Talk:SOS Battle

Weather and SOS Battles

I'm not sure how we will want to handle this on the page and on the other location pages but, weather does affect the Pokémon that appear in an SOS Battle. Pokémon such as Castform, Goomy, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, and Politoed only appear if it is raining. Other Pokémon may also appear with the other weather conditions in play. Adamws (talk) 01:18, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I've so far been able to try an SOS Battle once while it was raining in Lush Jungle. I ran into a Trumbeak, used an Adrenaline Orb...and it called 14 Trumbeak before I gave up on it.

I, for one, have only the least idea what all the conditions of this are. About how common/rare are they when these special allies can be called? (Can only the special Pokemon be called, or can the Pokemon's normal allies still be called?) Does it matter who the original encounter is? (I.e., is there one Pokemon that can call Castform, and another that can call Goomy, and another for Poliwhirl, and another for Poliwrath, and another for Politoed?) Tiddlywinks (talk) 01:28, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Okay, I did a small scale test in Malie Garden during the day in Moon. I can, in part, answer your questions.

1. Pokémon can summon their normal allies as well as the special Pokémon. They will more commonly summon their normal allies than a special Pokémon (with 10 successful calls from Psyduck in the rain, nine were Psyduck and one was a Poliwhirl).

2. All Pokémon in the area can summon any of the special Pokémon, as I was able to encounter at least one Poliwhirl with each specie I tested. My guess is that each special Pokémon has a different chance of being summoned for each area (example: Poliwhirl, Poliwrath (day only), Politoad (night only), and Castform are all obtainable through SOS Battles in the rain in Malie Garden, but on Route 17 under the same circumstances, only Castform can be found). This will need to be tested further for more exact percentage chances.

While this may not be a larger-scale test, it did at least give some insight. Adamws (talk) 05:58, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I've made a basic table based on what you said you tested. If you/anyone can fill out more, that'd be great. I'm not certain how to put this on location pages, but we can figure that out in a little bit. Tiddlywinks (talk) 07:41, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Do you guys have reliable/approved encounter slots? I believe there's one for sun, one for rain, one for hail, one for sandstorm (in that order, so maybe try to get your Poliwhirl in sun). What I can confirm is that there's Gabite in Haina Desert's sandstorm for both Sandile and Trapinch. They appear to be called less likely than their species (but that could also be some SOS mechanic like chains or idk what). Nescientist (talk) 12:03, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Weather Pokemon are not at all part of all the other normal wild encounter data. Tiddlywinks (talk) 14:48, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I just realized the Pokedex will show the locations of these weather allies, and Castform appears to be everywhere. Double-checking with the guide (via a third party), I've filled in that table now so it's hopefully complete. Thanks for clarifying some of the things above so we could add this info! I think I know a way to add this to locations, so later on I'll see about doing that.

As a note to myself as much as anything, it may also be nice to note the times these weathers are in effect. Tiddlywinks (talk) 18:26, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Are you sure about the Castforms? I believe they're "the rest of weathers" (all other wheathers than the other weather-exclusives). I have not (yet?) seen a Castform in sand at Haina Desert. Nescientist (talk) 18:38, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

More than anything, just look up Castform's locations in the Pokedex. But the guide does list Castform and [something else] in every location listed (and its form matches the indicated weather...Sunny Form notwithstanding). (I'm not 100% certain what you mean, though, so if you do find Castform somewhere, I'd be very happy to know the details.) Tiddlywinks (talk) 18:44, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I mean: Does the guidebook say Castform shows up in weather <whatever you listed>? Or just in some weather/at all? Pokédex just says it's there, no weather details. My idea is: you remove whatever weather you need to get something other than Castform, you get only Castform. I found five Gabite, not one Castform in Haina Desert in sandstorm. Nescientist (talk) 19:00, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

The guide says things like, "When it rains, Castform (Rainy Form) and Sliggoo may appear in battles." (This is also specifically about SOS allies.) And the Pokedex shows all the weather allies basically the same, whether Castform or Goomy or whoever. Tiddlywinks (talk) 19:06, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I did a decent amount of battles in Haina Desert. In nearly half an hour during sunshine, neither Gabite nor Castform appeared. (Relating to what I said above, I believe the slot I initially thought to be "sun" is "rain" as well. Which makes senses for the Polis final forms, I'll get back to that below.) In rain, Castform appeared after ten minutes (and immediately transformed to Rainy Form), and/but no Gabite appeared. Same-species allies always appeared, more often.

