Special Poke Ball Inheritance Guide

Introduction

This little guide is here to help you find which special Poké Balls the Pokémon you want to breed in your Sun or Moon game can legally be in. Not every Pokémon from Generation IV can be in, for example, a Love Ball, nor can every Pokémon from Generation V be in a Dream Ball. Compiled into lists are the Pokémon that can be bred into Safari Balls, Sport Balls, and Dream Balls—Poké Balls that are unobtainable in Generation VII. This guide won't go deeply into the specifics on how to require the Pokémon you want, but will give you some brief explanations on where to look. If you want more exact info, look for other sources of information.

There are some restrictions for this, though:

• Ditto cannot pass on Poké Balls. In previous generations only females could pass down Poké Balls, but in Sun and Moon, males and genderless Pokémon can as well. When breeding a male and female Pokémon of different species, the female's Poké Ball has priority over the male's. When the male and female Pokémon are the same species, there is an equal chance of inheriting either Poké Ball. Genderless Pokémon only pass down their Poké Ball when breeding with Ditto.
• As of Generation VII, because both male and female Pokémon can pass down hidden abilities and Poké Balls, it is now possible to have Speed Boost Sharpedo inside a Safari Ball or a Drought Ninetales inside a Love Ball. It is also possible through breeding to have an Alolan Sandshrew inside a Safari Ball even though Safari Balls are not available in Sun and Moon.
• Cherish Balls cannot be passed on, even if the Pokémon in the Cherish Ball is female. The same goes for Master Balls, as they are programmed that way. The offspring will hatch in a regular Poké Ball instead.

Safari Ball

The Safari Ball has the biggest distribution between both Pokémon and games. The Safari Ball can only be used in the Safari Zone/Great Marsh, but is available in every Generation III and IV game.

Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald

The Safari Zone in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald is located at Route 121. There are four areas where different Pokémon reside. In Emerald, two more areas exist (post-game), with Pokémon unobtainable in Ruby and Sapphire.

Pokémon

Emerald Exclusives

FireRed & LeafGreen

The Safari Zone in FireRed and LeafGreen is located in Fuchsia City. There are four areas with different distributions of Pokémon. Also, Scyther can only found in FireRed, while Pinsir can only be found in LeafGreen.

Pokémon

Diamond, Pearl, Platinum

The Great Marsh can be found in Pastoria City. The Great Marsh consists of six areas, with different Pokémon appearing in each one. Some of these Pokémon can only be found when certain conditions have been met. Some version differences exist, which are marked with (DP) and (Pt) for their respective games.

Pokémon

HeartGold & SoulSilver

The Safari Zone can be found at the end of Route 48. There are 12 different areas to choose from, which you customize with different items. You can choose which areas to display, six at a time, and certain Pokémon only appear with certain item combinations etc.

Apricorn Balls

The full set of Apricorn Balls consist of Level Ball, Moon Ball, Lure Ball, Friend Ball, Love Ball, Fast Ball, and Heavy Ball. The collective name comes from what they are made of: Apricorns. While apricorns can only be found within HeartGold and SoulSilver from Kurt in Azalea Town, the actual Poké Balls are now obtainable in Sun and Moon in various locations, though only one of each per file. The list below will only include Pokémon that can be inside Apricorn Balls if caught in exclusively one generation of games (HeartGold and SoulSilver OR Sun and Moon).

Certain Pokémon listed below are exclusive to one version of HeartGold, SoulSilver, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon and are marked with (HG), (SS), (S), (M), (US), and (UM), respectively. Some of the Pokémon listed under 'Swarm Pokémon' can be found through regular encounters as well, but the chance of doing so is only 1%.

Normal Pokémon

These Pokémon are found in tall grass or caves, by Surfing or fishing, by using Rock Smash, or through special means (Sudowoodo, Lapras, and Snorlax).

Swarm Pokémon

These Pokémon only appear during Swarms in HeartGold and SoulSilver; use the Poké Gear to find out which Pokémon is in a Swarm during that day (Prof. Oak's Pokémon Talk).

Radio Sound Pokémon

These Pokémon only appear when you are tuned into the Pokémon March channel on Wednesdays (Hoenn) and Thursdays (Sinnoh) in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Headbutt Tree Pokémon

These Pokémon can only be found by using Headbutt on trees in HeartGold and SoulSilver; some of these Pokémon can only be found in one specific tree, in one specific location.

