Darth Wiki / Pokemon Pixel

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Tropes appearing across the series:

• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Sometimes used to tell Pokemon apart, alongside maybe being drawn slightly differently in art; these can be held items or other things (e.g. Wes’s Eevee Brothers wearing neckerchiefs, Yellow wearing Red’s old hat), though they may be taken off in battle.
• A Dog Named "Dog": Averted as much as possible, unlike in most Pokémon media. Pretty much everyone names their Pokémon in Pikupro, because the author found this trope’s prominence in Pokémon media to be weird. In fact, unnamed Pokémon are a sign of trainers who see their Pokémon as tools, e.g. Silver (whose going to the Name Rater to name his Pokémon is an entire chapter showing how far he has come), and in the Gen 4 arc Hikari points out Akagi naming his Pokémon as a sign that he indeed cares. There’s also another set of names Pokémon apparently use among themselves, though these are only used in the BW arc by N.
• Adults Are Useless: This being Pokémon, it happens, but it’s somewhat downplayed compared to a lot of other media. The adults are at least heavily implied if not shown to be actively facilitating safe, fulfilling journeys for young trainers. Parents and neighbors can also be shown to be a bit more of a presence in the characters’ lives; with Red for example, from what we see the adults around him pretty clearly looked out for him even if he was bullied by his peers, what with his heavily implied special needs, his mom being very involved with her son and Professor Ookido evidently basically saw Red as a second grandson, teaching him how to handle Pokémon and allowing him to help around the lab because the boy was so fascinated by his studies (in the same gaiden this is seen we also get to see him as Green’s primary caregiver). All the main characters keep contact with their parents, even high school age Kalem. It’s also shown that law enforcement does indeed do what it can, operating much like in Pokémon Generations. In the Black and White arc especially, adults seem to really know what they’re doing and are actively helpful against Team Plasma. Then there’s stuff like Wataru] and Kukui taking in [[spoiler:Silver and Lillie respectively, with a few gaiden focused on their relationships and empathizing the importance of parental figures]].
• A Lizard Named "Liz": A common naming scheme for Pokémon are names derived from their species name, much like with Pokémon Adventures; e.g. Tanetane the Bulbasaur/Fushigidane, Hinotaro the Cyndaquil/Hinoarashi. Other names may be derived from traits of that species, like Dekapon the Snorlax (“Deka” means “huge”) or Walter the Samurott. Though some Pokémon don’t follow this, like Jin the Feraligatr or Oscar the Snivy, for when the author was feeling creative.
• All Animals Are Dogs: The author usually tries not to use this trope too much unless the Pokemon is indeed canine, though some Pokemon personalities are based off of broad dog breed groups.
• All Animals Are Domesticated: Most Pokemon seem to accept that humans aren’t enemies, and even look forward to being captured, even if it’s just because of the free meals; though they’re also usually a bit distant initially towards the trainer themselves. Though there are still reminders that these are indeed wild animals.
• Carnivore Confusion: Addressed. It’s shown that Pokémon, as shown with Mint (Hikari’s Shinx), will try to eat other Pokémon, but they can be taught out of it rather easily. Pokémon raised by humans from birth also don’t seem to have the need to eat other Pokémon. And all humans in this interpretation of the Pokémon world are explicitly vegetarian according to Word of God (with the exception of some things like Slowpoke tails, something which people see as heinous depending on culture), with any meat being soy meat or artificial meat.
  Outskirt Stand Employee: Thank you! Our hot dogs are made with the best soy beans you can find in Orre!
• Cheerful Child: Many of the protagonists are like this, emphasizing their innocence.
• Child Prodigy: The primary protagonists are referred to after their journeys as “Prodigies”, with the streak of children becoming champion, defeating a great evil, and befriending a legendary being dubbed the “Prodigy Phenomenon”.
• Civilized Animal: Pokemon are usually depicted as somewhere between this and halfway to Funny Animal, where they are depending on the individual and species. They’re still animalistic, with some animalistic instincts and animalistic concerns, but possess enough intelligence to consent to battling, have concept of the self, have morality, make out how to communicate with each other, have protocol for being captured or if one of their own is captured, and as shown with some, have some type of culture. Plus, many starter Pokemon, despite apparently usually being pretty young, can basically act as their trainers’ parents when needed as well (especially Tanetane). However, some species, such as most legendaries and many psychic Pokemon, are as intelligent as if not smarter than the average human.
