Does Pokémon Level Affect Capture Rates?

Question

Today I was DexNav chaining for a Skarmory. I found the one I wanted, wittled down it's HP and tossed my Poké Balls. Six of them. And two Great Balls, and four Ultra Balls. My Metang was Level 26 and the Skarmory was Level 16, and it was insanely difficult to capture. However, in other Pokémon games that I have played, the higher level my Pokémon were over the wild Pokémon, the easier they were to capture. I know Skarmory has a low capture rate, but I was wondering – in any circumstance – whether or not my Pokémon's level affects the capture rate of wild Pokémon.

Answer 1

Let's see what bulbapedia tells:

Each species of Pokémon has a catch rate that applies to all its
members. Higher catch rates mean that the Pokémon is easier to catch,
up to a maximum of 255. When a Poké Ball is thrown at a wild Pokémon,
the game uses that Pokémon's catch rate in a formula to determine the
chances of catching that Pokémon. The formula also takes into account
the following factors:

1)The health of the Pokémon (relative to its full health)
2)The type of Poké Ball
3)Any status condition of the wild Pokémon
4)Any activePass Powers (in Generation V) or O-Power (in Generation VI)

The rarity of the Pokémon (i.e. how often it appears in the wild) is
independent of its catch rate after it is encountered. Even rare
Pokémon may have high catch rates, making them relatively easy to
catch in battle, such as Nosepass, who has a catch rate of 255.

As you can see it does not tell about Pokemon level,So,it is safe to assume that capture rate is not based on level.
Source

The reason why Skamory took to long catch it is because Skamory catch rate is 25 (3.3%)which is pretty low for a non legendary Pokemon.
Source on Skamory catch rate.

Answer 2

Level is not a factor in the capture formula, nor has it ever been. HP is a factor, but both current and maximum HP are, so that they essentially cancel each other out - what really matters is the fraction of HP the Pokémon has left. This actually means Pokémon can be ever so slightly easier to catch when they're higher-leveled, if you're using False Swipe - a Pokémon with 1/20 HP is at 5%, but a Pokémon with 1/200 HP is at 0.5%.

The Level Ball and Nest Ball do take level into account when determining their ball bonus, but no other balls do.

Your perception that lower-leveled Pokémon have been easier to capture before is likely simply because later-game Pokémon, which are found at higher levels in the wild, broadly tend to have lower catch rates.

If you're curious about exactly what factors affect the capture formula and how, my site has a detailed article on it.

Answer 3

Of course.

Skarmory's catch rate at any level is 25, a fairly high capture rate. Think about it. at full health, with a pokeball you can catch it 3% of the time. With a pokeball. Assuming you had the great and ultra balls, you just got really unlucky. What I suggest next time you set out from a poke mart is that you come armed with at least 4 of each type of ball. Until you get to legendaries. That, of course, is a different story. 4 quick balls(my favorite) 4 ultra balls, 4 great balls, and in your case, 4 nest balls. If you ever run into a level 16 skarmory again, I suggest a quick ball at the start, weakening it, then trying a nest ball. Nest balls are insane at anything level 20(3x), allowing you to have a 10% chance at full health. adding weakening to the mix and then using the nest ball gives somewhere from 40%-60%. same goes with Ultra Balls.

Use the Ball types to your advantage.

Comments

Nest Balls are 2x at level 20 (well, 2.1x), not 3x - only slightly better than an Ultra Ball. Doing the capturing at night and using a Dusk Ball  (3.5x) is a far better bet.

Answer 4

Unless you used a Level Ball, your Pokemon's level does not affect the capture rate of catching Pokemon. The target Pokemon's level does affect it (in terms of HP, which is increased over time as the Pokemon's level increases), but not your Pokemon.

Hope I helped. :)
Source

Comments

Level ball can be found only in jhoto games.