It Came Back?

[Metallixs Girl]

I've never had this happen before, but in Emerald, I caught a Poochenya but it didn't have the nature I hoped for so I went to release it and it said ".... .... ...! It came back! Was it worried about you?" And so it stayed, and it refuses to leave. Is this some rare thing like a Shiny or PokeRus?

[mr_pikachu]

...It came back? o_0

Would you mind clarifying exactly how it happened? What I mean is, did you receive that message immediately when you selected "Release" (rather than "Poochyena was released into the wild," or something of that nature)? Or was the message and Poochyena's return instead a few minutes later, or a few hours, or the next time you turned on the game pak, or something?

I've never heard that one before...


(Normally I'd be extremely skeptical of something like this, but I've never noticed you spreading rumors and junk, and this also seems too unusual to just be made up.)

[Dark Dragonite]

You are not the first person this has happened to...I hate to advertise, but I did a yahoo search, and came up with hits from bulbagarden, and seribii forums...
I will not link, instead quote from serebii:

"Q: Huh? My Pokemon came back to me when I tried to release it! How do I get rid of it?

A: This doesn't have to do with happiness, as the game might suggest (____ came back! Was it worried about you?), but HMs. If the Pokemon you're releasing is the only one you have with Surf, it can't be released. Teach another random Pokemon Surf, then try again.

I don't write entire FAQs just for kicks. "

I don't think this is right, I think it's dead wrong, as some people tried to get rid of milotic, and tentacool/cruel, and they came back, none had surf...

Does the poochyena know an HM?

[mr_pikachu]

Hmm. From what I can tell, the only HM that Poochyena can learn is Rock Smash. So if that's the problem, that'd be the move it would know.

Alternatively, maybe the problem could be that it is holding an HM. (If I recall, they can be used as hold items, although it's unclear why anyone would want to do that.) So if your little Poochyena's holding an HM and you let it go, you'd be without that tool for the rest of the game. In that case, I suppose the game designers would have to implement a feature to make it return.

Just a thought. *shrugs*

[Dark Dragonite]

I'm going to test this theory right now, not saving of course, but I'm going to release a pokemon holding an hm, and release the only one who knows an HM, see if it works...Oh, I'm using Emerald for your info...

[Dark Dragonite]

Sorry for the double post, but yes...I have conclusive results...

1)You can't have a pokemon hold an HM, I tried, only TMs

2)I have a lombre who knows Rock smash, waterfall, dive, strength...it came back, wouldn't go

3) I tried to release an Altaria that knows Rock smash, it went, didn't come back.(Lombre has Rock smash as well)

So, I have concluded that a pokemon who is the only one who knows an HM, can't be released, so, go to the move deleter, then release, OR teach another pokemon the HM, then release the one you want to.

[Metallixs Girl]

It was immediate, right after "Release Poocheyna? Yes/No" He wasn't holding anything important because it was at the beginning of a game. It was at the First Pokemon center, so I thought maybe you weren't allowed to release there, but I went and caught a random Zigzagoon and it had no problem leaving. O_o

[mr_pikachu]

DD: Kudos to you for taking the initiative and testing. Very interesting.

I was about to say that the necessity of having at least one Pokemon with an HM move in order to release a Pokemon with that move was a little silly. Of course, now that I think about it, I realize the problem - without that HM move at your immediate disposal, it might be impossible to return to a location where you could catch a Pokemon with the ability to learn that move. That would prohibit you from ever having that move again (and from accessing some locations, incidentally).

Honestly, I can't immediately think of any situation where that might be true. But even if there isn't actually any possible way for something like that to occur, with or without the "cannot release" feature, it's still smart programming on the part of the Pokemon staff. After all, better to guard against errors which could never occur than to accidentally leave a small possibility open for major problems. Guess they learned their lesson after Missingno.


Metallix's Girl: Yeah, I figured that was probably it. It would've been really weird if there had been some delay - then it would have been something like a shiny/Pokerus situation. "Loyal" Pokemon, heh. ^_^

[Dark Dragonite]

Thanks Mr. Pikachu, I figured, I have no life, and the game at hand, might as well see, lol
It said the same, as soon as you say yes, to release, and I did this at the pokecenter in Evergrande City, on the way to Victory Road, it did: "... ... ...! It came back! Was it worried about you?"

[Metallixs Girl]

Yep that's it, but that doesn't explain why my Poochenya did it... Could it be just because he was one of my first Pokemon? I got a few more and then tried again and he left, finally. But Loyalty would have been a nice surprise to add to those rare occurences, lol.

[SeleucusII]

I had this with a kingdra i had trouble releasing, but my kingdra knew surf.

[Saffire Persian]

o.0 I so have to go and try this for myself. XDXDXD

That's cool though. Nice find!

[Crazy Elf Boy]

Did you just start your agme because the only time that it came back for me was right at the beginning of the game i tried to release a Lotad but it kept coming back because it was worried.

[mr_pikachu]

It would appear that it comes back if its leaving might make it impossible for you to advance in the game. For instance, if it is the only Pokemon that knows a particular HM (for instance, if it is your only Surfer), it will return. The same likely applies if it is your only Pokemon, or if it's your only conscious Pokemon.

[Heald]

I think it is sounds more like the situation in the case of MG. If you spend all your money on Pokeballs then release every one you don't like, and that happens to be all of them, you're screwed more or less as you only have your starter and then you can't really make any money as you'll lose most battles...surely someone understands.

[Crazy Elf Boy]

Yeh i 4 other pokemon i just caught the second lotad by accident and i didn't want it any more because it was taking up space. And i had just healed all my pokemon at the center and now i am near lavaridge city