Black out
- If you were looking for the TCG theme deck, see Blackout (TCG). For the glitch screen, see Glitch screen → Blackout
The player will black out (Japanese: 目の前が真っ暗になる lose hope, lit. plunge into darkness) when all the Pokémon on the player's team faint. This is comparable to a game over screen for the Pokémon games. It generally occurs in battle but it can also occur in the overworld due to the effects of poison prior to Generation IV. Starting in Generation IX, the player can also black out by running from an in-game Trainer battle.
In English releases of the Generation II and III games, and Japanese releases of the Generation II games as well as Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the player will instead white out (Japanese: 目の前が真っ白になる plunge into white). In English versions starting in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the player will instead be overwhelmed by their defeat. Both of these are identical in function to blacking out.
In the core series games
In the core series games, when all of the Pokémon in the party are fainted, the player will lose a sum of money. In Trainer battles, money will be given to the winner, while in battles with wild Pokémon, money will be dropped in panic.
Before Generation IV, half of the player's money on hand was lost and this loss was not explicitly stated to the player. In FireRed and LeafGreen and Generation IV onward, however, the money lost depends on the level of the player's Pokémon and the number of Badges earned. In these games, the player receives a message about how much was lost, unless no money was lost at all (because the player had $0 before blacking out). Prior to Generation VI, the Pokémon will not be given the opportunity to evolve if player blacks out. In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the player will not lose any money in a wild battle.
Furthermore, the player will rush back to the last visited Pokémon Center to restore their Pokémon's health. This will not occur in special occasions such as the player's initial battle as a Trainer in Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen, Platinum, Black, White, Black 2, White 2, or in Link Battles and battle facilities. In FireRed, LeafGreen, and from Generation IV onwards, a small cutscene plays featuring a description of the player's rush back to the Pokémon Center and protecting the party from harm. If the last place healed was the player's house, a slightly different description is shown. If the player blacks out during a Sky Battle but still has usable Pokémon in their party which were ineligible for the battle, they will not be returned to a Pokémon Center.
If a Pokémon Center has not been used at all before the party has fainted, the player's mother will revive the party and remark about stocking up on Potions.
A glitch in Generation I causes a black out to occur in the overworld without poisoned Pokémon by storing all party Pokémon in the Pokémon Storage System except for the ones that have fainted.
In Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, if the player blacks out after taking the Mystery Egg from Mr. Pokémon but before visiting any Pokémon Center, they will be returned to Cherrygrove City's Pokémon Center. This prevents the player from skipping the first battle with their rival by blacking out and returning directly to the player's house. Blacking out during the Bug-Catching Contest ends the contest rather than returning the player to a Pokémon Center.
In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, it is not possible to black out inside of a Secret Base. When losing to an NPC trainer, the player will be healed on the spot. Additionally, the game's code specifically contains an exclusion to prevent poisoned Pokémon from losing HP when the player is walking inside a Secret Base, so cannot faint through this manner.
In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, losing a battle does not cause the player to black out. If a battle is lost against a wild Pokémon, they can continue their adventure defenseless; if a Trainer battle is lost, they are offered a chance to retry it. Instead, the player can black out on sustaining enough damage themselves from wild Pokémon attacks, hazards from the environment, or falling from a high place. Upon blacking out (the message "Everything went black!"), they will be returned to the last visited camp, having lost some items from their satchel. If the player loses a battle against a frenzied Noble Pokémon or any other boss, such as Arceus, the penalty of losing items does not apply; they can choose to restart the battle, continue, or accept defeat.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the regular conditions and effects of blacking out are reinstated, with one new case: unlike previous generations, the player can now run from Trainer battles, which causes them to black out immediately.
In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the player can black out by sustaining too much damage from wild Pokémon attacks in a period of time. The player will then be returned to a Pokémon Center. If the player loses a battle to a Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon, they can restart the battle from the beginning or continue with previous progress. The effect of the Green Canari Plush allows the player to sustain more damage before blacking out. Like in Legends: Arceus, If a battle is lost against a wild Pokémon, they can continue their adventure defenseless. If the player loses to a Trainer in the Z-A Royale, they lose half of the prize medals that they had. If the player blacks out in hyperspace, they will be expelled from it immediately, wasting any unused Donut Energy.
