How to get more Pokéballs in Pokémon GO - Upcomer
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It’s one of the worst feelings in Pokémon GO. You encounter a rare or potentially high IV Pokémon in the wild, you go to catch it, and you’re out of Pokéballs! Have no fear trainer. Follow this trusty guide to ensure you always have plenty of Pokéballs in your Item Bag.

Spin stops

One of the easiest ways to get more Pokéballs is to spin stops in-game. This includes Pokéstops as well as gym discs. The technical name for these stops is photon discs. Each time you spin a disc, you’ll receive some items. Usually players receive between two and five items per stop. You can only spin a stop once every five minutes, so it’s good to keep moving around to find new stops.

The blue photon disc will grant you items (Image: Screenshot by Upcomer).

Gym stops are great for giving you more items, especially if you have that gym’s badge or your team controls the gym. You can earn badges by initially spinning the gym’s photon disc and then level up your badge by battling enemy team’s Pokémon or defending a gym with your Pokémon. The higher your badge level is, the more items you’ll receive.

You’ll earn bonus items if your team controls the gym, and you’ll also get bonus items on every seventh day that you spin these Pokéstops. If you’re running low on Pokéballs, taking a stroll around a relatively popular area will fill your bag with Pokéballs in no time.

Research tasks

Completing various tasks can also earn you Pokéballs. I personally like to delete item-based daily research tasks in favour of encountering Pokémon. However, there’s no point encountering new — or potentially shiny — mons, if you don’t have any Pokéballs to catch them with. Daily research tasks—which you can receive from spinning Pokéstops — can often give you a decent amount of Pokéballs.

Other special tasks like timed research, paid research, or special research, can also provide an adequate number of Pokéballs.

Weekly Rewards

Pokémon GO is very good at encouraging players to continue playing. One way the game does this is by continuously offering rewards. Through these rewards, you can easily keep a good stash of Pokéballs. Weekly rewards are earned by walking a certain number of kilometers/miles each week. Google users can use the “Adventure Sync” feature on Pokémon GO to automatically add your step count into the game.

Walk at least 5km each week to receive 20 Pokéballs. If you walk 25km, you’ll also receive 10 Great Balls, and if you can walk 50km each week, you’ll gain 5 Ultra Balls.

Friendship gifts

Having lots of friends in Pokémon GO can be beneficial for ensuring you always have lots of items. Open gifts from your friends each day and you’ll likely receive several Pokéballs. You can only open up to ten gifts a day. If you have friends that joined Pokémon GO with your referral code, you can receive Pokéballs from that friends as milestones. You’ll find these rewards under your friends’ name.

In-game shop

Since the great lockdown, Niantic has ensured that every single player can gain items each day no matter where they are in the world. If you can’t venture outside, nor spin any stops, you can claim a daily reward box from the Item Shop. Head to the “Shop” in game and look for the “Daily Free Box”. You can receive one free box per day which should include a Pokéball and a Great Ball.

You can always purchase more balls from the Item Shop if you run out (Image: Screenshot by Upcomer).

If all else fails, and you’ve tried spinning stops, collecting research tasks, rewards, and opening gifts from your friends. There’s always the in-game shop where you can purchase Pokéballs.


Michelle is a Content Producer in the realms of innovation and technology. Known as the “Hackathon Queen” 👑 you'll often find her on stage MC’ing or speaking on a range of topics from artificial intelligence, to business, community engagement, the future of work, and esports. With a background in both science and arts, Michelle writes extensively on a range of topics including innovation, startups, corporate culture, esports, business development, and more. She has a passion for gaming and combines this with her experience in a range of industries. Michelle brings a unique insight into esports innovation and draws many parallels between the physical world of sport, and the digital world of esports.


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