Poké Balls

Poké Balls are items that are critical to a Trainer's quest, used for catching and storing Pokémon. Currently Poké Balls can be obtained through several different ways such as: spinning Photo Discs at Gyms and PokéStops, being rewarded for leveling up, completing research tasks, opening gifts or purchasing them in Shop (in this case only regular ones).

There currently five varieties of Poké Balls exist in-game:

regular Poké Ball,
Great Ball,
Ultra Ball,
currently not-available Master Ball
and Premier Ball which is available only in Bonus Challenge on Raids or Team GO Rocket.

Regular Poké Balls are the most common and have the lowest success rate in term of capture. The rate increases with the Great Ball, and above.

To see currently owned Poké Balls player can check them out on the item bag page .

Usage

When encountering a Pokémon in the wild, players can attempt to catch a Pokémon by holding down on the Poké Ball, sliding upwards, and letting go to launch it towards the Pokémon.

Players can influence bonuses on catching Pokémon by tossing the ball towards the center of the Pokémon while letting the circle indicator shrink down. The smaller the circle is if the ball lands inside it, the better bonus you'll get (landing outside the circle gives no bonus). Players can also hold down the ball and spin it for a curveball bonus that grants a small boost to catching and 20 XP. Selecting a better type of Poké Ball will make the Pokémon easier to capture.

Types

Poké Ball

	Details Also referred as Regular ones. Poké Ball is most-common, the lowest-tier device for capturing wild Pokémon. 50 is given upon starting an account. This kind of Poké Ball is a reward for levelling up at from levels two to eleven.
	In-game description A device for capturing wild Pokémon. It's thrown like a ball at a Pokémon, comfortably encapsulating its target.

Great Ball

Details

It is high-performance Poké Ball that increases Trainer's chance of capturing a Pokémon by 50%.

Great Balls are unlocked once the player hits Level 12 (however, it is possible to obtain them from certain Special Research tasks prior). Upon levelling to 12 the player receives 20 free Great Balls and they become available via spinning Photo Discs. This kind of Poké Ball is a reward for levelling up from levels 12 to 19.

In-game description
A good, high-performance Poké Ball that provides a higher catch rate than a standard Poké Ball.

Ultra Ball

Details

It is high-performance Poké Ball that increases Trainer's chance of capturing a Pokémon by 100%.

Ultra Balls are unlocked once the player hits Level 20. Upon leveling to 20 the player receives 20 free Ultra Balls and they become available via spinning Photo Discs. This kind of Poké Ball is a reward for leveling up from levels 20 to 40.

In-game description
An ultra-high performance Poké Ball that provides a higher Pokémon catch rate than a Great Ball.

Master Ball

	Details It is a type of Poké Ball that can catch a Pokémon without fail. It has not been officially implemented into gameplay yet, although it can be found in the game's data.
	In-game description The best Poké Ball with the ultimate level of performance. With it, you will catch any wild Pokémon without fail.

Premier Ball

Details

It is special type of Poké Ball given and used only for capturing a Raid Boss or Shadow Pokémon in Bonus Challenge after defeating it in a Raid Battle; any remaining after the catch attempt are discarded. The capture rate of this type of Poké Ball is normally the same as a normal Poké Ball (see below).

Based on various factors (see below; the factors have changed with updates), a Trainer will receive a variable number of Premier Balls. These are used to capture the rewarded Raid Boss/Shadow Pokémon, once the battle has been cleared.^[1]

Premier Ball catch rates:

Normal: x1 (The normal catch rate is the same as a basic Poké Ball)
Raid, pity: x1.5-2 (After a certain number of Premier Balls are thrown attempting to catch a Legendary Raid Pokémon, it gains additional multipliers, eventually being equal to a Great or Ultra Ball. The exact numbers are currently under research by The Silph Road, but it appears that from the 8-10th throw it is equal to an Ultra Ball.)
Raid, Shiny: 100%, aka Master Ball (When encountering a shiny raid boss Pokémon, the Premier Ball will appear shiny, similar to a disco ball, indicating that the throw will be a 100% catch rate.)
Shadow, Giovanni: 100%, aka Master Ball (When catching a Legendary Shadow Pokémon from Giovanni it has 100% catch rate.)

Reward Factors: Raid (8-24 possible, 6-16 in Mega Raids)

Boss Defeated: +6
Damage: +0-6 (How much damage you contributed)
Friend: +0-4 (The highest friendship level you shared with any raid member)
Speed: +2-8 (Percentage of time remaining the raid timer; except in Mega Raids where Speed rewards Mega Energy instead)
- 0-25% remaining: +2
- 25-50% remaining: +3
- 50-75% remaining: +4
- 75-90% remaining: +6
- 90-100% remaining: +8

Reward Factors: Shadow (3-13 possible)