Pokemon Horizons introduces a new Steampunk-style Poke Ball

Important takeaways

A previously unseen Poke Ball design was shown off for the first time in the latest episode of Pokemon Horizons.
The Poke Ball is silver and brown with red and green studs and looks Steampunk inspired.
The leading fan theory is that this is our first look at a new Poke Ball that we will be using in Pokemon Legends: ZA.

While the image conjured up in your head when you read the word Poke Ball is likely the standard red and white version, the Pokémon accessory comes in more than 30 different shapes. You can add a new one to the list starting this weekend with a new design making its debut in the latest episode of Pokemon Horizons. But no one knows what it does, or even what it's called.

A close-up of the Poke Ball has been shared by Pokemon Restocks on Twitter. The silver and brown Poke Ball gives off steampunk vibes, the spot on the front where you'd find a button on most other Poke Ball designs seemingly replaced with a gear. The ball has markings around it as well as what appear to be red and green gems on the gear and the metallic top half of the ball.

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The Poke Ball was featured in episode 75 of Pokemon Horizons which premiered in Japan over the weekend. Since we're only up to episode 45 in the US, it'll be a while before we see Poke Ball on Netflix. It could also mean we have a long wait ahead of us to find out exactly what this Poke Ball does. But even with a translated version of the episode, we may still be left in the dark.

Pokemon debuted a new Poke Ball design in episode 75 of Horizons

But what does it do and where can we find it?

According to Game Rant, the mysterious new Poke Ball appears during a flashback where Gibeon uses it to store his Zygarde. However, the flashback doesn't show Zygarde being captured, so it's unclear if it has a special ability or function. Some Pokemon fans have noted that its design may take inspiration from Shiny Zygarde which is white with green accents, much like the top half of the new Poke Ball.

The leading theory among fans is that this is a first look at something that will get a full introduction in Pokemon Legends: ZA. Its design looks a lot like the old version of a regular Poke Ball that you can create and use in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, so a futuristic version of that design for a Legends game that is seemingly further along in the Pokemon timeline rather than before would make a lot of sense.

Pokemon usually introduces new Poke Ball designs with each of its core games, but that's no guarantee. It didn't add any new designs to the Poke Ball lineup in Scarlet & Violet, marking the first time since Gen 6 that it hasn't introduced new Poke Ball ideas in a main series game. It seems almost certain that will change in the next Pokemon game now that we've already gotten a sneak peek at a Poke Ball we've never seen before thanks to the anime.