Island Scan

After a player has scanned 100 QR codes into their copy of Sun and Moon, they can use the Island Scan feature, revealing a Pokémon not part of the Alola Dex. The player then has one hour to catch the Pokémon before it goes away; the player then has to scan more QR codes to be able to use Island Scan again. The Pokémon encountered here can be caught in any Poké Ball available in Sun and Moon. The following Pokémon can only be in Apricorn Balls if caught using the Island Scan feature.

S.O.S. Pokémon

These Pokémon are only found when they appear as allies in S.O.S. battles. In Sun and Moon, when the player lowers the health of a wild Pokémon, it may call for help. These Pokémon only appear when certain species call them for help.

Ultra Wormhole Pokémon

Certain Legendary Pokémon are only obtainable in Apricorn Balls when they are found in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon through Ultra Wormhole encounters. This minigame can be accessed late in the storyline and has players ride on Solgaleo or Lunala and warp to other dimensions via Ultra Wormholes. The following legendaries is a list of legendaries that are now able to be caught in Apricorn Balls in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon that were not present in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Sport Ball

The Sport Ball is another Ball that can only be found and used in HeartGold and SoulSilver. However, its restriction is even greater. The Sport Ball can only be used during the Bug Catching Contest, which gives it the lowest distrubution of all Poké Balls.

The Bug Catching Contest can only be entered on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with different Pokémon appearing on each day. If you don't have the National Pokédex, the same Pokémon that appears on Tuesdays will appear on all three days.

Tuesday

Thursday

Saturday

Dream Ball

The Dream Ball is the only new Poké Ball introduced in Generation V. It is given to you in Entree Forest when catching a Pokémon from the Dream World and can only be used in that area. The Pokémon that are transferred from the Pokémon Dream Radar game on the 3DS come inside Dream Balls.

Dream World

The Dream World on the Pokémon Global Link website is where the majority of the Pokémon that can be caught in a Dream Ball come from. The way you obtain a Pokémon in the Dream World is by playing a minigame with it and befriending it. There are several Pokémon that can only be encountered in the Dream World by inputting a special event password.

However, as of January 14th, the Black and White Global Link site was shut down, and along with it the Dream World. This means you can only get the Pokémon below in a Dream Ball by other means, such as trading with someone. The Pokémon are still categorized by the area they were found in.

Pokémon

Pokémon Dream Radar

The Pokémon Dream Radar provides another way to get Pokémon in Dream Balls. While the amount of Pokémon available is significantly lower, these Pokémon are always obtainable as long as you have access to the Pokémon Dream Radar game.

Pokémon

Beast Balls

After you beat the Elite Four in Pokémon Sun and Moon, you are given a special mission to catch Pokémon-like creatures called Ultra Beasts. In order to do so, you are given a special type of Poké Ball that works better on Ultra Beasts: Beast Balls. In the game, you get 10 before each mission, though you can get more by giving them to your Pokémon to hold and putting them in the PC, thereby tricking the NPC that gives them to you into thinking you have none. While they work best on Ultra Beasts, they can be used on any other Pokémon and can also be inherited through breeding. The list below shows the Pokémon that can be bred in Beast Balls:

Normal Pokémon

These Pokémon are found in tall grass or caves, by Surfing or fishing, or through special means (overworld attacks such as Wimpod, Fearow, etc).

S.O.S. Pokémon

These Pokémon are only found when they appear as allies in S.O.S. battles. In Sun and Moon, when the player lowers the health of a wild Pokémon, it may call for help. These Pokémon only appear when certain species call them for help.

Island Scan

After a player has scanned 100 QR codes into their copy of Sun and Moon, they can use the Island Scan feature, revealing a Pokémon not part of the Alola Dex. The player then has one hour to catch the Pokémon before it goes away; the player then has to scan more QR codes to be able to use Island Scan again. The Pokémon encountered here can be caught in any Poké Ball available in Sun and Moon. The following Pokémon can only be in Apricorn Balls if caught using the Island Scan feature.

Legendary Pokémon and Ultra Beasts

Ultra Beasts are a type of otherworldly Pokémon that are available to be caught once the player has completed the main story. In addition to these Ultra Beasts, players can find legendary Pokémon from previous generations by encountering them in Ultra Wormholes. The following legendary Pokémon and Ultra Beasts can be captured in Beast Balls.

Special Cases With Regular Balls

While there's nothing out of the ordinary with Poké Balls such as Great Ball and Luxury Ball, as they can be passed on to most Pokémon, there are some Pokémon that cannot be in these regular Balls at all. These Pokémon consist of starter, fossil, Shedinja, and some gift Pokémon, as they always come in Poké Balls. However, there are special instances where you can actually obtain some of these Pokémon in regular Balls.

