How to catch and befriend Pokémon

Befriending Pokémon is how you build your helper team, and biscuits are the main lever.

This guide explains how friendship points work, how to get the most from each biscuit (including the hungry bonus), and how to avoid common mistakes that waste limited resources. We'll cover what gives points, what multiplies them, and when to hold back.

Friendship points: the goal

Each species requires a set number of friendship points to befriend (the community often calls these pips). Many need 5; others need 7, 10, 12, or more—rarer species can need as many as 30.

Once you know the target, the rest is understanding what gives points, what multiplies them, and when feeding one more biscuit is unnecessary. Below we work through each of those.

Biscuit values (pips)

Biscuits are the only way to fill the friendship bar. Each species needs a set number of pips (5, 7, 10, 12, and so on up to 30). The tables below show pips left after using one biscuit—if none, you’ve caught them (Caught).

Regular (not hungry)

Column headers = pips the species needs. Cell = pips left after one biscuit.

Hungry (3×)

When a Pokémon is hungry, any biscuit counts 3×. So one Great = 9 pips, one Ultra = 15 pips. Use this table when planning a big hit (first biscuit on a hungry Pokémon).

Column headers = pips the species needs. Cell = pips left after one biscuit on a hungry Pokémon.

Poké, Great, Ultra, and Master biscuits go in your inventory bag and can be saved for later. The bonus biscuit is different: you get one per day (3 points, or 4 with Premium Pass—same biscuit, upgraded), but it must be used during that sleep session; it cannot be saved.

Use your bonus biscuit that session on a species you care about or a hungry spawn. If a species needs only 2 pips total, two regular Poké Biscuits from your bag will always befriend it, even when the Pokémon is not hungry.

Big hit and mega hit

The community uses two terms for what happens when you feed a hungry Pokémon:

• Big hit — When you give a biscuit to a hungry Pokémon, that biscuit always counts 3× (a big hit is guaranteed whenever the Pokémon is hungry). So one Great = 9 pips, one Ultra = 15 pips. Every hungry feed is a big hit.
• Mega hit — Sometimes when you feed a biscuit (hungry or not), you get an instant catch (like a Master Ball): the friendship bar fills and the Pokémon is befriended in one shot. No one really knows the exact odds; the community often estimates around 10% when the Pokémon is hungry and around 1% when not hungry. Shinies are always mega hit—so use a regular Poké Biscuit on shinies and never Great or Ultra.

Takeaway: prioritize hungry spawns for the guaranteed 3× (big hit), and occasionally you’ll get a free instant catch (mega hit). For shinies, one Poké Biscuit is always enough. Full definitions: Glossary: catching.

Prioritize hungry Pokémon

Hungry Pokémon give you 3× value from any biscuit. That makes them the best use of your limited supply.

Prioritize hungry spawns whenever you can, and especially evolved ones: they start at a higher level and help more often, so they give you a real progression boost.

For shinies, always use a regular Poké Biscuit—never Great or Ultra—since one biscuit always catches them.

Don't waste biscuits

If a Pokémon needs only 1 more pip and is hungry, one Poké Biscuit catches it (1 × 3 = 3 pips). Feeding a second biscuit to "finish" wastes that second biscuit. The same logic applies whenever one more point would already capture—don't feed again just because the Pokémon is hungry.

Order tip: If you have a hungry Pokémon that needs only 1 pip and a non-hungry same-species that can be completed with one Poké, feed the non-hungry one first to complete that catch. Then feed the hungry one one Poké to catch it. That way you use the hungry bonus where it matters and avoid overfeeding. Of course, that requires the right spawns—you don’t always get both.

You only see about 8–10 Pokémon per sleep session, and biscuits are limited (earned via sleep points or diamonds). Biscuit management is one of the most important skills in the game.

When several of the same species appear

Order matters when you have multiple of the same species and limited biscuits. Example: three of the same species (e.g. 5-pip), two hungry, one not, and only Poké Biscuits. A good order: feed hungry A (1 biscuit), then non-hungry (1), then hungry A again (1)—A is caught. Then feed hungry B (1), non-hungry (1), hungry B again (1)—B is caught. Six biscuits, two catches. A worse order can leave multiple Pokémon "all full" (they can't accept more biscuits this session) after only one catch. So when you have two hungry and one non-hungry of the same species, alternate: hungry, non-hungry, hungry (catch first), then hungry, non-hungry, hungry (catch second). It doesn’t matter if the non-hungry one gets full; you’re using it to "soak" biscuits so the hungry ones get their second feed and catch.

Conservative play vs. tempting fate

Some players feed only hungry Pokémon. For a hungry 5-pip mon, they might feed one Poké and leave it (3 pips, 2 left), then wait for it to return—either feed two more biscuits for a guaranteed catch or hope it returns hungry again. If instead you feed three Poké in the same session, the second leaves 1 pip but the Pokémon might get "all full"; next time it shows up hungry, only 1 pip was needed, so you’ve effectively wasted the hungry effect. Patient play avoids that. Others prefer to feed more in one session and accept the risk of full bellies. Both styles are valid; it depends whether you’d rather save biscuits and wait or tempt fate for a quicker catch.

When to use Great vs Ultra

Save Great and Ultra biscuits for species you're actively hunting or for rare spawns.

Ultra Biscuit: One of the best uses is Ultra on a hungry Pokémon (15 pips) plus one Poké (1 pip) to catch 16-pip species, which are hard to hunt because of the high pip count. Ultra is also one of the best choices for legendary Pokémon (extremely rare spawns)—when they show up, making the catch count matters.

For most everyday catches, a Poké Biscuit on a hungry Pokémon is enough. Early on, hungry evolved Pokémon are especially valuable targets, since they give you a stronger helper immediately.

It can also be worth using a single Poké Biscuit on a hungry Pokémon with a high friendship requirement (e.g. an evolved 12- or 20-pip species)—even if you don’t plan to finish the bar this session. Because of the mega hit chance, that one biscuit might instant-catch them. If it doesn’t, you’ve only spent one Poké and made a little progress for next time. Players have caught high-level evolved Pokémon this way (e.g. a Tyranitar that was already level 30 at catch with a strong ingredient spread and subskills, ready to use as a ginger farmer). Whether the gamble is worth it depends on what you’re hunting and how much you value that species.

Master Biscuit

Most experienced players don’t recommend buying Master Biscuits unless you want to hunt a particular legendary during an event. You can only buy one per month (in the General Store for diamonds), and some players think they’re not worth buying at all. If you do use one: don’t use a Master Biscuit on a shiny—shinies are always mega hit, so one Poké Biscuit catches them. And don’t use a Master Biscuit on anything that isn’t a legendary; save it for the rarest spawns where the catch matters most.

Next: How to tell if a Pokémon is good · NewRolly's Unlimited Biscuits (grade your catch)