Bug-Catching Contest

Bug-Catching Contest judging in Generation IV

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

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 Template:Type2 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 whites 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 Template:Type2s (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

Always (Pre-National Pokédex)

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 (25-36)	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 (25-26)	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 (Thursdays and Saturdays only)

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	25-36	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	0%	0%	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

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 1 or 3 mod 4, 0 otherwise
• 8 points if the Attack IV is 1 or 3 mod 4, 0 otherwise
• 4 points if the Special IV is 1 or 3 mod 4, 0 otherwise
• 1 point if the Speed IV is 1 or 3 mod 4, 0 otherwise
• 1/8 of the current HP of the Pokémon, rounded down
• 1 point if the Pokémon is holding an item, 0 otherwise

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 (eg. before the National Pokédex, the 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 health 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 and Pinsir)

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

Competitors

These are the competitors found in every contest:

• CoolTrainer Nick
• PokéFan William
• Youngster SamuelI
• Camper Barry
• Bug Catcher Ed
• Bug Catcher Benny

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

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 version-exclusive Pokémon Caterpie, Metapod, and Butterfree in Pokémon SoulSilver and Weedle, Kakuna and Beedrill in 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 on those days.

References

• Psypoke - Pokémon Catch Rates