In-game mechanics in Pokémon Quetzal

Automatic fishing

Automatic fishing lets you encounter aquatic Pokémon without timing button presses. Simply use a rod facing a body of water, and fishing and the encounter will start automatically.

Where to obtain the rods

• Old Rod: talk to the fisherman next to the Dewford Town Gym.
• Good Rod: talk to the fisherman on the right bank of Route 118. You need Surf to reach him.
• Super Rod: enter the house near the Space Center in Mossdeep City and talk to the fisherman inside.

Play as Pokémon

Pokémon Quetzal lets you replace the protagonist with any species available in the game. To do so, open the Optionsmenu, enter the Player section and change your character's appearance. You can use this same setting to switch back to a human Trainer at any time.

Radiant Ball and color customization

The Radiant Ball lets you change the aura color of Radiant and Radiant Shiny Pokémon. It does not work with normal Pokémon or ordinary shinies. You can buy a Radiant Ball at any Poké Mart for 500 Poké Dollars.

How to customize a Radiant Pokémon

1. Buy a Radiant Ball and open your Bag.
2. Select the item, choose Use and select the Radiant Pokémon. Its original Poké Ball will become a Radiant Ball.
3. Open the Pokémon's summary screen.
4. Press L or R to cycle through the palette and choose your preferred color.

Change a Pokémon's Poké Ball

You can transfer a Pokémon you have already caught into a different ball. Open your Bag, enter the Poké Ballssection, choose the ball you want to use and select Use. Then use it on one of the Pokémon in your party.

This feature does not work with the Cherish Ball or the Beast Ball.

Customize Surf and automatic Surf

Once you obtain the Gym Badge that allows you to use Surf outside battle, you can customize both your water mount and how Surf works.

While surfing, press L to open the context menu. Choose your mount species, select its color variant — Normal, Shiny, Radiant or Radiant Shiny — and enable or disable automatic Surf when touching water.

Pokémon effects in the overworld

Some Pokémon trigger special events, change encounters in certain areas or let you travel through the overworld in different ways.

• Mow Rotom: put it first in your party to automatically cut the tall grass you walk through. A wild Rotom also appears on Route 119 and clears the path.
• Kangaskhan: if you play as Kangaskhan and visit Route 117, all grass and water encounters become baby Pokémon.
• Genesect: put it first in your party, go to Route 111 and climb to the top floor of Mirage Tower. Fossil Pokémon you have previously registered will appear there in the wild.
• Koraidon: after defeating the eighth Gym Leader, put it first in your party to make all registered past Paradox Pokémon appear in Desert Underpass on Route 114.
• Miraidon: after defeating the eighth Gym Leader, put it first in your party to make all registered future Paradox Pokémon appear on Mirage Island.
• Manaphy: put it first in your party and use Dive to find wild Phione in underwater areas.
• Legendary Pokémon: in the post-game, enter the cave on Route 103 while playing as a Legendary Pokémon you have already caught. Only that same species will appear inside.
• Aerodactyl, Walking Wake and flying Pokémon: play as one of them to bypass obstacles and fly over places such as Mirage Tower, Sky Pillar and water areas. To cross water, you must first obtain the Badge that allows you to use Surf.