Formula for money lost
- Main article: Prize money
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This section contains old or outdated information, or has not been updated in a while. Please check the content of this section and update it as required. Reason: LGPE and SS info. |
In the Generation I games, Generation II games, and Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the amount of money lost is simply half of the money the player has. In Pokémon FireRed, LeafGreen, and all games from Generation IV onwards, the money lost is calculated using the following formula:
Where Level is the level of the player's highest-level Pokémon and Base is looked up using the appropriate table below.
| Badges | Base payout | |
|---|---|---|
| FRLG & Gen IV | Gen V & VI | |
| 0 | $8 | |
| 1 | $16 | |
| 2 | $24 | |
| 3 | $36 | |
| 4 | $48 | |
| 5 | $60 | $64 |
| 6 | $80 | |
| 7 | $100 | |
| 8 | $120 | |
| Stamp | Base payout |
|---|---|
| SMUSUM | |
| None of the below | $8 |
| Melemele Trial | $16 |
| Akala Trial | $32 |
| Ula'ula Trial | $56 |
| Poni Trial | $88 |
| Island Challenge | $120 |
For example, if the player has seven Badges and loses a battle with only a Level 96 Venusaur in their party, $9600 will be lost. The minimum amount of money that the player can lose is $8 (if the Pokémon with the highest level in the player's party is level 1 and the player has 0 Badges; 1×8=8), while the maximum is $12000 (if the Pokémon with the highest level in the player's party is level 100 and the player has 8 Badges or the Island Challenge Completion stamp; 100×120=12000).
If the player is currently holding less money than the amount calculated, they will simply lose all their money when they black out.
In the side series games
Pokémon Colosseum
In Pokémon Colosseum, the amount of money lost when the player whites out is half of the money the player has. The player will usually respawn at the last visited Pokémon Center, or in the Outskirt Stand if a Pokémon Center has not been used.
Some battles have a script for when the player loses, such as against Team Snagem's Wakin, where the player does not respawn, and Rui screams for help until the Team Snagem members leave on their own.
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
In Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, the amount of money lost when the player whites out is $16 × the level of the player's highest-level Pokémon. The player's respawn point is dependent on which trainer they lost to. Most of the time, the player will respawn in their bedroom at the Pokémon HQ Lab, but in other cases the player will respawn in a spot in the current location. For example, the player respawns at the entrance to the grounds if the player whites out at Kaminko's House, while the player respawns in Acri's house if the player whites out in Gateon Port.
If the player snagged a Shadow Pokémon and loses, it will return to the original trainer (or flee somewhere if the battle is not redoable). Due to an oversight, if the player loses in the first battle against Miror B., his Shadow Voltorb (and thus Shadow Dragonite) will be permanently unobtainable.
