Light Balls in Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen

by ReOcelot

Light Ball
#	Location	Repeatable?
1	Trade (RSE)—Held item on wild Pikachu (5% chance) only in Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald.	Yes

To get Light Balls in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, you need to trade them over from a copy of Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald.

To trade, each player needs to go to the Pokémon Center in their respective games and initiate a trade via the Link Club (Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald) or the Wireless Club (Emerald only.)

To trade the item, it must be equipped to a Pokémon first.

And this is the only way to acquire Light Balls in FR/LG.

Getting Light Balls

Prerequisites

Most of the prerequisites for getting Light Balls in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen revolve around being able to trade the item over.

So, you’ll need:

A copy of Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald and a second console to trade with
A Link Cable or a Wireless Adapter (only works with Emerald)
A Pokémon holding a Light Ball in the copy of Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald

If you have the physical equipment to trade, then you’re pretty much good to go and just need to find a Light Ball in your copy of Pokémon RSE.

Trading

To trade for the Light Balls, make your way to any Pokémon Center in Pokémon FireRed / LeafGreen and head to the top floor via the escalators.

The escalators leading to the trade center in the Pokémon Center

Once you’re on the top floor there are two options to start trading.

The attendant on the left will let you initiate a trade via wireless communications using the Wireless Adapter.

Talking to the Wireless Club attendant

This is only available if you’re trading the Light Ball over from a copy of Pokémon Emerald.

The attendant on the right will let you initiate a trade via the Link Cable, which can be used by Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald.

Talking to the Pokémon Cable Club attendant

After you talk to the attendant, you’ll be forced to save the game and then you’ll enter the Link Center where you can trade with the Pokémon RSE game.

Inside of the Trade Center after talking to the Link Club attendant

In Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald, head to the Pokémon Center and initiate a trade the same way.

But before initiating the trade in RSE, make sure you have a Pokémon you’re willing to trade and that it’s holding a Light Ball.

Both players need to sit in the seats in the Link Center to initiate the trade. Once you sit down, communications will begin.

The communication notification after sitting down in the Trade Center

Simply trade the Pokémon with the Light Ball from RSE to the FRLG player, and you’ll be good to go!

What Do Light Balls Do?

The Light Ball’s description in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Light Balls are a special item specifically made to be held by Pikachu. When Pikachu is holding a Light Ball, the power of its Special Attack moves (Thunder, Thunderbolt, etc.) will be doubled.

The Light Ball does not work on any other Pokémon except Pikachu, so there’s no point in equipping it to another Electric-type.

In fact, the Light Ball doesn’t even work on Raichu. So if you do want to use a Light Ball, make sure you don’t evolve your Pikachu unless you’re willing to switch its held item to something more general (like a Magnet).

Are Light Balls Worth Trading?

Light Balls are definitely worth trading if you plan to use a Pikachu in your party.

Pikachu with a Light Ball hits like a truck full of lightning.

Granted, Pikachu already has a decent Special Attack stat. And it mostly uses Special Attack moves anyways. So the Light Ball will practically always significantly increase its damage.

You won’t be able to evolve your Pikachu if you want to reap the benefits of the Light Ball. The good news is that if you need a glass cannon, then a Pikachu holding the Light Ball will do more damage than a Raichu anyways.

Plus, let’s be honest, Pikachu is cuter!

BACK TO THE MAIN GAME Pokémon FRLG Full Strategy Guide

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- Light Balls in Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen

ReOcelot

115 articles

A jack of all trades when it comes to gaming. I can sit down for hours in a casual playthrough of Pokémon, or I can spend months trying to hit Diamond in League of Legends. I love and appreciate everything about games, and love sharing that passion with my readers.

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