Of course, these are still Pokemon games, and thus maintain many of their staple mechanics. Pokemon battles have been reverted from their Pokemon Legends: Arceus changes. Though players can now adventure alongside other human trainers, online trading and battling are still where most multiplayer action lies. And of course, the overarching goal to fill the Pokedex remains without most of Pokemon Legends’ experimental wrinkles. Players will be doing a lot of Pokemon catching on the way there, and the best way to do that is to learn how to use Scarlet and Violet’s many types of Poke Balls.

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Basic Catching Balls

A lot of the most straightforward Poke Balls have been with the Pokemon franchise since the very beginning. The baseline red-and-white Poke Ball is an iconic symbol for the series, to the point where it had its design cleverly recycled for the Voltorb line. Less recognizable is the Premier Ball, a special promotional ball that Poke Marts began handing out in Generation 3 after they’ve purchased at least ten of any other ball in bulk. It doesn’t have any mechanical benefits beyond its appearance, but as heavy Poke Ball sticker users would say, that’s enough. The rest of the basic Poke Balls follow the typical Great Ball and Ultra Ball progression with 1.5× and 2× catch rate multipliers.

In Scarlet and Violet, Great and Ultra Balls become available in Poke Marts as the player progresses through the Victory Road storyline, and one of each is given as a milestone reward for Pokedex completion. Upon completing the full story, Director Clavell will give the player one Master Ball that guarantees one Pokemon catch. Players will have seen one during a late boss fight, so they already know that this ball is serious business.

One ball that doesn’t fit with the rest is the Beast Ball, which players get after completing their Pokedex. It gives a huge boost to catching Generation 7’s Ultra Beasts but is terrible at catching anything else. Ultra Beasts aren’t in Scarlet and Violet yet, so this may be a preview of DLC to come.

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Advanced Poke Mart Balls

Plenty of other Poke Balls are added to Poke Marts and Delibird Presents as players gain gym badges, and free samples are also given out as Pokedex completion milestones. The only ball added after the first badge is the Heal Ball, which heals the HP, PP, and status effects of caught Pokemon. This quickly becomes outclassed by other Poke Balls and is meant to help new players stay in the field longer. Coming alongside Great Balls at two gym badges are Net Balls, which are meant to easily catch Bug and Water-Type Pokemon. Three badges prompt the Nest and Repeat Balls, the former excelling at catching weak wild Pokemon under level 23, and the latter being better against Pokemon species that were already caught.

Repeat Balls are ideal for trying to get a specific Pokemon’s Nature, which leads to the advanced uses for most Poke Balls. The later the players gain access to them, the more specialized balls tend to be. Luxury Balls at four gym badges exemplify this by giving caught Pokemon faster friendship growth. This is meant to assist with Pokemon who evolve using friendship values, but friendship can have other benefits too.

Accompanying Ultra Balls at five badges are Dive Balls, which are best for Pokemon found in water. Six badges earn the Quick Ball, which has a 5× catch rate when used at the very start of a battle. Finally, all eight badges supply the Dusk ball, which has a 3.5× bonus in dark caves or at night, and the Timer Ball. Timer Balls are specialized for catching particularly obstinate legendary Pokemon, as their catch multiplier gradually ticks up to 4× over the course of forty turns.

Porto Marinada Auction Apricorn Balls

Eight more special Poke Balls are only available through Pokedex completion milestones, the Academy Ace Tournament, or auctions in Porto Marinada. This is where the really technical ball varieties live, with most sporting catch rate multipliers up to 4× or 8×. Dream Balls start things off with a 4× catch rate on sleeping Pokemon. Lure Balls have the same for any Pokemon encountered through fishing, which limits it to a smaller pool than other water-oriented balls. Heavy Balls increase in effectiveness if Pokemon are over 440.9 lbs or 661.4 lbs. In contrast, the Fast Ball has a 4× catch rate when used on Pokemon with Speed stats of 100 or higher. The Moon Ball is comparatively simple and is best used on Pokemon who evolve with Moon Stones.

Love Balls offer a staggering 8× multiplier when catching a Pokemon of the same species and opposite gender as the player’s active Pokemon. Even that pales at Nature-grinding compared to the flexible Level Ball, however, which offers a 2× multiplier if the player’s Pokemon is simply at a higher level than its opponent. That goes up to 4× if the player’s Pokemon is more than double the level, and 8× if their level is four times higher. Finally, there’s the Friend Ball, which has no catching modifiers but is actually a better Luxury Ball. It sets friendship levels at 200, which is enough to instantly start gaining minor friendship benefits. All of this makes for a diverse set of tools in the player’s Pokemon-catching arsenal, and smart use of Poke Balls will go a long way to completing the Pokedex.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for the Nintendo Switch.

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