When using a Razz Berry to improve the chance a Pokemon won't break free — does it apply for your next throw or your next catch i.e. it doesn't matter how many Pokeballs it takes?
The exact wording says throw, but I've always felt like using a Razz Berry helps contain a Pokemon who's broken out a couple of times even if it takes two or three throws after using the Razz Berry (confirmation bias?). There's also the chance the item description doesn't match what's happening in the game.
I don't have evidence for this, per se, but I believe that it applies only to your next successful throw -- i.e., your next throw that actually hits the Pokemon.
I suspect this because you're unable to use a second Razz Berry immediately after using the first, or if you miss the Pokemon a bunch, but as soon as you make contact and it breaks free, you can use another Razz Berry.
To clarify:
On a failed throw, you throw a Pokeball but completely miss the Pokemon. This does not use up a Razz Berry.
On a successful throw, you throw a Pokeball and hit the Pokemon. It wiggles around a bit, and you either catch it or it breaks free. This uses up the Razz Berry, whether you catch the Pokemon or not.
If you want to boost your chances, then every time you hit the Pokemon with a throw, you'll need to use another Razz Berry.
I've read on this, and if your next throw catches the pokemon, the Razz Berry takes effect.
This doesn't mean you can just fail to throw on your next throw. The Razz Berry only works for that throw only. This means you HAVE to keep using Razz Berries no matter how many throws it takes if you really want to catch that pokemon.
I'm not sure of its former mechanics because I did not observe it before but after the Gen2 update with the introduction of the Pinap and Nanab berries they have also introduced a "Berry Status" feature into the game which displays both which berry has been used on the target Pokemon and also its availability. It's a little icon which appears to the upper right corner of the target Pokemon.
My observation is that berries don't always continue to be effective for the succeeding throws. Sometimes they even disappear after the first throw. This is especially annoying when using the Pinap berry for stage 2 and stage 3 Pokemon to grab the additional candy bonuses where your Pinap berry becomes obsolete after the first throw. I'm not used to observe that icon which causes me to miss its disappearance.
I'm not sure how much this effects what anyone thinks about this issue but it occurs to me that when you throw a razzberry the Pokemon reacts with hearts and what not appearing around it and that only works until after you've thrown a ball so I have been working under the assumption that it only worked for the very next throw after the razzberry regardless of whether or not it was a good throw or a bad throw whether or not it cut the Pokemon or not.
