Characters in the manga The Electric Tale of Pikachu.
Ash Ketchum
- Adaptation Dye-Job: He has blue eyes instead of brown.
- Adaptational Personality Change: Downplayed. He has the same personality as his original series anime self for the most part but is far more lecherous than in canon with a more notable attraction to women other than a single character of the day.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Ash can really whine up a storm when he wants to. He completely deflates the tragedy of the Black Fog's demise at the end of volume one when he sobs over losing the Hyper Ball he used, which had cost him the last of his allowance.
- Canon Foreigner: He's got a Fearow and Oddish.
- Chick Magnet: Downplayed with Ash, who is considered by both Misty's eldest sister and Sabrina to be a handsome young man.
- Composite Character: He's based off of Ash from the anime yet his original outfit more resembles Red's from Pokémon Red and Blue. And keep in mind, Ash is directly based off of Red.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: His Oddish never appeared after its brief appearance in You Gotta Have Friends.
- Dirty Kid: Ash is only ten yet he doesn't mind perving on girls.
- Handsome Lech: Ash is considered handsome by several women despite him drooling over them.
- Hidden Depths: He nicknamed Pikachu Jean Luc Pikachu, suggesting he has some knowledge of Star Trek: The Next Generation, at least enough to know the full name of Picard.
- Likes Older Women:
- In general, Ash drools over many of the beautiful older women he encounters—Misty's sisters, Sabrina, the odd pokémon center attendant, etc.
- Misty accuses Ash of this when she discovers his crush on May Oak and mockingly frets that she'll have to watch her step, while he retorts she's in no danger as he's not interested in Tomboys (later events imply that he'll be eating his words someday).
- Precocious Crush: Ash has a crush on Gary's older sister May. He also shows attraction towards other women.
- Promoted to Love Interest: The subtext between him and Misty is upgraded to text. Ash has an explicit crush on her.
- Took a Level in Kindness: His Charizard's much nicer in Pikachu's Plan.
Brock
- Adaptational Badass: In Pokémon: The Original Series the only Rock-types Brock used where the Geodude and Onix featured in his gym battle, same as in Pokémon Red and Blue. In this comic, Brock has a slew of various members of the Geodude family at all its stages of evolution.
- Age Lift: Brock's proportions and demeanor suggest that he's older than his Original Series self, who is in his mid-teens, but how much older this version of Brock is is unknown. He's Childhood Friends with the twenty-one year old Sabrina, so he may be about the same age.
- Anime Hair: Brock has spiky brown hair.
- Eyes Always Shut: He always keeps his eyes closed but never has trouble seeing.
- Team Dad: Brock, even moreso here because now he's several years older than either Ash or Misty, possibly in his twenties.
Misty
- A-Cup Angst: She's definitely not flat by any stretch of the imagination, but the infamous bare-breast scene is at an onsen where Misty wonders if the water's supposed ability to evolve Pokémon will work on her breasts too.
- Action Girl: Misty is perfectly comfortable conducting a battle with
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Misty was originally depicted with black hair, then brown hair, before becoming a redhead like in the anime.
- Adaptational Badass: Pokémon: The Original Series interpreted Misty as a Know-Nothing Know-It-All who was overcompensating for her general lack of experience with a lot of "proper" information, but in The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Misty is a well established trainer and commands mighty monsters like Gyarados. (The anime wouldn't give Misty a Gyarados until after the original series was over).
- Adaptational Curves: The basis of her Fanservice Pack.
- Age Lift: Misty was the same age as Ash in the TV show (10), but here she's 12.
- Art Evolution: Misty had a redesign at the end of volume 2 (when she joined up with the group), to be less Stripperiffic and more like her anime design, and another, more effective one for the Orange Islands arc. Ash and Brock had slightly different clothing too.
- Barely-There Swimwear: Her swimsuit in the uncensored version is a wetsuit that barely covers the breasts.
- Composite Character: Misty's original design had the black hair of her original self from Pokémon Red and Blue, but later Art Evolution removed it.
- Iconic Outfit: Misty wears a variety of outfits through the series, but the manga has a couple of signature costumes for her.
- The skimpy one-piece Misty wears to her Gym Battle with Ash in Chapter 2 is a hallmark of the series.
- Misty wears a Stripperiffic version of her tank top and short shorts from Pokémon: The Original Series in the uncensored Chapter 6—later on, she appears in a more standardized version of the same.
- Likes Older Women: Misty is made fun twice of for having a possible thing for younger men; she's teased by her sisters for making a little too much of a scene over Ash defeating her, and she catches herself quickly becoming fond of little Mikey in Chapter 7.
- Ms. Fanservice: Misty features in a fair bit of cheesecake during the first two volumes, with the Stripperiffic take on her Iconic Outfit from the anime and especially her Swimsuit Scene Gym Battle.
- Pervert Revenge Mode:
- When Ash stares at Misty's body during their gym battle, she retaliates by nailing him in the noggin with a spare Shellder.
- In a side-comic, a lecherous wild Ditto pretends to be Ash while spying on Misty in the bath, prompting her to beat the real Ash bloody. The comic ends with Ash approaching Ditto from behind.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Her implied crush on Ash in the anime is made explicit.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to Ash during the Cerulean Gym Battle after his Pikachu's too scared to fight Gyarados, Pidgeotto pulled a Screw This, I'm Outta Here, Fearow's asleep and Metapod can't do anything. She drags it on for so long that Metapod evolves into Butterfree and uses Sleep Powder to send Gyarados to dreamland. Needless to say, Misty's left humiliated and furious.
- Tsundere: Misty is more fully involved in the role, with her insecurities driving her into a rivalry with Ash. She's also capable of genuine concern and sweetness, also with Ash.
- Underboobs: While not explicit at first, some shots show that the outfit in the uncensored version really doesn't cover up her breasts.
- Younger than She Looks: Despite her cynical attitude and Adaptational Curves, Misty is officially a preteen at twelve years old.
Jessie
- Anime Hair: Jessie has gravity defying hair.
- Minion Shipping: The epilogue all but explicitly confirms that Jessie and James have retired and gotten married.
- Official Couple: Despite all the Ash and Misty Ship Tease, during the epilogue, it's Jessie and James who retire, get married, and wind up with Jessie having a bun in the oven.
- Outlaw Couple: It's never mentioned when they became a couple, but Jessie and James do end up together in the end. They're also members of Team Rocket who Ash compares to Bonnie and Clyde.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Her ambiguously romantic relationship with James is turned into an outright romance. They end the manga engaged and expecting.
James
- Camp Straight: James is flamboyant and pretty but he's only shown attracted to women and ends up with Jessie.
- Minion Shipping: The epilogue all but explicitly confirms that Jessie and James have retired and gotten married.
- Official Couple: Despite all the Ash and Misty Ship Tease, during the epilogue, it's Jessie and James who retire, get married, and wind up with Jessie having a bun in the oven.
- Outlaw Couple: It's never mentioned when they became a couple, but Jessie and James do end up together in the end. They're also members of Team Rocket who Ash compares to Bonnie and Clyde.
- Promoted to Love Interest: While the anime only Ship Teases the two sometimes, James and Jessie become an Official Couple in this manga.
Meowth
- Deadpan Snarker: Not as much as his anime counterpart, but he gets in a few digs at the world in general.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Possibly. In this universe, Meowth and Meowzie (not named in this manga) apparently were an item for a while, but she dumped him after telling him that his ability to talk human was "freaky." In the third chapter of Electric Pikachu Boogaloo, Meowth encounters a kitten Meowth which he suspects is Meowzie's kid, which means he's the father. He panics and runs away before anything can be confirmed though.
- Talking Animal: Meowth is a Pokémon who can talk. It takes a while before this really comes into play, though, since his first appearance is in an issue where all the Pokemon speak is translated.
May Oak
- Ascended Extra: In Pokémon Red and Blue, the rival's older sister helped you out by gifting you with a Town Map. She was Adapted Out of Pokémon: The Original Series, but here she's named May, and Ash has a Precocious Crush on her, writing her letters and enjoying occasional fantasies about her.
