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1([[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Back to main page]]) ('''Pokemon/TropesAToI''', '''Pokemon/TropesJToR''', '''You are here''', '''[[YMMV/{{Pokemon}} YMMV]]''', '''[[Trivia/{{Pokemon}} Trivia]]''')
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6* SacredFlames: The move Sacred Fire is learned by the [[OlympusMons legendary]] Pokémon [[ThePhoenix Ho-oh]], who is believed to have the power to bring the dead back to life, and was formerly its SignatureMove until Generation VI when the closely associated Entei[[note]]Who is believed to have been revived by Ho-oh alongside Raikou and Suicune[[/note]] gained the ability to learn it. While not the absolute strongest of Fire-type moves, it does come with a higher chance of inflicting burns.
7* SaharanShipwreck: In ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'', Shadow Lugia lifts ''an ocean liner'' straight out of the sea in the opening cutscene. As the story progresses, you get hints that something went wrong, and later discover that Shadow Lugia wigged out at some point in transit and dropped the liner into the desert.
8* SaveScumming: You can do this with any one-time-only Mon, allowing you to get an ideal nature, or even a Shiny. Let's see if your patience holds out.
9* SaveTheWorldClimax:
10** Every single mainline Pokémon game since Generation III, barring remakes of Gens I and II. Your protagonist always starts out as some kid living in a small town who sets out on a journey ToBeAMaster. They always end up having to stop the regional criminal organization from using the version legendary to TakeOverTheWorld (or at least reshape it). After that's done, they can finally get their final gym badge and/or take on the Pokémon League in order to finish the game.
11** This is in spite of the fact that you are a relatively young, newbie trainer (who is adolescent). Gen IV is worse, where it ups the ante to the point where you are forced to intervene in order to save ''all of existence''.
12* ScavengersAreScum: It is almost guaranteed that Pokémon based off of RealLife scavengers are [[DarkIsEvil Dark]]-[[CombatPragmatist typed]]. At this moment, we have the hyenas Poochyena and Mightyena (Dark), the vultures Vullaby and Mandibuzz and the [[CreepyCrows crows]] Murkrow and Honchkrow (Dark/Flying), the [[WickedWeasel weasels]] Sneasel and Weavile (Dark/Ice), the [[YouDirtyRat rats]] Alolan Rattata and Raticate (Dark/Normal), and the [[RascallyRaccoon raccoons]] Galarian Zigzagoon, Linoone and Obstagoon (Normal/Dark). On the other hand, many other Pokémon that look like RealLife predators don't always fall in this type. For example, the lions Litleo and Pyroar are dual type Fire/Normal Pokémon, whereas the Shinx evolutionary line, regardless of its [[DarkIsNotEvil black fur]], is Electric-typed. It is subverted with the [[PiranhaProblem Carvanha]] and Sandile lines, though.
13* SchmuckBait: The Magikarp salesman in the ''R/B/Y''games (and the remakes). For 500 Pokédollars, he'll sell you the most useless Pokémon in the game... [[SubvertedTrope unless it evolves]] into a Gyarados.
14* SchrodingersPlayerCharacter:
15** Played straight in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Crystal]]'', where the female character option was first introduced, as well as in ''FR/LG''; averted in most of the subsequent main games, where the character you don't choose becomes an NPC or a Rival character. This is played straight in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2andWhite2'', ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'', ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', and ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet''.
16** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' if you enable Co-op mode, as it will summon the opposite gender of your character to be in the overworld.
17** Partly played straight in ''HG/SS'' which, despite Leaf being playable in ''LG/FR'' (leaving Red in purgatory), has Red as the SuperBoss while Leaf is nowhere to be found.
18* SchrodingersQuestion: ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' have you chasing down Latias and Latios, depending on the version. When it comes to ''Pokémon Emerald'', however, you're allowed to pick which one it is; you see it on TV, and your mom asks what color it was. The color you pick confirms which one you'll be after, and neither will actually be present in your game until the moment you answer this question.
19* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale:
20** Well, whoever it is that writes the Pokédex sure doesn't have one. Pokédex entries regularly say things like "Gardevoir can create black holes", "Alakazam has an IQ of [[ImprobablyHighIQ 5,000]]", and "Magcargo has a body temperature of 18,000° F". The height and weight estimates they give fare no better; the enormous Wailord can be calculated to be less dense than ''air''. If you want to point out that Wailord is technically the ''Float Whale Pokémon...'' you'd still have to reconcile its ability to dive 10,000 feet underwater after simply inhaling.
21** The best examples of Pokémon weight being screwy are the Steel and Rock types, which are often made of materials that are incredibly heavy in RealLife. Examples include [[DishingOutDirt Regirock]] and [[ExtraOreDinary Registeel]]: Regirock is 5'7[[note]]1.7m[[/note]] and weighs 507.1lbs.[[note]]230.0kg[[/note]]. Due to the density of rock, Regirock should actually weigh about '''One-Thousand Two-Hundred-Thirty-Nine pounds, Three Ounces'''[[note]]562kg[[/note]], which is almost ''triple'' how much it weighs. Registeel is 6'3[[note]]1.9m[[/note]] tall and weighs 451.9lbs.[[note]]205.0kg[[/note]]. If the metal it's made from is about as heavy as iron, it should be ''at least'' 625lbs., unless Registeel is actually hollow. Then again, the Pokédex does say its body is made of a metal-like substance found nowhere else on the planet...
22* ScissorsCutsRock:
23** In general gameplay, you can override type advantages by simply being much stronger than all opponents. Even the Elite Four can be defeated by a single starter if it's at level 100. There's also the common tactic of giving a Pokémon moves that can trump its type weaknesses (say, a Psychic-type Reuniclus beating a Dark-type opponent with the Fighting-type Focus Blast).
24** The ability Tinted Lens, which increases the power of ineffective attacks back up to the power of a neutral hit, can lead to this.
25** The Generation VI move Freeze Dry is an Ice-type move that is super-effective against Water-type Pokémon, which other Ice-type moves would normally be less effective against.
26** Inverse battles, introduced in Generation VI, reverse the [[ElementalRockPaperScissors type matchups]]. So, in an inverse battle, Fire beats Water, Water beats Grass, Grass beats Fire, and so on and so forth.
27* SdrawkcabName: Snake and cobra Pokémon Ekans and Arbok, and [[HauntedTechnology Technology Haunter]] Rotom. Taking Engrish and romanization into account, "Lucario" is supposed to be "oracle" (o-ri-ca-lu) in reverse.
28* SeahorseSteed:
29** Horsea and Skrelp (and their other evolutionary relatives), despite being very small, can be taught the move Surf via TM, which lets it ferry its Trainer around. You don't actually get to ''see'' yourself riding it, due to the game using a generic sprite depiction (a whale-like figure that the Trainer sits on) for all surfing Pokémon, though.
30** Their fully evolved forms are around 6 feet long and make more plausible steeds.
31* SealedGoodInACan: Pokémon can become this in their Poké Balls, especially if their Trainer deposits them indefinitely into the Pokémon Storage System.
32* SecondPersonAttack: Done in a lot of the 3D games, because battle animations weren't built for two Pokémon to ever hit each other or even be on the same side of the arena. ''Battle Revolution'' is the first game in the [[VideoGame/PokemonStadium Stadium series]] to have some moves avert this trope.
33* SecondarySexualCharacteristics: Most of the gender differences introduced since Generation IV -- as well as earlier attempts at representing sexual dimorphism like the Nidoran lines or Volbeat and Illumise -- fall under this, being either random changes or based on real life animals, and ranging from very subtle almost unnoticeable differences up to straight up BizarreSexualDimorphism like in Meowstic.
34* SecretCharacter: At least one every generation (later ones have three or four). However, Mew, the original SecretCharacter, was apparently so secret that not even Nintendo knew at first that it was programmed into the original ''Red'' and ''Green Versions''. They are (usually) unavailable during normal play and you need to obtain them during special promotions, events, or from other players who are willing to trade with you. In earlier games, these Pokémon were lumped in with Legendary Pokémon, but they're now known as "Mythical Pokémon" in English at least.
35* SelfDamagingAttackBackfire:
36** A Confused Pokémon has a 50% (Gens I-VI) or 33% (Gen VII and on) chance of hurting itself instead of executing an attack.
37** The moves Jump Kick and High Jump Kick damage the user if they miss.
38* SelfHarmInducedSuperpower:
39** When used by Ghost types, Curse is a move which halves the Pokemon's HP by half in exchange for the target Pokémon getting cursed and losing some health every turn. In some games, the move's animation even depicts a nail being driven into the Pokémon using it.
40** Many meta-strategies also invoke this, such as putting a Toxic/Fire Orb on a Guts Pokémon to force a status ailment on it and get the attack-buff, or having a Fighting Pokémon learn Reversal, which does more damage the less HP the user has.
41* SeriesMascot: Most people who don't play Pokémon still know what a Pikachu is. Likewise, most parents automatically equate Pokémon to Ash and Pikachu.
42* SerpentOfImmortality: Zygarde is a literal example. While Xerneas represents life and Yveltal represents destruction, Zygarde represents the balance between the two, and thus the eternal cycle of life.
43* ShedArmorGainSpeed:
44** The move Shell Smash is inspired by this trope. By using this move, the user's Defense and Sp.Defense is lowered, in return, it sharply boosts the user's Attack, Sp.Attack and Speed.
45** Every time a Pokémon with Weak Armor is hit with a physical attack, its defense drops. In return, its Speed will be sharply increased. Its Japanese name, Broken Armor, makes it even more apparent.
46** If you trade a Shelmet for a Karrablast, when the trade is concluded, the Karrablast will take Shelmet's shell, evolving into Escavalier in the process, and Shelmet will evolve into Accelgor, who has insane Speed but lower defensive stats.
47** Zigzagged with the move Autotomize which decreases weight and causes the user to "become nimble," sharply increasing its Speed. The loss of weight will make the user more vulnerable to Heat Crash and Heavy Slam[[labelnote:*]]Deals more damage the heavier the user is than the target[[/labelnote]], but also more resistant to Low Kick and Grass Knot[[labelnote:*]]Deals more damage the heavier the target is[[/labelnote]].
48* SharedFateUltimatum: Downplayed. In the video games, the move "Destiny Bond" has the effect that if the user faints during that turn, so does the target.
49* ShopFodder:
50** The most famous of these is the Nugget, but there are also Pearls, Star Pieces, Mushrooms, and other items. In some games, they may have other uses (Mushrooms are required for Move Tutors in ''[=FireRed=]'' and ''[=LeafGreen=]'' and an NPC will offer PP Ups for Star Pieces in ''Black and White''), but otherwise they do nothing and are worth high prices.
51** Generation V games added artifacts. One of the primary perks to accessing the Abyssal Ruins in Undella Bay is the ability to find artifacts, including precious metals, vases, bands, statues, and even a crown, all from an ancient civilization. What are these precious artifacts good for? Selling, of course! (As well as [[MundaneUtility hilarious Fling ammo]], but mostly for selling.) In particular, there is a particular NPC in each of those games that buys these artifacts at absurd prices, which can give you money to the tune of [[MoneyForNothing millions of pokédollars]]. Bear in mind, prior to this generation, money capped at 999,999.
52* ShortLivedLeadership:
53** This was intended to be the fate of N, who was groomed from childhood to be the king of Unova after Team Plasma took over. After defeating Alder, befriending a legendary dragon, and raising his castle, this came true. However, his adoptive father Ghetsis had just been using him as a pawn and figurehead, plotting to overthrow him as soon as Hilbert/Hilda was defeated by N in battle. After both N and Ghetsis were defeated, Unova returned to normal, with neither of them becoming king.