• Color Motif: Many Pokémon have personalities based off of colors. For example, most “Team Hotheads” are red. If they get any accessories, they will often be in their color.
• Crossdressing Voices: Almost all of the preteen male protagonists are “voiced” by female UTAU, with the notable exceptions of Green (Mawarine Shuu) and Yuuki (Root Leta). Their assigned UTAU never changes either, though pitched versions of UTAU are often considered sort of different characters anyway.
• Development Gag: Crosses with Mythology Gag; the author loves to include nods to early concept art in art of the characters when they were younger (I.e. Red is shown at age 9 in a minimally changed version of his Capumon design, Leaf at that age is shown with a black minidress and white gloves, Hibiki at age 8 is wearing a purple hoodie of a similar shade to the male character on the cover of the Gold and Silver announcement pamphlet, Kris’s pigtails are hanging down instead of defying gravity and she’s wearing a white collared shirt). Other details from the early stages of development may be added as well, such as Hibiki having a skateboard, or Red’s Rhydon plushie being the first one he got, referencing Rhydon being the first Pokémon made.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Already existed in Pokemon, but Pikupro takes it further by making all the place, character, and some other elements (like Mix Au Laits vs Lemonades) line up to the region's IRL counterpart's language. For example, Pallet Town is called Masara Town, Ethan is called Hibiki while Hilbert and Hilda have their English names, and Professor Sycamore is known as Professor Plantane. Sun and Moon mixes it up by having Elio and Selene named Yo and Mizuki... While everyone else has their English names. This doesn't apply to Pokemon though, to avoid confusion.
• Filler: The author calls the side-stories on routes and such, like where the main characters find a Pokémon they don’t capture, this.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: As the main series is supposed to be accessible to (theoretical) children like official Pokémon media, no actual swears are used; the protagonists and other kids who do use stronger language usually resort to these. Though this may also be a language thing, as once outside the Japanese regions Symbol Swearing becomes a bit more common (and in Orre, which is intended to be for a theoretical older audience, not only are much more of these present, but mild swears like "damn" are left in).
• Halloween Episode: If a series is running during Halloween, horror-themed stories may be posted, the tradition starting with ”Daisuke and Miki”. They can be Big Lipped Alligator Moments (e.g. “Vegetable Mareep”), though not always (I.e. (ambiguously) ”Daisuke and Miki” and “Silver’s Nightmare”).
• Hot-Blooded: There’s a Pokémon like this in the primary main character’s team every arc (except the Orre arcs where most party members rotate), the author referring to said Pokémon as “The Team Hothead” or “The Yellow Archetype”, due to Yellow being the first of this streak, followed by Merry (Mareep), Rai (Electrike), Cinnamon (Buneary), Burr (Drillbur), Oscar (Snivy), Salle (Charmander), and Raffy (Rockruff). They tend to love battle, be short-tempered, and be passionate, though the details can vary.
• Species Equals Gender: Deliberately subverted with some Pokemon that are usually associated with one sex:
  • Most of the Eeveelutions are male... even Kalem’s, Lee, who evolves into Sylveon. In his appearance in A Wild Badfic Appeared! Commentaries, he in fact acts quite confused that others mistake him for a female.
  • Cinnamon, Hikari’s Buneary/Lopunny, is male. Her Lucario is also female.
• Little Bit Beastly: In the recurring “Main character dreams of their team as gijinkas” episodes that happen every arc, the Pokémon are portrayed like this, with them looking like humans with Pokémon ears and tails. There’s also extra art featuring the secondary protagonists and some rivals (e.g. Silver) with their teams in this state.
• Localized Name in a Non-Localized Setting: As mentioned in Fantasy Counterpart Culture, Averted, not just for the characters, but for many other things. One of the only exceptions, as also mentioned, is the Pokémon species names. But even this is heavily implied to only be the case in prose, because it isn’t uncommon for characters to name their Pokémon using parts of their “native” species name (e.g. “Tanetane” (Fushigidane), “Zeni” (Zenigame), Tacchii (Ootachi)…).
• Loose Canon: The Halloween Episode chapters are usually this.
