Obtaining Pokémon

Pokémon can be obtained and caught in many ways. This page summarises all the possible ways to obtain Pokémon.

In the Wild
In the Pokémon world, there are a lot of places that you can find different Pokémon.

Grasses
In the Pokémon world, there are lots of tall grasses that is lying all over the place. You can encounter the Pokémon in the grasses. In Hoenn, there are a taller grasses found in Route 119 and Route 120.

Water Bodies
You can find Pokémon in ponds, lakes, rivers, seas or oceans. This are places where you can find a variety of water Pokémon.

Fishing
You may also find Pokémon through fishing. Some Pokémon are very picky - they choose to wait for a Super Rod instead of an Old Rod.

Caves
You may encounter Pokémon in caves, and will appear randomly every few tiles you walk.

Underwater
In Generation III games, players can use 'Dive' to go underwater. Some parts of the underwater contained seagrasses, where players will encounter deep sea Pokémon.

Breeding
Main article: Breeding

Breeding is a way to obtain a bouncy baby Pokémon. For example, two Pikachus of different gender is placed into the Day Care Center. They will breed an egg, which will hatch into a Pichu, which cannot be caught in the wild.

Some Pokémon have to hold an item to breed a certain Pokémon. If two Marills breed with a Sea Incense, their egg will hatch into a Azurill. However, without an item cause their egg to hatch into a baby Marill.

Evolution
Main article: Evolution

One way to get new Pokémon is by evolving. Some Pokémon can only evolve when it is traded, and some of them need to hold an item to evolve before it is traded. Pokémon can evolve into different species depending on the day, for example, Eevee. Some Pokémon will evolve when given a evolution stones, example, a Water Stone will cause Poliwhirl to evolve into Poliwrath.

Special
Certain types of Pokémon can be obtained in a special way. Castform can be obtained from the Weather Institute in Route 119, which cannot be found in the wild.

Legendary Pokémon can be captured by meeting them in a specific locations, example, Rayquaza is found at the top floor of the Sky Pillar. Some of them need to fulfill a task before it can be captured. A puzzle in Sealed Chamber must be solve in order to capture Regice etc. Some Pokémon will roam around the world, such as Latias in Pokémon Sapphire.