Master Ball

Sugimori art of the Master Ball

The Master Ball (Japanese: マスターボール Master Ball) is a variety of Poké Ball introduced in Generation I, and arguably the rarest of all Poké Ball variants. It is unique in the aspect that it is guaranteed to catch any wild Pokémon (with one exception) that it is thrown at. It shares this attribute with the Park and Dream Ball used within Pal Park and the Entralink, respectively. However, unlike these Poké Balls, the Master Ball can be obtained and used outside of these specific areas.

The Master Ball, like all Poké Balls, is spherical in shape. The top and bottom halves are divided by a horizontal black band, on which is the button found on all Poké Balls. The top half of the Master Ball is purple, with a white letter "M" on the front, with a pink circle on either side.

Master Balls are developed by Silph Co.

In the games

The Master Ball has been present in every main series Pokémon game. Usually, only one Master Ball is available to the player per saved game, although from Generation II onwards (except Generation V), additional Master Balls can be won in Lucky Channel and Pokémon Lottery Corner drawings, but only if the drawn number exactly matches the ID number of one of the player's Pokémon.

The Master Ball is the only item that cannot be sold that is neither a key item, an HM, or a TM. In Generations I and II it can be "sold", but for $0.

Master Ball locations

Generation	Game(s)	Location	Requirements	Notes
I	Red, Blue, and Yellow	Silph Co.	Talk to the president of Silph Co. after defeating Giovanni.
II	Gold, Silver, and Crystal	New Bark Town	Talk to Professor Elm after earning all eight Johto Badges.
II	Gold, Silver, and Crystal	Goldenrod Radio Tower	Match all 5 numbers in the Lucky Channel.
III	Ruby	Magma Hideout	None	Entrance is blocked off after battling Groudon.
III	Sapphire, Emerald	Aqua Hideout	None	Entrance is blocked off after battling KyogreS.
III	Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald	Lilycove Department Store	Match all 5 numbers in the Pokémon Lottery Corner.
III	Pokémon Colosseum	Agate Village	Receive and read incomplete email from Eagun in Realgam Tower	Eagun's email is cut off before it can mention the Master Ball; Eagun will not give the Master Ball if the player has received the email but not read it.
III	Pokémon XD	Pokémon HQ Lab	Talk to Professor Krane before heading to Citadark Isle
III	FireRed and LeafGreen	Silph Co.	Talk to the president of Silph Co. after defeating Giovanni
IV	Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum	Galactic Veilstone Building	Defeat Cyrus
IV	Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum	Jubilife TV	Match all 5 numbers in the Pokémon Lottery Corner.
IV	HeartGold and SoulSilver	New Bark Town	Talk to Professor Elm after earning all eight Johto Badges.
IV	HeartGold and SoulSilver	Goldenrod Radio Tower	Match all 5 numbers in the Pokémon Lottery Corner.
V	Black and White	Opelucid City	Meet Professor Juniper in town after earning all eight Unova Badges.
V	Black and White	Castelia City Pokémon Center	Talk to a man after the player has outsider Pokémon with at least 50 different original Trainers.	The man will no longer give out gifts after the Master Ball.
V	Black 2 and White 2	Mistralton City	Meet Professor Juniper for the first time in town.
V	Black 2 and White 2	Plasma Frigate	Defeat Colress after entering the Hall of Fame.

Distribution

The Master Ball was distributed at Pokémon Center stores throughout Japan. It was also distributed at the Tohoku Pokémon Center individually due to it not being built at the time of the initial distribution.

Game Version	Duration
	Sapporo, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka	Tohoku
Japanese	November 19 to December 3, 2011	February 28 to March 16, 2012

Wonder Card

マスターボール　プレゼント いよいよ ６４６しゅるいの　ポケモンの じょうほうが　あきらかに！ マスターボールを　うけとって まだつかまえていない　ポケモンを てにいれるための　ぼうけんに　でよう！

*ふしぎなカード マスターボール　プレゼント ポケモンを　あそんでくれて ありがとう！ おくりものは　ポケモンセンタ－にいる はいたついんから　うけとってね！

Cameo appearances

Pokémon Stadium 2

Master Ball as seen during the Stadium 2's mini-game

The sprite from Stadium 2 mini-game's instructions

In Pokémon Stadium 2, Master Ball appears in the mini-game Furret's Frolic. It's the biggest ball in that mini-game, appearing later than rest and being worth 5 points.

