All I need is just Two Excellent Throws a Day in Pokemon Go

Oh, Pokemon Go, I still play it, even when I am not visiting some of the more remote gyms in the US.

Pokemon Go – Since 2016

I mentioned previously the ~80 day event for a master ball.  The task list for that seemed a bit daunting there at the start.

The task list

With more than half of the timeline left to go… 45 days as of this writing… I have managed to knock out a good chunk of the tasks.

• Catch 1,000 Pokemon – Done
• Hatch 30 eggs – Done
• Catch 100 different species – Done
• Spin 300 Pokestops – Done
• Earn 100,000 XP – Done
• Earn 100,000 Stardust – Done

But those were all pretty non-controversial.  I figured those would get done and there they are complete with more than half of the event still left to run.

The status of those left uncompleted so far:

• Win 60 raids – 35
• Make 120 Excellent Throws – 53
• Complete 150 Field Research Tasks – 80
• Explore 50km – 24km

25 more raids in 45 days… piece of cake.  I’ll get that done.

70 field research tasks in 45 days… very doable.  You can basically do as many as you want in a single day just going to different Pokestops.

Explore another 26km in 45 days… again, not too worried.  Honestly, I would be a lot further along if I just remembered to put my phone in my pocket when I am pacing around the house coming up with an email response or blog post idea.  I can make that happen.

67 excellent throws in 45 days… this one worries me in the way the others do not.  The others I can brute force.  They just involve some effort and me actually leaving the house, something that has become a rare moment on most weekdays now that I work from home.

But an excellent throw… requires a bit of skill or luck that is elusive to me.  I can go a couple of days without hitting one, then get five in one evening while watching TV.  I could get 10 this weekend if I hit the right raid bosses with huge target reticles that allow a lot of slop in your throw while still giving you an excellent.  Or I might get none.

So the whole thing seems somewhat in doubt… but then so does my motivation.

I went over the whole master ball as a reward thing in a past post, and even asked AI bots when it would be worthwhile to actually use that most rare of pokeballs.

But in asking that, I forgot a fundamental aspect of Pokemon Go, which is that all the rarest legendary Pokemon come from raids.  And when you win a raid and are given the opportunity to catch a very special Pokemon… you cannot actually use your master ball.  You are limited to the special raid balls which dictate how many throws you get in order to catch your target.

So, basically, you can only actually use the master ball on the more mundane, every day Pokemon you see in the field.  And I can barely be bothered to switch to a great or ultra ball for most of those.  So what I remain conflicted on what a master ball is even good for and whether it is worth the effort.