Catching Pokémon

Catching Pokémon is one of currently three methods of obtaining Pokémon, the others are hatching Pokémon Eggs and trading.

Pokémon can be caught in various situations including: finding it in the wild, luring it with either Incense or Lure Module, encountering it via Raid Battle Bonus Challenge or as a reward for completed Research tasks. In case of the last two, encounters don't involve seeing Pokémon in the Map View.

Pokémon in the wild
Obtaining Pokémon in the wild involves two steps:
 * 1) Tracking it down in the Map View, then
 * 2) Catching it in a Poké Ball in the Encounter Screen.

There are a few kinds of spots in which Pokémon can appear:
 * Natural spawn points - they are random spots in the real world, mostly next to the roads and paths seen in the Map View. Such spots can be clearly seen in Ingress, as spots of Exotic Matter share the same geographic points in the real world.
 * Pokémon spawning in these spots can be seen as Sightings in Tracker view, if there are no Pokémon Nearby the PokéStops.
 * Spawn points nearby PokéStops - these are spots in vicinity of selected PokéStops, as not all of the PokéStops have regular spawn points of Pokémon.
 * Pokémon spawning in these spots can be seen as Nearby in Tracker view.
 * Pokémon Nests - these are areas in specific geographical locations, where an increased number of the same species of Pokémon appear for a short duration. They can be both natural, wild spawn points and spawn points nearby PokéStops.
 * Spawn points around PokéStops with an activated Lure Module - these are temporary spawn points for Pokémon lured with Lure Module. Their location is in the PokéStop's vicinity, but lured Pokémon do not appear in the Nearby section of the Tracker.
 * Spawn points around a Trainer with an activated Incense - these are temporary spawn points for Pokémon lured with Incense. Their location is in the Trainer's vicinity and lured Pokémon do not appear in the Nearby section of the Tracker and are also only accessible for Incense's user - therefore other trainers cannot catch Pokémon lured with an Incense used by another player.

Encounter screen
Once a Pokémon appears in the Map View the player can tap on it, which will lead to the encounter screen.

The encounter screen allows the player to catch the Pokémon with currently owned Poké Balls.

The same encounter screen is used for catching wild Pokémon, Pokémon lured with a Lure Module or Incense, and Pokémon encountered in Raid Battle Bonus Challenges. However, there are some different mechanics and features between some of the encounter screens.

Encounter screen features
The picture to the right shows the encounter screen that appears when attempting to catch a Pokémon. Each item is listed with a description below:
 * 1) Leave the encounter button - The trainer can leave the encounter screen with the Pokémon at any time. The trainer can re-enter the encounter screen for an individual Pokémon after previously leaving it as long as the Pokémon has not disappeared from the Map View. Pokémon stay up for a maximum of 30 or 60 minutes after they spawn.
 * 2) Camera button - This button allows player to hide any other GUI elements and take a photo of the encountered Pokémon. The picture is saved in the player's mobile device storage or gallery. The camera view works both AR and non-AR modes.
 * 3) AR camera mode switch button - This switch controls augmented reality mode. Switching this to the On position will utilize the device's camera to show the Pokémon in the "real world". The device may need to be oriented to so that the Pokémon appears in the field of view. Leaving it off will keep it on the default park scene, shown in the image to the right, and moving the device will not have an effect on the Pokémon's image.
 * 4) Label with Pokémon’s name and CP - The label that displays various general information such as the Pokémon's name and CP. CP sometimes appears as "???" which means that the Pokémon species has not previously been seen and registered in the Pokédex or its CP is higher than any currently owned Pokémon. A small white Poké Ball icon will appear on the left side of the panel if the Pokémon species has been owned before. For the first few second of entering the encounter screen any type-bonus medals icons appear above the label which indicate what levels of medals are currently owned for catching Pokémon of the type relating to the encountered Pokémon. In the top-right corner of the label the weather icon is displayed if the Pokémon is currently boosted by the weather.
 * 5) Target ring - This ring appears when holding down on the Poké Ball. Its size repeatedly shrinks and expands. The smaller it is when the ball is thrown into it, the better the chance of catching the Pokémon. Its colour indicates how difficult the encountered Pokémon is to catch. Bright green being the easiest, and red being the hardest. Using a higher quality Poké Ball, Razz Berry or Golden Razz Berry makes Pokémon easier to catch and therefore changes the color of the target ring towards the bright green hue.
 * 6) Owned Berries access button - This reveals a panel from the left which allows the trainer to quickly choose any owned type of Berry from their bag.
 * 7) Currently selected Poké Ball or Berry from bag - It is 3D model of the currently selected type of Poké Ball or Berry from the bag ready to be used on the encountered Pokémon. To use Poké Ball player has to tap and hold the Poké Ball and then swipe and release it in the direction of the Pokémon. In case of Berries, the player only needs to tap it; aiming and throwing is not necessary.
 * 8) Owned Poké Balls access button - This reveals a panel from the right which allows the trainer to quickly choose any owned type of Poké Ball from their bag.
 * 9) Number of currently selected item in bag - This number informs the trainer of the amount of the selected item they have left. A trainer can catch Pokémon without any Berries in his bag but they cannot without any Poké Balls. If a trainer runs out of Poké Balls while in an encounter they are directed to the shop where Poké Balls can be purchased.

