Feebas and Milotic: Analyzing Pokemon's most complicated creatures

When the topic of rare Pokemon is discussed, many players may think of different species. Dunsparce was a rare creature to see in the Johto games, Spiritomb often requires long and elaborate side quests to obtain, but many also remember the frustrating fish from the Hoenn region, Feebas.

The story of obtaining Feebas in the original Generation 3 games is one of the most infamous in the franchise. But apart from this, what many players tend to forget is the complex way of evolving it. To see just how difficult obtaining a Feebas and evolving it can be, I strapped up my best fishing waders and stepped into the murky waters of Route 119 to catch one myself.

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Complex mechanics behind Feebas in Pokemon: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

Feebas as seen in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

What makes finding Feebas so difficult in these Pokemon games is that its location is different for every player. The creature only spawns on six particular water tiles on Route 119. However, there are a total of 400 water tiles on this route. Even then, Feebas will only appear 50% of the time when fishing on these tiles. Knowing this, if you only fish on one tile once before moving on, you may miss a Feebas tile.

These Feebas tiles are determined by the hidden player ID that is generated whenever a new playthrough is started. Since this value cannot be found on a cartridge through regular means, there is no way to determine what tiles contain a Feebas in these original titles. This remains consistent in the Sinnoh Pokemon titles as well.

The strategy I used to find and catch Feebas in my copy of Pokemon Ruby was starting from the top right by the waterfall and working my way across and down, fishing on each tile once before moving on. With the odds of finding the right tile being 6/400, and the chances of finding Feebas on a designated tile being 1/2, if you fish on every tile once, you have a 63/64 chance to find a Feebas by the time you get through every tile.

While I used the Super Rod, Feebas can be fished with any fishing rod. After around 50 minutes or so, I finally found my Feebas. The worst part of this task was the third generation's tedious fishing minigame, where you have to reel in the rod multiple times with correct timing. Thankfully, finding Feebas in the remakes is much easier, as it can always be found under the bridge on Route 119 in those games.

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The stressful task of evolving Feebas into Milotic in Gen 3 Pokemon titles

Milotic's Pokedex picture in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (Image via Game Freak)

What makes evolving Feebas so stressful in the Hoenn games is the fact that it is tied to the Beauty contest stat, which can only be increased by feeding Feebas dry Pokeblocks. These Pokeblocks are made with berries, which are a finite resource in authentic cartridges due to the internal battery going dry, which is how the game tracks time.

Additionally, there is a limit on the amount of Pokeblocks a creature can eat, meaning if you do not use the best-quality Pokeblocks, you could end up not only wasting your berries but also not getting the stat high enough to evolve it, rendering Feebas useless. The safest and most consistent way to get the required berries is to first complete the main story and become the Hoenn Champion.

For this method, I used the six Kelpsy Berries that can be found north of Rustboro City, which requires Surf to obtain. Next, I returned to Route 119 and scaled the waterfall to collect the four Hondew Berries that grow there. Finally, I obtained the Pamtre Berry that can be found by telling the Berry Master's wife "Challenge Contest" after becoming the champion. Since these berries can only be found once on a cartridge, you cannot evolve another one on the same profile regularly.

After this long and stressful process, you should have your Milotic on your Gen 3 save file. For me, finding the berries was the hardest part since I was not initially aware of the berries' locations. However, this could be much different for other players, depending on the generation of their Feebas tiles. While I tackled the challenge voluntarily, it is not recommended for players who just want a Water-type for their playthrough, as there are much better options available.