The characters page for the two Pocket Monsters: The Animation novels. Most tropes are shared with the main Pokémon: The Series, seen here.
Ash Ketchum (Satoshi)
- Beetle Maniac: Ash acts fanboyish towards Pinsir, a trait not found in the anime version.
- Kid Hero: Downplayed. He's ten-going-on-eleven when he starts his Pokémon journey. However, in his society, he's considered an adult.
- Momma's Boy: Misty actually mocks him for this.
- Parental Abandonment: His father left when Ash was a baby to become a Pokemon trainer.
Delia Ketchum (Hanako)
- Absurdly Youthful Mother: She isn't even 30 and has a nearly 11 year old son.
- Ascended Extra: She's a minor character in the Kanto arc and is predominantly just "Ash's mother", but here's she's given a backstory.
- Disappeared Dad: Her father went on a Pokémon journey and never returned.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Delia is mentioned to usually wear miniskirts, while in the show she wears a longer, regular skirt.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Though not completely contradictory, Pokémon 3 implies that Delia has a different backstory in the anime. It's mentioned that she was Professor Oak's student once, with no mentions of her restaurant from the books.
- Mum Looks Like a Sister: Delia often gets mistaken for her son's older sister.
- Parents as People: The books go into depth on her more than the actual anime. It's also mentioned that, though she loves her son, she was happy to have him out of the house so that she can live her youth. She also has severe issues with the abandonment by both her husband and her father.
- The Resenter: Perhaps "resent" is too strong of a word, but the novelization mentions that she wanted her son to go on his journey as soon as possible so she could relive her youth. She still loves him very much but she's clearly enjoying her independence as much as he's enjoying his.
- Stepford Smiler: Downplayed. She's hiding more troubles than she appears to be.
- Teen Pregnancy: She became pregnant with Ash around age 18.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: At age 17, she was featured on the cover of a adult targeted magazine called Pokémon Pals, becoming both a symbol of pride for the remote and ignored Pallet Town as well as being far too good for the men of Pallet Town after such recognition.
Ash's Father
- Disappeared Dad: He left on a Pokémon journey one day and hasn't called his family since.
- Married Too Young: He married Delia as a teenager, not long after meeting her. He later wanted to go on a Pokémon Journey so he abandoned his wife and young son.
- Unnamed Parent: He isn't given a name.
Gary Oak (Shigeru Ookido)
- Heroic Lineage: It is implied that Gary's attitude is a result of feeling pressure to live up to his family's accomplishments. He descends from descends from the greatest Trainer in the history of Pallet Town.
Misty (Kasumi)
- Daddy's Girl: Holds her father in high regard, despite the fact that both he and her mother abandoned Misty and her three sisters.
Brock (Takeshi)
- Disappeared Dad: He's gone through nine different dads because his mother had married various men.
