>>50976453I had a headcanon of pokeballs being originally made to transport war prisoners from city-state to city-state, to better conceal them in traveling groups so they do not get ambushed by enemy combatants to free them. Only that the device the exact opposite thing, which was catching literally anything except human beings, and that turned into a positive thing as it made it very easy to transport pokemon into the battlefield and take them out if they’re injured during skirmishes and wars.
But that might be too gruesome for children, so we got the “natural ability to shrink”.