Pokemon Legends: Arceus Has Fans Arguing Whether Pokemon Can Shrink Or Not

thegamer.com:

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is causing fans to argue over whether or not Pokemon can shrink.

As a game set in one of the earliest time periods in Pokemon history, Arceus changes and elaborates on many elements of the series' lore, such as retconning Indian Elephants from Raichu and Gastly's Pokedex. One big example of this is that it seems to have confirmed that all Pokemon can shrink themselves.

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An early-game cutscene features Professor Laventon explaining to the protagonist how Poke Balls work. During the cutscene, Laventon says, "You'll recall, of course, that Pokemon possess the odd ability to shrink themselves down. With the Poke Balls we craft, we can make use of that power to catch them!"

This cutscene seems to confirm that all Pokemon have the ability to shrink themselves down and that it's not the Poke Ball making them small enough to fit inside it. This has reignited an age-old argument between Pokemon fans about whether the pocket monsters can actually make themselves smaller.

Over on ResetEra, user chaobreaker created a poll on whether or not Pokemon can shrink after seeing the cutscene in Arceus that seems to imply otherwise. They said, "Wait, is that how it works? The common consensus for the last 25+ years is that it's the pokeballs that shrunk Pokemon down to size to fit in them but they can do it themselves? They can always do that? I mean it makes sense that some of them can change their bodies at will like Ditto, but... all of them?"

Despite Arceus saying otherwise, 60.1 percent of the 484 voters said that it's actually the Poke Ball causing the Pokemon to shrink, citing the lack of scientific knowledge in the Hisuian region as the main reason