In the beginning there were Poke Balls. And Great Balls, Ultra Balls and Master Balls, too. Oh, and also Safari Balls, but you could only use those in one small area. As the number of Pokemons has expanded, so the variety of tools required to catch them all has increased, to the point where there’s now a different type of ball for every six (and a bit) monsters from the original Red and Blue versions.
Great Ball
Has a 50% higher chance of catching something.
Ultra Ball
Twice as effective as a Poke Ball.
Master Ball
A guaranteed catch. As rare as Psyduck’s teeth.
Safari Ball
Only for use in the Safari Zone.
Lure Ball
Best used against Pokemon encountered using a fishing rod.
Moon Ball
For Pokemon that evolve with the Moon Stone.
Friend Ball
Your captured ’Mon will like you better.
Love Ball
Use it on Pokemon of the opposite sex.
Heavy Ball
The heavier the Pokemon, the better it works.
Fast Ball
Works best on speedy Pokemon.
Sport Ball
For the bug catching competition.