Wild Pokémon

Encounter redirects here. For the song, see Encounter (song).

This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Missing side games/spinoffs

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A wild Pikachu appears in Pokémon X and Y

A wild Pokémon (Japanese: 野生(やせい)ポケモン wild Pokémon) is any Pokémon that is not currently owned by a Pokémon Trainer.

Terminology

In the game dialogue, the word "wild" is written in lowercase, such as in "wild Pokémon" and "A wild Pikachu appeared!"

In some early official material, this word has also been occasionally written as "Wild" with an initial capital letter:

• "You will travel North into the grassy area where you will run into many Wild Pokémon." (manual of Pokémon Red and Blue, page 16)
• "Soon you find [Professor Birch] being attacked by Wild Pokémon on a road outside town." (manual of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, page 4)

In the core series games

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: encounter chances in newer games

Wild Pokémon are encountered in most parts of the Pokémon world, most commonly outside of cities and towns, often in tall grass, in caves, or on water. A Trainer may choose to battle a wild Pokémon or run from it. If a Trainer chooses to battle, they may either attempt to catch the Pokémon with a Poké Ball or to defeat it outright.

Generation I

Since Generation I, wild Pokémon will appear to the player in a variety of locations, most often when the player is walking through or near tall grass. Other methods of encountering wild Pokémon include walking through caves or abandoned buildings, fishing, surfing on water, and interacting with Pokémon in the overworld. The species and level of the Pokémon both depend on both the location and encounter method.

Each tile has a number that affects the chance of finding a wild Pokémon. Tall grass varies from 15 to 25 (except the Safari Zone, which has 30), caves vary from 10 to 15 (except Mewtwo's room in Cerulean Cave, which has 25), and all water tiles use the number 5. Each time the player takes a step in a tile with wild Pokémon, the game generates a random number from 0 to 255 (inclusive). If that random number is less than the tile's encounter number, the game generates a species and level. Repels prevent encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than the party's first Pokémon.

When encountered, a wild Pokémon's moveset will generally consist of the most recent four moves its species would know by leveling-up; for example, a level 4 Nidoran♂ will know Leer and Tackle when encountered in the wild in Red and Blue, while one encountered at level 22 will know Tackle, Horn Attack, Poison Sting, and Focus Energy.

At the beginning of every turn, wild Pokémon have an equal chance of selecting each move that they can use. If all the Pokémon in the player's party faint while battling a wild Pokémon, the player will drop some money in panic.

Generation II

Generation II introduced four encounter methods, namely smashing breakable rocks, headbutting Headbutt trees, using Sweet Scent, and roaming Pokémon. Additionally, the species of wild Pokémon depends on the current time and mass outbreaks.

In this generation, tall grass varies from 15 to 25, and both caves and water have encounter numbers between 5 and 15 (except Diglett's Cave in the daytime, which has 2). Pokémon March and the Ruins of Alph signal, played on the Pokégear, will double the encounter rate, and the Pokémon Lullaby and Cleanse Tag halve the rate. All of these multipliers stack with each other.

Repels prevent encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than the party's first conscious Pokémon. Wild Pokémon can hold items, which can be obtained by catching the Pokémon or using one of a set of moves, like Thief. Wild Pokémon that use one of those moves can steal the player's Pokémon's held item.

Generation III

Wild Pokémon can appear in deep sand. The random number varies from 0 to 2879. Tall grass has 320 (except Route 119, which has 240, and Safari Zone, which has 400), caves have 160 (except Seafloor Cavern, which has 64, Cave of Origin, which has 64, and Altering Cave, which has 112), and water and seaweed have 64 (except Safari Zone, which has 144).

Bicycles, White Flute, Black Flute, and Cleanse Tag multiply the encounter number by 0.8, 1.5, 0.5, and 0.66, respectively. Additionally, certain Abilities affect wild Pokémon in various ways—many only gaining these effects in Emerald. Unlike Repels, these modifiers ignore whether the first Pokémon in the party is fainted.

Wild Pokémon cannot steal the player's Pokémon's held item regardless of what moves they use.

