Timer Ball

	Pokémon Global Link artwork
	Introduced in Generation III
Pocket
Generation III	Poké Balls
Generation IV	Poké Balls
Generation V	Items (Poké Balls)
Generation VI	Items
Generation VII	Items
Generation VIII	Poké Balls
Generation IX	Poké Balls

The Timer Ball (Japanese: タイマーボール Timer Ball) is a type of Poké Ball introduced in Generation III. It can be used to catch a wild Pokémon, being more likely to succeed the longer it has been since the start of the battle. It was developed by the Devon Corporation.

In the core series games

Price

Games	Cost	Sell price
RS E FRLG DP Pt HGSS BW B2W2 XY ORAS SM USUM SwSh BDSP	$1,000	$500
SV ZA	$1,000	$250

Effect

Manual activation

When used from the Bag in a wild encounter, it attempts to catch the wild Pokémon. It has a catch rate modifier that increases with the number of turns that have passed in the encounter (so this counter is 0 on the first turn), calculated as follows:

From Generations III to IV: $m o d i f i e r = \min (\frac{t u r n s + 10}{10}, 4)$

From Generation V onward: $m o d i f i e r = \min (1 + t u r n s \times \frac{1229}{4096}, 4)$

Turns passed	Catch rate modifier
Turns passed	Gen. III-IV	Gen. V+
0	1	1
1	1.1	5325/4096 (~1.3)
2	1.2	6554/4096 (~1.6)
3	1.3	7783/4096 (~1.9)
4	1.4	9012/4096 (~2.2)
5	1.5	10241/4096 (~2.5)
6	1.6	11470/4096 (~2.8)
7	1.7	12699/4096 (~3.1)
8	1.8	13928/4096 (~3.4)
9	1.9	15157/4096 (~3.7)
10	2	4
11	2.1
12	2.2
13	2.3
14	2.4
15	2.5
16	2.6
17	2.7
18	2.8
19	2.9
20	3
21	3.1
22	3.2
23	3.3
24	3.4
25	3.5
26	3.6
27	3.7
28	3.8
29	3.9
30+	4

In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the total number of moves used since the beginning of the battle by both the wild Pokémon and the player's active Pokémon is used as the turn counter instead, and the individual bonuses only go up per 10 moves; if less than 11 moves have been used in the battle, the multiplier is 1×. If between 11 and 20 moves have been used in the battle, the multiplier is 2×. If between 21 and 30 moves have been used in the battle, the multiplier is 3×. If at least 30 moves have been used in the battle, the multiplier is 4×.

If used on an Ultra Beast, the catch rate modifier is instead always set to 410/4096× (~0.1×).

The Timer 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 (except if used as a Snag Ball on a Shadow Pokémon), the opposing Trainer will deflect it, wasting the ball (prior to Generation IV) or only the player's turn (since Generation IV). If used on the ghost Marowak, it will dodge it, wasting the ball.

Held item

Fling fails if the user is holding a Timer Ball.

Description

Games	Description
RS	More effective as more turns are taken in battle.
EXD	A Ball that gains power in battles taking many turns.
FRLG	A somewhat different Ball that becomes progressively better the more turns there are in a battle.
Colo	A Ball that works better the more turns in battle.
DP Pt HGSS BW B2W2	A somewhat different Ball that becomes progressively better the more turns there are in a battle.
XY ORAS SM USUM PE	A somewhat different Poké Ball that becomes progressively more effective the more turns that are taken in battle.
SwSh BDSP LA	A somewhat different Poké Ball that becomes progressively more effective at catching Pokémon the more turns that are taken in battle.
SV	A somewhat different Poké Ball that becomes more effective at catching Pokémon the more turns that are taken in battle.
ZA	A somewhat different Poké Ball that becomes more effective at catching a Pokémon the more actions the target has taken.

