Fishing

Zoey with a fishing rod in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

Fishing is a recreation that is commonly seen in the Pokémon world.

In core series games

Fishing is a way to use a fishing rod to catch wild Pokémon in the water. In fact, some Pokémon can only be caught by using a fishing rod.

Fishing rods

From Generation I to VI, there are three different fishing rods: the Old Rod, Good Rod, and Super Rod. These fishing rods can be used in almost any body of water. Each fishing rod allows the player to encounter different Pokémon. In the Kanto and Johto games, each one is given out by a Fishing Brother. The Good Rod normally allows encountering higher level Pokémon than the Old Rod, and the Super Rod normally allows encountering higher level Pokémon than the Good Rod.

Generation V includes only the Super Rod, which is given out by Looker^BW or Cedric Juniper^B2W2 during the post-game. From Generation VII onward, there is only one rod, the Fishing Rod. In these games, each location only has one set of fishing encounters, rather than three. Unlike the earlier rods, the Fishing Rod can only be used in designated fishing spots. Games set in Alola have Lana grant the player the rod after her trial, while in Pokémon Sword and Shield, the Rod is obtained automatically at the start of the game.

Catching Pokémon

Generation I

In Generation I, fishing is simply a matter of standing next to water and using the rod. The Old Rod will always land a wild Pokémon and start a battle. The Good Rod has a 2/3 chance of landing nothing each time the player uses it, while the Super Rod has a 1/2 chance.^[1] If the rod catches nothing, players can cast it out again. The player can only fish from land, not while Surfing.

Generation II

In Generation II, fishing functionally works the same as in Generation I.^[2]

While there are many locations in which the player can fish, there are only 10 distinct fishing encounter tables. These locations share fishing encounter tables with each other.

Cherrygrove City, Olivine City, Cianwood City, Cerulean City^GS, Dark Cave (B2F), Route 34, Route 40, Route 14* and Route 19
New Bark Town, Olivine Port, Pallet Town, Vermilion City, Cinnabar Island, Route 41, Route 27, Route 26, Route 20, Route 21
Dark Cave, Union Cave, Slowpoke Well, Mt. Mortar, Tohjo Falls, Mt. Silver Cave, Route 42, Route 24, Route 25, Route 9, Route 10
Violet City, Ecruteak City, Blackthorn City, Viridian City, Ruins of Alph, Ilex Forest, Route 30, Route 31, Route 35, Route 43, Route 44^C, Route 28, Mt. Silver, Route 22, Route 6
Dragon's Den
Route 45
Route 32*, Route 12, Route 13
Route 44*^GS
Lake of Rage and Fuchsia City
Whirl Islands

Generation III

Starting with Generation III, the fishing mechanic becomes more complex, as the player must pay attention and confirm as soon as the rod hooks a Pokémon, or else it will get away. A series of ellipses appear prior to the text "Oh! A bite!", which is when the player should press the A button exactly once. In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, this requires a series of confirmations when using better rods, and the Pokémon will also get away if the player presses A or B at the wrong time. Generation III also introduces a feature where Pokémon Trainers can fish off the back of a surfing Pokémon, which may be required to catch Feebas. This also makes fishing on Route 4 and Route 14 possible.

In Pokémon Emerald, when the player casts any of the three fishing rods, the game generates a random integer and checks whether it is even or odd, resulting in a value of either 0 or 1 respectively; if the value is 1, the player gets a bite on the rod, meaning the chance of getting a bite is 50% by default. However, if the first Pokémon in the player's party has the Ability Suction Cups or Sticky Hold, an additional check is performed before the default check, during which a random integer between 0 and 99 is generated; if this integer is greater than 14, the player gets a bite, giving the check a success rate of 85%. The chance of both of these checks failing is 0.15 * 0.5 = 0.075, or 7.5%. Therefore, the overall chance of getting a bite with Suction Cups or Sticky Hold is 92.5%.

