Fainting

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Ash's Pikachu unable to battle

Fainting (FNT) (Japanese: ひんし near death) is a status condition in which a Pokémon is no longer able to battle.

During a battle, if all Pokémon in a Trainer's party have fainted, the Trainer loses that battle.

In the core series games

In the core series Pokémon games, fainting occurs when a Pokémon reaches 0 HP, causing the Pokémon to leave the battle with a slowed or distorted cry. A Pokémon which has fainted is unable to battle or gain experience points if it would have until it has been revived. However, it can still evolve after battle if the required criteria were met (unless the player blacks out), and it is still able to use field moves, such as Fly or Cut. When the player's party is viewed, any fainted Pokémon will have a red FNT status bar or a status condition of FNT.

If all Pokémon in the player's party have fainted, they black out and lose some money. In Trainer battles, the money is paid to the winner, whereas in battles with wild Pokémon the money is dropped in panic. The amount of money given or dropped is determined by the level of the Pokémon in the player's party and are the same amount as each other.

Fainting without damage or losing HP

Destiny Bond and Perish Song cause affected Pokémon to faint. The moves Self-Destruct, Explosion, Memento, Healing Wish, Lunar Dance, Final Gambit, and Misty Explosion cause the user to faint.

Held items Focus Sash and Focus Band, Endure, and Sturdy (from Generation 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, including status conditions, weather, and entry hazards.

When a Pokémon has been poisoned, it will lose HP during battle, which can cause it to faint. Additionally, prior to Generation V, a poisoned Pokémon in the player's party outside of battle will lose 1 HP every four steps until it faints (however, 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. A confused Pokémon is at risk of hurting itself, which can make itself faint. A Pokémon affected by Leech 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 the Pomeg Berry in certain older games, known as the Pomeg glitch. As the Pomeg Berry reduces HP EVs, 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 lose friendship, and may grow to resent its Trainer if it faints often and spends a lot of time unconscious.

If all of the player's Pokémon faint, then the Trainer will lose the battle and black (or white) out. The player will then be warped back to the last Pokémon Center they visited and lose money. In FireRed and LeafGreen and from Generation IV onwards, a small cut scene explains what happens.

Reviving

Normal items, such as Potions or status condition healing items, will not work on a fainted Pokémon. Instead, they can only be healed by talking to a certain NPC (usually at a Pokémon Center), resting in a bed, depositing the Pokémon in a Box (prior to Generation VIII), using the move Revival Blessing in battle, or using a reviving item either in battle or otherwise.

Item Effect
Revive Revive Revives a fainted Pokémon to half of its full HP.
Max Revive Max Revive Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP.
Max Honey Max Honey Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP.
Dream Revival Herb Sprite.png Revival Herb Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP while lowering friendship.
Dream Sacred Ash Sprite.png Sacred Ash Revives all fainted Pokémon in the player's party to their maximum HP.

Rare Candy and Exp. Candy can also potentially revive a fainted Pokémon due to the HP gained upon leveling up. Pokémon caught after making them faint, such as in a Max Raid Battle or Tera 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 items Focus Sash and Focus Band, Sturdy from Generation IV onwards, and affection level of 3 or higher.

The following items can prevent a Pokémon from fainting:

Focus Band The Focus Band has a 10% chance to let the user survive with 1 HP when it receives damage that would cause it to faint.
Focus Sash The Focus 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

FaintedIC RSE.png FaintedIC DP.png FaintedIC BW.png FaintedIC XY.png FaintedIC SM.png FaintedIC SwSh.png FaintedIC BDSP.png FaintedIC LA.png FaintedIC SV.png
Icon from
Generation III
Icon from
Generation IV
Icon from
Generation V
Icon from
Generation VI
Icon from
Generation VII
Icon from
Pokémon Sword and Shield
Icon from
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Icon from
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Icon from
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

In the spin-off games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, fainting occurs under the same conditions as the core series.

Prior to Super Mystery Dungeon, when a Pokémon faints, a Reviver Seed will be taken from the player's bag and automatically be used, becoming a Plain 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 their Poké and a majority of their inventory will be lost. If the player attacks a Kecleon Shop and gets defeated by Kecleon, items that are not lost will be turned into Plain Seeds.

In Super Mystery Dungeon, if both Tiny 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, a Revive All Orb will still be able to revive it later. If a Guest Pokémon (excluding Hoopa) 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 their Poké or items if they move on to a different floor without reviving the guest.

In Rescue Team DX, the player can find fainted Pokémon randomly in dungeons. These Pokémon can be recruited by giving them any variety of Apple from the Toolbox.

e-Reader games

In the e-Reader game Machop At Work, the player Machop faints if it loses the game from being hit by a falling rock.

In the anime

Vanillite and Tepig, both unable to battle

In the Pokémon anime, fainting is referred to as being unable to battle (Japanese: 戦闘不能 unable to fight). These Pokémon 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 as Staryu and Starmie's core flashing.