54** [[TheRival Blue]] becomes the first champion of the Kanto Pokémon League. His championship is then immediately cut short when he gets defeated by Red in battle, before Professor Oak can even come to congratulate him.
55* ShortRangeGuyLongRangeGuy: The series has two types named Fighting and Psychic, and [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Psychic-type attacks are super-effective on Fighting-type Pokémon, and Fighting-type attacks are not very effective on Psychic-type Pokémon.]] Fighting-type attacks are usually physical (eg. Karate Chop, BrickBreak), while Psychic-type attacks tend to be Special.
56* ShoutOut: Now has its own [[ShoutOut/{{Pokemon}} page]].
57* SideQuest: Pokémon contests. And various others in individual games.
58* SigilSpam: Poké Balls appear on a ton of buildings, signs, and even floors of important buildings. Taken even further with the artificial Mythical Pokémon known as Magearna, whose creators gave its "dress" and torso Poké Ball designs.
59* SignatureDevice:
60** Pokéballs, which are used to catch the titular Pokémon and the Pokédex, which is a digital Pokémon encyclopedia for the Pokémon Trainers, or at the very least skilled and/or important ones. Receiving one at the beginning of the game indicates you're now a trainer.
61** Gym Badges also indicate that someone is taking the Gym Challenge.
62* SignatureMon:
63** Most important trainers have select few Pokémon that they are associated with, and are usually sent last in battles against them.
64** The anime characters have two types of signatures, one is smaller companions that are usually shown travelling alongside their trainers outside their Pokéballs; they serve as the RidiculouslyCuteCritter or as comic relief. The second type is larger badass powerhouses participating in serious battles. Sometimes the smaller companions do participate in battles, such as Ash's Pikachu.
65* SignatureRoar: All Pokémon have their own call in the games. How realistic and distinctive they sound is a sort-of VocalEvolution reflecting the improving sound quality of the UsefulNotes/GameBoy and later the DS; Pokémon from earlier generations had electronic beeps and buzzes as their cries, and many were recycled from mon to mon even for those you definitely would not expect to sound alike — Seaking the goldfish had nearly the same call as Scyther the praying mantis, for instance. By generation 4, all the new Pokémon had cries that actually sounded like noises they would make. (Monferno sounds like a monkey going [[NoisyNature OOH EE OOH EE OOH EE]]). Generation 6 updates most of the older cries to sound more natural and, in such cases as the Seaking and Scyther example above, less similar to each other.
66* SingleSpecimenSpecies: Zigzagged with Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. Most people assume that this is true with all Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, as you normally only encounter one during a playthrough of a given game. However, many have Pokédex entries or other details that suggest that there are more then one (such as Latias and Heatran), while others have entries that suggest that they're unique individuals rather than entire species (Mewtwo, The Swords of Justice, and Arceus). As later games give you chances to capture or obtain Legendaries and Mythicals from previous games, this trend may or may not be averted, depending on how canonical each encounter is supposed to be.[[labelnote:*]]''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'', as well as ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', imply that their returning Legendaries come from {{Alternate Universe}}s, getting around the question entirely.[[/labelnote]]
67* SituationalDamageAttack: The games have many attacks that fall to this, such as Knock Off (damage increases if Knock Off removes the target's item), Acrobatics (damage increases if the user is ''not'' holding an item), or Pursuit (damage increases if the target tries to switch out). The Dark type is particularly prone to these attacks, with them amounting to about half of all Dark-type attacks. Exaggerated with the moves Fusion Flare and Fusion Bolt, the respective [[SecretArt Secret Arts]] of Reshiram and Zekrom; their powers are doubled only when they're used after their counterpart. [[spoiler:The final battle with N in Pokémon ''Black'' and ''White'']] is the ''one'' instance in the entire series where the player will see it activate in ordinary gameplay.
68* SlidingScaleOfContinuity:
69** The games mix level 2 (StatusQuoIsGod) with level 0 (Non-Linear Installments). There is continuity in the world, with references to events from previous games and some recurring characters, but every new game starts with you being a new rookie trainer in a new region fighting a new evil team, and knowing where the recurring characters came from is more a bonus than anything else.
70** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', which carries on with the major events from ''VideoGame/PokemonRedBlueAndYellow'', and explicitly states as taking place three years later. That's definitely Level 3-4. Same with ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' to ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', which takes place 2 years after ''Black and White''.
71* SlidingScaleOfTurnRealism: Turn by Turn. It is also a moderately JustifiedTrope in that Trainer Battling goes by ''rules'', so doing one move per turn is actually an in-universe ''law''. [[FridgeLogic Although that doesn't help in explaining why the villainous teams follow these "rules"]]... and wild Pokémon as well...
72* SmallParentHugeChild: This trope applies to every hatchling belonging to a species which size exceeds or dwarfs their parent's. For instance, the (fully-evolved) love child of [[HotSkittyOnWailordAction Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action]] can be 200 times larger than than daddy Skitty (if the mother is a Wailord) or 200 times smaller than daddy Wailord (if the mother is a Skitty).
73* SmartAnimalAverageHuman: Pokémon practically feeds off of this trope where average humans train their pets, or "Pokémon", to become stronger and presumably smarter with each battle. Their intelligence could even surpass that of humans, although this is more of an InformedAbility, as they'll still follow a competent trainer's orders despite their intelligence, and all Pokémon can only know up to four moves at a time. In general, Pokémon intelligence ranges from dog-like to the same level as a human child or a chimpanzee.
74* SnakeVersusMongoose: Zangoose and Seviper are based on a mongoose and a snake respectively, and their defining traits are their mutual hatred of each other. In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', if you encounter them in a Horde Battle together, they will focus their attention on fighting each other instead of attacking your Pokémon!
75* SocializationBonus: This is actively encouraged by the OneGameForThePriceOfTwo mechanic, as it is the easiest way to complete your Pokédex.
76* SolarAndLunar:
77** Solrock and Lunatone are Rock-type Pokémon that are living sun and moon-shaped rocks, respectively.
78** Espeon and Umbreon, who evolve from Eevee depending on the time of day when it levels up with maximum friendship.
79** Downplayed with the protagonists of ''Pokémon Ranger'', Lunick and Solana.
80** The two recovery moves Moonlight and Morning Sun.
81** ''Pokémon Sun'' and ''Moon'', the seventh generation titles, and their mascot legendaries, Solgaleo and Lunala.
82* {{Solarpunk}}: The Pokémon universe is an optimistic world of wonder where human society lives side by side with nature and despite a variety of advanced tech none of it harms the environment. The only time an energy crisis is brought up, it's mentioned to be 1000 years off.
83* SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear: Played straight if you release a Pokémon while it's holding an item, but averted starting in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', where the item is simply returned to your bag.
84* SolveTheSoupCans: Many areas of the Pokémon games feature "puzzles" that have little to do with how strong your Pokémon are, but nevertheless serve as obstacles in the way of challenging a Gym Leader (or in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', the Totem Pokémon).
85* SomewhereAMammalogistIsCrying:
86** All canon works in the Pokémon franchise show that all species that can breed laying eggs, even mammalian Pokémon, despite that fact that in real life, the only mammals that lay eggs are the monotremes, of which there are only five extant species.
87** Bat and bat-like Pokémon tend to have highly inaccurate wings. Zubat's fingers don't all connect to its palm, Noibat and Noivern have tiny hands on top of their wings, Gligar and Gliscor's wings are more like gliding membranes held up by inexplicable bone spikes, and none of the bats have five-fingered wings like real bats (which in real life are the only mammals truly capable of flight; so-called flying squirrels can only glide, but this didn't stop Emolga, a Pokémon based on flying squirrels, from receiving Flying as its secondary type).
88* SoundCodedForYourConvenience: During battle, whenever one Pokémon strikes another Pokémon with a damage-dealing offensive move, one of three sound effects will play, depending on whether the move used was "[[ScratchDamage not very effective]]" (dealt 1/2 damage or less), dealt normal damage, or was "super effective" (dealt x2 or more damage).
89* SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear: Pokémon released into the wild or traded over to someone else will take their held item with them.
90* SpeciesTitle: Named after the strange animals with elemental powers that are the focus of the series of games.
91* SpeedDemon: Barry, the player character's rival in ''Diamond'', ''Pearl'' and ''Platinum'' has a hasty and impatient personality. He's always in a hurry, never walking but running to anywhere he needs to go. Everything has to be done fast or he'll threaten to give a fine for being late. He dreams of becoming a Pokémon League Champion, especially if it can be done in the shortest time possible.
92* SpikeShooter: Any Pokémon with the moves Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Spike Cannon, Twineedle, and/or Pin Missile. There are also Icicle Spear and Icicle Crash for the Ice-types.
93* SpinningOutOfHere: Escape Ropes, the moves Teleport and Dig, and teleport pads cause the player character to spin in place before teleporting.
94* SpinOff: Along with the ones listed at the top of the page and their sequels, there is ''Pokémon Trozei'', ''Pinball'', ''Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire'', ''Dash'', ''Box: Ruby and Sapphire'', and ''[[VideoGame/PanelDePon Puzzle League/Challenge]]''.
95* SpinOffBabies: A few Pokémon families have younger versions of the basic stage. In earlier games, they could only be obtained through breeding, but later games have you finding them in the wild. The defining trait they have is that they're unable to breed due to being too immature.
96* SpitefulAI: There are a few moves in the games that allow the AI to qualify as this. Selfdestruct and Explosion both deal massive damage at the expense of the user fainting; Destiny Bond makes sure that if the user faints, so does the opponent; Perish Song adds a counter to everyone out in battle that makes sure that everyone faints in 3 turns. Often when fighting a trainer, their last mon will use one of those moves. The Aftermath ability chips off 1/4 of the opponent's HP if the user faints by means of an attack that makes contact.
97* SpoonBending: Kadabra and Alakazam from Generation 1 — two particularly iconic Psychic-type Pokémon — each wield spoons. Their SecretArt is Kinesis, which reduces the target's accuracy by bending spoons to confound them. In Generation IV, the item Twisted Spoon can be used to increase the power of Psychic-type attacks when held by a Pokémon.
98* StaminaBurn: Power Points are basically stamina, but for individual skills, and there's things that will drain them, such as the Pressure ability that removes an extra Power Point from all moves that target the possessor.
99* StandardEvilOrganizationSquad: The typical main antagonists of each game is a villainous "Team" seeking to use Pokémon for their own gain. Later games put a twist to this by having the Team being fairly minor threats compared to a larger organisation.
100* StarterMon: Every main-series game with the exception of ''Pokémon Yellow'' offers you a choice between a grass type, a water type, and a fire-type starter. These three types are used to demonstrate the ElementalRockPaperScissors mechanic that is one of the core elements of the series. Spinoff games also like giving you Eevee as a starter, giving you a choice in a different manner.
101* StationaryEnemy: In multiple games:
102** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' has two places where a sleeping Snorlax blocks the path. It can only be engaged and forced to move by playing a Pokeflute at it.
103** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' has a path blocked by a Sudowoodo. It only reveals itself as a Pokemon, rather than a real tree, when it is watered.