Pokémon XD

In Pokémon XD, Master Balls are used in the Battle Bingo game. The player starts with two and can gain an extra one from one of the ? spaces.

Pokémon Dream World

A Master Ball-themed rug from the Dream World

A decorative rug themed after the Master Ball can be found within the Game Data for the Dream World, however, it has not yet been released to the public.

Appearance

					FrontTopBack (upside-down)
Appearance in-battle in Generation II	Appearance in-battle and on the Status screen in Generation III	Bag sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen onwards	Pokémon's summary from sprite Generation IV onwards	Appearance in-battle in Generation IV	Front, top and upside-down back (respectively) in-battle in Generation V	Appearance in the Dream World

Flavor text

Games Description Stad A Ball that captures any wild Pokémon without fail. GSC The best Ball. It never misses. RSE The best ball that catches a Pokémon without fail. FRLG The best Ball with the ultimate performance. It will catch any wild Pokémon without fail. DPPtHGSS The best Ball with the ultimate level of performance. It will catch any wild Pokémon without fail. BW The best Ball with the ultimate level of performance. It will catch any wild Pokémon without fail.

In the spin-off games

In Pokémon Pinball and Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire

In the two Pokémon Pinball titles, the Poké Ball that serves as the pinball is capable of being upgraded to a Great Ball, an Ultra Ball and a Master Ball. However, this serves solely as a score multiplier, as catching a Pokémon is always guaranteed, even with a regular Poké Ball.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The Master Ball has not appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series; however, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Poké Ball trophy mentions the Master Ball, identifying it as the strongest variety of Poké Ball.

In the anime

Sullivan's Master Ball

The Master Ball first appeared in Beauty and the Beach, and again in A Hot Water Battle. However, the Master Ball in these episodes was not an actual Master Ball; rather, it was a beach ball owned by Misty, which had been decorated to look like a Master Ball. Another Master Ball appeared in The Song of Jigglypuff; again, this was not an actual Master Ball, but on a billboard on a building.

An actual Master Ball made its only true appearance in Whiscash and Ash. It was used by a fisherman named Sullivan in a last-ditch attempt to catch Nero, an oversized wild Whiscash that had long eluded him. As the Master Ball is reputed to successfully catch any wild Pokémon without fail, Sullivan was sure that using the Master Ball would work. This, however, was not the case, as Nero unexpectedly swallowed the Master Ball and disappeared back into the water. At the end of the episode, Nero was seen playing with the Master Ball on its tongue.

In the manga

Master Ball in Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon Adventures

Red used his Pika to capture Mewtwo for Blaine with a Master Ball.

In the TCG

The following is a list of cards named Master Ball.

Master Ball Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card	Type	English Expansion	Rarity	#	Japanese Expansion	Rarity	#
Master Ball	T				Extended Sheet 2
					Red Deck Green Deck
		Gym Challenge		116/132	Yamabuki City Gym
					Chikorita Half Deck Totodile Half Deck		21 22
					Pokémon VS		141/141
		Expedition Base Set		143/165	Base Expansion Pack		061/128
					Latias Half Deck Latios Half Deck
		EX Deoxys		88/107	Deoxys Constructed Starter Deck		012/015
					Rayquaza Constructed Starter Deck		012/015
					PLAY Promotional cards		018/PLAY
		EX Delta Species		99/113	Holon Research Tower Water Quarter Deck		009/015
					Mew Quarter Deck		008/015
		EX Power Keepers		78/108	World Champions Pack		089/108

Trivia

• The infinite ball glitch is often known as the Master Ball glitch, due to Master Balls commonly being used in this glitch.
• Foongus and Amoonguss, both of whom have designs based on the Poké Ball, are colored similarly to the Master Ball in their Shiny forms.

This item article is part of Project ItemDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all items.