- Butch, a member of Team Rocket, will not take happily someone butchering (no pun intended) his name. Some examples include Botch, Bob, Bill, Biff, Butcher, Buffy (seriously), and a variety of other names. In Japanese, the mistake is always Kosanji (instead of Kosaburo).
- Yes, it's a Running Gag. Yes, there was a time someone (specifically, Cassidy) got his name right. Yes, he yelled at her on instinct before his brain caught up.
- There's also been a few instances where people call him the right name, and he corrects them on instinct... and gets his own name wrong.
- In Best Wishes, Stephan gets that way about his name, and the running gag of mispronunciation is there. However, it ends by the time the Unova League begins.
- Professor Namba is the same way. Whenever someone gets his name wrong, even if he's not around to hear it, he calls them less than a second after and corrects them. Ironically, even Butch, whose name everyone gets wrong often, gets his name wrong a few times.
- Yes, it's a Running Gag. Yes, there was a time someone (specifically, Cassidy) got his name right. Yes, he yelled at her on instinct before his brain caught up.
- NEVER mention Misty's bike. She refuses to let Ash live it down. This one ends when her bike is fixed
- Apparently, some time during the Hoenn arc, Team Rocket got the funny idea to steal food destined for the "twerps." They soon learned that this is the very thing that turns normally Type-B Tsundere May into a bona-fide killbot. They try this again during the Sinnoh arc, and yes, she is in attendance, as these pics prove
. They just didn't learn...- To quote: "I'll tell you no one steals MY FOOD and GETS AWAY WITH IT!!!!!"
- Ash used to get really pissed off when someone stole his hat (Indigo League series). He's mellowed out about it recently.
- Assuming it's about Character Development and not just switching hat: the one that hit his Berserk Button was a very rare official Pokémon League Expo hat that he won by sending about a million postcards (or so he claimed).
- Ash also does not take kindly to anyone who calls him a coward. One of Ash's stand-out traits is his unwavering bravery. The most notable instance of this button being pushed was when he was under the possession of the King of Pokélantis and the Pyramid King Brandon called him a coward, instantly getting a reaction from Ash, momentarily breaking the evil king's brainwashing influence. It is played with in many fanfiction stories.
- Another Berserk Button that doesn't come up often: Ash is a Momma's Boy. Very, very much. Do not gawk at her, either.
- Like May, Ash also flips out if anyone steals his food.Ash: [Nightmare Face] Nothing ticks me off worse than stealing my food!
- How do we not mention Gary? The surest way to motivate Ash is to suggest that Gary has already done whatever it is, or is better at it.
- Fall asleep while Jigglypuff's performing and it will get angry. Steal its marker/microphone or otherwise deny it the chance to perform and it will get REALLY angry.
- Jessie and James will explode if someone messes up their motto.
- James also is extremely protective of his bottle cap collection. If you damage it or steal it, or even mention doing such, he will flip out.
- However, as seen in Mewtwo Strikes Back, they don't mind if even one of the "twerps" (in this case, Ash) stops their motto before it begins.
- And speaking of their motto, when Jessie and James are undercover (usually in a Paper-Thin Disguise), hearing someone saying "Prepare" and/or "Trouble" will often result in them revealing themselves and saying their motto (as it usually opens with "Prepare for trouble").
- Never call Jessie "a hag" or "old". It's a good way to ensure a death wish.
- Heaven help you if you mess up or insult Jessie's hair as well. This is one of the many things that can easily set her off. Poor Seviper... she defeated (and subsequently caught) him bare-handed after he accidentally tore it off!
- Ash's Infernape will give you a good fight. But seriously, don't taunt him for being weak if he's losing. Especially if you're Paul. You're likely to trigger Blaze, and have a Crazed-Fire-Saiyan-Monkey on your hands.
- One of the Pichu brothers, in Camp Pikachu, gets to have its own Berserk Button, complete with an anger cloud, when Sudowoodo steals the grapes.
- Also, in one episode, Phione realizes that Buneary likes Pikachu. Needless to say, it does NOT look pleasant. Phione has fire in its eyes, and yells at Pikachu.
- Cilan gets outraged when he sees Skyla's method of 'air battles', which are just battles in her head instead of real battles.
- Also, do not try to disrupt Cilan's cooking in any way.