Generation IV

Honey has the same effect as Sweet Scent in the overworld. However, using Honey on a Honey Tree will attract a Pokémon from a different encounter table. From Generation IV onward, multiple wild Pokémon can appear at once. All but one of the Pokémon will have to be defeated before that one can be caught. In Generation IV, the only way to encounter multiple wild Pokémon at once is walking while accompanied by another Pokémon Trainer.

Generation V

A Double Battle against wild Pokémon (Blitzle & Pidove) in Pokémon Black and White

Starting in Generation V, wild Pokémon can appear in puddles or phenomena. There is the chance of two Pokémon appearing at once in dark grass. Two types of Pass Powers (Encounter Power ↑ and Encounter Power ↓ ) modify encounter chances. Wild Pokémon can steal the player's Pokémon's held item.

Generation VI

In Generation VI, wild Pokémon can appear in snow, ambush encounters, and while soaring. Hordes of five Pokémon may appear. Two O-Powers (Encounter Power and Stealth Power) modify encounter chances. Repels prevent encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than the party's first Pokémon.

Generation VII

A battle against a wild Pokémon (Alolan Meowth) in Pokémon Sun and Moon

In Generation VII, a wild Pokémon can call for an ally, turning the battle into a 2-on-1 scenario. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, encounters can be prevented by Roto Stealth.

Generation VIII

Repels prevent hidden encounters with any Pokémon of a lower level than the party's first Pokémon. They have no effect on other encounters.

In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the camera view might show the player before the wild Pokémon. In that case, the wild Pokémon has two or more IVs of 31.

Generation IX

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, there are fixed encounter locations where the same Pokémon always spawns at the same location, even when de-spawned by going off-screen. This includes wild Tera Pokémon, which always have the same Tera Type when encountered on the overworld. After a fixed encounter is defeated, it will not respawn until the clock rolls over to the next day.

Encounter messages

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Any missing variants of the message

There are times when the usual message You encountered a wild <Pokémon>! will be replaced by another message:

Game	Situation	Message
All Generation I and II games	when a wild Pokémon is fished out	The hooked <Pokémon> attacked!
All Generation II games	when a wild Pokémon is encountered using Headbutt	<Pokémon> fell out of the tree!
XD: Gale of Darkness	Pokémon in Battle Bingo	Oh! <Pokémon> appeared!
All Generation IV games	wild Double Battle when with a Stat Trainer	A wild <Pokémon> and <Pokémon> appeared!
All Generation IV games	encountering a Pokémon in Pal Park	Wow! <Pokémon's OT>'s <Pokémon's nickname> is drawing close!
Diamond and Pearl	battle against Starly immediately after picking the first partner Pokémon	Whoa! A wild <Pokémon> came charging!
Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum	when checking out a shaking Honey Tree	A wild <Pokémon> appeared from the tree you slathered with Honey!
Platinum	battle against Giratina in the Distortion World	The Distortion World's <Pokémon> appeared!
All Generation V games	wild Double Battle initiated by dark grass or with a partner NPC	Oh! A wild <Pokémon> and <Pokémon> appeared!
All Generation V games	Entree Forest encounter	The <Pokémon> your Pokémon saw in the dream appeared!
All Generation V, VI, VII, and VIII games	battle against a non-roaming Legendary or Mythical Pokémon, Volcarona in Relic Castle, disguised Zoroark in Lostlorn Forest, an Ultra Beast that is registered in the Pokédex, or Max Raid Battle Pokémon	<Pokémon> appeared!
Black 2 and White 2	encountering one of N's Pokémon	A wild <Pokémon> appeared?!
X and Y	Routes 9 and 17	Whoa! The <Pokémon> you stepped on attacked!
X and Y	walking into a shadow in caves	Whoa! A wild <Pokémon> swooped down from above!
X and Y	walking into a shadow next to a tree in the outdoor part of Victory Road	Whoa! A wild <Pokémon> dived out of the sky!
X and Y	encountering a Pokémon by interacting with a trash can	Whoa! A wild <Pokémon> leaped out of the trash can!
X and Y	bushes on Routes 6 and 18	Whoa! A wild <Pokémon> leaped out of the tall grass!
All Generation VI and VII games	during the catching demonstration	Oh! A wild <Pokémon> appeared!
X and Y	roaming Articuno, Zapdos, or Moltres	Oh! A wild <Pokémon> appeared!
All Generation VI games	Horde Encounters	Whoa! A horde of <Pokémon> appeared!
Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon	Totem Pokémon	You are challenged by Totem <Pokémon>!
Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon	encountering an Ultra Beast (before registering it in the Pokédex)	??? appeared!
Sword and Shield	encountering a Pokémon whose level is too high for the player to catch	You encountered a very strong-looking <Pokémon>!
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl	encountering two wild Pokémon of different species	You encountered a wild <Pokémon> and <Pokémon>!
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl	encountering two wild Pokémon of the same species	You encountered two wild <Pokémon>!
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl	Encountering a Legendary Pokémon	<Pokémon> appeared!

