Quality Control Capturing XY Legendaries

TailGlowVM

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Written by TailGlowVM
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Capture Rate
The in-game formula to determine capture rate is highly complex, but this simplified version produces similar results (any decimal numbers should be rounded down). If the result is 255 or over, capture is guaranteed.

(( 1 + ( MaxHP * 3 - CurrentHP * 2 ) * CatchRate * BallRate * Status# * O-PowerRate ) / ( MaxHP * 3 )) / 100

The CatchRate of every legendary Pokémon available in Pokémon X and Y is 3, except for Xerneas and Yveltal, who each have a catch rate of 45.

The BallRate is determined by the type of Poké Ball used, and the following are the most likely to be useful:
:master_ball: Master Ball: 255
:quick_ball: Quick Ball (First turn): 5
:timer_ball: Timer Ball (11+ turns): 4
:dusk_ball: Dusk Ball (when inside caves, or outside between 20:00 and 04:00): 3.5
:repeat_ball: Repeat Ball (when against previously caught Pokémon): 3
:ultra_ball: Ultra Ball: 2

The Status can be changed by inflicting a status condition on the Pokémon:

Healthy: 1
Burn: 1.5
Poison: 1.5
Paralysis: 1.5
Sleep: 2
Freeze: 2

O-PowerRate is obtained by using the Capture O-Power, obtained from Mr. Bonding by repeatedly speaking to him in the hotels across the Kalos region. It will last for three minutes when activated, and the value is dependent on the O-Power's level:

No O-Power active: 1
Level 1: 1.5
Level 2: 2
Level 3: 2.5

Critical Capture
There is a small chance when throwing any Poké Ball that a special type of capture may occur. This is a critical capture, where the Poké Ball only shakes once, instead of the standard four times. The chances of the Pokémon breaking free on this shake is the same as the usual chance, making the chances of catching a Pokémon with a critical capture equal to the fourth root of the standard chance of successful capture. Catching more species of Pokémon will increase the chances of a critical capture occuring, and the maximum rate is obtained when 600 Pokémon have been caught

Forced IVs
In Pokémon X and Y, every Pokémon in the "Undiscovered" Egg Group is guaranteed three perfect IVs. This makes obtaining four or even five perfect IVs a realistic possibility, unlike previous games.

Shiny Lock
Every legendary Pokémon available in Pokémon X and Y is prevented from being shiny when battled under any legal circumstances.

Tips

Choosing the Correct Poké Ball

The Master Ball is guaranteed to capture any Pokémon without fail, but it is only easily obtainable once, from the Poké Ball Factory when playing through the story. They can be obtained by matching five digits at the Loto-ID counter in Lumiose City, but the odds to do this are highly unlikely without owning Pokémon with many different Trainer IDs.

The most effective renewable Poké Ball is the Timer Ball, as long as there have been at least 11 turns. Dusk Balls can be considered as a secondary option, as they are nearly as effective when used at night or inside caves. These Poké Balls can easily be bought from Poke Marts, and you should have at least 50 Timer Balls for each legendary captured, as well as some Dusk Balls in reserve.

Obtaining a Desired Nature
If the lead Pokémon in your party has the Synchronize ability, there is a 50% chance that any wild Pokémon encountered will have the same nature as the Pokémon with the Synchronize ability. This Pokémon can be fainted and the effect will still work, which may be useful to save time rather than switching out the lead Pokémon every time.

The easiest way to get a Pokémon with the Synchronize ability is by catching an Abra, Ralts, Espeon, or Umbreon, all of which are available in the game.

Train A Pokémon For Catching
To maximize the chances of catching the Pokémon, you'll want them to be at 1 HP and put to sleep. The former is most easily achieved by using False Swipe (TM54), and the latter by using a sleep move with 60 accuracy or greater (Hypnosis, Spore, or Sleep Powder). The most easily obtainable Pokémon with this combination are Gallade (note that you must delay Kirlia's evolution to Level 53 to teach Hypnosis) and Smeargle. Breloom and Parasect can also be obtained from the Friend Safari.

Sample Set:
:xy/smeargle:
Smeargle @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- False Swipe
- Spore
- Taunt
- Recover

The "One Under" Pokémon
This is an optional way to determine whether the legendary Pokémon has a perfect Speed IV. To do so, get a Pokémon with a Speed stat one below the maximum of the legendary Pokémon, and switch out of your lead with Synchronize to it (or lead with this Pokémon if the Synchronize Pokémon is fainted). If the "one under" Pokémon attacks second, the legendary Pokémon must have a perfect Speed IV, whereas if the legendary Pokémon moves second, its Speed IV is imperfect.

If you are catching a legendary Pokémon that does not need a perfect Speed IV, an alternative version of this method can be used to find out the HP IV. Get a Pokémon with an HP stat one less than the maximum of the legendary, and teach it the move Endeavor or Final Gambit. Endeavor will reduce the target Pokémon's HP to the same as the user's HP if it is higher than the user's, but fail if the user's HP is the same or lower than the target's. Consequently, the Pokémon must have a perfect HP IV if Endeavor succeeds. Final Gambit has the same purpose, but your Pokémon does not have to be brought to 1 HP prior to starting the battle, and it saves time because Final Gambit allows a Pokémon to sacrifice itself, so your next Pokémon can come in instantly, saving a turn. Make sure your Pokémon has an HP stat one less than the target if it has a perfect HP IV, so that the target will be KOed if it does not have a perfect HP IV, and that it is faster than the target.

Sample Set:
:xy/accelgor:
Accelgor @ Choice Scarf / No Item
Ability: Hydration
EVs: Dependent on target
Timid Nature
- Final Gambit
- Double Team
- Curse
- Yawn

Giving A Pokémon Unlimited PP
This can be done by getting a Trevenant with its hidden ability, Harvest. It can learn the move Trick to give the opposing Pokémon a Leppa Berry, then use Skill Swap to change its ability to Harvest. This will mean that when a move reaches 0 PP, the Leppa Berry will be consumed, restoring PP, then it will simply be recycled for use again, creating infinite PP. You will be limited only by the number of Poké Balls you own. For Trevenant's remaining two moveslots, Calm Mind and Double Team are good fillers, as they allow Trevenant to boost its defensive stat so it can stay in against powerful opposing Pokémon when necessary.

Sample Set:
:xy/trevenant:
Trevenant @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Trick
- Skill Swap
- Calm Mind
- Double Team

Other Useful Items
As most legendary Pokémon are extremely powerful, they are likely to inflict heavy damage to your Pokémon. Consequently, it's worth buying Revives and Super Potions to keep your team healthy. An Escape Rope is useful when catching Zygarde to avoid having to travel back through the entire length of Terminus Cave. Super Repels (which are more cost effective than Max Repels) will save time when walking through tall grass or caves, as they prevent wild Pokémon encounters. A small number of Full Heals can be useful, as your Pokémon may occasionally get burned, frozen, or paralyzed.

Reviving Legendaries
Any legendary Pokémon that is defeated will disappear initially, but will be available to fight again after defeating the Pokémon League, except for Xerneas and Yveltal, which must be caught to progress the story, so are immediately available for capture again.

Are You Ready?
Make sure that you have an empty space on your team for the legendary Pokémon, so that when it is caught you can immediately see its stats. Once the Synchronize Pokémon, the capture Pokémon, an empty space allocated for the legendary Pokémon, and any "one under" Pokémon are in the party, any remaining spaces should ideally be filled with high level Pokémon, to increase the chances that your team can withstand the Legendary Pokémon's attacks.

For maximum efficiency, Battle Animations should be turned off.

You will need to save as close as possible to the legendary Pokémon before fighting them. This is so that if you catch a Pokémon with stats you are not prepared to accept, you can simply turn off the power and relaunch the game to try again.

Catching The Legendaries

Xerneas / Yveltal
:xy/xerneas: :xy/yveltal:
Xerneas is available only in Pokémon X, and Yveltal is available only in Pokémon Y. In their respective games, they are found in the lowest level of Team Flare's Secret HQ. Once Shauna has unlocked the door to this room, you will be faced by four admins of Team Flare. After defeating them, a cutscene plays after which you will be able to walk up to the structure in the middle of the room, and the legendary Pokémon will burst out and fight you. They are both encountered at Level 50.


Xerneas's Maximum Stats:
StatMax-MaxMax+
HP-201-
Atk135151166
Def103115126
SpA135151166
SpD106118129
Spe107119130

Xerneas's Moveset:
Gravity (5 PP)
Geomancy (10 PP)
Moonblast (15 PP)
Megahorn (10 PP)
Total PP = 40

Xerneas's PP are low for a legendary, so it is worth trying to keep it asleep as much as you can. Geomancy, while a waste of the inital turn, will make its already strong Moonblast hit even harder. Megahorn does heavy damage to Bug- and Grass-types especially, Fortunately, Gravity does not benefit Xerneas at all, so you get a free turn. Xerneas struggles to damage most Fire-, Poison-, and Steel-type Pokémon, though catching it with one may be difficult, as they usually lack False Swipe and sleep-inducing moves.

Yveltal's Maximum Stats:
StatMax-MaxMax+
HP-201-
Atk135151166
Def103115126
SpA135151166
SpD106118129
Spe107119130

Yveltal's Moveset:
Snarl (15 PP)
Oblivion Wing (10 PP)
Disable (20 PP)
Dark Pulse (15 PP)
Total PP = 60

Yveltal has considerably greater PP than Xerneas. Dark Pulse is the strongest attack thanks to Dark Aura, and Oblivion Wing can be extremely annoying as it not only damages your Pokémon heavily, but also heals Yveltal's HP. Disable is easily dealt with by switching out, and Snarl is fairly weak thanks to its low Base Power.

Note that even if you do not have a free space in your party, you are given the option of replacing a Pokémon in your party with your version mascot, and that you are forced into a cutscene and a battle with Lysandre after catching it. You are able to view your Pokémon's stats if you use the "Pokémon" option during the fight and go to the Pokémon's summary.

Zygarde
:xy/zygarde:
Zygarde is obtainable after the player has defeated the Pokémon League in the lowest chamber of Terminus Cave. To access it, enter Terminus Cave from the northern entrance. Go down the stairs. Head south then west, and across the ledges. Go up the slope, across the bridge, and then south and east to head across the next bridge. Go down the slope, north, then down the stairs on the right. Here, head north until you see a Black Belt and head to the east before you meet him. You'll meet another Black Belt who is walking in lines. Go south from there, then turn east to go past the two Pokémon Rangers. At the next junction, head east and go up the stairs. In the next room go north, west, and west onto the stairs. Zygarde is found at the end of the path heading north in this final room. Zygarde is battled at Level 70.

Zygarde's Maximum Stats:
StatMax-MaxMax+
HP-252-
Atk149166182
Def176196215
SpA126140154
SpD143159174
Spe143159174

Zygarde's Moveset:
Crunch (15 PP)
Earthquake (10 PP)
Camouflage (20 PP)
Dragon Pulse (10 PP)
Total PP = 55

Earthquake is Zygarde's most dangerous move, and will do considerable damage to most neutral targets. Dragon Pulse, fortunately, is weaker due to Zygarde's low base Special Attack stat, and Crunch is not too threatening outside the occasional Defense drop, unless your Pokémon is weak to it. Camouflage will make Zygarde a Rock-type, meaning that False Swipe will do little damage to it, though it will remove the STAB bonus from Zygarde's attacks.

