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Should disobedient Pokemon be disqualified from official battles?

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matt0044

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I found a forum post that really gave me food for thought:

In the anime, we have seen many Pokémon be disobedient to their trainers. However, should there be a line drawn in terms of a Pokémon not listening to its trainer in an official battle like a Pokémon League/Gym Battle, Contest/Grand Festival or a smaller tournament like Don George or the Junior World Cup?

I mean in some battles it is possible for an out of control Pokémon to actually do more harm than good in terms of beating the opponent. In some instances, it is possible for bystanders to actually get hurt during the battle.

Remember Mamoswine being tossed into the Judges' booth during the contest battle between Dawn and James dressed up as Jesselina in the DP series?

Luckily, the audience wasn't hurt during Dragonite's outburst after being hit from Dragon Claw because that rampage could have really did some damage. Like Infernape's Blaze during the 8th gym match in DP it nearly destroyed the arena with its Flamethrower.

Charizard napping caused Ash to lose in the Indigo League so that is one example of a league not taking disobedient Pokemon lightly. However, that battle with Richie was basically a free for all with neither trainer really giving commands save for Butterfree using Sleep Powder on Squirtle.

So, what do you think should a trainer be disqualified because their Pokemon doesn't listen to it?

Minus attacks like Thrash, Outrage, etc. that "naturally" cause a Pokemon to act out of control.
Click to expand...

And I'm inclined to agree with him. Hell, the only reason this isn't so in the actual Anime is because (all together now) the writers says so.

So what are your thoughts on all this?
 

ranso33

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I think that occasions where there is an audience, such as festivals and others, the disobedient pokemon should be desqualified. It will ruin everyone's show since people went to see a great battle, and also because, since the trainer has lost control, the pokemon is incapable of battling, and in my oppinion should receive an immediate defeat. In other cases such as gym battles (even though my second point still stands) I don't think there should be desqualifications, since they are looking for the strongest pokemon, and a disobedient pokemon can be strong (as an example we have Ash's Charizard) and they have no need to look "nice" (since there is no audience).
 
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Darthbane2007

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I still think it is the trainer's responsibility to make sure his/her pokemon can listen and follow directions. One or 2 times ( Or more) When ash sent out charizard and it wouldn't listen:

Blaine
Trainer who had the Poliwrath
Trainer before Lorelei had to save the day

All said something to the effect how he should learn to control his pokemon and not call it out during a battle if it wouldn't listen to him...
 
Squirrel

Squirrel

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I think it should be completely up to the trainer whether or not they choose to use their disobedient Pokémon in battle. If they didn't think the Pokémon could handle it and be controlled enough, why would they send them out? And as for the "bystanders could get hurt" point, whilst true, it should then be up to the trainer to return the Pokémon to its Pokéball once it starts rampaging like this so that no one can get hurt. Really I think it's down to the trainer if they want to risk losing from not having trained a Pokémon correctly because if it's not listening to the trainer, the likelihood is the Pokémon isn't going to win the battle.
 

matt0044

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AlexOzzyCake said:
And as for the "bystanders could get hurt" point, whilst true, it should then be up to the trainer to return the Pokémon to its Pokéball once it starts rampaging like this so that no one can get hurt.
Click to expand...

Though Bulbasaur dodged the recall beam from the Poke Ball once...
 

chella182

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If it was real, something like that probably would cause the trainer to be disqualified, so yeah, it might make sense. Although some of the more tense battle moments have been when you just don't know if the Pokémon's actually going to do what it's told or not and what the outcome of that will be haha.
 

Sweets Witch

I just love ham jerky.
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Ultimately it's the trainer's choice, but the trainers generally don't have the common sense that the viewers have. If you and I are having an official battle and I decide to use my crazy, violent, unruly Pokemon, then it's my decision and my fault if anything bad happens.

This makes me wonder how much power the Leagues have when it comes to making large rules like "No disobedient Pokemon in official battles/contests". They could make a rule like that, sure, but they don't seem to inspect the competing Pokemon beforehand so they wouldn't know that a trainer has a disobedient Pokemon until said trainer actually sends it out to compete. Disqualifying someone mid-battle for sending out a disobedient Pokemon would be unfair, but waiting until the damage is done would be too late.
 

matt0044

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Sweets Witch said:
Disqualifying someone mid-battle for sending out a disobedient Pokemon would be unfair, but waiting until the damage is done would be too late.
Click to expand...

The Trainer should've known well before hand how hard the Pokemon in question is to handle.
 
Palamon

Palamon

Silence is Purple
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Yes, they should be disqualified. If the Pokemon isn't going to listen in battle than they should be disqualified. This would include contests as well. I do remember Ash's Charizard getting disqualified in the Pokemon league for not battling so perhaps in a the X and Y saga this rule will be applied in the anime world.
 
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