Fainting
 | This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Side game info and game screenshots |
Thefainted status condition (Japanese:瀕死near death) is astatus condition in which aPokémon is no longer able to battle. Prior toGeneration VI, it was abbreviated asFNT, or asFt inPokémon Stadium 2.
During abattle, if all Pokémon in aTrainer'sparty have fainted, the Trainer loses that battle (except forPokémon Legends: Arceus).
In the core series games
In thecore seriesPokémon games, fainting occurs when a Pokémon reaches 0HP, causing the Pokémon to leave the battle with a slowed or distortedcry. A Pokémon which has fainted is unable to battle or gainexperience points oreffort points if it would have until it has been revived. However, it can stillevolve after battle if the required criteria were met (unless the player blacks out), and it is still able to usefield moves, such asFly orCut. When theplayer'sparty is viewed, any fainted Pokémon will have a red FNT status bar or astatus condition of FNT.
If all Pokémon in the player's party have fainted, the playerblacks out and loses somemoney. InTrainer battles, the money is paid to the winner, whereas in battles withwild Pokémon the money is dropped in panic. The amount of money lost is determined by the highest level of the Pokémon in the player's party, and is the same amount in either case.
Fainting without damage or losing HP
Destiny Bond andPerish Song cause affected Pokémon to faint. The movesSelf-Destruct,Explosion,Memento,Healing Wish,Lunar Dance,Final Gambit, andMisty Explosion cause the user to faint.
Held itemsFocus Sash andFocus Band,Endure, andSturdy (fromGeneration IV onwards) do not protect the user against these non-damage fainting effects.
Fainting through indirect damage
Fainting can also be caused through indirect damage, includingstatus conditions,weather, andentry hazards.
When a Pokémon has beenpoisoned, it will lose HP during battle, which can cause it to faint. Additionally, prior toGeneration IV, a poisoned Pokémon in the player's party outside of battle will lose 1 HP every four steps until it faints (in Generation IV, the Pokémon will be cured of poison when it has 1 HP remaining).Burned Pokémon take damage in battle, which can cause fainting, but not outside of battle. Aconfused Pokémon is at risk of hurting itself, which can make itself faint.Recoil damage from the move may cause its user to faint. A Pokémon affected byLeech Seed may faint from the resulting HP loss at the end of each turn.
Fainting through a Pomeg Berry
- Main article:Pomeg glitch
Fainting can also happen when using thePomeg Berry in certain older games, known as thePomeg glitch. As the Pomeg Berry reduces HPEVs, if a Pomeg Berry is applied to a Pokémon with low HP, the Pokémon may faint as a result.
Effects of fainting
Fainting will cause a Pokémon to losefriendship, and may grow to resent its Trainer if it faints often and spends a lot of time unconscious.
If all of theplayer's Pokémon faint, then the Trainer will lose the battle andblack (or white) out. The player will then be warped back to the lastPokémon Center they visited andlose money. InFireRed and LeafGreen and fromGeneration IV onwards, a small cut scene explains what happens.
Reviving
Normalitems, such asPotions or status condition healing items, cannot be used on a fainted Pokémon. Instead, they can only be healed by talking to a certain NPC (usually at aPokémon Center), resting in a bed, depositing the Pokémon in aBox (prior toGeneration VIII), using themoveRevival Blessing in battle, or using a reviving item either in battle or otherwise.
| Item | Effect | |
|---|---|---|
 | Revive | Revives a fainted Pokémon to half of its fullHP. |
 | Max Revive | Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP. |
 | Max Honey | Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP. |
 | Revival Herb | Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP while loweringfriendship. |
 | Sacred Ash | Revives all fainted Pokémon in theplayer'sparty to their maximum HP. |
Rare Candy andExp. Candy can also potentially revive a fainted Pokémon (exceptShedinja fromGeneration VI onward) due to theHP gained uponleveling up. Pokémoncaught after making them faint, such as in aMax Raid Battle orTera Raid Battle, are revived with 1 HP upon being caught.
