In the event of... the end.

I just had a pretty dark thought. What happens to a trainer's Pokemon if they die? Do they get adopted by the surviving family or friends, or are they released into the wild? Is this the same for active party Pokemon and those that are boxed? I don't recall there being a definite answer to this.

Wow that's dark, but a really good question tbh. I'd like to think that a trainer's family inherits their pokémon (as one would pets?). If there really is no inheritor, perhaps they first will go to a professor or whomever else takes care of pokémon that are not currently in a party. And maybe they will then decide that some are to be released if they seem to be able to live in the wild again.

Maybe some will also be adopted by other new or old trainers :)

This was addressed to an extent in one of the USUM sidequests. Lady Cogita also implies that Pokémon are released when the Trainer dies in Legends: Arceus.

I agree with the speculations above.

Being the Ghost buff that I am, I also believe that some (but not all) Ghost-types leave this world with their Trainers as soon as they pass away, either temporarily (to escort them to the afterlife) or permanently (to be reincarnated together).

Interesting question and i have seen MANY awnsers over the years
Pokemon gets inherited by close family or friend, chooses to stand by trainers grave, goes back into the wild, past away along with the trainer, bring the trainer back to life(either normally or as a lifeless shell), in the trainers will, alot of others things i probably cant think of. Sad stuff indeed

Honestly it probably depends on the relationship that the Pokemon has with the trainer's friends and family. Maybe the Pokemon can choose. If the pokemon wants to continue to be trained by family or a close friend then they should decide. If they want to be free from training then they should go to the wild. I think it should be up to the pokemon.

Ideally they could be adopted by friends or family members, if the trainer has any. Very sad scenario is they return to the wild and mourn their trainer. Releasing makes the most sense to me honestly. Makes me sad to think about potentially finding + catching Pokémon in the wild that may have gone through this. :'(

We'd probably answer that question by answering what does it actually mean for a Pokémon to be "Boxed".

In my headcanon, it works as in Legends Arceus. Pokémon are inside their Pokéballs when traveling with their trainers, and those who don't are teleported to pastures or something like that, where they can walk, sleep, eat, and interact with each other. Makes no sense for Pokémon to be held in actual boxes inside a PC, especially since that would mean that countless Pokémon would never see the light anymore after caught, which sounds rather disturbing.

So, if a trainer dies, whatever people are in charge of the pastures would sent all their Pokémon back into the wild or see if other trainers want to take care of them instead.

I guess if a trainer dies while traveling with six Pokémon, someone would have to retrieve the Pokéballs because otherwise those poor creatures will be stuck inside balls forever... well, not really, because Pokémon can actually go outside their Pokéball on their own, they just normally have no reason to do so.

Corveone said:

We'd probably answer that question by answering what does it actually mean for a Pokémon to be "Boxed".

Click to expand...

Another good question would be what would happen to a trainer's Pokémon if they died and they had a ton of Pokémon in their boxes? I'm sure that trainers definitely password protect their accounts when storing their Pokémon. Would their Pokémon be stuck in those boxes forever, or would someone be in charge of the computer system that can take care of this situation?

Sweet Serenity said:

Another good question would be what would happen to a trainer's Pokémon if they died and they had a ton of Pokémon in their boxes? I'm sure that trainers definitely password protect their accounts when storing their Pokémon. Would their Pokémon be stuck in those boxes forever, or would someone be in charge of the computer system that can take care of this situation?

Click to expand...

I'm sure it'd work similar to bank accounts.

There's probably some kind of process by which someone on your family can get an inventory of your estate, and after the division has been determined, transfer whatever's in the boxes.

Even if Pokemon aren't legally considered property, they'd probably just be released. A server owner can always do whatever with the server, so I'm sure that once the situation is told to the system they'd eventually do something.

I assume the Pokemon either goes to a family member or is released, depending on what the Pokemon wants

I'd imagine they probably get released back into the wild or just...stay in their Pokeballs forever never to be used again. This isn't really something I think about tbh since death is glossed over in most Pokemon games and in the Pokemon world.

According to Bulbapedia: Left Poké Ball-This Poké Ball contains a late old man's Dartrix. When given to his granddaughter, a female Preschooler in northern Malie City, she will give the player a Mental Herb as thanks.

So I'm assuming the family decides?

Yeah I think its like with assets irl, it would go to next of kin, who unless they have a great attachment or find some of the Pokémon useful for labour, release them.

When the deceased dedicated his last years to breeding a 6IV Shiny Zorua, of course, all the breedjects being released devastes ecosystems