Changing poké balls

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Hex Maniac

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In a non-game situation, do you think a trainer could switch a pokémon to a different poké ball? How do you think a pokémon would react to this? Everyone has different theories on what poké balls are like inside, so I'd enjoy hearing people's opinions.

For example: a trainer starts with a Squirtle in a basic ball. As they travel and get more money, they're able to get a ball suitable for catching water pokémon. If you go with the theory that the inside of a ball includes different things to make it more comfortable for pokémon, what's preventing that trainer from giving its Squirtle a ball where it would feel more at home?

Theories, ideas? My personal opinion is that they could be switched, it's just probably not that common since pokémon may prefer the ball in which they were first caught and would depend on their personality.
 
I imagine that switching to different balls is not as simple as transferring from one ball to another. It might require some machine to do it because some data would exist in the ball that would prevent a simple transfer, such as recall or identity. After all, in some interpretations, a caught Pokemon cannot be re-caught, so it implies that a simple transfer is not possible.

That said, the use of machination could be a simple task to do, similar to trading, so it is possible if they want to do that. The question might be asked: what happens to the old Poke Ball? It might be recycled, but it couldn't be used any more in its original because it might have data imprinted, so formatting is required. It might have required a fee to do this, similar to buying a new Poke Ball. The rarer ones like Cherish Ball might cost more to do it, just because they are not easily replaceable.

I am sure the Pokemon won't mind being from one Poke Ball to a new one, similar to moving to a new home once you get used to it. I guess if you move to a more comfortable location, then that's a lot better. Maybe when moving to the Luxury Ball, they would have adapted to the changes a lot better, but moving from the Luxury Ball would be more challenging to adapt.

Thanks for reading.
 
You could always use the tried but true method of smashing the old pokeball on a rock until it's broken and then recapturing the pokemon in the Luxury Ball. Though you have to have that awkward conversation with your pokemon about whether it still wants to be with you or not, but that's probably a healthy thing for your relationship.
 
From a game perspective, I've wanted to switch balls for always. Since the release animation depends on the ball used, i'd assign certain balls for certain Pokes. Dive ball for all water-types, Net ball for all bug-types, Luxury ball for all friendship evolvers etc. Switching ball in game would be a great option (not available on master ball). I'd be willing to spend more on extra balls to end up with uniformity across themes, since capturing Pokes doesn't always work the way you hope.

How could it work? I don't know, but in the first movie do you remember Mewtwo's balls that could capture pokes already INSIDE balls? Maybe this is how it could work?
 
In an anime/realistic world I think a trainer would talk to their pokemon about this to let them know their intentions, "release" them, then ask them to hop into another pokeball. After all Dawn did catch, release and re-catch her Pachirisu.
 
Well, in the Pokémon Adventures manga, Poké Balls have been shown to be damaged or outright destroyed, and the Pokémon that was held in them still obeyed their Trainers, suggesting that, at least in that continuity, Poké Balls are more for the convenience of carrying the Pokémon around than they are for binding the Pokémon to their Trainer. The anime's also shown Poké Balls being damaged or destroyed, and the Pokémon didn't immediately run off, showing that the Poké Balls, again, are more meant to make it easier to travel with your team than anything else. I'd say that being able to switch a Pokémon's Poké Ball shouldn't be too difficult, you'd just need to take it to a Pokémon Center and have the people who work there take care of it, like they do with Poké Ball repair and maintenance in the anime and manga.
 
I've been pondering something like this at length. Honestly, I am convinced that the behavior of the pokeballs only exists for the sake of the game. I just cannot find the justification in my head for there to be a device that is more reliable at catching pokemon than others. I'm not buying that pokemon make themselves available to humans they think are worthy. If that was true, then why the test to prove your worth? Why do you have to fight the poke first to capture them? By using a ball that catches more reliably, you are bypassing said test anyway, and this implies that either the test was BS or you're somehow overriding the pokemon's will. What about pokemon that are just defending themselves? I don't see how that doesn't make you equally vulnerable to a pokeball. It is heavily implied you're supposed to be making friends with your pokemon, yet this exists. I honestly believe that the only reason that these modifiers exist is to make the game easier. To provide a way to catch a specific pokemon should you just be seeking a certain one.

