A new feature introduced in Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu and Eevee is Catch Combos. This offers a way to get both stronger Pokémon, and improve your chance of finding Shiny Pokémon!
How Catch Combos work
The general idea is simple – encounter the same Pokémon as many times as you can in a row, and catch them. The more you do this, the stronger the Pokémon will be, and the higher chance it can be Shiny.
When you check the status screen of the Pokémon you catch, or the encounter/catch screen for a wild Pokémon encounter, it will tell you the current Catch Combo number – meaning you don’t have to keep count yourself.
If you want to Catch Combo a rare Pokémon, you will want to use a Lure item to increase Pokémon spawn rates, or else you may be waiting a long while.
Some important notes:
- You have to catch the Pokémon for the combo to continue.
- If you encounter a different – or same – Pokémon species but do not catch it, the combo will continue.
- Saving and turning off the game breaks the combo.
- If the Wild Pokémon flees the battle, the combo will break.
- You can battle Trainers between wild Pokémon encounters and continue the combo.
- Pokémon will appear as Shiny in the overworld even before you catch them!
Stats and Shiny Chance
In general, the higher the Catch Combo, the more guaranteed stats (or individual values – IVs) that the wild Pokémon will have as perfect. This starts at one perfect stat and goes all the way to six. You need a minimum Catch Combo of 31 to find a Pokémon with six perfect stats.
The base Shiny chance in this game remains at 1 in 4,096 (1⁄4,096). This can be improved to roughly 3⁄4,096 by obtaining the Shiny Charm (from the Game Director in Celadon City for completing the Pokédex – 1 to 150). Essentially, the higher the Catch Combo, the more “rolls” the game makes to see if you encounter a Shiny or not. After reaching a Catch Combo of 31, you get four rolls per encounter – so effectively a ~4/4,096 chance without the Shiny Charm, or ~6/4,096 (one Shiny roll + 3 extra from Catch Combos + 2 extra from Shiny Charm). It’s not much of an improvement, but it does add up. This will apply to any Pokémon that spawns in the overworld of the same species as well, as Shiny models are displayed in the overworld for even wild Pokémon.
The table below gives the rough Shiny chance and number of perfect IVs you can expect:
| Catch Combo Length | # of Perfect IVs | Shiny Chance (no Shiny Charm) |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | 2 guaranteed perfect IVs | 1⁄4,096 |
| 6-10 | 3 guaranteed perfect IVs | 1⁄4,096 |
| 11-20 | 4 guaranteed perfect IVs | 2⁄4,096 |
| 21-30 | 5 guaranteed perfect IVs | 3⁄4,096 |
| 31+ | 6 guaranteed perfect IVs | 4⁄4,096 |
What do you think of this feature, and how does it compare to Horde or SOS battles from previous games?
Edited by Aldo!, ddrox13, Jake, and LinearAxel.
Source: Daily.pokecommunity
