AÂ Pokemon GO player recently made the surprise discovery that players can hold multiple Master Balls within the popular mobile game. This evidence goes against what Niantic previously stated, which is that players can only ever have one Master Ball in their bag at a time.
Throughout the history of the Pokemon series, few items are as rare and coveted as the Master Ball. Generally speaking, only one Master Ball can be obtained in each mainline game, and it allows players to catch a single Pokemon without fail, something that can be of great assistance in use against particularly frustrating legendaries. Pokemon GO was without Master Balls for a significant portion of its existence, but Niantic did finally implement the iconic ball in May 2023. Now players are able to obtain another in the new season, and they apparently don’t need to get rid of their old one first.
Master Balls in Pokemon GO
The discovery that players who haven’t used their first Master Ball don’t need to get rid of it to obtain this second one comes via lance918yuu on X (formerly known as Twitter). The user recently uploaded a video showcasing themself completing the reward in the new Adventures Abound season that earns players the second-ever Master Ball offered by the game. Rather than being told they can only have one Master Ball at a time, the player simply has two Master Balls in their inventory now.
— ランス (@lance918yuu) September 2, 2023
When the first Master Ball was introduced to Pokemon GO in May 2023, Niantic’s patch notes stated, “The Master Ball is a very rare and special type of Poke Ball with a 100% catch rate. Note that you can only carry one Master Ball in your bag at a time.” The fact that players can have a second Master Ball in their bag is something that was not confirmed by Niantic prior to the release of the new Adventures Abound season. It’s entirely possible that this could be considered a glitch by Niantic that will be patched out of the game in the future, but hopefully, that isn’t the case.