104* StatusEffects: Pokémon splits them into two categories: volatile and non-volatile. Volatile status conditions (such as Confusion) either wear off after a few turns, wear off if the user is switched out, or both. They don't have a HUD indicator and there's no limit to how many a Pokémon can have at a time. Non-volatile conditions (such as Burn or Poison) do have a HUD indicator, can only be cured with items or specific moves, and a Pokémon can only have one at a time. This can be [[LoopholeAbuse abused]] by certain 'mons to deliberately afflict themselves with conditions that don't mean much (such as Burn on a Magic Gaurd Alakazam) to make themselves immune to more debilitating ones (such as Sleep or Freeze).
105** Non-volatile status conditions:
106*** '''Poison''' comes in two flavors: regular and "bad" poison. While regular poison just inflicts 1/8 of a Pokémon's max HP in damage each turn, '''bad''' poison, which the move Toxic inflicts, starts at 1/16 and increases the damage by another 1/16 each passing turn, making it eventually impossible to stall out, although the counter resets if the Pokémon switches out. There's a way to tell the difference: regular poison has white lettering in its icon, bad poison has purple lettering. Poison and Steel-type Pokémon are immune to getting poisoned.[[note]]Due to a [[GoodBadBugs glitch]], Steel-type Pokémon in ''Gold, Silver, and Crystal'' could be poisoned by the Bug-type move Twineedle, as their Steel-typing only prevented poisoning by actual Poison-type moves; this was later fixed. Additionally, ''Sun'' and ''Moon'' added the ability "Corrosion," which lets the user poison Poison and Steel-types regardless using moves like Toxic, but cannot damage Steel-types with Poison-type moves.[[/note]] Originally, Poison could also damage Pokémon out in the field; this was shown via a quick sound effect and screen flash every four steps, slowly sapping the Pokémon's health until it eventually fainted. This was the same for both types of Poison. Fans didn't exactly care for it, so it was first nerfed to wear off after the Pokémon hits [[LastChanceHitPoint 1 HP]], and then later just removed altogether.
107*** '''Burns''' only do 1/16 of a Pokémon's max HP each turn (1/8 after Gen I and prior to Generation VII), but also halve their attack stat, making burn-inflicting moves good at crippling physical attackers. Obviously, Fire-types are immune to burns.
108*** '''Paralysis''' halves a Pokémon's speed (quarters it prior to Generation VII). Additionally, there's a 1/4 chance each turn that a paralyzed 'mon can't move. Electric-types are immune to paralysis (as of Generation VI). While Ground-types aren't, they are immune to Electric moves (including Thunder Wave, the most common move for inflicting paralysis), making them difficult to paralyze.
109*** '''Sleeping''' Pokémon won't be able to act for 1-3 turns. Self-inflicted sleep (i.e. Rest) always lasts for 2 turns. In Generation V, the counter for Sleep reset when a Pokémon was switched out. Generation VI changed it to no longer reset its counter when a Pokémon was switched out.
110*** '''Freeze''' is by far the most dreaded status condition of any of these, but is also the rarest, as it has no move which guarantees it. Frozen Pokémon can't act, similar to Sleep, but instead of operating on a set counter, there is a 20% chance that the Pokémon will unthaw each turn, meaning a frozen Pokémon may very well stay like that for the rest of the match... [[EpicFail or unthaw and attack as soon as it's inflicted]]. Getting hit by a Fire-type move, or using the move Scald, Flame Wheel, or Sacred Fire, removes this condition. Ice-type Pokémon are always immune to being frozen.
111** Volatile status conditions:
112*** '''Confusion''' causes a Pokémon to damage itself 1/3 of the time (1/2 of the time prior to Gen VII) it tries to act for 1-4 turns. Its presence is always indicated by circling birds and a message, as is snapping out of it. Interestingly, the game treats the self-damage as a typeless, physical, base-power 40 move aimed against itself, causing Pokémon with high Attack to take more damage. This is why Swagger is so widely hated, since it increased the confusion damage taken on top of confusing the target.
113*** An '''infatuated''' Pokémon cannot attack 50% of the time. It is caused when Attract is used on a Pokémon [[DistractedByTheSexy of the opposite gender]], or if a Pokémon with the ability Cute Charm is hit with a contact move from an opponent of the opposite gender. This condition is removed if either Pokémon is removed from the battle. Genderless Pokémon cannot be affected with it.
114*** '''Flinching''' causes a Pokémon to miss its turn. It only occurs if the Pokémon has yet to act that turn, meaning it has no effect on one that's already acted. Can potentially lead to [[CycleOfHurting hax]] if it's spammed and the RNG hates you. (God help you if it's combined with paralysis, as seen above, and if confusion and/or infatuation are mixed in, you might as well RageQuit on the spot.)
115*** '''Taunted''' Pokémon can't use status moves for 3 turns. Similarly, '''tormented''' Pokémon can't use the same move twice in a row for the same period. If either situation causes that Pokémon to not have any valid moves to select, they Struggle; while extremely rare in normal gameplay, this does pop up in competitive matches from time to time, since dedicated support Pokémon are common there.
116*** '''Partial trapping''' keeps the Pokémon from switching out for 4-5 turns, and most moves that inflict it also deal some damage after each turn (but end early if the user is KO'd or switches out). '''Full trapping''' just keeps the Pokémon from switching period, unless the inflictor is KO'd or switches. Ghost-type Pokémon can't be trapped.
117*** The move '''Encore''' makes a Pokémon [[SpamAttack only use their last used move]] for 3 turns.
118*** There's also a few other, generally move-specific ones besides the ones listed here, like Leech Seed, Perish Song, Telekinesis, and Curse.
119* StatusInflictionAttack:
120** There's plenty of cases of non-Fire-type moves (like Scald, Scorching Sands and Ice Burn) potentially causing burns, and non-Electric-type moves (like Dragon Breath, Body Slam and Bounce) potentially causing paralysis, and other mismatches of type and status effect.
121** Special mention goes to Tri Attack, a move that has an equal chance to burn, paralyze, or freeze, the only attack that can potentially afflict more than one status condition, though never more than one at once.
122** Hypnosis and Sleep Powder, among others, induce sleep.
123** Confuse Ray and Supersonic, among others, induce confusion.
124** Debuffs:
125*** Moves such as Growl and Charm lower attack.
126*** Moves such as Tail Whip and Screech lower defense.
127*** Moves such as Tearful Look and Captivate lower special attack.
128*** Moves such as Fake Tears and Metal Sound lower special defense.
129*** Moves such as String Shot and Scary Face lower speed.
130*** Moves such as Sweet Scent and Defog lower evasion.
131*** Moves such as Sand Attack and Flash lower accuracy.
132* StatsDissonance:
133** Shedinja looks terribly weak with [[OneHitPointWonder 1 HP]], but its ability protects it from all but super effective damage, so when the enemy can't deal such damage, it's effectively a wall.
134** Several Pokémon like Diggersby, Azumarill, Medicham, and Mega Mawile have the ability "Huge Power" or "Pure Power", both of which double their Attack stat from the stated value.
135*** Tyranitar has a base Special Defense stat of 100, but its ability summons the Sandstorm weather condition automatically whenever it is sent out, and Sandstorm multiplies the special defense of Pokémon of Tyranitar's type (Rock) by 1.5. This also applies to Gigalith, which is also a Rock type and can sometimes have Sand Stream.
136*** Furfrou and Alolan Persian have the ability Fur Coat, which doubles their Defense from its stated value. Bewear has the ability Fluffy, which does the same thing except that it gets a [[KillItWithFire new weakness to Fire attacks]].
137*** Lots of Pokémon have the ability Intimidate, which lowers the physical Attack stat of the opposing Pokémon tend to take physical hits far better than one would expect from their stats.
138* StockFemurBone: Cubone and Marowak carry one with them at all times. There's also the hold item Thick Club that doubles their Attack.
139* StockRPGSpells: Obviously covers a lot of the ElementalPowers, and has [[StatusBuff Status Buffs]] and StatusEffects. Compared to other [=RPGs=], though, curative moves are very rare, making Pokémon with the move Wish[[note]]on the turn after use, heals the Pokémon currently in the spot of the user by half the user's HP[[/note]] the only way to heal many Pokémon's HP in [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]], where use items like Hyper Potions aren't allowed.
140* StoneWall:
141** Shuckle is an extreme example of this. Its Defense and Special Defense stats are known for being the highest out of all Pokémon, but all of its other stats (including HP) are pitifully low. Shuckle also has the Sturdy ability, which makes it immune to OHKO moves as well as survive with 1 HP if that hit would OHKO when it has full health, which is already a hard task for most Pokémon to OHKO it.
142** The queen of the example belongs to Cresselia. Her HP is ridiculously high, with an amazing Defense and Special Defense stat to back her up as well as having access to several fantastic status moves. This makes it impossible for most Pokémon to take Cresselia down with just one hit, even if it deals super-effective damage to her. However, her offensive stats are pretty underwhelming, especially for a Legendary Pokémon. Then there's Lugia, which is even ''more'' ridiculously sturdy, especially if it has [[DamageReduction Multiscale]]...
143** A good example is Umbreon, which is unusual for a Dark-type. Both of its Defense and Special Defense are incredibly high and it has very good HP as well, but its offensive stats are low. It does learn Foul Play, a move that uses the target's Attack stat to deal damage.
144** Scream Tail is a unique example of this trope, having high HitPoints, Defense, Special Defense and even very high ''Speed'' which is rare amongst this trope.
145** The best-known example is Blissey, who has absurdly high HitPoints (the highest in the game, in fact, with a maximum of 714 points) and Special Defense, as well as healing moves. The item Leftovers, which heals 1/16 of the holder's maximum HP each turn, is incredibly effective here, as well as the move Softboiled, which restores up to 50% of the user's maximum HP. Even with her abysmal Defense stat, Blissey's enormous HP allows her to take a few physical moves. And forget about status moves — not only can Blissey heal them with Heal Bell or Aromatherapy, her ability Natural Cure removes any status when she switches out. Finally, the moves Double Team and Minimize, which increase the user's evasiveness, can compound Blissey's defensive strategy even further and make her ''even harder'' to hit. Her stellar defenses come at the cost of Speed and Attack, with Speed being a paltry 55 and Attack being 10, which is one of the lowest stats in the game. Her special attack is a relatively impressive 75 (this is only impressive compared to her Attack, as 75 is still fairly low for a Pokémon’s highest attack stat).
146** Wobbuffet has an absurdly high HP, but it cannot attack by itself. It has to rely on taking attacks and [[CounterAttack retaliates with either Counter and Mirror Coat]]. Since Wobbuffet has Shadow Tag, which prevents the opponent to switch out, it is very risky to attack it. A MirrorMatch was impossible to win in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', since no player can switch out and they cannot attack. This was rectified in future generations so if two Pokémon with Shadow Tag were to face each other in battle, they can switch out freely. Additionally, the attack Struggle was changed so that the recoil inflicted is a quarter of the user's maximum HP instead of a quarter of the damage dealt as the aforementioned Wobbuffet MirrorMatch would cause an endless battle if they both held the Leftovers item[[labelnote:*]]Item that heals 1/16 of the user's maximum HP at the end of each turn[[/labelnote]] as neither would deal enough damage or recoil to outpace the amount healed from Leftovers.
147** If you're playing ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', you start with a GlassCannon and a Stone Wall in your party. Umbreon is the latter and is hugely underrated in this role. It has high Defense and Special Defense and makes up for its low Attack and Speed with its use of status effects.
