Pokemon GO Genesect raid counters and the catch trick

Today we're taking a peek at Genesect (Douse Drive) in Pokemon GO and wondering why we cannot capture this monster in a Pokeball. Defeating Genesect in a raid battle as a raid boss can be easy enough – he seems massive, but he's particularly weak to fire. It's only after he's defeated that we really start to flip out – he's difficult to catch!

The two most difficult parts of the Secrets of the Jungle series of situations this week are "Make 5 Great Throws in a row" and catching Genesect in a Pokeball. The chances of doing either one are far higher than most people would like. Otherwise, everything is pretty easy to parse.

Genesect (Douse Drive)

To defeat Genesect (Douse Drive) in a raid, you're going to need 3 or more trainers in your crew. This is a Bug and Steel-type Pokemon with Fury Cutter (Bug) or Metal Claw (Steel) fast moves and charge moves that include Poison, Bug, and Steel moves: Gunk Shot, X-Scissor, and Magnet Bomb.

All you really need to fight Genesect is FIRE! Get all your Fire-type Pokemon rounded up and blast this bug with all the flames you can muster. That's the easy part of the situation.

The difficult part is finding yourself face to face with Genesect (Douse Drive) with a limited number of Pokeballs*. Your chances of catching Genesect and keeping Genesect in a Pokeball are SLIM. Do NOT be surprised if he pops out a bunch of times, and sets flight before you can pick him up – he's wild like that!

*They're actually called Premier Balls, but we're going to keep calling them Pokeballs. Premier Balls just sounds so strange and unnatural.

How to catch Genesect

There is not definite way to absolutely guarantee you'll be able to catch Genesect (Douse Drive) in this game. There are some clues researchers have found in testing the mechanics of the game that can give you a leg up.

As researched by The Silph Road earlier this year, it's become apparent that Raid Bosses have a hidden catch percentage multiplier. This multiplier increases as time goes on – or the more Pokeballs you toss. The further along you get, the more likely it is that your Pokeball will keep a Raid Boss captured.

So while we do not know exactly how the process works (only Niantic knows for sure), it seems likely that the more Premier Balls you obtain in the Raid (bonuses for doing well and fighting hard), the better your chances are. Not just because you have more Pokeballs (and therefore literally more individual shots and hitting the Pokemon), but because the catch multiplier increases the closer you get to your 10th Pokeball.

It's a good idea to use Razz Berries at any point, but it'll be best if you keep your Golden Razz Berries for the last couple of throws – there's where your best chance sits!