SPOILERS! Mysteries and Conspiracies of Pokemon

[Cresselia~~]

Sorry to go back to the "what do pokemon/humans eat" topic, but I wanted to make a social observation on it. And Pokemon is really all over the place in terms of carnivores. Even if you disregard the pokedex entries and non-canon, you still have it sneaking in here and there, as Cresselia~~ points out. But then they subvert that by gameplay only allowing your pokemon to eat berries, candy, or baked goods.

While it is easy to put this under the umbrella of the dubious nature of how much pokemon are supposed to be like animals or not, I wanted to point out that carnivore confusion ( http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CarnivoreConfusion ) is extremely common in media, especially when it's aimed at children. It usually follows one of two roads, either carnivores are depicted as villainous (the Sharpteeth from Land Before Time) or like Pokemon, the issue is left unspoken as it suits them. Like a giant Donphan in the room.

While there are exceptions-

the exceptions

...yeah I got nothing. It's very very rare for a piece of media to have carnivores that explicitly eat meat or hunt but aren't villainous. I'm sure they exist but I can't think of any good examples. Even things like Lion King or Zootopia that begin to address it eventually bailed. Madagascar had this topic as it's entire plot, only to basically pull a "fish don't count as people" for the resolution.

Off topic, but this very trope inspired me to write a NaNoWriMo last year regarding a wendigo character that questions his morality as an obligate carnivore forced to only eat humans to survive (with no chance of curing or compromise, a true predator). I really should finish it, but part of the reason I dropped it is I have no idea what the resolution should be. Is it okay to live as a cannibal when you're an obligate carnivore?

-in general its probably avoided due to the mountain of implications. So we get a very black and white painting of morality, but that might be for the best.

In short, my point is it's best not to criticize Pokemon too much for avoiding the carnivore issue when nearly all media does it too.

I don't know how common Carnivore Confusion is in the USA, but I think it's a USA exclusive thing.
Shows in Asia have no problems with carnivores eating meat, even when it's aimed at children.

I don't see why American media want to hide carnivore behaviors from children at all... many children watch animal videos on National Geographic or Discovery anyway.

But generally, I'd agree that in Asian education, parents would want children to accept the truth, more than hiding the truth from them.
(Asian parenting hardly hide anything from children in the first place, with sex being the only exception.)
Most Asian parents just bluntly tell their kids that Santa Claus doesn't exist, and so on.

 

[Rapti]

It's definetly not a USA thing, a lot of Europe is squeamish about the whole "you have to kill an animal to eat meat" but even then it's not exclusive of the region; I'm not even gonna call it a "western" thing (western of where? the balkans? isn't africa west of the balkans too? and africa in not what people mean when they say "western cultures")

People not being comftable with the fact that meat comes from killing it's because urbanization makes people not aware where their food comes from, sure people in cities know it must come from a farm somewhere, but which farm and how was it grown it's pretty much a mystery unless you buy "organic" (and even then), after several generations of living only in cities people have no idea of how their food is even prepared, sure people buy porkchops but they've never seen a pig carcass much less seen a pig killed or killing one themselves for dinner

people know intellectualy their food comes from an animal, but emotionally they consider it just something else you buy from the market; the reality of seeng an animal killed and then made into, say, stakes it's something that puts urbanized people off, it's not a USA thing only, Japan has plenty of examples of being sqeamish about meat as far back as Kimba the White Lion
since we're disscusing tvtropes we just need to look at the trope No Cartoon Fish to see that the realities of where (mammalian) meat comes from puts them off too

now, all due repect Cresselia~~ but your perspective seems to be coloured by some chinese stereotypes for "the west"; like for example the whole chinese cooking/western cooking thing, that's actually mise en place, not how people in Europe/America actually cook (regular cooks don't use mise en place, no, not even in france, it is a method used specifically by haute cuisine chefs not by mommies)

now I'm not an expert or anything, but it seems that china is actually far more acquainted with how it's food is prepared than most industrialized nations (yes, even after the many contaminated food scandals since people in china are, you know, aware and worried about such incidents, things like contaminated food happen quite a bit in the rest of the world as well it's just that most people aren't actually aware of them) so the whole carnivore depiction thing it's not really a problem there



Anyway, Pokemon!

