Fishing
Fishing is a recreation that is commonly seen in the Pokémon world.
In the games
Fishing is a way to catch Pokémon in the water. In fact, some Pokémon can only be caught by using a fishing rod. There are three fishing rods that are given out throughout the course of each game, and each one is given out by a Fishing Brother. The exception is in Generation V, where only the Super Rod is available, obtained from LookerBW or Cedric JuniperB2W2.
Equipment
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Catching Pokémon
Generation I and Generation II
In Generation I and II, fishing is simply a matter of standing next to water and using the rod. Sometimes, it will hook a Pokémon and start a battle. Other times, it will catch nothing. There is a random chance of either happening, so if the rod catches nothing, players can cast it out again. The player can only fish from land, not while surfing.
Generation III
Starting with Generation III, the fishing mechanic became more complicated, as the player would have to pay attention and confirm as soon as the rod hooked a Pokémon, or else it would get away. A series of ellipses appear prior to the text "Oh! A bite!", which is when the player should press the A Button. In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, this required a series of confirmations to reel in better Pokémon. Generation III also introduced the ability for Pokémon Trainers to fish off the back of a surfing Pokémon, which may be required to catch Feebas. This also made fishing on Route 4 possible. If the first Pokémon in the player's party has the ability Suction Cups or Sticky Hold, the player is more likely to get a bite.
Generation IV
In Generation IV, when the player uses the rod, an exclamation mark-like sign would pop up above the player, noting that they should push the A button to start the battle with the Pokémon they've encountered. As with Generation III, the Pokémon will go away if the player takes too long.
Generation V
In Generation V, fishing mechanics are mostly unchanged from Generation IV. However, by fishing in rippling water, different Pokémon can be caught, generally being rare Pokémon or the evolved forms of the Pokémon normally found. As such, this allows certain Pokémon such as Milotic and Poliwrath to be caught in the wild, while normally they would not. Furthermore, the Old and Good Rods are no longer available, making the player have a single rod to fish Pokémon with.
Generation VI
In Generation VI, fishing mechanics remain mostly unchanged, with the removal of rippling water and the addition of consecutive fishing, which can be done by fishing repeatedly without moving from the same spot and always hooking a Pokémon. Consecutive fishing will raise the probability of hooking a Shiny Pokémon in long, uninterrupted fishing streaks with any Rod. The Old and Good Rods return in this Generation.
Fishing near rocks and other impassable spaces (not including spaces occupied by Trainers) will raise the chances of hooking Pokémon. The more sides (north, south, east, or west) around the space where the bobber lands that are blocked by such obstacles, the higher the chances of hooking a Pokémon are. A space of land may also count as an obstacle on one side of the bobber, so long as it is not the only one. If three sides are blocked, every cast will hook a Pokémon.
PokéPark: Fishing Rally DS
- Main article: PokéPark: Fishing Rally DS
PokéPark: Fishing Rally DS is a game focused on fishing for Pokémon. Points are earned for the size, rarity, and species of the caught Pokémon. Up to five Pokémon can be stored at once, and high scores could be seen at Pokémon Centers, while the game was still available for download.
In the anime
In the main series
Numerous episodes of the anime have featured the group fishing.
At the Safari Zone, a fishing rod is distributed with the Safari Balls, as seen in EP035.
Rather than using bait, lures with Pokémon designs are used. In Whiscash and Ash, a fisherman believed that the secret to catching the Whiscash he was looking for, was finding the right lure. Misty has a collection of lures, including a special lure based on herself that she believes is the best. She sent it to Ash as a gift in The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing. Ash used this lure in Buizel Your Way Out of This to try to catch a powerful Buizel.
In Facing Fear with Eyes Wide Open!, Cilan used his fishing skills to catch a Stunfisk that was preventing Ash and Oshawott from retrieving plants at the bottom of a lake to cure their poisoned Pokémon. Like others before him, Cilan uses a fishing lure based on himself. In A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition!, Cilan showed his fishing skills again by catching a Basculin in Team Rocket's fake fishing competition. In SS027, Cilan was seen using his fishing rod once again, this time hooking up a wild Gyarados. Later in the episode, he used his rod in an attempt to pull Gyarados back to its home lake, but was disturbed by Amer and his robotic Qwilfish.
A Super Rod made its debut in the anime in Climbing the Tower of Success! as the item Iris had to find for a scavenger hunt.
In Best Wishes Until We Meet Again!, Cilan mentioned that Mr. Briney from Dewford Town was going to host the Old Rod Fishing Rally soon, prompting him to depart for Johto in order to participate in the said competition.
In Going for the Gold!, Ash and his friends met a fisherman named Rodman, who was trying to fish up a Shiny Magikarp with a Magikarp-shaped lure. Ash, Serena, and Clemont decided to try fishing too, with Ash giving the inexperienced Serena instructions of how to do it correctly. While fishing, Serena hooked up a Corsola, which she tried to battle with her Fennekin, but it simply hid itself behind Serena when Corsola tried to use Water Gun on it, causing the Coral Pokémon to get away. Afterwards, Rodman let Ash and his friends keep the fishing rods he had loaned them. The same rods reappeared in An Undersea Place to Call Home!, where Ash used one of them to hook up a Skrelp.
A fishing competition was a part of the Pokémon Summer Camp, as shown in Day Three Blockbusters. The Pokémon hooked up during the competition included Ash's Alomomola, Serena's Staryu, Clemont's Corphish, Tierno's Magikarp, Shauna's Tentacool, and Trevor's Wailord. Bonnie also participated the competition, but her possible catch wasn't shown.
In Pokémon Origins
Fishing was featured several times during Pokémon Origins.
Red obtained an Old Rod from the Vermilion Fishing Guru in File 2 - Cubone, and a Super Rod from the Silence Bridge Fishing Guru in File 3 - Giovanni. Soon after obtaining the latter, he was seen using it to capture himself a Psyduck.
Red was also seen fishing with the Super Rod in File 4 - Charizard, although he did so merely to get some time to think about the mysterious Pokémon in Cerulean Cave.
Trivia
- In Generation I, it is possible to fish in the bottom of the statues in Gyms (except for the Saffron and Cinnabar Gyms) or any room of the Elite Four at Indigo Plateau. However, when using the Super Rod in any Gym or Elite Four room other than Cerulean Gym or Lorelei's room, the game will say "Looks like there's nothing here."
- In Generation I, the only Pokémon that can be fished out by the Old Rod is Magikarp, all of which would be Level 5.
- In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the "!" will occasionally appear above the partner Pokémon instead of above the player's sprite.
- The Super Rod is the only fishing rod that is obtainable in Generation V. The Old and Good Rods, while still existent in the game's programming, cannot be obtained without hacking and cannot be used; however, they can be held by a Pokémon.
In other languages
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Old Rod
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Good Rod
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Super Rod
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This item article is part of Project ItemDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all items. |