What is the Pokémon Go Master Ball? If you have to ask that question, you must be a new trainer in, well, training. Pokémon Go has been going for plenty of years now, and the Pokémon Go Master Ball is finally here to help you bag the rarest of the rare. Of course, such a powerful ball is tough to find, and you have to complete some serious challenges to get your hands on one. So, we’re going through everything you need in this guide.
Whether you’re a Pokémon Master or a Pocket Monster padawan, we have more great guides than Ash Ketchum has Tauros. Visit some of our guides to help you out on your Pokémon journey, including articles covering Pokémon Go codes, Pokémon Go Shaymin, Pokémon Go raids, Pokémon Go Giovanni, Pokémon Go’s best Pokémon, and get ready to bag yourself some shiny mon’s with our guide to each month’s Pokémon Go Community Day.
What is the Pokémon Go Master Ball?
The Pokémon Go Master Ball is instantly recognizable thanks to its iconic design, being a purple Pokéball with an M emblazoned on the front. As longtime fans of the franchise know, it’s an exceedingly rare item that catches any Pokémon with a 100% success rate, making it the ideal candidate for legendary and mythical Pokémon. Regardless of how strong they are, the Master Ball will contain them. You don’t even need to weaken the Pokémon you want to catch; just throw this ball, and they’re yours.
We’d never try to dictate what creature you use your Master Ball on, but we will gently guide, as there’s nothing worse than accidentally using this OP item on something like a Pidgey – those pesky ‘mon are everywhere you look. We strongly suggest that you think about which creature you want to add to your Pokédex. Some are only available through raids for short periods of time, and they’re the Pokémon that should be the real contenders for a Pokémon Go Master Ball. We have a really solid option for the Master Ball, actually, but more on that in a minute.
How do I find a Pokémon Go Master Ball?
You can earn the Pokémon Go Master Ball by completing in-game research tasks, though these involve some tough challenges. The first way to earn a Master Ball was the “Let’s Go” special research task, but it’s no longer active, as it ended on June 1, 2023.
The second opportunity trainers had to get a Pokémon Go Master Ball was by completing the Season 12 Adventures Abound timed investigation. However, that ended on November 21, 2023. Most recently, until November 28, 2023, you could purchase the Special Research: Master Ball quest in-game to get a Pokémon Go Master Ball.
Luckily, there’s another way for trainers to get their hands on the prestigious Master Ball, thanks to the Masterwork Research: Catching Wonders quest, and as it doesn’t have a deadline, you can work on getting a Pokémon Go Master ball at your own pace – no more fear of missing out.
How do I use the Pokémon Go Master Ball?
It’s pretty easy to use the Pokémon Go Master Ball, just follow these steps:
- Encounter the Pokémon you want to catch
- Select the Poké Ball icon on the bottom right of the screen
- Scroll across to find and select the Master Ball
- A text box appears, asking if you want to use the Master Ball
- If you do, select ‘use’ to throw your single-use Master Ball
- That Pokémon is now yours, hope it was worth it!
What Pokémon should I use the Pokémon Go Master Ball on?
It’s vital you remember that the Pokémon Go Master Ball is single-use and is very rare. One use, and it’s gone. So, the one Pokémon you choose to use it on had better be worth it. Yes, we know every ‘mon is amazing in the eyes of Arceus, but that’s not actually true, and if you use your Master Ball on a Caterpie, we’ll be forced to judge you.
One good way to use it is with legendary Pokémon from raids. However, remember that raids reward you with lots of premier balls, and they can do the trick with legendary creatures, you just need to be a little bit patient and be willing to play the waiting game. You also have the option to complete numerous raids, offering multiple chances to catch the legendary ‘mon in question.
Next, it might also seem like a good idea to use a Master Ball on a shiny legendary Pokémon, but we don’t recommend this at all. When you complete a legendary raid and have the luck to find a shiny version of the Pokémon (such as Rayquaza or Giratina, etc.), you have a vastly increased capture rate on your first throw. That’s right, your first encounter with a shiny legendary Pokémon is almost a guaranteed success. Please don’t waste your Master Ball here.
Instead, we recommend saving your Master Ball for the Galarian forms of the Kanto legendary birds. You can encounter Galarian Articuno, Zapdos, or Moltres whenever you use your daily adventure incense. This daily item attracts rare Pokémon for fifteen minutes, and this is the only way you can encounter the Galarian birds. Plus, these three love to run away, it often takes just one throw of a pokéball for them to run away. As such, we implore you to use the Master Ball on the Galarian birds (Zapdos is my personal favorite), especially if you encounter your top pick of the three.
Similarly, when you battle Team Rocket members, you eventually encounter powerful shiny Pokémon, and after you beat enough grunts, you earn the chance to battle the Team Rocket leaders known as Sierra, Arlo, and Cliff. These three use powerful Pokémon, and upon defeat, you get the opportunity to catch one of their shadow Pokémon. If this is a particularly rare Pokémon, or perhaps just one you really want, this is also a good chance to use your Master Ball. Ultimately, though, the choice is yours.
Well then, Pokémon masters, we hope this Pokémon Go Master Ball guide helps! If you want to fill out your Pokédex a little more, check out our Rockruff evolution, Ralts evolution, Shellder evolution, Floette evolution, Salandit evolution, and Bisharp evolution guides. We can even tell you how to defeat various ‘mon with our psychic Pokémon weakness, ice Pokémon weakness, dark Pokémon weakness, and steel Pokémon weakness articles.