Making your carnivorous pokemon used to eateing only berries or manufatured foodstuffs seem to be perfectly logical for a pokemon trainer to do

like look at this

that it's not natural behavour but it's perfectly possible, even recommended, that if you have a cat and a dog you get them used to each other so that they don't fight and hurt themselves, they can even become friends but it's a human induced relationship, in nature this is not likely to happen

same with pokemon, if you have a swellow and a beautifly, you wanna get that swellow used to eating berries so as to prevent fights between them

 

[Cresselia~~]

It's definetly not a USA thing, a lot of Europe is squeamish about the whole "you have to kill an animal to eat meat" but even then it's not exclusive of the region; I'm not even gonna call it a "western" thing (western of where? the balkans? isn't africa west of the balkans too? and africa in not what people mean when they say "western cultures")

People not being comftable with the fact that meat comes from killing it's because urbanization makes people not aware where their food comes from, sure people in cities know it must come from a farm somewhere, but which farm and how was it grown it's pretty much a mystery unless you buy "organic" (and even then), after several generations of living only in cities people have no idea of how their food is even prepared, sure people buy porkchops but they've never seen a pig carcass much less seen a pig killed or killing one themselves for dinner

people know intellectualy their food comes from an animal, but emotionally they consider it just something else you buy from the market; the reality of seeng an animal killed and then made into, say, stakes it's something that puts urbanized people off, it's not a USA thing only, Japan has plenty of examples of being sqeamish about meat as far back as Kimba the White Lion
since we're disscusing tvtropes we just need to look at the trope No Cartoon Fish to see that the realities of where (mammalian) meat comes from puts them off too

now, all due repect Cresselia~~ but your perspective seems to be coloured by some chinese stereotypes for "the west"; like for example the whole chinese cooking/western cooking thing, that's actually mise en place, not how people in Europe/America actually cook (regular cooks don't use mise en place, no, not even in france, it is a method used specifically by haute cuisine chefs not by mommies)

now I'm not an expert or anything, but it seems that china is actually far more acquainted with how it's food is prepared than most industrialized nations (yes, even after the many contaminated food scandals since people in china are, you know, aware and worried about such incidents, things like contaminated food happen quite a bit in the rest of the world as well it's just that most people aren't actually aware of them) so the whole carnivore depiction thing it's not really a problem there



Anyway, Pokemon!

Making your carnivorous pokemon used to eateing only berries or manufatured foodstuffs seem to be perfectly logical for a pokemon trainer to do

like look at this

that it's not natural behavour but it's perfectly possible, even recommended, that if you have a cat and a dog you get them used to each other so that they don't fight and hurt themselves, they can even become friends but it's a human induced relationship, in nature this is not likely to happen

same with pokemon, if you have a swellow and a beautifly, you wanna get that swellow used to eating berries so as to prevent fights between them

I had lived in the UK for 5 years, so I at least know what Europe was like.
Can't say that about USA since I've never been to USA.
But from what I read off the internet, it seems that Europeans are more open towards discussing death compared to Americans.

I disagree with your opinion on urbanization.
In Hong Kong, it is common for us to buy live chickens, and then we kill the chicken in our own kitchen.
People in Hong Kong hate frozen chicken because it tastes different.
You can buy live fish, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, etc.
People want their food fresh, so they don't kill them until like 5 minutes prior to the cooking.

And children often watch the killing process.

 

[Rapti]

I disagree with your opinion on urbanization.
In Hong Kong, it is common for us to buy live chickens, and then we kill the chicken in our own kitchen.
People in Hong Kong hate frozen chicken because it tastes different.
You can buy live fish, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, etc.
People want their food fresh, so they don't kill them until like 5 minutes prior to the cooking.

And children often watch the killing process.

Well that's the whole thing, can you actually buy live chicken in London for example? or Köln or Paris or Boston or even Mexico City
it's not something you get to do in urbanized areas (except for lobsters and even then most people get squeamish about cooking those too)

now when I say an urbanized area I don't mean just a big city, but a city whose population has lived in a city or another for generations to the point they've only seen a live farm animal on tv or maybe a school trip at most; an area that's so heavily industrialized that it has to be far removed from farms and as such the only way to even get food is from places far from the city

like for example the fact that people in Hong Kong even know what non-frozen chicken tastes like tells me that it's not an urban area, it's undoubtibly a metropolis but not an urban city (urban as in isolated from rural areas)
seriously like ask the british people aroud you if they ever bought a live chicken and you'll see that many have only ever seen a live chicken on tv

 

[Norne]

Hey dude I'm Mexican and I'm OK with buying a live chicken in the market and then prepare it from square one.

Sometimes you just need it to be fresh, frozen meat is often taken as granted but it is still a commodity that depends on distribution and availability.

