How spawning works

Biome, place and time

Every wild Pokémon is picked from the spawn list of the biome you're in, the place it appears (on land, in water or in caves), and the time of day (dawn, day, dusk or night). Each Pokémon on the list has a weight. The bigger its weight, the more often it comes. The chances on this wiki are those weights turned into percentages.

• Caves: if you're under rock, you get cave Pokémon. Cave Pokémon also come out onto bare rock on mountains.
• Water: Pokémon spawn on the surface and at their own depth, so dive to find them.
• Day and night: dawn counts as day and dusk counts as night for Pokémon that only come out at those times.

Weather

In rain, Water, Bug and Electric types are 2.5× more likely, and Fire types are 2.5× less likely.

Swarms

Every 120 minutes one Pokémon takes over 40% of the land spawns in its biome for 45 minutes. Everyone is told. Shinies are 3× more likely during a swarm.

Honey trees

Tap a log in the survival world while holding a Honey Bottle. After 10 minutes, tap it again and a Pokémon comes out just for you (3× shiny odds). It can be: Combee, Venonat, Wurmple, Aipom, Cherubi, Teddiursa, Heracross, Pinsir, Munchlax.

Shiny odds

• Base odds: 1 in 4,096.
• Shiny Charm (catch 400 species): 3× better odds.
• Happy hour: 2.0× better. Safari Zone: 2×. Swarms and honey trees: 3×.
• A sparkle and a message tell you when a shiny spawns near you.

Legendaries

They have their own events. See Legendary Pokémon.