Pokemon shaking spots & wild encounters
Pokemon Black & Pokemon White introduced a few new ideas to capturing Pokemon in the wild, including ‘Rare Spots,’ wild double battles and critical captures.
Shaking Spots
Shaking spots, also known as ‘rare spots,’ are places in which rare Pokemon can appear. During the game you will occasionally see a patch of grass shaking wildly. In caves there is a dust cloud and on water a bubbling spot.
When you see the shaking spot it means a Pokemon is hiding there (or in some cases, an item). If you walk onto the square you will go into battle with the Pokemon there. Most of the Pokemon found in shaking spots are not found in regular encounters. For example early in Black/White you are given one of the elemental monkeys as a gift to help beat the first gym. However, you can find all three in rare spots in Pinwheel Forest.
On each step you take, there is a tiny chance that a shaking spot will appear. You don't need to be walking in the grass at the time, it can be next to it. In practical terms it can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes for a new spot to appear.
The rustling spot will always be somewhere on-screen (up to 5 squares away), although sometimes the patch may be obscured by a tree or something else. They are very easy to see in caves and on water, but less so in grass. Keep an ear out and you will hear a regular rustling sound. If you are running back and forth the spot may now be off-screen.
Since the rare spots can be anywhere on screen, they also can be in squares you are unable to access, such as bubbling spots on water before you have obtained Surf. And finally, if you go into a wild Pokemon or trainer battle before you get to the shaking spot, it will be gone when you leave the battle.
Shaking grass
Shaking grass isn't always noticeable.
Long grass shakes too.
Bubbling water
Bubbling water also hides Pokemon.
You can Surf onto it or use the fishing rod.
Dust clouds
A dust cloud in Chargestone Cave.
Shaking Spots are not always accessible.
Bridge shadows
Shadows on Driftveil Drawbridge can yield items or Pokemon.
Pokemon & items in Shaking Spots
Here are the Unova Pokemon found in shaking spots. We've only listed pre-National Dex Pokemon here (i.e. just the new ones from Black & White), the rest can be found in the location guide.
Shaking grass
| Pokemon | Games | Locations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audino | B | W | Routes 1-3, 5-7, 9-16, 18, P2 Laboratory, Dreamyard, Pinwheel Forest, Cold Storage, Dragonspiral Tower, Giant Chasm, Abundant Shrine, Lostlorn Forest |
| Pansage | B | W | Pinwheel Forest, Lostlorn Forest |
| Pansear | B | W | Pinwheel Forest, Lostlorn Forest |
| Panpour | B | W | Pinwheel Forest, Lostlorn Forest |
| Throh | B | W | Route 10, 15, 18, Pinwheel Forest |
| Sawk | B | W | Route 10, 15, 18, Pinwheel Forest |
| Leavanny | B | W | Route 6, Lostlorn Forest |
| Whimsicott | B | W | Pinwheel Forest, Abundant Shrine, Lostlorn Forest |
| Lilligant | B | W | Pinwheel Forest, Abundant Shrine, Lostlorn Forest |
| Stoutland | B | W | Route 10, Cold Storage |
| Musharna | B | W | Dreamyard |
| Unfezant | B | W | Route 6, 7, 12, Dragonspiral Tower, Lostlorn Forest |
| Cinccino | B | W | Route 5, 9, 16, Cold Storage |
| Gothitelle | B | W | Route 9 |
| Reuniclus | B | W | Route 9 |
| Emolga | B | W | Route 5-7, 9-12, 15-16, Dragonspiral Tower, Giant Chasm, Village Bridge, Abundant Shrine, Lostlorn Forest |
Dust clouds
| Pokemon | Games | Locations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drilbur | B | W | Wellspring Cave, Chargestone Cave, Mistralton Cave, Twist Mountain |
| Excadrill | B | W | Challenger's Cave, Victory Road, Giant Chasm |
Possible items in Dust Clouds in caves:
- Any of the Gem items (Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, Steel, Normal)
- Any of the evolution stones (Fire, Water, Thunder, Leaf, Moon, Sun, Shiny, Dusk, Dawn)
Shadows
| Pokemon | Games | Locations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ducklett | B | W | Driftveil Drawbridge |
| Swanna | B | W | Marvelous Bridge |
Possible items in Shadows on bridges:
- Any of the EV Wings (Health, Muscle, Resist, Genius, Clever, Swift)
- Pretty Wing
Bubbling water
| Pokemon | Games | Locations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seismitoad | B | W | Route 8, Icirrus City, Moor of Icirrus |
| Basculin | B | W | Route 1, 3, 6, 11, 14, Dragonspiral Tower, Abundant Shrine, Giant Chasm, Lostlorn Forest, Wellspring Cave, Striaton City, Challenger's Cave, Victory Road, Village Bridge, Pinwheel Forest |
| Jellicent | B | W | Route 4, 17-18, Driftveil City, P2 Laboratory |
| Alomomola | B | W | Route 4, 17-18, Driftveil City, P2 Laboratory |
| Stunfisk | B | W | Route 8, Icirrus City, Moor of Icirrus |
Wild double battles
Another new mechanic introduced in Pokemon Black & White is double battles in the wild. In some routes you will see patches of grass darker than normal. When walking in these patches there is a chance that two Pokemon could appear at once.
Double Grassis darker than regular grass.
The battle works just like double battles in previous games - each of the two Pokemon on the player's team can select a move to target at one of the Pokemon on the opposing team
.
It is not possible to capture both Pokemon however. One must be defeated to allow throwing of a PokéBall.
Quick tip: there seems to be a bug or design flaw in double battles. If both your Pokemon faint in one turn, it seems like you can't switch in two new Pokemon. You need to choose the first one to switch, then tap on one of the Pokemon that fainted, then choose the second one to switch. Don't know why it's like that.
Double Grassis darker than regular grass.
Critical capture
One final new battle mechanic introduced in Black & White is the critical capture.
When a PokéBall is thrown, it has small chance to become critical, which significantly increases the capture rate, about 20 times the original. The PokéBall will flash and slow down in the air before landing. Then it will shake once before confirming the capture. It doesn't guarantee capture in all cases but it rarely fails.