 

[Rapti]

Hey dude I'm Mexican and I'm OK with buying a live chicken in the market and then prepare it from square one.

Sometimes you just need it to be fresh, frozen meat is often taken as granted but it is still a commodity that depends on distribution and availability.

Hide

pues en donde vives mai? porque ni en el ajusco venden a los pollos vivos, notese que dije en la Ciudad de Mexico, si te vas a atlotlopalzingo de las tres piedras ahi si los encuentras vivos, pero estamos hablando de la urbanizacion y del impacto que esta tiene tanto en la percepcion que las personas que viven en las zonas urbanas tienen sobre los origenes y la preparacion de sus alimentos como en las reacciones que esta misma gente tiene a la idea (ya no digamos a una demostracion) de sacrificar un animal vivo para luego cocinarlo

oh lo que es lo mismo, que a menos de que vivas en un pueblito no es normal matar un pollo en tu cocina (si con decirte que en Monterrey ni tortillerias hay y todo lo compran en el super, imaginate a alguien de alla comprando a un pollo para despechugarlo

este es un foro pokemon? :<

that's mexican for frozen meat is a commodity in rural areas, it's standard in urbanized ones where instead it's fresh products the ones that are a commodity

we are getting off topic (what's a pokemon?) but for anyone who still wants to discuss this PM me and I'll link you to the books about it (seriously there's books)

 

[pika pal]

I think it's just the general squeamishness about killing anything, even for the sake of survival, that puts some people off on the topic. You get into the underlying reality that while we're secure on top of it, humans are nonetheless just another member of the food web: We have as much right to kill animals for sustenance as the reverse, but we're also much more inclined to value our own kind's lives above another species. It's just what happens when you bring salient thought into beings involved in hunting. Even in works like The Lion King, where carnivorous eating is not treated as "black" morality, they're still very averse to showing the prey being killed: if the act of eating is shown in any manner, it's usually something like the bones picked clean, or at the very least the already dead prey being set down to eat (and still tend to be averse to showing it ripped and torn to be eaten).

I think this goes hand in hand with Pokemon's take on RPG conditions. Even with statuses explicitly dealing with real health like Poison and so many violent actions, Pokemon are merely "fainted" in battle, compared to other RPG's still making it death (albeit reversible) as the 0 HP scenario.

This does make me wonder though, are Pokemon moves specifically toned down versions of their capabilities for the sake of non-lethal battle, or are Pokemon simply adapted by evolution to be capable of surviving slashes by things like Scyther or being set on fire? Pokemon hunting each other is an established concept, so they have to be capable of killing each other in some capacity. You get some entries like Slugma where they're supposed to be as hot as actual magma, but does that simply mean the average Pokemon can survive (albeit not without injury) contact with that, or that Slugma can control its body temperature as a life-or-death defense mechanism?

 

[Random Passerby]

You get some entries like Slugma where they're supposed to be as hot as actual magma, but does that simply mean the average Pokemon can survive (albeit not without injury) contact with that, or that Slugma can control its body temperature as a life-or-death defense mechanism?

Pretty sure that's the 10-year-old (or whatever their age is) inner self exaggerating or listening to some urban legends.

 

[Mova]

It's possible that Slugma are just cute little slugs that have the same fire elemental capabilities as a Magmar, assuming that Pokédex entries simply exaggerate to provide narratives for these weird creatures we call elf monster Pokémon.

 

[Detective Barricade]

I think it's just the general squeamishness about killing anything, even for the sake of survival, that puts some people off on the topic. You get into the underlying reality that while we're secure on top of it, humans are nonetheless just another member of the food web: We have as much right to kill animals for sustenance as the reverse, but we're also much more inclined to value our own kind's lives above another species. It's just what happens when you bring salient thought into beings involved in hunting. Even in works like The Lion King, where carnivorous eating is not treated as "black" morality, they're still very averse to showing the prey being killed: if the act of eating is shown in any manner, it's usually something like the bones picked clean, or at the very least the already dead prey being set down to eat (and still tend to be averse to showing it ripped and torn to be eaten).

I think this goes hand in hand with Pokemon's take on RPG conditions. Even with statuses explicitly dealing with real health like Poison and so many violent actions, Pokemon are merely "fainted" in battle, compared to other RPG's still making it death (albeit reversible) as the 0 HP scenario.

