What if a Poké Ball was lost and couldn't be opened?


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?




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.




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.

