Fateful encounter

A fateful encounter (Japanese: うんめいてき であい destined meeting) is a flag attached to certain event Pokémon and some event-exclusive wild legendary Pokémon that indicates they were met in a special manner. In Generation III, "fateful encounter" was listed as the encounter location; in Generation IV and on, "fateful encounter" is in the text describing the method of encounter.

However, "fateful encounter" does not always appear in the text of Pokémon with this flag set in Generations III and IV. In Generation III, this flag is set for any Mew and Deoxys received from events, as well as the Deoxys caught on Birth Island and the Mew caught on Faraway Island. Moreover, any Pokémon obtained in Pokémon XD will have this special flag set; without it, it is impossible for these Pokémon to obey the player in Generation III, even if he or she has obtained all Badges. In Pokémon Platinum, the Shaymin caught in the Flower Paradise will be met in a fateful encounter; while only obtainable using glitches, the Shaymin caught in Flower Paradise in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl will not be met in a fateful encounter, so cannot be used to obtain the Gracidea.

In Generation IV, the presence of this flag, from Pokémon Platinum onward, allows for special events to happen if the Pokémon with the "fateful encounter" flag is in the party.

List of in-game events activated by fateful encounter Pokémon

• Shaymin
  • Pokémon Platinum - in the Floaroma Town Pokémon Center, players can receive a Gracidea from a woman.
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - in the Goldenrod City Flower Shop, players can again receive a Gracidea from a woman.
  • Pokémon Black and White - in the Lacunosa Town Pokémon Center, players can receive a Gracidea from a woman.
  • Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 - in the Striaton City Pokémon Center, players can receive a Gracidea from a woman.

• Regigigas
  • Pokémon Platinum - Activates the appearance of Rock Peak, Iceberg, and Iron Ruins where the other legendary golems can be captured.

• Shiny Pichu
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - Activates an event involving an encounter with the Spiky-eared Pichu.

• Arceus
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - When selected as partner Pokémon, the player will be able to teleport from the Ruins of Alph to the Sinjoh Ruins far to the north. This allows the player to obtain either a level 1 Dialga, Palkia or Giratina, holding its respective orb.

• Celebi
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver - activates an event with an encounter and battle with Giovanni after being taken back in time with Celebi.
  • Pokémon Black and White - Allows the player to obtain a Zorua.

• Shiny Legendary beasts
  • Pokémon Black and White - activates a battle with a wild Zoroark.

Trivia

• It was once believed that a fateful encounter flag was needed to be set on a Jirachi in order to activate the Night Sky's Edge Pokéwalker route; indeed, events where such Jirachi were distributed advertised such an unlockable. However, it was later discovered that all Jirachi are capable of unlocking the route even without the fateful encounter flag.
• It was once believed that a fateful encounter flag was needed to be set on a Arceus in order to activate the Hiker who both gives a Flame Plate in Oreburgh Mine and a book in the Canalave Library containing inscriptions of all the plates. However, it was later discovered that all Arceus are capable of unlocking the event even without the fateful encounter flag.
• An Arceus caught from the Hall of Origin may also be used to activate the Sinjoh Ruins event. One of each type of Arceus (fateful encounter and Hall of Origin) can be used in one game, in any order, to activate the event two times at most.

See also

• List of Nintendo event Pokémon with in-game effects

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