(Pokemon sapphire) I saw a Latias and it escaped...

i feel like dying...

i know its a roaming pokemon...

but is there any way for me to actually catch him faster?

ps: google and bulbapedia did not help...

 

welp, that kinda sucks. Although, that's why I always save my master ball. It's really the fastest way to catch it. I remember the first time I saw Latias. I missed it and I restarted my game and when to the spot I found it the first time and couldn't find it again. It was only after that that I figured out it was a roaming pokemon.
But if you've seen it once just use your pokedex. It always shows where it is when you use the Area function. You just have to get lucky in finding it. The biggest pain is that it always moves when you go to another area, or in a building or cave. So you just have to get lucky.

 

Any Pokémon with Shadow Tag as it's ability should stop it from escaping so long as it's the active Pokémon. From there on, attempt to capture it as you usually would any other legendary. Wear it down with attacks, Status afflictions, and when it gets below 40% health or so, start using the False Swipe. Stock up on Ultra Balls and Timer Balls. If it gets away, it will keep the last Status affliction it had, as well as its level of health, so starting off with a Quick Ball is a good bet.

 

only problem being, they don't have quick balls in Sapphire.

 

Really? I'm sure they had something like that, right?

Alternatively, Master Ball it, if you don't care about that.

 

yeah, I think you might be thinking about Heart Gold and Soul Silver, since they only had Quick Balls come out with Diamon and Pearl. They later put them in the Heart Gold and Soul Silver games as well.

 

I cant check my pokedex cuz i already restarted the game so i could go back to where i found it, and i have no quick balls or master balls, only normal balls pokeballs and ultra balls.

i think ill go with a lvl 50 saybyel, or maybe a lvl 17 Wabuffet (help me chose?) that will keep her IN the battle, ill stock up on ultra balls, and timer balls, those are the best i have, i used up my master ball on kyogre


ohh well, guess ill wait for blind dumb luck again...

 

oh, so you did the same thing I did huh? That kinda sucks. It would be nice to know these things beforehand huh?
But I'd probably go with the Wabuffet, since it's got way better defense, but train it up to like lv39 or something.

 

Most of Latias's moves are special. Or was the split not introduced until D/P/Pt? I forget.
But what you wanna do is status afflict it. Best one is Paralyze, since it slows it down, makes most attacks fail, and makes it easier to catch. Try Thunder Wave or something.
Sabelye can definitely learn False Swipe too, so use it first. It's lack of weaknesses also means it can probably take most hits on the chin without major damage.

 

well, I guess I should have said both Defense and Special defense. Wabuffet was basically the strongest defensive pokemon made at the time. In fact, it's still probably one of the strongest defensive pokemon.

 

Shuckle. Dear lord, Shuckle.
Those things are built like pure steel.
...! New plan. Get a Shuckle, raise it as best you can, buff it up to max defense, and laugh as Latias tries to stop you.
Except that it'd just run away from you anyway... teach it Mean Look?

 

can't teach shuckle Mean Look. He's trying to find a way to keep the Latias there, that's why Wabuffet is good.
And Shuckle is good for defense sure, but it has no counter moves or anything. It's literally just a staller, while Wabuffet has a better movepool. Why do you think it's banned from tournaments?

 

Which one is banned?
Also, Shuckle can learn Bide, which is awful because of its defense, and it used to be able to learn Counter, I think. Dunno if it still can.
So yes, Wobbufet is fine, so long as you buff its defense, and Sabelye is also fine. Try keeping them both on you, since that way you have a backup. If things go back, let Latias run away if you have to, just don't make it faint. Hence False Swipe.

 

No, it can't learn Counter.
But Wobbuffet is banned from tournaments because of it's movepool and stats.