SOS Battle
- SOS redirects here. For SOS mail, see Wonder Mail.
An SOS Battle (Japanese: 乱入バトル Intruder Battle) is a type of Pokémon battle in the Generation VII games, introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon. An SOS Battle is a battle in which a wild Pokémon calls for help from allies, turning a normal one-on-one wild battle into a two-on-one battle.
In the Generation VII core series games, once the player clears Ilima's trial at Verdant Cavern, battles with wild Pokémon can turn into SOS Battles. Trial Pokémon (excluding Totem Pokémon and the Pokémon in Lana's Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon trial), Island Scan Pokémon, Legendary Pokémon, and Ultra Beasts do not call for help. Totem Pokémon always call for help, but use different mechanics than other wild Pokémon.
In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Pokémon that can only be found throught SOS Battles will have an Adrenaline Orb next to the icons showing where they can be found when looking up their locations on the Rotom Pokédex.
Mechanics
At the end of a turn, a wild Pokémon may attempt to call for help if it does not already have an ally. If its call is successful, that ally will appear in battle.
When an ally appears, it is affected by any entry hazards and any of its Abilities that activate when it enters battle (such as Intimidate) will activate.
Totem Pokémon
In battles with a Totem Pokémon, at the end of the first turn, it will always call for help. A Totem Pokémon's calls are always answered. Totem Pokémon only have a predefined set of allies they can call during battle (usually two); once those allies have fainted, they cannot be called again.
Totem Pokémon with two allies will call a specific ally on its first turn, and call the other ally if its HP is below 2/3 (once the first ally has been defeated). If its HP drops below 2/3 before it has a chance to call an ally, it will call the latter ally first, then call the first ally at the first opportunity after its other ally has fainted. Once one of these allies is defeated, it cannot be called again.
Unlike other Totem Pokémon, Totem Salazzle can call an unlimited number of allies, as can Totem GumshoosUS/RaticateUM during the rematch against it when attempting to return Ilima's Normalium Z.
Brooklet Hill special Pokémon
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Whether the Wishiwashi can call for help in Sun and Moon even if it has a status condition |
In Pokémon Sun and Moon, in the leadup to Lana's trial at Brooklet Hill, the player has to battle two Wishiwashi. The second of these Wishiwashi will successfully call for help every turn.
In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, during Lana's trial at Brooklet Hill, the player has to drive Wishiwashi downsteam. In the third lake in the area (the second that is part of the trial), both the Wishiwashi and optional Dewpider will successfully call for help every turn as long as it does not already have an ally (even if it has a status condition). They always call allies of the same species. If the original Pokémon is defeated, the Pokémon originally called as an ally will no longer call for help.
Other wild Pokémon
In regular wild Pokémon battles, at the end of a turn, if there is only one wild Pokémon on the field, it may call for an ally. Sometimes, no ally answers this call. The likelihood that a given Pokémon will call for help depends in part on its species. Some species cannot call for help (including most Pokémon that can appear exclusively as allies in SOS Battles). In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, a wild Pokémon will only call one ally per battle, unless the player uses an Adrenaline Orb.
Most Pokémon can summon allies of the same species, but some can summon other Pokémon in their family and some can summon other unrelated Pokémon. For some species, the allies that they can call vary with location.
Wild Pokémon are more likely to call for help after the player sends out a Pokémon with Intimidate, Pressure, or Unnerve as its Ability; has their Pokémon immediately use supereffective moves on new allies called into battle[1]; or uses an Adrenaline Orb. The Adrenaline Orb can only be used once per battle and will fail if used repeatedly (wasting a turn without being consumed).
Wild Pokémon that have a non-volatile status condition or are in the semi-invulnerable turn of a move such as Dig will not attempt to call for allies.
Within an SOS Battle, the chance for the called Pokémon to be Shiny, have perfect IVs, or have its Hidden Ability increases with the number of answered calls.[2] In Pokémon Sun and Moon, after 255 Pokémon have been called into battle, the counter rolls over and these rate go back to their default values but will continue to rise as usual after more Pokémon are called in.[3] If a Pokémon successfully calls an ally, all EVs earned by defeating a Pokémon are doubled for the rest of the battle (including those from EV-enhancing items).
| Chain length | Perfect IVs | Hidden Ability chance | Shiny chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 0% | 1/4096 |
| 10 | 2 | 5% | 1/4096 |
| 11 | 2 | 5% | 5/4096 |
| 20 | 3 | 10% | 5/4096 |
| 21 | 3 | 10% | 9/4096 |
| 30 | 4 | 15% | 9/4096 |
| 31 | 4 | 15% | 13/4096 |
SOS Battle allies
Most wild Pokémon only call for allies of the same species as themselves. The list below describes all Pokémon that can summon allies that are not of the same species as the original encounter.
Weather-dependent allies
In certain locations, when Pokémon call for allies, a special ally may appear if there is a weather condition in effect in the battle and Cloud Nine or Air Lock is not in effect. This includes weather caused by moves or Abilities during the battle. Castform can appear in any location where weather can affect the allies Pokémon can call, but aside from Castform, each location has a specific Pokémon that can be called in a specific weather (which usually occurs naturally there, though not always persistently).
The table below describes the likelihood of special allies to be called depending on the location and weather.
| Special ally | Rain | Hail | Sandstorm | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Poliwhirl |
~10% | Malie Garden | ||
 Poliwrath |
~1%Day | Malie Garden | ||
 Politoed |
~1%Night | Malie Garden | ||
 Castform |
~10% | ~10% | Malie Garden | |
| ~1% | ~10% | ~10% | Lush Jungle, Route 17, Exeggutor Island | |
| ~10% | ~1% | ~10% | Tapu Village, Mount Lanakila | |
| ~10% | ~10% | ~1% | Haina Desert | |
 Gabite |
~10% | Haina Desert | ||
 Vanillite |
~10% | Tapu Village | ||
 Vanillish |
~10% | Mount Lanakila | ||
 Vanilluxe USUM |
~1% | Mount Lanakila | ||
 Goomy |
~10% | Lush Jungle, Route 17 | ||
 Sliggoo |
~10% | Exeggutor Island |
Pokémon that do not call for help
Many Pokémon will never call for help. Pokémon that can be encountered in the wild that never call for help are Legendary Pokémon, the Ultra Beasts, Pokémon encountered via Island Scan, and the Pokémon listed below.
In the anime
In Big Sky, Small Fry!, an Alomomola appeared to assist Totem Wishiwashi during Lana's Brooklet Hill trial against it.
In Currying Favor and Flavor!, Totem Lurantis called a Castform to help it during Ash's Lush Jungle trial.
In other languages
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References
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This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |