How catch chance works
Every Pokémon species has a hidden base catch rate. The higher the Pokémon's level, the lower its chance of being caught. Wild Pokémon are level 1 to 30, or up to level 35 when boosted by the weather.
Each bonus below multiplies your catch chance, and the bonuses multiply together. They work like extra attempts at the same throw, so they improve the odds a lot when the base chance is low, and can never quite reach 100%.
The chance of a ball catching the Pokémon is 1 − (1 − base rate ÷ (2 × CP multiplier))bonus,
where the CP multiplier depends on the Pokémon's level and the bonus is all the multipliers below multiplied together.
Catch bonuses
| The ball type | A Great Ball gives a 1.5 times multiplier, and an Ultra Ball a 2 times multiplier. |
| Berries | A Razz Berry gives a 1.5 times multiplier, a Silver Pinap Berry 1.8 times, and a Golden Razz Berry 2.5 times. Nanab and normal Pinap Berries don't change the catch chance. |
| The throw |
Landing the ball inside the coloured ring gives a multiplier of between 1 and 2 times, depending on how small the ring is. A Nice throw gives 1 – 1.3 times, a Great throw 1.3 – 1.7 times, and an Excellent throw 1.7 – 2 times. |
| Throwing a curveball | This gives a 1.7 times multiplier. |
| Pokémon type medals |
A bronze medal for the Pokémon's type gives a 1.1 times multiplier, silver 1.2 times, gold 1.3 times, and platinum 1.4 times. When a Pokémon has two types, the two medal bonuses are averaged - e.g. a bronze and a gold medal give a 1.2 times multiplier. |
| Research encounters | Pokémon encountered as a research reward have a 2 times multiplier. |
For example, an Ultra Ball, a Golden Razz Berry and an Excellent curveball together give a bonus of about 16 times (2 × 2.5 × 1.85 × 1.7).