#0100 · Kanto · Generation 1

Voltorb

Ball Pokémon · Electric-type

Voltorb is a Electric-type Pokémon, the Ball Pokémon, number 100 (#0100) in the National Pokédex. It was introduced in Generation 1 and comes from the Kanto region. It is 0.5 m tall and weighs 10.4 kg.

Voltorb is the Ball Pokémon, and it looks so much like a Poké Ball that people pick it up and get zapped. The Pokédex says it first turned up at a Poké Ball manufacturer, and nobody has explained why.

How to pronounce Voltorb

Voltorb is pronounced VOHL-torb. The capital letters show the stressed syllable.

Listen to Voltorb said out loud:

In Japanese it is ビリリダマ (Biriridama).

Hear every other name on the Pokémon pronunciation guide.

Lore

Biology

Voltorb is a sphere with a red top and a white bottom, like a Poké Ball without its button but with a pair of eyes. It is 0.5 m across and weighs 10.4 kg. The Pokédex says its components do not occur in nature, and one entry reports a rumour that it was created when a Poké Ball was hit by a powerful pulse of energy.

Behaviour

Voltorb rolls to move, and a bump on uneven ground can set it off. The Pokédex says it explodes at the slightest shock.

Habitat

Power plants and other places with electric fields. In Scarlet and Violet it is found in Paldea's East and West Provinces and in 2-star Tera Raid Battles, and Hisuian Voltorb arrives through Pokémon HOME. It is not available in Legends: Z-A.

Diet

Bulbapedia says it feeds on the electric fields around power plants.

Powers

It has Soundproof, Static and the hidden Aftermath, which hurts a foe that knocks it out with a contact move. It blows itself up with Self-Destruct or Explosion and also learns Thunderbolt and Volt Switch; its 100 base Speed lets it strike first. Hisuian Voltorb is an Electric and Grass type that looks like an old wooden Apricorn Poké Ball, and the Pokédex says it laughs loudly as it discharges.

Name origin

Voltorb may combine 'volt' and 'orb'. Its Japanese name is Biriridama (ビリリダマ), which may blend biribiri (the sound of an electric shock) with tama ('sphere').

Design inspiration

Ken Sugimori designed Voltorb. It seems built on the idea of a living Poké Ball, perhaps inspired by gashapon capsules. The tsukumogami, household objects said to come alive on their 100th birthday, may nod to its Pokédex number, 100. These are fan readings.

Evolution notes

Voltorb evolves into Electrode at level 30, but Hisuian Voltorb needs a Leaf Stone instead.

In the games

Lt. Surge uses a Voltorb in Red, Green, Blue, FireRed, LeafGreen and the Let's Go games, and Wattson uses one in Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. In Scarlet and Violet a wild Voltorb explodes if you walk too close.

In the anime

Koga uses Voltorb as booby traps for intruders in his Gym in 'The Ninja Poké-Showdown'. Wattson uses one against Ash in 'Watt's with Wattson?', and Goh catches a Shiny Voltorb in 'Mad About Blue!'.

Fun facts

• HeartGold and SoulSilver's English and European releases swap the slot machines for Voltorb Flip, a Minesweeper-style card game.
• In Pokémon Adventures, Red learns aboard the S.S. Anne that the Poké Ball he tries to touch is really a Voltorb.
• In XD: Gale of Darkness, losing to Miror B while he has the Shadow Voltorb can lock you out of snagging it, and so out of Shadow Dragonite.

Sources: Bulbapedia: Voltorb (Pokémon) · Serebii: Voltorb (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex)

Base stats

• HP: 40
• Attack: 30
• Defense: 50
• Sp. Atk: 55
• Sp. Def: 55
• Speed: 100

Voltorb’s base stat total is 330. Its highest stat is Speed.

Type matchups

What is Voltorb weak to?

Voltorb takes extra damage from Ground (2×) moves.

It resists Electric (½×), Flying (½×), Steel (½×).

Evolution

How does Voltorb evolve?

Voltorb evolves into Electrode (Level 30; Hisuian Voltorb: Leaf Stone).