148** Aegislash in its Shield Forme possesses excellent defensive stats that even Legendary Pokémon may have a hard time dealing with, along with its SecretArt King's Shield. Which not only blocks attacks but also sharply lowers the target's Attack if it dares to make direct contact with it. Its offensive stats are pretty awful, though, which isn't important, as Aegislash can switch to [[GlassCannon Blade Forme]] whenever it uses an attacking move.
149** Bastiodon's defenses are both incredibly high, and its offensive stats are both very low, though it has access to one move that gives it some offensive capability, Metal Burst, a [[CounterAttack counter-attacking]] move. It does have two double weaknesses, to Fighting and Ground, but it has the ability Sturdy, meaning it can't be knocked out with one hit.
150* StrictlyFormula: For the first four generations, at least. Battle through one or two gyms, encounter the evil team, dismantle their first plot, battle through a few more gyms, encounter the evil team again, dismantle their second plot and battle their leader, battle through the seventh gym, the evil team begins their endgame, defeat their leader (in 3 and 4, battle the legendary they hoped to control after this), battle the eighth gym, beat the Elite 4 and Champion. And then maybe encounter some stragglers from the evil team after.
151** Generation 5 subverted this, in that the evil team's endgame really took place as the Champion's Battle (and after). Generation 6 went right back to the formula.
152** In Generation 7, the eight gym leaders were replaced with island trials and Totem Pokémon battles, along with four Island Kahunas.
153* TheStrongman: Timburr and its evolutions evoke the image of the traditional Circus Strongman, with each form wielding a heavier object to bludgeon foes with, starting with Timburr wielding a large log, Gurdurr wielding a metal girder, and Conkeldurr dual-wielding massive slabs of concrete.
154* StuddedShell:
155** Omastar is a Pokémon based on an ammonite, an extinct type of mollusk. The top side of its shell has a line of spikes running down the middle.
156** Turtonator is a turtle-like Pokémon with a shell sporting black spikes that resemble rock shards. Its SecretArt Shell Trap has the spikes explode if the opponent makes contact with it.
157** Cloyster is a Pokémon based on oysters with a spiked shell whose spikes can be shot off when it uses its Spike Cannon attack.
158* StylishSunhats: The Trainer class of Lady are all rich well-to-do women often obsessed with fashion, and always wear a fancy sunhat in all their incarnations.
159* SuperBreedingProgram: Once you gain access to the daycare, you can drop off any two compatible Pokémon together to produce offspring. Depending on who you drop off, you can end up with a superior creature with all the best traits of both parents. Breeding is essential if you want to compete with other players and win against them.
160* SuperCuteSuperPowers: The Fairy-type, despite its name, tends to be not TheFairFolk, but rather a mix of [[{{Lunacy}} moon-based moves]], such as Moonlight and Moonblast, and cute moves that invoke this trope, such as Charm, Sweet Kiss, [[CareBearStare Baby-Doll Eyes]] and Disarming Voice. It's not without its Fair Folk representation, though, as the moves Spirit Break and Let's Snuggle Forever exemplify.
161* SuperDeformed: All of the core series games from Generations I through V used the style with big heads and short bodies for characters in the overworld. In Generation VI, this was changed to more realistic proportions while maintaining some exaggeration, before moving to regular proportions in Generation VII and beyond. ''Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl'', the eighth-generation [[VideoGameRemake Remakes]] of the fourth-generation ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', return to this style by using 3D versions of the original 2D overworld sprites. Downplayed due to using Pokémon's normal art style in battle.
162* SuperMode:
163** Mega Evolutions, introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' are temporary transformations that a few Pokémon are capable of achieving. This is accomplished when the Pokémon has the correct [[TransformationTrinket Mega Stone]] and the trainer has a Key Stone. Mega Evolution grants a great boost in stats and often a change to the Pokémon's typings and abilities. The trainer can activate Mega Evolution at any given time, but only one Pokémon can Mega Evolve in a given battle and if it faints, then Mega Evolution wears off, and even if you revive the Pokémon, you can't Mega Evolve again.
164** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'' introduces a variant called Primal Reversion, exclusive to version mascots Groudon and Kyogre. The main difference aside from this exclusivity being that Primal Reversions activate immediately when one of those two is sent out while equipped with its appropriate Orb, whereas Mega Evolutions can be activated during any turn. Unlike Mega Evolution, which is apparently the result of drawing power from the bond between trainer and Pokémon, Primal Reversion is the result of drawing power from the environment itself.
165** Greninja is capable of a Super Mode that isn't tied to Mega Evolution as long as it has an ability known as Battle Bond. So far though, the only Greninja that can achieve this is [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY Ash's Greninja]] (even the one available in the ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' Demo apparently belonged to Ash). In the games, this super mode is activated when Greninja defeats a Pokémon in a battle.
166** [[GottaCatchEmAll Collecting all of the Zygarde Cells and Cores]] in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' lets you combine them into a Zygarde with the Power Construct abilty, which allows it to transform into its "100% Form" if its HP drops below half. While this doesn't change Zygarde's stats by much (unless it was in the weaker 10% Form to begin with), it ''does'' significantly increase its HP, which provides a considerable amount of instant healing.
167** For ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'', Necrozma is capable of a Mega Evolution-like transformation known as Ultra Burst. To achieve this form, Necrozma first needs to be in its Dusk Mane or Dawn Wings form (which is achieved itself by [[FusionDance fusing]] Necrozma and Solgaleo/Lunala together). It also needs to be holding an Ultranecrozium Z. Once these conditions are met, It can transform into Ultra Necrozma. Unlike Mega Evolutions and Primal Reversions, Ultra Necrozma is capable of using a Z-Move, [[FantasticNuke Light That Burns The Sky]].
168* SupernaturalHotspotTown: In ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' and ''Videogame/PokemonLetsGo'', Lavender Town is home to the Pokémon Tower, a massive tomb containing the bodies of hundreds of deceased Pokémon. While this obviously means you encounter ghost-type Pokémon in the tower, you also encounter an entity known as "the ghost", which turns out to be a Marowak that was killed by Team Rocket in their attempt to take over the tower. Several of the trainers in there act as if they have been possessed by ghosts, an otherworldly fog pervades the tower, and an NPC just to the north of it asks about a white hand on your character's shoulder.
169* SupernaturalRepellent:
170** The aptly named "Repel" items (Repel, Super Repel, Max Repel, in ascending order of duration) in the series blocks RandomEncounters with any wild Pokémon of lower level than the first one in the PlayerParty. It's drawn as a spray-can like bug repellent.
171** The Cleanse Tag is a held item introduced in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Generation II]]. Equipped to the first Pokémon in the party, it reduces the rate of random encounters with lower-level wild Pokémon.
172** {{Inverted}} with the Generation II move Sweet Scent, which causes an instant random encounter if used outside of battle in a tile where wild Pokémon can appear (even overriding use of a Repel or Cleanse Tag).
173* SuperSpecialMove: Introduced in Generation VII, the Z-Moves are superpowered versions of status moves (they add a new effect and make the move an UnblockableAttack) that vary depending on the Pokémon's type. They can only be [[LimitBreak activated]] by using a Z-Crystal and a Z-Ring.
174* SuperStrength:
175** The Pokédex claims this for quite a few Pokémon, especially Fighting-types.
176** Pokémon with the abilities Huge Power and Pure Power have their attack stat outright doubled, including all the MinMaxing done for said Pokémon[[note]]Contrary to popular belief, Huge/Pure Power does not double the base stat of a Pokemon's attack, rather the attack stat seen shown on the Pokemon's stats. This means, for example, Azumarill has a base Attack stat of 50, with full attack investment and Huge Power, it reaches the same value as a Pokémon with a base Attack stat of 150 with the same attack investment[[/note]], meaning that its attack is much more higher than it would seem on the stat screen.
177* SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity:
178** In each game, right before facing the Elite Four, you'll find a Pokémon Center and Pokémart, as well as a PC so you can switch out your HM Pokémon needed to navigate Victory Road with the absolute best Pokémon in your arsenal up until Generation VII.
179** Many games combine this with ConvenientWeaknessPlacement, most commonly before Gyms. For example, you can trade for a Machop before facing [[ThatOneBoss Whitney]], Elesa, and Clemont are [[ShockAndAwe Electric-type]] leaders whom you reach by going through routes largely populated with Ground-types, and the path to [[OurFairiesAreDifferent Valerie's]] gym is populated with several Poison-types, such as [[GlassCannon Haunter]] (though all three are downplayed in that Elesa and Clemont have an Emolga [[NoSell which is part-Flying-type]] and Valerie's first Pokémon is a Mawile, which is immune to Poison-type moves, and her Mr. Mime knows Reflect and Light Screen to halve your Poison-type's damage for five turns).
180* SwitchOutMove: The moves Whirlwind, Roar, Dragon Tail, and Circle Throw (all of which have decreased [[ActionInitiative priority]]), and the Red Card item forces the opponent to switch out. The moves Baton Pass, U-Turn, and Volt Switch, and the item Escape Button allow the user/holder to switch out.
181* SwordBeam: Psycho Cut, especially when used by Gallade, who has swords for arms.
182* SymmetricEffect:
183** Weather conditions and Terrains affect all Pokémon on the battlefield. However, their effects are conditional (for instance, Rain boosts Water-type attacks and weakens Fire-type attacks), so you can build your team to take advantage of the Weather/Terrain. In PlayerVersusPlayer settings, Weather/Terrain is always set by someone's Pokémon. For PlayerVersusEnvironment, these conditions can also occur due to overworld weather, forcing you to adapt (and often giving the opposing Pokémon an advantage to make things more challenging).
184** Trick Room, Wonder Room, and Magic Room impose special conditions on both parties (e.g. Trick Room making slower Pokémon move first and Magic Room suppressing all held items), but with careful timing and selection of the right Pokémon, they can give a big advantage to one side.
185** The move Perish Song gives each Pokémon on the field a perish count, which makes the afflicted mon faint in three turns unless it is switched out.
186** The move Pain Split averages the user's HP and the target's HP.
187** The ability No Guard gives all of a Pokémon's moves 100% accuracy. However, moves used ''against'' the Pokémon are also guaranteed to hit.
188[[/folder]]
189
190[[folder:T]]
191* TakeYourTime: It doesn’t matter whether the evil team is burning the world, drowning the world, freezing the world, replacing the world, pushing your faraway friends to the verge of defeat, or even if they have a doomsday weapon ready to destroy everybody who isn’t one of them, all of which with the power of the Legendary Pokémon they forcibly wrangled: Time is essentially frozen for however long it takes for you to dick around on personal errands before going where the plot needs you to be.
192* TakingYouWithMe:
193** The entire purpose of Destiny Bond, with Explosion and Self-Destruct also acting like this unless you're extremely defensive or lucky with evasion moves.
194** The Aftermath and Innards Out abilities can do this, if the other 'mon is weakened enough when yours faints.
195** Perish Song can do this, if one or both don't switch out.
196* TakeThatAudience: Any time someone talks about people [[StopHavingFunGuys treating Pokémon like they're tools and nothing else]].
197* TeachHimAnger: When the player allows a Pokémon to learn Rage or Frustration.
198* TeaserEquipment:
199** Inverted in all the main series ''Pokémon'' games, starting with Generation IV. Even if you have the money to do so, shops refuse to sell you the higher-level [=PokéBalls=] and healing items until you've advanced the plot and obtained sufficient Gym badges.
200** The Poké Ball store in Lumiose City in ''X'' and ''Y'', in which you can buy almost any kind of Poké Ball, except for [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Apricorn Balls]] and Master Balls. Which they keep behind the counter where the players can see them.
