Fast Ball
The Fast Ball (Japanese: スピードボール Speed 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 are fast or quick to flee.
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It is one of Kurt's signature Apricorn Poké Balls, and is made from White 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 Fast 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. It has an increased catch rate modifier against certain species of Pokémon.
The Fast 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 player's turn (as well as the ball prior to Generation IV).
Generation II
If the wild Pokémon is Magnemite, Grimer, or Tangela, the Fast Ball has a 4× catch rate modifier; otherwise, it has a 1× modifier.
While it is intended to be more effective against all Pokémon that can flee, due to a glitch, it is only effective against the first three Pokémon in the list of Pokémon that have a 10% chance of fleeing (these three being Magnemite, Grimer, and Tangela). The code was intended to instead check the three tables of Pokémon that have a chance of fleeing (Pokémon that have a 10% chance to flee, Pokémon that have a 50% chance to flee, and Pokémon that always flee).
Generation IV onward
If the wild Pokémon has a base Speed stat of 100 or more, the Fast Ball 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 Fast Ball.
In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver only, Fast 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
In Generation II games, the Japanese item description mentions 「にげあしの はやい ポケモン」 (Pokémon that are quick to run away), but in the localization this was adapted as "fast Pokémon" instead.
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Acquisition
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Distribution
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Gallery
Artwork
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| Artwork from Generation II |
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 the anime
In Going Apricorn!, Ash, Brock, and Misty each received a Fast Ball from Kurt. Brock used his Fast Ball to catch a Pineco later in the same episode; Ash and Misty's Fast Balls have not been seen or mentioned since, although Ash's Fast Ball makes a cameo appearance in the fifth Japanese opening theme, Ready Go!, and the dub opening theme for Pokémon: Master Quest, Believe in Me.
In Trouble's Brewing, Tamao was revealed to keep her Umbreon in a Fast Ball.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Gold, Silver & Crystal arc
In Teddiursa's Picnic, a Fast Ball appeared in a fantasy during Maizie's explanation about Apricorn Poké Balls.
In Slugging It Out with Slugma, a Fast Ball was seen amongst Crystal's set of Apricorn Poké Balls.
In Surrounded by Staryu, Crystal used Fast Balls to catch a group of Staryu.
In Off Course with Corsola, some of the Pokémon that Crystal had caught for Professor Oak were seen in Fast Balls.
In Absolutely Azumarill, several Fast Balls were seen in a basket full of Apricorn Poké Balls that Mirei delivered to Crystal.
Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys
In The Great Search! Let's Rescue The Slowpoke!, Gold used Fast Balls given to him by Kurt to help him save a group of Slowpoke from drowning in the flooding Slowpoke Well.
In the TCG
- Main article: Fast Ball (Skyridge 124)
The Fast Ball allows the player to go through their deck, turning over cards one at a time until they find the first evolution card, and then taking that into their hand, shuffling afterward. It debuted in Skyridge.
Trivia
- In official artwork and in-battle from Generation V onward, the Fast Ball is shown to be red. However, its Bag sprite and Pokémon Global Link artwork are orange, and it appears orange in-battle in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.
- The Fast Ball includes a stylized S in its design. This is a reference to its Japanese name, Speed Ball.
- In Generation II, despite the Fast Ball's intended effect to be more effective against Pokémon that can run away from battle, its English item description in Generation II instead implies that it is more effective against fast Pokémon in that generation. Conversely, from Generation V onward, its description implies it is more effective against Pokémon that can run away, when in fact it is more effective against fast Pokémon in those generations. As a consequence, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver are the only games in which the Fast Ball’s English description actually matches its effect.
- In Pokémon Gold and Silver: Complete Pokédex (page 21), this item is incorrectly described as follows: "Use a Fast Ball when you're trying to catch a Pokémon that runs away quickly, such as Raikou or Skarmory."
- In Generation II games, the 4× catch rate modifier does not actually apply to Raikou or Skarmory as explained above, and wild Skarmory do not flee from battles nonetheless (unlike Raikou). However, this catch rate modifier does apply to Raikou from Generation IV onwards.
In other languages
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This item article is part of Project ItemDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all items. |