The Repel Trick Guide
v2.0
Often in chat you'll have players discussing the best locations and methods to hunt their desired Pokémon, which can often involve repelling. Newer players can be unfamiliar with this process, and will ask how its done. This guide offers a full explanation of repelling Pokémon.
A basic understanding of Repels
The basic function of repelling in PRO is to repel away Pokémon that are at a lower level than your lead slot Pokémon. When traveling on a route with wild Pokémon, these Pokémon can be found within a certain range of levels. When using a repel item, your character can travel a given number of steps without encountering any wild Pokémon, so long as the Pokémon in your lead slot is at a higher level than the Pokémon that spawn there.
This can be quite beneficial when traveling through routes where a player is unable to avoid tiles that can trigger a Pokémon spawn. While players can often avoid wild Pokémon by not walking in the grass, some locations like caves or water pathways, don't offer such an option. However, properly using a repel in those situations can allow the player to safely pass through without an encounter.
There are 3 types available to players - Repel, Super Repel, and Max Repel. The difference between these repels are the amount of steps for each repel, as well as the costs for each repel. You can purchase repels from most Poke Marts, as well as all Department Stores.
Cost to buy
# of steps
$ per step
Repel
350
100
3.5
Super Repel
500
200
2.5
Max Repel
700
250
2.8
As you can see above, while your basic Repel is the cheapest to purchase, you're spending 3.5 coins per step of repelling. A Super Repel doubles the amount of steps without doubling the price for a single unit, offering your best "bang for your buck". The Max Repel is a bit more expensive than the Super Repel, both in terms of individual cost and cost per step, but it has the benefit of being the most time efficient, allowing you to walk longer and further before the repel runs out.
That said, you can purchase Max Repel in bulk from the NPC Bonny, located in every department store. The benefit of purchasing in bulk is the discounted price, bringing the price per step down to match Super repel.
Cost to buy
# of Repels
Price per step
Max Repel
250,000
400
2.5
Repel hunting
In some cases, there may be a Pokémon that spawns at a higher level than the rest of the Pokémon on a certain route. For example,
Source Pro Wiki
This is the list of Pokémon that spawn in the Petalburg Woods. Notice how Cottonee can be found at Levels 10-13, while the rest of the Pokémon can only be found at levels 5-7. This means that repelling with a Pokémon at a level of at least 14 will be able to avoid all the Pokémon at this location, but if you repel with a Pokémon at the levels 8-13, then you will only encounter Cottonee, and not any of the other Pokémon. This is especially helpful if you wish to hunt that specific Pokémon - you can repel away all the undesirable Pokémon, and only encounter Cottonee. This process is whats known as the Repel Trick.
Because there is a gap between the levels that Cottonee spawns at and the levels of the rest of the Pokémon in this location, we have a buffer. Because Cottonee spawns starting at level 10, we can use a Pokémon at levels 8, 9, or 10 to repel away the undesired Pokémon, and only encounter the Cottonee. This buffer is nice because if gives us more options when it comes to choosing the Pokemon you wish to use to repel. We also need to be aware to not use a Pokémon at a higher level that could repel away some Cottonee. If you try using a level 12 Pokémon, then you'll only encounter Cottonee at levels 12 and 13, missing out on Cottonee spawning at levels 10 and 11.
Here's an example where we dont have a buffer, so we need to get the exact level to properly repel hunt.
As you can see, Ditto is the only Pokémon that spawns above the level 30, and at the same time, only spawns at 1 level, 31. This means you will have to run a level 31 Pokémon as your repel. Any lower, you'll spawn all the other Pokémon. Any higher, you'll get no encounters until your repel steps are used up.
It should be noted, repel hunting doesn't mean you're going to start encountering a lot of whatever you're hunting. It removes the Pokémon you could normally encounter instead of your target Pokémon, but it doesn't increase the spawns of your target Pokémon. The spawn rates remain the same, the only difference is you are no longer being distracted by other potential encounters that could delay you finding your target Pokémon. You may still find yourself with lengthy gaps between encounters.
Important Pokémon for Repel Hunting
Lets take a look at Pokémon you'll be using to make your hunt much more efficient
The Repel Pokémon - A bit obvious, but essential for the repel trick to work. The repel Pokémon is the lead Pokémon in your party which needs to be at the correct level to repel away the undesired Pokémon. If its not at the correct level, you will encounter the Pokémon you dont wish to find (too low of a repel level), or no Pokémon encounters at all (repel level too high). This Pokémon must be in slot 1 of your party.
The Sync Pokémon - This is a Pokémon that has the ability Synchronize, and is commonly referred to as a Sync. A Pokémon with synchronize has a 50% chance of applying its nature onto a wild Pokémon. This is extremely helpful if you're hunting a Pokémon with a specific nature, like a Gastly that with a Timid nature. By running a sync Pokémon, you drastically increase the odds of finding a Pokémon with the same nature as your sync. When you're repelling, you can either run your Sync in slot 2 (alive, behind the fainted repel Pokémon in slot 1), or if its also your repel Pokémon, in slot 1 (alive or fainted).
The False Swipe Pokémon - This is the Pokémon you use to catch everything with. Its most important feature is the move false swipe, which can not faint a Pokémon, always leaving them with at least 1 health point (though beware if the Pokémon has a self-inflicting move, which would then cause it to faint itself). Because it doesn't faint the wild Pokémon, its ideal for hunting. Many of the preferred false swipers have a status inflicting move, usually one that puts the wild Pokémon to sleep. Both Parasect and Breloom are popular choices among players as they both have false swipe and spore (though be careful that they dont have the effect spore ability, which can accidently poison the wild Pokémon). Smeargle is another popular choice amongst players with its unique move sketch, allowing additional hunting specific moves to be learned, such as soak (changes a ghosts type to water so false swipe will effect it) or mean look (prevents Pokémon from teleporting from battle).
The Trace Pokémon - A Pokémon with the ability Trace can determine the ability of the wild Pokémon upon encountering it, providing you with valuable information before selecting a move. If you're hunting a Pokémon with a specific ability, this is extremely helpful by giving you the information on wither or not you should catch it. By skipping the Pokémon that do not have the desired ability, you save yourself wasting poke balls or the frustration of catching Pokémon with excellent IVs but a poor ability.
Examples of Repel Hunting
For those who are visual learners, here are a few examples of what we have discussed above.
I hope you have found this guide on repelling helpful. Best of luck in your hunting!