History VideoGame / PokemonMysteryDungeon

%%* WhamLine: Many of them, mostly in ''Explorers''.
%%* WhatMeasureIsANonCute

A ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' themed entry in Creator/SpikeChunsoft's (originally Chunsoft's before the merger with Spike) ''Mystery Dungeon'' (''Fushigi no Dungeon'') {{Roguelike}} franchise. The games center around a world populated ''exclusively'' by Pokémon (with no humans to be seen), who live in towns and cities, run shops, and go on adventures in [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels randomly generated dungeons.]]

* BalefulPolymorph:
** The player character in most of the games is a human-turned-Pokémon.
** The Transfer Orb transforms an enemy Pokémon into a different species found in that dungeon.
** The Decoy Orb transforms an opponent into a Substitute Doll that other enemy Pokémon attack.
** The Itemizer Orb turns a Pokémon into an item.

** The Itemizer Orb [[BalefulPolymorph transforms whoever you throw it at into an item.]] [[SchmuckBait Throw it at a Pokémon using Mirror Move]] and ''you'' get transformed instead, instantly ending the dungeon run - your revival items can't help you, since you aren't unconscious.

[[folder:''Adventure Squads'' also contains examples of:]]
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Blazing Squad is comprised of primarily red/orange/yellow/brown Pokémon, Stormy Squad is all blue, and Light Squad is all yellow save for the light blue Shinx and Pachirisu.
* FireIceLightning: Blazing Squad, Stormy Squad and Light Squad, with Water replacing Ice.
* LighterAndSofter: In ''Time/Darkness/Sky'', the main plot is to [[spoiler: find the Time Gears before the BadFuture arrives and the world goes to hell]]. In ''Adventure Squad'', the main plot is finding some cookies in a dungeon so your town will stop fighting over a piece of chocolate.
* PaletteSwap: 36 Pokémon have Shiny counterparts that can be discovered and recruited. Notably, they have one advantage over their normally-colored cousins: their HungerMeter goes up to ''200'' instead of the typical 100.
* RuleOfThree: In addition to there being three versions, each team has three Pokémon in the starting roster who aren't the dominant type:
** [[PlayingWithFire Blazing Squad]] has Eevee, Teddiursa and Buneary.
** [[MakingASplash Stormy Squad]] has Phanpy, Wynaut and Riolu.
** [[ShockAndAwe Light Squad]] has Meowth, Psyduck and Togepi.
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* ''[[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokemon_Mystery_Dungeon_(WiiWare) Adventure Squad]]'': A third installment released [[NoExportForYou only in Japan]] for UsefulNotes/WiiWare in 2009, comprising three versions with elementally-themed starter Pokémon (Fire, Water, and Electric), with [[VideoGame3DLeap 3D graphics]], and a LighterAndSofter story involving Arceus. These games do not have a page here at the moment, which is why the external link is given. A FanTranslation of these games [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T_a46U82YQ was released]] in April 2020. [[invoked]]

** Taken to its logical extreme with the IQ ability Absolute Mover: it not only allows any Pokémon to cross any normally-impassable terrain, but it also allows you to ''move through walls''.

* ClimbingClimax: All four handheld ''Mystery Dungeon'' games end with a tower climb; the first one is the [[LevelInTheClouds Sky Tower]], the second is [[spoiler:Temporal Tower]], ''Gates to Infinity'' ends with [[spoiler:Glacier Palace - Great Spire]], and ''Super Mystery Dungeon'' ends with [[spoiler:the Tree of Life]].

* NotCompletelyUseless: Doom Seeds lower your level by 1 when you eat them. It's not too useful even for weakening bosses or other powerful Pokémon, but in the original ''Rescue Team'' games it's the most reliable way to duplicate useful moves that can only be learned by level up, as the Link Shops do not allow for move duplication. Move duplication does not work starting from ''Explorers'' (including ''Rescue Team DX''), but even then, it's still the only way to get Deoxys, whose different forms learn different moves on level up, to learn moves from all of its various forms, as the Link Shops do not allow it to recall any moves, either. At least, in games where Deoxys is available, anyway.

* BagOfSharing: All team members have access to the same inventory regardless of their location on the floor. Taken UpToEleven in Explorers as the [[TimeTravel nature]] of the plot allows the storage system to outright ignore the law of causality, with items able to be put in storage and then taken out [[MindScrew before they were even put there]].

** Same with ''Gates to Infinity'', except ''[[UpToEleven EVEN DARKER]]''.

** DragonHoard: ''Gates of Infinity'' introduces Detours that contain very rare Deluxe Boxes but are blocked by an obstacle (a locked door, some kind of fog, etc.). If you manage to open the door/remove the fog, you will find yourself beset by Braviary or some other fully evolved Pokémon that will just '''wreck your party''' if you enter into the detour at an insufficient level.

* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: If either the player or their partner Mon are knocked out in a dungeon, the mission is immediately over. (After the credits roll, this is reduced to whomever the player designates as the party leader.)
* WhamLine: Many of them, mostly in ''Explorers''.