Mewtwo
:xy/mewtwo:
Mewtwo is obtainable after the player has defeated the Pokémon League in the Unknown Dungeon, a cave in the Pokémon Village. To reach it, travel southwest from the entrance to the Pokémon Village to the statue, then west to an area of water. Use Surf to head north along the water towards the waterfall, but just as you approach the waterfall, leave the water and take the path east. The entrance to the cave is reached just before walking over a ledge. Mewtwo is battled at Level 70, and once it is caught, you automatically obtain the Mewtwonite X in Pokémon X, or the Mewtwonite Y in Pokémon Y.

Mewtwo's Maximum Stats:
StatMax-MaxMax+
HP-250-
Atk162180198
Def136152167
SpA217242266
SpD136152167
Spe187208228

Mewtwo's Moveset:
Recover (10 PP)
Psychic (10 PP)
Barrier (20 PP)
Aura Sphere (20 PP)
Total PP = 60

Psychic and Aura Sphere both hit very hard off Mewtwo's massive Special Attack stat. Aura Sphere is especially threatening if using Smeargle as your capture Pokémon, while Psychic can drop Special Defense. Barrier will make it very hard to take down with physical moves, and Recover allows it to heal off any damage inflicted repeatedly. Mewtwo is a strong candidate to use your Master Ball on, but otherwise, a Pokémon with Taunt can be useful to prevent Mewtwo's use of Recover and Barrier, making it much easier to wear down.

Articuno / Zapdos / Moltres
:xy/articuno: :xy/zapdos: :xy/moltres:
Once the player has defeated the Pokémon League, a legendary bird Pokémon will begin roaming across the Kalos region - Articuno will appear if the player chose Chespin as their starter Pokémon, Zapdos if the player chose Fennekin, or Moltres if the player chose Froakie. The first wild encounter after defeating the Pokémon League for the first time inside tall grass will always be this Pokémon. Unlike previous roaming Pokémon, it will simply flee before the player can do anything, but once it is encountered, it will be recorded in the Pokédex along with its current location. The Pokémon will change location if the player uses Fly to travel to a different route, and they may change location if the player changes route normally, though this has only a small chance to occur. Once the roaming Pokémon has been encountered eleven times, it will finally settle in the Sea Spirit's Den, a cave located in the center of Azure Bay. The Pokémon is encountered at Level 70.

Articuno's Maximum Stats:
StatMax-MaxMax+
HP-227-
Atk130145159
Def149166182
SpA143159174
SpD180201221
Spe130145159

Articuno's Moveset:
Ice Beam (10 PP)
Reflect (20 PP)
Hail (10 PP)
Tailwind (15 PP)
Total PP = 55

Articuno is the most defensively oriented of the three legendary birds, so its Ice Beam will not deal much damage unless your Pokémon is weak to it. It may be a threat due to the occasional freeze chance, so bringing some Ice Heals or Full Heals could be useful. Hail will slowly chip down your Pokémon, but the damage is only 1/16 of a Pokémon's maximum HP, so it should only be a minor annoyance. Reflect makes Articuno hard to take down physically. If using a "one-under" Pokémon, it is strongly recommended to have your Synchronize Pokémon fainted, so that you can lead the battle with the "one-under" Pokémon to avoid Articuno setting Tailwind before you can determine its Speed stat.

Zapdos's Maximum Stats:
StatMax-MaxMax+
HP-227-
Atk136152167
Def130145159
SpA180201221
SpD136152167
Spe149166182

Zapdos's Moveset:
Agility (30 PP)
Discharge (15 PP)
Rain Dance (5 PP)
Light Screen (30 PP)
Total PP = 80

Discharge is Zapdos's only attacking move, and it can be problematic due to the chance of paralysis. Rain Dance will power up your Water-tpye moves and weaken your Fire-type moves, but it otherwise doesn't benefit Zapdos. If using a "one-under" Pokémon, it is strongly recommended to have your Synchronize Pokémon fainted, so that you can lead the battle with the "one-under" Pokémon to avoid Zapdos paralyzing your Pokémon or using Agility before you can determine its Speed stat.

