How a Pokeball Actually Works

[PokeballFanatic]

After much thought, I believe I've finally figured out how pokeballs in the anime actually work and its actually a lot simpler than most had previously thought. It's been in front of us the whole time. Occam's Razor states, "all things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one." So let me first discuss the 2 most common theories and why they're probably wrong.

Wrong Theory 1) Pokeballs are some sort of teleporter or deatomizer and reatomizer that can break down matter into energy and reassemble it. Even setting aside the fact that many actually believe there's a small supercomputer in them, pokeballs have been around for too long for this kind of technology to have existed back then and are still based on the same old mechanisms that have since been refined. Sam's old ball in the movie Pokemon Forever certainly doesn't look like it contains space-age technology. We also have evidence of a semiconscious dragonite inside a pokeball, meaning it hasn't been completely deatomized.

Wrong Theory 2) Pokeballs have a shrink ray that traps a shrunk pokemon. Although we have evidence of a somewhat formed pokemon inside a pokeball, it's still unlikely that this is the explanation. Again, we run into the issue in which pokeballs as a technology are simply too old for this to be a reasonable explanation. Also, there's the issue of the pokeball's size change. If the pokemon stored inside the pokeball is pure matter, this means that every time the pokeball shrinks to the size of a ping pong ball it would crush the pokemon to death!

Now, lets discuss how pokeballs probably do work and correct some misconceptions. First, consider these 3 objective and inarguable facts:

Fact 1- Pokemon have a natural mechanism or adaptation that allows them to phase between states of matter and pure energy which is biological in nature. (Ex: Hatching, Evolution, etc.)

Fact 2 - A pokemon's natural mechanism allowing it to phase between states of matter and pure energy can be involuntarily triggered by coming into physical contact with specific conditions or materials. (Ex: Moonstone, Sunstone, spoon, etc.)

Fact 3 - Humans have learned to harness Fact 2 artificially for various purposes. (Ex: Capture Styler, Healing, Mega Evolution, Forced Evolution, etc.)

The first misconception we need to dispel is that the pokeballs themselves possess some sort of technology that can turn pokemon into energy. This is most likely NOT the case given the overwhelming body of evidence we have. Pokemon have an unstable make-up and are capable of transforming into energy and then back again all by themselves, albeit not at will but under the right conditions. Have you ever paid attention to the way a pokemon evolves or hatches?

The process for a pokemon being released from a pokeball and converting back into matter looks suspiciously similar to evolution or hatching. This is probably because it is the same process.

As for the capture of a pokemon, have you ever observed what happens when a pokemon comes into contact with an item that forces it to evolve? Some pokemon are forced into a state of pure energy involuntarily by stones or other items. A Pokemon Ranger's capture styler offers the most clear inarguable evidence that humans have learned to produce this effect at will through artificial means without having to evolve the pokemon. Here is a clip showing how a Pokemon Ranger's Capture Styler works. You'll see clear evidence of the pokemon being turned into energy by coming into contact with it and reverting back to solid matter without evolving.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCLa5lspAHk

In the episode where the kids meet Kurt, we learn that originally all pokeballs were made out of apricorns and that apricorns had been used possibly for centuries to hunt for pokemon after being processed. In the anime, the pineco who have adapted to live in the apricorn trees are also prone to explosions of energy and are unstable. This could be a coincidence but, I don't think it is. Apricorns probably have natural properties similar to stones that affect pokemon causing a reaction. It's likely that humans learned to refine or process apricorns to bring out these properties. In the anime, Kurt is shown with a workshop and old traditional forging tools in which he heats up and forges the apricorns into pokeballs. We also see plenty of ancient examples of other pokemon storage devices. Modern Pokeballs do not require an apricorn shell, most likely because humans have learned to produce materials with similar properties artificially. So I'm sorry to disappoint you but, there are no deatomizers, teleporters, or computer code at work here. The pokemon's body has a natural reaction to coming into contact with the material the pokeball's shell is made out of triggering a natural biological mechanism that allows a pokemon to turn into energy. This explains why pokeballs have to be thrown and have to touch a pokemon before they turn into energy. This also explains why pokeballs cannot catch humans. (There is some evidence that a pokeball can catch an item with a pokemon's unstable DNA on it such as the riceball a mankey was eating.)

How do different types of pokeballs work then?

