Post by The REAL Joey on Oct 19, 2011 11:53:56 GMT 11
Zapdoszulu Fishing Guide
Welcome to Zapdoszulu's comprehensive fishing guide. Firstly, I will teach you everything you'll need to know about fishing for Pokémon so that you can become a fishing master in no time at all!
In certain areas of Johto you will find that some Pokémon are only available in the local lake, river, or seaside. If you happen to have a Fishing Rod with you then you can immediately head over to the waterhole and cast your line out. Once a Pokémon leaps out of the water to attack you can battle and capture it the normal way. However, certain factors affect what Pokémon you catch and whether there is anything on your line at all!
RODS
The most basic, and vital, of items required for fishing is the Rod. All budding Fisherman can buy an Old Rod at Violet City's Pokémart, or at Goldenrod's Fishing Store. Everyone starts out with this grade of rod, but once you get more experience with the tool you can purchase upgrades for it. There comes a point with every rod where no matter how good you are, there's a limit to what the rod can handle.
Baits and lures aren't necessary. If you have a rod you can fish, but be aware that you may not end up catching a pokémon! No matter how good a fisherman you are, there is always the chance that using a plain old hook won't attract anything so you may end up dredging up someone's garbage or something else from the depths of the water.
The chance to hook a pokémon is approximately 70% for all kinds of Rods. However, there are things you can do to affect this -- and that's where 'Baits & Lures' come in.
ROD LEVEL
Every rod has a level displayed beside the it in your inventory. Everyone starts at LV 1. Fishing up pokémon increases this level. Your Rod Level is a factor in what difficulty of pokémon you can fish up, as well as whether you are eligible for an upgrade.
Reeling in Common Pokémon like Magikarp will increase your level by 0.5; Uncommon by 1; Rare by 2; Ultra Rare by 5.
Level 20 is the maximum that an Old Rod can be. To increase your rod level beyond that you would need to purchase the Good Rod Upgrade from the Fishing Shop in Goldenrod. Similarly, the Good Rod's maximum level is 50 at which point you would need to purchase the Super Rod Upgrade to continue growing as a fisherman.
Fishable Pokémon throughout Johto have a difficulty level associated with it, noted underneath the pokémon in the encounters guide. While there is always a chance that you could potentially fail to successfully reel in a hooked pokémon, this chance is far more likely if your Rod Level is lower than the pokémon's difficulty. So it is very important to practice throughout your journey.
BAITS AND LURES
In addition to rods, there are other things you can buy to enhance your fishing experience. Baits and Lures can be purchased at the Goldenrod Fishing Shop.
Using a Bait with your rod is irresistible to wild pokémon. They can turn that measly 70% hook chance into a 100%! While they are only a one-time use item it can be a time saver and wipe all worry that you're going to end up with an old boot on your line instead of a corphish.
Lures are a bit more complicated, but are a fisherman's second-best friend. There are several different kinds of lures, each a different color, that are designed to attract a certain type of pokémon. For example, the Sandy Lure is geared toward attracting fish with a Ground typing; so Barboach would like this lure. Using lures could be the difference between catching what you want on the first try or waiting through a few encounters for that uncommon or rare.
In short, specialized lures reduce the rarity of pokémon matching the lure type by 3. So that 1/3 or 1/4 Uncommon encounter is suddenly a Common! Or it turns a Rare 1/6 into an Uncommon at 1/3. There is also a more generalized lure 'Basic Blue' that isn't quite as effective but works on all water pokémon you could fish up. Knowing what to use and where is an important part of mastering fishing.
However, there is a danger to using lures. Should you hook a pokémon but fail to reel it in... say bye bye to that lure! All the more reason to practice hard and keep your Rod Level up.