Latias/Latios & Terrible Odds

Something very neat about the Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald games is the chance of catching Latias or Latios. I’ve found it to be one of the more challenging aspects of gameplay. With very low chances of encounter and capture—without hacks, tips, and tricks—it can almost seem virtually impossible to catch one of these amazing flying Pokémon. However, don’t be discouraged! Thanks to today’s knowledge about the games and the resources available on the internet, your chances of encountering one are possible within 1 to 100 attempts, though still not guaranteed. While that may not sound super promising, it's certainly better than wandering aimlessly for 20 years without encountering one.

One important tip before playing this game is that THIS is the Pokémon you want to save your Master Ball for (unless you somehow find a shiny legendary). You can catch a shiny version, and there’s a user on YouTube who shiny hunts roaming Pokémon. It took him nearly 11,000 soft resets to find one! Honestly, it would be completely nuts to find a shiny Latias or Latios, but crazier things have happened—though nothing that crazy has happened to me, so I say that just because it sounds good.

I wasn’t one of those players who researched this encounter or its odds before playing, so unfortunately, I already used my Master Ball... WHOOPS! If you find yourself in this situation, it’s okay; you can still catch one, but it will be significantly trickier. The next best option is to use an Ultra Ball. The trick to encountering the bird is fairly simple, but it's only half the battle. After completing the game, the first step to finding this Pokémon is going back to your house and turning off both TVs. One of them mentions a Pokémon flying around. 

At this point, you begin your journey, but what do you need to help you? Information is key. Depending on whether you are playing Sapphire or Ruby, you will encounter Latias or Latios. I’ll refer to Latias from here on out, as that’s where I currently am in Sapphire, but it works the same way in Ruby for Latios. When you change routes, Latias will automatically change its location, but without it in your Pokédex, you won’t know which route to check. Once you’ve encountered it once, you can consult your Pokédex to see its location on the map.

Even if you find it on the map, you still have to chase it without it changing routes. If your friend has a Latias, you can trade for it and then trade it back to have it in your Pokédex, which helps you track it down faster. For the first encounter, try to find an area of grass outside a building, so that every time you enter and exit, Latias changes location. Stock up on Max Repels—Latias will be level 40, so you want a lead Pokémon that is level 39 or lower. Max Repel only repels Pokémon lower than your lead, which is helpful for encountering Latias. Activate the Max Repel, walk through the grass to try and get an encounter, and if you don’t encounter it, just walk into the nearby building and then back out to the grass. If you're quick, you can do this multiple times before the Max Repel wears off. 

I’ve read that using an Acro Bike to jump up and down in the grass can help conserve Max Repels. I haven’t tried this myself, but it sounds like a good tip. Another crucial element for success is having the right Pokémon. Since Latias will flee immediately, you need a Pokémon that can keep it in battle before switching to another one. A level 35-39 Wobbuffet with Shadow Tag or a level 39 Golbat with Mean Look works well. Remember, Arena Trap doesn’t work on flying Pokémon, so be specific with your trapping move.

If you give your starting Pokémon the Quick Claw, it increases the chance of going first. When you finally encounter Latias, trap it in battle and start the second half of the hard work. If you have a Master Ball, use it—no hard work required! If you don’t, I hope you bought a large number of Ultra Balls because you will need them. If you do nothing but trap it and throw Ultra Balls, you have a 0.83% chance of capturing it per ball. You have at least a 50% chance of catching it within 84 balls and a 95% chance within 360 balls. Paralyzing it increases the chance to 1.234%, while putting it to sleep raises it to 1.598%. These percentages assume its health is at 100 and you’re just throwing balls.

The best thing you can do is obtain the TM False Swipe, which allows you to reduce its health to exactly 1 HP. With just 1 HP left and no status effects, the chance of capturing it with an Ultra Ball increases to 2.106%, giving you at least a 50% chance of catching it within 33 balls and a 95% chance within 141 balls. Those are much better odds than before! Add paralysis, and it becomes 2.833%. If it's asleep, the odds rise to 4.366%, giving you at least a 50% chance of catching it within 16 balls and a 95% chance within 68 balls.

Keep in mind that Latias can use a move to clear status effects, so you might have to alternate between using a status-altering move and throwing Ultra Balls. The same stats apply for frozen status as well as paralyze, poison, and burn statuses. Nothing guarantees you will catch it on your first encounter; if it uses Struggle, it may defeat itself, which isn’t the end of the world. Once you’ve encountered it once, it will show up on the map again. You may have to repeat this process several times before successfully capturing it. 

Also, remember: if you damage it and it flees, it doesn’t heal, so on your next encounter, it will have the last HP you left it with. If you encounter a shiny and it escapes, it remains shiny the next time you encounter it, which is one of the coolest aspects of shiny hunting these birds. You can also use the White Flute to increase your chances of encounter. I haven’t tried this, but I wonder if you can use Sweet Scent alongside Max Repel to manifest encounters.

-Published by Shiloh, September 2024