Yesterday, I was looking at how the Apricorn Balls work in G/S/C, since I wanted to confirm some things regarding their functionality. I already knew that some of them were glitched, but to my own surprise, the number of glitched ones was higher than I previously thought. In fact, only two of them work the way they are supposed to! Let’s take a look at all seven:
Fast Ball. It is supposed to have an increased catch rate against all Pokémon that flee, but due to a glitch, it only affects Magnemite, Grimer, and Tangela. Does that mean those the three fastest Pokémon in G/S/C? That’s hilarious.
Level Ball. It has an increased catch rate if your Pokémon is at a higher level than the wild Pokémon, with the highest possible being x8 (that’s really high!). However, there’s this glitch:
In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, due to what is seemingly a coding mistake the wild Pokémon's remaining HP and status are ignored when calculating the catch rate; only the wild Pokémon's level is used for calculation if using a Level Ball. – Bulbapedia
Now that’s cool. It makes it completely unnecessary to lower the target's HP or inflict it with status when using Level Balls. Nice. No wonder Level Balls worked so well for me in Crystal recently.
Lure Ball. One of the two Apricorn Balls that actually works as intended since it makes it easier to catch Pokémon that are encountered through fishing. As there are a lot of Pokémon that can be encountered through fishing in the Johto games, including several that are only available through fishing, it is really great and useful. I like it a lot.
Heavy Ball. Has a higher catch rate against heavy Pokémon, and a lower catch rate against light Pokémon. I don’t know how many heavy Pokémon there are in G/S/C, but it seems useful nonetheless. However, there’s this glitch:
In Pokémon Crystal only, there is a glitch that causes the retrieved weights of Pokémon whose index numbers are divisible by 64 (Kadabra, Tauros, and Sunflora) to become junk data that are, in turn, interpreted as massive weights, causing these particular Pokémon to receive the +40 capture modifier. In Gold and Silver, these Pokémon's weights are retrieved correctly, giving them a -20 catch modifier. – Bulbapedia
That’s very interesting. Next time I’m going to catch a Kadabra or Tauros in Crystal, I’ll make sure to use a Heavy Ball. Unlike the Fast Ball, the Heavy Ball is glitched in a good way, which is cool.
But that's not all. While the above glitch was fixed in HG/SS, they added another one instead:
In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the ±0 and -20 modifiers were supposed to work like Generation II's, but the -20's modifier instead checks if the catch rate is less than 1024, rather than the weight (internally, weights are stored as tenths of kilograms), which is always true, so when the ±0's "less than 204.8 kg" check is passed, -20's will always be as well. – Bulbapedia
Which means that the ±0 modifier is never applied in HG/SS. I didn’t know about that. This makes the Heavy Ball the only Apricorn Ball in HG/SS that can never have a standard x1 catch rate.
Love Ball. In G/S/C, it is supposed to have a higher catch rate against wild Pokémon of the same species and opposite gender, but due to a glitch, it is higher against wild Pokémon of the same species and
same gender. This ironically makes it better than it would have been if it had worked as intended, since this gives you an easier chance to catch Pokémon that only has one gender like Tauros or Chansey, while also giving you the same chances against any Pokémon that can be either gender. HG/SS changed it to the way it is supposed to work, which actually makes it worse.
Friend Ball. The second one which works as intended, it has a normal catch rate but any Pokémon caught with it has their Friendship value automatically set to 200. This is good in theory, but in practice, it is mostly pointless since the only Pokémon that evolve through friendship that can be found in the wild are Zubat/Golbat and Chansey. Makes me wonder if they actually thought things through when adding it to the games. In HG/SS, Budew, Buneary and Chingling can also be found in the wild, making it a little better. Apart from that, I guess it is good if you want to use a Pokémon that gets a strong Return right off the bat.
Moon Ball. It is supposed to have an increased catch rate against Pokémon that evolve through a Moon Stone, but due to a glitch, it is instead effective against Pokémon that evolve through a Burn Heal! Good luck finding a Pokémon like that. We’re in Gen 9 and the series has yet to introduce one, I wonder if we’ll finally see one in Gen 10? Or maybe in L:Z-A? Or more likely never.
I realize that this might not be the completely right place for this post, but what I really want to say is that I like the weird glitches surrounding the Apricorn Balls in G/S/C (and HG/SS for the Heavy Ball). It was just so hilarious when I learned about several of them yesterday.