Moltres's Maximum Stats:
StatMax-MaxMax+
HP-227-
Atk149166182
Def136152167
SpA180201221
SpD130145159
Spe136152167

Moltres's Moveset:
Safeguard (25 PP)
Air Slash (15 PP)
Sunny Day (5 PP)
Heat Wave (10 PP)
Total PP = 60

Safeguard allows Moltres to block any use of status conditions from your Pokémon, so it is useful to have a faster Pokémon that can put it to sleep before it gets the chance to use it, or a Pokémon that can use Taunt to prevent Moltres from using it. Sunny Day will power up Moltres's already powerful Heat Wave, and it also weakens your Water-type moves. Air Slash can be annoying if you are slower thanks to its flinch chance, and it also hits common catching Pokémon like Gallade, Breloom, and Parasect hard.
 
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TailGlowVM

Now 100% more demonic
Right, I think this is ready for QC. I don't know who is meant to check this.

I am aware that previous guides included the Mythical Pokemon of the generation, but as none are battled in-game and none of them have events triggered in-game, I didn't think it was worth including them here. I can add them if the QC team would prefer it though.
 
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shiny finder

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Chatot Wrangler
Thanks!

Will open with a few comments of mine and tag some people who might have some insight or connections.

Regarding your comment, if you don't capture them it's not really worth including imo.

Catch rate
  • Should that be /256 instead of /100 ?
  • Might be worth a mention of crit capture?
  • Might be worth a mention of Quick ball?
  • Idt being too explicit could hurt here, so might be worth saying that if no status or O-power is used, the modifier is x1.
Generic things that might be worth including/are missing
  • Helpful game settings/party loadouts?
  • Legends are shiny locked here.
  • Missing the stat column on Zygarde
  • Actual sets for the one-under Pokemon. Buckert did something similar here and something like that would be a huge boost in usability.


Ik some guys in wifi have no-lifed experience in SRing, so I'm sure they might have some more specific tips/feedback. wishes Buckert Max. Optimizer Sephirona Tatertot Kanon90 Hare_vs_Tortoise . Any thoughts on this?
 

Tatertot

always the poet, never the poem
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
Thanks for the tag shiny finder!

My suggestion would to be to mention the Trevenant strategy for preventing the Pokemon from running out of PP and struggling to death. Basically the idea is to use Trick to give the target your Leppa Berry, and then use Skill Swap to give it your Harvest ability so that it will restore its PP over and over again when it gets depleted. That way you're only limited by the number of Poke Balls you brought, and you don't have to worry about a Pokemon with great IVs KOing itself. Here's a sample set with some other helpful moves:

Trevenant @ Leppa Berry
Ability: Harvest (HA)
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Trick
- Skill Swap
- Calm Mind
- Double Team

It might also be worth mentioning the move Final Gambit where you discuss using Endeavor to check the target's HP IV. It serves the same purpose as Endeavor, but it has the benefit of not having to spend time getting your Pokemon to 1 HP before the battle, and it saves time because your Final Gambit Pokemon will KO itself allowing for your next party member to come in instantly (you don't have to waste another turn waiting for the legend to KO it or swapping it out yourself). You set it up by making sure your Pokemon with Final Gambit has 1 less HP than the target if it has a perfect IV stat, and is faster than the target (Accelgor is a great pick for this).

You’ll still need to adjust the Final Gambit user's HP for each legend you fight, but it will save time in the long run.
 
