Fainting

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Ash's Pikachu 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

Bisharp fainting in Pokémon Sword and Shield.

In the core series Pokémon games, fainting occurs when a Pokémon reaches 0 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 (unless the player blacks out if the Pokémon evolves by leveling up or is Galarian Farfetch'd), 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, Final Gambit, and Misty Explosion 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 and lose some 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 indirect damage

Fainting can also be caused through indirect damage, including 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 in the player's party outside of battle will lose 1 HP every four steps until it faints (however, in Generation IV, the Pokémon will be cured of poison when it has 1 HP remaining). 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. A Pokémon affected by Leech Seed may faint from the resulting HP loss at the end of each turn.

Field effects, such as weather and entry hazards, can damage Pokémon and consequently make them 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.

Reviving

Normal items, such as Potions or status condition healing items, will not work on a fainted Pokémon. Instead, they either have to be healed by talking to a character, usually at a Pokémon Center, resting in a bed, depositing in a PC, or brought back with Revival Blessing or a reviving item.

Item		Effect
	Revive	Revives a fainted Pokémon to half of its full HP.
	Max Revive	Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP.
	Max Honey	Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP.
	Revival Herb	Revives a fainted Pokémon to its maximum HP while lowering friendship.
	Sacred Ash	Revives all fainted Pokémon in the player's party to their maximum HP.

Rare Candy can also be used to revive a fainted Pokémon 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. Pokémon with an affection level of 3 or higher will sometimes survive fainting with 1 HP instead.

The following items can prevent a Pokémon from fainting:

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

Prior to Super Mystery Dungeon, when a Pokémon faints, a Reviver Seed will be taken from the player's bag and automatically be used, becoming 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, but it will not be dismissed unless it was recruited on this visit. If the player, the partner in story-related missions, a client that is being escorted, or another important character faints, the mission will be considered a failure, the entire team will be sent back and all^RBTD or half^SGtISMD of their Poké and a majority of their inventory will be lost. If the player attacks a Kecleon Shop and gets defeated by Kecleon, items that are not lost will be turned into Plain Seeds.

In Super Mystery Dungeon, if both Tiny Reviver Seeds and Reviver Seeds are in the Bag, the player may choose which one to use on a fainted party member. Outside of story missions, the player may also choose to not use either type of Reviver Seed when a party member faints, though only if the Pokémon isn't the last one remaining. If a party member faints without using a Reviver Seed, a Revive All Orb will still be able to revive it later. If a Guest Pokémon (excluding Hoopa) faints, it will warp to a random room on the floor and must be given a Tiny Reviver Seed or Reviver Seed before it can continue exploring. Unlike previous games, the party will not lose their Poké or items if they move on to a different floor without reviving the guest.

Icons

Icon from Generation III	Icon from Generation IV	Icon from Generation V	Icon from Generation VI	Icon from Generation VII	Icon from Pokémon Sword and Shield	Icon from Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl	Icon from Pokémon Legends: Arceus	Icon from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

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 necessarily 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 Gym battles, League Conference matches, and other battle-oriented Pokémon competitions, once a Pokémon is deemed unable to battle by a judge, it must be recalled and cannot be used again. This rule is also observed during informal battles Ash has with his rivals, in which Brock or another person acts as the referee.

The grounds for what is considered a Pokémon unable to battle varies between League Conferences. The Indigo Plateau Conference is extremely strict with this rule as switching out, disobedience and even Pokémon being put to sleep is what makes them considered as fainted. Later League Conferences only consider Pokémon that are fainted to be unable to battle, the Lily of the Valley Conference allowing Ash's Heracross to continue fighting, despite being put to sleep by Dark Void by Tobias's Darkrai while Paul consistently switched Pokémon out during his matches.

Battle Off

Contest Judges ruling Battle Off

In the Battle Stage of Pokémon Contests, once the panel of judges—usually formed by Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo, and Nurse Joy—decide that a Pokémon is unable to continue battling, a red X mark will appear on the monitors of the judges' desk. This is called Battle Off (Japanese: バトルオフ Battle Off) and indicates the battle has come to an end, as contestants are not allowed to recall the fainted Pokémon and send a substitute. When this happens, the Coordinator with the remaining Pokémon will be declared the winner of the match.

When the judges rule Battle Off for a Pokémon, their decision is promptly announced by the master of ceremonies and becomes effective immediately. The decision will be upheld even if the Coordinator feels that his or her Pokémon is able to continue battling, as the judges treat the Pokémon's health as a priority. Coordinators whose Pokémon fainted will have their remaining points depleted, and the scoreboard will show the opposing side as the winner.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

In the early chapters of Pokémon Adventures, even one Pokémon fainting in a battle was enough to decide the winner, unlike in the games. This rule stopped being in regular use starting from the FireRed & LeafGreen arc, although it was temporarily put back to use during the Unova Pokémon League tournament in the Black & White arc.

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 * 昏厥 Hūnjué * Czech Padnout Danish Besvime Dutch Flauw French Canada Évanoui* Vaincu, Perdu conscience* Europe K.O. German Besiegt Hungarian Elesni Italian KO Korean 기절 Gijeol 쓰러졌다 Sseureojeotda* Norwegian Besvime Brazilian Portuguese Desmaiado Russian Ослабление Oslableniye Spanish Debilitado Swedish Svimma Tuppa av* Vietnamese Bất tỉnh

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 Danish Er ukampdygtig* Ude af stand til at fortsætte* Ude af stand til at kæmpe* Dutch Kan niet meer verder vechten Kan niet meer vechte Finnish Ei pysty ottelemaan* On taistelukyvytön* Ei voi jatkaa* On pois pelistä* Ei pysty jatkamaan* On ottelukyvytön* On poissa pelistä* Canadian French Ne peut plus combattre* German Kann nicht mehr weiter kämpfen Italian Non più in grado di lottare Non più in grado di combattere Norwegian Ute av stand til å kjempe* Ikke i stand til å fortsette Ute av stand å fortsette Kan ikke kjempe videre Kan ikke kjempe mer Polish Niezdolny do walki Portuguese Brazil Fora de combate* Não pode mais batalhar* Portugal Incapaz de combater Russian Не способен к бою Ne sposoben k boyu Spanish Está fuera de combate Swedish Oförmögen att strida* Oförmögen att fortsätta* Kan inte strida längre* Kan inte fortsätta* Vietnamese Mất khả năng thi đấu

Trivia

• In an interview, Satoshi Tajiri explained that Pokémon were designed to faint instead of die in the core series games to avoid children developing an abnormal understanding of death and dying, as he felt they do when playing other video games, and to encourage children to treat death with respect.

External links

• Fainting on Wikipedia

Status conditions
BURN	FREEZE	PARALYSIS	POISON
SLEEP	CONFUSION	FLINCH	INFATUATION
FAINTING

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.