- Crashing Dreams: In Chapter Three, Ash gets knocked unconscious and dreams of May tending to him when he's sick, casually draped across his bed and styling a pair of tight jeans (most of this art is masked in the English release), and she announces that she is now his big sister instead of Gary's—she then seizes him by the cheek and yanks him awake, which a nearby Clefairy was doing in the real world.
- Ms. Fanservice: In the earliest part of the manga. Daisy's first appearance shows her with a noticeable bust, and Ash's Mt. Moon escapade features a Dream Sequence starring her in a pair of very tight jeans. Afterwards, however, she received very little such focus.
- Named by the Adaptation: In Pokémon Red and Blue, Gary's big sister did not yet have a name, but here she's known as May (Satsuki in Japan). This name would later go on to be overriden by Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, which decided to name her Daisy (Nanami) instead. Admittedly, keeping the name would have violated the One-Steve Limit in the English translation, as "May" is also the name of the female Player Character for Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.
Sabrina
- Absent-Minded Professor: Sabrina is a benign and powerful gym leader who occasionally forgets to include the soy sauce when serving a meal. Not to worry, she can teleport any missing condiments right to the table.
- Adaptational Heroism: Sabrina, compared to her anime counterpart. Instead of being a cold psychic who was too focused on her powers with a Creepy Child Literal Split Personality, this version of Sabrina is a kind, warm-hearted miko that wants to avenge the deaths of her Pokémon at the hands of a Haunter.
- Adaptational Personality Change: Despite being an adaptation of Pokémon: The Original Series, this take on Sabrina is pleasant, sociable, and heroic—a far cry from the Ice Queen version she's supposed to be an adaptation of.
- Childhood Friends: Brock has known Sabrina since they were both kids and explains her sad Backstory to Ash after they learn about the Black Fog.
- Composite Character: This version of Sabrina appears to have adopted the gentility, innocence, and traditional Japanese aesthetic more commonly associated with Erika, another Gym Leader from Pokémon Red and Blue, who doesn't appear in this comic.
- The Ditz: Sabrina fears Ash might think she's a total flake due to the way she forgets basic things like condiments when serving food.
- Fan Disservice: Sabrina appears with Shoulders-Up Nudity briefly—in a medical ward, with her Face Framed in Shadow, thanks to having her soul ripped out of her body by the Black Fog.
- Girl of the Week: Brock and Sabrina might be Childhood Friends, and Sabrina might throw herself into his arms for comfort when all is said and done, but Brock is happy to drool over every other pretty girl he meets afterward and she goes completely unmentioned for the rest of the comic.
- Mind over Matter: Sabrina can levitate small objects like soy sauce containers.
- Ms. Fanservice: Sabrina wears wears a kimono-esque robe from the waist up, but she walks around in sheer leggings (opaque in the English localization) that get featured in a shot of her walking off.
- Soul Power: Sabrina's disembodied soul is able to direct Ash and Brock to the Black Fog's location while being channeled by Abra.
- Sympathy for the Devil: In the chapter "Haunting My Dreams," after the Black Fog self-destructs rather than let Ash capture it, Sabrina is reduced to tears and remarks that, even though she's hated it for years for killing her Pokémon, she can't help but feel sorry for it.
- Teleport Spam: She can teleport herself or small objects great distances in the blink of an eye.
Richie
- Adaptation Dye-Job: In Pokémon: The Original Series, Ritchie is a redhead with blue and yellow clothes. According to the cover of the US release of the third volume, however, this version of Richie is a blond with pastel green clothes. (Also, Richie's hat has no brim in the comic).
- Dark Horse Victory: At the start of the Creatures Cup in volume three, Ash looks forward to a match with Gary, a plan that develops a wrinkle when his new friend Ritchie gets a match with Gary first. After Ash finally defeats Jeannette, he runs to the stadium where Ritchie and Gary are dueling and discovers that Ritchie has already won, leaving Ash in a very uncertain spot.
- Divergent Character Evolution: He looks a lot less like Ash than in the original anime.
- You Don't Look Like You: His hair is blond instead of brown and his clothes are different as well.
