The fabled black balls on a Stantler's antlers do far more than create illusions; they are said to have the strange and awesome power to warp reality itself. Whether this is indeed the case or whether they act by altering memories is a debate which has intrigued many philosophers throughout the ages, and leaves too much room for argument to ever be resolved. What is undisputed is that once they are caught in a Stantler's illusion, people will wake up to a reality which has been changed from the one they left.

Sometimes their reality is dramatically altered, with the friends and family and world they knew completely replaced; other times, it is merely a collection of subtle changes to one's personal circumstances and the history they learned growing up. Even the subtle changes can prove disorienting, and most people do not wish to risk the major ones, so Stantler are feared and avoided, and their illusions are forbidden in battle. (This is probably the reason why Stantler's power evolved, for predatory pokemon are scared away as easily as humans.) Although this world of peace and pokemon is perhaps not the best of all possible worlds, there are so many ways it could have gone horribly wrong, and so few which would have made it better.

In times of personal tragedy, grief, and despair, however, it is common for those who have lost the will to live to watch Stantler herds race by. They hope that when they wake up, they will find themselves in a better world, or at least a world free of their own agony. Some people, either out of wanderlust or after watching them until it appears futile, even capture a Stantler and train it for themselves.

For Stantler trainers, every day is a new beginning.