This does make me wonder though, are Pokemon moves specifically toned down versions of their capabilities for the sake of non-lethal battle, or are Pokemon simply adapted by evolution to be capable of surviving slashes by things like Scyther or being set on fire? Pokemon hunting each other is an established concept, so they have to be capable of killing each other in some capacity. You get some entries like Slugma where they're supposed to be as hot as actual magma, but does that simply mean the average Pokemon can survive (albeit not without injury) contact with that, or that Slugma can control its body temperature as a life-or-death defense mechanism?

I think Pokemon naturally have some control over their abilities in that in battle their goal is to incapacitate, not outright kill. (and in the case of Mareanie or Heatmor, they can't exactly eat their prey when some human and their Pokemon isn't going to leave them alone)

 

[Cresselia~~]

I think it's just the general squeamishness about killing anything, even for the sake of survival, that puts some people off on the topic. You get into the underlying reality that while we're secure on top of it, humans are nonetheless just another member of the food web: We have as much right to kill animals for sustenance as the reverse, but we're also much more inclined to value our own kind's lives above another species. It's just what happens when you bring salient thought into beings involved in hunting. Even in works like The Lion King, where carnivorous eating is not treated as "black" morality, they're still very averse to showing the prey being killed: if the act of eating is shown in any manner, it's usually something like the bones picked clean, or at the very least the already dead prey being set down to eat (and still tend to be averse to showing it ripped and torn to be eaten).

I think this goes hand in hand with Pokemon's take on RPG conditions. Even with statuses explicitly dealing with real health like Poison and so many violent actions, Pokemon are merely "fainted" in battle, compared to other RPG's still making it death (albeit reversible) as the 0 HP scenario.

This does make me wonder though, are Pokemon moves specifically toned down versions of their capabilities for the sake of non-lethal battle, or are Pokemon simply adapted by evolution to be capable of surviving slashes by things like Scyther or being set on fire? Pokemon hunting each other is an established concept, so they have to be capable of killing each other in some capacity. You get some entries like Slugma where they're supposed to be as hot as actual magma, but does that simply mean the average Pokemon can survive (albeit not without injury) contact with that, or that Slugma can control its body temperature as a life-or-death defense mechanism?

That's actually a good question.
Pokemon may be potentially able to kill other Pokemon with their capabilities even in battles.

But I suppose it would never be addressed.

 

[Codraroll]

Death in Pokémon has been addressed multiple times, though. And in every case, it's exhaustion that does them in. Basically being forced to fight past the point of "fainting".

In battle, even weak Pokémon can take an earth-shattering move to the face and still end up no worse than fainted. Give them time to rest, and they will rise again. A strong move seems to be knocking them out for longer periods of time, though. In Destiny Deoxys, the titular Deoxys in Attack Forme takes a point-blank Hyper Beam from Rayquaza directly to its most vulnerable spot. It is knocked out for four years afterwards, but then wakes up and is as strong and eager as ever.

 

[stage7_4]

Death in Pokémon has been addressed multiple times, though. And in every case, it's exhaustion that does them in. Basically being forced to fight past the point of "fainting".

In battle, even weak Pokémon can take an earth-shattering move to the face and still end up no worse than fainted. Give them time to rest, and they will rise again. A strong move seems to be knocking them out for longer periods of time, though. In Destiny Deoxys, the titular Deoxys in Attack Forme takes a point-blank Hyper Beam from Rayquaza directly to its most vulnerable spot. It is knocked out for four years afterwards, but then wakes up and is as strong and eager as ever.

And then in HG/SS there was that one time Lance's dragonite totally hyper beam's a dude working for Team Rocket just for being in the way. The guy under-reacts like he just got gut-punched.

Let's just say they play this fast and loose for all it's worth. If it's not to service drama, then pokemon fights are strangely non-lethal.

If we take this to be similar to a boxing match or MMA fight, then the pokemon are recalled automatically before taking serious damage. Maybe it's a pokeball function?

If you're a RWBY fan, then maybe the HP meter could actually be like an "aura" meter or shield gauge. You're completely fine as long as you have some left, but as soon as you lose it all then the next hit you take will have realistic repercussions. Doesn't explain why they always faint at the end though.

 

[Pikachu315111]

I think it's fairly obvious that trainer vs. trainer are sanctioned battles. Pokemon are just trying to knock each other out, not kill one another. Not only is it a trainer responsibility to recognize when their Pokemon had enough, I also believe Pokemon can sense when their opponent is knocked out and won't continue to battle.

