Overview
The Ultra Ball is a high-performance Poké Ball with a black-and-yellow cap that gives you a higher chance of catching a Pokémon than a standard Poké Ball or Great Ball. As the strongest of the three routinely obtainable balls in your Item Bag, its 2× ball modifier makes a noticeable difference against rare wild spawns, evolved Pokémon, and encounters you do not want to lose.
That modifier feeds into the catch rate calculation rather than doubling your final percentage or guaranteeing a capture, and you can stack it with a berry and an accurate curveball on the same throw.
How to get it
Spin PokéStops and Gym Photo Discs once you unlock Ultra Balls at Level 20.
Open Gifts from friends and claim Field, Timed, Special, or Level-Up Research rewards. Weekly Adventure Sync walking milestones also include 5 Ultra Balls in the 50 km and 100 km reward bundles once you reach Level 20.
Check limited-time shop boxes, event bundles, and the Daily Free Box. Unlike regular Poké Balls, Ultra Balls have no permanent standalone bundle at a fixed PokéCoin price, so inspect each offer’s contents before buying.
Selected PokéStop Showcase placements can award balls. Check the reward list rather than expecting a particular ball from every Showcase.
Reaching Level 20 awards 20 Ultra Balls under the current leveling system and unlocks them in standard item drops. Every level from Level 20 through Level 80 grants additional Ultra Balls, though eligible research tasks and shop bundles can provide them earlier.
How to use it
Start a wild, research, GO Battle League, Party Play, or GO Snapshot encounter, tap the Poké Ball selector icon, and choose an Ultra Ball.
Land the throw inside the target ring while the Pokémon is not attacking or dodging. One Ultra Ball is spent as soon as you release the throw, even if it misses or is deflected.
Worth knowing
Combine an Ultra Ball with an accurate curveball and an appropriate berry on a catch you particularly want. A higher modifier is not a guaranteed capture.
Ultra Balls cannot be selected in the usual raid, Rocket, or Max Battle bonus encounter. Those encounters provide their own balls, regardless of the number of Ultra Balls you carry.
How the catch modifier affects your catch rate
For players, switching to an Ultra Ball substantially raises your chance of catching a Pokémon on each hit, though it does not simply double the percentage shown by a standard Poké Ball.
In the catch rate formula, P = 1 − (1 − P₀)^m, P is your final chance of catching the Pokémon on that throw, P₀ is the baseline chance of catching it with a plain Poké Ball when all other conditions stay the same, and m is the combined modifier from your ball, berry, throw, and other bonuses.
Holding every other condition fixed at a baseline P₀ = 0.20 (a 20% chance with a regular Poké Ball, where m = 1.0), stepping up to a Great Ball (m = 1.5) gives 1 − (1 − 0.20)^1.5, or about 28.4%. Choosing an Ultra Ball (m = 2.0) gives 1 − (1 − 0.20)^2, which raises your catch rate to exactly 36%.
Combine the ball with your throw and berry
Stacking an Ultra Ball with a berry and a skilled throw multiplies their individual modifiers together inside the exponent m, giving you a much higher catch rate than the ball alone. Ball quality, catch-assisting berries, throw accuracy inside the shrinking target ring, curveballs, type medals, and certain encounter bonuses all contribute modifiers to the same calculation.
For example, a Golden Razz Berry contributes a 2.5× berry modifier and a successful curveball contributes a 1.7× throw modifier, while landing Nice, Great, or Excellent throws inside a smaller target circle increases the accuracy modifier further.
To see how those modifiers combine, start with the same baseline where a plain, straight Poké Ball throw with no berry has a 20% chance of catching the Pokémon (P₀ = 0.20) and all other conditions stay the same. Using P = 1 − (1 − 0.20)^m, switching to an Ultra Ball alone sets m = 2.0 and raises the catch rate to 36%.
Pairing that Ultra Ball (2.0×) with a Golden Razz Berry (2.5×) multiplies the modifiers to m = 2.0 × 2.5 = 5.0, which yields 1 − (0.80)^5, or about 67.2%. Adding a curveball (1.7×) on top of the Ultra Ball and Golden Razz Berry brings the combined modifier to m = 2.0 × 2.5 × 1.7 = 8.5, giving 1 − (0.80)^8.5, or about an 85.0% chance of catching the Pokémon before even counting a Nice, Great, or Excellent ring bonus.
Every catch rate calculation assumes your throw actually lands while the Pokémon is vulnerable. Throwing an Ultra Ball does not help if the Pokémon bats it away during an attack animation or jumps out of reach. Timing your release right after an attack ends keeps you from wasting Ultra Balls and berries on deflected throws.
Throwing and catching accessories
Hold the ball to watch the target ring shrink. A throw that lands inside the ring can earn a Nice, Great, or Excellent bonus; a smaller ring gives a stronger accuracy bonus. Spin the ball before releasing it to attempt a curveball. Wait through an attack animation so the ball can connect.
Among catching accessories and features, only the Pokémon GO Plus + can throw Ultra Balls, and only when you use its manual button-throw mode. You can select Ultra Ball under the Pokémon GO Plus + settings in-game and press the device's main button when a Pokémon appears. Its automatic catching mode exclusively throws regular Poké Balls. Older hardware accessories—the original Pokémon GO Plus and the Poké Ball Plus—as well as the in-game Explorer Gadget feature only throw regular Poké Balls and cannot use Ultra Balls.
If you turn on the Remember Last-Used Poké Ball setting for manual encounters, the game keeps Ultra Ball selected at the start of each new encounter. This saves time during fast-paced events like Community Day, but it can quickly drain your Ultra Ball stash on common wild spawns if you forget to switch back. Check your active ball selection whenever your catching priorities change; if you run out of Ultra Balls, the selector automatically falls back to regular Poké Balls.
When an Ultra Ball is worth using
An Ultra Ball is a sensible choice when losing the encounter would matter more than spending the item. Rare spawns and difficult evolved Pokémon are common examples. The ball does not improve IVs, level, or Shiny status: it improves the chance of catching the Pokémon already in front of you.
For the highest chance of catching a tough wild Pokémon, pair an Ultra Ball with a Golden Razz Berry and a well-timed curveball. If extra Candy matters more than maximizing your catch rate and you can afford a breakout, pair the Ultra Ball with a Pinap Berry instead, or use a Silver Pinap Berry to get both extra Candy and a moderate catch modifier.
If an erratic Pokémon keeps dodging, feeding it a Nanab Berry to calm its movement can do more to save your Ultra Balls than stacking another catch modifier on a missed throw.
Even a well-thrown Ultra Ball can fail against a Pokémon with a low base catch rate. A 2× ball modifier is not a promise of success within two attempts, and it does not stop a wild Pokémon fleeing after a breakout.
