Original “Monster Ball” designs enchant Pokemon fans
The Pokemon CompanyWhile the newest generation of Pokemon certainly has its own appeal, there’s something to be said for the classic artwork from the first years of the franchise. Everything from the original 151 ‘mons to the first Pokemon cards has a unique aesthetic and style that still holds up today.
The original Pokemon designs and Gym Leaders tend to get all the attention when it comes to reminiscing about iconic artwork, but one element that’s often overlooked is the Poke Ball itself. Poke Balls have gone through some dramatic changes over the years and the original designs are intriguing.
A Pokemon fan unveiled a scan of an old Pocket Monsters book online lately, sharing the stunning artwork with other members of the community and saying, “There is something charming about the original designs of Poke Balls”.
Players were fascinated by the designs in the image, with one person praising them by saying, “Those are some cool old school Poke Balls.” Others called the old watercolor style “charming”, with many pointing out the Master Ball as the best of the best.
One key element that stood out to fans here was the naming system – the Great Ball has an S on it, for example, and the Ultra Ball has an H on it. The Poke Ball is also referred to as a Monster Ball, too.
This is due to the Poke Ball names being different in English and Japanese, with the Great Balls being Super Balls and the Ultra Balls being Hyper Balls, matching up with the healing items like Super Potions and Hyper Potions.
One astonished viewer asked, “Wait super ball and hyper ball are correct names in Japanese??? I thought it was just a French thing lol” and others confirmed that some of the name differences carried across in several languages alongside Japanese.
Some Pokemon fans in the comments felt disappointed by the modern iterations of these designs, with one person wistfully saying, “Oh wow, I wish we’d kept these designs.” Another praised the artwork, saying, “I always loved the old Pokemon watercolor … artwork. Just feels so warm to me.”
It’ll be interesting to see whether we get any new items added to the core line-up of Poke Balls with the release of Pokemon Legends Z-A. There’s already a vast amount of Poke Balls in existence – ranging from Dive Balls to Beast Balls – but the new game could herald the arrival of even more items for players to choose from.