Pokéball Collecting

Pokéballs: An important aspect of Pokémon collecting that often goes undiscussed. You get basic Pokéballs to start, can upgrade to buying more effective Great Balls later in the game, then Ultra Balls, then rare Master Balls, and special effect balls that have different colors, patterns, and catching calculations.

For most people, they don't care about which Pokéball type each Pokémon is in – you rarely see them, anyway, the important part is catching them.

For some, they try to catch each Pokémon in the same ball for consistency – a matching team is a happy team.

(For some, a war breaks out if you use a Quick Ball.)

And, for a few, every Pokémon deserves to look its best.

This guide is a helpful resource for anyone attempting to get into Pokéball collecting and coordinating, or anyone who is attempting to convert their collections in the future into Pokéball collections. For this guide, I will use the example of a Hisuian Arcanine in a Beast Ball. This allows us to model every substep of the process, including how to transfer Pokéballs when breeding and how to apply the process when working with Pokémon and regional forms.

Pokéball Types

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As of writing, first we need to have a discussion about the different types of Pokéballs. Every Pokéball can be sorted into one of three categories: Modern Pokéballs, Ancient Pokéballs, and Special Pokéballs.

Modern Pokéballs are Pokéballs that exist in "modern" types in the games that consistently transfer into the "modern" games. For the purposes of this guide, these are also specifically Pokéballs in these games that you can use.

Ancient Pokéballs are, likewise, Pokéballs that only exist in games that take place in ancient times. For the purpose of this article, Ancient Pokéballs will mostly be ignored. These Pokéballs are almost immediately ignored outside of the only game they are relevant in, Legends: Arceus, and are converted into a new Pokéball type entirely (more on that in a little bit). If you would like to collect Ancient Pokéball combinations, too, then the parts of this guide about catching wild Pokémon will still apply but will be restricted to that one game.

Finally, Special Pokéballs are Pokéballs that are normally restricted to special circumstances, balls that players themselves cannot use but are instead assigned to Pokémon.

Once you determine your desired Pokéball, you need to determine the best way to acquire that Pokéball and catch a Pokémon with it.

If you're looking for a Cherish Ball, those are exclusive to Event Pokémon; ask around to see if anyone is willing to trade an old event distribution of that Pokémon then move on. The rest of this guide will not work for Cherish Ball Pokémon.

If you're looking for a Strange Ball, that is the ball those Ancient Pokéballs turn into when moved from Legends: Arceus into other games. Only the first part of this guide will apply to Strange Ball hunts.

If you're looking for a Modern Pokéball (or an Ancient Pokéball restricted to its original game), then proceed with the next part of the guide.

Step One: Catch the Pokémon

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Once you have determined which Pokémon & Pokéball Combination you want to use, now you need to actually catch a Pokémon of that species in the chosen Pokéball. If you're starting this at the beginning of a collection instead of trying to transfer a Pokéball later, this will be significantly easier.

In my case, we will start with looking for a Growlithe to catch with a Beast Ball. In Scarlet & Violet, a Growlithe can be encountered in a few different areas; where you catch it does not make a difference as long as you catch it in a setting where that's possible.

For your consideration, ask:

• Is it easy to acquire this Pokéball and Pokémon in my game, such as a guaranteed spawn location in earlier games that can be moved up to more recent games?
• Are there other games that might make catching the Pokémon easier, such as Sword & Shield's Dynamax Adventures guaranteed catch rates?

Hopefully, you're done! Congratulations on your rare Pokémon! If not, move onto step two.

Step Two: Transfer the Pokéball

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Luckily for us, it's entirely probable that you can transfer this Pokéball when breeding Pokémon.

"Ruki, did you say probable?"

Yes, I did. Unfortunately, the criteria for Pokéball transfership are a bit more complicated. Pokéballs can only passed down when breeding by parents that are the same evolution line as the egg, which means this strategy won't work for

• Catchable only Pokémon (such as Ditto, Legendary Pokémon)
• Pokémon that do not have an egg group (such as Unown, Paradox Pokémon)
• Genderless or one-gender Pokémon (such as Clefable, Metagross)

While breeding, each egg has a 50% chance of inheriting the egg from either same-evolution-line parent (or 100% once they have the same Pokéball/only one matching parent).

Unfortunately, despite the name, this does not provide the opportunity to change