Obedience
Obedience is the Pokémon's willingness to listen to its Trainer's commands. While Pokémon usually obey their Trainers, they may disobey their Trainer if they do not respect them.
In the games
When a Pokémon is obtained in a trade, it oftentimes will not obey the player's commands if it is at too high a level and the player does not have the appropriate Badge or number of Badges. Having all eight Badges always makes all Pokémon obey the player. This rule stands to prevent players from trading in a high-leveled Pokémon trained on another game and easily beating the game.
In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, Emerald, Colosseum, and XD, Mew and Deoxys that were not met in a fateful encounter will always disobey the player, regardless of Badges. This exists to hinder players who cheat to obtain them.
In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Cyrus used the Red Chain to force Dialga and/or Palkia to obey him.
Badges
The Badges or number of Badges the player has affects their Pokémon's behavior. Usually the level at which Pokémon will obey the player up to is increased every second Badge (in Badge case order); however, in Generation V, every Badge increases the maximum level for guaranteed obedience. In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum only, obedience is determined by the number of Badges, not which specific Badges the player has.
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Disobedience quotes
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: missing quotes |
Generation I-II
- "<Pokémon> is loafing around." or "<Pokémon> ignored orders!" or "<Pokémon> turned away!" or "<Pokémon> won't obey!"
- The Pokémon does not attack
- "<Pokémon> began to nap!"
- The Pokémon goes to sleep
- "<Pokémon> used instead, <move>!"
- Uses a different move
- "<Pokémon> won't obey! It hurt itself in its confusion!"
- The Pokémon hurts itself
Generation III
- "<Pokémon> is loafing around!" or "<Pokémon> pretended not to notice!" or "<Pokémon> turned away!" or "<Pokémon> won't obey!"
- The Pokémon does not attack
- "<Pokémon> ignored orders!"
- The Pokémon uses a different move
- "<Pokémon> began to nap!"
- The Pokémon goes to sleep
- "<Pokémon> won't obey! It hurt itself in its confusion!"
- The Pokémon hurts itself
Generation IV
- "<Pokémon> is loafing around!" or "<Pokémon> pretended not to notice!" or "<Pokémon> turned away!" or "<Pokémon> won't obey!"
- The Pokémon does not attack
- "<Pokémon> ignored orders!"
- The Pokémon uses a different move
- The Pokémon does not attack
- "<Pokémon> began to nap!"
- The Pokémon goes to sleep
- "<Pokémon> won't obey! It hurt itself in its confusion!"
- The Pokémon hurts itself
In the anime
In The Problem with Paras, Cassandra's grandmother mentioned that Pokémon will only obey Trainers if they respect them. This respect can be earned by obtaining more Badges. As shown in Bad to the Bone, this respect can be lost by losing the Badges.
Examples
In the original series
In Pokémon - I Choose You!, Ash's Pikachu was initially very hostile towards him due to having no respect for a beginning Trainer. It wasn't until Ash protected Pikachu from a flock of Spearow that he finally respected and listened to Ash.
Ash's Primeape was incredibly violent and virtually uncontrollable, and Ash rarely used it due to this. However, during the P1 Grand Prix, Ash saved Primeape from a dangerous fall, and it began to respect and listen to Ash.
Ash's Charmander refused to obey him after evolving into Charmeleon, and continued to disobey as a Charizard. When Ash commanded him, he would either ignore Ash's orders and use a different move, go to sleep, leave the battlefield, or attack Ash. After Ash stayed up all night to look after Charizard when it had become frozen, Charizard gained respect for Ash.
In Bad to the Bone, Otoshi's Marowak left its Trainer after he lost and failed to recover his Badges, as Marowak had lost respect for him. Marowak later returned when it saw how happy a group of Trainers and their Pokémon were together.
In the Advanced Generation series
In Exploud and Clear, Guy's Loudred stopped obeying him after it evolved into Exploud, and ran off. However, after Guy jumped in front of Team Rocket's cork gun to protect it, it came to respect him.
In the Diamond & Pearl series
In the Diamond & Pearl series, Dawn's Swinub frequently disobeyed her after evolving into Piloswine, and continued to disobey as Mamoswine. In Trials and Adulations!, Mamoswine was injured during a battle against a wild Aggron. Dawn and her Pokémon used the first aid skills taught to her by Brock in Doc Brock! to help Mamoswine recover, and later attempted to protect Mamoswine against Team Rocket. As a result, Mamoswine gained respect for Dawn and under her instructions, it was able to defeat Aggron. From then on, Mamoswine still has a tiny bit of a rebellious attitude, but when Dawn is in danger it does not hesitate to help her.
In the Best Wishes! series
In the Best Wishes! series, Iris's Excadrill refused to battle as it was ashamed of when he lost to a Drayden's Haxorus. When sent out of its Poké Ball, he would simply stay curled up as a drill. In Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!, he gained respect for Iris after her apology, and he began to obey her.
Later, Iris caught an Emolga who disliked battling and would use Volt Switch to force another Pokémon into its place when sent into battle. It was also fond of using Attract to infatuate the opponent and avoid actually battling. Since in the Club Battle tournament only one Pokémon could be used, Emolga couldn't use Volt Switch without being disqualified; as a result, it actually listened to Iris's commands, and it continued to in later battles.
Luke's Zorua ran off and refused to listen to him after Luke continued to make Zorua play male characters, when as a female she only wanted to play female characters. Zorua listened to Luke after he apologized.
Bianca's new Escavalier, which had just evolved from a Karrablast by trading her Shelmet for it with Professor Juniper, attacked her when she tried to greet it. Professor Juniper recommended that it have a Double Battle with her new Accelgor, which also evolved during the trade, against Ash's Boldore and Cilan's Crustle. Through half the battle Escavalier refused to listen to Bianca, which resulting in Accelgor being injured while trying to protect it. Seeing what Accelgor was willing to do for it, Escavalier started to listen to Bianca's commands so it could protect Accelgor as well.
Iris's Dragonite refused to listen to her, particularly during the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup. It attacked with the moves it wanted to use rather than the ones Iris commanded. Slowly but surely Dragonite started trusting its Trainer, and by Unova's Survival Crisis! it started to obey Iris.
