Pokeballs?

[Ice]

[color="#008080"]So I was thinking on the different types of pokeballs and between anime and game I dont get them at all... The button that opens them also shrinks and enlarges them. Then if you saw the 4th movie the antique pokeball had a nozzle cap... Oh and whats the difference in mechanisms that makes a masterball always catch and not a pokeball I mean they are the same shape and look probably about the same on the inside and out except design. Then there is also the GS ball how come no one can open it? Also pokemon in the anime just choose wether or not they want in and out how does that work do they have their own lock and open mechanism on the inside?
Please discuss what you think on this topic.[/color]

[Maelstrom]

I'm thinking the pokemon people don't really know themselves. thus the confoundingly strange nature of pokeballs.

sorry, but that's all i got on the subject.

[Amethyst]

Well the first problem is the mechanics of how they shrink and enlarge the Pokemon themselves...

[N8theGr8]

Haven't you ever seen Pokemon? They materialize into a red light thing before they return/are sent out.

As for catch rate, etc. I think the catch rate has to do with how strong the Pokeballs are. A wild Pokemon should be able to unmaterialize themselves, thereby forcing the ball to free them as to not squish the Wild Pokemon inside.

THIS HAS BEEN 2 CENTS PROVIDED BY N8THEGR8.

[Maelstrom]

But they're already in the pokeball and presumably shrunk before they bust out of it...

As for the different types... they're just made of better stuff that resists letting a pokemon out once sucked in. And a pokemon that is less beat up can struggle and get out of pokeballs easier, obviously. If you just got busted upside the head pretty hard... you probably won't be able to put up much of a fight either.

It's probably an auto mechanism that shrinks and teleports a pokemon whenever the ball opens and closes.

Edit: other than that... I'd say capsule corp makes pokeballs.

[N8theGr8]

And then opening them differently (a la Antique Ball) is entirely a matter of style. Also, a Pokeball just uses the button to shrink when its already large and vice versa. An easy feature to install. Kind of like an On/Off button on a computer. It knows to shut off if it's on and turn on if its off.

[Amethyst]

Does that mean the mass of the pokeball changes? Where does the excess go? Inside itself? And how do you make such a thing from acorns?

[N8theGr8]

Nah, the Pokeballs' mass doesn't change, it's the mass of the Pokemon that changes once they're sucked in. I think of that red light as almost a gas-type matter, changing its mass and volume to whatever container you put it in.

As for Kurt...well, he probably keeps spare Pokeball parts somewhere. But hey, maybe those Apricorns ARE the base of Pokeballs.

[Maelstrom]

hell if I know how the damn apricorns work. all I can figure is he hollows the bitches out and sticks high tech pokemon equipment into the ghetto ass emptied shells. @.@

[AZKnight]

I'm with the line of thought that even GameFreak doesn't know how they work or their history. Pretty sure the Apricorns are just hollowed out and the electronic device is placed inside to turn it into a Pokeball. There are two problems with that though: 1) Why does putting it inside an apricorn instead of a metal/plastic ball make it more effective in certain situations and 2) What did they use before the electronic devices? Apparently apricorns were used long before the modern Pokemon and according to bulbapedia
[quote]"The only Poké Balls that existed were made from Apricorns, with the process used to create the Poké Balls being developed sometime between 700 and 400 years before the present day in all Pokémon canons."[/quote]
So the apricorns were Pokeballs before modern Pokeballs, meaning that however they work isn't dependent on technology. Which makes even LESS sense! Personally, I think it's Magic. Just look at the episode [i]The Ancient Puzzle of Pokémopolis[/i], where giant Pokemon the size of buildings are contained inside weird things like a spoon (Alakazam) and bell (Jigglypuff). These things don't even have anything inside that could be like a device. It's....a spoon. How else can you contain an Alakazam the size of a Pokecenter inside a spoon other than a magic?

[Amethyst]

Ah. So apricorns are older?
However, that means that the apricorns are -not- the outer part that we see. We know from the 4th movie that a Pokeball 40 years in the past resembles a metal canister with a screw-in top. The Pokemon still materializes into a red light in a similar fashion though. If these two styles are to be consistent with the idea that apricorn technology was used during each, that means that it's the inner workings that are crafted from apricorns.

Edit: Apricorns? What the hell is an apricorn?

