Pokemon Scarlet & Violet fans divided over best Pokeball for Shinies
Pokemon fans have the unique trait of finding discourse in the most niche facets of the game, and a great example of this is the recent debate over which Pokeballs are the best for catching Shiny Pokemon.
For someone who has been in the Pokemon community for some time, they know how valuable Shiny Pokemon are believed to be. They don’t have stat buffs or special moves/abilities. They’re a rare color variant adding a bit of visual flare to each battle.
Even still, players treasure these Pokemon dearly because of the time and effort it takes to capture them. But there are layers to a Pokemon’s rarity, and being Shiny is only one. A Shiny Pokemon’s subjective value can fluctuate depending on its stats, is it has a mark, and even the type of ball used to capture it.
Enter a debate those outside of the fandom would be baffled by. A single tweet ranking every Pokeball used to capture Shiny Pokemon would garner hundreds of replies and retweets, with players arguing in favor of their favorite capturing device. But the most divisive ranking of them all was the Quick Ball.
Shiny Pokemon hunters argue value of the Quick Ball
Nokimon – a YouTuber known for his infatuation with Shiny Pokemon – posted a Pokeball tier list to Twitter with the caption: “The shiny Pokemon Pokeball tier list (Scarlet/Violet).” And over the next 24 hours, chaos would ensue.
Players bickered in the comments over why their favorite ball should be higher, or why they think a Pokeball shouldn’t be ranked as high. But the placement that caused the most uproar was the Quick Ball which found itself in F-tier – the only ball placed lower than C.
“Quick ball is S tier …for completing the Pokedex and then forgetting about every pokemon you caught with them,” Nokimon replied to a user questioning its placement. And this single Pokeball spurred replies from other large figures in the Pokemon Community.
“People are really fighting over what POKEBALL we should use for a Shiny Pokémon????” Twitch streamer AjentVee stated in their own tweet. “Just don’t tell people HOW to play video games?? Let them have their own experience.”
Joe Merrick, the webmaster for Serebii, posted a video of his own Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Shiny collection, showing that most of his was caught in either Quick Balls or Repeat Balls. “It’s fine to catch Shiny Pokémon in Quick Balls. I do it, and I don’t care. Catch them how you want to, don’t let others say otherwise.”
Of course, this didn’t deter trolls from hating on trainers defending Quick Balls. And even 24 hours after Nokimon’s tweet, the war on Pokeball choices still wages on.