- Dawn cannot stand it when someone she knows doesn't remember her. One time Paul said he didn't remember her, which he probably said to piss her off, made Dawn ready to attack him.
- Also, Meowth does not like his charm being lost/misplaced. It wasn't really lost in the ep where it disappeared, but he was ballistic the whole ep wanting it back. I wouldn't suggest stealing it.
- He doesn't like seeing the other Meowth get frozen by the Pokémon League test supervisor's Vaporeon in "The Ultimate Test", though he is perfectly willing to use Fury Swipes on another Meowth himself later on (made worse in the Hoenn League because the other Meowth called him 'pathetic' as mentioned above).
- Meowth also refuses to back down to Persians. Meowth-in-boots also has this trait.
- Do not call Giovanni in the middle of the night/early morning. It won't turn out well.
- Misty does not like her sisters calling her a runt.
- Don't insult the Electabuzz baseball team in front of Casey.
- There is also a Marill that appeared in the Pikachu Specials. But watch out! It's got a Sing attack... with one of Jigglypuff's berserk buttons. If anyone falls asleep, it gets mad and inflates itself. Just like Jigglypuff! And then, Marill hits the asleep victims with its tail.
- Don't even think about selling Pokémon in front of Professor Oak.
- Misty seems to get extremely angry anytime another girl shows interest in Ash.
- Teasing Axew about it not mastering Dragon Rage by calling the attempt a "Dragon Sneeze" is the best way to piss off Iris.
- Kaki/Kiawe takes obtaining a Z-Crystal very seriously; justifiable in that it marks a rite of passing, both in-game and in the show, and he himself has a Firium Z. As such, if you prefer not to be on the receiving end of an Inferno Overdrive, you will be careful about any Z-Crystals you earn, especially if said crystal was provided by one of the island guardians. Ash nearly got this when he accidentally blurted out that he lost his Electrium Z given to him by Tapu Koko, causing Kiawe to pretty much lose his shit until Rotom briefly calmed him down...only to push yet another one of his buttons by assuming based on flimsy evidence that Kiawe took the crystal, only to find out he himself accidentally hid it. A further enraged Kiawe then took his anger out on Rotom instead.
- One that applies to a species of Pokémon: Mankey and Primeape will become enraged if someone looks them in the eyes. (Truth in Television - Mankey and Primeape, as the name implies, are based on monkeys and apes, who also don't take too kindly to being looked in the eyes, as they perceive it as a challenge.)
- All Nurse Joys don't like it when Trainers use their Pokémon to fight for anything other than official battles or in capturing Pokémon, especially petty fights.
- Clemont does not take kindly to anyone belittling or badmouthing science or technology. This button gets pressed a lot because his inventions tend to fail or be rather impractical.
Games
- Pokémon X and Y: If you try to claim that Pokemon battles aren't art around Siebold, he absolutely loses it.
- Silver and Blue were raised as part of the Mask of Ice's recruitment and training campaign, and the two of them have developed a bond of their own (whether it be one of siblings or possibly more doesn't really matter - that they're precious to one another is). Green's "noisy woman" comments about Blue are responded to with a glare from Silver as a reminder that he is on notice; if you harass or bring harm to her, he will turn you inside out.
- To say nothing of the beating he gave to Gold for touching her...
- For that matter, Red was furious when finding out that Team Rocket were the ones who ruined Blue's long-awaited reunion with her parents, to the point of charging recklessly towards the Beast Trio even when they had the upper hand on him.
- When Team Rocket starts fighting in the Viridian Forest, Yellow gets just about ready to kick their asses; her usually weak Pokémon's levels jump up about fifty levels in response to her rage.
- In the full-force battle, Gladion mocked Sun did not the bear on his shoulder, he was obviously angered.
Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure!
- Hareta has a hard time understanding the concept of evil - one of his buddies is an ex-Galactic, he lets several wrongdoers slide (though he does stop them from time to time, it's just what he does), and he even has to explain to Cyrus that he doesn't hate him for all he's done. But if you sell Pokémon in front of him...
Meta Examples
- The long lasting feud between Zangoose and Seviper is so intense that the very sight of one another makes them feel nothing but rage, leading to an immediate battle. It's so bad that in horde battles as featured in XY, if 4 Zangoose and a single Seviper are in the horde, the Zangoose would rather gang up to take down the Seviper before attacking your Pokémon. This also applies when it's 4 Seviper and one Zangoose.
