Catch ‘Em Mode is the main mode of Pokémon Pinball: it is what fills the Pokédex. It starts from the top of the field, lasts two minutes and unfolds in three stages: the silhouette, the Pokémon’s appearance, then the capture. This page details each step, with the associated point values.
Starting the mode
Catch ‘Em Mode requires at least two GET arrows to be lit. These arrows are at the bottom of the right loop; each time the ball travels up to the yellow rectangle at the top of that loop, it lights one, from top to bottom. At the start of the game, two arrows out of three are already lit, so the mode is available from the very first ball. The target that starts the mode depends on the field:
- Red Field: the ball must enter Bellsprout, in the upper right corner of the top screen. A dedicated arrow, to the right of the bonus hole, lights up to signal it.
- Blue Field: the ball must hit Cloyster. The shot goes through the Dash arrow, which often points to the right when two GET arrows are lit.
The mode can also be started by the Slot Machine, which sometimes offers “Catch’em”. In both cases, it will not start if another mode (Evolution or Travel) is already in progress. When it starts, the GET and EVO arrows go out: at the end of the mode, the GET arrows stay off and you will need to light them again to start over.
Which Pokémon appears
The Pokémon to catch is drawn at random from the list for the location you are in. Each location has two lists of 16 slots: one used when two GET arrows are lit, the other when all three are. The second contains the rare Pokémon, such as Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres or Mewtwo. Staying in a given location therefore lets you aim for a species, and lighting the third arrow before starting the mode changes the odds. The tables for the Red Field and the Blue Field give the exact percentages.
Only first-stage Pokémon, or those with no evolution, can appear: no evolved form can be caught directly. The other 72 are obtained in Evolution Mode.
Step one: the silhouette
As soon as the mode starts, the Pokémon’s black silhouette appears on the central panel, the Pokémon’s cry rings out and a two-minute timer is displayed at the top right. The Pokémon is already registered as “seen” in the Pokédex at that point, even if the capture fails afterwards. The game also activates a one-minute Ball Saver that protects your first mistakes.
To reveal the Pokémon, you must hit the bumpers at the top of the screen, the Voltorb on the Red Field or the Shellder on the Blue Field, six times. Each hit uncovers a piece of the image. It scores 5,000 points for the bumper, 1,000,000 points for the revealed piece and adds 100,000 points to the mode’s jackpot. Once all six pieces are revealed, the image turns to color and the Pokémon takes the panel’s place.
Step two: hitting the Pokémon
The Pokémon is now a target the ball can hit. Each of the first three hits lights two letters of the word CATCH!: CA, then TC, then H!. The fourth hit captures the Pokémon. Each hit scores 3,000,000 points. In the Japanese version, the word displayed is GET instead of CATCH!.
If the Pokémon displayed is Mew, the rule changes: each step requires 256 hits, or 1,024 hits in total, which makes the capture impractical. See the Mew page.
Step three: the capture
When the final blow lands, a capture animation plays and the Pokémon joins your team for the duration of the game. It is registered as “caught” in the Pokédex, which is saved. A Poké Ball on the counter under the panel lights up, bringing you closer to a bonus stage. The accumulated jackpot, up to a maximum of 99,999,999 points, is also awarded to you.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Hit a bumper | 5,000 |
| Reveal a piece of the silhouette | 1,000,000 |
| Hit the Pokémon (per hit) | 3,000,000 |
| Jackpot: entering Bellsprout (Red) | 500,000 added to the jackpot |
| Jackpot: hitting a bumper | 100,000 added to the jackpot |
| Jackpot: hitting the wheel | 10,000 added to the jackpot |
| Capturing the 256th Pokémon of the game | 1,000,000,000, and the game’s list resets to zero |
When it fails
If the timer reaches zero, or if you lose the ball while the Ball Saver has run out, the mode ends and the Pokémon escapes. It nevertheless remains “seen” in the Pokédex, with its name and category, but without a full image or entry. You will have to start Catch ‘Em Mode again to try your luck once more, and the draw will not necessarily give you the same Pokémon.
Other effects of Catch ‘Em Mode
- Bonus ball: within a single ball, the tenth capture and every following multiple of ten, up to one hundred, award an extra ball.
- End-of-ball bonus: each Pokémon caught during the ball scores 500,000 points before the multiplier bonus is applied.
- Limit: the game’s list is capped at 255 Pokémon; the 256th capture triggers the one-billion-point reward and empties the list.
