Fateful encounter

During the history of Pokémon games, several event Pokémon given away have been set to show them as received in a fateful encounter, as opposed to a normal capture. Regarding the capture location, in Generation III, there was only one "Fateful encounter" location for event Pokémon, whereas in Generation IV, more locations were added to specifically recognize from which event the received Pokémon are.

Fateful encounters, however, can also refer to a special flag set to said Pokémon that gives the player access to special features while the Pokémon is in the party. In Generation III, this flag is set for any Mew and Deoxys received from events, as well as the Deoxys caught in Birth Island and the Mew captured in Faraway Island. Moreover, any Pokémon obtained in Pokémon Colosseum and XD will have this special flag set. Without it, it is impossible for these Pokémon to obey the player, even if he or she has obtained all Badges.

In Generation IV, the presence of this flag, from Pokémon Platinum onward, allows for special events to happen if the Pokémon with the Fateful encounter flag is in the party.

List of in-game events activated by fateful encounter Pokémon

• Shaymin
  • Pokémon Platinum - in the Floaroma Town Pokémon Center, players can receive a Gracidea from a woman.
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - in the Goldenrod City Flower Shop, players can again receive a Gracidea Flower from a woman.
  • Pokémon Black and White - in the Lacunosa Town Pokémon Center, players can receive a Gracidea Flower from a woman.
  • Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 - in the Striaton City Pokémon Center, players can receive a Gracidea from a woman, as above.

• Regigigas
  • Pokémon Platinum - Activates the appearance of Rock Peak, Iceberg, and Iron Ruins where the other legendary golems can be captured.

• Pikachu-colored Pichu
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - Activates an event involving an encounter with the Spiky-eared Pichu.

• Arceus
  • Pokémon Platinum - in Oreburgh Mine, a Hiker will give away a Flame Plate and a book in the Canalave Library will become available with the inscriptions on all plates.
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - When selected as partner Pokémon, the player will be able to teleport from the Ruins of Alph to the Sinjoh Ruins far to the north. This allows the player to obtain either a level 1 Dialga, Palkia or Giratina, holding its respective orb.
• Celebi
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - activates an event with an encounter and battle with Giovanni after being taken back in time with Celebi.
  • Pokémon Black and White - Allows the player to obtain a Zorua.

• Shiny legendary beasts
  • Pokémon Black and White - activates a battle with a wild Zoroark.

Trivia

• In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the Shaymin that is captured in the Flower Paradise will not be a fateful encounter Shaymin, while in Pokémon Platinum, it will be. This was likely implemented due to the tweaking and Surf glitches, which allow access to Shaymin in Diamond and Pearl, while this was removed in Platinum. Due to the way receipt and use of the Gracidea is programmed, if the Platinum Shaymin were not given this status, despite being able to be legitimately obtained with Oak's Letter, it would not be able to transform into Sky Forme.
• It was once believed that a fateful encounter flag was needed to be set on a Jirachi in order to activate the Night Sky's Edge Pokéwalker route; indeed, events where such Jirachi were distributed advertised such an unlockable. However, it was later discovered that any Jirachi at all, even those hacked through devices such as an Action Replay or transferred from Generation III, was capable of unlocking the route even without the fateful encounter flag.

See also

• List of Nintendo event Pokémon with in-game effects

This game mechanics article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.