Obedience is the Pokémon's willingness to listen to its Trainer's commands. While Pokémon usually obey their Trainers, they may disobey their Trainer if they do not respect them.

In the games

When a Pokémon is obtained in a trade, it oftentimes will not obey the player's commands if it is at too high a level and the player does not have the appropriate Badge or number of Badges. Having all eight Badges always makes all Pokémon obey the player. This rule stands to prevent players from trading in a high-leveled Pokémon trained on another game and easily beating the game.

In the Generation III games, Mew and Deoxys that were not met in a fateful encounter will always disobey the player, regardless of Badges. This exists to hinder players who cheat to obtain them.

In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Cyrus used the Red Chain to force Dialga and/or Palkia to obey him.

Badges

The Badges or number of Badges the player has affects their Pokémon's behavior. Usually the level at which Pokémon will obey the player up to is increased every second Badge (in Badge case order); however, in Generation V, every Badge increases the maximum level for guaranteed obedience. In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum only, obedience is determined by the number of Badges, not which specific Badges the player has.

Badges by obedience level
Indigo League Johto League Hoenn League Sinnoh League Unova League
Up to Lv. 20 Zephyr BadgeHGSS Trio BadgeBW
Basic BadgeB2W2
Up to Lv. 30 Cascade Badge Hive Badge Knuckle Badge 2 Badges Basic BadgeBW
Toxic BadgeB2W2
Up to Lv. 40 Insect Badge
Up to Lv. 50 Rainbow Badge Fog Badge Heat Badge 4 Badges Bolt Badge
Up to Lv. 60 Quake Badge
Up to Lv. 70 Marsh Badge Storm BadgeGSC
Mineral BadgeHGSS
Feather Badge 6 Badges Jet Badge
Up to Lv. 80 Freeze BadgeBW
Legend BadgeB2W2
Up to Lv. 100 Earth Badge Rising Badge Rain Badge 8 Badges Legend BadgeBW
Wave BadgeB2W2

Disobedience quotes

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Reason: quotes in all games

  • "<Pokémon> is loafing around!"
    • The Pokémon does not attack
  • "<Pokémon> won't listen! It hurt itself in its confusion!"
    • The Pokémon uses a different move
  • "<Pokémon> started to nap!"
    • The Pokémon goes to sleep
  • "<Pokémon> won't listen! <Pokémon> used <move> on <target>!"
    • Uses a different move and/or attacks a different Pokémon than the selected one

In the anime

In The Problem with Paras, Cassandra's grandmother mentioned that Pokémon will only obey Trainers if they respect them. This respect can be earned by obtaining more Badges. As shown in Bad to the Bone, this respect can be lost by losing the Badges.

Examples

In the original series

In Pokémon - I Choose You!, Ash's Pikachu was initially very hostile towards him due to having no respect for a beginning Trainer. It wasn't until Ash protected Pikachu from a flock of Spearow that he finally respected and listened to Ash.

Ash's Primeape was incredibly violent and virtually uncontrollable, and Ash rarely used it due to this. However, during the P1 Grand Prix, Ash saved Primeape from a dangerous fall, and it began to respect and listen to Ash.

Ash's Charmander refused to obey him after evolving into Charmeleon, and continued to disobey as a Charizard. When Ash commanded him, he would either ignore Ash's orders and use a different move, go to sleep, leave the battlefield, or attack Ash.

In Bad to the Bone, Otoshi's Marowak left its Trainer after he lost and failed to recover his Badges, as Marowak had lost respect for him. Marowak later returned when it saw how happy a group of Trainers and their Pokémon were together.

In the Advanced Generation series

In Exploud and Clear, Guy's Loudred stopped obeying him after it evolved into Exploud, and ran off. However, after Guy jumped in front of Team Rocket's cork gun to protect it, it came to respect him.

In the Diamond & Pearl series

In the Diamond & Pearl series, Dawn's Swinub frequently disobeyed her after evolving into Piloswine, and continued to disobey as Mamoswine. In Trials and Adulations!, Mamoswine was injured during a battle against a wild Aggron. Dawn and her Pokémon used the first aid skills taught to her by Brock in Doc Brock! to help Mamoswine recover, and later attempted to protect Mamoswine against Team Rocket. As a result, Mamoswine gained respect for Dawn and under her instructions, it was able to defeat Aggron. From then on, Mamoswine still has a tiny bit of a rebellious attitude, but when Dawn is in danger it does not hesitate to help her.

In the Best Wishes! series

 
Excadrill refusing to battle

In the Best Wishes! series, Iris's Excadrill refused to battle as it was ashamed of when he lost to a Drayden's Haxorus. When sent out of its Poké Ball, he would simply stay curled up as a drill. In Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!, he gained respect for Iris after her apology, and he began to obey her.

Later, Iris caught an Emolga who disliked battling and would use Volt Switch to force another Pokémon into its place when sent into battle. It was also fond of using Attract to infatuate the opponent and avoid actually battling. Since in the Club Battle tournament only one Pokémon could be used, Emolga couldn't use Volt Switch without being disqualified; this lead to Emolga actually listening to Iris's commands, and it continued to in later battles.

Luke's Zorua ran off and refused to listen to him after Luke continued to make Zorua play male characters, when as a female she only wanted to play female characters. Zorua listened to Luke after he apologized.

Iris's Dragonite refused to listen to her, particularly during the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup. It attacked with the moves it wanted to use rather than the ones Iris commanded. Slowly but surely Dragonite started trusting its Trainer, and by Unova's Survival Crisis! it started to obey Iris.