Trainer vs. wild I see are more about proving your worth? Who's worth? Well it depends. If you're trying to catch a Pokemon it's you proving yourself to the Pokemon that you're a worthy trainer. If you're just battling to gain experience, its the wild Pokemon seeing if it can take on a trainer's Pokemon (and maybe potentially proving its worthy of being caught). But eitherway, they're just trying to knock each other out so will stop once the opponent is unable to battle (but isn't the wild Pokemon in danger being knocked out? I don't think its a long lasting knock out, just a few seconds and then the Pokemon gets up and slinks off to lick its wounds).

Wild vs wild, well it depends why the Pokemon are battling. If we're assuming it's because one Pokemon is trying to eat the other or one is fiercely defending their territory from a determined Pokemon who wants it, well I would imagine one Pokemon would kill another. Be them the attacker or the defender, this is a battle of life and death and I don't know why a Pokemon wouldn't use its natural skills to kill its adversary. Now they may use the move differently, like making aiming for vital weak points or focus on crippling, but if a Pokemon can use it in a trainer battle I don't see why they wouldn't use it to hunt, conquest, defend themselves. It goes without saying at this point the Pokemon doesn't care if the opponent is temporarily knocked out, if anything that's time for the kill blow.

BUT WAIT! What about when you're battling a villain group? Why would groups like Team Rocket or Team Flare or any villain bosses (especially Giovanni, Cyrus, Ghetsis, and Lusamine) not go all the way with their Pokemon? When you lose you just black out but your Pokemon are fine and they're waiting for you to battle again. Well that's a meta/gameplay thing, because in-story the player is not suppose to lose any battle, at least against the villain group. Gameplay and story segregation is an aspect you need to consider for some of this stuff, what we see for the purpose of the game may not be how things are actually happening in-universe.

 

[Siggu]

Trainer vs. wild I see are more about proving your worth? Who's worth? Well it depends. If you're trying to catch a Pokemon it's you proving yourself to the Pokemon that you're a worthy trainer. If you're just battling to gain experience, its the wild Pokemon seeing if it can take on a trainer's Pokemon (and maybe potentially proving its worthy of being caught). But eitherway, they're just trying to knock each other out so will stop once the opponent is unable to battle (but isn't the wild Pokemon in danger being knocked out? I don't think its a long lasting knock out, just a few seconds and then the Pokemon gets up and slinks off to lick its wounds).

I think I read somewhere that it's actually the Wild Pokemon trying to prove its worth to you.

 

[Karxrida]

Death in Pokémon has been addressed multiple times, though. And in every case, it's exhaustion that does them in. Basically being forced to fight past the point of "fainting".

In battle, even weak Pokémon can take an earth-shattering move to the face and still end up no worse than fainted. Give them time to rest, and they will rise again. A strong move seems to be knocking them out for longer periods of time, though. In Destiny Deoxys, the titular Deoxys in Attack Forme takes a point-blank Hyper Beam from Rayquaza directly to its most vulnerable spot. It is knocked out for four years afterwards, but then wakes up and is as strong and eager as ever.

Deoxys was disintegrated, not just knocked out. Anything else would have probably been dead from taking that hit because Cell-esque regeneration isn't exactly a common thing.

I mean you could probably argue that Deo-A is super frail just like the games and took more damage than other Pokémon would, but I don't think that was the intention.

 

[Pikachu315111]

I think I read somewhere that it's actually the Wild Pokemon trying to prove its worth to you.

It's said that wild Pokemon are jealous of catched Pokemon, wishing themselves to be catched so they could train to be stronger than they could be naturally. Sounds like a stretch that EVERY wild Pokemon wants this, though.

Deoxys was disintegrated, not just knocked out. Anything else would have probably been dead from taking that hit because Cell-esque regeneration isn't exactly a common thing.

I mean you could probably argue that Deo-A is super frail just like the games and took more damage than other Pokémon would, but I don't think that was the intention.

Rayquaza was going in for kill no matter what it was facing. Its territory was threatened by an unknown entity and it wasn't taking any chances. Could also be doing so to protect the planet, though the Rayquaza in the anime doesn't seem that concerned with the surface world. Also didn't Deoxys meteor almost hit Rayquaza? I think that would got it mad too.

 

[Siggu]

It's said that wild Pokemon are jealous of catched Pokemon, wishing themselves to be catched so they could train to be stronger than they could be naturally. Sounds like a stretch that EVERY wild Pokemon wants this, though.

Perhaps the Catch Rate reflects how much they want to be caught by you.

