Austin-
The Ethics of Pokemon and whether pokemon battling is ethical?
Well Pokemon Battles are very ethical. The battles are mostly always regulated and the fight ends when a pokemon faints so no pokemon can seriously gets injured. A lot of people who see pokemon battling as unethical compare it to dogfights and cockfights, but the difference is the dogs and cocks are forced to fight. While pokemon aren't being forced, they are wanting to fight to prove there strength as well as getting stronger themselves.The pokemon realized to acquire further strength then they need the help of humans. So a mutual role between humans and pokemon takes place to get stronger, but a friendship and bond will grow between the 2 over time as well. It's been shown over the course of pokemon history that humans and pokemon have fought alongside each other for centuries. If pokemon didn't want to fight then they would just leave their trainers or lash out at people, but most don't because they realized they need them to grow stronger. I can easily give a prime example of this disobedience or abandoning of the trainers with a few of Ash's pokemon. Ash had a Charizard that would ignore Ash's orders because he didn't see Ash as fit enough to train Charizard, so he disobeyed his trainer, over time though Charizard began to listen to Ash, realizing he needs him to get stronger. Ash's Froakie would be another example. Froakie went through tons of trainers before finding Ash. The trainers who owned Froakie prior complained about Froakie leaving them or being disobedient. Froakie didn't see those trainers strong enough to meet his standards of growing in strength so he left them or ignored them until finding Ash who was up to his standards. Another example would be from Pokémon Colosseum, a Plusle joins the main character Wes on his journey even though Plusle belonged to Dukang, Plusle choose Wes and Dukang understanding Plusle wishes, lets him go. In Pokemon X/Y a lucario leaves his trainer to join the main character regardless the trainers wishes. So pokemon are willing to fight and stay by the sides of trainers for a mutual benefit.
You would have to think about what pokemon can actually do to humans as well. If pokemon didn't like the relationship they had with humans, then they would just attack the humans because people forget a lot of pokemon are ferocious monsters, even the smaller ones they can do manage damage to a person if they wanted too, but they don't because they like the arrangement since they benefit from it.
As for battling again battling is regulated and kept safe for trainer and pokemon both to avoid serious injury, if this wasn't the case then many pokemon and humans would have died and the relationship between pokemon and humans would slowly not exist anymore.
They rely on each other for bring out the full potential in each other.
