Pokeball

The ball that holds all the Pokemon.

Origin
The pokeball appears in a wide variety of pokemon related things. The pokeball appears in the video games, the show, the movie, the few comics, and last but not least the collector toys. Each type of pokeball has something about it to help the trainer either in catching a specific type of pokemon or just plain making it easier to catch all pokemon.

A ball that can hold Pokemon.
Though the technology behind a Poké Ball remains unknown, the basic mechanics are simple enough to understand: in a Pokémon battle, once an opposing wild Pokémon has been weakened, a person, the Pokémon Trainer, can throw a Poké Ball at it. If the Poké Ball hits the Pokémon and is not knocked back by it, the Poké Ball will open, convert the Pokémon to a form of energy, and pull it into its center, closing. A Pokémon in this state is given a chance to struggle to attempt to escape, at which point the ball will either be destroyed (in the games and some manga) or will return to the Trainer (anime), who can attempt once again to capture the Pokémon. A Pokémon who does not escape the ball will be caught. Although Pokémon can refuse to be sent from their Poké Balls.

Types of Pokemon
In the Pokémon games so far, there have been 25 different varieties of Poké Ball, all differing from each other in some effect, whether it be an increased ability to catch a Pokémon from the wild or an effect which occurs only after the Pokémon has been caught. The 25 Poké Ball variants found in the main series#Pokeball - Standard
 * 1) Great Ball - easier to catch Pokemon then the Pokeball.
 * 2) Ultra Ball - easier to catch Pokemon the the Great ball.
 * 3) Master Ball - catches a Pokemon without fail.
 * 4) Safari Ball - a Ball issued by the Safari zone.
 * 5) Level Ball - Works better on Pokémon of levels lower than the Pokémon currently in battle
 * 6) Lure Ball - works better on Pokémon hooked by a rod.
 * 7) Moon Ball - works better on Pokémon that evolve when exposed to radiation from a Moon Stone.
 * 8) Friend Ball - makes a Pokémon more friendly when caught.
 * 9) Love Ball - works better on Pokémon of the opposite gender.
 * 10) Heavy Ball - works better on heavier Pokémon.
 * 11) Fast Ball - works better on Pokémon likely to flee from battle.
 * 12) Compé Ball - Pokémon in the Bug-Catching Contest.
 * 13) Premier Ball - Not much different than a pokeball.
 * 14) Repeat Ball - works well on a pokemon you've caught before.
 * 15) Timer Ball- The longer it takes to catch a Pokemon the better this ball works.
 * 16) Nest Ball - the weaker the Pokemon, the easier the Capture.
 * 17) Net Ball - Works well on bug and water Pokemon.
 * 18) Dive Ball - Makes it easier to catch a pokemon living in water.
 * 19) Luxury Ball - Makes your captured Pokemon Bond with You.
 * 20) Heal Ball - Heal the HP and Special conditions of the Pokemon that it contains.
 * 21) Quick Ball - a Ball best used for a first encounter.
 * 22) Dusk Ball - Makes it easier to capture a Pokemon at night or in Dark places
 * 23) Cherish Ball - A quite rare Poké Ball that has been specially crafted to commemorate an occasion of some sort.
 * 24) Park Ball - Recatches Pokémon sent through Pal Park.

In The Manga
In the various Pokémon manga are Poké Balls semitransparent, allowing the Pokémon inside, which is miniaturized, to be seen through the ball, while the Pokémon can likewise see out of the ball it is contained in. An interesting fact of this manga is that, unlike in the anime, Pokémon already captured can be re-caught in another Poké Ball.