If the first Pokémon of a player's party has the Ability Hustle, Pressure, or Vital Spirit, there is a 50% chance that the Pokémon the player fishes up will be the highest possible level. Since Pokémon that have been fished up are not generated until after the player has confirmed a bite, the Abilities Intimidate and Keen Eye have no effect when fishing in Emerald.^[3]

Generation IV

The exclamation point above the walking Pokémon

In Generation IV, when the player uses the rod, an exclamation mark-like sign can pop up above the player, noting that they should push the A button to reel in the Pokémon they've encountered and start the battle. As with Generation III, the Pokémon will go away if the player takes too long.

Each of the three rods has a different base rate of getting a bite when it is used.^[4] The Old, Good, and Super Rods have base rates of 25%, 50%, and 75% respectively, with the exceptions of the following cases:

On Route 222 in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the Old, Good, and Super Rods have base encounter rates of 45%, 70%, and 95% respectively.
In the two fishing spots on Victory Road in Pokémon Platinum, the Old, Good, and Super Rods have base encounter rates of 25%, 55%, and 75% respectively.
In the Safari Zone in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, all three rods have a 100% encounter rate.

In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Suction Cups and Sticky Hold do not increase the probability of bites, due to a typo in the function that applies Ability-based multipliers to the encounter rate.^[5] This was fixed in HeartGold and SoulSilver, where if the first Pokémon in the player's party has either of these Abilities, the base chances for each rod to get a bite are doubled, to a maximum of 100% for a guaranteed bite.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, the exclamation point will occasionally appear above the walking Pokémon instead of above the player's sprite. Also in HeartGold and SoulSilver, the odds of getting a bite are impacted by the friendship of the player's walking Pokémon, with a high friendship resulting in the chance of a bite being greatly increased. At 99 friendship or lower, the boost is 0%; upon reaching a friendship of 100, 150, 200, and 250, the boost is 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% respectively. This boost is applied before the bite chance is doubled by Suction Cups or Sticky Hold.^[6]^[7]

**Without Suction Cups / Sticky Hold**
Friendship of walking Pokémon	Bite chance
Friendship of walking Pokémon	Old Rod	Good Rod	Super Rod
0-99	25%	50%	75%
100-149	45%	70%	95%
150-199	55%	80%	100%
200-249	65%	90%	100%
250-255	75%	100%	100%

**With Suction Cups / Sticky Hold**
Friendship of walking Pokémon	Bite chance
Friendship of walking Pokémon	Old Rod	Good Rod	Super Rod
0-99	50%	100%	100%
100-149	90%	100%	100%
150-199	100%	100%	100%
200-249	100%	100%	100%
250-255	100%	100%	100%

Generation V

Super Rod's Key Item obtain sprite from Generation V

In Generation V, the Old and Good Rods are no longer available, only providing the player with a Super Rod to use for fishing. Additionally, rippling water can sometimes appear in these games, and fishing in a ripple changes the Pokémon that can be caught. For example, evolved Pokémon such as Milotic and Poliwrath can be caught directly in the wild, but only by fishing in rippling water.

The base chance of getting a bite with the Super Rod in these games is 50%, except when fishing in Castelia Sewers (30%), or in Route 17, Route 21, or P2 Laboratory (80% each). Leading with a Pokémon that has Suction Cups or Sticky Hold doubles these chances, up to a maximum of 100%.

Generation VI

In Generation VI, fishing mechanics remain mostly unchanged, with the removal of rippling water and the addition of consecutive fishing. The Old and Good Rods return in this Generation.

Consecutive fishing describes reeling in the same Pokémon in the same area repeatedly. Hooking multiple Pokémon in a row increases the chances of hooking a Shiny Pokémon, reaching a maximum chance of approximately 1% for a streak of 20 or more Pokémon. The game increases the chances of finding a Shiny Pokémon by generating extra personality values in an attempt to find one that results in a Shiny Pokémon, with the number of attempts depending on the size of the current streak. For every Pokémon added to the streak up to 20 Pokémon, the game will make two extra attempts to find a Shiny personality value; i.e., the number of attempts at any given point in the streak is 1 + 2 * streak_size, and caps at a maximum of 41 attempts when the streak is at least 20 Pokémon long. This effect stacks with the Shiny Charm's effect. Thus, with a streak of 20 Pokémon or more, the chance of finding a Shiny Pokémon is capped at 1 - (4095/4096)^41 (roughly 1%) without the Shiny Charm, and 1 - (4095/4096)^43 (roughly 1.04%) with the Shiny Charm.^[8]

The player is allowed to defeat, catch or simply run away from any encounters found this way without the chain breaking. The only ways to break the chain are by not reeling in any Pokémon or by exiting the area. In Pokémon X and Y, it is possible to check the longest fishing chain performed by the player by talking to a Fisherman on Route 16.

Fishing near rocks and other impassable spaces (not including spaces occupied by Trainers) will raise the chances of hooking Pokémon. The more sides (north, south, east, or west) around the space where the bobber lands that are blocked by such obstacles, the higher the chances of hooking a Pokémon are. A space of land may also count as an obstacle on one side of the bobber, so long as it is not the only one. If three sides are blocked, every cast will hook a Pokémon.

Generation VII

Fishing Rod's Key Item obtain sprite from Generation VII

In Generation VII, the player can no longer fish in any body of water. Instead, in certain areas, there are piles of rocks at the bottom of the water where the player can fish to find Pokémon. Sometimes when the player reels in their line, they may find an item instead of a Pokémon. In each area with fishing spots, at least one of the rock piles will have bubbles rising from it to the surface, and if the player fishes at that spot, they will be able to more commonly find Pokémon that would be rare at the other spots. As soon as the player reels in their line after they find any Pokémon or item from such spots, the bubbles will disappear until the player re-enters the area. The bubbles will also disappear if the player moves too quickly near the spot, if they move over it, or if they reel in their rod too quickly. Once the bubbles disappear, the encounter rate returns to that of other fishing spots.

In the Alola region, there are fishing spots at Seaward Cave, Kala'e Bay, Melemele Sea, Paniola Town, Brooklet Hill, Akala Outskirts, Malie Garden, Secluded Shore^SM, Seafolk Village, Poni Wilds^SM, Poni Breaker Coast, Vast Poni Canyon, Poni Meadow, Poni Gauntlet, and Routes 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, and 15.

The different types of fishing rods are also all replaced by a single "Fishing Rod" in Generation VII. This Fishing Rod cannot be used from the Bag, but instead, when the player approaches a fishing spot, the game prompts the player with the option to press the A button to use the Fishing Rod. Some fishing spots may be accessible from land, while others may only be accessible from water. If the player wishes to fish at a spot in the middle of water, they can only do so using the Poké Ride Lapras Paddle.

Generation VIII

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, the player receives a Fishing Rod at the start of the game when they equip their Bag.

Unlike prior games in the series, the player cannot use the fishing rod from the Bag menu—instead, there are rippling spots on bodies of water that can be interacted with by pressing the A Button. If the player presses the A Button again in time, the Pokémon will be reeled in and the battle will begin.

The Fishing Rod only comes in one model, which is obtained at the start of the game. It cannot be upgraded like in previous games of the series. The area where the player is fishing will determine what type of Pokémon is caught and the rarity percentages are determined in the same way as normal tall grass encounters.

Fishing at the same spot repeatedly can increase chances of encountering Brilliant Pokémon.

Generation IX

In Generation IX, Fishing was removed.

Appearance


Old Rod model from Generation VI	Good Rod model from Generation VI	Super Rod model from Generation VI	Fishing Rod model from Generation VII	Fishing Rod model from Generation VIII

In the spin-off games

Fishing in PokéPark: Fishing Rally DS

Pokémon Channel

Main article: Pokémon Channel

Pokémon Channel features a fishing mini-game in the Secret Cove of the Cobalt Coast area, where Water-type Pokémon can be caught by Pikachu.

PokéPark: Fishing Rally DS

Main article: PokéPark: Fishing Rally DS

PokéPark: Fishing Rally DS is a game focused on fishing for Pokémon. Points are earned for the size, rarity, and species of the caught Pokémon. Up to five Pokémon can be stored at once, and high scores could be seen at Pokémon Centers, while the game was still available for download.

Pokémon: Magikarp Jump

Main article: Pokémon: Magikarp Jump

Pokémon: Magikarp Jump is a game where player fishes and trains generations of Magikarp to jump as high as they can and win Magikarp jumping leagues. Magikarp are fished with Old Rods, with the player being given increasingly better variants of Old Rod (So-So, Good, Great, Rare, Pro's, and Supreme) as they progress that can fish new Magikarp patterns.