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Here are my thoughts:
  1. The information that the legends are shiny locked needs including.
  2. Wondering if mentioning Super Fang as an option in the Train a Pokemon for Catching section is an idea as it can be faster to reduce the HP in order to False Swipe.​
  3. A mention of Trevenant (or alternative Leppa Berry Bestow/Trick Pokemon given that the HA is only available via Friend Safari in XY) to offset the PP usage of the target legendary especially with the mention of PP issues for Xerneas I think should be included in the Train a Pokemon section as well.
  4. Re sr'ing in general, Buckert's SR Guide for XY/ORAS that would be worth a look as well as it includes Pokemon suggestions for iv checking as well as other user's experiences plus Buckert's giveaway thread for said Pokemon both for X/Y and ORAS.
  5. Think a mention that if you want Xerneas or Yveltal to be untouched by ev's and EXP then you will need to put them in a box rather than switch out. Might be possible to bypass this by switching off EXP Share but haven't played X/Y in some time so not sure when this is possible so would need checking.
  6. Long shot idea but might be worth linking a damage calculator that is X/Y specific to help with training the sr'ing Pokemon.
  7. Not perfect but tried rewording this slightly to make the sequence a bit clearer " except for Xerneas and Yveltal, which must be caught to progress the story, and so are immediately available for battle and subsequent capture until successful ."
 

Sephirona

t-t-t-tubearrific. (✿≖ᴗ≖) ・゚✧*:・゚✧
is a Top Artist Alumnus
Looking good! I also only have experience with RNGing and don't SR for mons, but I do have some small suggestions:

- Once you're done adding everyone else's suggestions, I recommend including a brief introductory paragraph at the top to summarize what you're going to be teaching the reader about. Perhaps describe the first part as the "setup" to the captures, and then inform the reader that you'll have in-depth strategy for the individual legendaries afterwards

- re:
"Reviving Legendaries
Any legendary Pokémon that is defeated will disappear initially, but will be available to fight again after defeating the Pokémon League, except for Xerneas and Yveltal, which must be caught to progress the story, so are immediately available for capture again. "

I recommend clarifying that each Legendary can only be captured once, and will only re-appear if it has been defeated but not captured
 

Plague von Karma

Banned deucer.
This will mean that when a move reaches 0 PP, the Leppa Berry will be consumed, restoring PP, then it will simply be recycled for use again, creating infinite PP. You will be limited only by the number of Poké Balls you own.
This is really pedantic but it's technically only half the time per turn if sun isn't up. Because of this, I believe you can get cheesed out of a good legendary by RNG with this strategy. Maybe it could be worth bringing Sunny Day over Calm Mind on the Trevenant so you can guarantee restoration of PP, as well as restore your own by passing the harvested Leppa Berry and ability to yourself later?

Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding something.
 

Max. Optimizer

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Greetings,

I'm admittedly a little late to the party, but I can see that some of my fellow Wi-Fiers have already provided plenty of useful feedback.
My fellow users here have in my opinion already pointed out all of the things worth mentioning, hence why there is not much left for me to add.
The only thing left I can think of is adding a link to our Wi-Fi Discord in the conclusion, in addition to the giveaway links that Hare_vs_Tortoise mentioned.
Our users would be more than willing to pass free copies of catcher Pokémon like Trevenant to readers that might be interested in SRing for legendaries.
 
I used to help Buckert with Smeargle/Staraptor distribution - I know the giveaway has been locked for a while, but I'm pretty sure I have untouched copies still and could work with other folks in the WiFi forums/discord if we wanted to start something up again
 
Came back to this as I've been thinking based on my experience with building sr'ing teams for Zacian, Zamanzenta and Eternatus in Gen 8 that it may be worth for each legendary building a team that can be copied and used without the use of cloning as I'm assuming this article is going to be up for sometime and trading in Gen 6 at some point is going to go down.

Another reason is that when building my sr'ing teams in Gen 8 (still in testing phase) is that it's taken a lot of valuable brainstorming contributions and explanations from various Wifi Discord users to even get the teams to the testing phase and I pretty much started from scratch on how it should/could be done. Can see the same issue of not knowing where to start with other new readers/users if full teams aren't stated. If any testing is needed then I'm pretty sure I've got saves I can use for any legend except Xerneas/Yveltal.

Edit: An extra thought, are all the legendaries able to be nature sync'd? Figured I'd check seeing as in Gen 8 some can't be.
 
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