* VideoGameTime: Venturing through a Dungeon is one day, and clearing one will reset the shops and job lists the following day. This includes traversing the mazes in the Makuhita[[note]]but only in the first games since ''DX'' overhauls them into [[TimedMission 50-60 second dungeon rushes]] for [[PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling big and quick XP gains[[/note]]/Marowak Dojo, so grinding in them can reset the shops and job lists as many times as you want before entering a dungeon. Sometimes, you are required to go through at least one dungeon run before the story continues. The plot itself doesn't progress until you take a mission that is relevant to the story.

* VideoGameTime: Venturing through a Dungeon is one day. Sometimes, you are required to go through at least one dungeon run before the story continues. The plot itself doesn't progress until you take a mission that is relevant to the story.

* VendorTrash: Gold Ribbons and Lost Loot exist to be sold for massive money (and if you do this in a DungeonShop, you can steal it back again for free, save for the EasilyAngeredShopkeeper).

* UnidentifiedItems: Wild Pokémon in dungeons may drop Treasure Boxes when defeated; these boxes come in various colors but the only way to know (and use) what's inside them is to take them to a specialized Pokémon back in town after leaving the dungeon. Until then, they occupy space in your inventory, but if the dungeon includes a floor with a SavePoint, you can transfer them to your item storage so you don't have to keep lugging them around.

* {{Roguelike}}: To cater to the younger demographic, though, it's actually a fair bit easier than most Roguelikes. At least, until the end credits roll, then the [[DifficultySpike kid-gloves come off]]. In ''Super Mystery Dungeon'', the spike seems to be there ''[[NintendoHard right from the start]]''.

* RegeneratingHealth: Team members gradually regenerate HP as you move around the dungeons. Holding A+B at the same time causes your HP to regenerate faster, if only by standing in place and fast-forwarding time. Poisoning (and certain weather conditions) inhibit this, though, and certain IQ skills can increase the rate.

* PurelyAestheticGender: Although you can choose gender in ''Rescue Team'', it doesn't matter much and isn't even part of gameplay (making Attract [[GameBreaker very abuseable]]). Averted in ''Explorers'', where males have a higher crit rate while females have higher evasion.

** False Swipe is useful in the original games, where HPToOne is optimal for catching Pokémon, but the ''Mystery Dungeon'' series does not allow the player to collect Pokémon that way. ''Gates to Infinity'' changes the mechanic to increase the chance of recruiting a Pokémon by knocking it out with this move... but then ''Super Mystery Dungeon'' is forced to reverse the change due to the lack of a recruiting feature.

* DifficultySpike:
** Overall across the series, there's a very large difficulty spike once the story is completed, with an increase in floor layout complexity, the appearance of sticky items and new traps, and more powerful Pokémon. ''Rescue Team'' and ''Explorers'' also start giving advanced IQ skills to enemy Pokémon that render several powerful strategies ineffective.
** ''Explorers'' is pretty easy up until you [[spoiler:make your way to the Hidden Land and Temporal Tower]]. Afterwards, it can get [[NintendoHard downright cruel]]. Before that, we have Quicksand Pit, which can be cruel with constant sandstorms caused by Hippopotas and ''Tyranitar''. If you're playing as a Normal-type Pokémon, Dark Hill and its bevy of Ghost-types will be living hell.
** [[spoiler:Sky Tower]] in ''Red/Blue Rescue Team'' can be pretty rough going, too. Stupid ghost-types and their dumb attacking through walls on earlier floors, Idiotic Aerodactyl and their moronic Supersonics and Agilities further up... and let's not get into the post-game dungeons.
*** In the ''Explorers'' games, escort missions are hard enough since the escort is usually massively weak. So imagine when you have to escort one of them through a 30+ lvl dungeon, facing Pokémon that can use Discharge or Silver Wind all the way from the other end of the screen every turn, or damaging weather that can wear down weak escort Pokémon... even worse is the fact that the player has no access to tactics/move commands for escorts. If the team leader steps on a Warp Trap and becomes separated from the escort... good luck.
** In ''Gates to Infinity'' [[spoiler:the spike starts with Glacier Palace's Eastern Spire, and it keeps on spiking upwards until you reach Kyurem.]]

* CowardlyMooks: Any enemy Pokémon with the "Run Away" ability will try to escape battle once their HitPoints drop below the halfway point, similar as with "Wimp Out".

** The Run Away ability [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere will cause Pokémon to flee if they take enough damage]]. While this is useful for the player if it's on a enemy, it also affects party members. Once they reach that threshold, you can't stop them from ditching you in the middle of combat until they heal enough to put them back over it.
** Pokémon with the Illuminate ability (like Staryu, Chinchou, or Volbeat) will "blink" if they take damage during a turn, causing a hostile Pokémon to spawn somewhere on the floor. This includes damage from hostile weather and StatusEffects, and also applies even if they're on your team.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia

* LeaningTowerOfMooks: The Wii Ware versions allow you to do this with your team.

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The player. Well, not ''temporal'' water, [[spoiler:except in ''Explorers''.]] Averted in the [=WiiWare=] games.

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