To summarize: I believe that between rain, hail, and sandstorm, extra species can appear in a specific weather per location (Gabite in Haina Desert in sandstorm, Goomy on Route 17 in rain, etc.); if you change the weather to something else of those, Castform can appear instead. In sun, nothing additional can ever appear (I'm not 100% sure on that one, but fairly certain, despite that being very odd).

In addition, the German page Malie Garden says Politoed can show up at night in both Sun and Moon. Nescientist (talk) 20:44, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Can you clarify for me: what's the natural weather condition(s) in Haina Desert?

And are you saying you used something like Sunny Day and Castform appeared?

(If so) By that logic, can you use Rain Dance and get Poliwhirl (or some such, depending on where you are)? Tiddlywinks (talk) 20:52, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

There's a sunny and a sandstorm part. Castform appeared in the sunny part after I used Rain Dance. All other tests I've done were in the sandy part (with or without Drought). Poliwhirl would be in Malie Garden, and according to Adamws above, yes (I don't think there's natural rain, at least not for me now). Nescientist (talk) 20:56, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Since this requires that the guide be wrong, it'd be best if we can verify Castform appearing in weather it "shouldn't" in each place. If this is verified for a given place, feel free to change it in the table. (And please explain that in-battle weather-changing effects can influence these allies.) FYI, the guide also said Malie Garden gets rain just before night, which jives with what I've seen the one time I saw rain at Brooklet Hill and Lush Jungle (about an hour before night).

Also, just to check, where are you in the island challenge? If I try to make something appear somewhere, I don't want to keep trying forever if there's a chance it might not be possible for me yet. =P Tiddlywinks (talk) 21:11, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Castform appeared where it shouldn't. According to what you wrote, it should appear in sandstorm, but it did in rain (and in everything I've done, it didn't in sandstorm). If what you wrote is what the guide says, I cannot (by nature) verify it is wrong, but it is at least incomplete.

I'm a Champion. Haina Desert can be accessed once you completed Acerola's trial, Malie Garden as soon as you land on Ula'ula (and Lush Jungle is on Akala). Nescientist (talk) 21:22, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I'm not arguing what you wrote or anything...? I'm basically saying, do exactly what you did, and update the table when you can verify something different from what it claims for Castform. (Although, for the sake of completeness, I'd actually be more comfortable if you could also verify that making rain with Rain Dance/whatever in the sandstorm area can also yield Castform.)

(And yes, I mean go ahead and presume that it can't be found in the weather the guide indicated. If anyone does find it in that weather later, we can revisit it.) Tiddlywinks (talk) 21:32, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

If the guidebook be only overruled per location, that's the best I could do. I might test hail in the desert, but certainly not everything. Nescientist (talk) 22:22, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Chaining SOS Battles

There appears to be perks for chaining an SOS Battle. I have gotten a Poliwag with 4 perfect IVs and with its Hidden Ability after chaining about 50 Pokémon. This probably should be researched more for other perks, like increased shiny chance. Adamws (talk) 01:18, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

According to various sources, chaining an SOS Battle can net you Pokémon with hidden abilities and a maximum of four perfect IVs. Can't test it myself, I have no idea how to do it. But I think it's about time this was added to the article but as well as that, I think the redirect for "chaining" should no longer lead to "Poké Radar" and instead go to a disambiguation page between this one and that one. Me, Hurray! (talk) 18:38, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

If someone finds more exact information, we should surely cover that (and maybe a bit more prominently). I was just trying to see Castform, so all I can do is hint at it rather carefully.

For chaining, I don't know if it's been mentioned officially for the Radar. If not, the disambig might also include fishing. Nescientist (talk) 18:44, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

Adding to Routes

Should we add The Wether and SOS to pay end Rotue to show where they can find the Pokemon?--Jacob Kogan (talk) 02:00, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

I think we should wait until we get more definitive information about what weather brings those Pokémon into battle, and hopefully the rate they appear. --Voltdetector (talk) 04:40, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

It's from a guidebook, and also seen in the Pokédex. Please read the above section for why we're still holding off on Castform. For the rate, I'm not entirely sure it is even constant, but we should definitely include the more important (species, weather) information we already have. Nescientist (talk) 23:11, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Goomy in Lush Jungle