Bonus Challenge encounter screen
Encounter screen of Raid Battle Bonus Challenge differs from regular encounter screen with only lack of option for selecting owned Poké Balls as in Bonus Challenge, Trainer uses Premier Balls rewarded for performance in battle with Raid Boss.

Pokémon in such encounter cannot flee away from trainer unless there are no Premier Balls left to use. There is special glowing animation for Pokémon that flees due to lack of Premier Balls.

Research task reward encounter screen
Encounter screen for catching Pokémon awarded from completed Research tasks (both Field and Special ones) does not differ from regular encounter screen regarding its interface, only difference is that Pokémon as the reward for completed task, never flees and trainer can always return to the encounter.

Mythical Pokémon encounter screen
Encounter screen for Mythical Pokémon, rewarded for Special Research tasks, differs from regular encounter screen. It requires using AR mode that can be disabled only if there is no gyroscope sensor in the device (or it does not work properly so game cannot assess the position of the device).

Moreover, there is no option to choose or use Poké Ball nor Berry possessed in item bag in such encounter screen. Player has infinite number of regular Poké Balls to use and no matter after which attempt the Pokémon is caught, there is always First Throw bonus given.

Additionally, in case of catching Mew, the Pokémon gets invisible and can be slightly seen between throws and in case of catching Celebi, it teleports between various random spots.

Augmented reality
There is an option for using Augmented Reality (AR for short) and Augmented Reality Plus (AR+ for short) in encounter screen, that allows for viewing and catching encountered Pokémon with the background from real-world environment.

Moreover, using AR+ gives opportunity for more complex catching Pokémon, that involves sneaking and Expert Handle bonus.

Color of the target ring
The capture rate of a Pokémon can be identified by the color of the target ring seen in front of the Pokémon in the encounter screen. The color of the ring can change during the same encounter when Berry or better Poké Ball is used to change the capture rate variables. (See section below.)

Capture rate
Capture rate of Pokémon is basically the chance for successful capture of encountered Pokémon.

The capture rate factors in the CP and base capture rate of the Pokémon along with the type of Poké Ball used and any multipliers that are applied, for example: throw style bonus or used berries.
 * $$CR ~ = ~ \frac{BCR ~ \times ~ BF ~ \times ~ M}{2 \times CpM}$$

Variables
 * CR - Capture Rate
 * BCR - Base Capture Rate
 * CpM - CP Multiplier
 * BF - Ball Factor (described below)
 * M - Multipliers (product of all multipliers; described below)

Variables
The following variables and multipliers are used in calculating the Capture Rate of a Pokémon.

Flee rate
Flee rate of Pokémon is basically the chance for complete escape of Pokémon from Trainer after breaking out of the Poké Ball.

Trivia

 * The encounter screen and whole catching wild Pokémon mechanic differs a lot from other Pokémon games, as:
 * there is no battle engaged with the wild Pokémon,
 * wild Pokémon appearing in the Map View does not force encounter but player can choose whether or not they want to encounter Pokémon that popped out in the Map View,
 * catching Pokémon is focused on aim and technique of throwing Pokémon rather than the combat with the encountered Pokémon.
 * The mechanic of throwing a Poké Ball on the wild Pokémon is a bit similar to the Facebook's Messenger basketball hoops game that used to be one of two popular, easter-egg games in the app before the official launch of Pokémon GO.