View source for Animation physics

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'''Anime physics''' is a [[fanon]] term used to describe all the unusual, impossible, and sometimes absurd moments in the {{pkmn|anime}} where real-world physics do not seem to apply.  At times, the term can also be used to describe when an [[move|attack]] works differently in the anime than it would in the {{Pkmn|games}}.  Some common examples are unusual feats of strength and agility, surviving lethal attacks, and the {{wp|magic satchel}} theory (the ability to hold innumerable items in one [[bag]]).

Anime physics are often caused by several factors.  The anime is generally more focused on telling a story in one or several episodes than getting the details right, so sometimes the writers will twist or bend physics so the episode can unfold the way they want it so. Sometimes it is a case of oversight; anime physics do not seem unusual unless someone stops to think about how a situation would work in the real world. 

==Examples==
===Loose physics===
Some phenomena that appear in the anime (as well as the entire Pokémon canon) are impossible in real-world physics.
* [[Poké Ball]]s change in size and convert Pokémon to and from a plasma-like substance (the Pokémon retains its conscience in this state).
* Moves like {{m|Water Gun}} are depicted as spitting water, but usually the Pokémon spits much more water than its body could hold.
* Everything explodes in the anime. Most attacks explode when they connect with an opposing attack, even if the attacks would not normally do so. (even, and some would say especially, non-flammable substances such as leaves or water)
**In contests, almost every move will explode and send a shower of sparkles down into the crowd.
**Some moves explode when they clearly cannot, such as a {{m|Bite}} attack.
**Sometimes moves are amplified in power and even made to explode just to enable them to blast off [[Team Rocket#In the anime|Team Rocket]].
* During some of the battles in the anime, the Pokémon stay in the air longer than usual despite their weight, either when using attacks or receiving attacks (not including Pokémon that fly naturally). This is evident in ''[[DP108|Dealing With Defensive Types!]]'' when {{Ash}}'s {{AP|Chimchar|Monferno}} battles against [[Byron]]'s {{p|Bronzor}} and actually can be seen floating.
* In almost every episode, [[Jessie]], [[James]], and {{MTR}} manage to get launched hundreds of feet into the air, sometimes crashing through the roof of a building or a cave wall, by various means (usually a Pokémon attack). However, others standing near them will not be moved or even affected, and Team Rocket never gets seriously hurt from the flight, which would surely kill a normal person. This also breaks Newton's Third Law of Motion, which states that for every action their is an equal and opposite reaction, which means that whoever sent them flying would be sent flying the same distance in the opposite direction. They also are in a stationary position during the first part of their flight, and then start suddenly spinning, normally after making a humorous comment.
** In ''[[H012|Training Daze]]'', Team Rocket is already flying when the episode starts and they don't land during the episode.

===Magic satchels===
* Ash and his friends seem to have an unlimited amount of space in their bags or pockets, especially Brock, from a sleeping bag to the things he uses to cook.
*In ''[[EP115|A Tent Situation]]'', Tracey brings out around 40&ndash;50 sketch books to show Professor Oak and then puts them back in the same bag that they should not have fit into in the first place.

===Move and type effectiveness errors===
* Many times when [[Ash's Pikachu]] fights a {{type2|Ground}} Pokémon, it uses an {{type2|Electric}} move and it works well.
** {{TP|Ash|Pikachu}}'s electric attacks fluctuate between being able to affect {{type2|Ground}} Pokémon (such as [[EP005|Brock's Onix]] and [[AG016|Roxanne's Geodude]]) and having no effect at all (such as [[Spell of the Unown|Lisa's Quagsire]], [[AG096|Rocky's Quagsire]] and [[The Rise of Darkrai|Maurice's Torterra]]). The anime's explanation for this is that ever since [[EP005|Pikachu received a power up]], it has enough power to override the immunity. However, no matter how much power it has, it shouldn't be able to affect Ground-types.
* {{an|May}}'s {{TP|May|Squirtle|Wartortle}} attacked [[Harley]]'s {{p|Banette}} with {{m|Tackle}} in ''[[AG173|New Plot, Odd Lot]]'', despite the {{type2|Ghost}}'s immunity to {{type2|Normal}} attacks.
* In multiple instances, {{m|Shadow Ball}} is able to hit {{type2|Normal}} Pokémon, despite being a {{type2|Ghost}} attack.
* Pokémon surviving [[One-hit knockout move|one-hit KO]] attacks, like {{m|Horn Drill}}, without fainting. 

===Other conflicts with the games===
* The weight of some Pokémon is sometimes ignored in the anime:
** {{Ash}} was able to pick up {{TP|Ash|Larvitar}} despite it weighing more than [[List of Pokémon by weight|150 lbs (70 kg)]], according to game data. {{p|Hippopotas}} is also similar, due to the fact that there are 109 lbs (49 kg) of weight is bearing down on Ash's head and neck.  Someone of similar stature in the real world would be prone to serious (if not irreparable) head, back, and/or neck injuries. Similarly, {{an|May}}'s {{TP|May|Beautifly}} has often landed on people's heads with no adverse effects despite the species weighing 62 lbs (24 kg).
** In ''[[AG147|Sweet Baby James]]'', when Jessie picks up [[May's Munchlax]] and puts it in a bag, despite it weighing over 220 lbs (100kg). On another note of this, in ''[[AG159|Off the Unbeaten Path]]'', [[Max]] was able to carry it on his back despite Munchlax weighing probably four times as much as Max. 
* The anime often makes Pokémon bigger than the games say they are, like {{p|Groudon}} and {{p|Kyogre}}.
** The anime also makes Pokémon smaller than the games say they are, like {{p|Dunsparce}} which is about 5 feet in the games, and in the anime it is about up to Ash's ankle.

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[[Category:Fanon terminology]]