  • The “Non-Serial Chapters” are a weird case. They are technically “canon”, the author just declares them “Non-Serial”, episodes that would be excluded if this were official Pokémon media. This includes episodes such as the “canon” Halloween Episode “Silver’s Nightmare”, which is excluded due to it’s gory content, and those that have inappropriate themes like “An… Unfortunate Truth”, a comedic chapter where Kouki tries to explain to Hikari that her Buneary is sexually frustrated, to their mutual embarrassment.
• Moe: It’s been stated that one of the intentions with many of the preteen protagonists especially was to write them in a way that made the reader want to protect them at their most vulnerable.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Many, in fact most Pokemon act exactly how you’d expect a member of their species to. But many (read: a good portion of the main cast party members) aren’t necessarily, and some outright subvert it. According to Word of God, this is because she essentially decides Pokémon characterization on almost all protagonist teams with what is basically a convoluted, overcomplicated mental semi-random generator; though she also apparently sometimes deliberately favors personalities that would result in this “If feasible”. This may also happen because Pokemon as the author writes them don't have major personality changes like the Dex implies, at least not as major.
  • Downplayed with Tanetane, Red’s Bulbasaur and later Venausaur; while nothing says that the line is lazy or slow, one wouldn’t expect a line whose Pokédex entries often speak about it sunbathing to be described as “has a very active mind and gets bored easily and even irritable if left with nothing to stimulate it”.
  • Hinotaro, as a Cyndaquil, is, as Hibiki says himself, a "wuss". This is in line with his species Pokedex entry. However, he doesn't exactly stop being a wuss upon evolution either, and is still a bit of a Cowardly Lion by the end.
  • Silver’s Totodile, Sneazel, and Zubat (or the forms they evolve into) are absurdly patient considering they have to put up with an abusive child for a trainer. Or at least for Totodile, he may just be a doormat like Hinotaro, just more Stepford Smiler than obvious coward, as he put up with the abuse from day one and gets the worst of it, and he appears to be the one who tries to diffuse conflicts and dissuades the other three from doing anything terrible to Silver. Sneazel also is absurdly calm for a Pokémon said to perform slash-and-runs for the hell of it. Or really, Team Silver appears to be very patient in general for being made up of species said to be capable of some very nasty cruelty. The exception is Gastly, who would most likely have killed Silver if it weren’t for the correctional devices. And he does try to attack Silver after his development, only to be stopped by Feraligatr.
  • Brought specific attention to and becomes a Discussed Trope with Merry, a Mareep who grew tired of her life in a flock with timid Mareep, and ran away from home; when she sees Hibiki, she immediately initiates a battle with intent of being captured. Having a similar backstory to her is Cinnamon, a Buneary with an Adamant Nature, though he apparently was thrown out of his warren because his Hot-Blooded, competitive personality became considered a liability instead of leaving of his own accord like Merry.
  • Once she calms down, Hibiki’s Gyarados, Nishiki, is revealed to be surprisingly quiet and polite. She was only made to rampage by the radio waves, and she in fact appears to feel guilt for that.
  • Yuuki’s Numel/Camerupt, Don, is actually surprisingly smart and alert to her surroundings. She in fact acts as a camp guard often. She is quick to catch onto danger, and immediately senses that Kagari is bad news after she starts to… like him.
  • Wes’ first two Pokémon consist of an Espeon and an Umbreon, a sweet Nice Guy and Jerk with a Heart of Gold Silent Snarker; the thing is, the former is the Umbreon, a dark type, and the latter the Espeon.
  • Oscar the Snivy, Rosa’s starter. According to the Pokédex Snivy are “very calm” and Serperior “will only give it their all against strong opponents”. Well apparently no one told Oscar this because, having a Hasty Nature and apparently being modeled after a terrier, he’s feisty, impatient, and too brave for his own good, a Blood Knight always wanting a good fight. His Establishing Character Moment in fact is him bursting out of his Pokeball, running past Rosa, and looking for a wild Pokemon to fight. He's got the somewhat "cold" attitude one would expect from his species though, though it's less being "cold" and more that he has boundaries and doesn't like being coddled or dressed up like, say, Zorua would. He loves Rosa like any starter at the end of the day. (Pending)
  • Sudz, Kalem's Froakie. Greninja give off an impression of calmness, even aloofness. Sudz is goofy, mischievous, and doesn’t take things seriously. He is a badass when he's actually supposed to be though.
