Escape: Difference between revisions

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This article is about the game mechanic. For the Pokémon Adventures round whose Japanese title translates to "Escape!!", see PS268. For the Escape Orb in the Mystery Dungeon series, see Wonder Orb.

Escaping via Smoke Ball in Generation III.

In the core series Pokémon games, it is possible to escape (Japanese: 逃げる escape) from a battle with a wild Pokémon by selecting Run (Japanese: にげる Run) on the main battle screen. Escape is not guaranteed however; whether the player is successful at running away from the battle is determined by a calculation involving the speed of the combatants. When the escape is successful, the battle ends immediately. When it is not successful, the wild Pokémon will use a move.

It is not possible to escape from in-game Trainer battles. However, in player battles in the Cable or Wireless Clubs, attempting to escape will cause the battle to end immediately. If only one player attempts to escape, the battle counts as a loss against them, but if both players attempt to escape in the same turn, the battle ends in a draw.

Entering a battle with a wild Pokémon and then escaping counts the Pokémon as being seen in the Trainer's Pokédex.

Success conditions

Generation I and II

Under normal circumstances, the chance of escaping is determined by the formula File:Escape Formula.png, where

A is the current Speed of the player's active Pokémon,

B is the opposing Pokémon's Speed divided by 4, mod 256, and

C is the number of times the player has tried to escape during the battle (counting the current attempt). If player's Pokémon attacks, this number is set to 0.

If F is greater than 255, the player escapes automatically. Otherwise, a random number is generated between 0 and 255. If that number is less than F, the player escapes. If not, the escape fails and the player's Pokémon does not make a move that turn. If B is equal to 0, escape is automatically a success.

Generation III and IV

Under normal circumstances, the chance of escaping is determined by the formula File:Escape Formula new.png, where

A is the unmodified Speed of the player's active Pokémon,

B is the opposing Pokémon's unmodified Speed

C is the number of times the player has tried to escape during the battle (counting the current attempt).

The result is mod 256.

A random number is generated between 0 and 255. If that number is less than F, the player escapes. If not, the escape fails and the player's Pokémon does not make a move that turn. If B is 0, it's set to 1.

Other factors

Several other conditions can cause escape to always succeed or always fail.

• An opponent Pokémon with the Ability Shadow Tag causes the player's escape attempts to fail if the player's Pokémon does not also have Shadow Tag.
• An opponent Pokémon with the Ability Arena Trap causes the player's escape attempts to fail if the player's Pokémon is not Flying type or levitating.
• The items Poké Doll, Fluffy Tail, and Poké Toy can be used to escape from wild Pokémon.
• Trapping moves used by the opponent can prevent the player from even making escape attempts. (When the player selects "Run", "Can't escape!" would be shown but the turn is not wasted.)
• If the player's Pokémon is under the effect of Ingrain, it will be unable to escape.
• Use of the move Teleport will guarantee escape from a wild Pokémon if it is not using or bearing any of the aforementioned moves or abilities.
• If the player's Pokémon is holding a Smoke Ball or has the Ability Run Away, it will always successfully escape (ignoring anything above that would prevent escape).
  • In Generation III and IV, if the player's Pokémon that has Run Away or a Smoke Ball faints, if the player attempts to flee instead of sending out another Pokémon, they will escape without fail.

While not effects that directly affect escape, using the moves Whirlwind or Roar in a wild battle forces the wild Pokémon to leave the battle, which has the same effect as escaping. However, if the wild Pokémon has the Ability Suction Cups or has used the move Ingrain previously in the battle, it will be immune to Whirlwind and Roar. Similarly, a Pokémon that has the Ability Soundproof is immune to Roar.

In Generation III only, Smoke Ball has animation when escaping using it. In Generation II, "Got away safely" redundantly appears after the message informing of escape via Smoke Ball.

As of Generation VI, if the player has a Ghost-type Pokémon out, attempts to run from wild battles will never fail regardless of Speed.

Example (Generation I and II)

The player's Pokémon has a Speed of 25 and the wild Pokémon has a Speed of 100. The player tries to escape, but hasn't attempted to flee anytime earlier in the battle.

First, calculate B: File:Escape Formula Example 1.png

Since B isn't above 255, it is just left as is.

Then, calculate F: File:Escape Formula Example 2.png

Since F isn't above 255, generate a random number between 0 and 255.

The probability of escaping is File:Escape Formula Example 3.png, or approximately 24%. If the player fails to escape, each successive attempt will be 30/256 more likely than the last, or about 11.7%.

Generally speaking, the slower the Trainer's Pokémon and/or the faster the wild Pokémon, the harder it is to escape.

Wild Pokémon

Certain wild Pokémon can escape from battle. Pokémon that are legendary or found in the region's Safari Zone are the only ones who flee.

Roaming Pokémon attempt to flee every turn, and trapping moves can be used to prevent this.

In Safari Zones during a Safari Game, Pokémon can escape from battle. The rate of escape is lowered by throwing Bait^{RBYFRLGDPPtHGSS} (while the catch rate is also lowered) or Pokéblocks^RSE, and the rate of escape is raised by throwing Rocks^RBYFRLG, Mud^DPPtHGSS, or by "going near"^RSE (while the catch rate is also raised).

Generation II

In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, however, a few species of wild Pokémon can escape from battle. These Pokémon were intended to be more likely to be caught in a Fast Ball, but due to a programming error, only Magnemite, Grimer, and Tangela are more likely to be caught in a Fast Ball.

Low probability (~10% chance to flee every turn):

• Magnemite
• Grimer
• Tangela
• Mr. Mime
• Eevee *
• Porygon *
• Dratini
• Dragonair
• Togetic *
• Umbreon *
• Unown
• Snubbull
• Heracross

Medium probability (50% chance to flee every turn):

• Cubone
• Articuno *
• Zapdos *
• Moltres *
• Quagsire
• Teddiursa
• Delibird
• Phanpy

Always:

• Raikou
• Entei
• Suicune (except in Crystal)

In other languages

Language Title French Fuite German Flucht Italian Fuga Korean 도망간다 Domangganda Spanish Huir

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.