A Comprehensive Guide to
Poké Balls
There are tons of Poké Balls available within the scope of the games, but exactly what do they do? And when should they be used? If you're confused by all the choices offered and just want to make sense of it, read on!
Poké Ball: The standard Poké Ball, with an easily recognizable red top and white bottom. It's the first one to make an appearance when you start the game, and very nearly the only one to ever appear in the anime. The least expensive and most common of all the Poké Balls, but also the least helpful. Really only useful when they're the only choice.
Great Ball: Having received a makeover and now sporting a blue top and strange red… things on the sides, it's a step up from the usual Poké Ball but still mediocre compared to the rest of the Poké Ball family. However, they're also considerably less expensive than most of the Poké Ball family. Use them if you’re trying to budget.
Ultra Ball: With a stylish black and yellow design, it's the best general Poké Ball, though also the most expensive of any commercially available Poké Ball. A good choice only if the Pokémon doesn’t fall within the scope of another Poké Ball.
Master Ball: Probably the second most recognizable Poké Ball with its purple top and strange bulbous magenta spots, due to its amazing ability to capture absolutely any Pokémon. However, only a couple are available per game (if you don't resort to cheats), so choose wisely which Pokémon you use it on. Best used on a rare Pokémon, the kind that if you don't catch it you may never see it again. Don't just mindlessly use it on a legendary, as many can be caught with another ball almost as easily.
Safari Ball: A camouflage-topped Poké Ball available for use in one place and one place only - the Safari Zone. Purchased in groups of 30 with the approximate strength of a Great Ball, it's an okay ball. Besides, when it comes to the Safari Zone you have no other choice.
Park Ball: First appeared in the Second Generation for use in the Bug Catching Contest with the strength of a great ball, and more recently appeared for use in the Pal Park as a no-fail ball. There are no similarities between the two besides their name and the fact that, much like the Safari Ball, they aren't available outside their respective locations.
Level Ball: A yellow, red and black topped Poké Ball made from a Red Apricorn. Only available in the Second Generation. Despite the sizeable catch rate offered, its only real use is if you have most of a team fully trained and are just looking for those last few. And those last few are only found in lower-leveled areas.
Lure Ball: A blue, red and yellow topped Poké Ball made from a Blue Apricorn. Only available in the Second Generation. A better catch rate than any of the standard Poké Balls, but with a rather limited set of catchable Pokémon. More than beat by its Third Generation Counterparts.
Moon Ball: A blue and black topped Poké Ball with a light yellow moon, made from a Yellow Apricorn. Only available in the Second Generation. A strange Poké Ball with a good catch rate, however it has an extremely limited set of catchable Pokémon with only four Pokémon that evolve via Moon Stone in the Second Generation and only one more added since then.
Friend Ball: A green topped Poké Ball with red and yellow spots, made from a Green Apricorn. Only available in the Second Generation. It doesn't help the catch rate at all, though it's very useful for Pokémon that evolve by happiness, as they'll be ready to evolve almost as soon as you catch them. Or at least, it would be useful if there were more than two happiness-evolving Pokémon available in the Second Generation.
Fast Ball: A red and yellow Poké Ball, made from a White Apricorn. Only available in the Second Generation. With a sizeable catch rate, it's an interesting and entirely nonsensical idea, though it actually has a wider range of catchable Pokémon than most specialized balls. Not bad, though its Fourth Generation counterpart beats it by a rather large margin.
Heavy Ball: A black topped Poké Ball with bulbous blue spots, made from a Black Apricorn. Only available in the Second Generation. An interesting idea that actually has some value to it, though it doesn't quite have the effect of being the only ball that can catch heavy Pokémon that the anime makes it out to have.
Love Ball: A pink and purple topped Poké Ball, made from a Pink Apricorn. Only available in the Second Generation. With the highest available catch rate (besides the Master Ball) all just for catching a Pokémon with the opposite gender from your active, it's a shame it's a Second Generation exclusive. Due to the higher percentage of male Pokémon in general, it works best if you have a female active. Won't work on legendaries, unfortunately.
Luxury Ball: An all-black Poké Ball with red and gold bands, one of the few Poké Balls without a white bottom half. Similar to the Friend Ball, though rather than giving a friendship boost upon capture it increases how much friendship is gained through different activities. Again, it would be useful if there weren't so few happiness-evolving Pokémon.
Premier Ball: Exactly the same as a normal Poké Ball, besides its appearance which is now all white with a red band. Gained if you buy ten regular Poké Balls at the same time, it has no use besides being a free Poké Ball and offering a little bit of variety.
Net Ball: Blue topped with a woven black stripe motif, it offers a reasonable catch rate on any Bug or Water type Pokémon. Considering water is the most common type by far, this is actually a rather useful Poké Ball. It seems like type-based Poké Balls would be more common, but in fact this is the only one.
Dive Ball: A blue and white Poké Ball, one of the few Poké Balls without a white bottom half. It catches any water dwelling Pokémon, which is generally a surprisingly limited set despite water being the most common type. At least until you get the National Dex, then its usefulness rises considerably. Rather too rare to be very useful in the Fourth Generation, however.
Nest Ball: A brown and green topped Poké Ball with the approximate effect of the Level Ball but reversed. Pretty useful in the earlier stages of the game, though once you get past a certain point it's just an expensive and rather useless Poké Ball.
Repeat Ball: A red, yellow and black topped Poké Ball. It offers a reasonable catch rate for any Pokémon that you've caught before, which is extremely useful for chaining but rather pointless otherwise. If you're shiny hunting, stock up!
Timer Ball: A red, black and white topped Poké Ball that increases the catch rate by one for every ten turns up to thirty. Only for the extremely patient among us, and best used for battles with high-level Pokémon that you expect to have last a while. One particular instance they might be useful is in battling Sinnoh's legendary trio.
Heal Ball: A pink and yellow Poké Ball with a blue band, one of the few Poké Balls without a white bottom half. It has no catch rate increase, though it immediately heals any Pokémon caught in it. Entirely pointless, as after the very beginning stages of the game it's very rare for a caught Pokémon not to get sent to the PC.
Dusk Ball: A black and green Poké Ball with a red band, one of the few Poké Balls without a white bottom half. Offers a sizeable catch rate for any Pokémon caught at night or in a dark area (such as a cave). Quite useful if you’re trying to catch Pokémon only found at night, I also found it to be useful in my quest to get all forms of Unknown.
Cherish Ball: A red and black Poké Ball, one of the few Poké Balls without a white bottom half. Practically the same as a normal Poké Ball, except for the fact that it can't be found in any Poké Mart. It's used to hold Pokémon given out at events. Looks distinctly shinier than the other Poké Balls.
Quick Ball: A blue and yellow Poké Ball with a black band, one of the few Poké Balls without a white bottom half. Great for people who are impatient, it does the opposite of the Timer Ball in that its catch rate decreases every five turns. It's tied with many others for the highest catch rate possible (except for the Master Ball and certain Second Generation exclusives), and has no limitations on what Pokémon it can be used to capture. It's generally the best widely available Poké Ball, in my opinion.
And there you have it. Those are all the Poké Balls, and now it’s up to you to go and try them out! Go catch ‘em all!