(Could be kind of supported by the mandatory legendaries wanting to be caught by us and having drastically higher Catch Rates compared to other legendaries)

 

[Detective Barricade]

It's said that wild Pokemon are jealous of catched Pokemon, wishing themselves to be catched so they could train to be stronger than they could be naturally. Sounds like a stretch that EVERY wild Pokemon wants this, though.



Rayquaza was going in for kill no matter what it was facing. Its territory was threatened by an unknown entity and it wasn't taking any chances. Could also be doing so to protect the planet, though the Rayquaza in the anime doesn't seem that concerned with the surface world. Also didn't Deoxys meteor almost hit Rayquaza? I think that would got it mad too.

It is rather rude for your lunch to nearly bonk you on the head...

Hey, nothing ever said Rayquaza didn't munch on meteorites in the anime and non-Mega universe.

Perhaps the Catch Rate reflects how much they want to be caught by you.

(Could be kind of supported by the mandatory legendaries wanting to be caught by us and having drastically higher Catch Rates compared to other legendaries)

Could also explain why their catch rate was bumped down in OR/AS, Rayquaza aside. They're probably already disoriented from being stuck in Hoopa's ring portals and now some kid's poking at them.

Though it doesn't exactly reflect too well on the Ultra Beasts Pheromosa and Kartana's intelligence. The Ultra Beasts' somewhat higher catch rates could be explained as their intrigue at the Ultra Wormhole energies the player's exuding, but these two have the highest by far. Maybe the former is so desperate to go home because everything in this world is strange and icky and it doesn't want to touch it longer than it has to? (no idea about Kartana)

 

[Norne]

Well pheromosa is indeed unique in the aspect of hating this gross world and fighting with her legs to avoid touching stuff. Kartana is literally a glass cannon, or a paper sword, the dex doesnt say much about its habits other than taking hits well but being weak to beams.

The Beastball is said to mimick the conditions of the ultra wormhole so that might explain why pheromosa isnt very eager to go inside the ball while kartana is weak to ranged attacks due to its physiology.

Or they might just wanted to cap the level curve in the mission due to you having to capture 4 of them.

 

[stage7_4]

BUT WAIT! What about when you're battling a villain group? Why would groups like Team Rocket or Team Flare or any villain bosses (especially Giovanni, Cyrus, Ghetsis, and Lusamine) not go all the way with their Pokemon? When you lose you just black out but your Pokemon are fine and they're waiting for you to battle again. Well that's a meta/gameplay thing, because in-story the player is not suppose to lose any battle, at least against the villain group. Gameplay and story segregation is an aspect you need to consider for some of this stuff, what we see for the purpose of the game may not be how things are actually happening in-universe.

I had a theory about that.

If a society developed with pokemon, then there stands to reason that certain things we take for granted are never developed due to lack of necessity. Passenger planes are pointless due to HM Fly (or Charizard Pokeride), school systems and career paths center around you ditching home at age 10 to backpack through Europe Kalos, and free health care.

A lack of presence of most conventional weaponry could be more than just ESRB standards and audience/tone themes, but actually underdeveloped or never developed due to the presence and societal dependence on pokemon. Sure Honedge throws a wrench in the theory, but at least in modern pokemon society there have yet to be confirmed firearms.

well at least in the main series games

Expanding even further: customs, tactics, values, and memes could also be reflected by a pokemon based society. Battle strategies are so ingrained around fair play and even matches that the possibility of pragmatism isn't even considered. They have no concept of total war.

It's not too far fetched. Most societies had to invent guerilla warfare after experiencing firsthand hit-and-run tactics, so it's possible that "ganging up" or beating an opponent when they are down is so socially unacceptable that villains don't even consider it.

Long story short, a tradition of pokemon battling might be so ingrained in the mind of society, that the villains can't comprehend not following procedure.

 

[Darth Manaphy]

To be fair, many Pokemon are so much more powerful than what a simple gun could do. The whole thing is that when they sick their Pokemon on you, you have yours to defend yourself. That's how I always took it.

 

[brightobject]

How can a barber cut Furfrou's fur when its ability already boosts its Defense to ridiculous levels? :thinking:

 

[Siggu]

How can a barber cut Furfrou's fur when its ability already boosts its Defense to ridiculous levels? :thinking:

For that matter, shouldn't that make Furfrou unable to use Fur Coat?

 

[Darth Manaphy]

How can a barber cut Furfrou's fur when its ability already boosts its Defense to ridiculous levels? :thinking:

You see. There's only a few barbers in the world that cut a Furfrou's fur. That's because these barbers are the only ones with Mold Breaker.