Pokémon Legends: Arceus introduced plenty of changes to the familiar Pokémon formula that players have come to expect from the series’ mainline games, but few players expected the latest installment’s left-field explanation for how Poké Balls work. Fans have speculated about the technology and mechanics of these mysterious devices since the earliest days of the franchise, and some of the more popular theories have suggested that Poké Balls convert Pokémon into energy to keep them safe between battles and even store them digitally in the games’ PCs. However, Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ explanation not only raises a ton of new questions about how these iconic items work, but it also makes capturing Pokémon inside of them much darker considering the way that Pokémon age.
As of the release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, there are over 30 different types of Poké Balls in Pokémon's mainline canon, but the exact mechanics of their design have been cryptic at best. Still, the concept of catching a Pokémon with one is simple enough: when trainers toss a Poké Ball at a Pokémon, it opens and draws the Pokémon inside, giving the creature a brief opportunity to escape before sealing it in and turning it into the trainer’s newest companion. In previous games, the Pokémon would automatically be sent to the player’s PC, but in Legends: Arceus’ ancient setting, they’re sent to the Jubilife Village Pastures instead.
While some Pokémon are notably opposed to being inside of a Poké Ball, like Ash’s Pikachu in the anime series, Poké Balls are supposedly comfortable for Pokémon inside and provide them with an ideal environment. Pokémon producer and composer Junichi Masuda has even stated that the inside of a Poké Ball is like a luxury hotel suite for the Pokémon during an interview with Kotaku. This doesn’t necessarily offer any explanation about how Poké Balls really work, but it certainly makes these fascinating devices seem a lot more humane than a bare-bones capsule would be.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus Confirms That Pokémon Shrink
When Pokémon Legends: Arceus players drop into Hisui and meet Professor Laventon for the first time, however, he explains that every single Pokémon in the Pokémon universe has the innate ability to shrink itself down to a miniscule size. This ability is what allows them to be captured and contained inside Hisui’s steam-powered Poké Balls. Instead of the Poké Balls themselves causing the Pokémon to shrink, the Poké Balls simply trigger the Pokémon’s natural ability when they come in contact with a wild Pokémon.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ new canon explanation for how Poké Balls work has been met with some mixed opinions from fans of the franchise. Some even speculate that Professor Laventon may be mistaken about the operation of these new devices considering that he didn’t invent them himself, suggesting that the Poké Balls actually are responsible for shrinking the Pokémon to fit inside. Regardless, the fact that Pokémon physically shrink to fit inside their Poké Balls is still true whether they shrink themselves or get shrunk, and it certainly provides an explanation that allows the Poké Balls to work without needing any of the advanced technology that has developed in the modern Pokémon world. It also explains how Pokémon are able to hide in tall grass despite being large enough to spot at their normal size, as well as why Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the first game in the series where Pokémon roam freely throughout the region’s overworld, since they didn’t have to hide from people in the ancient wilds of Hisui.
In addition to the debate about the actual mechanics of the Poké Ball, Pokémon fans have gone back and forth over whether or not Pokémon age inside their Poké Balls, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ Poké Ball change seems to confirm that they do. Since the Pokémon inside are just physically smaller than they would be outside, there’s no reason that they wouldn’t experience time the same way while inside the Poké Ball that they do while roaming freely in the wild. The previous popular Poké Ball theory that Pokémon were converted into energy or data while being contained left the question of aging up for debate since an energetic or digital form may not be subject to the same physics as a physical creature, but if the Pokémon is simply shrunken inside, its experience of the passage of time probably wouldn’t change. However, this also means that Poké Balls have no way of preventing the Pokémon inside from aging, either, which is where this change takes a slightly darker turn.
Can Pokémon Die Inside Their Poké Balls?
While the fact that Pokémon age inside their Poké Balls may seem arbitrary on the surface, Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ Poké Ball change suggests that it’s possible for Pokémon to age inside their Poké Ball and even die. The Pokémon franchise has danced around the issue of Pokémon death in previous games, especially with its emphasis on the fact that Pokémon can only faint from battle and never actually die after these fights. However, death has actually been one of the major themes in the series since its earliest days, and there are plenty of aspects of the series’ lore that take a darker twist than players may expect in the fun and light-hearted world of Pokémon. Not only are Pokémon cemeteries featured in most of the regions that appear in the Pokémon series, but the fact that these cemeteries exist in the first place seems to indicate that it’s actually relatively common for Pokémon to die of natural causes. Even ertain Pokémon died of old age in the anime, like the elderly Stoutland that appears in the Pokémon Sun & Moon anime.
That being said, Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ proposition that Pokémon are simply shrunken in their Poké Balls actually makes it possible for Pokémon to die from old age while contained inside. This detail certainly puts a darker spin on the Pokémon franchise than previous theories about Pokémon transforming into energy or data while inside their Poké Balls. If Pokémon fans’ wish for a Johto-based sequel to Pokémon Legends: Arceus comes true, however, it’s possible that more of the Poké Balls’ mysteries will be revealed in the ancient version of the region where they were invented in the first place.