Why have the police not stopped trainers from fighting?

Question

I understand why trainers battle, but what I do not get is why the police won't put a stop to the battles, especially if they are in a town or city. So, what are their reason for not stopping Poke-battles?

Answer 1

Pokémon battles are widespread and deeply ingrained in the culture of the different regions, and thus would probably not be prohibited by law. And if they're not prohibited, the police would have little reason to stop people from battling. As you say, the battles being a danger to bystanders or property may be one such reason the police might intervene. It's possible it may have even happened in the anime that Officer Jenny asked trainers to stop battling, but I can't think of any such incidents off the top of my head.

Nevertheless, battles typically are not that destructive, and it seems socially and culturally acceptable to battle inside of towns. Some towns even encourage this by holding tournaments on the streets, as I seem to recall this happening at some point (I thought it was in one of the movies, but I can't seem to find it from reading summaries).

The opening to The Rise of Darkrai prominently features battles on the street during a festival by Ash and friends against some other trainers.

So battles in the street are as culturally accepted in the world of Pokémon as the neighborhood kids playing baseball in the real world. Sure, there's a chance they'll break a window, but nobody's going to tell them to stop until they actually do.

In the movie version of Detective Pikachu, battles are prohibited in Ryme City. In spite of this, there are illegal underground Pokémon battles in the movie, perhaps suggesting the futility of such prohibitions due to how culturally ingrained the practice is. Kind of like what happened with the alcohol prohibition in America.

Pokémon are also said to have an innate desire to battle, which is the excuse Game Freak makes for battles not being animal abuse. Whether you believe that or not is up to you, but it's likely canon to the games and anime, and thus this would be another reason contributing to the culture of battles and of police not stopping battles.