During Gym battles, League Conference matches, and other battle-oriented Pokémon competitions, once a Pokémon is deemed unable to battle by a judge, it must be recalled and cannot be used again. This rule is also observed during informal battles Ash has with his rivals, in which Brock or another person acts as the referee.

The grounds for what is considered a Pokémon unable to battle varies between League Conferences. The Indigo 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, the Lily of the Valley Conference allowing Ash's Heracross to continue fighting, despite being put to sleep by Dark Void by Tobias's Darkrai while Paul consistently switched Pokémon out during his matches.

Battle Off

Contest Judges ruling Battle Off

In the Battle Stage of Pokémon Contests, once the panel of judges—usually formed by Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and Nurse 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 called Battle Off (Japanese: バトルオフ Battle Off) and indicates the battle has come to an end, as contestants are not allowed to recall the fainted Pokémon and send a substitute. When this happens, the Coordinator with the remaining Pokémon will be declared the winner of the match.

When the judges rule Battle Off for a Pokémon, their decision is promptly announced by the master 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.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

In the early chapters of Pokémon 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 the FireRed & LeafGreen arc, although it was temporarily put back to use during the Unova Pokémon League tournament in the Black & White arc.

In the TCG

In the Trading Card Game, fainting is instead referred to as a Pokémon being Knocked Out. This occurs when a Pokémon's Damage, represented by Damage Counters, is greater than or equal to that Pokémon's Hit Points. Some effects are similar to one-hit knockout moves in that they immediately declare the recipient of the effect to be Knocked Out. (Usually, but not always, the Defending 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 to Explosion and Healing 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 specific attack.

When a Pokémon is Knocked Out, it is removed from the Active position or the Bench and placed in the discard pile. The opponent of the player of that Pokémon takes one of their Prize Cards, bringing them closer to winning 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, or Lost 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 remaining Hit Points to 10. Among these effects are direct adaptations of Focus Sash, Focus Band, and Sturdy.

In the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online and the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, a Pokémon that is Knocked Out is rotated slightly clockwise (not as much as Paralyzed), 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

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 假死 Gáséi
Mandarin 瀕死 / 濒死 Bīnsǐ *
昏厥 Hūnjué *
The Czech Republic Flag.png Czech Padnout
Denmark Flag.png Danish Besvime
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Flauw
French Canada Flag.png Canada Évanoui*
Vaincu, Perdu conscience*
France Flag.png Europe K.O.
Germany Flag.png German Besiegt
Hungary Flag.png Hungarian Elesni
Italy Flag.png Italian KO
South Korea Flag.png Korean 기절 Gijeol
쓰러졌다 Sseureojeotda*
Norway Flag.png Norwegian Besvime
Brazil Flag.png Brazilian Portuguese Desmaiado
Russia Flag.png Russian Ослабление Oslableniye
Spain Flag.png Spanish Debilitado
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Svimma
Tuppa av*
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Bất tỉnh

Unable to battle

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 失去戰鬥能力 Sātheui Jindau Nàhnglihk
Mandarin 失去戰鬥能力 / 失去战斗能力 Shīqù Zhàndòu Nénglì
Denmark Flag.png Danish Er ukampdygtig*
Ude af stand til at fortsætte*
Ude af stand til at kæmpe*
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Kan niet meer verder vechten
Kan niet meer vechte
Finland Flag.png Finnish Ei pysty ottelemaan*
On taistelukyvytön*
Ei voi jatkaa*
On pois pelistä*
Ei pysty jatkamaan*
On ottelukyvytön*
On poissa pelistä*
Canada Flag.png Canadian French Ne peut plus combattre*
Germany Flag.png German Kann nicht mehr weiter kämpfen
Italy Flag.png Italian Non più in grado di lottare
Non più in grado di combattere
Norway Flag.png Norwegian Ute av stand til å kjempe*
Ikke i stand til å fortsette
Ute av stand å fortsette
Kan ikke kjempe videre
Kan ikke kjempe mer
Poland Flag.png Polish Niezdolny do walki
Portuguese Brazil Flag.png Brazil Fora de combate*
Não pode mais batalhar*
Portugal Flag.png Portugal Incapaz de combater
Russia Flag.png Russian Не способен к бою Ne sposoben k boyu
Spain Flag.png Spanish Está fuera de combate
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Oförmögen att strida*
Oförmögen att fortsätta*
Kan inte strida längre*
Kan inte fortsätta*
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Mất khả năng thi đấu

Trivia

  • In an interview, Satoshi Tajiri explained that Pokémon were designed to faint instead of die in the core 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


Status conditions
BURN FREEZE PARALYSIS POISON
SLEEP CONFUSION FLINCH FAINTING
Project Games logo.png This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.