201* TechnicianPerformerTeamUp: Zig-zagged by the duo of [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Red]] and [[TheRival Blue]] when they team up for multi-battles in a game, whose personalities do not match the style of their teams. Red is TheStoic (normally a Technician trait) who fields a team of SignatureMon hard-hitters but which lack synergy (more of a Performer trait). Blue is an arrogant, loudmouth jerk (though he [[TookALevelInKindness got kinder]] since his introductory games), typically more Performer traits, but fields a far more technically sound, balanced, synergistic team with moves to cover their weaknesses and even strategic moves like [[SymmetricEffect Trick Room]] (which allows slower Pokémon to move first and greatly benefits his team). Combined, they make for an incredibly challenging multi-battle duo.
202* TechnicolorFire: Sacred Fire and Blue Flare, as well as many Dragon-type attacks, especially from the fourth gen onwards.
203* TechnicolorToxin: The Poison type is represented by the color purple, and many poisonous attacks and/or Poison-type Pokémon are violet in color.
204* TemptingFate:
205** Just about ''every generation''. Whenever an organization (most often a villainous one) thinks it's a good idea to exploit Legendary Pokémon or make their own, it's a '''110% guarantee''' that it will end very, very, ''very'' horribly.
206** Gardenia in Generation IV states that she hopes that there isn't and will not be a Grass/Ghost type Pokémon. Come Generation VI, and 4 Pokémon have this type, more specifically Phantump, Trevenant, Pumpkaboo, and Gourgeist. Generation VII adds two more, Decidueye and Dhelmise, the former of which is the final evolution of the region's Grass starter! In ''VideoGame/PokemonMasters'', Gardenia states her reason for coming to Pasio is to overcome this fear.
207* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Mostly averted, with sexual dimorphism being usually represented by ''secondary'' characteristics instead of tertiary. One of the few straight examples is female Wobbuffet, who wear bright red lipstick.
208* ThemeAndVariationsSoundtrack: Listen closely to the music that plays in each of the Gen IV Battle Frontier facilities (minus the Tower). You'll notice that they all share a different remix [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZU66ZYg8g of]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixKObMl1COA#t=17s a]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErKOgheVQUQ#t=23s certain]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7tciy7dVSY part]]. (And as a bonus, so does the beginning of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dZ5JlbhIms Puella's Theme]] from [[VideoGame/BattleArenaToshinden Battle Arena Toshinden 4]].)
209* TieredByName:
210** Many Pokémon have a two-part name with one part changing to reflect a higher power level upon evolution, such as Machop - Machoke - Machamp or Larvitar - Pupitar - Tyranitar.
211** All Mega Evolution forms in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' officially have the name "Mega <mega evolved Pokémon>".
212* TimeTravel: Mentioned a few times in the series.
213** Celebi is the most well known for being able to do it (and it takes the player character on a trip through time during an event in ''Heart Gold'' and ''Soul Silver'').
214** The ability to trade between the first two generations is achieved by the "Time Capsule".
215** Similarly, if a Pokémon that originated in Generation III is brought to Generation IV through Pal Park and then to Generation V through Poké Transfer, it will be noted as having arrived "after a long travel through time". In Generations VI and VII, all previous-gen Pokémon are noted to have traveled "across time and space" from their native regions (with Pokémon originating from the [=3DS=] Virtual Console releases of the first two generations adding that they are from "the good old days"). In ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'', you earn a "Time Travel Award" for showing the [[AuthorAvatar game director]] a Pokémon caught in the original Hoenn games.
216** Dialga is the master of time, but no actual Time Travel is ever brought into play with it outside of the [[Anime/PokemonArceusAndTheJewelOfLife twelfth movie]]. Though in ''Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky'', Dialga has the power to give his [[TheDragon head minion]] the power to time travel at his own will (and to drag others along for the ride).
217* TogglingSetpiecePuzzle: Various gym puzzles in the games involve switching between states of something, which usually results in blocking off some areas and making others accessible until you're allowed to get to the gym leader.
218* ToiletHumor: It is implied that the mulch used to grow berries is made from Pokémon manure.
219* TookALevelInBadass: Many Pokémon will do this as they evolve. (Tiny red lizard into giant fire-breathing dragon, friendly-looking alligator into a giant hulking leviathan, small turtle into a monstrous tortoise with an entire forest on its back, etc.)
220* TooAwesomeToUse:
221** PP Max, Max Ethers, Elixirs, Max Elixirs, Rare Candies, and Max Revives are hardly used by most players due to how rare the items are and are never sold in shops. The burden of the trope is slightly reduced if a Pokémon has the ability to scavenge items on the field and may scoop up rare items such as those.
222** The Master Ball is also never used on any Pokémon except for legendary Pokémon or ones that are difficult to catch. It's possible to get more by winning the Pokémon Lottery. This requires presenting a Pokémon with the ''exact'' trainer ID that's announced by the lottery attendant.
223** The Sacred Ash is an item with the ability to heal every single fainted Pokémon in your party...which would be great if it wasn't only ever found held by Ho-Oh, so you can only get one per save file (except in a few games).
224** Technical Machines were one-use items for teaching Pokémon moves that usually varied in value and availability. Some of the better [=TM=]s were hidden behind expensive price tags or were the only copies you could find in the game, forcing players to make a tough decision on when and who to use it on. From Generation V onward, [=TM=]s became unlimited-use to provide more incentive in using them to customize a Pokémon's moveset. [[DevelopersForesight To prevent players from abusing this]] to have essentially infinite PP by reusing them over and over, any TM move that replaces another move copies the same PP it had. Starting from Generation VIII however, [=TR=]s, or Technical Records, were introduced, being the same one-use items that [=TM=]s once were, and these [=TR=]s are usually the stronger moves like Earthquake and Swords Dance. Infinite use [=TM=]s are still around though, but many of them are moves that are good but aren't as powerful.
225* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: The herbal medicine's bitter flavor in the games will lower the Friendship of any Pokémon you give it to...even those who have natures indicating they're supposed to ''like'' bitter flavors!
226* TornadoMove: Multiple moves are depicted as this, including Gust, Twister, and Hurricane. These moves do double damage to Pokémon that are on their first turn of Fly/Bounce. There's also the move Whirlwind, which forces the target to switch (or just ends the battle if it's a wild Pokémon).
227* TotallyRadical: [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]]; the Spanish translations of the games (which are specifically localized for Spain; [[https://youtu.be/Zx6pTEMSb5k?si=77HNJE6Y8Co7f_SM there's a campaign]] calling for Latin American localizations) have been repeatedly noted by players to contain outdated slang that not only isn't used anymore, but most people in Spain don't even know what some of it means!
228* TouchTheIntangible: Ghost-types are normally immune to Normal- and Fighting-type moves, presumably because those moves rely the most on contact with the opponent. A Pokémon with the ability Scrappy bypasses this restriction, as does forcing the ghost to hold a Ring Target.
229* TravelTransformation: For captured Pokémon in general:
230** Pokémon captured in Poké Balls, have basically been turned into something to fit into a handheld ball, which can further undergo BodyUploading to travel from computer to computer.
231** Poké Balls, in the anime, can be shrunk to be easier to carry, and unshrunk for use.
232* TreacherousSpiritChase: Several examples; see the trope page for details.
233* {{Tsuchinoko}}: Dunsparce is a tsuchinoko with small wings and a rattlesnake-like tail. They are very elusive, and spend most of their time hiding in burrows and tunnels underground. Generation IX gives it an evolution named Dudunsparce who can have two or three segments picked at random when it levels up while knowing Hyper Drill.
234* TurnsRed:
235** All Starter Pokémon (as well as a few others) have abilities that increase the damage of their respective element's attacks when their HP is low.
236** Inverted with Archen and Archeops. They have the ability Defeatist that cuts its normally high Attack and Special Attack by half if its HP is down to half or less.
237[[/folder]]
238
239[[folder:U]]
240* UnableToRetreat:
241** Certain moves have the effect of "binding" [[labelnote:Examples]]Fire Spin, Whirlpool, Sand Tomb, Infestation[[/labelnote]] the opponent for a few turns. Starting second generation, one effect is that they can't be switched out and you can't escape battle.
242** ''Mean Look'' is a non-damaging move that prevents the opponent from switching out and escaping battle.
243** Starting third generation, Pokémon have abilities. An ability called "Shadow Tag" prevents the opponent from retreating their Pokémon or escaping battle. The "Arena Trap" ability has the same effect for Pokémon who can take damage from Ground-type moves, and "Magnet Pull" has this effect on Steel-type Pokémon.
244** The move "Ingrain" causes the user to recover some health each turn, at the price of not being able to retreat or escape battle.
245** The move ''No Retreat'' raises all the user's stats by 1 but prevents the user from switching out or fleeing.
246* UnblockableAttack:
247** Giratina's Shadow Force attack.
248** Feint bypasses Protect moves, and lifts the effects of those moves for the remainder of the turn to boot.
249** As of [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Generation 6]], Phantom Force, which is essentially a downgraded version of Shadow Force.
250** Sound moves [[note]]e.g. Hyper Voice and Bug Buzz[[/note]] in Generation 6 now bypass Substitute.
251** Hoopa's two {{Secret Art}}s, Hyperspace Hole and Hyperspace Fury, both get around Protect moves on top of [[AlwaysAccurateAttack never missing]] bar the opponent using Fly, Dig, or Dive, and the latter also ignores substitutes.
252* UncommonTime: Junichi Masuda appears to have a love of these extending to few other video game composers but the almighty Nobuo Uematsu. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP7r1avZKq8 X & Y Pokémon League]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSbR3a4Wyw Lumiose City]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tHcDpWbkGA&list=PLC51361C048B1DD4A Wonder Bridge]] themes are perhaps the greatest examples of this trope, scarcely following one meter for too long. Lesser ones include the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVFd_m7EYng X & Y Victory Road]] (7/4) and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1o5fVCD3X0&list=PLA972BF4B9F7639EE Relic Forest]] (7/4 and 6/4) themes. More examples can be found at the UncommonTime page.
253* UndergroundMonkey: Pokémon generally avoids doing this with their monsters, as each creature is uniquely designed enough that they're recognizable enough from silhouettes (hence why "Who's That Pokémon" segments are so popular). However, there are some zigzags here and there:
254** Some Pokémon are designed to be closely related counterparts of each other, even when not related by evolution. Plusle and Minun intentionally look similar to each other (their tails are differently shaped). Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus are also extremely similar in their Incarnate formes, but were given Therian formes that make them vastly different designs.
255** Shiny Pokémon are extremely rare variants that are usually differently colored from their regular counterparts. However, they're functionally identical.
256** Regional variants are Pokémon that may have different types and stats from their more well-known counterparts, but even they have designs that make them dramatically unique.
257* UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: Pokémon battling bears many similarities to animal-based sports in real life such as dog shows and horse racing. While every Pokémon is capable of battling, not all of them are viable for the competitive scene. Some species are absolute must-haves in order to win, and you can expect many serious players to have them as well. It is also an almost given for a competitive Pokémon to be bred and trained for maximizing its desirable stats and minimizing what it does not need.
258* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable/{{Pokemon}} Has its own page.]]
259* UniqueItems: Certain Pokémon (the most well known of them being Mew, Mewtwo, and the fossils) don't appear in the wild and you only have one shot at obtaining them during a scripted event. Some items like the Master Ball are only given to you once (save the Gen V games, which have two Master Balls each).
