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aka: Pokemon Adventures Dex Holders

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The games already had a wide character cast to begin with, and Hidenori Kusaka seems to strive to make as many of them relevant to the plot as he can.



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Applies throughout the series

    Dex Holders in General 
"After all, Pokédex owners are often destined to live a life surrounded by battles..."
-Professor Birch

The heroes of Pokémon Adventures, the Pokédex Holders all started out as kids, usually at around 10 or 11, in which each one of them received a Pokédex in one way or another. Even though as children, teenagers, or even young adults, they journeyed throughout the regions for various reasons, eventually becoming powerful heroes.


  • Adaptation Name Change: Nearly all of the trainers here are based on playable characters from the games. However, with the exception of the Gen I cast (and Silver), those player characters have canonical names that are not related to the core game titles, even as puns.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: Unlike the games and anime in which the Pokédex is commonplace, only these kids have access to the wealth of research and data on it. This means they're the only ones who can learn the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents, giving them a MASSIVE advantage. Moreover, each of the kids are incredibly good at taking advantage of the research, and sometimes even without using the Dex they can turn battles around with clever thinking.
  • Badass Crew: Just TRY taking any of these kids lightly. Before they've even reached their teens these kids have taken on insurmountable challenges and won.
  • Child Prodigy: Many Dexholders are already shown to have occupations in their early tens, even holding top positions like a president of an agency or a superintendent of the International Police.
  • Colorful Theme Naming: All of them are named after the core games in the series, where many of them are colors. There's also considerable overlap with Rock Theme Naming with the Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh kids.
  • Decomposite Character: The dex holders based on the dex holders are this mixed with Composite Characters since they take roles associated with both the player and the character the player didn't pick. From SMUSUM onwards they are solely this due to the main games making use of Schrödinger's Player Character:
    • In the Ruby & Saphire chapter, Ruby takes the player role of moving into Hoenn, but Saphire takes the role of challenging the Gym Leaders. Similarly in the next arc,
    • In Diamond & Pearl, Diamond is the rival's Childhood Friend with the duo being the one who receive the starter Pokémon just like at the beginning of the game, but Platinum is the one who takes on the gyms as part of her journey. This is taken even further when the group splits up to stop Team Galactic from capturing the Lake Guardians rather than them journeying through one lake after a time like in the game.
    • In X & Y, Y has the mother of the player character and is the one who captures Xerneas, while X is the one who obtains Mega Evolution until Y gains her own Mega Stone, which she uses with Absol, the mon used by the rival to Mega Evolve.
    • Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon has Sun take on the island challenges, while Moon is the one who befriends Lillie along with using Nebby's evolved form against the Ultra Beasts.
    • Scarlet & Violet, Violet is the one who goes through the "Path of Legends" and "★ Starfall Street ★" storyline, while Scarlet goes through the "Victory Road" storyline along with the Treasures of Ruin sidequest.
  • Early Instalment Weirdness:
  • Gameplay and Story Integration: Each has a title that roughly corresponds to a game mechanic, feature, or archetype. Many times, that feature was introduced in or at thematically relevant to their game generation.
  • Guile Hero: Since their Pokémon does the fighting for them, their contribution to the battle would mostly be forming strategies.
  • Improbable Age: Most of them are only 11-14 years old yet hold high ranking positions such as a professor's aide, the president of an acting agency and a high-ranking member of the International Police, or hold a formal job such as a capture expert or courier, and even hold a doctorate degree.
  • Invisible Parents: Many have at least one parent unmentioned. Many also have no relatives mentioned at all (IE Red).
  • Kid Hero: They've thwarted evil organizations, battled legendary Pokémon and lived and saved the world numerous times. The oldest of them are only teens (although at the latest progress (Sun & Moon) Red, Green, and Blue may be in their twenties), and many of them started out when they were ELEVEN.
  • Living Legend: The Kanto Dex Holders for all of their accomplishments, though due to the other times the Dex Holders have saved the world the others have received quite a bit of fame as well. By the Sinnoh arc, people have already recognized that having a Pokédex marks you as a true badass.
  • Not the Intended Use: The Pokédex was originally just a tool for compiling and expanding Professor Oak's research on Pokémon, and he originally gave the Pokédexes to the Dex Holders to further that purpose. Instead, it's become one of their greatest assets in battle, and a symbol of prestige and heroism. To their credit, the kids will help with research if requested, though only Crystal actually completed the Pokédex.
  • Only One Name: Most of them are only known by their first names; the exceptions being Blue, Sapphire, Platinum, Y, Sword, Shieldmilia, Scarlet, and Violet.
  • Personality Powers The starter they get aligns with their character as well as the roles within their teams (IE Grass-types keep their teams in line, Fire-types are wild and focused on offense, Water-types are unpredictable etc.) To an extent, this also applies to their first Pokémon and the rest of their team.
  • Power Trio: With the first four generations being made up of three games and having a protagonist based on each, this was inevitable. Invoked by necessity in the Sinnoh arc due to the three legendary Pokémon there.
  • Red Baron: Each has a title that shows their specialty, in or out of battle, as a nod to Gameplay and Story Integration.
  • Scarf of Asskicking: The Sinnoh trio have all a scarf and shown to be competent trainers.
  • Signature Headgear: It's easier to count the ones who DON'T have distinct piece of headwear covering their noggins. Caps, bandannas, beanies and even visors, you can bet they've worn them all.
  • Taken for Granite: The Kanto Dex Holders and Silver get turned to stone at the end of FireRed and LeafGreen. Thankfully, they were restored in the climax of the Emerald arc.
  • Theme Naming: Most of their Pokémon will have some sort of theme to their name.
  • True Companions: Going through numerous trials together forges the groups into unbeatable teams, both with each other and their Pokémon. The Kanto, Johto and Hoenn Dex Holders also all know each other and fought together.

    Legendary & Mythical Pokémon in general 
  • Ascended Extra: Aside from the cover legendaries, none of the other Legendary or Mythical Pokémon have a relation to the plot and are usually just Optional Bosses fought in post-game, but here they tend to take a direct part in the conflict against the villains with them even using them as part of their plans.
  • Olympus Mons: They form the legends of their respective regions and are all powerful Pokémon.

Alternative Title(s): Pokemon Special, Pokemon Adventures Dex Holders, Pokemon Adventures Allies, Pokemon Adventures Enemies

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