Overview
The Razz Berry is a standard encounter Berry that makes wild and research Pokémon easier to catch by applying a 1.5× modifier in the capture formula. This catch modifier works alongside the Poké Ball you select, your curveball and throw accuracy bonuses, and your type medals to raise your overall chance of catching the Pokémon.
If your throw misses the target completely, the Razz Berry stays active for your next throw, whereas if the Pokémon enters the ball and breaks out, the effect ends and you must feed another Berry. Outside encounters, you can feed spare Razz Berries to your Buddy to fill its hunger meter or to friendly Gym defenders to restore their motivation and earn Stardust.
How to get it
Spin Photo Discs at PokéStops or Gyms after reaching Trainer level 9, open eligible Gifts, and claim Field, Special, or Timed Research and level-up rewards.
Eligible GO Pass reward tracks and research tasks can award Razz Berries; check the current reward track for exact quantities.
A Buddy Pokémon at Great Buddy level or higher can bring Presents containing useful items, including Razz Berries.
How to use it
When you start an encounter, open the Berry menu, select a Razz Berry, and feed it to the Pokémon before throwing a Poké Ball.
Only one Berry effect can be active at a time. A missed throw does not remove the Razz Berry's effect, but a breakout clears it; feed another Berry if the Pokémon breaks free.
Worth knowing
Feed a Razz Berry when improving your chance of catching a Pokémon matters more than earning extra Candy with a Pinap Berry.
Use spare Razz Berries to feed your Buddy or friendly Gym defenders for Stardust, XP, and Gym Badge progress; the encounter catch modifier does not apply to these uses.
A modifier is not a flat percentage bonus
For players, a Razz Berry gives a noticeable boost to your catch rate without guaranteeing a capture, and its relative benefit is largest on moderately difficult catches. Mathematically, the 1.5× berry modifier does not add a flat 50 percentage points to your chance of catching the Pokémon.
Instead, it acts as an exponent inside the capture probability formula: Catch Rate = 1 - (1 - p)^m.
Here, p is the base single-throw catch probability before the berry (already accounting for the species base catch rate, the Pokémon's level, and any unchanging Poké Ball, curveball, throw accuracy, or medal bonuses), and m is the 1.5 berry modifier.
As a concrete example, suppose your baseline throw has a 20% chance of catching the Pokémon (p = 0.20) with a standard Poké Ball and no berry, and every other throw condition stays the same. Feeding a Razz Berry sets m = 1.5, which gives 1 - (1 - 0.20)^1.5 = 1 - (0.80)^1.5, or about 0.284 (a 28.4% catch rate).
When a Pokémon is still too difficult to catch with a regular Razz Berry, a Golden Razz Berry provides a much stronger 2.5× catch modifier.
A Silver Pinap Berry offers a middle-ground 1.8× catch modifier while also increasing the ordinary Candy earned from the catch.
By contrast, a regular Pinap Berry doubles ordinary catch Candy but has no catch modifier (1.0×), making it the better choice on an easy catch when you want extra Candy.
Unlocks and older guides
Razz Berries unlock at Trainer level 9 in the current leveling system introduced in October 2025, which rewards 5 Razz Berries upon reaching level 9 and 10 Razz Berries at level 10. Additional Razz Berry bundles are awarded at later milestones up to level 78, peaking at 35 Razz Berries at level 75.
Before the October 2025 update, Razz Berries unlocked at Trainer level 8, a number that still appears in older guides. Specific research tasks and GO Pass reward tracks can have separate eligibility requirements.
Feeding your buddy and Gym defenders
Open your Buddy's play screen and feed it Razz Berries to fill its hunger meter. Three ordinary Berries fill an empty meter completely, allowing your Buddy to walk with you on the map and earning 1 affection heart per full feeding (up to 3 hearts per Buddy each day under normal mood). The Razz Berry's encounter catch modifier has no effect when feeding a Buddy.
At a Gym controlled by your team, select a defending Pokémon to feed it. Each Razz Berry restores the same amount of motivation as other ordinary Berries and awards 30 Stardust (45 with an active Star Piece), along with XP and Gym Badge progress. You can feed up to 10 Berries per defending Pokémon within a 30-minute window across up to 10 defenders when the Gym is not hosting a Raid Boss.
If your own Pokémon is defending that Gym, you can also feed it remotely through its Pokémon summary page using the Go to Gym button. Ordinary Berries restore less motivation from a distance than when fed in person; use a Golden Razz Berry when you need an immediate, full motivation refill.
