>>39830562>In lore, Pokémon choose to be captured if they respect the trainer, right?Yes and no. Pokemon are drawn to humans when they enter their habitat out of curiosity, and they battle against their trained Pokemon to test their strength, and also to see if the human seems like a worthy companion. They could simply leave and run away if they decide against it, but then again, the games have occasionally (like in gen 5) noted that Poke Balls are a sort of artificial, unnatural part of this bonding process that humans have introduced to the whole ritual for their own convenience. It's simpler to carry the monsters on your person in compact capsules no matter where you go, and it makes the initial befriending/battling/'capturing' rite easier as well since all you need to do is to get an upper hand in the battle and then take advantage of the Pokemon's natural instincts to make them submit.