I think I'll just try to be a Pokemon Associate or Bachelor..

So I've given up on trying to figure out all 493 649 pokemon.  I was fine trying to figure out 251, but its gotten ridiculous now.  It will just be easy enough to catch my 120 pokemon and live my life as normal.  While I typed that last sentence I also thought "I barely use many of those pokemon anyway, I really only need like 10-20 pokemon", but this thought isn't quite relevant.

My mind was blown when I found a picture and an explanation of how the game calculates how you can catch a pokemon.  There is a formula the game uses to determine if you can catch a pokemon or not and its pretty crazy.

A good explanation of this comes from the contributing Bulbapedia wiki article.  This formula has been updated for each generation as pokeballs gained more variety.  I believe that this is the most up to date formula that is available, but the others are available on the wiki.

This fomula in action:

Most legendary Pokémon have a catch rate of 3. Assuming its HP is almost depleted and it is paralyzed, and Dusk Ball is used at night or in a cave, then the chance of catching the Pokémon with each ball in Generation IV is approximated by 3 * 3.5 * 1.5 / 255 = 15.75/255 ~ 6.2%, resulting in about 16 Dusk Balls required to catch the Pokémon on average.

If an Ultra Ball were used instead, then the chance drops to 3 * 2 * 1.5 / 255 = 9/255 ~ 3.5%, which amounts to about 28 Ultra Balls on average.

It should be easy to see why becoming a pokemon master is an increasingly unachievable task.  I think I can just stay with the original challenge of 150.

And if that fails I can always be a food artist..

And when I end up eating all the eggs because being an artist doesn't always pay off too well I can always fall back into the show that started the craze.  I used be be great at that Name That Pokemon part. 

....I give up... Maybe I'll try something else..