Availability

Encounter type	Generation
	I	II	III		IV		V		VI		VII		VIII			IX
			RSE	FRLG	DPPt	HGSS	BW	B2W2	XY	ORAS	SM/USUM	PE	SwSh	BDSP	LA
Random encounter*	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘
Fishing	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✘	✔	✔	✘	✘
Overworld interaction*	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Breakable rock	✘	✔	✔	✔	✘	✔	✘	✘	✔	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘
Headbutt tree	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Sweet Scent	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘
Roaming Pokémon	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔	✘	✘
Mass outbreak	✘	✔	✔	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔	✔
Sand/Deep sand	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Honey Tree	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘
Wild Double Battle	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘
Puddle	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Phenomenon	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Snow	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Ambush encounter	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Soaring	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Horde Encounter	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
SOS Battle	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Berry pile	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Poké Pelago	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
Symbol encounter	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Wanderer	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✔
Hidden encounter	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘
Shaking tree	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✔	✘
Pokémon Den	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘
Curry encounter	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔	✘	✘	✘
Tera Raid Battle	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘	✔

In the spin-off games

Pokémon GO

In Pokémon GO, wild Pokémon appear on a map of the real world (based on the crowdsourced OpenStreetMap project), with the player moving in the game by traveling in the real world. When a Pokémon is nearby, the player's phone vibrates. The player can encounter a nearby Pokémon by tapping it in the Map View. Different kinds of Pokémon will appear in different environments; for example, Water-type Pokémon are more common near water. Weather also affects which Pokémon are common.

In a wild encounter, the player attempts to catch a wild Pokémon in a Poké Ball before it runs away. Unlike in the core series games, these encounters do not involve battle. At higher levels, the player can use various Berries to make wild Pokémon easier to catch or use more powerful Poké Balls like Great Balls and Ultra Balls. While pressing and holding a Poké Ball, a ring will appear around the Pokémon. This ring shrinks over time; once it reaches its smallest size, it immediately returns to full size, and the cycle repeats. If the Poké Ball is thrown while the ring is very small, the capture is more likely to be successful. Throwing the ball while the ring is as far out as it can be, or halfway in the outer circle also provides small bonuses.

Encounter messages

There are times when the usual A wild <Pokémon> appeared! will be replaced by another message: encountering a defeated Raid Boss or a Shadow Pokémon will yield this message: Bonus Challenge! Catch <Pokémon>!

Pokémon Ranger series

In the Pokémon Rangers, the wild Pokémon are not caught. Instead, it is possible to direct them to perform a task with a Capture Styler.