Avoiding fainting
There are many ways that fainting can be avoided, with the most straightforward being to recalling a Pokémon from battle while it is still healthy. Several mechanics allow Pokémon to survive an attack that would otherwise make it faint with 1 HP:Endure,held itemsFocus Sash andFocus Band,Sturdy fromGeneration IV onwards, andaffection level of 3 or higher.
The following items can prevent a Pokémon from fainting:
 | TheFocus Band has a 10% chance to let the user survive with 1 HP when it receives damage that would cause it to faint. |
 | TheFocus Sash will let the user survive with 1 HP a single hit that would cause it to faint if it started at full HP, disappearing after it is used successfully. |
Icons
 |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Icon from Ruby and Sapphire | Icon from FireRed and LeafGreen | Icon from Emerald | Icon from Generation IV | Icon from Generation V | Icon from Generation VI | Icon from Sun, Moon,Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon | |
 |  |  |  |  | |||
| Icon from Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! | Icon from Sword and Shield | Icon from Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl | Icon from Legends: Arceus | Icon from Scarlet and Violet | |||
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Icon from Stadium | Icon from Stadium 2 | In-battle icon fromColosseum | Party screen icon fromColosseum | Summary screen icon fromColosseum | Icon from XD | Party screen icon fromXD | Icon from Battle Revolution |
In the spin-off games
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series
In thePokémon Mystery Dungeon series, fainting occurs under the same conditions as the core series.
Prior to Super Mystery Dungeon, when a Pokémon faints, aReviver Seed will be taken from the player's bag and automatically be used, becoming aPlain Seed. If a Pokémon faints and the player does not have a Reviver Seed, the Pokémon will be sent out of the dungeon, but it will not be dismissed unless it was recruited on this visit. If the player, the partner in story-related missions, a client that is being escorted, or another important character faints, the mission will be considered a failure, the entire team will be sent back and allRBTD or halfSGtISMD of theirPoké and a majority of their inventory will be lost. If the player attacks aKecleon Shop and gets defeated by Kecleon, items that are not lost will be turned intoPlain Seeds.
In Super Mystery Dungeon, if bothTiny Reviver Seeds and Reviver Seeds are in the Bag, the player may choose which one to use on a fainted party member. Outside of story missions, the player may also choose to not use either type of Reviver Seed when a party member faints, though only if the Pokémon isn't the last one remaining. If a party member faints without using a Reviver Seed, aRevive All Orb will still be able to revive it later. If a Guest Pokémon (excludingHoopa) faints, it will warp to a random room on the floor and must be given a Tiny Reviver Seed or Reviver Seed before it can continue exploring. Unlike previous games, the party will not lose theirPoké or items if they move on to a different floor without reviving the guest.
InRescue Team DX, the player can find fainted Pokémon randomly in dungeons. These Pokémon can be recruited by giving them any variety of Apple from theToolbox.
e-Reader games
In thee-Reader gameMachop At Work, the playerMachop faints if it loses the game from being hit by a falling rock.
In animation
Pokémon the Series
InPokémon the Series, fainting is referred to as beingunable to battle (Japanese:戦闘不能unable to fight). ThesePokémon are not necessarily unconscious, but merely do not have the energy, ability, or other reasons to continue battling.
Fainted Pokémon are often depicted with stunned expressions or as having spirals in their eyes, presumably to emulate dizziness. Since not all Pokémon have eyes, they often have different ways of displaying that they have fainted, such asStaryu andStarmie's core flashing.
DuringGymbattles,League Conference matches, and other battle-orientedPokémon competitions, once a Pokémon is deemed unable to battle by ajudge, it must berecalled and cannot be used again. This rule is also observed during informal battlesAsh has with hisrivals, in whichBrock or another person acts as the referee.
The grounds for what is considered a Pokémon unable to battle varies between League Conferences. TheIndigo Plateau Conference is extremely strict with this rule as switching out, disobedience and even Pokémon being put to sleep is what makes them considered as fainted. Later League Conferences only consider Pokémon that are fainted to be unable to battle, theLily of the Valley Conference allowingAsh's Heracross to continue fighting, despite being put to sleep byDark Void byTobias'sDarkrai whilePaul consistently switched Pokémon out during his matches.
