Moon Ball - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia (2024)

Moon Ball ムーンボール Moon Ball

Pokémon Global Link artwork

Introduced in Generation II Pocket Generation II Poké Balls Generation IV Poké Balls(HGSS) Generation V Items(Poké Balls) Generation VI Items Generation VII Items Generation VIII Poké Balls Generation IX Poké Balls

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

Effect

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, while it is intended to be more effective against Pokémon that evolve by using Moon Stone and their evolutionary relatives, due to a glitch, it always has a 1× catch rate. (Instead, the Moon Ball is more effective against Pokémon that evolve by using a Burn Heal, but there are no such Pokémon.)

Generation IV

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, if the wild Pokémon is part of an evolutionary family 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 family), 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

Acquisition

Distribution

As a held item

Gallery

Artwork

Artwork by Ken Sugimori	Artwork from Scarlet and Violet

Sprites

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

In-battle model from X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon	Model from Generation VIII

In the anime

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 Generation II, the Moon Ball's catch rate is mistakenly boosted when used on Pokémon that evolve using a Burn Heal rather than a Moon Stone, so in practice the rate is never boosted. In Generation I, the Moon Stone's index number was 0x0A, but in Generation II, this index corresponds to the Burn Heal (the Moon Stone instead having the index number 0x08)—the Moon Ball's code mistakenly references the Moon Stone's original index number, preventing the Moon Ball's boost from ever applying.
• 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 also the case for Skitty as well.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	月亮球 Yuhtleuhng Kàuh
	Mandarin	月亮球 Yuèliàng Qiú
French		Lune Ball
German		Mondball
Italian		Luna Ball
Korean		문볼 Moon Ball
Polish		Księżycowy Ball
Portuguese		Bola Lua
Spanish	Latin America	Bola Luna
	Spain	Luna Ball
Vietnamese		Bóng Moon

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

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