Pokémon Colosseum

In Pokémon Colosseum you have the ability to catch Bayleef, Quilava, and Croconaw inside any Poké Ball you can find in Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen. This, along with Sun and Moon's Island Scan feature, means that you can legally breed Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile into any Poké Balls besides Safari and Sport Balls.

Dream World

When you catch Pokémon from the Dream World in the Entree Forest, the Dream Ball isn't your only Ball option. You can use any Poké Ball you have in your bag, which means you can catch quite a few Pokémon, that can only be inside Poké Balls when obtained elsewhere, in any regular Ball that you can find in Black and White (2). These Pokémon are the fossil Pokémon Omanyte, Kabuto, Aerodactyl, Lileep, Anorith, Cranidos, Shieldon, and Tirtouga, as well as the normally gift-only Pokémon Porygon.

Friend Safaris

In X and Y Friend Safaris, players could catch Pokémon using any Poké Ball they had in their bags. Among regular Pokémon, the Kalos starters could also be found in these areas, meaning that Fennekin, Froakie, and Chespin can legally be bred into Great Balls, Ultra Balls, Net Balls, Nest Balls, Timer Balls, Repeat Balls, Dive Balls, Luxury Balls, and Premier Balls.

Form Differences

With the release of Generation VI and numerous events, all breedable Pokémon can now legally have their hidden abilities. This does not, however, mean that all Pokémon with form differences can be bred in any regular Ball and have their hidden ability.

In Generation VI, seasons were removed, but the form differences of Deerling and Sawsbuck were preserved through breeding. In Generation V, Deerling is able to be obtained with its hidden ability only as a gift Pokémon in a Poké Ball. Therefore, the Summer, Autumn, and Winter forms can only be in a normal Poké Ball if they have their hidden ability. Only the Spring form can have its hidden ability and be in a different type of regular Poké Ball because it is able to be caught in Friend Safaris and as a hidden Pokémon via the DexNav.

The Flabébé and Pumpkaboo families are similar. Flabébé can only have its hidden ability, and therefore be bred in different Balls, if it is of the Blue, Red, or Yellow Flower form. Pumpkaboo can only have its hidden ability and be in a different Ball if it is Average Sized. Both of these Pokémon are only able to be caught with their respective hidden abilities in Friend Safaris.

Shedinja

Shedinja is the other evolution of Nincada that is only obtained by evolving Nincada with an open space in the party. Since Generation IV, the player must have an empty Poké Ball (this term is used to reference the classic red Poké Ball, not the category of items) in their bag to get Shedinja. However, in Generation III, Shedinja copied the Poké Ball that the Nincada it "evolves" from was in. Thus, if a Nincada was caught in a Great Ball, when it evolves, Shedinja will be in a Great Ball as well. This means it is only possible to have a Shedinja in a Great Ball, Ultra Ball, Master Ball, Premier Ball, Repeat Ball, Timer Ball, Nest Ball, Net Ball, Dive Ball, or Luxury Ball if it was obtained in Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald.

Other Notes

Heavy Ball Beldum and Tapu

In SM, because of the way catch rates are calculated, Beldum's and the four Tapu's catch rates will always become 0 when you try and catch it in a Heavy Ball. It is not possible to modify the catch rate through methods such as Tricking an Iron Ball onto the Pokémon. However, due to changes to the catch rate formula and the addition of Roto Loto powers, these Pokémon can be caught in a Heavy Ball in Ultra Sun and Moon.

Event-Only Forms

Because they are obtained through an event only and are not caught by the player, Pokémon with special forms cannot be found in Poké Balls other than the ones they are obtained in the event, even if the pre-evolution is obtainable in a different Poké Ball. For example, Ash-Greninja is only ever in a regular Poké Ball even though Froakie can be caught in any purchaseable ball in X and Y. This is because the form is only obtainable by receiving a special Ash-Greninja and not by evolving. So far, the list of Poké Ball-only Event forms only includes Ash-Greninja, but it may expand with the release of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

Poipole, Type: Null, and Totem-Sized Pokémon

These Pokémon are received as gifts in-game, and are therefore only available in regular Poké Balls. Type: Null is given in all four Generation VII games, while Poipole and the Totem-sized Pokémon are only available in Ultra Sun and/or Ultra Moon. Gumshoos, Alolan Raticate, Alolan Marowak, Araquanid, Lurantis, Salazzle, Vikavolt, Togedemaru, Mimikyu, Rimbombee, and Kommo-o are all of the Totem-sized Pokémon.