Hey You, Pikachu!

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In Hey You, Pikachu!, the one who fishes for Pokémon is Pikachu, while the players gives it voice commands.

Advanced Pico Beena series

In Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Search for Pokémon! Adventure in the Maze!, there is a minigame where Ash Ketchum is fishing for Water-type Pokémon.

In animation

Iris holding a Super Rod

Pokémon the Series

Many episodes of Pokémon the Series feature Ash and his friends fishing. Rather than using bait, fishing lures with Pokémon designs are used.

Pokémon the Series: The Beginning

In the first episode, Pokémon - I Choose You!, Misty was shown fishing shortly before Ash runs in to her.

At the Safari Zone, a fishing rod is distributed with the Safari Balls, as seen in EP035.

Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver

Ash and Misty both participated in a Seaking Catching Competition in Hook, Line, and Stinker.

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

In Whiscash and Ash, a fisherman named Sullivan believed that the secret to catching the Whiscash he was looking for, was finding the right lure. In On Olden Pond, Ash and his friends visited a lake, which had used to be a popular fishing resort. Ash, Brock, and May tried fishing from the lake, with Ash eventually hooking up a Crawdaunt. Ash attempted to battle the Crawdaunt with his Corphish, but the Ruffian Pokémon was soon defeated by its evolved form, which then proceeded to destroy the group's loaned fishing rods. It was later revealed that the Crawdaunt belonged to a man named Mr. Saridakis, who had once tried to purchase the lake in order to build an amusement park over it, but Tiffany, the owner of the lake, had refused to sell it. As a result, he had unleashed his Crawdaunt to the lake to scare off the people who came to fish there. After being saved from drowning by a Dragonair living in the lake, Mr. Saridakis decided to cancel his plans. Misty has a collection of lures, including a special lure based on herself that she believes is the best. She sent it to Ash as a gift in The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing. Ash used this lure in Buizel Your Way Out of This to try to catch a powerful Buizel.

Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Cilan holding a fishing rod

In Facing Fear with Eyes Wide Open!, Cilan used his fishing skills to catch a Stunfisk that was preventing Ash and Oshawott from retrieving plants at the bottom of a lake to cure their poisoned Pokémon. Like others before him, Cilan uses a fishing lure based on himself. In A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition!, Cilan showed his fishing skills again by catching a Basculin in Team Rocket's fake fishing competition. In BWS01, Cilan was seen using his fishing rod once again, this time hooking up a wild Gyarados. Later in the episode, he used his rod in an attempt to pull Gyarados back to its home lake, but was disturbed by Amer and his robotic Qwilfish. A Super Rod debuted in Climbing the Tower of Success! as the item Iris had to find for the Wishing Bell Festival scavenger hunt. In Best Wishes Until We Meet Again!, Cilan mentioned that Mr. Briney from Dewford Town was going to host the Old Rod Fishing Rally soon, prompting him to depart for Johto in order to participate in the said competition.

Pokémon the Series: XY

In Going for the Gold!, Ash and his friends met a fisherman named Rodman, who was trying to fish up a Shiny Magikarp with a Magikarp-shaped lure. Ash, Serena, and Clemont decided to try fishing too, with Ash giving the inexperienced Serena instructions of how to do it correctly. While fishing, Serena hooked up a Corsola, which she tried to battle with her Fennekin, but it simply hid itself behind Serena when Corsola tried to use Water Gun on it, causing the Coral Pokémon to get away. Afterwards, Rodman let Ash and his friends keep the fishing rods he had loaned them. The same rods reappeared in An Undersea Place to Call Home!, where Ash used one of them to hook up a Skrelp. A fishing competition was a part of the Pokémon Summer Camp, as shown in Day Three Blockbusters!. The Pokémon hooked up during the competition included Ash's Alomomola, Serena's Staryu, Clemont's Corphish, Tierno's Magikarp, Shauna's Tentacool, and Trevor's Wailord. Bonnie also participated the competition, but her possible catch wasn't shown.

