Let's Go Trivia Quiz

This is the ball that started it all! The humble Poké Ball, an item used for capturing Pokémon, is the first ball received by a player in Nintendo's 'Pokémon FireRed'. The protagonist receives five of these red and white spheres from Professor Oak at the very beginning of a long and demanding journey from Pallet Town to Indigo Plateau and beyond.

Capturing Pokémon is an important aspect of 'FireRed' and when a player attempts to catch a wild Pokémon, a complicated algorithm determines whether the attempt succeeds or fails. Some of the variables that are used within the algorithm include the strength of the Pokémon (typically based on its total hit points), the number of hit points remaining and whether any status changes are in effect (sleep, paralysis, poisoning and so on). Another essential variable is the type of Poké Ball used.

The Master Ball is an exceedingly rare item that provides the protagonist a 100% chance of successfully catching any wild Pokémon it is used on in the 'FireRed' game.

Use the Master Ball wisely as there is only one available in the game (Silph Co. in Saffron City); it should ideally be used to catch a legendary Pokémon such as Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres or Mewtwo but if you are desperate to catch that Weedle in Viridian Forest, nobody is going to stop you!

'FireRed' is a modernised version of an original game in the franchise, 'Pokémon Red'. 'FireRed' remains faithful to its predecessor for the most part but it does feature additional gameplay and a wider variety of items. One item that is available in 'FireRed' that was not seen in 'Red' is the Nest Ball.

The Nest Ball is useful for capturing lower level Pokémon; for Pokémon of level ten or below, the Nest Ball is between three to four times more likely to capture the target compared to a standard Poké Ball. The equation to calculate the Nest Ball modifier, neglecting some additional restrictions, is (40 - Level) / 10. And yes, I am tempted to see if I can squeeze a quiz out of 'Pokémon' equations!

The Dive Ball is essentially a novelty item in 'FireRed'. This item is not obtainable in the game itself but can be acquired via a trade through exploiting the fact that from Generation II onwards, Pokémon can carry items that will remain in their possession as they are exchanged from one player to another.

The Dive Ball provides greater chances of success capturing Pokémon when underwater but otherwise it behaves exactly the same as a standard Poké Ball.

The Premier Ball is another item that can only be acquired in 'FireRed' through the use of the in-game trading functionality. There is nothing particularly exciting about the Premier Ball, in fact it behaves in exactly the same way as the standard Poké Ball.

The Premier Ball can be obtained in other games in the 'Pokémon' franchise, notably in Rustboro City in 'Ruby', 'Emerald' and 'Sapphire'. It can also be obtained through a rather quirky method in 'Sword' and 'Shield' when a player buys ten balls in one of the many shops dotted around the map.

The Repeat Ball can either be imported into the game via a trade or, deep into the story arc, be bought at the store on Two Island, part of the Sevii Islands archipelago. The Repeat Ball's design features a yellow and grey pattern akin to the infinity symbol, a nod to the concept of repetition.

The Repeat Ball improves the likelihood of catching a Pokémon by 3.5 times compared to a normal Poké Ball but only if the target Pokémon has already been owned at an earlier point in the game. If you are not in the business of catching a specific Pokémon more than once then it wouldn't at all be a hindrance to ignore this item.

The Ultra Ball, identifiable by its snazzy grey and yellow design, is one of the strongest Poké Balls that is readily available for purchase at Poké Marts in 'FireRed' (albeit weighted towards the business end of the game).

The Ultra Ball has twice the capture rate of a regular Poké Ball which makes it an important item to carry in bulk when attempting to catch higher level or infrequently seen Pokémon.

Kanto's Safari Zone in Fuchsia City can be a very frustrating place that relies on a lot of luck (hopefully you are in favour with the random number generator gods). The Safari Zone is exactly what it suggests - a Pokémon safari. Within the Safari Zone, players can find Pokémon that are exclusive to this area - or hard to find elsewhere - such as Kangaskhan, Tauros and Pinsir.

The rules of the game change in the Safari Zone with players only being able to use the Safari Ball - along with bait and rocks - in their pursuit of catching rare Pokémon. Some Pokémon have an expected encounter rate of just 1% and the agony of spotting such a rarity only for it to flee from battle is very real!

The Sevii Islands add a number of curiosities to 'FireRed' over and above what is available in the original 'Pokémon Red'. One such curiosity is the Luxury Ball which can be discovered at Resort Gorgeous (Five Island). A resident of the island named Selphy rewards the protagonist with one of seven gifts; the most probable item to be awarded is the Luxury Ball, a Poké Ball that increases the happiness of the Pokémon that resides within it.

After all, who wouldn't want to live in luxury?

The Great Ball is a fairly common item in 'FireRed' that offers a 50% increase in the catch rate compared to your ordinary everyday Poké Ball. As well as being available for purchase at a number of Poké Marts for a price of 600 Poké Dollars, the Great Ball can be found in a few locations including onboard the SS Anne (Vermilion City) and in Pokémon Tower (Lavender Town).

The Timer Ball is another Poké Ball that is first made available to 'FireRed' players on the Sevii Islands. Late in the game, the Timer Ball can be purchased from the Poké Mart on Two Island for a fairly hefty 1000 Poké Dollars per ball.

The in-game description of this item is "a somewhat different Ball that becomes progressively better the more turns there are in a battle". Underpinning this description is an equation (control your excitement Jonno):

Modifier, m = min [ (turns + 10) / 10 , 4 ]

The 'min' in the equation is the 'minimum' function which, in this case, returns the lowest value out of either 4 or (turns + 10) / 10. The practical implication of this equation is that the catch rate for the Timer Ball improves with every turn in a battle up until the thirtieth move whereafter the chance of success gets capped at 4x the rate of a standard Poké Ball. A lot of mathematics goes into making video games!

The Net Ball improves the capture rate (3x) for Pokémon of the Bug and Water types and otherwise performs to the same standard as the regular Poké Ball. The Net Ball itself is designed to look like a fishing net - or perhaps a butterfly net for those who prefer catching bugs - with the top half of the ball taking on a watery shade of blue.

In the creation of the image, a colour with the hex code #62AAAC was used which is apparently named "fountain blue".