Roaming Pokémon: Difference between revisions

Roaming Pokémon are a type of legendary Pokémon that, instead of remaining in one place as a special event, run around the region they appear in, seemingly at random. Roaming Pokémon have appeared in every main series game since Generation II.

In addition to their changing of routes (something that happens every time the player passes through a route boundary), they will also, on every turn of battle, attempt to flee. The only way to prevent this is to either use a trapping move such as Mean Look or have the Pokémon sent out have a trapping ability such as Shadow Tag or Arena Trap. If they try to flee and fail, they attack on the same turn.

In Generations II and III, a Trainer can use his or her Pokédex to check the ever-changing location of their target after they have seen the target. However, in Generation IV, the Pokétch's Marking Map application and the Pokégear's map card serve this purpose, relieving the player from having to change through a multitude of screens, as was the case in past generations.

List of roaming Pokémon

Generation II

These Pokémon are found roaming Johto in Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; however, Suicune is found at the Tin Tower in Crystal. They can be captured at any point after they are disturbed by the player in Ecruteak City's Brass Tower.

Pokémon	Games						Location	Levels	Rate
Raikou	G		S		C		Grass	40	Event
Entei	G		S		C		Grass	40	Event
Suicune	G		S		C		Grass	40	Event
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.

Generation III

Hoenn

The Eon Pokémon can be caught in Hoenn after defeating the Elite Four for the first time. Only one will roam Hoenn (the other can be obtained on Southern Island with the Eon Ticket), depending on version, or in Emerald, depending on the color of Pokémon the player tells his or her mother. In Ruby and Sapphire Versions, the roaming Pokémon will have low IVs due to the Roaming IV glitch.

Pokémon	Games						Location	Levels	Rate
Latias	R		S		E		Grass	40	Event
Latios	R		S		E		Grass	40	Event
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.

Kanto

These Pokémon are only present in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. As soon as the player has obtained the National Pokédex from Professor Oak, the legendary beast will commence roaming Kanto. The only one that will appear will be the one whose type weakens the type of the player's chosen starter Pokémon (Raikou for Squirtle, Entei for Bulbasaur, Suicune for Charmander). The legendary beast will be added to the player's Pokédex as "seen". They will have low IVs due to the Roaming IV glitch. If they use Roar to flee, they will disappear permanently due to the Roaming Roar glitch.

Pokémon	Games						Location	Levels	Rate
Raikou	FR			LG			Grass	50	Event
Entei	FR			LG			Grass	50	Event
Suicune	FR			LG			Grass	50	Event
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.

Generation IV

Sinnoh

Sinnoh has five roaming Pokémon, each of which is available in the wild after certain events have taken place. Mesprit will roam after the player goes to Lake Verity after defeating Team Galactic at Mt. Coronet, Cresselia will appear after the player helps cure Eldritch's son's nightmares, and the legendary birds will appear in Platinum after the player first talks to Professor Oak in Eterna City.

Pokémon	Games						Location	Levels	Rate
Mesprit	D		P		Pt		Grass	50	Event
Cresselia	D		P		Pt		Grass	50	Event
Articuno	D		P		Pt		Grass	60	Event
Zapdos	D		P		Pt		Grass	60	Event
Moltres	D		P		Pt		Grass	60	Event
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.

Johto and Kanto

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Raikou and Entei will roam Johto after meeting them in the Burned Tower, and after leaving the Vermilion City Pokémon Fan Club house with Copycat's doll, Latios or Latias will roam Kanto.

Pokémon	Games						Location	Levels	Rate
Raikou	HG			SS			Grass	40	Event
Entei	HG			SS			Grass	40	Event
Latias	HG			SS			Grass	35	Event
Latios	HG			SS			Grass	35	Event
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.

Generation V

Unova

In Pokémon Black and White, after obtaining the Legend Badge, when entering the gate leading to Route 10, the woman behind the desk will alert the player about the big storm on Route 7. Tornadus^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.} or Thundurus^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.} will make the weather more extreme in Route 7 when entering the route. Heading towards the second house on the route will cause an old lady to come out and pull the player in. She will then recite the story of either Tornadus^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.} or Thundurus^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.}. Upon exiting the house, the player will be approached by the respective Pokémon, which will then fly off and will roam around Unova until being caught or defeated. By checking the bulletin boards the player can determine the location of it via the weather (it only appears in stormy locations and still does not give a 100% encounter chance.) There has been some speculation due to the content of the old woman's story that both Tornadus^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.} and Thundurus^{Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.} will fly around the northern area of Unova during the evening and night and during the day will fly around the southern area. As usual, they will found often at day at Route 5, evening at Route 16, and night at Route 12 or Route 9 .

Pokémon	Games						Location	Levels	Rate
									Sp	Su	Au	Wi
Tornadus	B			W			Grass	40	Event
Thundurus	B			W			Grass	40	Event
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.

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