260* UniquenessDecay:
261** Generally, a Legendary Pokémon is only truly special for the duration of its debut generation, with later games having it appear for no in-story reason. It gets especially out of hand in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'' and ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', where ''every'' Legendary Pokémon from the previous generations is a wild encounter, but they have no lore to them, no dungeons to explore, and the only rationalization for their appearance being, "There are strange spacetime-bending ring portals/You're in [[AnotherDimension Ultra Space]], so shut up and find the big strong guy."
262** In a similar vein, items related to Legendary Pokémon often become far easier to obtain in later games than in their debut. It's pretty jarring how, say, the DNA Splicers go from being a legendary artifact that Team Plasma freezes an entire ''city'' to obtain... to being held by an unrelated NPC in a totally different region for no reason.
263** The main reason for this "decay" is so newer players can have the same access to Legendary Pokémon that players who have been playing ''Pokémon'' games for years have enjoyed without having to find and obtain older games/handheld consoles that may have been out of print for years.
264** In Gen I, Ghost-types were only found on one tower and required a Silph Scope to be able to see and capture at all. By Gen II, Ghost-types were more common and the scope was [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse written out entirely]]. By Gen VII, Ghost-types are treated in-universe as dangerous, but are also far more mundane than they originally were.
265** Shiny Pokémon, when they first came out in Gen II, were extremely rare — 1/8192 chance per wild encounter. They could be bred at a much higher rate (a feature removed in later games), but only if you had a shiny to breed with. Decay began before the next generation even started, with the "Odd Egg" in ''Crystal'' having a very high rate of shininess [[CreatorProvincialism (50% in Japan, 14% elsewhere)]]. Gen IV introduced the "Masuda Method" for getting shinies more frequently from eggs, and the Poké Radar; the latter, when [[https://forums.bulbagarden.net/index.php?threads/shiny-pokemon-with-the-pokeradar.19695/ used properly]], allows you to farm shinies at an unprecedented rate. Gen V added the Shiny Charm item, doubling shiny rates; Gen VI also doubled the base shiny rate, and added "consecutive fishing" as a similar but simpler trick to Poké Radar chaining. Real-world events with shiny giveaways have become increasingly common over the years. ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' increased the base rate to about 1/450 and has frequent events where certain Pokémon will have a '''1/25''' shiny rate, making many of them almost worthless.
266* UniquenessRule:
267** While the story mode generally doesn't care if you put multiple Pokémon of the same species on your team, official tournament rules, most Website/{{Smogon}} rulesets and several in-game battle facilities prohibit duplicates. Official tournaments also tend to limit you to one copy of each held item. This is intended to encourage diversity in teambuilding.
268** Only one Kyurem can be fused with Reshiram or Zekrom at a time. If you want to fuse another Kyurem with one of the two, you will have to undo the existing fusion.
269** The player cannot have more than one Calyrex in either of their riding forms. If you have a Shadow-Rider Calyrex, for example, you cannot fuse a different Calyrex with a Glastrier or Spectrier until you unfuse them.
270** Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax and Terastalizing can only be used once per battle, forcing the player to time it correctly and make it count.
271** Technical Machines ([=TMs=]) were initially one-use items and often limited to one per-game, so you only had one opportunity to teach Blizzard to a Pokémon. However, later games have done away with unique [=TMs=] by either making them reusable or letting every single-use TM be re-obtainable.
272** [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Category:Moves_that_cause_the_user_to_faint Some moves]], ranging from support (such as the stat-lowering Memento and the healing Lunar Dance) to attacks (such as the high-power Explosion or the damage-equal-to-lost-HP Final Gambit), make the user faint. As only items like Revives can bring back a fainted Pokémon, these moves can only be used once per 'mon under any ruleset that forbids items. The sole exception is the move Revival Blessing in ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', which is itself a single-use move that can only ever have 1 PP (though you can get a second use with a Leppa Berry or by bringing both users of the move).
273** Fake Out and its stronger Bug-type equivalent First Impression are a [[ActionInitiative high-priority attacks]] that make the target flinch 100% of the time, but it only works on the first turn the user is sent out.
274** Burn Up requires the user to be a Fire-type to use, and causes them to stop being Fire-type when used.
275* UniversalPoison:
276** Poison, associated with the color purple, is one of the [[ElementalRockPaperScissors 18 elemental types]], and encompasses everything that could be construed as toxic, or acidic/corrosive, or just smelly or gross, ranging from [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Muk industrial sludge]], [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Beedrill bees]], [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Amoonguss mushrooms]], [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Arbok snakes]], [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Skuntank skunks]], [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Vileplume putrid rafflesia flowers]][[note]]Though despite being based on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafflesia "corpse flower"]], no reference is made to a foul smell, with the Pokédex entries instead justifying its connection to the poison type by stating that ''its pollen is super-allergenic'', adding ''allergens'' to the list of things conflated into the UniversalPoison element[[/note]], [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Trubbish garbage bags]], [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Victreebel pitcher plants]], and even [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gulpin disembodied stomachs]], among many, many others.
277** While [[StatusEffects the poison status effect]] actually does recognize two kinds of poisoning, the difference is only one of ''degree'', not of ''type'': there's "poisoned" (saps HP at a constant rate) and "badly poisoned" (saps HP at an accelerating rate), both of which are cured by the same Antidote.
278** Another small exception is that ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' introduces a Pokémon called [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Salandit Salandit]] with a "Corrosion" ability, which allows it to inflict poison status on otherwise-immune Steel and Poison types, thus sort-of-distinguishing between corrosive substances and other poisons (though this ability is not applied retroactively to other acidic Pokémon that would make sense to have it, such as Gulpin).
279* UnresolvedSexualTension: Hinted at. One of the things the Day Care man says about compatible Pokémon is something along the lines of 'they don't like each other'. These Pokémon will still produce an egg, and the message will even be the same after they've had it.
280* UnskilledButStrong: Going with only 1 or 2 Pokémon will result in you having a massive level advantage even without grinding, which lets you steamroll most NPC teams even if ElementalRockPaperScissors is against you.
281* UnusuallyUninterestingSight:
282** Nobody seems to care what Pokémon you use in battle, even if it's extremely rare and mythical.
283** Hell, you can even take Arceus to get a massage, or put it in a Contest or Pokémon Musical. The script is still the same. Even the [=NPC=]s who want to see a Genesect or Kyurem in ''X'' and ''Y'' won't question why you have them, or how you caught them, but simply nonchalantly hand you the add-on items.
284* UpdatedRerelease: The first four sets of mainline games (the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh games) have received these.
285** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', originally released in Japan as ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Green'', later received ''Blue'' as an updated version, which improved the graphics and sound and changed some of the wild Pokémon encounters. For Western players, their version of ''Red'' and ''Blue'' uses the Japanese ''Blue'''s engine and redrawn sprites, but also the encounter tables of ''Red'' and ''Green'', meaning that the original Western releases were themselves technically updated re-releases. For both Japan and internationally, this was followed with [[RecursiveAdaptation an update]] in ''Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition'', which improved the graphics further and has some tie-ins with the anime series that premiered around the time of its release (such as Pikachu being your starter Pokémon, the appearance of Jessie and James as [[RecurringBoss Recurring Bosses]], and getting all three of the original starter Pokémon in the same game). Lastly, the Gen I games all got an additional (albeit very minor) update when they were re-released for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS's Virtual Console: the Pokémon Jynx, which had originally been depicted with black skin, was changed to have purple skin, in order to reflect her retconned appearance.
286** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' had ''Pokémon Crystal'', cementing the trend of each new pair of games getting an updated re-release later down the road. The new features (which included a subplot that involved hunting down Suicune) were also implemented in the Gen IV [[VideoGameRemake remakes]] ''[=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]''. The games also gotten a slight update on the 3DS Virtual Console where the event that lets you encounter Celebi was finally added to the game. Originally, it was a Japan exclusive event that involved connecting a cell phone to the Game Boy Color and the internet and that feature never left Japan.
287** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', as with the previous two generations, received an update in the form of ''Pokémon Emerald'', which combines the stories of ''Ruby and Sapphire'' to have the player face off against both villain teams. Rayquaza now has a [[AscendedExtra more prominent role]] by stopping the feud between Groudon and Kyogre, and the game also boasted some different or entirely new features (such as the [[HarderThanHard Battle Frontier]]). Surprisingly, these new elements weren't included in the ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'' Gen VI remakes.
288** ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', as with the previous three generations, had an obligatory ''Platinum'' update. ''Platinum'' is often considered to be a major improvement on ''Diamond and Pearl'' for fixing many of the problems that ''Diamond and Pearl'' had, such as adding more Fire-types for better game balance and making most of the Legendaries [[AscendedExtra a little more plot necessary]], rather than just being {{Optional Boss}}es.
289** In a surprise to many, this ''didn't'' happen for ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''. Instead, they got [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 full-blown direct sequels]], making them the first mainline games in the franchise with that distinction.
290** The spin-off ''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' got into the act as well, with ''Explorers of Sky'' adding new Special Episodes, selectable leads, dungeons, items and other goodies to ''Time/Darkness''. ''Explorers of Sky'' does, however, avert the usual OneGameForThePriceOfTwo trend, being fully completable without requiring either of the previous versions.
291** Averted with ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY''. Rather than an updated re-release or direct sequels that place focus on the remaining member of Gen VI's Legendary Trio Zygarde, Game Freak instead chose to remake ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' and then skipped straight to the [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon next generation]], where [[AdvertisedExtra Zygarde has no importance outside of a]] CollectionSidequest.
292** ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'' are updated releases of ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' that take place in an AlternateUniverse from the originals, [[InSpiteOfANail featuring a slightly different story]] that ultimately diverges significantly toward a DarkerAndEdgier SpaceOpera-esque focus; especially the PostEndgameContent, which features a storyline involving an interdimensional LegionOfDoom made-up of the {{Big Bad}}s from all the previous games, hailing from {{Alternate Universe}}s where TheBadGuyWins. There's also several new features such as the ability to surf between islands and travel through Ultra Space. Just as notable is that the gameplay was retweaked to provide a harder challenge for both old and new players, with several boss fights being remixed, replaced, and added (including ThatOneBoss who can wipe out a player's party easily).
293* UtilityPartyMember: Some players call these "[[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/HM_slave HM slaves]]." It's because with few exceptions (notably Strength and Surf), the HM "field moves" these Pokémon specialize in are only useful as methods of navigating the overworld, with minimal utility in battle. You can designate one party member to handle this stuff so the other five can maintain skills that are useful in battle.
294[[/folder]]
295
296[[folder:V]]
297* VagueHitPoints: Starting from the first games, ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', only the player's Pokémon are provided with numerical amounts of HitPoints in the battle screen. But, there's supposed to be ScratchDamage, unless broken by programming errors, so if an attacker is weak enough to deal a single {{Hit Point|s}}, then it's shown that at sufficiently low maximum HitPoints, the LifeMeter has exact gradations for each point.
298* VagueStatValues: From ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' and onwards, there's a feature that works similarly to the Generation III+ games' "stats judge" character that describes the "individual values" that vary between individual members of a species, in vague terms like "decent", "above-average" and "very good", with "fantastic" being the best value - 1 and "best" being literally the best possible value.
299* VanillaUnit: The majority of damage-dealing moves have a secondary effect, but there are some (e.g. Dazzling Gleam) that don't. They tend to have middle-of-the-road power — stronger than moves with beneficial effects, and weaker than moves with drawbacks.
300* VengefulVendingMachine: Inverted; the player occasionally get a bonus drink from the vending machine.