[AZKnight]

[quote]Apricorns are a special fruit that is native to the Johto region. They appear to be related to berries, and are encountered only in Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, the games that focus on Johto. Usually, Apricorns are hollowed out by specialists and fitted with special devices to be used to catch Pokémon. One such specialist, Kurt, lives in Azalea Town with his granddaughter, Maisy, who assists him in his work.[/quote]
[img]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/3/3c/Route_37_Apricorns_II.png[/img][img]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/thumb/f/fd/Route_37_Apricorns_IV.png/180px-Route_37_Apricorns_IV.png[/img]

[Stars]

Also a portmanteau of "apricot" and "acorn."

Oddly, I always thought it was "apicorn" for some reason...

[Amethyst]

Yeah, I just never realized before that it wasn't actually a real thing.
According to Ice, in the Lucario movie, in the past they used balls (with buttons, not a screw-on cap) made from berries instead. It turns out those were highly breakable, meaning logically the other shell of is what is made out of Acorn. This mean's Sam's ball for 4ever was not from Acorns, but Acorns had allegedly been used for centuries.
...Hm.

[Ice]

[quote name='AmethystStorm' post='5088' date='Sep 28 2010, 11:12 PM']Yeah, I just never realized before that it wasn't actually a real thing.
According to Ice, in the Lucario movie, in the past they used balls (with buttons, not a screw-on cap) made from berries instead. It turns out those were highly breakable, meaning logically the other shell of is what is made out of Acorn. This mean's Sam's ball for 4ever was not from Acorns, but Acorns had allegedly been used for centuries.
...Hm.[/quote]
[color="#008080"]Ame you said it wrong berries came from a different episode and in the lucario movie there was a staff with a crystal that could keep a pokemon inside.[/color]

[Amethyst]

Staff, crystal? You never said anything about those. You musta got distracted with the berry thing before you finished.
There was also the idea about Auras Ice had- the Pokeball absorbs the aura of a Pokemon.
The red light is shown to zap/electrocute Jessie at one point that she intercepts it.
Additionally, an ancient King's Spirit is sealed in a stone Pokeball during season 9. Because of that, I think the Aura theory is highly likely.

[AZKnight]

I don't know why I didn't do this sooner, but I'm just going to read what Bulbapedia has on the topic.

[quote]The invention of Poké Balls apparently occurred in the Johto region, where Apricorns grow; these fruit were cut apart and carved out, then fitted with a special device, and used to catch wild Pokémon prior to the mass production of the Balls that occurs in modern times under Silph Co. and the Devon Corporation. Some Trainers still use Poké Balls made from Apricorns, while Kurt, a resident of Azalea Town, still constructs them.[/quote]
Ok, we already knew that as part of the recent history. What else?

[quote]Prior to the invention of Poké Balls, Pokémon were referred to as "magical creatures" (Japanese: 魔獣 majū), indicating that the name Pokémon, short for Pocket Monster, did not come into common parlance as a term until these devices allowed the various Pokémon to be stored in pockets easily. This also shows that in these times they were believed to be supernatural creatures, not natural ones.[/quote]
...say what? This starts to touch on the idea that there are other creatures besides Pokemon. I'm sure in the game there probably are things like chicken and plain fish, but you never see them because they aren't important. But you never see them in the anime. They only time I ever remember normal animals being referenced was at the Indigo Plateau when they ordered BBQ Chicken Pizza. So there are chickens somewhere . Pokemon being considered supernatural is seen in the Arceus movie, since the ancient civilization in that cannot place them in devices, only chain them up with collars.

[quote]Though the technology behind a Poké Ball remains unknown, the basic mechanics are simple enough to understand: in a Pokémon battle, once an opposing wild Pokémon has been weakened, a person, the Pokémon Trainer, can throw a Poké Ball at it. The Poké Ball has a special capsule design. If the Poké Ball hits the Pokémon and is not knocked back by it, the Poké Ball will open, convert the Pokémon to a form of energy, and pull it into its center, closing. A Pokémon in this state is given a chance to struggle to attempt to escape, at which point the ball will either be destroyed (in the games and some manga) or will return to the Trainer (anime), who can attempt once again to capture the Pokémon. A Pokémon who does not escape the ball will be caught.[/quote]

This...doesn't tell us anything we didn't already gather ourselves. You failed me Bulbapedia!