Condition catch.

Pokémon conditional encounter guide

Not every Pokémon shows up just by walking through grass. Across the series, dozens of species require specific real-world or in-game conditions before they will appear. If you do not know the trigger, you could search a route forever and never find what you are looking for.

Condition types

• Time of day: Morning, day, and night encounters, introduced in Gen 2 and used heavily in Gen 4. Some Pokémon like Hoothoot only appear at night.
• Seasons (Gen V only): Black & White cycle through spring, summer, autumn, and winter monthly, each unlocking different encounters and areas.
• Swarms and mass outbreaks: Daily events that flood a route with a normally rare or unavailable species.
• Poke Radar: A Gen 4 device that reveals hidden Pokémon in grass patches, including species not in the normal encounter table.
• Radio frequencies (HeartGold/SoulSilver): Tuning the Pokegear radio to Hoenn or Sinnoh stations changes wild encounters on many routes.
• GBA slot (Gen IV DS games): Inserting a GBA Pokémon cartridge into the DS Slot 2 adds version-specific Pokémon to certain routes.

Reading the results

The hero number counts unique species behind the selected trigger, and the artwork shows the rarest slot of the lot, the one most likely to eat an afternoon. Each rate cell is shaded on a green scale, so the faint cells are the encounters that will test your patience and the bright ones are near guaranteed once the condition is met.

Pick any trigger above to see every Pokémon it affects, with location, encounter method, level range, and percentage. Filter by game version to narrow results to your specific playthrough.