301* VersionExclusiveContent: The Pokémon series is the [[TropeCodifier best-known example]] with version-exclusive content being a core design element of the franchise; each main series generation sees the release of two (otherwise-identical) games which feature minor differences in their in-game content, including:
302** Certain Pokémon species are exclusive (or at least more common) in one version, such as Scyther and Pinsir in Generation I, or Braviary and Mandibuzz in Generation V; the only way to acquire them in the opposite version is by trading with another player. Version exclusive Pokémon are often {{Foil}}s of one another gameplay and design-wise. This also extends to the {{updated|rerelease}} "third versions" seen in many generations, where some wild Pokémon easily obtainable in the original pair are not encountered at all in the third; and to some of the series's spinoffs, such as the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' series, whose first two installments were released in a pair of versions.
303** Since Generation III, the game's central storyline is generally tweaked to focus on a specific legendary Pokémon (also depicted on the game's cover art) which the player will encounter at some point. It may or may not be possible for the player to encounter the legendary mascot of the other version in the same game (outside of an updated third version).
304** Generation V expanded the differences, with some areas receiving aesthetic tweaks between versions, and a few (Black City and White Forest) being entirely exclusive to one version or the other. In the sequels, even the user interface during battle is different, with ''Black 2'' having a darker interface and ''White 2'' having a lighter interface.
305** Generation V's online component, the Pokémon Dream World, also started the player out with one type of damage-reducing Berry (out of seventeen) to start their berry farming with; the only way to acquire the other Berry types is by trading with other players.
306** Some time-limited distributions give the player a different Pokémon depending on which version of the game they are playing.
307** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' mixes up the formula in a few new ways: Not only are some Pokémon (like the Manectric and Houndoom families) version-exclusive, but some Mega Stones are too (e.g. Charizardite X and Y); in fact, some Mega Stones are exclusive to the ''opposite'' version that their matching species is normally found in. The concept is also inverted in Kiloude City's Friend Safari: Every player gets a unique Safari (associated with their system's Friend Code) with three Pokémon of a common type appearing in it, but a player can only access their friends' Safaris, not their own.
308* VersusCharacterSplash: Shows up in important battles, starting with the third generation.
309* VictorGainsLosersPowers: After the player defeated a Gym Leader, the player is given the TM of one of the moves their Pokémon had.
310* VictoriousRoar: In ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', Pokémon will cry out every time they successfully faint their opponent.
311* VideoGameCaringPotential:
312** Some Pokémon can only evolve by being especially happy with you. Also, the move Return is stronger the more your Pokémon likes you.
313** Generation VI has expanded on this feature '''''greatly''''' with the introduction of Pokémon-Amie. This allows you to pet your Pokémon, feed them Poké-Puffs, and play mini-games with them. Doing so increases their affection toward you, which actually provides benefits in battle. That [[ThePowerOfFriendship Power of Friendship]] thing the series has been espousing since day 1? They've turned it into a full-fledged mechanic. Pokémon with high affection will have cosmetic effects during battle, such as causing the Pokémon to turn and look at you when you send it out, and changing the battle text. Maxing out their affection will cause them to land critical hits more often, dodge attacks more often, ''shrug off status effects'' so that you, the player, won't worry, and survive with 1HP after being hit with an attack that would otherwise KO them, '''because they love you that damn much.''' In addition, if such a Pokémon has their health reduced to nearly 0 under any other conditions, the text mentions that they look like they are about to cry. Just ''try'' to let your beloved partner faint after all of this has happened.
314** The Wonder Trade allows this between players. A generous player can hand out good Pokémon holding rare items to random trainers in the world. The only returns are likely going to be a bunch of ComMons, but if you feel like being a NiceGuy, you can do it. With the return of secret bases in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'', many players have taken it upon themselves to make secret bases, give themselves a trio of Level 100 Blissey as a team, and then send the QR code for the base, giving other players an easy and quick way to level grind by fighting them in their base.
315* VideoGameCrueltyPotential:
316** Like Return, the move Frustration gets stronger the less your Pokémon likes you. This can be accomplished by deliberately letting it faint in battle and force-feeding it bitter herbal medicine.
317** Getting the best possible stats on a Pokémon without resorting to cheating/hacking or drawn out SaveScumming involves abandoning a lot of newborns when they don't have the base stats you want. In fact, the entire process of competitive breeding would be considered animal cruelty in real life, as similar processes to breed animals with desired traits, like dogs, tend to leave them with health disorders for life.
318** The ability Compound Eyes functions as a RandomDropBooster if the Pokémon set in the first spot has it. It works just as well if the lead Pokémon is fainted, leading several people to go hunting for held items with a fainted low-level Butterfree in the first slot and something that can get items in the second.
319* VideoGameDelegationPenalty: In most core series games, you may choose to leave one or two of your Mons at the Pokémon Day Care. Pokémon in Day Care gain one experience point per every step the player takes. While it's nice to have a Pokémon leveling-up while you simply walk around, there are several drawbacks to this method. For one, Pokémon in Day Care will not evolve. Two, if a Pokémon reaches a level where it can learn a new move, it will always learn that move; if the Pokémon already knows four moves, its first move will be forgotten and the new move will be placed last. This can lead to your Mons forgetting moves you wanted while learning moves you do not. Third, the Mon will not gain Effort Points as it would have if you leveled it up yourself through battle. This will leave it with somewhat lesser stats at higher levels than it would have had if you leveled it up yourself. The second reason became so bothersome (most people would use the Day Care to [[CreatureBreedingMechanic breed Pokémon]], which includes passing moves onto offspring, which can be ruined if the parent forgot the move it was supposed to pass on) that the leveling up mechanic was taken out entirely in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''.
320* VideoGameRemake: ''[=FireRed=]'' and ''[=LeafGreen=]'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance are remakes of ''Red'' and ''Blue'' for the Game Boy, ''[=HeartGold=]'' and ''[=SoulSilver=]'' for the Nintendo DS are remakes of ''Gold'' and ''Silver'' for the Game Boy Color, and ''Omega Ruby'' and ''Alpha Sapphire'' for the 3DS are remakes of ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'' for the GBA.
321%% Viewer Gender Confusion goes on the YMMV page
322* VideoGameTools: The {{Mons}} themselves can be tools for cutting through small trees and smashing boulders out of the way. A few are even usable as a surfboard. Though to be fair, it's more the items used to teach your Pokémon these special moves that would count as the tools.
323* VileVillainLaughableLackey: [[{{Mook}} Grunts]] to villain teams are almost always rather low-leveled and tend to have humorous dialogue. Team Skull takes this trope and rolls with it by ditching the "vile villain" part and making their leader Guzma just as laughably pitiable as his lackeys.
324* VillainDecay: Hits the "evil teams" in Generations VII and VIII:
325** In ''Sun and Moon'', Team Skull ultimately become the lackeys to the Aether Foundation in the original games, and the Ultra games even give them an express HeelFaceTurn moment in the post-game.
326** In ''Sword and Shield'', Team Yell isn't even really evil ''per se''; they're just a bunch of fanatics who largely defend their leader's gym, and promote his sister's designs to be the Galar region's Champion. They even help the player fight the real enemy, Macro Cosmos.
327** In ''Scarlet and Violet'', Team Star are a bunch of rowdy delinquents and supposed bullies whose biggest crime is mostly just truancy. It's also revealed that [[spoiler:they're not actually bullies themselves but {{Bully Hunter}}s who were wrongfully accused for their tormenter's actions and were unable to clear their names]].
328* VineTentacles:
329** A common Grass-type Attack is "Vine Whip", where the Pokémon spontaneously produces a pair of green tentacles to either whip their opponent or grab things from far away.
330** There is also the Grass-Type move "Power Whip", a more powerful but less accurate version of Vine Whip, where the user violently whirls its vines or tentacles to harshly lash the target.
331* VolumetricMouth: [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Zubats and Golbats]] do this, along with [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Loudred and Exploud.]]
332* VortexBarrier: The series provides some examples of vortexes being used as blockades to impede your travel:
333** In ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', some chokepoints are blocked by a whirlpool which spins you around before shoving you back. Using the Whirlpool move on it cancels out the vortex and lets you pass.
334** In ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', as well as ''Emerald'', this is downplayed. The player is unable to access the desert blocking half of one route, as the desert is covered by constant sandstorms. This sandstorm never goes away, but the player can eventually enter the desert after obtaining the Go-Goggles.
335** ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'': [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Citadark Island]] is surrounded by [[WeatherControlMachine artificially strong]] currents and a nearly impenetrable fog. Only one ship [[spoiler:which belongs to [[BigBad the leader of Cipher]]]] is capable of reaching it in one piece. [[spoiler:At least, until the Robo Kyogre is operational, which becomes the [[PlayerCharacter protagonist]]'s way onto (and off) the island]].
336[[/folder]]
337
338[[folder:W]]
339* WakeupCallBoss: In the [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Gen I]], [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Gen III]], and [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Gen IV]] games, the first Gym Leader uses Rock-types. Most early Pokémon likely learn physical Normal moves, and Rock-types resist Normal attacks and have high Defense. Time to start learning type advantages and what the difference between physical and special attacks is, because the game is done holding your hand on such things. ''Black and White'' have the Striaton Triplets choose which of them will battle you based on your starter, again tutoring you on type advantages and how to build a diverse team. Averted in ''Gold and Silver'' with Falkner's Flying-types, since all the new Gyms use a type the original eight Gyms didn't, in ''Black and White 2'' the first leader is Cheren with Normal-types, becoming a WarmUpBoss instead, and in ''X and Y'', the first leader uses Bug-types.
340* TheWanderingYou: You're traveling across the entire region, battling all Pokémon and trainers in your path (if you so choose).
341* WasOnceAMan: Certain Ghost Pokémon, sich as Gengar, Yamask, or Phantump, are said to be the souls or dead humans. A few other Pokémon are rumoured to have been once human, such as Kadabra, a human boy whose own PsychicPowers made him suffer a ForcedTransformation.
342* WaterIsBlue: Most Water Pokémon are blue-colored.
343* WaterIsWomanly:
344** The Water-type Milotic. It is known as the Tender Pokémon for being able to calm human anger and hatred, and is regarded as the most beautiful of all Pokémon.
345** The Water-type Sootopolis Gym has all its trainers as women. Most of the female trainers are of the "Beauty" Trainer Class and all their Pokémon are female as well. Although both its leaders are male, Wallace (in Ruby/Sapphire) is very campy, and Juan (in Emerald) emphasizes the beauty, grace, and artistry of water.
346** Primarina, the seventh generation Water-type starter Popplio's final evolution. Unlike its peers, the muscular pro wrestler cat Incineroar (Fire) and the hooded archer owl Decidueye (Grass), Primarina is a beautiful, feminine, and elegant opera singer whose design evokes sirens and mermaids.
347** Tapu Fini, the Water-type among the Alolan guardian deities, is much more feminine (along with [[MindOverMatter Tapu Lele]]) than [[ShockAndAwe Tapu Koko]] and [[GreenThumb Tapu Bulu]]. Tapu Fini has long, light blue hair and, with its shell open, resembles a mermaid.
348* WaveMotionGun: Some of the stronger special attacks, like Solar Beam and Dragon Pulse, take this form. Of special mention is Hyper Beam, which does one of the highest amounts of damage for a single attack and resembles a [[WebAnimation/TheLazerCollection Shoop da Whoop]].
349* WeakButSkilled:
350** Technician is an ability that raises any attacking moves that has 60 Power or less by 50%.
