Catching Pokemon

Learn the basics of catching Pokémon in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Discover how to weaken them, inflict status conditions, and use the right Poké Balls to increase your success rate.

Alright, let’s talk about catching Pokémon in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire! It sounds simple enough, right? You just chuck a Poké Ball at 'em and hope for the best. Sometimes it works, sometimes they break free – it’s all part of the fun!

To really up your chances, the best strategy is to weaken the Pokémon you're trying to catch. You don't want to knock them out completely, though! If their HP hits zero, they faint and just disappear, which is a bummer because you miss out on experience. So, keep an eye on their HP bar and use weaker moves to get it nice and low before you start throwing Poké Balls.

There are a couple of super helpful moves you'll want to know about. False Swipe is a lifesaver because it always leaves the opponent with at least 1 HP, so you can't accidentally faint them. If you don't have False Swipe, the move Hold Back does the same thing. You can grab False Swipe from the guy with shades in the Rustboro Poké Mart – definitely worth the trip!

Inflicting status conditions like Sleep or Paralysis on the wild Pokémon also gives you a nice boost to your capture rate. Later in the game, you'll get access to better Poké Balls, like the Great Ball and Ultra Ball, which are essential for snagging those tougher Pokémon.

Once you've successfully caught a Pokémon, you can use it in battle right away. Keep in mind that you can only have 6 Pokémon in your active party at any given time. Any Pokémon you catch beyond that will be sent to your Pokémon Box. You can access your boxes from any PC in a Pokémon Center to swap Pokémon in and out of your party whenever you need to.