How to catch a Pokemon in Dusk Reborn

Lower the wild Pokémon's HP without knocking it out, throw a ball from your Backpack, then look for the catch in your Box.

Last checked: 5 November 2026. Checked against the game code and screens on 5 November 2026. Maintained by the Pokémon Dusk Reborn team. Spotted a mistake? Tell us in #bugs-and-errors on Discord.

Before you start

You need a Pokémon that can battle and at least one ball. New trainers get 10 Poke Balls, 2 Great Balls and 1 Ultra Ball from Professor Oak after the Ash battle. You can buy more at Mart Co., which is under Explore.

Step by step

Open Explore, pick a map and walk around. A wild Pokémon turns up now and then and the battle starts.
Use your attacks to lower its HP, but do not knock it out. A Pokémon that faints cannot be caught.
Click Backpack, choose a ball and press Use Item.
If it breaks free, keep battling and throw again. If you want to leave instead, click Run.

A wild battle with the Backpack, Run and Restart buttons beside the battlefield, the move buttons under an Attack heading and the six team Pokemon under a Switch heading. — **The wild battle screen**
**Backpack**: where you pick the ball.
**Attack**: your active Pokémon's moves.
**Switch**: swap to another team Pokémon.
**Run**: leave the battle.
Screenshot from the game with a test account. The wild Pokemon is level 145 here because the test team's strongest Pokemon is level 29.

How the catch is decided

Two things matter: how low the wild Pokémon's HP is, and the ball. The lower the HP, the better your chance on every throw, and every ball has its own catch rating, shown below. Each throw also has a random element, so even a weakened Pokémon can break free.

Ball	Catch rating	Price at Mart Co.	Notes
Poke Ball	75	$150	Fine for an ordinary catch.
Great Ball	85	$5,000	A better chance on every throw.
Ultra Ball	95	$10,000	Best of the standard balls.
Glitter Poke Ball and Shadow Poke Ball	100	5,000 coins each	A rating of 100 catches every time. Use them when a particular Pokémon matters.
Legend Ball	90	$10,000,000 or 800 coins	The only ball that works on a legendary. See legendary Pokémon.

Three kinds of catch

Ordinary wild Pokémon: any ball works.
Legendary Pokémon: only the Legend Ball, and only if you have all 48 Gym badges.
Missingno.: cannot be caught. The throw is stopped before a ball is used. See the Safari Zone secret.

Caught it but cannot find it?

The battle message tells you where it went: It joined your team! when you had a free team slot, or It has been transferred to your pokemon box. when all six slots were full. New trainers still working through the opening Trainer Journey get their catches in the Box until they finish the team lesson. To find a catch in the Box, open Manage Pokemon then Open Box. A new catch is never lost. How to move it is in your team and Box.

If something goes wrong

Problem	What to check
No wild Pokémon appears	Keep walking. Encounters are random and not every step has one.
No ball in the Backpack	Collect Oak's kit if you have not yet, or buy balls at Mart Co.
The Pokémon fainted	It is gone from this battle. Return to the map and look for another.
"Legendary Pokemons can only be caught with a Legend Ball!"	Use a Legend Ball. Other balls, including a Master Ball, are refused before they are used.

How it differs from the main games

A battle that starts from a map treats every Pokémon as at most level 100 for that fight, without changing the real level.
Wild Pokémon from a map come with Tackle plus three random moves of their type, and those are the moves they keep if you catch them.

Questions or corrections? Discuss it on the forums: How to Catch Pokemon. More in game mechanics.