Pokemon Go Update “Catch Bonus” Explained

What is the “Catch Bonus” system in Pokemon Go? Check out article for a detailed explanation on the new Pokemon GO Update “Catch Bonus”

Ever since it was released, Pokémon Go continues to receive updates from its developer Niantic. Recently, a new Pokemon Go Update “Catch Bonus” system has been introduced, which actually gives some meaning to the medals that you have been earning.

Initially, the medal system in the game did not have a specific role and many players have been wondering what exactly they are for. Of course, it is cool when you get medals, but now they will give you something more than a simple greeting for your progress and a thing to brag about.

In the latest version of the Pokémon Go app (0.41.2 for Android and 1.11.2 for iOS), the medal system is split in two. At the top, there are the medals which you can collect simply to brag about and they don’t really have something to do with the game itself. However, at the bottom section, there are the medals which are involved in something called Pokémon “catch bonus”.

Also, with the new update, now it is easier to track down your own progress and what you need to do to earn the next medal. For example, for a gold Youngster medal, you will need to catch 300 tiny Rattata. You can also check anytime how many Pokemon are left to complete the medal by simply clicking on the medal icon.

The Pokémon Go Update “Catch Bonus” Explained

Let’s say you catch a Pokémon, which correspond to the Punk Girl medal. When you open the medals screen and click on the Punk Girl medal, if you have already earned the gold level this will give you a +3 poison-type “catch bonus”.

Similar, a bronze level medal, will give you a +1 catch bonus depending on the Pokemon you’ve got.

What these catch bonuses actually do is, they make catching Pokemon easier. And while it is not really clear how exactly the new catch bonus works, some gamers speculate that this may be used to increase the percentage of the base capture rate of the Pokemon as well as be related to the different types of Pokéballs (normal, great, ultra), throw types (nice, great, excellent, curveballs), razz berries, and other features related with the catching.

For example, the base capture rates are different for the different Pokemon, were rare and evolved creatures have lower base capture rates and other Pokemon may have higher rates. The catch bonus system comes into play by lifting up your capture chance, depending on your level. We can try to break this down with a hypothetical breakthrough, so you could better understand where the “catch bonus” comes into play.

Let’s say you have a base catch chance of 10%
You also have catch bonus for gold medal: +3% to base catch chance
You may also increase your catch chance with a bonus for “great” throw: 1.5x
Have a curveball: 1.25x
Also a razz berry: 1.25x
And an ultra ball: 1.5x
Theoretically, this means that the overall catch chance without the catch bonus will be: (10%) * 1.5 * 1.25 * 1.25 * 1.5 = 35.2%
Then if we add the catch bonus the overall catch chance will be: (10% + 3%) * 1.5 * 1.25 * 1.25 * 1.5 = 45.7%

This is, of course, only an assumption how the new bonus may influence, however, this is not the real formula on how the developers will calculate the bonus in the game. As a conclusion, we can only assume that the new catch bonus system generally makes it easier to capture Pokémon and in addition, it uses fewer resources to catch different Pokémon types.