Wild Pokémon: Difference between revisions

In the games, wild Pokémon will appear to the player in a variety of locations, most often by walking through [[tall grass]], but also within caves, abandoned buildings, {{m|surf}}ing on water, [[fishing]], {{m|Rock Smash|smashing rocks}}, {{m|headbutt}}ing small trees, using {{m|Sweet Scent}}, or by slathering [[honey]] on certain trees. Depending on the location, the Pokémon may be different species, and are typically at higher [[level]]s in areas only accessible later in the game.

[[File:Wild double battle BW.png|thumb|left|A wild Double Battle]]

When encountered, a wild Pokémon's moveset will consist of the most recent four moves its species learns by level-up: that is to say, a level 8 {{p|Yanma}} will know {{m|Tackle}}, {{m|Foresight}}, and {{m|Quick Attack}} when encountered in the wild in {{game|Platinum}}, while one encountered at level 19 will have Quick Attack, {{m|Double Team}}, {{m|SonicBoom}}, and {{m|Detect}}. This is true for even evolved species, such as {{p|Raichu}}, which, if it were able to be encountered in the wild, would ''always'' know {{m|ThunderShock}}, {{m|Tail Whip}}, {{m|Quick Attack}}, and {{m|Thunderbolt}}.

There are several ways to alter the wild Pokémon encounter rate. One of these, introduced in Generation I, is the use of [[Repel]], which will avoid encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than the [[party]]'s lead Pokémon. The {{DL|Out-of-battle effect item|Cleanse Tag}} was introduced in [[Generation II]], which lowers the encounter rate. Pokémon March and Pokémon Lullaby in [[Generation II]], played on the [[Pokégear]], will raise or lower the encounter rate respectively, while {{cat|Abilities that affect appearance of wild Pokémon|certain Abilities}} and the White and Black [[Flute]]s do the same in [[Generation III]] and [[Generation IV]].

In some instances, two wild Pokémon will appear at once. In Generation IV, this occurs when the player travels in a specific region with another [[stat Trainers|Pokémon Trainer]]. They battle in the [[Double Battle]] method introduced in the third generation. In Generation V, there is the chance of two Pokémon appearing at once in {{DL|Tall grass|dark grass}}. In both instances, one of the Pokémon will have to be defeated before the other can be caught.

There are few times when the usual ''{{tt|A wild <Pokémon> appeared!|«Wild [Pokémon] appeared!» before Generation IV}}'' will be replaced by other message:

*In {{2v2|Diamond|Pearl}}, the battle against {{p|Starly}} starts with ''Whoa! A wild Starly came charging!''

*In {{v2|Platinum}}, when fighting {{p|Giratina}} in [[Distortion World]] the text box will say ''The Distortion World's Giratina appeared!''

*In {{2v2|Black|White}}, upon entering a battle against {{p|Reshiram}}{{sup/5|B}}/{{p|Zekrom}}{{sup/5|W}} in [[N's Castle]] or [[Dragonspiral Tower]] the message will be ''Reshiram/Zekrom appeared!''

**Also, in Black and White, the battle against {{p|Landorus}} at the [[Abundant Shrine]] will begin with the message ''Landorus appeared!''

Typically, wild Pokémon are not a central feature of the {{pkmn|anime}}, which focuses mostly on the Pokémon belonging to {{Ash}}, {{ashfr}} and other Trainers he encounters. Most of the Pokémon belonging to the group were shown in the wild at some point, but are usually captured at a later point in the same episode, most often at the end. Despite this, there have been several [[recurring wild Pokémon in the anime|recurring wild Pokémon]] who appear over a length of time and are not captured. Of all of these Pokémon, only [[Ash's Aipom|an Aipom,]] [[Ash's Gible|a Gible,]] [[Ash's Oshawott|an Oshawott,]] [[Ash's Krokorok|and a Krokorok]] went on to be captured several episodes after they appeared.