Above are the 4 main pokeballs: Normal, Greatball, Ultraball, and Masterball. Pokemon react differently to different materials. In the case of these main 4, the main factor that increases their catch rate is that the alloys their shells use are probably made with increasing percentages of whatever it is that causes pokemon to react to it by turning into energy temporarily. There are also many other types of pokeballs. Again in the case of apricorn pokeballs, there is clear evidence that different types of apricorn shells cause different pokemon to react differently even though all of the apricorn pokeballs are fitted with the same internal device. In the case of most pokeballs, with a few exceptions, there is most likely no special device inside that produces a different effect. The pokemon just react differently to what different types of pokeball shells are made out of when they come into contact with them.

Now that we've explained how a pokeball does not turn a pokemon into energy but that a pokemon is just reacting to the shell a pokeball is made out of, let's discuss what the mechanisms on the inside of a pokeball do or why it looks the way it does.

Inside of a pokeball you'll see 16 copper conductors, glass plate insulators, and two "energy sources." Unless you're an electrician you may not know that green is a color commonly used to color or indicate conduits. More than likely they're conductive areas as well connecting to an anode on one side of pokeball and a cathode under the other green spot on the other side of the pokeball. The inside of a pokeball appears to be specifically designed to be a great conductor of energy and since the pokeball is the closest thing in sight it probably does nothing more to catch the pokemon than simply being a better conductor for the pokemon once they're in energy form than anything else that close. The energy conducts to the inside of a pokeball but, unlike the electricity we're used to, this energy wants to transform back into solid matter immediately so the pokeball snaps shut before it has the chance to do so. This also explains why the pokemon have to be released by the ball physically opening instead of the energy escaping like in a normal battery. You'll notice that pokeballs have a lot in common with batteries. They're even red and white indicating positive and negative and the button on the pokeballs in the anime look suspiciously like battery terminals (the tip of a normal battery). That's because that's basically what pokeballs are. All a pokeball is is a battery that is made to contain energy which wants to transform back into solid matter unlike the energy we're used to containing. The pokemon does probably start to naturally reform partially inside the ball which is where the controversial image of a dragonite within the pokeball comes from. This would also mean that pokeballs are a very humane way to catch and store pokemon as it works based on their bodies natural mechanism and may even be similar to being stored in an egg. They wouldn't perceive time in the same manner while inside. They wouldn't feel hungry or tired. With this being the case, nurse joy's healing machine is probably just a machine that carefully feeds the pokemon electrons inside the pokeball which the pokemon themselves then use to revert back into their solid matter forms fully healed. This explains why a pokemon can return through the pokeball's terminal (the button) only after being caught as the pokeball would have electrons from the pokemon's body still within it that the pokemon would naturally be more likely to conduct to. All and all, the idea that pokeballs are just batteries designed to store energy that wants to become solid matter seems to be the simplest and most plausible. Again, there is no mechanism that turns the pokemon from matter to energy and back again. The pokemon just naturally does this as a result of coming into contact with the material the pokeball's shell is made out of.

Finally as a bonus, let's address the changing size of pokeballs.

We rarely see this feature but when we do we only see it with pokeballs produced by Devon Corp. or Silph Co. Sam's old ball couldn't change size either. It's unlikely that older pokeball models or all apricorn pokeballs are capable of this. This leads me to believe once again that the magic is in the pokeball's shell. If you look back at the schematic of the pokeball you'll probably wonder how the copper pins, glass plates, and green conduits also shrink? The answer is, I don't think they do. I think these parts remain the same size but that the unused areas between them are part of the outer shell and shrink, meaning the inside of the pokeball is just glass, copper pins, and green conduit when shrunk and the black parts are what shrink. As for how the shrinking occurs, did you ever learn about how some substances expand and contract with cold and hot in school? For instance, ice takes up more volume than the water it was made from. There are materials that can expand and contract due to an electric current or energy passing through it. It makes sense that the pokeball would expand when turned on if this is the case and has been taken advantage of to make carrying pokeballs easier. Since the pokemon inside the pokeball is inbetween a state of matter and energy, it doesn't take up space or have mass in the same manner so shrinking pokeballs won't harm the pokemon inside.

 

[SceptileActual]

Anime logic, duh.

 

[Raicheot]

That's prob the best I depth look at the concept of the pokeball and prob the most believable.

Quick question, in the manga red, blue, green and yellow are turned to stone by jumping in the way of sird trying to catch deoxys, why did that happen?