As the franchise has grown there have been a number of items introduced into the Pokémon universe that improve a Pokémon’s skill in battle or make the life of a trainer easier. Half of the PVP experience is determining which item gives your monsters an edge over the other team and PVE is all about which items cut down on grind time.
Some of the best items are often ones you cannot buy at the store and need to find elsewhere. Whether it’s one of a kind prototypes, berries grown in the wild, or table scraps here are the best items you can’t get at a Pokémart and where to find them.
10 Choice Items
Choice items see a lot of use in PVP situations and a handful of PVE runs. Choice Bands raise the Pokémon’s attack stat by 50%, Choice Scarves raise Speed by 50%, and Choice Specs raise Special Attack by 50%. Choice Scarves are in high demand in PVP where getting the first hit is crucial.
The reason they don’t rank higher is they come with a significant drawback, they only permit the first move to be used in combat. This means the other moves are locked so long as the Pokémon is wearing the Choice item. These are found exclusivly in endgame content starting with Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire such as the Battle Tower, Mt. Battle, Battle Subway, Battle Maison, and Battle Tree.
9 Rocky Helmet
Rocky helmets are a useful item for both PVP and PVE because they reflect damage back on the attacking Pokémon. This works on moves that make contact with your Pokémon which is almost every physical attack and many normal attacks. The damage reflected is 1/6 of the damage received.
It was introduced in Pokémon Black & White and has been in every game since. In Black & White it’s found in Cold Storage, Black & White 2 at the Pokémon World Tournament, X & Y it’s at Ambrette Town, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire at the Weather Institute. In Sun & Moon and the Ultra remakes, it’s a renewable item at the Battle Tree.
8 Lucky Egg
Lucky Egg is an incredible item for PVE and it increases the amount of EXP a Pokémon holding it earns by 150% percent. This dramatically cuts down on grind time for leveling up your team and should rarely if ever be sold.
It was introduced in Pokémon Gold & Silver and is very hard to obtain. Generally speaking, you need to find a wild Chansey, Pelipper, or Blissey that’s holding it. These Pokémon are rare as it is, but the odds of a Lucky Egg appearing with them is usually 5%.
7 Elemental Gems
Elemental Gems are consumables that boost a given elemental move by 30%. Meaning a Fire Gem will increase a Fire Attack by 30%. In PVP players will use these to one-shot opponents right out of the gate and PVE sees them used in tough boss battles.
They’re exclusively found in Black & White and Black & White 2. In the first set of games, they’re found in Dust Clouds inside of caves. In the sequels they were also found in Reversal Mountain though some elements were game-specific, meaning you could only find Fire Gems there if you are playing White 2.
6 Life Orb
Life Orbs see more use in PVP, but have some use in PVE if you have a healer on the team. It’s a held item that increases attack damage by 30% but at the cost of 10% of the Pokémon’s health. It’s great for one-hit kills, but terrible for long drawn out boss battles without some healing items or Pokémon handy.
It first appeared in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl and was found in Stark Mountain and in Heart Gold & Soul Silver were in the Ruins of Alpha. Since then they appear in endgame content such as Battle Subway, Battle Maison, and the Battle Tree.
5 Sacred Ash
Sacred Ash has no use in PVP but is immensely helpful in PVE battles. Outside of combat, it’s a consumable that will regenerate the entire team’s HP and PP as long as there is at least one fainted Pokémon on the team.
It first appeared in Gold & Silver and in many games is held by Ho-Oh making it extremely rare. In Sun & Moon, it can be obtained through the Haunted Houses in Festival Plaza. It’s the kind of item you reserve for very, very important fights.
4 EXP Share/Exp All
EXP Share is immensely helpful for PVE situations or rapidly building your PVP team. When in the player’s inventory 50% of EXP gained in battle is distributed among those that participated and the remaining 50% is shared between every Pokémon in your team. Essentially you could have one strong Pokémon generate a ton of EXP for a bunch of weak Pokémon who never see battle.
It was introduced in Red & Blue as EXP All, but it didn’t work properly and was rebranded in later games as EXP Share. The only way to obtain this item was through key NPCs who would turn it over as a reward for meeting certain requirements.
3 Master Ball
This incredible item is used solely in PVE and is a godsend for those seeking to catch the strongest Pokémon in the game. It’s a Pokéball that never misses, meaning you can chuck it the second you see a powerful Pokémon you want and it'll be yours without a fight.
Introduced in Red & Blue it’s typically only possible to obtain a single Master Ball in reward for completing a quest. Later games would give renewable methods for obtaining them, typically in lottery fashion such as the Pokémon Lottery Corner in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire.
2 Sitrus Berry
The Sitrus Berry is a powerful combat item that has evolved over the series. Generally speaking, it restores 25% of the Pokémon’s health when it drops below 50% if held or at any time when used by the player.
It was introduced in Ruby & Sapphire and is generally found by picking bushes, held by various Pokémon, or obtained from certain NPCs.
1 Leftovers
The most powerful item in the Pokémon games has to be Leftovers. These soggy bits of half-eaten food regenerate the Pokémon’s health by 6% each turn. A common PVP strategy is to lock down the opponent’s Pokémon with a move like Wrap and give their Pokémon a chance to heal a few turns.
Introduced in Gold & Silver Leftovers are typically held by Pokémon like Snorlax and Munchlax. The best renewable way to obtain Leftovers is through the move Pickup, though it only has a 1% chance of succeeding.