<p>There have been several instances in the show where a Pokémon was in its Poké Ball for a long time, such as in <a href="http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/DP047" rel="nofollow"><i>Sandshrew's Locker</i></a>. In this episode, Ash and friends helped Mira recover Sandshrew's Poké Ball from the bottom of the lake, where it's been for a long time. Additionally, Mira and her friends discovered Sandshrew's Poké Ball themselves. In the episode <a href="http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/DP002" rel="nofollow"><i>Two Degrees of Separation!</i></a> James found his Carnivine's Poké Ball inside a box containing one of his bottle cap collections, where he left it as a child. So, the precedents in the show indicate that Pokémon can survive a long time unattended in their Poké Ball, though it is unclear as to why since how the Pokéballs work is not well explained.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-05T03:24:21.870Z
Perhaps when inside the pokeball, the pokemons are in cyrosleep state
絢瀬絵里
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-08T09:26:50.877Z
If we go with the idea that Pokémon get save digitally to the PC for storage, it isn't much of a stretch to save Pokémon at specific points in time that get loaded again when their Pokéball re-opens
Gorp
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-14T16:40:15.483Z
@Gorp except in the anime Pokémon aren't stored in the PC like in the games, instead they are sent to the person who gave that trainer their Pokédex (usually the regional professor) so that they can take care of it for them.
Richard
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-05T01:08:40.660Z
2016-08-22T19:04:39.753Z
2016-08-22T19:04:39.753Z
Shaymin Gratitude
<p>I was reading a <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/4947/18881">question</a> on what it is like inside of a Poké Ball. It made me wonder what will happen to a Pokémon if the Poké Ball is lost or damaged. If the Poké Ball was unable to open, would they simple die?</p>

<pokemon>
What if a Poké Ball was lost and couldn't be opened?
# What if a Poké Ball was lost and couldn't be opened?
Posted by: username_0 on 2016-02-05
I was reading a [question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/4947/18881) on what it is like inside of a Poké Ball. It made me wonder what will happen to a Pokémon if the Poké Ball is lost or damaged. If the Poké Ball was unable to open, would they simple die?
**Tags:** pokemon
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2016-02-05. Score: 16 | Accepted answer
There have been several instances in the show where a Pokémon was in its Poké Ball for a long time, such as in [*Sandshrew's Locker*](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/DP047). In this episode, Ash and friends helped Mira recover Sandshrew's Poké Ball from the bottom of the lake, where it's been for a long time. Additionally, Mira and her friends discovered Sandshrew's Poké Ball themselves. In the episode [*Two Degrees of Separation!*](http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/DP002) James found his Carnivine's Poké Ball inside a box containing one of his bottle cap collections, where he left it as a child. So, the precedents in the show indicate that Pokémon can survive a long time unattended in their Poké Ball, though it is unclear as to why since how the Pokéballs work is not well explained.
> **Comments:**
> **username_2** (2016-02-05): Perhaps when inside the pokeball, the pokemons are in cyrosleep state  
> **username_3** (2016-02-08): If we go with the idea that Pokémon get save digitally to the PC for storage, it isn't much of a stretch to save Pokémon at specific points in time that get loaded again when their Pokéball re-opens  
> **username_4** (2021-11-14): @Gorp except in the anime Pokémon aren't stored in the PC like in the games, instead they are sent to the person who gave that trainer their Pokédex (usually the regional professor) so that they can take care of it for them.  
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