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I saw a shared video of someone with a buddy with catch assist. It seems like a normally wasted ball (landed during the 'attack' of the wild Pokémon) is being headbutted back, delivering a 'Great throw' (I personally think it would be an awesome combo). Are the normal catch chances applied? Is this assist always there? Does the original circle matter for the type of throw, or would it always be great?

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Are the normal catch chances applied?

Yes, the normal catch chances still apply. Pokémon can still break free if your buddy throws the pokéball back, so it's safe to assume normal catch rates still apply (source needed).

Is this assist always there?

No, this does not always apply. Much like Critical Captures in Pokémon Go, it is a random chance for Catch Assists to trigger.

Does the original circle matter for the type of throw, or would it always be great?

It will not always be a great throw. There is evidence for Nice and Excellent throws as well. Based on my experience and other threads I’ve seen as well, the catch bonus (if any) will typically be based on what the original throw would have been.

So if you throw a Pokeball and it would be outside the circle, you likely wouldn’t receive a catch bonus despite it being knocked back into the center. Otherwise, it would be generally be nice, great, or excellent relative to the size of catch circle.

Curve ball bonus' also still stick! If you apply a curve throw, miss, and your buddy throws the pokéball back, you will be awarded the circle ball XP bonus if the Pokémon is caught

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    "Based on all the videos I've seen, Catch Assists will always be Nice, Great, or Excellent." I've had several catch assists that weren't even Nice (but they would have missed the circle anyway). I've also had several that got a bonus but clearly would have missed normally. So whatever is going on is more complicated than that.
    – John Montgomery
    Jan 2, 2020 at 18:12
  • Based on my admittedly minimal observations, Catch Assist kicks in when the ball is bounced back toward you by the target pokemon, but not if the ball ricochets off to the side or behind the target. I haven't seen any bounced toward me since gaining it that weren't headbutted back.
    – Allison C
    Jan 28, 2020 at 16:44
  • @AllisonC The Catch Assist will force the bounceback to be straight back at you. I've seen some throws where the bounce should have gone to the side but the ball flew back at me for my buddy to do Catch Assist. So it's not based on where/how you hit the target, it just forces a specific bounce as part of the animation.
    – Kadima
    Jul 16, 2020 at 16:02
  • @Kadima I didn't say it was. I said that it works when the ball bounces back toward you. Balls can still go off to the side; I've watched several of them do that and not kick in a catch assist, but if it bounces back toward you, then that's going to be a CA bounce
    – Allison C
    Jul 16, 2020 at 17:11

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