Escape

For the Escape Orb in the Mystery Dungeon series, see Wonder Orb.

In the core series Pokémon games, it is possible to escape (Japanese: げる escape) from a with a wild Pokémon by selecting Run (Japanese: にげる Run) on the main battle screen. However, escape is not guaranteed; whether the player is successful at running away from the battle is determined by a calculation involving the speed of the combatants. When the escape is successful, the battle ends immediately. When it is not successful, the wild Pokémon will use a move.

It is not possible to escape from in-game battles. However, in player battles in the Cable or Wireless Clubs, attempting to escape will cause the battle to end immediately. If only one player attempts to escape, the battle counts as a loss against them, but if both players attempt to escape in the same turn, the battle ends in a draw.

Entering a battle with a wild Pokémon and then escaping counts the Pokémon as being seen in the Trainer's Pokédex.

Generation I and II
Under normal circumstances, the chance of escaping is determined by the formula, where
 * A is the current of the player's active Pokémon,
 * B is the opposing Pokémon's Speed divided by 4, mod 256, and
 * C is the number of times the player has tried to escape during the battle (counting the current attempt). If the player's Pokémon attacks, this number is set to 0.

If F is greater than 255, the player escapes automatically. Otherwise, a random number is generated between 0 and 255. If that number is less than F, the player escapes. If not, the escape fails and the player's Pokémon does not make a move that turn. If B is equal to 0, escape is automatically a success.

Generation III and IV
Under normal circumstances, the chance of escaping is determined by the formula, where
 * A is the unmodified of the player's active Pokémon,
 * B is the opposing Pokémon's unmodified Speed
 * C is the number of times the player has tried to escape during the battle (counting the current attempt).
 * The result is mod 256.

A random number is generated between 0 and 255. If that number is less than F, the player escapes. If not, the escape fails and the player's Pokémon does not make a move that turn. If B is 0, it's set to 1.

Other factors
Pokémon cannot attempt to flee from Trainer battles or battles during trials. In the Generation II games only, the player cannot attempt to flee from Pokémon encountered as traps in the Team Rocket Hideout, the GS Ball, the Tin Tower (in Crystal), and the scripted Red Gyarados.

Several conditions prevent a Pokémon from even attempting to flee.
 * A Pokémon with the Ability prevents opposing Pokémon from attempting to flee. (From Generation IV onward, Pokémon with Shadow Tag are unaffected by Shadow Tag.)
 * A Pokémon with the Ability prevents opposing grounded Pokémon from attempting to flee.
 * A Pokémon with the Ability prevents opposing  Pokémon from attempting to flee.
 * A Pokémon affected by a (including  and ) is prevented from attempting to flee (from Generation II onward).

Several conditions allow a Pokémon to always successfully flee from a wild battle.
 * Using an escape item (Poké Doll, Fluffy Tail, or Poké Toy) causes the player to escape from a wild Pokémon (regardless of trapping moves and Abilities).
 * In a wild Single Battle (including an SOS Battle as long as there is currently only a single opponent), using the move causes the Pokémon to flee, unless a trapping move or Ability prevents escape. From Generation V onward,  does not prevent Teleport from being successful.
 * If the player's Pokémon is holding a Smoke Ball or has the Ability, its attempts to flee are always successful, unless a trapping move or Ability prevents escape. From Generation III onward, a Pokémon holding a Smoke Ball or that has the Ability Run Away can successfully flee or Teleport even if a trapping move or Ability prevents it.
 * In Generation III and IV, if the player's Pokémon that has Run Away or a Smoke Ball faints, if the player attempts to flee instead of sending out another Pokémon, they will escape without fail.
 * In Generation III only, the Smoke Ball has animation when escaping using it. In Generation II, "Got away safely" redundantly appears after the message informing of escape via Smoke Ball.
 * In Generation V only, a wild Pokémon holding a Smoke Ball cannot successfully Teleport if it is trapped by a trapping move or Ability (although the player's Pokémon can).
 * From Generation VI onward, the player's Pokémon can always successfully flee, regardless of trapping moves or Abilities.

In a wild Single Battle (including an SOS Battle as long as there is currently only a single opponent), the moves, , , and force the target to flee, unless it has the Ability  or has been affected by. If a wild Pokémon's held Red Card is activated while it has no allies, it forces the player's Pokémon to flee.

In a wild battle, the Abilities and  cause the Pokémon with that Ability to flee if its HP falls below half.

Example (Generation I and II)
The player's Pokémon has a Speed of 25 and the wild Pokémon has a Speed of 100. The player tries to escape, but hasn't attempted to flee anytime earlier in the battle.

First, calculate B:

Since B isn't above 255, it is just left as is.

Then, calculate F:

Since F isn't above 255, generate a random number between 0 and 255.

The probability of escaping is, or approximately 24%. If the player fails to escape, each successive attempt will be 30/256 more likely than the last, or about 11.7%.

Generally speaking, the slower the Trainer's Pokémon and/or the faster the wild Pokémon, the harder it is to escape.

Wild Pokémon
Certain wild Pokémon can escape from battle. Roaming Pokémon attempt to flee every turn, unless they are prevented from fleeing (such as by ).

In Safari Zones during a Safari Game, Pokémon can escape from battle. The rate of escape is lowered by throwing Bait (while the catch rate is also lowered) or Pokéblocks, and the rate of escape is raised by throwing Rocks, Mud, or by "going near" (while the catch rate is also raised).

In Pokémon X and Y,, , and will automatically flee before even the first turn. The player must encounter the Legendary Pokémon ten times before finally battling it in Sea Spirit's Den.

Generation II
In, in addition to the roaming Legendary beasts, a few species of wild Pokémon can escape from battle. Much like roaming Pokémon, these Pokémon may attempt to flee immediately before they would use their move, and they will not attempt to flee when affected by (such as  or ),, or.

All Pokémon that can flee were intended to be more likely to be caught in a, but due to a programming error, only , , and actually are more likely to be caught in a Fast Ball.

Low probability (~10% chance to flee every turn):

Medium probability (50% chance to flee every turn):

Generation VII
In, there is a scripted battle against the Ultra Beast during the undefined's first visit to Aether Paradise. This Nihilego, which cannot be, is scripted to flee on the fifth turn of battle, ending the battle and continuing the story. If Nihilego was unable to flee on that turn due to being trapped or in the of, it will not attempt to flee on subsequent turns.

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the capture mechanics are similar to that of Pokémon GO. Wild Pokémon have a chance of fleeing during an encounter after breaking out of a Poké Ball, except for interactive encounters against Legendary Pokémon. If the player has a Catch Combo and a wild Pokémon flees, then the counter will be reset; however if the player is the one who escapes, then the Catch Combo remains unaffected. Often, a wild Pokémon will perform its cry animation shortly before fleeing.

Pokémon GO
Wild Pokémon escaping is a key aspect of capturing in Pokémon GO. Whenever the wild Pokémon breaks out of a thrown Poké Ball, there is a chance that it will run away, ending the encounter. Every species has its own probability of fleeing. Every Pokémon that spawns on the map has a timer that can range from 15 to 60 minutes. If a player is currently tracking a nearby Pokémon using the app's interface, and that Pokémon's timer expires, the game will notify that the Pokémon has fled. If the player chooses to run from a wild Pokémon encounter, the Pokémon will still remain on the overworld map.


 * ''See also: List of Pokémon flee rates

In other languages
Flucht Combate Pokémon Fuite (combat) Fuga にげる 逃走