Bug-Catching Contest

The Bug-Catching Contest is a competition held every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in Johto's National Park. The Bug-Catching Contest was introduced in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and makes a return in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Bug-Catching Contest judging in Generation IV

In the games

Rules

There is no entry fee for the Bug-Catching Contest. Anyone may enter once per day, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

To compete, Trainers must catch the single best Bug-type Pokémon they can find. To do this, Trainers are given twenty Sport Balls (similar to Safari Balls; called "Park Balls" in Generation II), and they are only allowed to use a single Pokémon from their party. The rest of a Trainer's Pokémon and all of their items remain with the contest officials until the competition is over.

Any Pokémon caught will be recorded in the Pokédex, but only one Pokémon can be kept to be judged. The Pokémon that is judged may be kept after the competition.

The competition ends when all the Sport Balls are used, the Trainer blacks out, the Trainer leaves the park, or 20 minutes have passed. After that, the judging will occur, in which Trainers are scored on their skills of capturing rare and powerful Pokémon.

Pokémon available

Generation II

Pokémon Games Location Levels Rate
     
  Caterpie
G S C
  Grass
7-18 20%
  Metapod
G S C
  Grass
9-18 10%
  Butterfree
G S C
  Grass
12-15 5%
  Weedle
G S C
  Grass
7-18 20%
  Kakuna
G S C
  Grass
9-18 10%
  Beedrill
G S C
  Grass
12-15 5%
  Paras
G S C
  Grass
10-17 10%
  Venonat
G S C
  Grass
10-16 10%
  Scyther
G S C
  Grass
13-14 5%
  Pinsir
G S C
  Grass
13-14 5%
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.


  • Scyther, Pinsir and one family of Bug-types (Caterpie, Metapod and Butterfree in Silver, Weedle, Kakuna and Beedrill in Gold) can only be caught during the Bug-Catching contest. All the others can be caught in the wild outside the contest.

Generation IV

Pre-National Pokédex

These Pokémon are available in Contests held every day pre-National Pokédex, and on Tuesdays post-National Pokédex (denoted by the levels indicated in the parentheses).

Pokémon Games Location Levels Rate
     
  Caterpie
HG SS
  Grass
7-31
(24-36)
20%
  Metapod
HG SS
  Grass
9-18
(26-36)
10%
  Butterfree
HG SS
  Grass
12-15
(27-30)
5%
  Weedle
HG SS
  Grass
7-31
(24-36)
20%
  Kakuna
HG SS
  Grass
9-18
(26-36)
10%
  Beedrill
HG SS
  Grass
12-15
(27-30)
5%
  Paras
HG SS
  Grass
10-17
(27-34)
10%
  Venonat
HG SS
  Grass
10-16
(25-32)
10%
  Scyther
HG SS
  Grass
13-14
(27-28)
5%
  Pinsir
HG SS
  Grass
13-14
(27-28)
5%
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.


Post-National Pokédex

These Pokémon are only available in Contests held on Thursday and Saturday post-National Pokédex.

Pokémon Games Location Levels Rate
     
  Scyther
HG SS
  Grass
27-28 5%
  Pinsir
HG SS
  Grass
27-28 5%
  Wurmple
HG SS
  Grass
24-36 20%
  Silcoon
HG SS
  Grass
24-36 10%Th
  Beautifly
HG SS
  Grass
25-32 5%Sa
  Cascoon
HG SS
  Grass
24-36 10%Sa
  Dustox
HG SS
  Grass
25-32 5%Th
  Volbeat
HG SS
  Grass
26-36 10%Th
  Illumise
HG SS
  Grass
26-36 10%Sa
  Kricketot
HG SS
  Grass
27-30 10%
  Kricketune
HG SS
  Grass
27-30 10%
  Combee
HG SS
  Grass
27-34 5%
  Nincada
HG SS
  Grass
26-36 20%
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.


Scoring

Generation II

The score earned for a given Pokémon in Generation II is the sum of the following:

  • 4 times the max HP of the Pokémon
  • The stats of the Pokémon
  • 16 points if the Defense IV is odd, 0 otherwise
  • 8 points if the Attack IV is odd, 0 otherwise
  • 4 points if the Special IV is odd, 0 otherwise
  • 1 point if the Speed IV is odd, 0 otherwise
  • 1/8 of the current HP of the Pokémon, rounded down
  • 1 point if the Pokémon is holding an item, 0 otherwise

Other factors, such as Shininess, do not affect the outcome.

Generation IV

The score earned for a given Pokémon in Generation IV is the sum of the following:

  • The level of the Pokémon relative to the maximum that can be found in the contest (e.g. before the National Pokédex, the maximum value for Paras would be 17, but after the National Pokédex, this would be 34), as a percentage
  • The Pokémon's IVs relative to the maximum (186), as a percentage
  • The Pokémon's HP relative to its maximum, as a percentage
  • A rarity factor, either 60 (Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle, Kakuna, Wurmple, Silcoon, Cascoon, or Kricketot), 80 (all Pokémon not mentioned), or 100 (Scyther or Pinsir)

Other factors, such as Shininess, do not affect the outcome.

Competitors

  This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Generation IV

These are the competitors found in the Contest:

Prizes

Version Gold Silver Crystal HeartGold SoulSilver
1st Place  
Sun Stone
 
Sun Stone
(pre-National Pokédex)
  File:Bag Thunderstone Sprite.png  
     
Evolutionary Stone
(random; post-National Pokédex)
2nd Place  
Everstone
3rd Place Gold Berry  
Sitrus Berry
Consolation
Prize
Berry  
Shed Shell

In the anime

 
Ash's Beedrill

In The Bug Stops Here, Ash and Casey competed in the Bug-Catching Contest. During the competition, Casey caught a Weedle, and her Chikorita evolved into a Bayleef. Ash won the competition with a Beedrill, earning himself a Sun Stone. After the competition, he gave the Beedrill to Casey since she loves Pokémon with yellow and black stripes.

Trivia

  • The music used during the contest is a remix of the Kanto-based games' Bicycle music.
  • It is possible to catch the otherwise version-exclusive Pokémon Caterpie, Metapod, and Butterfree in Pokémon Silver and Pokémon SoulSilver, and Weedle, Kakuna and Beedrill in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon HeartGold through the Bug-Catching Contest.
  • After the player obtains the National Pokédex and enters the contest on Thursdays and Saturdays, some of the other competitors may be announced as having caught a Pokémon in the Caterpie or Weedle lines, despite those Pokémon not being available to the player on those days.
  • If at the end of the contest the player has a full party and their newly captured Pokémon is sent to the PC, it is referred to as "Bill's PC" (instead of "Someone's PC") even if the player has not yet met Bill.

References