Bug-Catching Contest

Bug-Catching Contest judging in Generation IV

The Bug-Catching Contest is a competition held every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in Johto's National Park. The Bug-Catching Contest is introduced in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and makes a return in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.

In the games

Ruling

There is no entry fee for the Bug-Catching Contest. Anyone may enter once per day, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

To compete, Trainers must catch the single best Template:Type2 Pokémon they can find. To do this, Trainers are given twenty Sport Balls, which are similar to Safari Balls, and allowed use of a single Pokémon of their party. The rest of a Trainer's Pokémon and any items they may have remain with the contest officials until the competition is over.

Any Pokémon caught will be recorded in the Pokédex, but only one Pokémon can be kept to judge. The Pokémon that is judged may be kept after the competition.

The competition ends when all the Sport Balls are used, the trainer whites out, the trainer leaves the way they came, or 20 minutes have passed. After that, the judging will occur, where Trainers are scored on their skills of capturing rare and exclusive Pokémon.

Pokémon available

Generation II

Pokémon		Games			Location	Levels	Rate
	Caterpie	G	S	C	Grass	7-18	20%
	Metapod	G	S	C	Grass	9-18	10%
	Butterfree	G	S	C	Grass	12-15	5%
	Weedle	G	S	C	Grass	7-18	20%
	Kakuna	G	S	C	Grass	9-18	10%
	Beedrill	G	S	C	Grass	12-15	5%
	Paras	G	S	C	Grass	10-17	10%
	Venonat	G	S	C	Grass	10-16	10%
	Scyther	G	S	C	Grass	13-14	5%
	Pinsir	G	S	C	Grass	13-14	5%
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.

• Except for Caterpie, Metapod and Paras in Gold, and Weedle and Kakuna in Silver, none of the above Pokémon are seen in the National Park outside the Bug-Catching Contest. In Pokémon Crystal, however, only Scyther and Pinsir are not available in the wild outside of the contest.

Generation IV

Always (Post-National Pokédex)

Pokémon		Games		Location	Levels	Rate
	Caterpie	HG	SS	Grass	7-31	20%
	Metapod	HG	SS	Grass	9-18 (30)	10%
	Butterfree	HG	SS	Grass	12-15 (27-30)	5%
	Weedle	HG	SS	Grass	7-31	20%
	Kakuna	HG	SS	Grass	9-18	10%
	Beedrill	HG	SS	Grass	12-15 (28-29)	5%
	Paras	HG	SS	Grass	10-17	10%
	Venonat	HG	SS	Grass	10-16	10%
	Scyther	HG	SS	Grass	13-14 (27-28)	5%
	Pinsir	HG	SS	Grass	13-14 (27)	5%
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.

Post-National Pokédex (Thursdays and Saturdays only)

Pokémon		Games		Location	Levels	Rate
	Scyther	HG	SS	Grass	28	5%
	Pinsir	HG	SS	Grass	28	5%
	Wurmple	HG	SS	Grass	24-36	20%
	Silcoon	HG	SS	Grass	25-32	10%Th
	Beautifly	HG	SS	Grass	25-32	5%Sa
	Cascoon	HG	SS	Grass	25-32	10%Sa
	Dustox	HG	SS	Grass	25-32	5%Th
	Nincada	HG	SS	Grass	26-36	20%
	Volbeat	HG	SS	Grass	26-36	10%Th
	Illumise	HG	SS	Grass	26-36	10%Sa
	Kricketot	HG	SS	Grass	27-30	10%
	Kricketune	HG	SS	Grass	27-30	10%
	Combee	HG	SS	Grass	27-34	5%
A colored background means that the Pokémon can be found in this location in the specified game. A white background with a colored letter means that the Pokémon cannot be found here.

Scoring

The two primary factors that determine the score in the contest are the sum of the Pokémon's stats, which can be estimated by its rarity and its level, and the amount of damage it sustained in the capture attempt. The higher the Pokémon's remaining hit points at time of capture, the higher the score. Other factors, even Template:Shiny2, do not significantly affect the outcome.

Competitors

These are the competitors found in every contest:

• CoolTrainer Nick
• PokéFan William
• Youngster Samuel
• Camper Barry
• Bug Catcher Ed
• Bug Catcher Benny

Prizes

Version	Gold	Silver	Crystal	HeartGold	SoulSilver
1st Place	Sun Stone			Sun Stone (pre-National Dex)
				File:Bag Thunderstone Sprite.png Evolutionary Stone (random; post-National Dex)
2nd Place	Everstone
3rd Place	Gold Berry			Sitrus Berry
Consolation Prize	Berry			Shed Shell

In the anime

In The Bug Stops Here, Ash and Casey competed in the Bug-Catching Contest. During the competition, Casey caught a Weedle, and her Chikorita evolved into a Bayleef. Ash won the competition with a Beedrill, earning himself a Sun Stone. After the competition, he gave the Beedrill to Casey since she loves Pokémon with yellow and black stripes.

References

• Psypoke Pokémon Catch Rates