When Can You Buy Great Balls in Pokémon ORAS?

Catching a Nincada with a Great Ball (Pokémon ORAS)

You’ll unlock the option to buy Great Balls after you receive the Stone Badge from Roxanne, the first Gym Leader located in Rustboro City. After that, Great Balls can be purchased in any Poké Mart across Hoenn for 600 Pokédollars each.

For triple the price of a regular Poké Ball, Great Balls are 50% more efficient at catching Pokémon.

Make sure to pick up a few of these early on, just in case you come across Pokémon that are hard to capture using regular Poké Balls.

Unlocking Great Balls

Poké Mart clerk selling Great Balls / Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Poké Mart clerk selling Great Balls

Initially, Poké Marts don’t sell Great Balls. To unlock the option to buy Great Balls, you must defeat the first Gym Leader Roxanne. You’ll be able to challenge her immediately after reaching Rustboro City for the first time.

The Rustboro City Gym is located northeast of the city’s Pokémon Center. Be sure to heal and prepare before you attempt to battle her Rock-type Pokémon.

Rustboro City Gym’s location / Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Rustboro City Gym’s location

After you earn the Stone Badge, you can now buy Great Balls in any Poké Mart across Hoenn. You can also buy Great Balls on the second floor of the Lilycove Department Store.

Here’s a list of all the Poké Mart locations where you can buy Great Balls:

  • Oldale Town
  • Petalburg City
  • Rustboro City
  • Slateport City
  • Mauville City
  • Verdanturf Town
  • Fallarbor Town
  • Lavaridge Town
  • Fortree City
  • Mossdeep City
  • Sootopolis City
Second floor of the Lilycove Department Store / Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Second floor of the Lilycove Department Store

How Do Great Balls Work?

In-game details for the Great Ball / Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
In-game details for the Great Ball

When catching wild Pokémon, Great Balls have a base catch rate modifier of 1.5x. For comparison, here are the catch rates of the other commonly used Poké Balls:

Type of Poké Ball Catch Rate Modifier Price
Poké Ball 1x 200
Great Ball 1.5x 600
Ultra Ball 2x 1200

While the Ultra Ball has a superior catch rate, you won’t be able to buy it until you earn the fifth Gym Badge.

So the Great Ball is a good option for wild Pokémon that are hard to catch from the early to mid-game of your playthrough.

StormSwampert

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Though he spends most of his time playing a wide variety of games, Pokémon has always been his favorite. When he’s not playing games or writing guides, you can find him watching anime and collecting trading cards.

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