Fainting

Fainting (FNT) (Japanese: ひんし near death) is a status condition in which a is no longer able to.

During a battle, if all Pokémon in a Trainer's party have fainted, the Trainer loses that battle.

In the core series
In the core series Pokémon games, fainting occurs when a Pokémon reaches zero, 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 or. When the undefined'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. and can also cause a Pokémon to faint. The moves, , , , , and cause the user to faint. If the user does not have enough HP, (when used by a  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 a sum of money. In 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 ed, 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.)

ed Pokémon take damage in battle, which can cause fainting, but not outside of battle.

A Pokémon is at risk of hurting itself, which can make itself faint. A Pokémon affected by 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
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 undefined'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 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.

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, 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 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:

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 will be taken from the player's bag and automatically be used, becoming a. 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 or half 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 s.

In Super Mystery Dungeon, if both s 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 will still be able to revive it later. If a Guest Pokémon (excluding ) 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.

In the anime
In the Pokémon anime, fainting is referred to as being unable to battle (Japanese:  unable to fight). These 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 and 's core flashing.

During Gym s, matches, and other battle-oriented, 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 has with his rivals, in which  or other person acts as the referee.

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 that 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 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 TCG
In the Trading Card Game, fainting is commonly referred to as a Pokémon being Knocked Out. This occurs when a Pokémon's TCG Damage, represented by Damage Counters, is greater than or equal to that Pokémon's TCG Hit Points.

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