Catching Legendary Pokémon
Some planetary explorations will lead you to encounter a Legendary Pokémon. Since my goal is to make all Pokémon from the 1st to 8th gen avaible, that naturally includes the Legendaries.
Because the planet you explore is always chosen randomly, it’s entirely possible to stumble upon an extremely powerful Legendary Pokémon early in a run. I needed to find a way to prevent this from completely ruin the balancing of the game.
The problematics and how I solved them
My first idea was to block the battle against a Legendary Pokémon if the player didn’t have a certain minimum number of badges. For example, the battle against Dialga would only trigger once you had at least 7 badges. Finding his planet earlier would mean no chance to catch him at all. I quickly realized this felt too frustrating, as players had no control over the situation. After some playtesting, it was clear that this system had to change.
So now, players can battle Legendary Pokémon regardless of how many badges they have, but they can only catch them once they reach a certain badge treshold. This requirement varies depending on the strength of the specific Pokémon. Of course, the Pokémon’s level is scaled to ensure the battle remains challenging without being completely one-sided. A proper boss fight!
Here is what a Darkrai encounter with 0 badge would look like.
If you’re unable to catch the Legendary during your explorations, you’ll receive an orb instead. This item unlocks a new shop aboard the Ship, where you can purchace a rematch with that specific Legendary Pokémon.
You’ll meet Tom, who is a big fan of Legendary Pokémon.
This rematch takes place in a special room and consumes the orb you were given. It’s your final chance to try and catch the Pokémon. Once again, the badge treshold for catching applies : you won’t be able to trigger the fight unless you’ve reached the required number of badges.
I believe this is the best compromise: an epic fight during your exploration, and a second chance to catch the Legendary Pokémon back on the Ship !