Strange Ball

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Strange Ball
ストレンジボール
Strange Ball
Strange Ball
Scarlet and Violet artwork
Introduced in Generation VIII
Pocket
Generation VIII Poké Balls (Satchel)
Generation IX Poké Balls

The Strange Ball (Japanese: ストレンジボール Strange Ball) is a placeholder Poké Ball introduced in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. It is used to represent the Poké Balls of Pokémon when they were caught in a Poké Ball that does not exist in the current game.

In the core series games

In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon caught in Poké Balls that do not exist in that game instead display a Strange Ball as their Poké Ball.

Pokémon Sword and Shield do not feature Strange Balls; Pokémon caught in Hisuian Poké Balls are displayed in standard Poké Balls instead, with Pokémon HOME storing the original ball server-side. When returned to HOME, these Pokémon will regain their original balls.

The Strange Ball is only defined as an item in Legends: Arceus, Scarlet, and Violet. In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it does not exist as an actual item, only as a graphic displayed for Pokémon with a ball ID value that doesn't match any ball found in the game.

Effect

Manual activation

Legends: Arceus

The Strange Ball cannot be legitimately obtained as an item, so it cannot normally be used. If it were to be obtained, when used from the Bag in a wild encounter, it would attempt to catch the wild Pokémon with the same catch rate as a typical Hisuian Poké Ball (0.75×).

Unlike other Poké Balls in Legends: Arceus, the Strange Ball cannot be thrown by the player in the overworld, as it only appears in the satchel menu, but not in the throwable item menu in the lower-right of the screen. It is only usable if selected from the bag menu during a battle.

Scarlet and Violet

The Strange Ball cannot be legitimately obtained as an item, so it cannot normally be used. If it were to be obtained, when used against a wild encounter, it would attempt to catch the wild Pokémon with the same catch rate as a typical Poké Ball (1×).

As a Pokémon's Poké Ball

Bred Pokémon inherit their Poké Ball from their parents. However, the Strange Ball, Master Ball, and Cherish Ball cannot be passed down via breeding; instead, they act as a regular Poké Ball for inheritance purposes.

Description

Games Description
LA
SV
- - -

Acquisition

The Strange Ball cannot be obtained in any game.

Appearance

Sprites

Bag sprite from
Legends: Arceus
Summary sprite from
Legends: Arceus

Trivia

  • The Strange and Park Balls are the only Poké Balls that cannot be a Pokémon's own Poké Ball, due to Pokémon displayed in Strange Balls retaining their original Poké Ball's index number.
  • The Strange, Park, and Cherish Balls are the only Poké Balls introduced in the core series games that cannot be obtained in said games.
    • However, Pokémon can still be contained in a Cherish Ball via Mystery Gift distributions or when transferring an event Pokémon to Pokémon Sword and Shield, making the Park and Strange Balls the only non-Hisuian Poké Balls that cannot be seen in Sword and Shield in any capacity.

In other languages

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 奇異球 Kèihyih Kàuh
Mandarin 奇異球 / 奇异球 Qíyì Qiú
French Étrange Ball
German Rätselball
Italian Strange Ball
Korean 스트레인지볼 Strange Ball
Spanish Extraña Ball



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