Recruiting Pokémon is one of the big parts of Red and Blue Rescue Team. The rules are precise: you need the right Friend Area, a strong enough leader and a bit of luck. This page explains them, with the level thresholds, the team size rule and the special cases.
Friend Areas
A Pokémon can only join your team if you own its Friend Area. You buy them at the Wigglytuff’s Club, in Pokémon Square, or receive them as mission rewards. Some are only for sale after the story.
A few legendary Pokémon unlock their own area by joining the team: Groudon (Volcano Pit), Kyogre (Ocean Cave), Lugia (Ocean Currents), Rayquaza (In the Clouds), Celebi (Soothing Forest) and Deoxys (Landlocked Island). Absol, recruited during the story, unlocks the Dark Pass. The three legendary birds share a single area, unlocked when you recruit the first one.
The recruitment rules
- Only the leader counts: it must land the final blow, in melee.
- The leader’s level improves the odds, according to the table below.
- The Friend Bow, held by the leader, adds 10% to the chances.
- Team size: four Pokémon at most, and a total size of six stars at most.
- Luck, finally: each species has its own rate.
| Leader’s level | Recruitment bonus |
|---|---|
| 0 to 29 | 0% |
| 30 to 39 | +5% |
| 40 to 49 | +7.5% |
| 50 to 59 | +10% |
| 60 to 69 | +12.5% |
| 70 to 79 | +15% |
| 80 to 89 | +17.5% |
| 90 to 100 | +24% |
Hard-to-recruit Pokémon
Some species start from a negative rate. Pokémon at −19%, like Pokémon that have already evolved once, such as Skiploom, can only be recruited with a level 90 leader, or a level 50 leader with the Friend Bow. Those at −30%, like Tentacruel, require a level 90 leader and the Friend Bow. Deoxys is harder still. Some Pokémon can only be recruited after the story, and others, like Ho-Oh, cannot be recruited the first time you defeat them.
Team size
Each Pokémon has a size, shown in stars on its page. Examples:
- four Chikorita, one star each: 4 stars, allowed;
- one Chikorita, one Eevee and one Articuno, of 1, 1 and 4 stars: 6 stars, allowed;
- one Articuno and one Moltres, 4 stars each: 8 stars, refused.
Before a mission, the team has three members at most: the fourth slot is reserved for a Pokémon you may need to escort.
Fainting
- If the leader, the client or, during the story, the partner faints, the mission fails: you lose some of your items and any money you have not deposited.
- Any other member that faints goes back to its Friend Area.
- A Pokémon recruited during the current visit that faints leaves the team.
A Reviver Seed revives a fainted Pokémon on the spot. Our original guide to the Friend Areas lists the areas and their Pokémon, with the provisional names of the time.
