A catching team for natures: Synchronize lead, False Swipe and Spore

Why natures matter. Every Pokémon has one of 25 natures. Most raise one stat by 10% and lower another by 10%, and a nature never changes after the catch. You can see it on the Pokémon's Summary. If you want a strong battler, or a good parent for breeding, the nature is the first thing to get right.

The lead. When the first Pokémon in your party has Synchronize, every wild Pokémon that appears has your lead's nature. Your lead does not have to battle. It only has to be at the front of the party when the wild Pokémon appears, so switch it out on the first turn. Abra and Ralts are the easy Synchronize Pokémon to find. Their other ability is Inner Focus or Trace, so check the Summary before you keep one.

To farm a nature, you need a lead with that nature. Catch a few Abra and keep the ones with natures you use often, such as Adamant or Jolly for physical attackers and Modest or Timid for special ones. Put the one you need at the front before you go out.

The catcher. Your odds go up as the target's HP goes down, and a status condition multiplies them. Sleep and freeze count double. Poison, burn and paralysis count one and a half times. False Swipe takes care of the HP and Spore takes care of the sleep, and both moves hit every time.

Pick the catcher's ability with care. With Effect Spore, a wild Pokémon that touches your catcher can be poisoned, and poison at 1 HP knocks it out at the end of the turn. Choose Dry Skin on Parasect or Poison Heal on Breloom instead.

Spore and Stun Spore do nothing to Grass-type Pokémon. For those, use False Swipe and a better ball.

Balls. A Poke Ball costs ¥200, a Great Ball ¥600 and is 1.5 times as good, and an Ultra Ball ¥1,200 and twice as good. Hoenn's marts also sell balls for special cases, each ¥1,000:

• Nest Ball (Verdanturf Town): very strong against low-level Pokémon, and no help from level 30 up.
• Repeat Ball (Rustboro City): three times as good on a species you have already caught.
• Timer Ball (Rustboro City): gets better each turn, up to four times as good from the 31st turn.
• Net Ball (Mossdeep City): three times as good on Water and Bug types.

The Catch odds table below compares balls, HP and sleep for these three. Abra runs from battle with Teleport, but Teleport always moves last, so your first move or ball lands before it. Spore it on the first turn and it cannot run. Ralts is rare, so catch the first one you see. Marill is the start of the Azumarill breeding guide: catch it with an Adamant lead.

Does my Synchronize lead have to fight? No. It only has to be first in your party when the wild Pokémon appears. Switch to your catcher on the first turn.

Can I change a Pokémon's nature after I catch it? No. That is why the lead comes first.

Why did Spore do nothing? The target is a Grass type. Spore, Stun Spore and Sleep Powder do not affect Grass-type Pokémon.

My target fainted after False Swipe. Why? It was poisoned, most likely by Effect Spore when it touched your catcher. Use a catcher with Dry Skin or Poison Heal.

What happens to the item a wild Pokémon is holding? A Pokémon you catch keeps its held item.