Mass outbreak
Mass Outbreaks (Japanese: 大量発生 mass outbreak), also known as swarms, are a feature introduced in Generation II that allows the player to catch Pokémon that are usually rare or otherwise unobtainable.
Generation II
Mass Outbreaks originated in Generation II. In that generation, if the player registered a certain Trainer in the Pokégear, that Trainer would occassionally call to tell the player that he saw or heard about a large number of Pokémon in a certain area; for the next 30 minutes after such a call (in real time, not play time), the swarming Pokémon would appear in the given area with much greater frequency than the usual 1%.
Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal
| Pokémon | Location | Notifier | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Marill | Mt. Mortar | Hiker Parry (Route 45) |
|
Yanma | Route 35 | Bug Catcher Arnie (Route 35) |
|
Dunsparce | Dark Cave | Hiker Anthony (Route 33) |
|
Snubbull | Route 38 | Schoolboy Chad (Route 38) |
|
Qwilfish | Route 32* | Fisher Ralph (Route 32) |
|
Remoraid | Route 44* | Fisher Wilton (Route 44) |
Generation III
In Generation III this method allows the player to catch Pokémon that cannot be caught normally and make rare Pokémon temporarily more common. This was possible due to the record mixing feature of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. The outbreaks are advised by televisions in houses, where the Pokémon and its location is told.
Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald
| Pokémon | Location | Level | Game | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lotad | Route 114* | 13 | R | S | E | |||
|
Seedot | Route 117* | 13 | R | S | E | |||
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Surskit | Routes 102 and 114* | 15 | R | S | E | |||
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Skitty | Route 116 | 15 | R | S | E | |||
Generation IV
Mass Outbreaks were largely expanded in Generation IV. Once the player attains the National Pokédex, every day in a particular location, a "swarm of Pokémon" appears, which changes the probability of finding the given Pokémon from 0% to 40%. Outbreaks last only one day and are random events. Information about Mass Outbreaks can be found in Sandgem Town, by watching Sinnoh television, or by listening to Professor Oak's Pokémon Talk.
When players all join the same group, they will all experience the same outbreak on any given day.
The species of an outbreaks seems to be determined using a formula, because it is not chosen randomly when the player starts the game that day. It is also possible that the species is determined the day before, though there is no additional evidence to support this. If the DS clock is changed or a different DS is used, then the game will detect this and will not change the species swarming until 12:00 AM.
Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum
By also using the Poké Radar and Dual-slot mode in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, players can get all Pokémon excluding Tangela, Tropius, the starter Pokémon, and legendary Pokémon of previous generations, while Tangela, Tropius and two Legendary Trios can be regularly acquired in Pokémon Platinum.
Many of the Pokémon obtained through Mass Outbreaks are outside of the Sinnoh Pokédex, and are usually exclusive to other regions. However, the player can obtain information about the current outbreak by talking to, depending on their own gender, Dawn's or Lucas's sister in Sandgem Town, or seeing the news report on a TV in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
Due to higher catching rates for Pokémon that appear during outbreaks, they make longer and better chains when using Poké Radar.
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
The feature also appears in HeartGold and SoulSilver, where all the wild Pokémon available include all those that were available in Generation II, Ditto, Chansey, and Pokémon from Hoenn and Sinnoh. Information or swarms can now be found by listening to Professor Oak's Pokémon Talk on the Pokégear radio.
| Pokémon | Location | Levels | Game | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Chansey | Route 13 | 23 | HG | SS | ||||
|
Ditto | Route 47 | 34 | HG | SS | ||||
|
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Marill | Mt. Mortar | 15 | HG | SS | ||||
|
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Yanma | Route 35 | 12 | HG | SS | ||||
|
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Dunsparce | Dark Cave | 2-3 | HG | SS | ||||
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Snubbull | Route 38 | 16 | HG | SS | ||||
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Qwilfish | Route 32 | 40 | HG | SS | ||||
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Remoraid | Route 44 | 20 | HG | SS | ||||
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Poochyena | Route 1 | 2 | HG | SS | ||||
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Wingull | Vermilion City* | 35 | HG | SS | ||||
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Ralts | Route 34 | 10-11 | HG | SS | ||||
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Sableye | Route 9 | 13-15 | HG | SS | ||||
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Mawile | Route 9 | 13-15 | HG | SS | ||||
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Gulpin | Route 3 | 5 | HG | SS | ||||
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Swablu | Route 45 | 23 | HG | SS | ||||
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Whiscash | Violet City | 40 | HG | SS | ||||
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Baltoy | Route 3 | 5 | HG | SS | ||||
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Clamperl | Route 19 | 35 | HG | SS | ||||
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Relicanth | Route 12* | 40 | HG | SS | ||||
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Luvdisc | Route 27* | 20 | HG | SS | ||||
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Kricketot | Viridian Forest | 3 | HG | SS | ||||
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Buneary | Route 25 | 8-10 | HG | SS | ||||
Generation V
Black and White
The lookout stations in Unova have a monitor inside that will alert the player where an outbreak is taking place.
| Pokémon | Location | Levels | Game | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paras | Route 11 | ? | B | W | ||||
|
Mankey | Route 15 | ? | B | W | ||||
|
Farfetch'd | Route 1 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Doduo | Route 12 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Exeggcute | Route 18 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Sentret | Route 7 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Yanma | Route 14 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Pineco | Route 16 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Houndour | Route 9 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Smeargle | Route 5 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Tyrogue | Route 10 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Poochyena | Route 9 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Shroomish | Route 11 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Plusle | Route 6 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Minun | Route 6 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Volbeat | Route 3 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Illumise | Route 3 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Shuppet | Route 13 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Wynaut | Route 2 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Hippopotas | Route 4 | ? | B | W | ||||
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Croagunk | Route 8 | ? | B | W | ||||