Acquisition

Games	Finite methods	Repeatable methods
RS E	Trick House (Second Puzzle)	Rustboro Poké Mart (after receiving a Repeat Ball from the Devon Employee on Route 116)
FRLG		Two Island vendor (after upgrading the Network Machine with the Ruby and Sapphire)
Colo	The Under Subway	Outskirt Stand (after Duking's first email)
XD	Citadark Isle Realgam Tower (Battle CD 27 and 28 completion prizes)	Outskirt Stand
DP Pt	Route 207^Pt	Canalave, Snowpoint, and Pokémon League Poké Marts, Celestic Town shop Pokémon News Press
HGSS		Goldenrod Department Store lottery (second prize)^Sa
PW		Sinnoh Field (2500+ steps)
BW	Castelia City, Chargestone Cave, Icirrus City, Challenger's Cave Passerby Analytics HQ (complete "How long have you been playing?" survey)	Opelucid and Pokémon League Poké Marts; Shopping Mall Nine
B2W2	Route 12, Castelia City, Striaton City Passerby Analytics HQ (complete "How long have you been playing?" survey)	Opelucid, Victory Road, and Icirrus Poké Marts; Shopping Mall Nine
DW*		Rugged Mountain
XY	Routes 19 and 17; Geosenge Town, Poké Ball Factory	Coumarine, Snowbelle, and Lumiose (South Boulevard) Poké Marts; Poké Ball Boutique
ORAS		Rustboro Poké Mart (after speaking to the Scientist on Route 116) Route 119 (20% chance after a rematch with Pokémon Ranger Catherine and Pokémon Ranger Jackson)
PMC*		Mine Cart Adventure (all levels)
SM USUM	Blush Mountain	Paniola Poké Mart, Thrifty Megamart Festival Plaza (Ball Shop)^MUM
SwSh		All Wild Area Watt Traders (50 W) Hammerlocke Poké Mart (Southern Pokémon Center) Reward from Ball Guy for clearing Champion Cup tournament during post-game (×3, 5% chance)
SwShIA		Hidden recurring item (Brawlers' Cave) Cram-o-matic (White Apricorn)
SwShCT		Snowslide Slope Watt Trader (50 W) Hidden recurring item (Frostpoint Field, Giant's Bed, Ballimere Lake) Reward from Ball Guy for clearing Galarian Star Tournament during post-game (×3, 5% chance)
BDSP		Canalave, Snowpoint, and Pokémon League Poké Marts, Celestic Town shop Pokémon News Press
SV	Area Zero, Asado Desert, Casseroya Lake, Glaseado Mountain, East Province (Area Three), North Province (Area Two), West Province (Area One) Reward for registering 220 Pokémon in the Paldea Pokédex (×10)	All Poké Marts (after earning 8 Gym Badges), Porto Marinada auction
SVTM	Fellhorn Gorge, Reveler's Road, Wistful Fields	Peachy's (after earning 8 Gym Badges)
SVID	Polar Biome	Vending machines (Terarium) Item Printer (Poké Ball Lotto)
ZA		Poké Ball Boutique
ZAMD		Destroy Floating Poké Ball in Hyperspace Zones with Item Power: Poké Balls

Distribution

Games	Event	Language/Region	Distribution period
SV	Variety Ball Sets	Japan	November 18, 2022 to March 7, 2023
SV	Miscellaneous items: Rare Candies, Max Revives and variety ball set	Japanese	April 13 to October 2, 2023

NPC usage

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Giacomo keeps his Pokémon in Timer Balls.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Grisham keeps his Pokémon in Timer Balls.

Gallery

Artwork


Artwork by Ken Sugimori	Artwork from Global Link	Artwork from Legends: Z-A

Sprites


In-battle and Summary sprite from Generation III	Summary sprite from Colosseum	Summary sprite from XD: Gale of Darkness	Summary sprite from Generations IV and V

In-battle sprite in Generation IV	Summary sprite from Battle Revolution	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 animation

Pokémon the Series

Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

A Timer Ball appeared in Which One ~ Is It?, a Japanese ending theme from Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Emerald arc

A Timer Ball first appeared in A Sketchy Smattering of Smeargle and Skirting Around Surskit I, where Emerald tried to use one to catch Jirachi. However, Guile Hideout, seeking to catch Jirachi for himself, used his sword to slice the Ball in two before it could hit its target.

More of Emerald's Timer Balls were seen in Sneaky Like Shedinja II, The Final Battle III, and The Final Battle V.

In the TCG

Main article: Timer Ball (Sun & Moon 134)

The Timer Ball was introduced as an Item card in the Pokémon Trading Card Game during the English Sun & Moon Series (the Japanese Sun & Moon Era). It was first released in the Japanese Collection Sun expansion and the English Sun & Moon expansion, with artwork by Toyste Beach. It allows the player to flip two Coins, search their deck for an Evolution Pokémon for each heads flipped, reveal them to the other player, and add them to their hand.

Trivia

Timer Balls can achieve one of the highest catch rates of any Poké Ball other than the Master Ball.
- From Generation III to IV, Timer Balls have a better catch rate than Ultra Balls after 11 turns, and better than Dusk Balls after 26 turns.
- From Generation V to VI, Timer Balls have a better catch rate than Ultra Balls after 4 turns, and better than Dusk Balls after 9 turns.
- From Generation VII onward, Timer Balls have a better catch rate than Ultra Balls after 4 turns, and better than Dusk Balls after 7 turns.
Timer Ball is the only Poké Ball introduced in the first three generations that has not appeared in the animated series in any form outside of openings and endings.

In other languages


Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	計時球 Gaisìh Kàuh
Chinese	Mandarin	計時球 / 计时球 Jìshí Qiú
French		Chrono Ball
German		Timerball
Indonesian		Bola Timer
Italian		Timer Ball
Korean		타이마볼 Timer Ball
Portuguese	Brazil	Bola Tempo
Portuguese	Portugal	Bola Tempo
Russian		Хроно-Болл Khrono-Boll
Spanish	Latin America	Turnobola
Spanish	Spain	Turno Ball
Thai		ไทเมอร์บอล Timer Ball
Vietnamese		Bóng Time