Master Balls are Poké Balls that have a "perfect" catch rate, meaning that it can catch any wild Pokémon without fail. With a 100% chance of catching any Pokémon, Master Balls are highly sought after, especially for Shiny Hunters.
Read on to see how you can 'catch' yourself one (or more) of these coveted Master Balls.
Getting A Master Ball By Completing The Story
Historically, Pokémon games give you one Master Ball right before you're supposed to catch that game's Legendary Pokémon, and Pokémon Sword & Shield are no different.
In Sword & Shield, you can find the Master Ball after completing the main story. After entering the game again, you'll find yourself back at your house. You can obtain your Master Ball from Professor Magnolia here and are encouraged to seek out the Legendary Pokémon Zamazenta and Zacian.
You could use your Master Ball to catch your version-exclusive Legendary, but it seems that a lot of Pokémon trainers are saving their Master Ball in case they run into a Shiny Gigantamax Pokémon during Max Raids. With low catch-rates in that scenario, the limit of having only one Poké Ball to throw, and the low spawn rates for Shiny Pokémon, it makes sense to save your Master Ball for these instances.
If you already used your Master Ball, worry not, for there is still another chance to get Master Balls.
Winning Master Balls In The ID Lottery (Loto-ID)
The Loto-ID is an in-game lottery where you can win select prizes once every day by checking the Rotom system in any PokéCenter. The Loto-ID picks a random five-digit number and compares it to your Pokémon's ID number. This system uses the Pokémon in your party and in the box system. There are five prizes available, with a Master Ball being the prize for a Pokémon you own matching five digits of the Loto-ID's number.
The chances of a Pokémon that you own sharing five numbers with the Loto-ID is apparently 1 in 100,000. That doesn't seem like good odds, but there are some ways to get around the system.
The more Pokémon you own that have different Trainer IDs (AKA Pokémon traded to you from different trainers), the higher the chance of the ID matching one of your Pokémon. YouTuber Austin John Plays suggested the idea of Surprise Trading Pokémon you don't want (for instance, hatched Pokémon that aren't Shiny that were leftover from trying to breed for Shiny Pokémon). This fills your boxes with traded Pokémon (that come from a variety of Trainer IDs), which increases your chance at winning the lottery. He also mentioned a time-change exploit by changing your Nintendo Switch's clock while still connected to your local WiFi that allows you to enter the lottery once every 2 minutes instead of once every day.
Hopefully, with these tips, you'll have a higher chance of winning the Loto-ID and getting a Master Ball than winning the real-life lottery.
Pokémon Sword and Shield are out now for the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Game Rant, Austin John Plays