Pokémon: What’s Really Inside Of A Poké Ball?

Alongside Pikachu, the most recognizable Pokémon iconography is the Poké Ball, a strange bit of technology that still remains quite mysterious. Pokémon canonically has many types of Poké Balls, which trainers use in every region to capture and store the eponymous creatures. Despite their variety, Poké Balls all seem to operate in the same manner, although even with more than two decades of Pokémon media, their exact mechanics remain unknown. Traditional Poké Balls open into two hemispheres attached at a hinge in order to accept or release a Pokémon, but what’s really inside the iconic item used throughout the Pokémon universe?

Despite being ever-present in practically all Pokémon media, it’s never been revealed exactly how Poké Balls work or what is inside of one (aside from the captured Pokémon). There have always been Pokémon theories on how Poké Balls really work, but most of it is largely conjecture from tidbits of information revealed by the games, anime, and manga. When capturing a Pokémon, Poké Balls open their circular maw and seemingly convert the target creature into some form of energy, which is then absorbed by the Ball. Poké Balls are said to construct a comfortable environment for the Pokémon they hold, but it’s unclear what exactly this means, and it’s possible that this changes depending on the type of Pokémon.

Pokémon doesn’t seem particularly concerned with elucidating the exact details of a Poké Ball’s inner workings. This may be for the best, as it would likely lead to an unanswerable discussion on whether or not there are more humane ways of storing Pokémon. Despite the supposed comfortable environment, some Pokémon are particularly averse to residing inside of a Poké Ball, most famously Ash’s Pikachu. No matter how the Pokémon perceives its surroundings while inside, it seems inarguable that a Pokémon isn’t simply squished inside in some sort of stasis. The Poké Balls rolling around in Professor Oak’s lab in the Pokémon Let’s Go games, and the fact that some Pokémon can voluntarily release themselves from confinement in the anime, both seem to point to the fact that the captured creature is aware of its position.

What The Inside Of A Poké Ball Looks Like

A look at the inside of a Poké Ball from the anime (pictured above) shows that they are indeed hollow, but clearly use some kind of technology to accomplish their purpose. This doesn’t mean something can’t just be physically placed inside of it. Different items throughout the games, like the various Pokémon healing items, are found throughout the game world apparently stored in Poké Balls. Since the anime has shown that a human can’t be caught in one, it’s more than likely that any other item found inside of a Poké Ball has just been placed inside and the contraption shut around it. For Pokémon, however, the high-tech components that can be seen do support the idea that Poké Balls are a rather sophisticated technology bordering on science fiction.

The inside of a standard Poké Ball, according to the picture, appears to be comprised of some kind of reflective material, evenly spaced orange nodes, and a larger, green component on the concave side of what could be called the Ball’s pole if the seam were its equator. Presumably, these pieces combine to make whatever hardware is responsible for the energy beams that capture and release Pokémon from confinement. Though an interesting look inside a Poké Ball, the image doesn’t really help in understanding how the technology works. Does the inside of a Poké Ball simulate a Pokémon’s natural habitat? What would the interior look like while a Pokémon is inside if it’s even possible to open at that time? Do Pokémon age inside their Poké Balls, and are their dietary needs being met?

Longtime Pokémon director and composer Junichi Masuda once told Kotaku that “it’s very comfortable inside of a Poké Ball,” and that it might be considered “the equivalent of a high-end suite room in a fancy hotel.” This helps ease any ethical concerns over using Poké Balls, but still leaves the subject of the device’s interior rather nebulous. Masuda’s quote does, however, support the theory that the Poké Ball crafts some form of digitized environment. This tracks when considering other places Pokémon are stored, like when they are transferred to a PC. Similarly, Pokémon are not removed from their Ball when healed at a Pokémon Center, so the Pokémon itself must be in some manipulatable form inside.

Pokémon Have Been Living Inside Poké Balls For Ages

Pokémon Legends: Arceus‘ steam-powered, wooden Poké Balls are just the most recent example of them not being incredibly cutting edge technology – at least not in the Pokémon universe. Legends: Arceus takes place in the Hisui region, which will eventually become known as Sinnoh. While there’s no exact timeframe given for the game, the society of Jubilife Village appears almost entirely pre-industrial, still using pages for its fledgling Pokédex, yet still in possession of items that can dematerialize a Pokémon for storage purposes. Maybe the game itself will shed further light on the inner workings of Poké Balls, but these rudimentary ones are cursory evidence for theories suggesting the Balls are simply manipulating latent energy within the target Pokémon.

Poké Ball technology existing in ancient cultures is supported by the anime as well when in an early episode, Ash and Brock happen to discover the lost ruins of Pokémopolis. Within the ruins they find two containers holding a giant Alakazam and a giant Gengar in much the same way as modern Poké Balls – a situation that piques the interest in regards to what sort of secrets Pokémon Legends: Arceus‘ ancient ruins are hiding. Neither of these help explain what exactly is inside of a Poké Ball, but it does offer a sort of explanation as to why the subject has never been thoroughly elaborated on. The act of capturing Pokémon has seemingly existed for centuries, perhaps millennia, so it would appear that to people in the Pokémon universe, what’s inside of a Poké Ball is fairly uninteresting standard technology.

Source: Kotaku

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