The whole family: Voltorb, Electrode.

Forms

• Hisuian Voltorb (Hisuian form): Electric/Grass-type, base stat total 330 (HP 40, Attack 30, Defense 50, Sp. Atk 55, Sp. Def 55, Speed 100). Abilities: Soundproof, Static, Aftermath (hidden).

Abilities

• Soundproof: Protects against sound-based moves.
• Static: Has a 30% chance of paralyzing attacking Pokémon on contact.
• Aftermath (hidden ability): Damages the attacker for 1/4 its max HP when knocked out by a contact move.

Moves

Moves Voltorb learns by level up in Scarlet / Violet

TM moves (30)

Voltorb can learn 30 moves from TMs in Scarlet / Violet: Take Down, Agility, Protect, Thief, Charge Beam, Facade, Swift, Endure, Volt Switch, Rain Dance, Foul Play, Sleep Talk, Electro Ball, Light Screen, Thunder Wave, Rest, Taunt, Eerie Impulse, Substitute, Thunderbolt, Helping Hand, Electric Terrain, Wild Charge, Thunder, Tera Blast, Charge, Gyro Ball, Double-Edge, Electroweb, Metal Sound.

Egg moves (2):Metal Sound, Recycle.

Breeding & training

• Gender: genderless.
• Egg groups: Mineral.
• Egg cycles: 20 (steps to hatch, Scarlet/Violet: 2,560).
• Catch rate: 190 out of 255.
• Base friendship (Gen 8 onward): 50.
• Growth rate: Medium (1,000,000 experience points to reach level 100).
• Defeating it gives 1 Speed effort value.
• Base experience yield: 66.

Pokédex entries

An enigmatic Pokémon that happens to bear a resemblance to a Poké Ball. When excited, it discharges the electric current it has stored in its belly, then lets out a great, uproarious laugh. (Legends: Arceus)

It is said to camouflage itself as a Poké Ball. It will self-destruct with very little stimulus. (Yellow, Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Let’s Go, Eevee!)

Voltorb is extremely sensitive - it explodes at the slightest of shocks. It is rumored that it was first created when a Poké Ball was exposed to a powerful pulse of energy. (Sapphire, Alpha Sapphire)

Voltorb was first sighted at a company that manufactures Poké Balls. The link between that sighting and the fact that this Pokémon looks very similar to a Poké Ball remains a mystery. (Ruby, Omega Ruby)

Usually found in power plants. Easily mistaken for a Poké Ball, it has zapped many people. (LeafGreen, Y)

It was discovered when Poké Balls were introduced. It is said that there is some connection. (Silver, SoulSilver, X)

Names around the world

Trivia

• Taller than 19% of all Pokémon (0.5 m).
• Heavier than 29% of all Pokémon (10.4 kg).
• Base stat total 330, ranked #741 of 1,025.
• One of 69 Electric-type Pokémon (counting dual types).
• One of 97 red Pokémon.
• Number 100 of 151 Pokémon introduced in Generation 1 (Kanto).
• Part of an evolution family of 2 Pokémon.
• Can learn 41 different moves in Scarlet / Violet.
• Catch rate 190: about 24.8% per Poké Ball at full health.
• Has 1 alternate form.
• Appears in 13 distinct Pokédex entries.

Sources and fact-checking

• Stats, types, abilities, moves, evolutions, forms and Pokédex entries: PokéAPI open game data.
• Lore: written by pokee.si in our own words, researched from Bulbapedia: Voltorb (Pokémon), Serebii: Voltorb (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex).
• Pronunciation (VOHL-torb): it follows how the English anime, games or official videos say it.

Last checked: 19 October 2026. Every sentence of the lore was checked against Bulbapedia, Serebii and the game data.

Explore

Electric-type Pokémon · Kanto region guide · Soundproof ability · Static ability · Aftermath ability · Compare Voltorb · Full Pokédex · Type chart · All moves

Browse similar Pokémon

Gen 1 Electric-type Pokémon · Gen 1 Pokémon list · Red Pokémon list · Mineral egg group · Pokémon that start with V · What does the Leaf Stone evolve?

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