, certain wild Pokémon can be caught. In the former's case, they can be played as with a unique moveset, while in the latter, it is possible to temporarily send them out to fight alongside Trainer Pokémon.

Pokémon Ranger series

In thePokémon Rangers, the wild Pokémon are not caught. Instead, it is possible to direct them to perform a task with aCapture Styler.

Pokémon Pinball series

InPokémon Pinball andPokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, during the Catch 'Em Mode, a wild Pokémon appears at the bottom of the field and can be caught by the player.

Pokémon Battle Trozei

According to the manual ofPokémon Battle Trozei, the puzzle game is about catching wild Pokémon:"Pokémon Battle Trozei is a puzzle game in which you clear puzzles in order to battle against and Trozei the wild Pokémon that appear in each stage. [...] In this game, the word Trozei means reducing a wild Pokémon's HP to zero and catching it so you can use it."

This is unlike the preceding gamePokémon Trozei!, in which the puzzle game was about recovering Pokémon stolen from their Trainers.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Live

InPokémon Trading Card Game Live, one of the text strings displayed as the game loads is "Catching Wild Pokémon"

In animation

Pokémon the Series

Wild Pokémon are not typically a central feature ofPokémon the Series, which focuses mostly on the Pokémon belonging toAsh,his friends, and other Trainers that he encounters. Most of the Pokémon belonging to the group were shown in the wild at some point, but are usuallycaught at a later point in the same episode, most often at the end. Despite this, there have been severalrecurring wild Pokémon who appear over a length of time without being caught. Of all of these Pokémon, aCaterpie, aShinyGyarados, anAipom, aGible, aKrokorok, aFroakie, aDedenne, aRockruff, aLitten, aPoipole, anEevee, aMeltan,twoGengar, aScorbunny, aSobble, anEternatus, and aMorpeko all went on to be caught several episodes after they appeared. As demonstrated on a number of occasions,Meowth is also a wild Pokémon.

There are, however, numerous examples of wild Pokémon being featured in debut episodes that introduce their species, such as Clefairy inClefairy and the Moon Stone and Sudowoodo inType Casting.

In thefirst episode, Ash's Pokédex states that wild Pokémon tend to be jealous of human-trained Pokémon, this being one of the reasons that theSpearow Ash hit with a rock attackedPikachu instead.

Pokédex entries

Pokémon Horizons: The Series

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: role in Horizons; compare/contrast to PtS

InPokémon Horizons: The Series, aFuecoco, aWattrel, aQuaxly, aTerapagos, aCharcadet, and aGimmighoul were all caught after first appearing asrecurring wild Pokémon. In addition, many of the Pokémon living on theBrave Olivine are wild Pokémon that assist in tasks to keep the airship functional. TheSix Heroes andGibeon's Zygarde have made multiple appearances as wild Pokémon after being released inWhere the Adventure Leads andThe Earthshaking White Zygarde, respectively.

In the manga

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Pokémon Adventures

Wild Pokémon have been seen inPokémon Adventures since the start of themanga, though prior to theRuby & Sapphire arc, they mostly served the role of beingcaught by one of thePokédex holders or the antagonists, especially withCrystal, whomProfessor Oak tasked with completing thePokédex. In later arcs, wild Pokémon have become more common. In some cases, the possibility of controlling wild Pokémon without catching them has been demonstrated, such as with thelegendary giants being controlled bySteven and theHoennElite Four during the climax of theRuby & Sapphire arc, orColress controlling a wildGenesect in theBlack 2 & White 2 arc due toTeam Plasma's inability to place it inside aPoké Ball. Examples of Pokémon that have appeared in the wild outside the chapters they were caught in includeMewtwo, the legendary giants, andPearl's Luxray.

In the TCG

The Pokémon Trading Card Game does not really address the distinction between wild Pokémon and Pokémon owned by trainers. As written in thePokémon Trading Card Game Rules, thePokémon cards in one'sdeck are that player's Pokémon.^[3] However, much of the game's art does not contain any traces ofhumans. One could interpret a card that does not show a human, a location associated with a human such as a house, or an organized battle as depicting a Pokémon in the wild.

ThePoké Catch game depicts playerscatching Pokémon. Therefore, all of the Pokémon used in it can be assumed to be wild Pokémon.

Trivia

• Inpre-release versions ofPokémon Red and Green, the wild encounter rate was so high that players would encounter wild Pokémon every two steps. Combined with the fact that Trainers would battle the player every time the player walked past them regardless of whether they had already been defeated, it would take players half a day to get through a single cave. Game Freak adjusted the wild encounter rate and changed Trainer battles for a more reasonable experience before the game was released.^[4]
• Prior toGeneration IV, due to the fact that Pokémon hatched fromEggs at level 5, several wild Pokémon found in earlyroutes had lower levels than newly-hatched Pokémon.
• Pokémon Crystal is thecore series game with the lowest maximum level available for a wild Pokémon, having no higher than level 60Ho-Oh andLugia.
• The only level 100 wild Pokémon available in the core series areMagikarp inPokémon Platinum,Black 2, White 2,Scarlet, and Violet (withThe Hidden Treasure of Area Zero),Gyarados inBlack 2 and White 2, andRegigigas inPokémon Sword and Shield (withExpansion Pass).

In other languages

Notes

References

• Articles needing more information
• Articles with section stubs
• Terminology
• Methods of obtaining Pokémon