Quotes
| Games | Wild battle | Trainer battle |
|---|---|---|
| RBY | <player> is out of useable Pokémon! | |
| <player> blacked out! | ||
| GSC | <player> is out of useable Pokémon! | |
| <player> whited out! | ||
| RSEColoXD | <player> is out of usable Pokémon! | |
| <player> whited out! | ||
| FRLG | <player> is out of usable Pokémon! | |
| <player> panicked and lost $XX,XXX... | Player lost against XXX XXXX! | |
| <player> paid $XX,XXX as the prize money... | ||
| ... ... ... ... | ||
| <player> whited out! | ||
| DPPtHGSS | <player> is out of usable Pokémon! | |
| <player> dropped $XX,XXX in panic! | <player> paid out $XX,XXX to the winner. | |
| ... ... ... ... | ||
| <player> blacked out! | ||
| BWB2W2 | <player> is out of usable Pokémon! | |
| <player> dropped $XX,XXX in panic... | <player> paid out $XX,XXX to the winner... | |
| <player> blacked out! | ||
| XYORAS | <player> has no more Pokémon that can fight! | |
| <player> panicked and dropped $XX,XXX... | <player> gave $XX,XXX to the winner... | |
| <player> blacked out! | ||
| SMUSUM | You have no more Pokémon that can fight! | |
| You panicked and dropped $XX,XXX... | You gave $XX,XXX to the winner... | |
| You blacked out! | ||
| PE | You have no more Pokémon that can fight! | |
| N/A | You gave $XX,XXX to the winner... | |
| You were overwhelmed by your defeat! | ||
| SwShBDSP SV |
You have no more Pokémon that can fight! | |
| You panicked and dropped $XX,XXX... | You gave $XX,XXX to the winner... | |
| You were overwhelmed by your defeat! | ||
| Games | Pokémon Center | Home |
|---|---|---|
| FRLG | <player> scurried to a Pokémon Center, protecting the exhausted and fainted Pokémon from further harm… | <player> scurried back home, protecting the exhausted and fainted Pokémon from further harm… |
| DPPtHGSS | <player> scurried to a Pokémon Center, protecting the exhausted and fainted Pokémon from further harm... | <player> scurried back home, protecting the exhausted and fainted Pokémon from further harm... |
| BWB2W2 | <player> scurried to a Pokémon Center, protecting the exhausted and fainted Pokémon from further harm... | <player> scurried back home, protecting the exhausted and fainted Pokémon from further harm... |
| XYORAS | <player> scurried to a Pokémon Center, protecting the exhausted Pokémon from any further harm... | <player> scurried back home, protecting the exhausted Pokémon from any further harm... |
| SMUSUM | You scurry back to the Pokémon Center, protecting your exhausted Pokémon from any further harm... | You scurry back home, protecting your exhausted Pokémon from any further harm... |
| PE | You hurried to the Pokémon Center with your tired Pokémon... | You hurried home with your tired Pokémon... |
| SwShBDSP | You scurry back to the Pokémon Center, protecting your exhausted Pokémon from any further harm... | You scurry back home, protecting your exhausted Pokémon from any further harm... |
| SV | You hurry to the Pokémon Center, shielding your exhausted Pokémon from any further harm... | You hurry back home, shielding your exhausted Pokémon from any further harm... |
| Games | Pokémon Center | Home |
|---|---|---|
| SV | You went running to the Pokémon Center to regroup and reconsider your battle strategy... | You went running back home to regroup and reconsider your battle strategy... |
| Games | Text |
|---|---|
| LA ZA |
Everything went black! |
Appearance
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This section is missing one or more images. Please feel free to add any missing images to this section. Needed images can be uploaded to the Bulbagarden Archives. Reason: Colosseum, XD |
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Cantonese | 眼前一片漆黑 Ngáahnchìhn yātpin chāthāk |
| Mandarin | 眼前一片漆黑 Yǎnqián yīpiàn qīhēi* 眼前变得一片漆黑 Yǎnqián biàndé yīpiàn qīhēi* | |
| French | Être hors-jeuGen. I-V, XY Être hors jeuORAS, Gen. VII+ | |
| German | In Ohnmacht fallenRBYFRLGDPPtHGSS Ohnmächtig werdenGSCRSEColo Besiegt werdenColoXD Schwarz vor Augen werdenGen. V+ | |
| Italian | Essere crollatoRBY Essere fuori combattimentoGSCRSEFRLGColoXDDPPt Non vedere più nienteHGSS Non vederci piùBW Trovarsi alle stretteB2W2 Essere alle stretteGen. VI+ | |
| Korean | 눈앞이 깜깜해지다 Nun-api kkamkkamhaejidaGS 눈앞이 캄캄해지다 Nun-api kamkamhaejidaDPPt, Gen. V+ 눈앞이 하얘지다 Nun-api hayaejidaHGSS | |
| Spanish | DesmayarseRBY Perder el conocimientoGSCRSE Estar fuera de combateFRLGColoXD, Gen. IV-VI Quedarse fuera de combateGen. VII Quedarse fuera de juegoGen. VIII | |
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This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |