Line #16 WhatAnIdiot/Pokemon


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8	When you're on a quest to [[GottaCatchThemAll "catch them all"]], making iffy, if not rash decisions every now and then is inevitable. ''[[DarthWiki/WhatAnIdiot These]]'' decisions, however, can lead one to wonder if the characters had their Poké Balls swapped out for {{Idiot Ball}}s.
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12	[[folder:Anime]]
13	* [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries General]]:
14	** In several episodes, Team Rocket has Pikachu, (or a group of Mons), has eluded Ash & co., and is making their getaway.\
15	'''You'd Expect:''' Escaping in something more inconspicuous, such as disguising themselves and driving away in a Jeep once they were out of sight.\
16	'''Instead:''' They slowly float away in a distinctive Meowth-shaped hot air balloon, leaving themselves visible and vulnerable to Ash's Flying-type in that region.
17	** Ash's general stupidity in regards to Team Rocket.\
18	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash, over his many encounters with Team Rocket, to smart up and realize that their weapons/tools/whatever are more often than not designed to nullify electric attacks. \
19	'''Instead:''' Time and again, Ash sics Pikachu's Thunderbolt on their asses as a first attack, with unsuccessful results.
20	** On a similar note...\
21	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash and his company to recognize Jessie and James's hair colors, styles, and voices after all the constant encounters, and learn to identify them through such. Not to mention notice that one of the "people" they're dealing with is blatantly a talking Meowth wearing clothes.\
22	'''Instead:''' They fall for the "[[PaperThinDisguise disguises]]" almost every time.
23	** There were also uncountable times the Rocket Trio managed to catch Pikachu and were getting away in their hot air balloon.\
24	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash to call his bird Pokémon and have it attack and pop their balloon.\
25	'''Instead:''' He only thought of doing this about once or twice in the whole series. Every other time he simply let them get away.
26	** Team Rocket's obsession with saying their motto OnceAnEpisode even when it would screw up their plans such when they're supposed to be incognito.\
27	'''You'd Expect:''' Team Rocket to realize that this time they should keep their mouths shut and continue with executing their plan.\
28	'''Instead:''' They say their motto as usual, either blowing their cover and/or leaving themselves open to attack, ruining a plan that would otherwise have gone off without a hitch. (At least one episode showed this to apparently be some sort of actual psychological compulsion on their part when, at one point, Ash mentions some words from the motto to them while they're disguised and they're shown ''struggling to resist saying it'' before finally breaking down.)\
29	'''You'd Also Expect:''' Someone to take advantage of Team Rocket's motto-induced distraction to launch a surprise attack.\
30	'''Instead:''' The heroes almost always stand idly by and do nothing until the motto is finished and Team Rocket has indulged in some EvilGloating. The only consistent exception is Barry from ''Diamond and Pearl'', who often does interrupt them, but out of [[HotBlooded impatience]] rather than [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim pragmatism]].
31	** Regardless of their bumbling manner and their incompetence, the Team Rocket Trio are still criminals and have repeatedly attempted to kidnap numerous Pokémon. And they keep doing this OncePerEpisode.\
32	'''You'd Expect:''' For Ash to realize that as long as they are around, Pokémon can get kidnapped and people could be harmed, thus he decides to have Pikachu paralyze them and hand them over to Officer Jenny. That way, they won't ever pester Ash and his companions ever again.\
33	'''Instead:''' He seems to be content with just blasting them off again, over and over, hundreds of times. You'd think Ash would be tired of them by now...
34	** Most characters' stupidity when it comes to the type chart and how the different types match up.\
35	'''You'd Expect:''' One battler to send out a Pokémon with a type advantage or a resistance to the opponent's moves.\
36	'''Instead:''' They usually send out one with a disadvantage (and sometimes even a 4x weakness) and get curb stomped (Such as Cameron sending out a Ferrothorn, a steel/grass type, against Ash's Pignite, a fire/fighting type, or sending out Swanna, a water/flying type, against his Pikachu, an electric type. All in one battle, too. He could have easily switched the order and sent out Swanna for Pignite, and Ferrothorn for Pikachu.)
37
38	''[[AC:Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries]]''
39	* "Pokémon, I Choose You": As mentioned by WebVideo/CinemaSins, Ash wakes up late and runs to Professor Oak's lab in his pajamas. He is ready to choose a Pokémon, but most of them have been claimed. All except a disobedient Pikachu.\
40	'''You'd Expect:''' Professor Oak would explain that before Ash chooses Poké Balls randomly.\
41	'''Instead:''' He watches Ash waste his time selecting Poké Balls and finding they're all empty.\
42	'''The Result:''' Ash desperately begs for the last one, even though Pikachu shocks him for giving him a hug, Professor Oak for giving Ash his tools, and Mrs. Ketchum calling the little mouse weird. The two get off to a rocky start, and only mend their bond when Ash prepares to make a YouShallNotPass stand against a flock of Spearow that he agitated so as to protect Pikachu.\
43	'''However:''' [[spoiler:It's possible Oak intended for this to happen, after the time paradox in the fourth movie.]]
44	* "Challenge of the Samurai":
45	** In the beginning of the episode, Samurai comes across Ash while he's busy trying to catch a Weedle.\
46	'''You'd Expect:''' That Samurai would let Ash finish the capture before challenging him to a battle.\
47	'''Instead:''' He attacks Ash with his broadsword, allowing Weedle to escape. Ash, rightfully angry, decides to battle Samurai. Ash uses Pidgeotto and Metapod, while Samurai uses Pinsir and Metapod. Eventually, the two of them are both using Metapod.\
48	'''You'd Then Expect:''' Ash and Samurai would realize that there would be no way either of them could win by just hardening, since Metapod can only use that, and would decide to call it draw.\
49	'''Alternatively:''' Ash could swap out Metapod for Pikachu and use it to battle.\
50	'''Instead:''' Neither Ash nor Samurai realize either of those options and spend hours battle with no result until a swarm of Beedrill show up, causing it to end the battle.
51	--->'''Misty:''' You two are more hard-headed than your Metapods!
52	** As the Beedrill attack, Samurai calls back his Metapod to keep it away and get out of the swarm. Ash wants to know what type of Pokémon a Beedrill is.\
53	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash would return his Metapod into its Poké Ball first and then look up Beedrill using his Pokédex.\
54	'''Instead:''' Ash looks up Beedrill using his Pokédex first. This allows a Beedrill enough time to snatch Ash's Metapod while he's not looking. Granted, he did try to save Metapod, but they end up running into a bunch of Kakuna where Metapod is.\
55	'''You'd Then Expect:''' For the group to save Metapod while they can. Even if they get attacked now, they could have easily prevented a Pokémon from being left behind.\
56	'''Instead:''' The group does nothing, and the Kakuna are alerted by their presence, forcing them to hide in a log cabin. [[NeverMyFault And the Samurai blames Ash for the Beedrill swarm.]]
57	* In "Island of the Giant Pokémon" Jessie and James are trapped on what they feel is a deserted island. They come across a phone booth and decide to call the operator who can collect call Giovanni.\
58	'''You'd Expect:''' Having gotten a hold of Giovanni, Jessie and James would ask him to send some sort of rescue.\
59	'''Instead:''' They still decide to introduce themselves to him with their motto, leaving him to hang up feeling they are wasting his time.
60	* In "Pokémon Scent-sation!," Ash has been banned from competing in Celadon City's gym so he gets Team Rocket to sneak him while in DisguisedInDrag. Not only are Misty, Brock and Pikachu inside, "Ashley" also discovers that Erika, the store manager who kicked him out of her shop, is also the gym leader. After Erika tells a story of how she met Gloom, Misty says that she wishes Ash could have heard it as well.\
61	'''You'd Expect:''' "Ashley" to remember that Misty is talking about him as if he isn't there, and at best for him to keep his mouth shut.\
62	'''Instead:''' He forgets that he's in disguise and says in a normal-pitched voice, "I heard it." Misty immediately gets suspicious, which prompts Pikachu to blow his cover... [[{{Pun}} with shocking results]].
63	* Erika is a Grass-type specialist, and her entire gym is basically a giant greenhouse. Plants from this places are used for perfume production, and as a gym leader using Grass-types, it's expected for Erika to [[ElementalRockPaperScissors face many trainers using Fire-type Pokémon]]. \
64	'''You'd Expect:''' Celadon Gym to have a fully functional security system and fire prevention system.\
65	'''Instead:''' [[NoOSHACompliance The gym has neither]]. Team Rocket gets in and destroys the gym with a bomb. The evacuation is chaotic, and Erika's Gloom is left inside. It would have died a slow and painful death if Ash didn't decide to risk his own life to save it.
66	* In "The Flame Pokémon-athon!", Lara tells our heroes that Ponyta's mane, despite literally being made of fire, will not burn anyone it trusts.\
67	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash, a complete stranger, to take this into account and not touch Ponyta.\
68	'''Instead:''' He tries to pet it and burns his hand as a result. Even worse, [[TooDumbToLive he does it again later in the episode!]]
69	* Misty accidentally captures a Psyduck that is borderline useless in battle and a laughingstock. She's not happy about this, although she grows to care for the duck and will defend him with her life.\
70	'''You'd Expect:''' She would capture more Pokémon and transfer Psyduck to a PC, the way Ash did with Krabby and Muk.\
71	'''Or:''' That she would immediately release Psyduck (that is, before she had started to bond with him).\
72	'''Or:''' That she would train the little guy with practice battles and power-ups to become more competent.\
73	'''Instead:''' Misty keeps Psyduck in her bag and doesn't bother training him, except the one time where she thinks he's about to evolve.\
74	'''The Result:''' Misty loses one battle with the biker gang because [[EpicFail Psyduck can't activate his psychic powers against Cloyster]] and to add insult to injury, the whole gang laughs at her Pokémon. The only time he's able to do it without needing a headache is when Team Rocket captures Misty and nearly drowns her.
75	* In "The Problem with Paras," Ash is trying to use his Pokémon to go easy on Paras so it can gain experience to evolve into a Parasect. It seems to be working so far...until Ash decides to use Charmeleon.\
76	'''You'd Expect:''' For Ash to think before he does this. Charmeleon is a Fire-type which has the obvious advantage over a Bug/Grass type like Paras.\
77	'''Instead:''' He chooses Charmeleon. Not only did it disobey him, but it curb-stomped Paras, reducing the poor thing to tears.\
78	'''Luckily:''' The second time he does use Charmeleon, it actually does work and Paras evolves.
79	* In "The Punchy Pokémon":
80	** Ash and his friends encounter a seemingly-wild Hitmonchan, and Ash decides to capture it.\
81	'''You'd Expect:''' That Ash would have Pikachu use its tried-and-true Electric attacks to accomplish this goal.\
82	'''Instead:''' He has Pikachu take on Hitmonchan (an opponent three times its size) in a ''boxing match''.\
83	'''The result:''' Pikachu is completely outmatched. The one hit it lands only serves to anger Hitmonchan, who proceeds to [[CurbStompBattle utterly clobber]] Pikachu.\
84	'''Even worse:''' Neither Misty nor Brock see the fundamental flaws in Ash's plan. It isn't until it becomes clear how laughably outmatched Pikachu is that Misty tells Ash to make it stop.
85	** The group learns about the P1 Grand Prix, a tournament for Fighting-type Pokémon.\
86	'''You'd expect''': For Brock to let Ash and his Primeape take care of it, since he doesn't have any Fighting Pokémon.\
87	'''Instead''': Brock enters the tournament with his Geodude, a Rock Pokémon, weak to Fighting-types.\
88	'''The result''': Geodude gets beaten without any effort by Team Rocket's Hitmonlee.
89	* "Abra and the Psychic Showdown": It's revealed that Sabrina, the gym leader, was once an innocent little girl who turned her mother into a doll and banished her father after becoming DrunkWithPower. Said father becomes excellent at psychic powers but cannot defeat his daughter or restore her to normal. He knows, however, that a ghost Pokémon can combat her Abra who evolves into Kadabra, and they are found in Lavender Town.\
90	'''You'd Expect:''' He would go to Lavender Town, catch a ghost, and use it to restore Sabrina. Maybe put up some warnings saying that Sabrina is not an innocent little girl that wants to play.\
91	'''Instead:''' He stays in Saffron Town. While his reasons are that he needs to make sure all the people who arrive are safe from Sabrina, he really thinks he can dissuade trainers who need the badge from leaving.\
92	'''The Result:''' When Sabrina's child form tells Ash she wants to play with him if he loses, Ash agrees because he's grateful to Sabrina for saving Pikachu from Team Rocket and he logically reasons that playing with a little girl isn't so bad a penalty. This nearly gets the trio and Pikachu crushed in a toy box, with the man showing up at the last minute to save them.
93	* "Haunter Vs. Kadabra": PlayedForLaughs. After saving him from Sabrina a second time, Sabrina's father tells Ash how she became DrunkWithPower and shows her a family photo when she was still an innocent child. Ash sees the photo and remembers it was in Sabrina's toybox. His brain starts to make the connection...\
94	'''You'd Expect:''' After Ash gets it wrong that Sabrina's father would correct him.\
95	'''Instead:''' He never does. Ash goes EntertaininglyWrong that Sabrina's father was a photographer (family friend in the original) that miraculously survived her wrath. Which, actually is logical considering the man implied Sabrina killed her parents. Pikachu and the man go YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe and don't bother correcting Ash.
96	* "Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon": Team Rocket accidentally awakens a prehistoric Pokémon called Aerodactyl. It takes Ash in its claws and flies off. To give chase, and because he's mad that the flying Pokémon is taunting him, Charmeleon evolves into Charizard so he can fly.\
97	'''You'd Expect:''' Charizard would hold his fire until he can get a clear shot at the monster's head and not its claws, since the Pokémon is faster than it looks. We see him stick his claws in his ears to stay awake long enough to rescue Ash from the Pokémon and land safely while Jigglypuff is singing, so he ''does'' care about his trainer.\
98	'''Instead:''' He fires willy-nilly, incinerating Ash. Aerodactyl outflies Charizard with ease owing to having more experience.\
99	'''The Result:''' Misty realizes that if they don't do something on the ground, Charizard will burn Ash alive! She encourages Jigglypuff to sing and put everyone to sleep. This ends up doing the trick, and Aerodactyl falls back into its hole to rest. Charizard does save Ash, but only once Aerodactyl is no longer a threat.
100	* In "Pokémon Paparazzi" Team Rocket has successfully captured Pikachu and defeated Ash and Todd.\
101	'''You'd Expect:''' Them to the get the heck out of there.\
102	'''Instead:''' They throw bombs at Ash and Todd and are fooled into posing for a shot, where the bombs blow up in their hands, thus defeating them.
103	* In "The Breeding Center Secret", Ash and friends discover that a Pokémon breeding center is actually a Pokémon ''stealing'' center run by Butch and Cassidy of Team Rocket. The two manage to frame the kids and the Team Rocket trio (who happened to break in at the same time) for burglary. In jail, Ash, Todd, and Brock maintain their innocence, and beg Officer Jenny to see the breeding center for herself.\
104	'''You'd Expect:''' Jenny to suspect a possibility that the kids had been framed, follow their advice and check the breeding center out for herself. There, she'd discover the caged Pokémon (the breeding center falsely advertised itself as a resort spa) or, at the very least, Todd's camera and incriminating photos that Butch swiped.\
105	'''Instead:''' Jenny [[PoliceAreUseless doesn't listen to them]], saying that their attempts at sympathy won't work and that the judge will throw the book at them. It is only thanks to Misty who, along with Pikachu and Togepi, avoided capture and recovered Todd's camera and photos (along with Misty's Psyduck) that clears the boys and gets Butch and Cassidy arrested.
106	* In "The Battle of the Badge", the Team Rocket trio are on top of a building looking around for Ash and his friends. Suddenly, Misty's Togepi falls from a Fearow's mouth and lands on the building they're perched on top of, then quickly starts walking on a plank of wood towards another building. They see and decide to try to capture it.\
107	'''You'd Expect:''' Meowth would be the one to give chase, since he's the shortest and lightest of the group, has excellent balance, and is capable of carrying Togepi.\
108	'''Instead:''' Jessie decides to crawl across the board in pursuit of Togepi. Unsurprisingly, the beam breaks under her weight and she suffers a nasty fall.
109	* In "A Friend In Deed," Team Rocket has a truck containing ALL the Pokémon of the top 16 competitors of the Indigo League. After being chased by Ash and Ritchie, they escape along a river.\
110	'''You'd Expect:''' That they just keep driving, taking shifts if they needed to. That way, they can return to the boss's headquarters and finally get recognition.\
111	'''Instead:''' They sleep on the side of the road causing Ash and Richie to find them the next morning. They sneak into the truck and find the bag of stolen loot.\
112	'''You'd Then Expect:''' To wait until they exit the van and have Meowth attack them before stealing it back. Then, James can have Weezing smoke them before driving off.\
113	'''Or:''' Throw a net at them, then throw them out of the truck.\
114	'''Instead:''' They do the WORST THING POSSIBLE and lock them in the van ''with the bag.'' Guess what happens.
115	* “Friend and Foe Alike”:
116	** During the Indigo League, Ash is late for his battle against Ritchie (as in, ultimately, several hours late) During the time that Ash is a no-show, Misty angrily confronts Ritchie about a call he supposedly made, telling Ash to meet him at such-a-place and insulting Misty. Ritchie tells her that he never made that call. (It was actually Team Rocket using a voice synthesizer.)\
117	'''You'd Expect:''' Misty to put two and two together and realize that if Ash was told to go somewhere by someone impersonating Ritchie and he's currently nowhere to be found, he might be in serious danger.\
118	'''In Addition:''' This is just hours after Team Rocket impersonated league officials and stole many trainers' Pokémon, indicating that the league has some major security problems.\
119	'''You'd Therefore Expect:''' Somebody--''anybody''--to assume the worst and put the match on hold while they dispatch search-and-rescue teams.\
120	'''Instead:''' Nobody. Does. ''Anything.'' Thousands of people just sit on their hands while Ash goes through insane amounts of crap to fight his way out of Team Rocket's clutches and return to the stadium in their balloon. By the time he does, half his team has been exhausted.\
121	'''You'd Then Expect:''' That after everything Ash has been through, and after he entered the stadium in a balloon widely recognized by every Officer Jenny in the stadium, no less, his battle with Ritchie would be postponed until tomorrow, giving him some much-needed time to rest.\
122	'''Instead:''' The battle takes place as scheduled. Ash loses to Ritchie.
123	** Ash makes his own boneheaded choices with his Pokémon that show he probably wouldn't have won the battle even if he had been allowed to fight at full strength.\
124	'''You'd Expect:''' For Ash to use Kingler or Muk in lieu of Charizard (and leave Charizard back at Professor Oak's lab), since those two Pokémon were revealed to be competent battlers and they actually listen to him. Plus, Kingler had a type advantage and has defeated an Exeggutor, a grass type, when it was just a Krabby. Heck, he could even try out his last untested Pokémon and use Tauros; it would be better than leaving a team slot empty, plus "beginner's luck" worked out well for him using Kingler and Muk against Mandi the Magnificent and Jeanette Fisher (a fact he later mentioned in the Orange League battle against Drake, which proved to be effective even there).\
125	'''Instead:''' Due to his arrogance, Ash never considers that Charizard would be completely disobedient and will be a hindrance to him. This bites him in the ass when he's forced to use it as a last option and loses the league for the first of many times to come.
126	* In "Pallet Party Panic,'' Team Rocket show up to ruin the party and steal Pikachu.\
127	'''You'd Expect: ''' For Ash to use Pidgeotto to rescue Pikachu.\
128	'''Instead:''' He commands Squirtle to use a Water Gun attack. It can't reach the balloon, giving time for Team Rocket to throw down bombs at everybody.\
129	'''Fortunately:''' Ash gets the memo and sends Pidgeotto. Unfortunately, Team Rocket have a back-up balloon and quickly float away again. Jessie then sends out Arbok to use Poison Sting on Pidgeotto. So Ash has no choice than to send out Charizard.
130	* In "In the Pink", the twerps wash up on an island and encounter a pink Rhyhorn feasting on some berries. Tracey decides to get closer so he can sketch it, by crawling through the grass and moving against the wind. When Ash says he doesn't think Tracey should be that close to it, Misty remarks that, as a Pokémon Watcher, Tracey knows more than Ash about these sorts of things.\
131	'''You'd Expect:''' That Ash would just ignore Misty's comment.\
132	'''Instead:''' In some sort of attempt to prove Misty wrong, he '' walks towards the Rhyhorn, shouts at it and begins to pet it!''\
133	'''Predictably:''' Rhyhorn begins to rampage, sending Ash flying, which eventually leads to it running off a cliff and landing on a branch, forcing Ash and co. to save it with the help of the local Officer Jenny by rope-climbing down the cliff.\
134	'''You'd Expect:''' That they don't send down the person who angered it in the first place.\
135	'''Instead:''' Ash goes down along with Tracey to rescue it.\
136	'''Thankfully:''' Rhyhorn seems too exhausted to care. That, or it forgot why it started rampaging in the first place.
137	* In another episode, Ash is fighting Misty in the Whirl Islands Tournament. When Misty tries to use her last Pokémon, Psyduck comes out. Ash has his Kingler out on the field. However, Psyduck has a tendency to go into a Psycho rage when it gets a headache. Ash ''knows'' this; he has seen it on numerous occasions. \
138	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash to command Kingler to tickle Psyduck, or better yet, nudge it into the water. \
139	'''Instead:''' Ash commands Kingler to use Vicegrip On Psyduck's head. That doesn't work and a few seconds later, Ash's face comes in contact with it thanks to Psyduck's Psychic powers[[note]]To make it even worse, Ash has previously beaten Misty's Psyduck using the ''exact same strategy'' as suggested above[[/note]].
140	* In the episode “Nerves of Steelix,” Ash and co see a giant Wobuffet Machine that promises a prize if you leave any of your Pokémon on a gold plaque.\
141	'''You’d Expect:''' For Ash to be suspicious of the fact that a giant Wobbuffet machine is standing in their path, see that it may be a sham, and to NOT put any of his Pokémon on the plague.\
142	'''Instead:''' Ash just leaves his Pikachu on the plague & Team Rocket successfully catches Pikachu. If not for Jasmine intervening, Team Rocket would have gotten away with Pikachu.
143
144	''[[AC:Anime/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire]]''
145	* In "All Things Bright and Beautifly", Jessie is participating in her first contest using her Seviper.\
146	'''You'd Expect:''' In preparation for the Appeal round, Jessie would look up what kind of moves Seviper can learn, or at least try to use common sense and determine what sort of moves Seviper can learn.\
147	'''Instead:''' She enters the contest unprepared, and during the Appeal round, she tries to make Seviper use Sacred Fire (which it can't learn). When Seviper predictably doesn't use the move, she gives it a bunch of other suggestions that don't work (including [[EpicFail telling Seviper, a snake, to use Blaze Kick and Dragon Claw]]). Eventually, Meowth finally suggests telling Seviper to use Poison Tail (which it already knows), but by then, the damage is already done, and Jessie ends up losing.
148	* In "Who's Flying Now?", James comes across the scammer who sold him a Magikarp when he is at the festival at Fortree City trying to buy a Chimecho. James immediately finds out he's the same scammer. The scammer [[BlatantLies claims that he turned over a new leaf.]]\
149	'''You'd Expect:''' For James to inspect the Chimecho and see that it ''has office tape all over it.''\
150	'''Instead:''' James buys the Chimecho without hesitation. He pays for this later.
151	* In "Candid Camerupt", the group is having a friendly battle with the Winstrate family. Max is up and he's up against the youngest family member, Vivi, who he has a crush on; he's borrowing one of Ash's Pokémon and wants to go easy on her.\
152	'''You'd Expect:''' He'd pick Pikachu or Treecko, who not only have Type-Advantages over Marill, but have generally calm personalities and will likely listen to him.\
153	'''Instead:''' He picks [[{{Jerkass}} Corphish]]. Said Pokémon doesn't listen and beats up her Marill. [[PyrrhicVictory While Max won the match, it caused Vivi to hate him and ruining any chance he had with her]].
154	* In "Maxxed Out!", [[CuteKitten May's Skitty]] [[InnocentlyInsensitive unintentionally]] ruins the ends of Jessie's hair. This of course [[NobodyTouchesTheHair sends Jessie over the edge.]]\
155	'''You'd Expect:''' Jessie to calm down and realize that the damage to her hair is rather minor unlike the previous two instances and that it could be fixed easily with a comb.\
156	'''Instead:''' As usual, Jessie [[ItsPersonal lets her temper and personal feelings take over,]] [[VillainousBreakdown throwing]] [[UnstoppableRage a massive tantrum]] when everyone starts laughing at her.
157	* In "A Double Dilemma", Team Rocket decides to capitalize on the hero worship that the citizens of North Petalburg have for Gym Leader Norman by dressing up as him and his family. So, while James and Jessie dress as Norman and Caroline (and do an almost passable job of it), Meowth and Wobbuffet dress as May and Max.\
158	'''You'd Expect:''' The townsfolk to notice that ten-year-old "May" is suddenly knee-high to an adult and speaking with a sudden {{Joisey}} accent, and that the even younger "Max" is both blue as the midday sky and almost five feet tall.\
159	'''Instead:''' Not one person sees through perhaps the ''thinnest'' PaperThinDisguise in Team Rocket history.
160	* And while this is going on, two citizens learn that Ash intends to challenge Norman to a gym battle.\
161	'''You'd Expect:''' For them to let him carry out his challenge -- since that is, after all, how things work in every Pokémon League.\
162	'''Instead:''' They decide that Ash can't be allowed to battle Norman (even though he has every right to make that challenge and it's Norman's job to field such challenges) and take him on themselves. Yes, they lose, but this leads to more trainers launching an all-out ZergRush on Ash.
163
164	''[[AC:Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl]]''
165	* Barry is battling Ash. Ash's Chimchar defeats Barry's Staraptor.\
166	'''You'd Expect:''' Barry to send out his Empoleon, taking advantage of ElementalRockPaperScissors ''and'' the fact that Empoleon is a fully evolved Pokémon with powerful attacks, unlike Chimchar.\
167	'''Instead:''' He sends out his Roserade, giving ''Ash'' an ElementalRockPaperScissors advantage.\
168	'''Surprisingly:''' Roserade actually ''does'' end up defeating Chimchar.
169	* Another one with Barry is when he has his Hitmonlee out against Paul's Ursaring.\
170	'''You'd Expect:''' That Barry would have Hitmonlee use Fighting-type attacks, which are strong against Ursaring. And no, this isn't a case of this only being true in games and not in the anime. Barry outright states that this the case; it's ''the entire reason he sent out Hitmonlee in the first place''.\
171	'''Instead:''' Partway into the fight, Barry arbitrarily decides to have Hitmonlee start using the Fire-type Blaze Kick for no apparent reason. This ends up inflicting a burn on the Ursaring, which causes its [[SuperMode Guts ability]] to kick in, resulting in Hitmonlee getting pulverized. Sure, Barry's a bit scatterbrained, but he's not ''this'' stupid.
172	* During the three-episode EnemyMine tournament arc where Ash and [[TheRival Paul]] [[TeethClenchedTeamwork are forced to work together]], Ash comes across Paul's [[TrainingFromHell intense training methods]] and how injured Chimchar was, all in the name of harnessing [[CriticalStatusBuff Blaze]]--the whole reason Paul caught Chimchar in the first place and kept him as long as he did, and the whole reason he's even in the tournament at all ([[{{Griefer}} this is already a big strike against him]], as Dawn pointed out). Keep in mind that this is the night before their next match. Chimchar is taken to the Pokémon Center, and Paul is explicitly told by [[TheMedic Nurse Joy]] that Chimchar would be far too worn out to battle tomorrow and would need rest. He is also aware that his next match involves a Zangoose, and that Chimchar fears this particular species.\
173	'''You'd Expect:''' Paul to take her advice and have Chimchar sit this one out. You know, since she IS a doctor for Pokémon and knows what she's talking about. Not only would this give Chimchar a chance to physically and psychologically recover, it would also ease Ash off his case. And who knows--maybe Blaze could come out the following round?\
174	'''Instead:''' Paul disregards Nurse Joy's warning and uses Chimchar in their battle the next day. Not only that, he then has Chimchar attack [[{{Jerkass}} knowing that his moves would end up hurting Ash's Turtwig as well]] and finally, fed up with his "[[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes weakness]]", [[{{Ragequit}} leaves Ash to finish the battle solo]]. After the fight, he abandons Chimchar without a second thought, just like several other Pokémon he once handled.
175
176	''[[AC:Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite]]''
177	* In ''Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym!'', during Ash's gym battle against Elesa, his Palpitoad is knocked out by her Emolga. This creates a problem for Ash, as Emolga's typing (Electric/Flying) gives it an advantage over most of his team (read: Oshawott, Tranquill, Snivy, Scraggy, and Swadloon.) He suddenly has a EurekaMoment and rushes to the PC.\
178	'''You'd Expect:''' For Ash to send out [[DishingOutDirt Roggenrola]], who has an advantage over [[BlowYouAway Emolga]].\
179	'''Instead:''' He sends out [[GreenThumb Snivy]] instead, who as mentioned above, has a type disadvantage against Emolga. Snivy is promptly beaten by Emolga, leaving Ash to fight Elesa's remaining team with just Pikachu.\
180	'''Even Worse:''' During the battle, he has Snivy use Attract, which doesn't work against Pokémon of the same gender, which is a fact he needs pointed out to him immediately afterwards.\
181	'''Taking the Stupidity further:''' After Palpitoad is taken down, it is revealed that Palpitoad and Pikachu were the only Pokémon Ash bothered to bring with him (leaving the rest behind at the Pokémon Center). Ash's "strategy" of relying on Palpitoad to deliver a CurbStompBattle aside, one would assume that Ash would have been used to carrying his full team with him out of force of habit. (Even in the Indigo League, when he did try this strategy with Krabby/Kingler against Mandi the Magnificent, he openly stated that he wasn't 100% sure this would work and had Squirtle and Pikachu waiting on standby in case Krabby/Kingler got knocked out.)\
182	'''[[BrokeTheRatingScale Breaking the scale of stupidity]]:''' After that, Ash desperately rushes back to the Pokémon Center... and brings back only one more Poké Ball (containing Snivy). After Snivy's defeat, Ash just stands there dumbfounded. Pikachu, of all Pokémon, had to shock Ash to remind him that he still had another Pokémon to work with!
183	* Stephan wins a tournament to make a wish that is guaranteed to come true.\
184	'''You'd Expect:''' He'd wish to win the Pokémon League, which is the biggest tournament in Pokémon.\
185	'''Instead:''' He wishes to win an upcoming tournament that has nothing to do with the Pokémon League.
186	* Ash's final battle with Iris in one of the Club Tournaments,\
187	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash would know Iris saved her Excadrill for the final battle, so he'd use Palpitoad.\
188	'''Or:''' For Ash to either use Oshawott, a water type, or Scraggy, a fighting type. Both have the advantages against Excadrill.\
189	'''Instead:''' Ash sends out Pikachu, whose two most powerful attacks (Thunderbolt and Electro Ball) have no effect on Excadrill AND Excadrill resists his other moves (Iron Tail and Quick Attack). He loses the Club Tournament as a result.
190	* Trip's battle with Alder during the Junior Cup. His Serperior Vs Alder's Bouffalant.\
191	'''You'd Expect:''' Trip to understand how to fight against Alder's Bouffalant.\
192	'''Instead:''' Trip uses Solar Beam. He knew Bouffalant had the ability Sap Sipper, which not only absorbs the move but increases his attack as well instead, thinking it would ''catch Alder off-guard'', but the result ends up with Bouffalant doing one move to defeat Serperior easily.
193	* Cameron, full stop for Arceus's sake.\
194	'''You'd Expect:''' Cameron to take a few minutes to research the guidelines of the tournaments and think of battling strategies.\
195	'''Instead:''' He thought the league was going to be in Johto. Luckily, he stayed in Unova.\
196	'''Even Worse:''' He mentioned that he qualified for the Unova League, but he only had 7 badges instead of 8, so he had to rush to a Gym to get his badge.\
197	'''Taking the Stupidity further:''' Despite camping out at the site of the league tournament for 3 days, he was completely unaware that he had to register for it before it starts. Ash had to rush him in and practically beg Nurse Joy to give Cameron a rare pardon on that registration screw-up.\
198	'''[[BrokeTheRatingScale Breaking the scale of stupidity]]:''' Sending Pokémon that are '''4 TIMES WEAK AGAINST THE OPPONENT'S POKÉMON!!!''' Sending a Ferrothorn (Grass/Steel) against Pignite (Fire)? Sending a Swanna (Water/Flying) against a Pikachu (Electric)?\
199	'''The scale is broken, so [[SerialEscalation how far will it go]]?:''' Registering 5 Pokémon instead of 6 because he thought it was a 5-on-5 battle, and this was the quarterfinals. He was lucky to defeat Ash when his Riolu evolved into a Lucario and [[DiabolusExMachina regained full health alongside increased stats]]. He was fortunately able to register his Watchog, though he still lost to Virgil.
200
201	''[[AC:Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY]]''
202	* In "Friend and Faux Alike", Team Rocket has a mecha-Heliolisk that they gleefully proclaim can repel electric attacks.\
203	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash to order Pikachu to use Iron Tail or Quick Attack, or for him to use one of his other Pokémon.\
204	'''Instead:''' He calls for Thunderbolt, which gets absorbed.\
205	'''You'd Then Expect:''' Ash to learn from this and use a non-electric attack.\
206	'''Instead:''' He calls for Electroball, with the predictable outcome.
207	* Korrina is separated from her Lucario during a run in with a flock of Noibat in a cave.\
208	'''You'd Expect:''' Her Lucario to use aura to locate her immediately before sunset.\
209	'''Instead:''' [[ForgotAboutHisPowers It doesn't even think about using it]] and instead relies on the then-imperfect method of using the Mega Stone itself ''the next day'', leading to an unnecessary moment of tension as Korrina is forced to fight Team Rocket using Ash's Pikachu.\
210	'''You'd Also Expect:''' Korrina to use her other Pokémon to fight.\
211	'''Instead:''' She doesn't.
212	* In "A Not-So-Flying Start", Hawlucha brings Ash a Pokémon egg, and it shows signs of hatching shortly thereafter.\
213	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash to draw upon his personal experience with Phanpy, Larvitar, and Scraggy, and[=/=]or his experience with his companions (Misty, Brock, May, and Dawn had all hatched Pokémon from eggs during their respective travels), to know what to do with the egg.\
214	'''Instead:''' He panics, and next thing you know, almost everyone and their Pokémon are group-hugging the egg unnecessarily to keep it warm.
215	* In "All Hail the Ice Battlefield", Ash is challenging the Snowbelle Gym, and he hasn't yet learnt to control the Ash-Greninja technique.\
216	'''You'd Expect:''' Either Ash to perfect the Ash-Greninja technique before challenging the Gym, or for him to rely on tried-and-true methods to battle.\
217	'''Instead:''' He uses the Ash-Greninja technique but is still unable to control it. He passes out and loses the battle.
218	* In "A League of His Own", as Ash is headed to his first Kalos League Championship battle, he is challenged by Everett to an impromptu match and reminded of his promise to challenge the other trainer "next time".\
219	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash to quite reasonably remind Everett that he has a League Championship battle coming up that he can't afford to miss, and to agree upon a set time for him and Everett to have their battle. After all, promise or no promise, Everett is being unreasonable in insisting on a battle right then and there; he can't reasonably expect Ash to keep his promise when Everett sets up a situation where anyone with common sense would decline to do so. (Lying in wait to intercept Ash just before a crucial battle, rather than challenging Ash at a more reasonable time.) For all Ash knows, Everett could quite conceivably be a saboteur in league with a rival, out to ruin Ash's chances.\
220	'''You'd Also Expect:''' For stadium security to stop Everett from getting to Ash in the first place. He encountered Ash in a hallway leading to the arena, a place which one would expect to be off-limits to the general public.\
221	'''Instead:''' Ash chooses HonorBeforeReason and accepts the challenge. He avoids forfeiting his League battle by arriving at the last second, and is unable to use one of his most powerful Pokémon (Pikachu) He is fortunate that he wins the battle.
222	* Alain works for Team Flare while being lied to that he was doing so for the good of humanity.\
223	'''You'd Expect:''' Alain starting to doubt their motives after scuffling against innocent Legendary Pokémon doing their jobs, with one of them being damaged and captured because of him.\
224	'''Instead:''' He never doubts them ''once'' and leads to the implied genocide of Lumiose City. Cue ''very brief'' HeroicBSOD.
225	* Alain is completely sure bad things happen because he lacks power.\
226	'''You'd Expect:''' Alain to realize his PoorCommunicationKills issues keep making things worse.\
227	'''Instead:''' Nope. It's totally his fault his power is too weak!
228	* Still in the same vein, the fact everyone uses their Pokémon to fight the monster.\
229	'''You'd Expect:''' Everyone tossing every single Pokémon they have at it (except for Ash's group sans Greninja and Pikachu, and whom had been slaughtered by Lysandre's Mega Gyarados).\
230	'''Instead:''' They only use their aces, unnecessarily complicating the battle for the sake of action.
231	* ''Still'' in the same vein, Alain's league team.\
232	'''You'd Expect:''' Alain to spam Bisharp Guillotine or at least use anybody else for the battle.\
233	'''Instead:''' He forgets he even has an Unfezant.
234	* Even further, in another vein, Alain wants to battle Ash a third time while the Leauge is coming up. He has previously stated that he doesn’t want to participate in the League.\
235	'''You’d Expect:''' Alain to wait until the League has concluded and then challenge Ash to another battle.\
236	'''Instead:''' Alain decides to participate in the League to battle Ash again regardless, not taking into account that the fights are chosen randomly between all the participants and he might not fight Ash at all, because either of them can be eliminated from the League before getting the chance to face each other.
237
238	''[[AC: Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon]]''
239	* Professor Kukui announces a tournament in Alola and says that anyone can join.\
240	'''You’d Expect:''' Kukui to put some restrictions on this statement.\
241	'''Instead:''' He doesn’t. As a result, Team Rocket, Guzma, Plumeria, and the Team Skull Trio, known criminals, are able to enter the League. While Team Rocket has the excuse of using disguises, Team Skull literally enters without any disguises and somehow aren’t kicked out! Fortunately, none of the criminals win the League.
242
243	''[[AC: Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries]]''
244	* In "The Sinnoh Iceberg Race!", the filler character Lauren's glasses constantly fall off.\
245	'''You’d Expect:''' She'd invest in a glasses strap that keeps them on her face.\
246	'''Instead:''' She doesn’t.\
247	'''Result:''' She keeps losing her glasses, to the point of them falling into the sea. Had it not been for a friendly Piplup, Croagunk, and Psyduck, she may have lost her glasses forever.
248	* "To Train or Not to Train": Team Rocket is basically about to win because Ash and Pikachu are in a pit, and Goh's only Pokémon are captured. The Pokémon's only hope is on Chloe with her Yamper and an Eevee who she just met. Team Rocket's Prize Master is conveniently malfunctioning so they can't use any of the Pokémon on hand.\
249	'''You'd Expect:''' Meowth to take the lead or to have Wobbuffet use Counter/Mirror Coat on every move Chloe can make, since all she knows is how Yamper can use Spark.\
250	'''Instead:''' They rely on the Water/Flying ''Pelipper'' to battle them, which gains a 4x weakness to Thunder.\
251	'''Result:''' After it's revealed that Eevee knows Copycat, Yamper and Eevee send them flying.\
252	'''Even Worse:''' Instead of continuing to try fighting against her with Meowth and Wobbuffet above, Team Rocket call it quits, giving Pikachu time to use Iron Tail to destroy the net and then a Thunderbolt to blast them off again.
253	* During "Battling in the Freezing Raid!", Ash and Goh participate in a Raid Battle alongside his childhood friend Horace and rival Gary for Articuno with Gary leading the battle (much to Goh's annoyance).\
254	'''You'd Expect:''' He'd swallow his pride and listen to Gary's instructions with everyone else. \
255	'''Instead:''' He never listens to Gary and does the whole battle his way instead (even when Ash and Horace tell him to listen to Gary).\
256	'''Result:''' His actions cause Ash, Horace and Gary's last Pokémon to be taken out, leading to them to losing the Raid Battle and Goh nearly failing his trial mission as a result.
257
258	''[[AC: Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries]]''
259	* In Episode 15, Spinel finally gets his hands on Liko's pendant, which the Explorers had been chasing for a while now. However, he is aware that the Rising Volt Tacklers are looking for Liko and if they manage to find her, they will probably be after him and the pendant next.\
260	'''You'd Expect:''' He'd get the pendant away from Paldea as fast as possible, via the Explorer's submarines, a helicopter or even a few flying Pokémon if need be. Whether or not he is present doesn't matter so long as the pendant gets far away from the Rising Volt Tacklers and is safe in Explorer hands.\
261	'''Instead:''' He keeps the pendant with him in his mobile base, which has to be transported off-region via a comparatively slow cargo ship.\
262	'''Result:''' Predictably, some of the Rising Volt Tacklers find him on the ship and he loses the pendant.\
263	'''Additionally:''' He would take Liko to somewhere random that isn't in Levincia, make her forget he even existed, and scarper off. Every second the Rising Volt Tacklers search for Liko is a second he can use to make his escape. He would also staton additional trainers loyal to him on the ship, whether they be mercenaries (which Spinel had previously been shown to be able to hire) or Explorer Grunts.\
264	'''Instead:''' He just leaves Liko wandering around Levincia. Granted, it still took the effort of Iono and Dot to find her, and he did create a misinformation campaign that paints her being in another city, but moving her to another location would still buy him time to get out of Paldea. In addition, he goes solo on his cargo ship.
265	* The Explorers have set up a ploy to summon the Black Rayquaza. Spinel once again is put in charge of the plan and given how he's an admin, suffice to say he could probably call upon more of the Explorer's resources which we know they have (as in, more Mon's, more men, which would overall give him more firepower).\
266	'''You'd Expect:''' He'd requisition additional resources and manpower in his plot. The RVT's interference or not, this is a (literally in the case) ''[[OlympusMons Legendary Pokemon]]'' that would require a large number of powerful trainers to event attempt to stop. And in addition, he ''knows'' the RVT are coming to the point where he even set up a trap for Friede.\
267	'''Alternatively:''' If the four admins really were enough, he would bring the additional manpower to provide security or just to further wear down Friede in his trap. The four admins are indeed very strong, but with their power focused on Rayquaza, they can only do so much to stop intruders like the RVT, and Spinel has shown he's willing to resort to dirty tactics.\
268	'''Instead:''' He decides that the four admins are enough and stops there.\
269	'''Result:''' Unsurprisingly, the plot ends in complete failure as the Black Rayquaza is able to escape with the RVT's influence and help.
270
271
272	[[/folder]]
273
274	[[folder:Movies]]
275	* ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'':
276	** After Dr. Fuji reveals to Mewtwo his origins and purpose, it asks the scientist what becomes of him now that (so it thinks) the experiment is over.\
277	'''You'd Expect:''' That Dr. Fuji, at the very least, understand that Mewtwo is an unpredictable Pokémon who's so confused and dazed that he could lash out at any moment. He could at least help it restore its memory, which the scientists erased to control its brain waves, and elaborate why they can't let him go just yet, if ever. Perhaps he should bring up his late daughter Amber, the reason the cloning project exists in the first place, which would help since Mewtwo has at least ''some'' memories of her clone being the only friend it had (along with remembering her final words before disappearing).\
278	'''Instead:''' Dr. Fuji callously tells Mewtwo that the "serious testing" will begin, revealing that he and his fellow scientists saw it as an experiment and nothing more, congratulating themselves in the process. Bear in mind that Mewtwo had just escaped from its restraints, so there was nothing stopping it from snapping. Naturally, Mewtwo doesn't accept this fate at all, and it promptly disintegrates the lab, [[AssholeVictim killing Dr. Fuji and everyone else]]. Things only get worse from there...
279	** Mewtwo, having been persuaded to work with Giovanni, is still wondering what its purpose is.\
280	'''You'd Expect:''' Giovanni would keep in mind Mewtwo is one of the strongest Pokémon ''ever'', and can take down multiple opponents all at once, AND that prior to this, it destroyed an entire laboratory and all those inside in a fit of rage over the scientists not caring about it, just what it is. Thus he should be careful not to offend/anger Mewtwo.\
281	'''Instead:''' He tells Mewtwo that, as Mewtwo was created by humans, its purpose is to serve them and not question it. Mewtwo promptly causes an explosion and takes off.\
282	'''But wait, there's more!''' It was this moment that convinced Mewtwo that humans cannot be trusted and nearly leads it to cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Way to go, numbnut.
283	* ''Anime/Pokemon2000'': The villain Lawrence III has just captured Moltres and Ash & co accidentally.\
284	'''You'd Expect:''' The villain to keep Ash and friends imprisoned, or at least disarm them by taking away their Pokémon, or better yet -- dump them into the sea.\
285	'''Instead:''' ''He lets them freely roam his flying base as he focuses on capturing the remaining bird.'' A few minutes later, the whole place is in ruins and the two birds he captured have escaped. Nice work, moron.
286	* ''Anime/PokemonLucarioAndTheMysteryOfMew'': Lucario needs to use his Aura power to heal the WorldTree, but the amount of Aura required would be fatal to him. \
287	'''You'd Expect:''' Lucario to ask Ash, who has recently been revealed to have Aura power, to help him heal the tree, thus preventing a [[StupidSacrifice senseless loss of life]]. \
288	'''Instead:''' Lucario does it himself and dies a tragic, pointless death. And he ''still'' needed Ash's help. [[note]] Storywise, a HeroicSacrifice is more, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin heroic]], and dramatic. Plus, he'd finally found out, after 1000 years, that his master had in fact done the same thing instead of cravenly fleeing and deserting Lucario and the Queen like it appeared he had, so Lucario finally had closure and maybe even wanted to be reunited with Sir Aaron rather than remain separated. [[/note]]
289	* ''Anime/PokemonZoroarkMasterOfIllusions'': Grings Kodai, the antagonist, sees a vision of the future. Part of the vision tells him his assistant will betray him.\
290	'''You'd Expect:''' He would lock her up in some way, ensuring that she won't be able to do anything to keep him from his goal.\
291	'''Instead:''' They conduct business as usual, allow her to betray him.
292	* ''Anime/PokemonKyuremVSTheSwordOfJustice'': Scraggy is accidentally left behind on a train station... and the train is leaving.\
293	'''You'd Expect:''' Ash to just recall Scraggy and send him out again.\
294	'''Instead:''' Ash tries to get Scraggy to jump onto the moving train. Scraggy fails, and has to be caught by Snivy's vines.
295	[[/folder]]
296
297	[[folder:Manga]]
298	* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'':
299	** Jasmine is traveling through Ecruteak City when there's an earthquake.\
300	'''You'd Expect:''' She run somewhere she won't get crushed.\
301	'''Instead:''' She runs to what has to be the most structurally weak building in the area: A crumbling, 700-year-old wooden tower! Not just inside it, either, but to the top!
302	** [[EliteMook Matt]] uses a bound-and-gagged Flannery as a hostage to lure [[WildChild Sapphire]] into an airtight cable car, which he [[LockedInARoom locks]] and then [[DrowningPit floods]] with his Azumarill--but not before knocking out Chic and putting an air bubble around his head to make certain he can breathe in the flooded car.\
303	'''You'd Expect:''' Matt to let the water do the work. He can breathe; they can't. The entire situation, at that point, was engineered so he couldn't hope to lose.\
304	'''Instead:''' Not only does he summon a Sharpedo to expedite the killing, but even after its teeth are broken off, he flagrantly violates [[EvilGloating Rule 6]] of the EvilOverlordList, with some of the gloating going straight into TemptingFate. Yes, Sapphire ''can'' hold her breath that long, and she ''does'', up to the point ''she manages to cut a hole in the glass with the same teeth she just broke off!''
305	** Alexa has info on a major incident that no other news outlet appears to have.\
306	'''You'd Expect:''' It's common sense applying to almost any situation. In case of emergency, make copies or have backups for any important documents that you have.\
307	'''Instead:''' She doesn't, so when her editor-in-chief reveals himself to be evil and burns her report, there's nothing she can do about it. She later berates herself for being so excited over the info that she wasn't thinking straight.
308	[[/folder]]
309
310	[[folder:Video Games]]
311	* From [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the very beginning]] and spanning multiple ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games, the regional criminal organization either take over a large building to use as their headquarters, or have built their own. Either way, their base of operations is usually in a busy city, [[StupidCrooks in plain view and easily noticed]].\
312	'''You'd Expect:''' The police conduct an investigation and arrest the criminals. Yes, police officers exist in the ''Pokémon'' games, but you'd be forgiven for forgetting they exist because...\
313	'''Instead:''' With the exception of Looker, a single police officer, the police as a whole [[PoliceAreUseless do absolutely nothing]].\
314	'''As A Result:''' The PlayerCharacter, usually a pre-teen, has to infiltrate the criminal organization's headquarters themselves to foil their evil plans by defeating their members in Pokémon battles; and they somehow do a much better job at restoring order to the region than the actual law enforcers.
315	* ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'':
316	** The player infiltrates the Team Rocket Hideout, but can't use the elevator to get to Giovanni. One Rocket Grunt off the beaten path is "guarding" the Lift Key needed to use the elevator.\
317	'''You'd Expect:''' For the Rocket Grunt in question to tell the player to leave, or to mock them for going the wrong way.\
318	'''Instead:''' He pretty much gives away that he has the Lift Key, and upon being defeated in a battle he not only drops the Lift Key on the ground (the player does have to talk to him after defeating him in ''Red/Blue'', but in ''Yellow'' he drops it immediately after the battle), but he doesn't even bother to pick it back up again or make any attempt to prevent the player from picking it up for themselves.\
319	'''As A Result:''' The player is able to gain access to the rest of the Rocket Hideout and dispose of the remaining Grunts and Giovanni, forcing them to abandon the hideout. Oh, and "Oh, no! I dropped the [[CapitalLettersAreMagic LIFT KEY]]!" became a [[MemeticMutation meme]].
320	** Saffron City is overseen by city guards to the north, south, east and west. Within the city, Silph Co. has been taken over by Team Rocket, who have also taken the company's owner hostage.\
321	'''You'd Expect:''' The city guards actually, you know, do something about it.\
322	'''Instead:''' [[SkewedPriorities They care more about them feeling thirsty]] than about the local ''Pokémon'' tech manufacturing company being overrun by criminals, and will actively bar [[PlayerCharacter Red]] from entering the city in the first place unless he gives them a drink. PoliceAreUseless, indeed!
323	* ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'':
324	** Silver (your rival) is able to steal one of the Pokémon from Professor Elm's lab. On his way out of New Bark Town, he finds you at the entrance of Cherrygrove City, and notices you also have a Pokémon from the lab.\
325	'''You'd Expect:''' For Silver to simply leave you alone. If he doesn't interact with you, he can make it out of town unscathed.\
326	'''Instead:''' He challenges you to a battle, and after it, regardless of the outcome, he reveals his intentions and ''his name''.[[note]]This was retconned in ''[=HeartGold/SoulSilver=]'', where he instead clumsily drops his Trainer ID, allowing you to see his name. It's still remarkably careless of him, though.[[/note]]\
327	'''As A Result:''' You're able to provide the police information on the case and chase him down.
328	** In the Team Rocket hideout in Mahogany Town, there's a scientist in the first floor (the one with the Persian statues) with three Magnemites. After you defeat him, you can talk to him. What does he say?\
329	'''You'd Expect:''' That the scientist would just mention what Team Rocket has in store involving the Radio Tower. Or something involving their plan, ''anything'' except...\
330	'''Instead:''' He tells you that the computer on his desk can turn off the alarms set in the Persian statues, and for you to not push it. But, being the hero that you are, of course you're gonna do that... unless you prefer to pass the statues anyway to fight the Grunts for EXP.
331	* ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'': Team Magma want to summon and control Groudon in the name of land expansion, while Team Aqua want to summon/control Kyogre in the name of sea expansion. Both teams ([[EvilVersusEvil who predictably do not get along]]) eventually discover that there are two orbs that can do so. One of the orbs is colored red, the other blue. Incidentally, Groudon is red in color, Kyogre blue.\
332	'''You'd Expect:''' Team Magma to make the obvious connection that they should use the Red Orb to summon/control Groudon; likewise, Team Aqua to make the equally obvious connection that they should use the Blue Orb to summon/control Kyogre.\
333	'''Instead:''' Team Magma tries to summon/control Groudon with the ''Blue'' Orb, while Team Aqua tries to summon/control Kyogre with the ''Red'' Orb.\
334	'''As A Result:''' The two teams summon Groudon and Kyogre... and completely fail to control them, resulting in [[LethallyStupid Hoenn being subjected to terrible droughts and floods]].\
335	'''However:''' [[AdaptationalIntelligence This is averted in the remakes]], where they each use the correct orbs... only for Groudon/Kyogre to be too powerful to control anyway.
336	* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'':
337	** Team Galactic takes over a building in Eterna City, and are using it as a faux Pokémon donation charity to steal trainers' Pokémon. One Galactic Grunt on the ground floor asks the player if they want to donate their Pokémon, which the player [[SilentProtagonist allegedly]] refuses.\
338	'''You'd Expect:''' Since they're trying to look good, the Galactic Grunt would politely tell the player to return if they decide to donate for Team Galactic.\
339	'''Instead:''' He tells the player to "scram", yelling at him for wasting his time, losing his chance for any donations he would get from anybody the kid could know.\
340	'''Furthermore, you’d expect:''' The Grunts to conceal all affiliation with the Galactic Grunts who are stealing Pokémon and holding people hostage, by wearing different clothes and using a different name. Since [[PlayerCharacter that kid]] already saw the other Grunts’ crimes, they would never have cooperated even if the one from the lobby had been polite.
341	** In ''[[UpdatedReRelease Platinum]]'', there are two staircases on each floor of the Galactic Eterna Building except the top floor; one is the way forward, the other leads to a dead-end with potential goodies.\
342	'''You'd Expect:''' The grunts would either guard both staircases at all possible floors, or not guard any staircases at all. Preferably the former, but either way there won't be any clue for where to go.\
343	'''Instead:''' There are signs next to the correct staircase talking about how "the path you chose leads to glory", obviously showing the way forward. Such a sign appears on all possible floors of the building.
344	* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': Ghetsis [[spoiler:devises a [[ComplexityAddiction convoluted plot]] to take over Unova: adopt and raise N to adulthood and get him to capture one of Unova's two legendary dragons, defeat the Champion, and tell everyone in the region to release their Pokémon, allowing Ghetsis to conquer the place unopposed.]]\
345	'''You'd Expect:''' Ghetsis to realize how flawed his plan is. Even if [[spoiler:N ruled the world as his puppet-king]], he couldn't possibly convince every single individual in the region to [[spoiler:let go of their Pokémon]], especially since [[spoiler:well-treated Pokémon ''want'' to have a relationship with humans]]. And even if he somehow could, there would still be trainers with Pokémon outside of Unova who could be called to take Ghetsis down.\
346	'''Even Worse:''' Sinnoh Champion Cynthia is known to visit Unova every summer, and she reveals that Champions from all over the world gather there to face each other every year.\
347	'''Instead:''' Being a [[{{Narcissist}} narcissistic]] [[AGodAmI megalomaniac]] with [[EvilCannotComprehendGood no understanding of love or friendship]], Ghetsis carries out his plan over the span of many years, [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong never seeing any flaws in it]].
348	-->'''Alder:''' [[LampshadeHanging You fool! That's a ridiculous idea!]]
349	* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'': After Team Plasma blasts Opelucid City with ice created by Kyurem, you defeat Zinzolin to get him out of the way of the Opelucid Gym, and Drayden, the Gym Leader, meets with you back there. With the coast seemingly clear, he returns to the Gym, and has something revealed to be the DNA Splicers.\
350	'''You'd Expect:''' Considering how important this item is and that Drayden knows it's what Team Plasma is after, for him to leave it in the Opelucid Gym until the time would come that it was needed.\
351	'''Instead:''' Drayden takes it out of the Gym, gives it to you, [[TemptingFate says that it's what they're after and it's fortunate they didn't get it]], and then the Shadow Triad show up and take them from you, stating that they knew what better hiding place for them than the Gym. Drayden even says that he never would've guessed that they would use Zinzolin, one of the Seven Sages, to scope them out!
352	* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'': The player, in order to stop [[spoiler:Lysandre]]'s schemes, has just hit up [[spoiler:Lysandre Café]] and defeated the two grunts there.\
353	'''You'd Expect:''' For them to refuse to tell the player anything else about their plans.\
354	'''Instead:''' They immediately blurt out their worries that the player will find the hidden door to the laboratory and figure out its password, even naming said door location and password.\
355	'''Result:''' The player manages to enter [[spoiler:Lysandre Labs]], and from there, stop Team Flare for good.\
356	'''For additional stupidity points:''' [[ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish The password is the incredibly obvious "Open Sesame".]]
357	* ''VideoGame/PokemonOmegaRubyAndAlphaSapphire''
358	** Zinnia knows that a giant meteor is soon approaching which will cause catastrophic damage to the planet and intends to awaken Rayquaza to stop it.\
359	'''You'd Expect:''' She would approach Steven (while he was Champion), Mossdeep Space Center, or anyone else and properly explain the entire situation, offer her help, and she and they can work together to counteract the meteor, whether by gathering Key Stones to summon Rayquaza or some other method.\
360	'''Instead:''' She manipulates Team Magma/Aqua into awakening Groudon/Kyogre, teaching them how to do so under the delusion of waking up Rayquaza in order to pacify it which causes a global apocalypse that nearly ravages the world, and probably would have caused more open devastation than the meteor, barely stopped by the efforts of several individuals and a child on the frontline. Additionally, she also destroys the Link Cable when it's the only option left because she claims that it would destroy the other dimension even though she offers no proof that such a thing even existed. Her own idiocy would have gotten the world destroyed had the player character not been around.
