In the time since its release, fans have been enjoying a lot of things about Pokémon Legends: Arceus, but its explanation for shrinking Pokémon and how Poké Balls work isn't one of them. The wonderful little capsules that let players capture as many Pokémon as they like have been a mystery up until now, and the games' reason for how they do it would be funny if it wasn't treating it seriously. Legends: Arceus would have been better off without a couple of things, and this is one of them.
Poké Balls are miniature spheres used in the Pokémon shows and games in order to capture and store Pokémon. Up until Legends: Arceus, the method with which they did so was never explained, which made way for a slew of memes, fan art, and theories that's spanned the entirety of the series' long life. Pokémon canon is messy, with mosquitoes appearing in fossils and a few mentions of other real animals that aren't otherwise shown, but the mechanisms of Poké Balls has been the biggest question so far. After all these years, the world finally, and unfortunately, has an answer. Pokémon apparently shrink to a miniature size when hit by a Poké Ball, according to the game - and if that wasn't bad enough, it apparently is not a feature of the balls, but a natural ability that every Pokémon in existence shares.
There are a few reasons why Legends: Arceus' explanation for how Poké Balls works is unsatisfactory, the main one being that it just doesn't make sense, even for Pokémon. Why the company chose this out of any number of possible reasons is incomprehensible, as is the decision to reveal it in Legends: Arceus specifically, although many hope that it might be a joke. Just like the Arc Phone, Pokémon Legends: Arceus doesn't need ridiculous lore bogging it down.
Why Legends: Arceus' Shrinking Pokémon Don't Make Sense
There are a few reasons that Pokémon Legends: Arceus' explanation of Pokémon shrinking when entering a Poké Ball doesn't make sense, and the primary one is that it feels considerably less logical than other reasonable alternatives. The idea of every Pokémon in existence being capable of shrinking down to a size small enough to fit in one's pocket is one that might be too hard to swallow, even for a fantasy series like Pokémon. In the past, fans were (if indirectly) led to believe that Pokémon were transmuted into some form of energy when inside a Poké Ball. This still isn't very realistic, but it makes more sense than all Pokémon species possessing the same biological design flaw. Completing Pokémon Legends: Arceus' Pokédex just feels off somehow given this explanation. There's no real reason for a wild Pokémon to use this ability to willingly enter Poké Balls, especially when caught by surprise (and when they often break out seconds later), and if it's a reflexive action, then the question of why every species has such a glaring evolutionary weakness has to be asked.
Aside from the game's explanation being silly, it also clashes with existing lore. The move Minimize allows a Pokémon to shrink, but it isn't universal and doesn't last forever, which the game implies when it states that every Pokémon can shrink at will, making both abilities either redundant or a direct canonical conflict. It was taken out of Legends: Arceus presumably to avoid this very contradiction, but the fact remains that it has been a part of the series since the beginning and cannot be ignored so easily. Some Pokémon, like Cleffa, are just aliens, so the idea of extraterrestrial lifeforms having this kind of power as well makes it even worse. There's also the fact that Pokémon seem to dissolve into some form of light or energy when entering Poké Balls in both the games and anime (including Legends: Arceus), which lends itself to the transmutation theory. When recalling a Pokémon that's already been caught, Poké Balls are also almost always completely closed, with that energy being absorbed into the button on the front, making the shrinking explanation seem that much more preposterous.
Why Would Pokémon Tell Fans This In Legends: Arceus?
Putting aside the confusion that Legends: Arceus' Poké Ball explanation has created, it also raises the question of why the company chose to introduce it in this particular game. It's an experimental title from a series that's long been hesitant to innovate, so it seems strange for a bombshell like this to come in a game that's meant to test the metaphorical waters. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a core series game, and as the first action-RPG in a long line of creature-collectors, it's under a lot of pressure to do well. It's already managed to do so in the short time since its release, but a title like this, which is a big step forward for the series, feels like a poor place to give players such a nonsensical explanation for one of its longest-standing mysteries.
One explanation for why the developers included the shrinking explanation in Legends: Arceus is to showcase just how little was known about Pokémon and Poké Balls in Hisui's time period. The absurdity could be on purpose, as if to make a statement about Pokémon being an even bigger mystery in ancient times than they were in modern ones, perhaps the developer's idea of a joke instead of something to be taken seriously. The newest game is supposed to be all about captures, and giving Pokémon Legends: Arceus players reasons to catch 'em all at long last, so it could be a tongue-in-cheek way of poking fun at long-time fan theories. Professor Laventon didn't invent Poké Balls, after all, and he freely admits that he's not good at handling them. The fact that the topic never comes up again after the initial reveal also lends credence to the idea of the company or developers including it for laughs.
Fans Don't Have To Like Legends: Arceus' Explanation
Thankfully, when it comes to a fantasy series like Pokémon, fans don't have to like every little bit of shaky lore or silly canon. Ignoring aspects of games and shows that they don't like is one of the advantages of fiction, so it's not a big deal if Legends: Arceus introduces something that makes players shake their heads in disapproval. Real animals existing in Pokémon's universe is something that the series touches on, but usually tends to ignore, so if it can disregard its own canon, then fans can, too. Whether or not the series chooses to press on with the idea of shrinking Pokémon for its Poké Balls, players can always just tune it out and happily go on believing that their beloved team aren't rattling around in their tiny spheres like so many mints in a tin.
And even if shrinking Pokémon is an unshakable part of canon, it doesn't detract from Legends: Arceus. The game is a truly new experience in a series that has had precious little innovation, and many fans have been rejoicing about it since its announcement. Its new features, refreshing storyline, and simply the fact that it does something besides what Pokémon has done for the last 25 years has players new and old hoping that Pokémon Legends: Arceus will set the tone for the series going forward.