Toxic Orbs can only be purchased from the item seller at the southwestern Exchange Service Corner kiosk in the Battle Frontier.
Each Toxic Orb will cost 16 BP, but the Battle Frontier area is only available after you’ve beaten the Elite Four at least once. So you can only get Toxic Orbs in the post-game of Platinum.
Getting Toxic Orbs
Toxic Orbs can only be found in the Battle Frontier. This is the huge building to the northeast of the Pokémon Center in the Battle Zone’s Fight Area.
But you’ll only gain access to this area after you’ve beaten the game once, so this is a late-game item.
From the Poké Center at the Fight Area, you’ll see a big red awning – this is where you want to go.
After entering the building, go through the Entrance Hall and enter the door to the north.
In the middle of the Main Hall will be several kiosks making up a central marketplace. This is the Exchange Service Corner.
Speak to the clerk at the southwestern kiosk (the one with the blue and white striped canopy).
Scroll through her inventory until you find the Toxic Orb.
Each Toxic Orb costs 16 Battle Points (BP), which you can only win by fighting in the Battle Frontier’s various facilities.
Toxic Orb Details & Uses
The Toxic Orb is a Hold Item that badly poisons the holder, depleting an increasingly higher amount of their HP at the end of every turn.
So it should be obvious that the effects of the Toxic Orb are terrible to the vast majority of Pokémon.
But there can be upsides to intentionally poisoning members of your own team.
In Gen IV, the Toxic Orb’s benefit is typically limited to Pokémon with the Poison Heal Ability, which heals the Pokémon for 12.5% of its maximum HP at the end of every turn that it’s afflicted with poison.
It should also be noted that a Pokémon cannot have two status conditions at once.
So if a Pokémon with Poison Heal is (benignly) poisoned, it simultaneously enjoys the benefit of becoming immune to any other status ailment your opponent might throw at it.
Miscellaneous Information about Toxic Orbs:
- A Toxic Orb can be resold for 100 PokéDollars, although that’s not recommended due to how much effort it takes to acquire one of these.
- If a Toxic Orb is flung by a Pokémon using Fling, the move will have a base power of 30 and badly poison the target.
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Pokémon Platinum
- How To Get Toxic Orbs in Pokémon Platinum