>>56622832>act of catching pokemon is kidnapping at best and violent conscription at worst, never mind the implied brainwashing.Pokemon explains this away in most cases by having the Pokemon come to you in tall grass/caves/water. Any Pokemon that willingly shows themselves to a human entering their habitat is curious about humans, and the ritual of battling and weakening a Pokemon before 'capture' is a show of the trainer's superior strength, to prove that a trainer's ability surpasses the Pokemon's and that the Pokemon can grow to be stronger themselves by allying with a human trainer (or at the very least, experience human society at their side).
Still, I find it incredibly interesting that the franchise has on several occasions questioned the use of Poke Balls as a technological shortcut for forming a bond and easing the introduction of Pokemon to human society. N in gen 5 breaks out from under the yoke of his propagandistic upbringing and... vows to create a world where Pokemon and humans live in such harmony that Poke Balls are no longer needed. Then we have Ash's Pikachu, who from the very beginning has categorically hated being in Poke Balls. These examples exist, in spite of just how important the Poke Ball is to the franchise's identity and iconography.