351** For a specific Pokémon example, Smeargle, who has all-around poor base stats, but through its move Sketch, can permanently learn any move in the entire game bar two, Chatter and Struggle.
352* WeaksauceWeakness: The Dragon type is overall the most powerful Pokémon type, as it resists many of the most common mon types, Dragon type mons tend to have very high stats, and can learn an extremely diverse and large number of moves. On the other hand, the Ice type is one of the weakest, as there are very few Ice type mons to begin with (it is tied with Ghost as the rarest of all Pokémon types), Ice type mons don't tend to have particularly good stats, and the type has four weaknesses while only resisting itself. However, many fully evolved Dragon types have Flying as their secondary type, which gives them an absolutely ''crippling'' dual weakness to Ice type moves. Ice-type ''Pokémon'' may not be very useful, but a Pokémon of a stronger type that knows an Ice-type ''move'' can sweep a Dragon type team with almost no effort.
353* WeakToFire: Grass, Bug, Ice, and Steel types take 2x the damage from Fire-tpe moves. The Bug/Steel dual-typing is notable for having Fire as their ''only'' weakness, as they either take neutral damage or resist everything else. Fire however is ''very'' effective against them, dealing 4x the damage.
354* WeakToMagic: Pokémon with a low Special Defense stat take more damage from special-based attacks on top of the franchise's ElementalRockPaperScissors. Several Rock- and Steel- types tend to have this trait.
355* WeaponizedOffspring: The move "Egg Bomb" is naturally learned by Chansey, Blissey, and Exeggutor. Generation VIII adds Dragon Darts, which when used by Dragapult results in it shooting the Dreepy on its head at the opponent (Dreepy evolve into Dragapult).
356* WeaponizedStench: Some Poison-type Pokémon have the Stench ability, which has a chance of making the opponent flinch in battle due to the bad smell. The smell also decreases the chance of encountering a wild Pokémon.
357* WeaponsGradeVocabulary:
358** There's several sound-based attacks in the ''Pokémon'' series, varying in type between SuperScream, BrownNote, and this.
359** An example of this type is 'Snarl', a Dark-type attack that seemingly involves the Pokémon ranting and shouting at the target for a while, inflicting damage and lowering their Special attack power.
360* WellIntentionedExtremist: Team Plasma, with a side of KnightTemplar and Hypocrisy.
361* WhaleEgg:
362** ''All'' [[{{Mons}} Pokémon]] hatch from Eggs, even the mammalian, human-shaped, and mechanical ones (not to mention the HotSkittyOnWailordAction). Even Arceus, hailed in Sinnoh legend to be the creator of all Pokémon, was born from an egg that emerged within nothingness/a swirling vortex of chaos.
363** Professor Elm in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' speculates that not all Pokémon may come from eggs (at least [[GameplayAndStorySegregation in terms of lore]]). Indeed, there are a few canon exceptions to the rule; among them, Mewtwo was a live birth (according to the Pokémon Mansion journals), Cosmog is directly born without hatching from an egg, and Nihilego grow from polyps much like real-world jellyfish.
364* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: {{Averted}}; where else can you befriend trash bags[[labelnote:*]] Trubbish and Garbodor[[/labelnote]], snakes[[labelnote:*]] the Ekans, Dunsparce, Seviper, and Snivy lines[[/labelnote]], ghosts[[labelnote:*]] too many to count[[/labelnote]],mantises[[labelnote:*]] the Scyther and Fomantis lines[[/labelnote]], bees[[labelnote:*]] Beedrill and the Combee line[[/labelnote]], spiders[[labelnote:*]] the Spinarak, Joltik and Dewpider lines[[/labelnote]], lizards[[labelnote:*]] too many to count[[/labelnote]], salamanders[[labelnote:*]] the Charmander and Salandit line[[/labelnote]], bats[[labelnote:*]] the Zubat, Woobat and Noivern lines[[/labelnote]], coelacanths[[labelnote:*]] Relicanth[[/labelnote]], jellyfish[[labelnote:*]] the Tentacool and Frillish lines[[/labelnote]], bag worms[[labelnote:*]] the Pineco and Burmy lines[[/labelnote]], sharks[[labelnote:*]] Sharpedo[[/labelnote]], mudfish[[labelnote:*]] the Mudkip line[[/labelnote]], kappa[[labelnote:*]] the Lotad line[[/labelnote]], cacti[[labelnote:*]] the Cacnea line and Maractus[[/labelnote]], psychic mirrors[[labelnote:*]] the Bronzor line[[/labelnote]], [[http://www.answers.com/topic/barghest barghests]][[labelnote:*]] Absol[[/labelnote]], eels[[labelnote:*]] Huntail, Gorebyss, and the Tynamo line[[/labelnote]], antlions[[labelnote:*]] Trapinch[[/labelnote]], [[http://www.bogleech.com/pkmn-anomalocaris.jpg anomalocaris]][[labelnote:*]] the Anorith line[[/labelnote]], scorpions[[labelnote:*]] the Gligar and Skorupi lines[[/labelnote]], crabs[[labelnote:*]] the Krabby and Corphish lines[[/labelnote]], skunks[[labelnote:*]] the Stunky line[[/labelnote]], piranhas[[labelnote:*]] Carvanha and Basculin[[/labelnote]], toads[[labelnote:*]] the Poliwag, Croagunk, and Tympole lines[[/labelnote]], sea slugs[[labelnote:*]] the Shellos line[[/labelnote]], {{hellhound}}s[[labelnote:*]] the Houndour line[[/labelnote]], crocodilians[[labelnote:*]] the Totodile and Sandile lines[[/labelnote]], weasels[[labelnote:*]] the Sneasel and Mienfoo lines[[/labelnote]], venus flytraps[[labelnote:*]] Weepinbell, Victreebel and Carnivine[[/labelnote]], pistol shrimps[[labelnote:*]]:Clauncher[[/labelnote]],cephlopods[[labelnote:*]]the Remoraid and Inkay lines[[/labelnote]],masses of vines[[labelnote:*]] the Tangela line[[/labelnote]], giant moving stomachs[[labelnote:*]] the Gulpin line[[/labelnote]], lumps of sludge[[labelnote:*]] the Grimer line[[/labelnote]], levitating sea mines[[labelnote:*]] the Koffing line[[/labelnote]], crows[[labelnote:*]] the Murkrow line[[/labelnote]], rhinoceroses[[labelnote:*]]the Rhyhorn line[[/labelnote]], magnets[[labelnote:*]]the Magnemite line[[/labelnote]], exploding spheres[[labelnote:*]]the Voltorb line[[/labelnote]], and living iron and mineral[[labelnote:*]]too many to count[[/labelnote]]? However, [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl the fourth gen's]] Amity Square plays it straight, only allowing certain Pokémon designated "cute" to walk with their Trainers inside. A nearby Trainer lampshades it, calling "discrimination."
365* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: {{Zigzagged}}. Pokémon are treated as pets or family members at best, and weapons and cruel experiments from evil organizations at worst. Battles or Contests, whether Pokémon are owned by trainers or in the wild, seem to be the middle ground for both sides. However, some humans do not have Pokémon involved in Battles at all.
366* WillOTheWisp: [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Will-O-Wisp_%28move%29 Will-O-Wisp]] exists as a status move that inflicts the Burn status on the target Pokémon if it hits. It is commonly learned by Ghost-type and Fire-type Pokémon.
367* {{Wingdinglish}}: Unown in Generations II and IV and the Braille in Generation III. The Abbyssal Ruins in Gen V has this written on parts of the walls. [[GuideDangIt Good luck figuring out what the hell it means.]][[labelnote:*]]It's just Braille (English Braille, to be precise).[[/labelnote]]
368* WishUponAShootingStar: The animation for the healing move "Wish" is represented by a shooting star. After making the wish, the user will be healed a turn later with their wish coming true.
369* WithThisHerring: At the start of most Pokémon games, you're given a level 5 starter Pokémon and if you poke around for a bit, sometimes you're given or find a potion and a few Pokéballs. This is of course justified in that you're playing as someone who is a new trainer and are starter Pokémon are specifically trained to be easy to handle for new trainers.
370* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: Unless they're of the [[MadScientist mad]] variety, most scientists express this sentiment.
371* WorldOfTechnicolorHair: It is perfectly normal for people to have hair that comes in what would be in our world unnatural colors such as blue or green, alongside the more natural black, brown, red, and blonde, without explanation or comment. So far, Leon is the only character explicitly confirmed to have natural technicolor hair. Hair dye can't be ruled out, but the presence of child characters with vivid hair and family members that share an unusual hair color make this unlikely in many cases.
372** In the first generation games, only a Lorelei, Lance, and a couple of Trainer Classes such as Psychics have technicolor hair. From the second generation onward, the majority of the cast sports unnatural hair colors, to the point where a Trainer's type specialty can often be discerned from a glance at their locks. The Galar games are an odd exception, containing only a few characters having atypical hair: Leon, Hop, Gordie and Melony (the latter’s white streak implies that the greenish-gray color of her and her son's hair isn’t the result of normal or premature graying), Klara, Team Yell Grunts, and a few Trainer Classes such as Dancers).
373** ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus}'' is set during the Pokémon world equivalent of the Meiji Restoration, and features just as many technicolor tresses as the average modern-day game. A number of these brightly-haired characters are implied to be the ancestors of known modern characters. If this is taken as proof that the descendants inherited their hair hues, then Cheryl, Flint, Jupiter, Karen, Mars, Mira, Saturn, and Wally are confirmed to have natural technicolor hair.
374* WouldHitAGirl: Male and genderless Pokémon do not pull any punches when fighting female Pokémon.
375* WouldHurtAChild:
376** None of the adult Pokémon would care who they are attacking, dishing out attacks on even a child Pokémon at level 1.
377** Ghetsis attempts this on the player characters (who are around 10 years old) in ''Black 2'' and ''White 2'' by having Kyruem use Glaciate on you to freeze them. However, this move cannot freeze in battle.
378[[/folder]]
379
380[[folder:X]]
381* XtremeKoolLetterz:
382** A few Pokémon use these in their names, such as Krokorok and Krookodile.
383** The French translation also frequently uses these for Pokémon and attack names, often veering into PerfectlyCromulentWord.
384[[/folder]]
385
386[[folder:Y]]
387* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Generation III had four "Formes" for Deoxys, and ''Platinum'' introduces Giratina's "Altered Forme" and "Origin Forme", and Shaymin's "Land Forme" and "Sky Forme". The Pokédex still uses "forms" for its tab for viewing alternate forms, as well as for individual entries for most Pokémon, such as Unown's 28 forms (each labeled "one form" in the Pokédex, as opposed to "one forme").
388* YetAnotherStupidDeath: There are several idiotic ways to lose a Pokémon or the entire match, such as using [[TakingYouWithMe Selfdestruct or Explosion]] on a [[NoSell Ghost-type]] Pokémon or worse, when it's the [[StupidSacrifice last of your Pokémon that's using one of those moves]].
389* {{Youkai}}: The basis for several different Pokémon species. Pokémon seem to take on the same roles that Youkai do in Japanese mythology and culture (both as animals and as nature spirits that cause natural phenomenon).
390* YourSizeMayVary: The anime often disregards the official sizes given in the games. Even treating the games' figures as an average with room for variation, the difference in the show can get absurd. For example, Gyarados is mentioned in the game as measuring 6.5 meters (21 feet 4 inches). In the anime, they're often portrayed as being about twice as big.
391[[/folder]]

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