361	** Then another similar situation happened in the beginning of the Delta Episode where the PlayerCharacter is now the champion.\
362	'''You'd Expect:''' She would simply ask for their help in awakening Rayquaza and stopping the meteor from colliding with the planet.\
363	'''Instead:''' She engages in mass burglary, assault, and theft, and openly antagonizes the player and their allies, destroying their earnest and hard-worked efforts to stop the crisis themselves, all the while openly mocking their complete ignorance towards something they would never have known about unless she told them beforehand. As a result, when she finally tries to awaken Rayquaza by herself, it fails which causes her to fall into despair.
364	* ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'': During your raid on [[spoiler:Aether Paradise]], you come face to face with [[spoiler:Faba]], who'd taken extreme measures to try and keep you from getting to [[spoiler:Lillie, Nebby, and Lusamine]]. At a certain point, he and several [[spoiler:employees]] are in front of a locked door.\
365	'''You'd Expect:''' [[spoiler:Faba]] to leave the key in a safe place and not mention where it is.\
366	'''Instead:''' When Hau asks him if he has it, he not only says where it is, but reveals he has it on him. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Hau even calls him out on this.]]
367	* ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'':
368	** [[spoiler:Chairman Rose wants Leon's help in containing Eternatus, which he plans to release to solve a perceived energy crisis, but Leon wants to have his match with the player trainer first to satisfy the crowds that had gathered in Wyndon.]]\
369	'''You'd Expect:''' [[spoiler:Rose to ''wait just one more day''; not only would the crowds have dissipated and returned to their homes (as well as the Gym Leaders, who might be better able to respond to a crisis in their home towns), but he'd have the full cooperation and strength of the two best trainers in the region focused squarely on keeping Eternatus contained.]]\
370	'''Instead:''' [[spoiler:He interrupts the championship match by announcing that he's released Eternatus and started a second Darkest Day, and it predictably defies all attempts to control it, both forcing Leon, Hop and the protagonist to rush to confront the beast and Chairman Rose ''and'' putting countless people in needless danger.]]\
371	'''For Bonus Stupidity Points:''' [[spoiler:While that perceived energy crisis is in fact a real issue, it is rightly pointed out that the dilemma was such that it would take ''a thousand years'' for the Dynamax energy reserves to be fully depleted. Chairman Rose's impulsiveness and ego pulled the trigger nine-hundred and ninety-nine years early, and for what?]]
372	** [[spoiler:Leon has defeated Eternatus, and is ready to capture it.]]\
373	'''You'd Expect:''' [[spoiler:Leon to capture the very obvious legendary with at least an Ultra Ball, as it probably has a very low catch rate (and it does).]]\
374	'''Instead:''' [[spoiler:He tries to catch it with ''a regular Poké Ball''.]]\
375	'''Result:''' [[spoiler:Eternatus breaks free, and it's up to Hop and the protagonist to defeat it now.]]
376	** In the post game, Sordward and Shielbert are under the belief that Zacian and Zamazenta are [[spoiler:not the legendary heroes that stopped the Darkest Day]] and seek to prove such a belief.\
377	'''You'd Expect:''' Them to spread propaganda about it. They are shown to have followers and the people who discovered the information they seek to disprove are two kids and a newly minted professor, who wouldn't be hard to paint as unreliable sources.\
378	'''Instead:''' They steal Wishing Pieces from the Pokémon lab and run around forcing Pokémon to Dynamax against their will, causing everyone to view them as terrorists and criminals.\
379	'''Then:''' After their methods of forcing their Pokémon into going into Dynamax rampages is shown to work, they decide to do the same thing to Zacian (''Shield'') and Zamazenta (''Sword'').\
380	'''You'd Now Expect:''' Them to realize this is a stupid idea. [[spoiler:Fake heroes or otherwise]], they are still clearly still two very powerful Pokémon.\
381	'''Instead:''' They go through with it.\
382	'''The Result:''' The legendary not only doesn't Dynamax, but also attempts to attack them and only the other legendary, the player character and Hop prevent them from getting killed.
383	* ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'': During the trek at TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon [[spoiler:Area Zero]], your friends are talking about how [[spoiler:Paradox Pokémon]] are extremely dangerous and even Arven mentions about only going so far before his Mabosstiff was critically injured by an attack. So as the player character and the group goes towards the second research station, a suspicious-looking Jigglypuff/Delibird (depending on the version) appears.\
384	'''You'd Expect:''' Arven to spot that something is not right and ward off the suspicious looking Pokémon immediately. In terms of ''Scarlet'', the past species already looks deformed and different enough from Jigglypuff to be alarming (it even has a tail growing out from it), and in terms of ''Violet'', the future species does look a bit like Delibird, but its coloring is a little off and the body is obviously robotic.\
385	'''Instead:''' They don't point it out, and Penny, the most rational member of the group, suddenly thinks it's just a normal Jigglypuff/Delibird and tries to go towards it as if she wants to pet it. She was really lucky the species acted hostile before she decided to walk closer.
386	* ''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky]]'':
387	** You're sent to gather Perfect Apples, though you're ambushed by Team Skull who takes all the Perfect Apples.\
388	'''You'd Expect:''' Chatot to give you a chance to explain what happened.\
389	'''Instead:''' Chatot gripes you out without giving you a chance to explain what happened and sends you to bed without eating, and later in the game, he complains that you wouldn't be able to do the job properly.\
390	'''Bonus Idiocy:''' Team Skull show up later with a Perfect Apple they saved for Wigglytuff. Yet no one questions where they could have gotten it.
391	** Grovyle is trying to collect the Time Gears [[spoiler:so he can bring them to Temporal Tower to prevent a BadFuture (which he originated from) and TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]]\
392	'''You'd Expect:''' [[spoiler:Grovyle to politely explain who he is and what he's doing, earning the cooperation of the authorities.]]\
393	'''Instead:''' [[spoiler:He runs around stealing the Time Gears, assaulting anyone who tries to stop him (including ''[[OlympusMons Legendary Pokémon]]''), and causes time to stop in the areas where the Time Gears were stolen (which is only temporary, although only Grovyle knew that), which understandably makes him the most hated Pokémon in the world.]]
394	** Dusknoir is a Pokémon [[spoiler:from the same BadFuture as Grovyle]] whose objective is to capture Grovyle [[spoiler:so that TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt can continue unhindered. He manages to quickly earn everyone's trust and eventually tricks the heroes into aiding him and manages to capture Grovyle.]]\
395	'''You'd Expect:''' [[spoiler:Dusknoir to thank everyone for their help, take Grovyle back to the future, close the time portal, and promptly slit his throat. At this point, nobody (except Grovyle) has any reason to believe Dusknoir is anything other than a hero, and even if anyone did realize the truth, by the time the portal closes it would be too late to do anything.]]\
396	'''Instead:''' [[spoiler:He kidnaps the player and the partner, ties them up, and has his Sableye minions dispose of them.]]\
397	'''Extra stupidity:''' [[spoiler:Dusknoir decides to execute his captives by tying them up with normal ''rope'' and having the Sableyes ''cut them up'' with Fury Swipes, an attack that makes them repeatedly slash mindlessly.]]\
398	'''The Result:''' [[spoiler:The three of them escape when the Sableyes accidentally cut the ropes restraining them, Grovyle reveals the truth, and they all get back home and thwart Dusknoir and Primal Dialga's plans.]]
399	* ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'':
400	** Before the mine dungeon early in the game, three Drilbur try to prevent you and your partner from entering, when your partner suddenly says, without any kind of warning, [[LookBehindYou "Hey, all you Drilbur! Look at that! A delicious-looking Apple tree just sprouted up over there!"]]\
401	'''You'd Expect:''' The Drilbur to say that they are not going to fall for the trick, which would render your partner's trick completely useless.\
402	'''Instead:''' The Drilbur decide to just take a look, and they let their guard drop.\
403	'''Result:''' You and your partner enter the mine.
404	** During the first field trip at the school, you are with your partner and Goomy. At the end, you and your partner realize Goomy is missing.\
405	'''You'd Expect:''' Your partner to say, "Hey, InsertPlayerNameHere, let's go and get Goomy."\
406	'''Instead:''' Your partner, eager to have their team win, goes on ahead without Goomy, and you are left with no choice but to follow.\
407	'''Result:''' Goomy gets left behind, and your partner is scolded.
408	[[/folder]]

Context WhatAnIdiot / Pokemon