Ball Saver

The Ball Saver (Japanese: ボールセーバー Ball Saver) is a feature that protects the ball from being lost in Pokémon Pinball and Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire.

The Ball Saver Light (Japanese: ボールセーバー・ライト Ball Saver Light) is a light that is turned on as long as the Ball Saver is active.

Overview

Ball Saver Light

In Pokémon Pinball, the Ball Saver Light is a blue light that says "Saver" when lit, located at the bottom of the field (both the Red Field and the Blue Field), between the flippers. It starts to blink when there are approximately 10 seconds left.

In Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, the Ball Saver Light is in the shape of a Latios (on the Ruby Field) or Latias (on the Sapphire Field) and says "Saver". It starts to blink when there are 5 seconds left.

Saving the ball

If the ball falls through the hole at the bottom (between the flippers) while the Ball Saver is active, the ball goes back to the Plunger Lane (the initial position outside the main field, at the bottom-right corner) and the player does not lose that ball. If this happens twice, the Ball Saver deactivates.

In Pokémon Pinball, the text "Ball saved" is displayed at the bottom of the screen and the ball goes directly to the plunger and is automatically launched through the Plunger Lane with no input needed from the player.

In Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Latios/Latias catches the ball and brings it to the Spoink in the Plunger Lane, after which the player is required to launch the ball manually (activated by the A Button, by default).

Activation

The Ball Saver generally turns on when modes start, but it can also be activated as a prize.

Timer progression

The duration of the Ball Saver is never directly shown. The only indication of its time is when it starts blinking near the end of the timer.

In Pokémon Pinball, if the Ball Saver saves a ball, the current Ball Saver time limit is briefly extended, by 1 second. This largely accounts for the ball traveling through the Plunger Lane. When the Ball Saver timer reaches 10 seconds, the Ball Saver Light starts blinking; when it reaches 5 seconds, it blinks faster.

In Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, if the Ball Saver saves a ball, the current Ball Saver time limit is decreased by 3 seconds. For instance, if the ball is saved 5 times during the Catch 'em Mode, then the time will run out after 45 seconds (the default 60 seconds, minus 5 falls × 3 seconds). The Ball Saver Light in this game only starts blinking at 5 seconds. The timer for the start of a new ball also begins counting when Spoink is pressed to launch the ball, meaning that if this is held, the timer will continue to deplete (and completely run out if held for all 60 seconds).

In both games, the Ball Saver's timer runs to its completion, only being cut short if a ball is saved twice; it does not cut off if a triggering mode (such as Catch 'em Mode) completes.

Scoring

The player does not gain any points for activating the Ball Saver or when it saves a ball.

Gallery

Ball Saver Light

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	On (Pinball)	Off (Pinball)	On (Ruby Field)	Off (Ruby Field)	On (Sapphire Field)	Off (Sapphire Field)

Slots and Mart

English

Japanese

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30 seconds (Pinball)

60 seconds (Pinball)

90 seconds (Pinball)

30 seconds (Pinball RS)

60 seconds (Pinball RS)

90 seconds (Pinball RS)

Ball saved

The Poké Ball held by Latios or Latias may be a Poké Ball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball, or Master Ball, depending on the type of Poké Ball used by the player.

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	Pinball	Pinball RS	Ruby Field	Sapphire Field

Trivia

• In Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, the color palette of the Ball Saver sprites depends on the language.
  • In the English, Japanese, and Spanish versions, the darker sprite with yellow numbers is the main sprite that appears in the Slot and the Mart when nothing was selected yet. The brighter version with white numbers appears when the Ball Saver has been selected.
  • In the French, German, and Italian versions, the opposite is true. The brighter version with white numbers is the main sprite that appears in the Slot and the Mart when nothing was selected yet. The darker sprite with yellow numbers appears when the Ball Saver has been selected.

In other languages

Ball Saver

Ball Saver Light