Poké Balls: All 28 Balls, Catch Rates and How Catching Works
Every Poké Ball compared: catch multipliers, when each one is best, and the catch-rate maths explained simply. Master Ball to Quick Ball on pokee.si.
How catching works
Whether a ball catches a wild Pokémon depends on four things multiplied together: how low its HP is, the species' own catch rate (3 for tough legendaries up to 255 for the easiest Pokémon), the ball's multiplier, and any status condition. In Generation III and later, lowering HP to a sliver and putting the target to sleep or freezing it give the biggest boosts. The game then performs up to four "shake" checks, and a lucky critical capture needs only one.
HP factor: (3 x max HP minus 2 x current HP) divided by (3 x max HP): about 1/3 at full HP, close to 1 at 1 HP.
Status: Sleep and freeze help the most; paralysis, poison and burn help a bit less. (Exact multipliers differ between games.)
Catch rates for comparison: Bulbasaur 45, Caterpie 255, Mewtwo 3, Articuno 3, Lugia 3 (out of 255; higher is easier).
Every Poké Ball (28)
Catch multipliers as used in the newest main-series games (Generation VIII and IX, with Generation IX noted where it differs). Every ball except the Master Ball and Beast Ball is only 0.1x on Ultra Beasts.
| Ball | Multiplier | When it works | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poké Ball | 1× | No bonus. The standard 1x ball. Must be in your Bag (with a free party slot) for a Nincada to leave behind a Shedinja when it evolves. | Gen 1 |
| Great Ball | 1.5× | 1.5x catch rate on every Pokémon. | Gen 1 |
| Ultra Ball | 2× | 2x catch rate on every Pokémon. | Gen 1 |
| Master Ball | — | Always catches the Pokémon, with no roll needed. Almost always a one-off gift or prize. The only ball (with the Beast Ball) that is not penalised against Ultra Beasts. | Gen 1 |
| Safari Ball | 1× | In Gen IX it is a plain 1x ball. Older games gave 1.5x (2x in Gen I) but only inside a Safari Zone. Before Gen VIII it could only be used in Safari Zones. | Gen 1 |
| Fast Ball | 4× | 4x if the target's base Speed is at least 100, otherwise 1x. | Gen 2 |
| Level Ball | 8× | Compares your lead Pokémon's level with the wild one. 1x if yours is the same or lower; 2x if yours is higher; 4x if yours is more than double; 8x if yours is at least four times higher. | Gen 2 |
| Lure Ball | 4× | 4x on a Pokémon encountered while fishing. In Scarlet and Violet, which has no fishing, the 4x applies to Pokémon that are on or in water instead. The bonus was 3x in Johto and 5x in Alola. In Legends: Z-A the water-based bonus is lowered to 3.5x. | Gen 2 |
| Heavy Ball | — | Changes the target's catch rate by its weight: minus 20 under 100.0 kg; no change from 100.0 to 199.9 kg; plus 20 from 200.0 to 299.9 kg; plus 30 at 300.0 kg or more. (It adds to the number, it does not multiply.) These are the Generation VII and VIII figures. We could not confirm whether Scarlet and Violet or Legends: Z-A changed them. | Gen 2 |
| Love Ball | 8× | 8x if your Pokémon is the same species as the wild one but the opposite gender, otherwise 1x. | Gen 2 |
| Friend Ball | 1× | No catch bonus (1x). The caught Pokémon starts with boosted friendship (150 in Gen VIII and later; 200 before that). | Gen 2 |
| Moon Ball | 4× | 4x on a Pokémon that evolves by using a Moon Stone (Nidorina, Nidorino, Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Skitty and Munna), otherwise 1x. Since Generation VII the rest of those evolution lines (such as Nidoran, Cleffa, Igglybuff or Wigglytuff) no longer get the bonus. | Gen 2 |
| Sport Ball | 1× | Plain 1x in Gen VIII and later. It was 1.5x and only usable in the Bug-Catching Contest before that. Called the Park Ball in Gen II. | Gen 2 |
| Net Ball | 3.5× | 3.5x on Water-type and Bug-type Pokémon, otherwise 1x. | Gen 3 |
| Dive Ball | 3.5× | 3.5x if the Pokémon is found while surfing, fishing or underwater, otherwise 1x. In Scarlet and Violet the 3.5x applies to a Pokémon that is currently on or in water. | Gen 3 |
| Nest Ball | 4× | Better against low-level Pokémon: (41 minus the Pokémon's level) divided by 10, for levels 1 to 29 (so 4x at level 1, 1.2x at level 29). 1x from level 30 up. | Gen 3 |
| Repeat Ball | 3.5× | 3.5x on a Pokémon species you have already caught (registered in your Pokédex), otherwise 1x. | Gen 3 |
| Timer Ball | 4× | Gets better the longer the battle runs: 1 plus 0.3 for every turn passed (exactly 1229/4096 per turn), capped at 4x on turn 10. Already better than an Ultra Ball by turn 4. In Legends: Z-A the count is instead the total number of moves used so far by both sides, and the bonus rises in steps: 1x up to 10 moves, then 2x, 3x and a final 4x at 30 or more. | Gen 3 |
| Luxury Ball | 1× | No catch bonus (1x). Every friendship gain for a Pokémon caught in it is boosted by 1 point, so it grows friendly faster. | Gen 3 |
| Premier Ball | 1× | No catch bonus (1x), the same as a Poké Ball. In the games where shops sell it, buying 10 or more Poké Balls at once earns a free Premier Ball. | Gen 3 |
| Dusk Ball | 3× | 3x in caves or at night, otherwise 1x. It was 3.5x from Generation IV to VI. The in-game description in Legends: Z-A mentions only night. | Gen 4 |
| Heal Ball | 1× | No catch bonus (1x). Fully restores the caught Pokémon's HP and PP and cures any status condition. | Gen 4 |
| Quick Ball | 5× | 5x on the first turn of a battle, otherwise 1x. In Legends: Z-A the bonus applies only while nobody has used a move yet, and it is lowered to 3x. | Gen 4 |
| Cherish Ball | 1× | No catch bonus (1x). You cannot get it normally. Used for special event Pokémon. | Gen 4 |
| Dream Ball | 4× | 4x on a sleeping Pokémon (a drowsy one in Legends: Z-A), otherwise 1x. Guaranteed to catch in Gen V. Before Gen VIII it was only used in the Entree Forest. | Gen 5 |
| Beast Ball | 5× | 5x on Ultra Beasts; only 0.1x on everything else. Every other ball except the Master Ball is only 0.1x against Ultra Beasts. | Gen 7 |
| Park Ball | — | Guaranteed catch, but only inside the Pal Park. It acts as a plain Poké Ball anywhere else. Not available to normal players. | Gen 4 |
| Strange Ball | — | Not obtainable. The ball shown for Pokémon brought from Pokémon Legends: Arceus (and some from GO). | Gen 8 |
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