Having different kinds of pokeballs is another matter, though. I've seen this kind of idea floating around lately. It's sort of been around since the beginning, to have a pokeball that lets you know either that it's uniquely your own, and/or what's inside of it. It's a neat idea, but it's not one I've seen too much of. Other than that, I like to think all pokeballs should behave pretty much the same. For me, they are little more than a convenience, a way to be able to take pokemon wherever you need them to be. There are some ways that simply keeping them out of a ball would be a hindrance. The complication is simple enough to see, though. By keeping them in a ball, you are more disconnected from them. Not like in ancient times, when they were around their pokemon all the time, and thus developed a closer bond, allowing them to be more effective. In the modern world, though, you can more easily keep track of multiple pokemon. You can even transfer them over great distances at your convenience. I will also say that due to not needing to put in as much effort, that the quality of their performance suffers as well. Much has been sacrificed to make the world more efficient.

That is not to say that one cannot have the same bond with a pokemon caught in a ball that you would otherwise. No, that is the whole principle behind it. The pokeball is useless without it. A pokemon can freely decide if it wants to leave or not. If you want to believe the anime, they can even freely break out of the pokeball at will. It cannot seal a pokemon that doesn't want to be captured, or at least that is the only way I can justify it. Although, you may find that if you do possess such a bond, then you will spend more time with them out of the pokeball than not.

I've never truly figured out what goes on in the pokeball, but I like to think it's a pocket dimension. A realm designed for the pokemon's comfort. It simulates the environment most suited to the pokemon in question and provides everything they need. In emergencies, it is a life support device, hopefully keeping it stable enough for you to get it to a pokemon center. It cannot provide companionship, though, or at least realistic companionship. I'd like to think that the pokemon can hang out in each others' "homes", but I'd be unable to tell why exactly a pokeball is letting in more than the pokemon it's been assigned to. Perhaps they can all link up via some kind of pokeball network, I don't know.
 
I agree with what winstein said. It's probably not as easy as just moving one Pokemon to another ball, and it seems like the ball itself has a strong connection to the trainer who has caught it, so that's why the trading process with machinery is so complicated and you can't just swap balls.
That said, I'd really like a feature implemented where we can change a caught Pokemon's ball. I like having matching color schemes for some bizarre reason.
 
If there was a machine to do it, I don't really think it would be that hard
 
I would have thought if you have a bond deep enough with the pokemon you could release it from its current ball for it to be 'captured' by the other ball. This is if the theory that pokeballs control a Pokemon's obedience is false.
 
I think it's dependent on the Pokemon itself, like their temperament, and how loyal they are to the trainer. A Pokemon like Ash's Charizard from the anime may not want to go from one Poke Ball to the other, whereas a calmer Pokemon would be more okay with it. It would also depend on the ball used, a Poke Ball to a Luxury Ball or a Poke Ball to a Dive Ball, that kinda thing. It's probably possible, but it's also a lot more effort than necessary, so no one really bothers with it too much unless it's absolutely necessary.
 
Trading is possible, so why can't moving to different Pokeballs? There could be a machine, or just outright talking to your Pokemon. I'd personally love this as a feature in the game.
Also, I imagine that the inside of the Pokeball is a nice little home for the Pokemon, complete with it's own unique little furniture and belongings.
 
I would think a machine would have to do it. My thought on Pokéballs is that it turns the Pokémon into a form of energy, and encodes it into the Pokéball. So the Pokémon is turned into code of sorts, and it has the illusion of having a home in the Pokéball while it is in energy form. Seeing from this theory that the Pokémon is encoded into the Pokéball to determine that it's that specific Pokémon's Pokéball, I would think that some machine would have to transfer the coding to another Pokéball. Of course, you could just release the Pokémon and catch it with a better ball, but I'm unsure if the Pokéball is still usable after that.
 
It should require some work to get, and what better way than to utilize the underused friendship mechanic added in XY? The ability to change your Pokemons Pokeball could be a cosmetic perk to achieving a certain friendship. They could also reintroduce Pokemon Stickers to give your Pokeballs release effect even more customization.
 
Malva said:
That said, I'd really like a feature implemented where we can change a caught Pokemon's ball. I like having matching color schemes for some bizarre reason.
Click to expand...

Exactly. There's 26 PokéBalls and I want all of my Pokémon to experience all of them.
 
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