Roaming Pokémon

Roaming Pokémon is feature first introduced in Generation II. Roaming Pokémon are Legendary Pokémon that appear randomly across a certain region and do not remain stationary unlike most other Legendary Pokémon. When encountered, they will attempt to flee in every turn of the battle unless Mean Look, Block, or Spider Web is used before they flee, or if the player's first Pokemon has a trapping ability such as Shadow Tag or Arena Trap, preventing their escape.

When they are encountered and escape, they will go to a different route. Some roaming Pokémon will automatically go to a different area when other Pokémon are encountered when the player is close to them. Any damage from previous encounters carries over the next battle, including statuses.

In Generation II and III games, the player can track their ever-changing locations by checking their location in the Pokédex. In Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Roaming Pokémon can be tracked using the Marking Map Poketch App. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, they can be tracked using the same method as in Generation II and III games. In Generation V games, Roaming Pokémon can be tracked by checking the Bulletin Boards for strange weather.

In Pokémon Platinum and on, if the Roaming Pokémon is defeated, the player can respawn the Pokémon by defeating the Elite Four again and triggering any events that were required to start the roaming.

Capture methods

An effective way to catch these Pokémon is to have a level 100 Pokémon than can use False Swipe and any move that causes a status effect, but does not damage them (freeze, sleep, paralysis). Once their health has been reduced to nearly zero, and they've been afflicted with one of the status effect mentioned above, just encounter them again and throw a Quick Ball or a Dusk Ball. It is suggested that you do not waste a Master Ball on them, as most of the time, they are not worth wasting the one of a kind Poké Ball on.

Pokémon

Generation II

Gold, Silver and Crystal

Pokémon	Method for encounter	Level	Game
Raikou	Encountered at Burned Tower	40	Gold, Silver and Crystal
Entei	Encountered at Burned Tower	40	Gold, Silver and Crystal
Suicune	Encountered at Burned Tower	40	Gold and Silver

Generation III

Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald

Pokémon	Method for encounter	Level	Game
Latias	Defeat the Elite Four	40	Sapphire and Emerald
Latios	Defeat the Elite Four	40	Ruby and Emerald

FireRed and LeafGreen

Pokémon	Method for encounter	Level	Game	Conditions
Raikou	Actives after Lorelei returns to the Elite Four	50	FireRed and LeafGreen	Squirtle as a starter
Entei	Actives after Lorelei returns to the Elite Four	50	FireRed and LeafGreen	Bulbasaur as a starter
Suicune	Actives after Lorelei returns to the Elite Four	50	FireRed and LeafGreen	Charmander as a starter

Generation IV

Diamond, Pearl and Platinum

Pokémon	Method for encounter	Level	Game
Mesprit	Encounter at Lake Verity	50	Diamond, Pearl and Platinum
Cresselia	Encounter at Fullmoon Island	50	Diamond, Pearl and Platinum
Articuno	Talk to Professor Oak in Eterna City	60	Platinum
Zapdos	Talk to Professor Oak in Eterna City	60	Platinum
Moltres	Talk to Professor Oak in Eterna City	60	Platinum

HeartGold and SoulSilver

Pokémon	Method for encounter	Level	Game
Raikou	Encounter at Burned Tower	40	HeartGold and SoulSilver
Entei	Encounter at Burned Tower	40	HeartGold and SoulSilver
Latias	Deliver Copycat's doll	35	HeartGold
Latios	Deliver Copycat's doll	35	SoulSilver

Generation V

Black and White

Pokémon	Method for encounter	Level	Game
Tornadus	Obtain the Legend Badge and go through the Route 10 gate	40	Black
Thundurus	Obtain the Legend Badge and go through the Route 10 gate	40	White