In XYS06, Clemont and Bonnie participated in a fishing competition held in Lumiose City. Clemont intended to use his high-tech fishing rod to win, but Cilan, also taking part in the competition, commented him on his way of approach to fishing. With Cilan's advice, Bonnie managed to reel in a Clawitzer, which, due to it then proceeding to attack them, was driven away by Cilan's Stunfisk, by which time the competition already ended. Later in the episode, Clemont and Cilan combined Clemont's rod and Cilan's fishing skills to save Bonnie from a runaway subway cart.

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

In Yo, Ho, Ho! Go, Popplio!, Professor Kukui took the Pokémon School class on a fishing lesson, which he gave Lana to lead. Lana, being the most skilled fisher of the group, managed to fish up many different Water Pokémon, while Ash and Kiawe were having trouble finding anything at all, and Sophocles was too busy programming his high-tech rod to even try. Lillie, however, managed to surprise everyone by hooking up a Milotic, but her line snapped before she could reel the Tender Pokémon in, causing it to get away.

Team Rocket was seen fishing in The Sun, the Scare, the Secret Lair! while attempting to catch new Alolan Pokémon, but to no avail. Jessie used a lure based on Ekans, James's based on Koffing, and Meowth's based on himself.

Fishing was a central plot element in Big Sky, Small Fry!, where both Ash and Lana as well as Team Rocket tried to fish up the Totem Pokémon of Brooklet Hill. While Team Rocket was taken away by Bewear in the middle of their fishing, Lana managed to hook up the Totem Pokémon, a School Form Wishiwashi, almost immediately, and proceeded to battle it. She was eventually able to defeat the Totem Pokémon, receiving a Waterium Z as a reward.

Fishing once again played a notable role in The One That Didn't Get Away!. While Ash's classmates were fishing on a reef and managed to reel in Pokémon such as Bruxish, Luvdisc, Pyukumuku, and Cloyster, Ash and Lana came across a poisoned Kyogre chased by a hunter. Lana managed to use her fishing skills to feed Kyogre some Antidote and subsequently to help calm down its rage.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

In A Little Rocket R & R!, Ash and Goh joined a group of fishers at the Resort Area in order to find a mysterious Pokémon said to hide in a local lake. In the process, Goh caught himself a Goldeen and a Magikarp that he and Ash reeled in, respectively. They eventually managed to also reel in the mysterious Pokémon, which turned out to be a giant Magikarp, which Goh also succeeded in catching.

In Octo-Gridlock at the Gym!, Goh attempted to fish while on a boat headed for Cianwood City, but he was unsuccessful. He later revealed that he had caught a Chinchou while fishing at Cianwood City.

In a flashback in Whittle While You Work!, a young Cynthia was shown reeling in a Feebas, which would later become her Milotic.

In A Fated Face-Off!, Ash and Misty had a fishing battle to try to decide which of them would get to catch Clauncher. When neither of them succeeded in reeling Clauncher in, they instead decided to have a Pokémon battle to settle the issue.

Pokémon Horizons: The Series

Ludlow is often seen fishing during Pokémon Horizons: The Series, as first demonstrated in For Sure! 'Cause Sprigatito's with Me!. He tends to do this even when there's nothing to fish, either due to the Brave Olivine being on land or too high up in the air.

In Flying Pikachu, Rising Higher and Higher!, Friede was shown fishing with Ludlow during a flashback, hooking up a Slowbro.

Pokémon Origins

Red fishing with a Super Rod

Fishing was featured a couple of times during Pokémon Origins.

Red obtained an Old Rod from the Vermilion Fishing Guru in File 2: Cubone, and a Super Rod from the Silence Bridge Fishing Guru in File 3: Giovanni. Soon after obtaining the latter, he was seen using it to capture himself a Psyduck.

Red was also seen fishing with the Super Rod in File 4: Charizard, although he did so merely to get some time to think about the mysterious Pokémon seen in Cerulean Cave.

In the manga

Fishing in Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon Adventures

Yellow is often seen fishing, having been taught how to use a rod by her uncle, Wilton.

Pokémon Pocket Monsters

The Old and Super Rods have appeared in Pokémon Pocket Monsters.