It's true about that, well only gets when it's raining in that place. --HoopsterJohn (talk) 02:03, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Indeed HoopsterJohn--Jacob Kogan (talk) 02:08, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

So, why didn't add in the Lust Jungle page? --HoopsterJohn (talk) 02:11, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Don't know why--Jacob Kogan (talk) 02:23, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Statused pokemon don't call for allies

Can someone confirm this? So far tested with Thunder Wave in diverse battles and after use the wild pokemon dont call for allies anymore. Could like to test with other status but im not that far in the game, so if someone can help testing.. -- .Rawr! (Talk) 14:53, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Underlevelled Pokémon

Should it be noted (maybe in a trivia section for example) that it is possible to obtain underlevelled Pokémon through SOS battles (and very easily at that)? It barely requires any effort to find a level 15 Gyarados or a level 30 Wailmer (or a level 10 Salamence, but you'd need a lot of patience for this one). In other games underlevelled Pokémon are usually restricted to a small amount of places, whereas now you can just get them at almost any fishing spot. Svenskig (talk) 15:36, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

I don't think it's needed. They have always been there (see Level#Underleveled Pokémon), and "easy to get" seems neither encyclopedical nor really relevant. Nescientist (talk) 23:11, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Breaking a chain

In reponse to this, I'll go ahead and share some of my thoughts/experience.

First: I have encountered a Metapod who called Caterpie and then accidentally fainted Metapod, and the calls continued.

But my thought was, this could be because both Caterpie and Metapod are in the encounter data; i.e., they have lists of allies if the game is looking up "Does this Pokemon have allies to call here?".

So, if we want to know if the chain really survives so long as someone in the same family remains active, Metapod/Caterpie aren't really the best way to check it. A number of the other listed SOS allies would work fine, though (particularly the baby Pokemon who often have good call rates), like fainting an Elekid after it calls Electabuzz.

Another interesting potential consequence of my hypothesized game logic above is, even if a Pokemon wouldn't normally have any allies it could call, if you're in a location with potential weather allies, would it be able to call those? (Say, a Trumbeak called by Oranguru/Passimian in Lush Jungle.) Tiddlywinks (talk) 18:53, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

Just tested out the former situation at Wela Volcano Park, and found that Magmar can call more Magby. I tried to see whether it would also call more Magmar, but couldn't get it to do so before it ran out of PP (80 turns) and Struggled itself to death. I didn't keep an exact count, but I'm sure I got a lot more "Its help didn't appear!"s from Magmar than I've ever had from a non-SOS-exclusive Pokémon, as well as far more turns where it didn't even try to call for help than I usually have from a battle in which I've used an Adrenaline Orb. As a result, I have to wonder whether SOS-exclusive Pokémon are perhaps programmed to call for help less often and less successfully? Obviously this is something we can only probably get from datamining, but it's worth keeping in mind. Pumpkinking0192 (talk) 20:26, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

I haven't really (consciously) thought about it that way, so Metapod was perhaps about the only bad guy I could've come up with. But I can say that one Gabite I was trying to get to call for help didn't do so (in ~5-10 turns, before it died off Take Down recoil), and the sandstorm was still ongoing. I'm going to try it again with a Ghost mon maybe (especially after what Pumpkinking said), cause it calling Castform then would really make so much sense for the above section.

And to Pumpkinking, SnorlaxMonster added that "(t)he likelihood of a wild Pokémon calling for help depends on its species", which would/could explain why Magmar does not call for help as often as Magby do. Also, I'm under the (vague!) impression that calls remain unanswered more often when the AI thinks you're behind or on the edge of losing, when your own HP are low (or something like it, and something else maybe); so maybe that Magmar was "too strong"??? Nescientist (talk) 22:56, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

This list purports to be call rates, but also note that it says it's not confirmed. I'm not sure specifically how it's unconfirmed though (i.e. whether this is data extracted from the game that is just assumed to be call rates, or whether it's entirely empirically derived). I haven't looked into the Pokémon that should be on there, but instead have are not listed (i.e. have call rate 0).--SnorlaxMonster 04:18, 9 December 2016 (UTC)

Also, after battling it for a very long time, I'm fairly confident the second Wishiwashi you battle leading up to Lana's trial is guaranteed to call for help every turn. I never tried inflicting a status condition on it though, nor did I try KOing the original and checking whether this applies to the called allies too. --SnorlaxMonster 04:20, 9 December 2016 (UTC)