Snagging

Snagging a Mawile in Pokémon XD

Snagging (Japanese: スナッチ Snatching) is a method of stealing caught Pokémon. It is used by both protagonists and antagonists in Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. Snagging is performed by turning a Poké Ball into a Snag Ball by using a Snag Machine.

Team Snagem snags Pokémon from their Trainers and gives them to Cipher so they can be converted into Shadow Pokémon. Conversely, Wes and Michael snag the Shadow Pokémon Cipher has created, then purify them.

The Snag Machine can turn any Poké Ball into a Snag Ball. When a Snag Ball is thrown at a Trainer's Pokémon, it ignores that the Pokémon has already been caught and tries to catch it as if it was a wild Pokémon. If successful, the Pokémon becomes the property of the thief. Oblivious Trainers may not even realize what happened, believing that it was some odd trick and that they just misplaced their Pokémon.

Game mechanics

In Pokémon Colosseum, when a Pokémon is snagged successfully, the player gains the Pokémon immediately and it is put in the party if space is available, or the PC otherwise. If the player has only one non-fainted Pokémon when a snagged Pokémon is added to the party, the player will send the snagged Pokémon into battle immediately after snagging it. If the player whites out after snagging a Shadow Pokémon, the snag will still be counted; when the player rematches that Trainer, the Shadow Pokémon will be missing from the opponent's party or replaced with another Pokémon.

In Pokémon XD, Pokémon that are snagged during the current battle are put in a special tally, marked on screen with purple Poké Ball icons next to a purple "SNAG" text. Snagged Pokémon will only be added to the player's party when they win the battle, at which time they will be added to the party, or sent to the PC if there is no space available. If the player whites out, the snagged Pokémon is either returned to the opposing Trainer's party or flees.