Battle Off
In theBattle Stage ofPokémon Contests, once thepanel of judges—usually formed byMr. Contesta,Mr. Sukizo, andNurse Joy—decide that a Pokémon is unable to continue battling, a red X mark will appear on the monitors of the judges' desk. This is calledBattle Off (Japanese:バトルオフBattle Off) and indicates the battle has come to an end, as contestants are not allowed torecall the fainted Pokémon and send a substitute. When this happens, theCoordinator with the remaining Pokémon will be declared the winner of the match. In the case of aDouble Battle, the fainted Pokémon may be recalled but not substituted, leaving the remaining Pokémon to battle alone.
When the judges rule Battle Off for a Pokémon, their decision is promptly announced by themaster of ceremonies and becomes effective immediately. The decision will be upheld even if the Coordinator feels that their Pokémon is able to continue battling, as the judges treat the Pokémon's health as a priority. Coordinators whose Pokémon fainted will have their remaining points depleted, and the scoreboard will show the opposing side as the winner.
Pokémon Horizons: The Series
| This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: role in Horizons; similarities/differences to PtS |
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
In the early chapters ofPokémon Adventures, even one Pokémon fainting in a battle was enough to decide the winner, unlike in the games. This rule stopped being in regular use starting from theFireRed & LeafGreen arc, although it was temporarily put back to use during theUnovaPokémon League tournament in theBlack & White arc.
In the TCG
In the Trading Card Game, fainting is instead referred to as aPokémon beingKnocked Out. This occurs when a Pokémon'sDamage, represented byDamage Counters, is greater than or equal to that Pokémon'sHit Points. Some effects are similar toone-hit knockout moves in that they immediately declare the recipient of the effect to be Knocked Out. (Usually, but not always, theDefending Pokémon has to have a certain property or be affected by another effect in order for it to be Knocked Out by this kind of effect.) Other effects are similar toExplosion andHealing Wish as they cause the user to be Knocked Out in exchange for some beneficial effect. Many effects in the TCG care about if a Pokémon was Knocked Out on a prior turn or by a specificattack.
When a Pokémon is Knocked Out, it is removed from theActive position or theBench, and it and its attached cards are placed in thediscard pile. The opponent of the player of that Pokémon takes one of theirPrize Cards, bringing them closer towinning the game. Some effects can remove a Pokémon from play without knocking it out, such as moving that Pokemon to the discard pile,Hand,Deck, orLost Zone. Prize Cards are not awarded by these effects.
Some other effects alter the number of Prize Cards taken when a Pokémon is Knocked Out or prevent an opponent from taking any Prize Cards after Knocking Out a specific Pokémon. Notably, the latter effect overrides the former; the number of Prize Cards an opponent takes after Knocking Out a Pokémon cannot be increased if they are already not taking any Prize Cards.
There are some effects that prevent a Pokémon from being Knocked Out. These effects generally replace being Knocked Out with setting that Pokémon's remainingHit Points to 10. Among these effects are direct adaptations ofFocus Sash,Focus Band, andSturdy.
In thePokémon Trading Card Game Online and thePokémon Trading Card Game Live, a Pokémon that is Knocked Out is rotated slightly clockwise (not as much asParalyzed), then moved to the discard pile. Live features a more dramatic visual where the card wobbles before landing in that position.
In other languages
Fainted
| Unable to battle
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Trivia
- In an interview,Satoshi Tajiri explained that Pokémon were designed to faint instead of die in thecore series games to avoid children developing an abnormal understanding of death and dying, as he felt they do when playing other video games, and to encourage children to treat death with respect.[1]
References
External links
Related articles
| Status conditions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Confusion | Flinch | Infatuation |
 | This game mechanic article is part ofProject Games, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on thePokémon games. |
