Pokémon Platinum Timer Balls: How They Work + All Locations

Timer Ball Acquisition Methods
#	Location	Repeatable?
1	Available at the following shops for 1,000p each: the Poké Marts in Canalave City, Snowpoint City, and the Pokémon League; the old couple’s shop in Celestic Town	Yes
2	Solaceon Town—Given to you as a reward for bringing a requested Pokémon to the Pokémon News Press reporter	Yes
3	Route 207—Found inside a Poké Ball on the ledge above the entrance to Mt. Coronet (requires Rock Climb, Strength, and Surf)	No

The easiest way to stock up on Timer Balls is simply to buy them from the handful of shops that offer them. But if you want to save money, you can instead earn Timer Balls by taking Pokémon requests from the Pokémon News Press reporter in Solaceon Town—however, this method is much slower and far less dependable than buying Timer Balls directly.

There is also a single Timer Ball you can pick up on Route 207 on a ledge above Mt. Coronet’s opening.

How Do Timer Balls Work?

The in-game description of the Timer Ball.

Timer Balls are special Poké Balls that have a higher catch rate in encounters that last a high number of turns.

The catching strength of a Timer Ball starts out the same as a regular Poké Ball on the first turn. But it becomes as strong as an Ultra Ball by the tenth turn. And then eventually it reaches maximum strength after thirty turns have passed.

Each passing turn increases the catch rate of Timer Balls by about a tenth of a point, as shown in the table below:

Number of Turns Passed	Timer Ball Catch Rate Modifier
0	1
1	1.1
2	1.2
3	1.3
4	1.4
5	1.5
6	1.6
7	1.7
8	1.8
9	1.9
10	2
11	2.1
12	2.2
13	2.3
14	2.4
15	2.5
16	2.6
17	2.7
18	2.8
19	2.9
20	3
21	3.1
22	3.2
23	3.3
24	3.4
25	3.5
26	3.6
27	3.7
28	3.8
29	3.9
30+	4

Timer Balls are more effective on Pokémon that have a lot of PP among their moves.

The reason for this is the last-ditch move Struggle: after a Pokémon has exhausted the PP of all of its moves it will resort to using Struggle, which inflicts damage on both the target and the user.

For example, Dialga has 50 total PP allotted for its moves, while Giratina only has 30.

Timer Balls’ peak efficacy kicks in at the 30th turn, but by then Giratina is likely on its way to knocking itself out with repeated uses of Struggle, giving you a very narrow window in which to use full-strength Timer Balls.

Dialga, meanwhile, will still have at least 20 turns left once Timer Balls hit their highest catch rate.

Acquiring Timer Balls

The following sections list all the ways of acquiring Timer Balls in Pokémon Platinum. Keep in mind that none of these methods will be available until close to the midpoint of the game.

Method 1: Poké Marts (Repeatable)

There are four shops in Sinnoh that offer an unlimited stock of Timer Balls, purchasable for 1,000p each. In order of accessibility, these shops are:

The old couple’s shop in Celestic Town
The Canalave City Poké Mart
The Snowpoint City Poké Mart
The Poké Mart inside of the Pokémon League

Purchasing Timer Balls in the Snowpoint City Poké Mart.

Method 2: Pokémon News Press (Repeatable)

A cheaper and sooner (if slower) way to get Timer Balls is to bring specific types of Pokémon to the Pokémon News Press reporter in Solaceon Town as he requests them.

To take a News Press request, Fly to Solaceon Town and enter the Pokémon News Press building next door to the Pokémon Center.

Entering the Pokémon News Press building in Solaceon Town.

You’ll find two men inside; the one on the left is who you’ll be speaking to.

Note: Save your game before talking to this guy.

Identifying the Pokémon News Press reporter.

The man will introduce himself as a reporter for the Pokémon News Press. He needs help writing an article, and he will task you with showing him a certain species of Pokémon that he can report on.

The Pokémon he asks for will always be a random species of Pokémon that you have seen or owned at some point.

The Pokémon News Press reporter asking you to show him a Gible.

The Pokémon that the reporter asks to see isn’t necessarily one that you currently own, but saving the game before speaking to him allows you to reset and try for an easier request.

When you get a request you can complete, go out and place that Pokémon in your party.

Taking a Gible out of a PC Box.

Note: Save your game again before speaking to the reporter a second time.

Then return to the reporter and speak to him.

When he sees you have fulfilled his request, he will be noticeably thrilled.

The reporter becoming filled with excitement upon seeing the Gible he requested.

As a reward for bringing him the Pokémon, the reporter will hand you a Heart Scale and three Poké Balls of a specific model.

The type of Poké Balls he gives you is random. But this is why saving your game beforehand is useful: it allows you to reset and try again until you receive the Poké Balls you want.

Do this until the reporter gives you the Timer Balls.

Receiving three Timer Balls from the Pokémon News Press reporter.

The Pokémon News Press request can be repeated once per day.

Method 3: Route 207 (Step-by-Step)

Finally, there is a single Timer Ball available on Route 207.

You’ll likely see this Timer Ball long before you’ll actually be able to reach it. It’s high up on a ledge above the entrance to Mt. Coronet, and you’ll need Pokémon with the following Hidden Moves to get to it:

This means you won’t be able to snag this Timer Ball until you’ve defeated Leader Candice at the Snowpoint City Gym.

Once you have all three HMs, Fly to the Oreburgh Pokémon Center and head north along the main road.

Heading north on the main street from Oreburgh City’s Pokémon Center.

Take the stairs at the northern entrance to leave the city for Route 207.

Leaving Oreburgh through the northern entrance to enter Route 207.

Go down the small staircase leading to a pit, where there is a muddy slope in the middle of the north wall.

Ride your Bicycle in fourth gear to make it up the slope.

Riding the Bicycle in fourth gear to climb the muddy slope.

At the top, take an immediate right into the canyon by the Honey Tree.

Turning east toward Mt. Coronet.

Travel all the way to the east until you come to Mt. Coronet’s entrance, then head inside.

Entering the mouth of Mt. Coronet.

In the cave, use Surf to cross the small waterway to the north.

Using Surf on the small pool of water by the entrance.

On the other side of the water, walk over to the rocky wall and use Rock Climb to scale it, then head upstairs.

Using Rock Climb to reach the stairs to the next floor.

In the next room just go north and take the left turn, ignoring the staircase.

Turning left on the next floor and passing the stairs.

Turn south and use Strength on the boulder in your path to push it further southward.

Shoving the boulder out of the way.

Push the boulder until you can head up the next staircase, then immediately turn left and start moving southward on this raised platform.

Climbing the stairs and heading to the southwest.

Exit Mt. Coronet through the opening in the southwestern corner of the chamber.

Re-entering Route 207 through Mt. Coronet’s upper exit.

Now that you’re out on the ledge, head for the Poké Ball item directly south of you.

Heading for the Poké Ball item on the ledge.

Pick up this Poké Ball to add a Timer Ball to your Bag.

Picking up the Timer Ball on Route 207.

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Chris Haygood

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Chris is an American freelance writer and lifelong gamer. RPGs have been his genre of choice ever since he got Pokémon Blue in 1867, but if he finds a good rhythm game, he will prioritize playing it over both eating and breathing.

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