Pokémon Pinball series

In Pokémon Pinball and Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, during the Catch 'Em Mode, a wild Pokémon appears at the bottom of the field and can be caught by the player.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Live

In Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, one of the text strings displayed as the game loads is "Catching Wild Pokémon"

In the anime

A group of wild Bidoof in the anime

Typically, wild Pokémon are not a central feature of the anime, which focuses mostly on the Pokémon belonging to Ash, his friends, and other Trainers that he encounters. Most of the Pokémon belonging to the group were shown in the wild at some point, but are usually caught at a later point in the same episode, most often at the end. Despite this, there have been several recurring wild Pokémon who appear over a length of time and are not caught. Of all of these Pokémon, a Caterpie, a Shiny Gyarados, an Aipom, a Gible, a Krokorok, a Froakie, a Dedenne, a Rockruff, a Litten, a Poipole, an Eevee, a Meltan, two Gengar, a Scorbunny, a Sobble, an Eternatus, a Morpeko, a Fuecoco, a Wattrel, and a Quaxly all went on to be caught several episodes after they appeared. As demonstrated on a number of occasions, Meowth is also a wild Pokémon.

There are, however, numerous examples of wild Pokémon being featured in the anime in debut episodes that introduce their species, such as Clefairy in Clefairy and the Moon Stone and Sudowoodo in Type Casting.

In the first anime episode, Ash's Pokédex states that wild Pokémon tend to be jealous of human-trained Pokémon, this being one of the reasons that the Spearow Ash hit with a rock attacked Pikachu instead.

Pokédex entries

Episode Subject Source Entry EP001 Wild Pokémon Ash's Pokédex Wild Pokémon tend to be jealous of human-trained Pokémon.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Wild Pokémon have been seen in Pokémon Adventures since the start of the manga, though prior to the Ruby & Sapphire arc, they mostly served the role of being caught by one of the Pokédex holders or the antagonists, especially with Crystal, whom Professor Oak tasked with completing the Pokédex. In later arcs, wild Pokémon have become more common. In some cases, the possibility of controlling wild Pokémon without catching them has been demonstrated, such as with the legendary giants being controlled by Steven and the Hoenn Elite Four during the climax of the Ruby & Sapphire arc, or Colress controlling a wild Genesect in the Black 2 & White 2 arc due to Team Plasma's inability to place it inside a Poké Ball. Examples of Pokémon that have appeared in the wild outside the chapters they were caught in include Mewtwo, the legendary giants, and Pearl's Luxray.

In the TCG

The Pokémon Trading Card Game does not really address the distinction between wild Pokémon and Pokémon owned by trainers. As written in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Rules, the Pokémon cards in one's deck are that player's Pokémon. However, much of the game's art does not contain any traces of humans. One could interpret a card that does not show a human, a location associated with a human such as a house, or an organized battle as depicting a Pokémon in the wild.

The Poké Catch game depicts players catching Pokémon. Therefore, all of the Pokémon used in it can be assumed to be wild Pokémon.

Trivia

• In pre-release versions of Pokémon Red and Green, the wild encounter rate was so high that players would encounter wild Pokémon every two steps. Combined with the fact that Trainers would battle the player every time the player walked past them regardless of whether they had already been defeated, it would take players half a day to get through a single cave. Game Freak adjusted the wild encounter rate and changed Trainer battles for a more reasonable experience before the game was released.
• Prior to Generation IV, due to the fact that Pokémon hatched from Eggs at level 5, several wild Pokémon found in early routes had lower levels than newly-hatched Pokémon.
• Pokémon Crystal is the core series game with the lowest maximum level available for a wild Pokémon, having no higher than level 60 Ho-Oh and Lugia.
• The only level 100 wild Pokémon available in the core series are Magikarp in Pokémon Platinum, Black 2, White 2, Scarlet, and Violet (with The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero), and Regigigas in Pokémon Sword and Shield (with Expansion Pass).

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 野生寶可夢 Yéhsāang Pokémon Mandarin 野生寶可夢 / 野生宝可梦 Yěshēng Pokémon Danish Vild Pokémon Dutch Wild Pokémon Finnish Villi Pokémon French Pokémon sauvage German Wildes Pokémon Italian Pokémon selvatico Korean 야생 포켓몬 Yasaeng Pokémon Norwegian Vill Pokémon Polish Dziki Pokémon Portuguese Brazil Pokémon selvagem Portugal Pokémon selvagem* Russian Дикий покемон Dikiy Pokémon Spanish Pokémon salvaje Swedish Vild Pokémon Vietnamese Pokémon hoang dã