After more than six years and some teasing from the developers themselves, the Master Ball is finally a usable item in Pokémon Go—though how players obtain the ultimate Poké Ball is fitting of its name.
Niantic teased the addition of the Master Ball for a few weeks before officially announcing the item on May 16, tying it into the closing weeks of Season 10: Rising Heroes—specifically, with an update on how Professor Willow’s research is going and Team Go Rocket’s latest plan.
Just like in the main Pokémon games, the Master Ball has one use. Any Pokémon you encounter can be captured without fail, and based on previous data mines, we already knew there was likely going to be a special animation involved when using it that prevents missing.
But because this item essentially guarantees that players can catch any Pokémon in the wild, it is going to be very hard to come by.
How to obtain a Master Ball in Pokémon Go
As of its introduction to Pokémon Go, players can only obtain a Master Ball by completing the Season 10: Rising Heroes seasonal Special Research.
This a free piece of research that has been live throughout the season and will get its final part on May 22 as part of the final event before season 11 is announced and begins in June. Based on what Niantic is saying, Professor Willow will give players the Master Ball as a reward—something that other Pokémon Professors or important NPCs typically do in other games.
Related: All Pokémon Go: Let’s GO Special Research tasks and rewards
Despite this limitation, the developers have made it clear the Master Ball will appear at multiple points in the future during special occasions.
How many Master Balls can you have in Pokémon Go?
Based on the information Niantic has shared, we currently don’t know if players will have a hard limit to how many Master Balls they can hold at once in their Pokémon Go inventory.
In other Pokémon games, you tend to only get one Master Ball throughout your entire playthrough because it is meant to be a special item. But if you do somehow obtain a second one, you can still hold multiple just like a regular Poké Ball.
It is very likely Pokémon Go will let you stack Master Balls once more methods to obtain them are added to the game, but Niantic will need to confirm this once that becomes a possibility.
