Fainting

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Ash's Turtwig 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 games

In the core series

In the core series Pokémon games, fainting occurs when a Pokémon reaches zero 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, 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.

Pokémon will faint instantly if hit by a one-hit knockout move, such as Guillotine. Destiny Bond and Perish Song can also cause a Pokémon to faint. The moves Self-Destruct, Explosion, Memento, Healing Wish, Lunar Dance, and Final Gambit cause the user to faint. If the user does not have enough HP, Curse (when used by a Ghost-type Pokémon) and recoil moves can cause the user to faint.

If all Pokémon in the player's party have fainted, they black out lose a sum of 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 through status conditions

Fainting can also be caused through status conditions.

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 will lose 1 HP every four steps until it faints. (In Generation IV, the poison will be cured when the Pokémon has 1 HP; from Generation V onward, poison does not harm Pokémon outside of battle.)

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.

Fainting through a Pomeg Berry

Main article: Pomeg glitch

Fainting can also happen when using the Pomeg Berry, 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.

Effects of items on fainted Pokémon

Normal items, such as Potions or status condition healing items, will not work on a fainted Pokémon. Instead, they either have to be healed at a Pokémon Center or brought back with a reviving item.

Bag Revive Sprite.png Revive will revive a Pokémon with half of its HP.
Bag Max Revive Sprite.png Max Revive will revive a Pokémon with all of its HP.
Bag Revival Herb Sprite.png Revival Herb will revive a Pokémon with all of its HP.
Bag Sacred Ash Sprite.png Sacred Ash will revive and fully heal all fainted Pokémon (except Generation II where it fully heals all Pokémon as long as one has fainted).
Bag Rare Candy Sprite.png Rare Candy will also revive fainted Pokémon prior to Generation VI due to the HP gained upon leveling up.

Avoiding fainting

There are many ways that fainting can be avoided, with the most straightforward being to simply remove a Pokémon from battle while it is still healthy. If a Pokémon uses Endure, attacks will leave it with 1 HP. The held items Focus Sash and Focus Band can also ensure that a Pokémon does not faint. In addition, starting in Generation V, if a Pokémon with Sturdy is hit by an attack which would cause it to faint while it has full HP, it will survive with 1 HP. In Generation VI, Pokémon with an Affection level of 3 or higher in Pokémon-Amie will sometimes endure an attack with 1 HP that would otherwise knock it out.

The following items can prevent a Pokémon from fainting:

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

In side games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

In the Mystery Dungeon series, fainting occurs under the same conditions as the core series. When a Pokémon faints, a Reviver Seed will be taken from the player's inventory and automatically be used. After being used, the Reviver Seed becomes 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 and return to their Friend Area or the Chimecho Assembly. If the Pokémon that faints is the player him or herself, his or her partner in story-related missions, or another important character, such as an escort or Bidoof when he accompanies the player to the Foggy Forest, the mission is considered a failure, the entire team will be sent back and allRBTD or halfS of their money and a majority of their inventory will be lost.

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 always 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 a Gym battle or a League Conference match, once a Pokémon is deemed unable to battle by a referee, it must be recalled and cannot be used again. In a Contest Battle, when one of the sides is unable to continue battling, the judges will rule Battle Off and the Coordinator with the remaining Pokémon will be declared the winner.

In the TCG

In the Trading Card Game, fainting is commonly 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.

When a Pokémon is Knocked Out, it is removed from the Active position or the Bench and placed in the discard pile.

In other languages

Fainted

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 假死 Gáséi
Mandarin 瀕死 / 濒死 Bīnsǐ
France Flag.png French K.O.
Germany Flag.png German Besiegt
Italy Flag.png Italian K.O.
South Korea Flag.png Korean 기절 Gijeol
Spain Flag.png Spanish Debilitado

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
Italy Flag.png Italian Non più in grado di lottare
Brazil Flag.png Brazilian Portuguese Fora de combate (S01-S16, S18)
Não pode mais batalhar (S17)
Incapaz de lutar (S19-present)


Status conditions
BURNED FROZEN PARALYSIS POISONED
ASLEEP CONFUSION FLINCHING FAINTED


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.