Master Ball

The Master Ball card debuted in the Expedition Base Set, released in 2002 as the first expansion of the e-Card Series. This set marked a significant shift in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, introducing the e-Reader technology which allowed players to scan the bottom dot-code strips on the cards to unlock supplemental data, minigames, or Pokédex entries on a Game Boy Advance. The inclusion of the Master Ball reflected its status in the video games as the most powerful item in the trainer's arsenal, designed to guarantee the capture of any wild Pokémon.

The artwork for this particular card was rendered by Keiji Kinebuchi, a long-standing illustrator for the franchise. Kinebuchi’s approach during this era leaned into a stark, clean aesthetic that often utilized 3D-modeled or high-contrast graphics to align with the technical, futuristic shift of the e-Reader era. While the card was categorized as an uncommon Trainer card, its utility and the novelty of the e-Reader functionality made it a functional staple for players looking to balance their decks with high-efficiency utility items during the early 2000s.