Poké Ball

A Poké Ball is a device used to capture and store Pokémon. Once a Pokémon is successfully captured, it is encapsulated into the Poké Ball, and its caught-data entry is logged on the trainer's Pokédex. Up to six Pokémon can be carried on-hand at all times; any Pokémon captured after one's on-hand lineup is full will be automatically stored into the PC's storage system.

Capturing a Pokémon

During a wild Pokémon battle, Poké Balls may be thrown in attempt to capture the wild Pokémon on the scene. As Poké Balls are expendable, any capture attempt - successful or unsuccessful - will deplete a Poké Ball, thereby reducing one of the usable Poké Balls per capture attempt. The probability of the capture attempt accounts for several factors, including:

• The Pokémon's total amount of HP, proportional to the remainder of HP points it has. Reducing the Pokémon's HP, without fainting, will formulaically improve the chances.
• The Pokémon's capture rate. The higher the capture-rate value a Pokémon has, the more probable it is to capture.
• Status-ailment afflictions that the Pokemon is ailing from — burn, poison, sleep and paralysis will all weaken a Pokémon, and thus it will improve the chances of capturing it.
• The type of Poké Ball in use. While there is one single, ordinary tier of Poké Balls available for purchase, it may eventually be upgraded using the GreatBall Upgrade; upgrading it with this item will — self-hinted from the item's name — enhance the Poké Ball's effectiveness.

Obtaining Poké Balls

Whereupon the a player completes one of the Tutorial Island's subquest, 10 Poké Balls will be rewarded to the player. If a player wishes to replenish their PokéBall supply, they may purchase more of them. A couple of post-tutorial quests also reward more Poké Balls.

Purchasing Poké Balls

Poké Balls are carried in most Pokémarts and stores, selling at a standard price of 200 per Poké Ball. The maximum amount of Poké Balls a player can carry at a time is 999—the same cap used for all backpack-carried items.

NPC vendors, situated on Route 11 and Route 34, also sell a 100-Pokéball bundle for 19,000, saving the player 1,000 from buying that amount at the standard price (200 per Pokéball, thereof).

Novice Poké Ball Quests

Main article: Kanto Pokéball Quest

Quests are available, prior to a trainer's first gym, which reward 15 PokéBalls, offering an one-off, alternative avenue for obtaining more Poké Balls without buying them. This quest can be started in Viridian City's Pokémart in Kanto, by speaking to the manager; the Johto mirror of the quest begins in Cherrygrove City's Pokémart, also by speaking to the manager therein.

Upgrading the PokéBall

Once a player has obtained the requisite 16th badge, the GreatBall Upgrade will be purchasable in the Department Stores for 100,000. This is a one-time purchase, permanently enhancing all Poké Balls — including all future purchases — to the equivalence of a Great Ball.