Pokémon: Human Capture

Poké Balls: truly, a revolutionary invention. If you were to ask any one person what they think the most significant piece of technology they use in everyday life is, there is a good chance they'd name the Poké Ball. It has allowed for incalculably huge advances in infrastructure, and has become commonplace to the extent that "Pokémon," or "Pocket Monsters" (in reference to the Poké Ball's miniaturizing capabilities), has become the preferred term for the vast majority of organisms which inhabit our world.

But how do Poké Balls work? Poké Balls, similar to teleporters, are capable of converting matter into an analogous energy form, in which consciousness and cognitive functions can persist, similar to the one found in the Pokémon Rotom. However, unlike teleporters, Poké Balls do not immediately reconstitute the matter. This has numerous advantageous, including the easier transport of Pokémon due to their significantly reduced size and weight. It also allows for easy and safe basic alterations to converted matter. Examples of these alterations include the Poké Ball's property of making captured Pokémon more obedient to their trainer, the ability to load knowledge of techniques onto Pokémon via Technical Machines, or the ability to load combat experience and physical ability from one Pokémon to another via an Experience Share.

Another commonly asked question is why Poké Balls are only able to capture certain matter. For instance, why can a Poké Ball capture a Pokémon, but not a human? This is not actually a technical limitation of the capsules, but rather a safety feature, baked in to prevent accidents. Due to the fact that we have not yet discovered all species of Pokémon, Poké Balls default to capturing any matter they deem "alive", as well as objects being carried by said target. Certain things, however, like humans and known non-Pokémon organisms, such as plants, are programmed in as exceptions that will not be captured.

Despite these safety features rendering the capture of a human a virtual impossibility, the topic of human capture remains a persistent one. Every year, the media report on at least a couple alleged cases of human capture. However, these have all been categorically proven to be hoaxes. The general public tends to believe human capture to be physically impossible. To this day, an instance of human capture has yet to occur, and in all likelihood it never will.

...Or will it? This story deals with the idea of humans being captured in Poké Balls. How Poké Balls capable of performing this came into being may vary. Perhaps they're a failed experiment, cast aside by a company like Silph Co.. Perhaps they're part of a bad batch of capsules, accidently distributed in mass. Maybe they're even an illegal item from the black market. Who you are also may vary. A human, accidently captured by your friend? Or perhaps you're that friend? Maybe you're someone more insidious; one who seeks to enslave others for your own use.

What won't vary, however, are the rules captured humans must abide by. Upon capturing a human, the Poké Ball will recognize it as an unknown species, and after linking with a Pokédex will attempt to record and compile as much data on the human as it can to form a new Pokédex entry. Pokédex entries for captured humans usually indicate that they are normal type, though it is possible for them to be recorded as additionally possessing the fighting, dark, ghost, or psychic type, depending on their background and talents. Despite this, captured humans are able to be effected by ghost type moves. No consistent pattern has been found in what captured human’s abilities are, though they usually reflect what is reasonably possible for a particular human. Captured humans are recorded as belonging to an unknown egg group.

As with usual Pokémon, captured humans will be made to obey their trainers commands, whether they like it or not. The following is how Pokémon/human ownership is determined; upon initial capture, and upon failing to escape the capsule due to insufficient strength or will, a Poké Ball will make several key changes to a target. First, it will mark the target as being linked to the ball. Future Poké Balls which are trying to be used to capture the target will be able to detect this mark, which contains information such as the last point in time the Pokémon was in close proximity to its original ball. If sufficient time has passed, it will be able to be recaptured in a new ball. If not, the capture will fail. Captured targets are also instilled with an irresistible urge to obey their trainer. While targets will initially recognize the one who captured them as the trainer, separation from said person may cause them to view their “trainer” as someone else who they subconsciously or consciencely regard as being superior to them, such as a boss, or a physically stronger individual. This is the reason traded Pokémon of high levels may sometimes not obey, and why groups such as Team Rocket can steal and use Pokémon which were not their’s originally. These affects can only be lifted if a subject is properly released via a PC.

Captured humans interact with items in a variety of ways. Some of these interactions are a direct consequence of the Poké Ball altering the physiology of the captured human to be consistent with how it thinks Pokémon should work. Captured humans are capable of holding items and gaining their benefits, just like a Pokémon. They are also capable of benefitting from consumable items like potions or berries. Captured humans are also able to make use of the Dynamax and Z-Move phenomenon, though their compatibility with Mega Evolution is currently unknown. Humans are also capable of learning techniques from Technical and Hidden Machines, though their compatibility varies from human to human. Captured humans will do their best to perform known techniques, though their limited biological capabilities means that occasionally the Poké Ball may make physiological changes to captured humans in order to correct what it sees as abnormalities. The extent of these changes are limited, however.

As a consequence of Poké Balls' item system, and the encoded limits on what and how much inorganic matter is allowed to be captured alongside a Pokémon (placed to prevent the smuggling of dangerous or illegal items), captured humans will often find themselves stripped of their clothing. While captured humans are free to wear whatever they (or their trainers) would like outside of a capsule, upon being recalled all but one, usually smaller, piece of clothing will not be accepted into the ball, leaving them naked at the next time they are called out. The one remaining piece of clothing occupies the item slot, however, and therefore attempting to equip a battle item on a captured human while they are inside a Poké Ball will cause them to shed this piece of clothing as well. Clothing that is shed due to being captured or recalled into a Poké Ball is left in a heap on the ground. It is also notable that it may be possible for captured humans to wear items small enough to be classified by the Poké Ball as "accessories" without consequence, such as ribbons or pieces of jewelry.

Captured humans are also able to grow stronger through the experience system. It has been theorized that high level captured humans could possess physical capabilities comparable to top level martial artists, capable of shattering stone in a single blow. However, captured humans are generally weaker than Pokémon who are comparable in level.

Captured humans have occasionally been shown to be capable of breeding with Pokémon. When this occurs, the child will invariably be the same species as the Pokémon. Whether this is an inherent trait of humans or a consequence of the Poké Ball's alterations is currently unknown.

Machinery and other equipment usually will scan info from the Poké Ball, and thus will recognize a captured human as a Pokémon. Equipment that instead performs its own scans will recognize the human as an unknown Pokémon or a transformed Ditto. The sole exception to this is the PC system. The PC system holds massive amounts of Pokémon, and thus, in the interest of security, will not accept Poké Balls that appear to be irregular. This is notable, because the PC is the only widely available safe way to release a Pokémon. Simply breaking the ball is not only very unsafe, but will not release the programming a human or Pokémon inside has been subject to.

So, now that we've established what could be theoretically possible if a human was captured in a Poké Ball, I've gotta ask; how does this situation relate to you?

(All characters in this story are at least 18 years old. Pokémon in the story possess the high level of intelligence and awareness demonstrated in the anime.)