How can I stop Pokémon from calling allies?

Question

From this question's answer, it looks like Pokémon can call for help an unlimited number of times. This is great for quickly getting EVs or finding rarer Pokémon, but it interferes when I'm trying to catch the Pokémon I found, since I can't throw a ball when there are two Pokémon on the opposite side of the field.

For instance, last night, I was attempting to catch a Golbat to fill out my Pokédex since I didn't feel like evolving my Zubat. However, while weakening the Golbat, it called for help. For roughly 5-6 turns in a row, I would KO its ally Golbat and it would call another in the same turn, making it impossible to catch.

Is there a way to prevent Pokémon from calling for help, to prevent situations like this?

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 23 '16 at 13:52

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High HP (as % of total) Pokémon are less likely to call for help.

A major status ailment (poison/badly poison, sleep, burn, paralysis, but NOT confusion, attraction, etc) prevents calls for help.

edited Nov 23 '16 at 13:52

Vemonus

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answered Nov 22 '16 at 14:54

Kevin L

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I might not understand your problem - You were complaining about a golbat calling for other golbats right? The way to prevent it from calling more is to status the golbat you want to catch (paralysis is most reliable since it lasts forever & doesn't do damage) then KO the other one – Kevin L Nov 22 '16 at 15:08
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OH, I misread what you said about status conditions, I thought you'd said it causes them to call for help, my bad. – Vemonus Nov 22 '16 at 15:09
Don't feel bad about not noticing because I read it how you meant it to be written... – Vemonus Nov 23 '16 at 12:33
man i'm awful at english – Kevin L Nov 23 '16 at 14:02
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This answer is not correct. I do not have a better answer yet, as I am still investigating, but I can say with certainty that poison and paralysis do NOT prevent calls for help. – AdamP Nov 23 '16 at 15:03
@AdamP I'd like to see some evidence of that - I was playing around with Bagons on Rt 3 and a paralysed 1hp bagon went ~20 turns w/o calling for help – Kevin L Nov 23 '16 at 15:11
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I tested poison and paralysis yesterday during the Grass trial. Neither condition prevent the Pokemon from calling for help. Though I realize I have not tested these outside the trial. Perhaps this is trial specific behavior? More testing is needed for sure. – AdamP Nov 23 '16 at 15:30
Aha! trial specific behavior could be it. – Kevin L Nov 23 '16 at 16:00
@AdamP If you can find evidence of this happening outside of a trial pokemon battle, that would be useful! – Vemonus Nov 23 '16 at 16:10
I don't believe health has an effect on how often Pokémon call for help, only how often Pokémon will respond to that call. – Wrigglenite Dec 04 '16 at 21:40

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 04 '16 at 21:34

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Yawn is your best friend. Hold back, false swipe is your goon.

edited Dec 04 '16 at 21:34

Vemonus

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answered Nov 29 '16 at 08:33

user172770

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score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 03 '16 at 05:37

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Totem Pokemon can always call for help.

In a normal encounter, calling for help can be prevented by inflicting a status ailments or decreasing accuracy.

edited Dec 03 '16 at 05:37

Schism

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answered Dec 03 '16 at 04:19

Justin smith

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I have no idea what this is trying to say. – Vemonus Dec 03 '16 at 04:27
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@Vemonus I edited to what I think the author meant, though I question the accuracy portion of the answer. – Schism Dec 03 '16 at 05:37
@Schism ah thanks, it's readable now, but yeah, I'm not so sure about decreasing accuracy. – Vemonus Dec 03 '16 at 05:38

How can I stop Pokémon from calling allies?

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