Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: How does disobedience work?

POKÉMON Scarlet and Violet brought an open world to the games for the first time, meaning that the way disobedience works has also changed.

If a Pokémon is disobedient, it is unlikely to attack the opposing ‘mon, and very likely to do nothing or fall asleep.

This is very annoying in casual play when you are one hit away from success.

Here’s our tips for how to avoid disobedience in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet:

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: Why does my Pokémon disobey?

A Pokémon will disobey you if it is caught at a level above your level cap. This is determined by how many gym badges you own.

Team Star or Titan defeats do not count towards your cap. Here’s your cap based on your number of gym badges.

• 0 badges – Level 20
• 1 badge – Level 25
• 2 badges – Level 30
• 3 badges – Level 35
• 4 badges – Level 40
• 5 badges – Level 45
• 6 badges – Level 50
• 7 badges – Level 55
• 8 badges – Level 100

If you catch a Pokémon at level 20 with no badges, it will always obey you. If you catch it at level 21, it will disobey.

Once you get one badge it will obey you. However, if it grows to Level 26 it will disobey you again.

This is to discourage people from catching Pokémon beyond their level cap. This rule also applies to traded Pokémon.

The only Pokémon that don’t follow this rule is Pokémon caught in raids. These will obey you no matter what.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: How does disobedience work?

When your Pokémon disobeys it can do one of three things in battle.

The first is that it won’t do anything. When this happens, the text reads: “Pokémon is loafing around”.

The second is that it can fall asleep. You will know this because it will say: “Pokémon decided to take a nap”. You will then be inflicted with sleep.

Finally, your Pokémon can choose to use the move it was instructed to use by you.

If your Pokémon is one level above the level cap, it is roughly an equal chance for your Pokémon to do any of these things.

The higher your Pokémon is above the level cap, the less likely it is to use the move you want.

So if you don’t have any badges, a level 21 Pokémon is far more likely to attack the opponent than a level 65 Pokémon.

Make sure that you catch Pokémon at the appropriate levels so that you have the best chance in battles.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.