Moon Ball
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The Moon Ball (Japanese: ムーンボール Moon Ball) is a type of Poké Ball introduced in Generation II. It can be used to catch a wild Pokémon, being more likely to succeed against Pokémon that evolve by using a Moon Stone.
It is one of Kurt's signature Apricorn Poké Balls, and is made from Yellow Apricorns.
In the core series games
Price
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Effect
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: If the wild Pokémon used Transform, does the Moon Ball check for the original species or the transformed species? |
Manual activation
When used from the Bag in a wild encounter, it attempts to catch the wild Pokémon.
The Moon Ball cannot be used in situations in which Poké Balls cannot be used, such as in wild battles with two or more opponents currently present or against a trial Pokémon. If used in a Trainer battle, the opposing Trainer will bat the ball away, wasting the turn (as well as the ball prior to Generation IV).
Generation II
In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, the Moon Ball always has a 1× catch rate.
The Moon Ball was intended to be more effective on Pokémon that evolve by using the Moon Stone. However, in this generation only, due to an oversight, the Moon Ball has a 4× catch rate modifier if the wild Pokémon has at least two branched Evolutions:
- The first branch must be an Evolution by using any Evolution stone or any other item directly from the Bag.
- The second branch must specifically use the 10th method of Evolution (index number 0x0A), which does not actually exist in-game because there are only 5 index numbers for methods of Evolution in this generation.
This occurs because, instead of checking what exactly is the item used to evolve the wild Pokémon, the game checks the memory address that would store the method of the 2nd branched Evolution (if any) of this Pokémon. Additionally, instead of looking for the Moon Stone index number (0x08 in Generation II), it looks for the Burn Heal index number (0x0A, which used to be the index number of the Moon Stone in Generation I).
Generation IV
In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, if the wild Pokémon is part of an evolutionary line that includes a Pokémon who evolves by using a Moon Stone, it has a 4× catch rate modifier; otherwise, it has a 1× modifier.
Generation VII onward
If the wild Pokémon is of a species that evolves by using a Moon Stone (no longer including the rest of their evolutionary line), it has a 4× catch rate modifier; otherwise, it has a 1× modifier. If used on an Ultra Beast, the catch rate modifier is instead always set to 410/4096× (~0.1×).
Held item
Fling fails if the user is holding a Moon Ball.
In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver only, Moon Balls cannot be held. This is to prevent them being held by a Pokémon traded to Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, where the item does not exist.
Description
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Acquisition
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Distribution
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As a held item
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Gallery
Artwork
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| Artwork by Ken Sugimori |
Artwork from Scarlet and Violet |
Sprites
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| In-battle sprite in Generation II |
Summary sprite from Generations IV and V |
In-battle sprite in Generation IV |
In-battle sprite in Generation V |
Models
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| In-battle model from X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon |
Model from Generation VIII |
In animation
Pokémon the Series
Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver
In Going Apricorn!, a Moon Ball appeared in a fantasy during Maizie's explanation about Apricorn Poké Balls.
In Trouble's Brewing, Satsuki was revealed to keep her Jolteon in a Moon Ball.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Gold, Silver & Crystal arc
In Teddiursa's Picnic, a Moon Ball appeared in a fantasy during Maizie's explanation about Apricorn Poké Balls.
In Slugging It Out with Slugma, a Moon Ball was seen amongst Crystal's set of Apricorn Poké Balls.
Trivia
- In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, contrary to a common misconception, the Moon Ball has no increased catch rate against a Pokémon that evolves using a Burn Heal. As mentioned above, due to an oversight, the Moon Ball strictly checks for the branched Evolutions instead of the Evolution items in these games.[note 1][note 2]
- Prior to Pokémon Sword and Shield, it was impossible to legitimately observe the Moon Ball's bonus on Munna, as it could not be encountered in the wild in any of the games where Moon Balls could be obtained.
- Prior to Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, this was the case for Skitty as well.
Notes
- ↑ All other things being equal, even if these games were hacked so that a Pokémon evolves with the item index number 0x0A (Burn Heal), this would still not affect Moon Ball's catch rate.
- ↑ Similarly, if the Moon Ball looked for the index number 0x08 instead of 0x0A, this would still not increase its catch rate either. Instead, it would actually check for a Pokémon whose 2nd evolutionary branch uses the 8th method of Evolution (which does not exist in these games).
In other languages
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Related articles
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This item article is part of Project ItemDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all items. |