Why can't fainted Pokemon be caught in-universe?

Sceptile-Master

Is there any in-universe explanation why you can't catch a fainted Pokemon in the videogames? Obviously it's different in the manga and show where there is clearly fainted Pokemon being captured. Gameplay wise it makes sense to me since it adds a challenge, but in-universe I don't get it - as long as I've been a fan of the series, I've only started wondering about this recently. I'm ideally looking for any official sources or explanations, but things that fit along with official sources work too.

Flametix

It was in a Japanese Red/Green lore book but Legends Arceus acknowledged ingame that the pokemon shrink down when you defeat them to protect themselves and that's how they go in pokeballs. When you faint a pokemon in the 3D games they visibly shrink down into nothing.

TheJeffers

Gameplay wise it makes sense to me since it adds a challenge

That is essentially the reason for it. It was a simple RPG made for the Game Boy in the 90s. Stronger Pokémon would have completely dominated if you could just overpower every wild Pokémon and capture them, so to add another slayer of skill you had to weaken them, not kill them.

However, there clearly wasn't a lot of thought to the wider world or the in-universe logic of the mechanics. Gen 1 had loads of references to the real world (Lt. Surge being American, references to animals in the Pokédex, the fact that the region is called Kanto, etc.) and the deeper lore implications of a lot of things were either not considered or an afterthought. It was only after Pokémon became a surprise global smash hit was any thought given to building a wider world that wasn't 1:1 our world.

I suspect that in an earlier version of the game script, the monsters were probably killed, not "fainted", but it was pchanged to make it more family friendly. The fluff changed, the mechanics remained.

clasingla

the overworld is not to scale maybe and the grass areas could be way bigger and you cant find the pokemon anywhere

or more realistacally they dont want it to be too easy to catch them all

TheJeffers

@Flametix Do you know which lore book said it? I don't doubt what you say, I'd just like to see it.

Flametix

It was the one DidYouKnowGaming did a video on the "LOST Official Pokedex" (part 1). I don't know if I can link it here, but at 9:25 they talk about how an experiment was done on a Primeape that weakened it to the point where it shrunk.

TheJeffers

Well, I'll look into it. Maybe I could even find a copy at my local Book Off or something.

Sceptile-Master

@TheJeffers It's an old Japanese book, I'd be amazed if you were able to find it.

Evidently the game-world/mechanics seem to work differently than the show and manga, I just want to get a solid idea to how it works and all specifics therein if possible (looking at you, mods/official Pokemon workers 😉). It could be a graphical thing making it too hard to show (let alone on the original Gameboy), but considering Gen 1-5 just shows (or almost looks like) them going them going into the ground/offscreen, I'm not sure what that was supposed to communicate to us for years if most people (at least outside of Japan?) didn't know they could shrink. Even Pokemon Stadium doesn't really show them shrinking before they're already becoming Pokeball-energy[?]. First place I can find that clearly see that it visually happens while fainting is in Colosseum.
Yes I may be overthinking, but Pokemon has been such a big part of my life for so long, something so integral to the game I've only just started think about is making me go "Wait what?" ^^; Even if the Pokemon shrink in the games like all heck when fainted, wouldn't that lead to them being able to be stepped on? What would prevent you from throwing a ball still?