Double Battle/Games

In a Double Battle, two teams of two Pokémon face each other in battle. One Trainer may control both Pokémon on either side of the battle, or two Trainers may cooperate on one or both sides of the battle, each controlling their own Pokémon (meaning that anywhere from two to four Trainers may take part in a Double Battle).

Some, such as and , automatically engage the player in Double Battles; in Generation III, they will only battle if the player steps on the tile directly in front of them, from Generation IV to  they can move towards the player to initiate such battles, and in Generation VII they can battle the player from afar but remain stationary (like all other Trainer classes in those games). If the player has only one conscious Pokémon, Trainer classes who will only engage the player in Double Battles will ignore the player and comment that the player should bring two Pokémon to battle them with.

From to Generation V, two independent Trainers who see the player at the same time will engage the player in a Double Battle. If the player has only one conscious Pokémon, the two Trainers who see the player at the same time will take turns battling the player in two Single Battles, with the second Trainer approaching and battling the player immediately after the first Trainer is defeated.

In, all battles that the player participates in are battled as Double Battles. The only way to engage in a Single Battle in Pokémon Colosseum is to do so in battle mode. However, the player does watch a Single Battle between Eagun and Skrub.

In, the first two battles in the game—against Chobin and Naps—are Single Battles, as are all wild battles and one optional battle against a at the entrance to the Pokémon HQ Lab. Some Trainers in Mt. Battle only use one Pokémon, so it is possible to battle them in a Single Battle. The player also watches two Single Battles involving Zook—one with Ardos and one with Biden.

From Generation IV onward, moves that target multiple Pokémon resolve in order of the target's respective Speed stats. If a Pokémon faints, it is not replaced until the end of the turn, rather than immediately after the Pokémon is knocked out, making it possible for a Pokémon's move to fail due to a lack of target if both of the opposing Pokémon are knocked out before it attacks.

In Generation IV and, some NPCs (most notably the stat Trainers in ) accompany the player while they explore certain areas. In these situations, all wild Pokémon encounters are Double Battles against two Pokémon. In such situations, it is impossible to use a Poké Ball to capture a Pokémon unless the other is knocked out first. The NPC Trainer will heal the player's team after every battle. The player cannot use movement-based field moves such as or  while accompanied by an NPC.

In Generation V, many routes contain, in which the player has the ability to encounter two wild Pokémon at a time, initiating a wild Double Battle. Similar to the wild Double Battles of Generation IV, it is impossible to use a Poké Ball to catch a Pokémon unless the other Pokémon is knocked out first.

The HP of Pokémon is not displayed numerically on the player's side in Generation III and Generation IV—only the bar will be shown to save screen space. The numeric amount of HP can be toggled with the Start button.