How to catch Pokémon in Discord with Catch 'Em Cord

Q: How do you get a mythical Pokémon?

Through a Special Research chain at /specialresearch. Mythicals never appear in the wild, and they cannot be traded or sold.

How wild Pokémon spawn

Wild Pokémon appear in your server's chat while people are talking. The busier the server, the more show up.

The spawn card shows the Pokémon but not its name. Work out what it is and run /encounter with its name to face it. /hint if you cannot place the silhouette.

Every species sits in one rarity tier: Very Common, Common, Uncommon, Rare and Very Rare. Each tier gets a fixed share of spawns, so the rare ones do show up. Every Pokédex page says which tier its Pokémon is in, and whether it only comes out by day or at night on your server's clock.

A wild Snorlax on a spawn card, sitting on a forest route — A wild spawn

The encounter

The encounter is a battle screen: Fight, Bag, Switch, Run. Balls are thrown from the Bag.
Catching uses the games' own capture formula. Wearing a Pokémon down and putting it to sleep or paralysing it raises your odds.
An ordinary wild Pokémon never bolts just because you missed a throw. It can still leave by using a move that ends the encounter, the way an Abra teleports away.
Every battle runs on the Pokémon Showdown engine, so moves, abilities and status work the way they do in the games. Catching pays EXP like a win, and the EXP splits between the Pokémon that fought.

A battle scene: Charizard uses Dragon Claw on a wild Dragonite, with HP bars and the dialogue box — A wild battle

Poké Balls

18 kinds of Poké Ball, each with its rule from the games. A Quick Ball only works on the first turn, a Net Ball is for Water and Bug types, a Dusk Ball wants the night, a Timer Ball gets better the longer the fight runs.
Poké Balls, Great Balls and the rest are sold at the /shop, and /vote on top.gg pays Great Balls every 12 hours.

Fishing

/fish casts a line. What bites is a wild encounter.
Three rods, bought at the shop: Old Rod, Good Rod and Super Rod. The better the rod, the better the odds of something rare.
Ten casts a day. The bite comes when it comes, and you have a few seconds to reel.

Shiny Pokémon

Every wild Pokémon has a shiny chance. It is the same chance for everyone and nothing you can buy changes it.
Shiny sprites are the games' own, and a shiny is marked on its card forever.
Your server has a shiny leaderboard.

Legendary Pokémon

Legendary Pokémon turn up in the wild on their own schedule. One server at a time, no rotation, and the chance is the same for every legendary.
Seven of them roam: Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Latias, Latios, Mesprit and Cresselia. They bolt after a single failed throw, carry the damage you did, and come back to the same channel worn down.
If a legendary gets away, it comes back to your server until somebody catches it.
Legendaries are never sold. You find them in the wild, and players can trade them with each other.

Mythical Pokémon

Mythical Pokémon never appear in the wild. You earn them through Special Research.

Special Research chains are open today for Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Manaphy, Shaymin, Victini and Keldeo. Start one at /specialresearch.
Darkrai's Special Research opens when the Halloween 2026 Candy Jar reaches its first goal.
Phione is the exception: it is bred from Manaphy at the Day Care.
A mythical cannot be traded, sold or released.

A Special Research chain called A Mythical Discovery, on stage 2 of 8, with a mythical Pokémon's silhouette and three tasks — Special Research, stage 2 of 8

Baby Pokémon and Eggs

Baby Pokémon are not wild. They hatch from Eggs at /daycare. Nine baby Pokémon need a parent holding the right incense: Azurill, Wynaut, Budew, Chingling, Bonsly, Mime Jr., Happiny, Munchlax and Mantyke.

Halloween 2026 costumes

From October 7 to October 31, 14 Pokémon can turn up in the wild in costume: Pikachu, Ponyta, Rapidash, Gligar, Lotad, Lombre, Ludicolo, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Shroomish, Breloom, Gliscor and Gallade. Catch one and it keeps the costume for good. When the event ends they stop turning up. The event

Questions

How do you catch Pokémon in Discord?

Add Catch 'Em Cord to your server. Wild Pokémon spawn in chat as people talk. Run /encounter with the Pokémon's name, weaken it in battle, then throw a ball from the Bag.

Why doesn't the spawn card say which Pokémon it is?

Working it out is the game. The card shows the Pokémon, and /hint helps if you can't place it.

Can you get shinies and legendaries?

Yes. Every wild Pokémon has a shiny chance, and legendaries appear in the wild. Seven of them roam your server and have to be chased down. None of it is for sale.

How do you get a mythical Pokémon?

Through a Special Research chain at /specialresearch. Mythicals never appear in the wild, and they cannot be traded or sold.

Is it pay to win?

No. Nothing that affects gameplay is for sale. Shinies are hunted, legendaries are found, mythicals are earned. If a server kid grinds harder than a server adult with a credit card, the kid wins.