  • Gloria’s Cinderace, Beck, despite his sporty appearance, has a Gentle Nature and is mostly quiet and calm, from what we see of him.
• Most Writers Are Adults: One of the series’ goals is to avert this, or at least minimize it, unlike Pokémon Adventures. Though it has been stated that kids in this universe probably mature faster mentally because they’re trusted to go on Pokemon journeys, the preteens still have plushies, get excited over candy, often have a rather simple grasp of morality (which while it often serves them good, can backfire on occasion, i.e. the whole drama between the Kanto trio and Silver's lack of life experience and the experience he does have being fuel for maladaptive behavior), use insults like “doo-doo head”, and imitate what they see on TV. Even some of the conflict comes from the fact they have immature brains, especially in the Kanto arc, with Green even partially deconstructing the notion of giving Pokemon to kids, as he basically sees them, as the author puts it, as “action figures that go boom”. However, the author admits she's not great at writing teenagers, so the Gen 5 and 6 main characters appear to act like adults more often, while Wes is basically an adult (though even he is implied to partially act the way he does because he thinks it's edgy, or more that he processes what he's gone through in an edgy manner).
• Mythology Gag: Some references are included to the Pokémon Masters versions of the protagonists as long as they don’t contradict anything else about the character as the author writes them.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Especially compared to many of the author's later ideas like Project Alter and especially Alt-talia (and most of it’s various spinoffs) and despite playing up darker and more realistic elements, it sits with her Super Smash Bros works (which are connected to this series through their Pokemon characters) very much on the idealistic side of the scale, if not more so; if Alt-talia’s overarching themes are “Nations follow their interests, whether good or bad” and “Everyone is working towards their own utopia”, Pokémon Pixel’s are The Power of Friendship and childhood innocence, with plucky kid heroes saving the day from everything from organized crime to the end of the world.

• Synthetic Voice Actor: The “voice actors” for the characters are UTAUs. Or in Wes and Mizuki’s case, UTAU of actual voice actors. Most are never heard speaking normally however. The author has justified this (as opposed to using the Pokémon Masters voices) on the grounds that "canon" voice actors for game versions of characters are never consistent.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Just like the games. Despite the more realistic tone, most of the stories start out with and with the protagonists having a sense of childhood innocence and wonder, and even the teenage core protagonists set out with a lighthearted sense of adventure. Their Pokemon are colorful and goofy, the adults around them are supportive, and the series in general emphasizes The Power of Friendship. But it also tends to play up the darker elements with the villains especially for the sake of realism, many of the villains clearly showing that they have intent to kill or seriously harm the protagonists if it’s needed to achieve their goals, with the “Game Over” sub-series showing just what happens to the hero and/or the world if they are unsuccessful, and they definitely aren’t for the faint of heart and are definitely not for children: ranging from Red and Leaf getting a brutal, Yakuza-style execution or being impaled by a Rhydon, the heavy implication that Yuuki is raped if he loses to Kagari or suffocating in the vacuum of space as the meteor destroys Earth if he loses to Deoxys, life being slowly drained out of Kalos as Kalem and Serena can merely watch as they also lay slowly dying, Nate and Rosa being impaled with icicles... Though the most terrifying one is arguably Hikari’s fate, in which Akagi creates his new world... except Hikari, who is carried through with him, having gone through severe Death of Personality, merely a husk of her former self, a daughter figure who Akagi can shape through his own hands, just like the world itself....

Tropes in the Red and Blue arc include:

• A Dog Named "Dog": Sort of. Green’s Rhydon is named “Rhino”. In-universe, Green probably derived it from its English name.
• Adorkable: Red is socially awkward and generally a dork. While this can be to his detriment, Leaf mostly finds this charming, as well as many adults, due to him being a child.
• Affably Evil: Sakaki. He comes to respect Red and his audacious disregard for his own safety in facing him, to the point that he decides to battle him as his last hurrah as a gym leader, even if he starts deliberately sending out weak Pokémon once he realizes that Red is stalling until the police arrive. He even chastises Red for not giving it his all, though Red chastises him at the end for likewise holding back.
• Big Eater: Dekapon, Red's Snorlax, is obviously one. Also Sandy, Leaf’s Sandslash. He’s drawn a bit pudgier than Sandslash usually are to show it, and he encountered Leaf being drawn to the smell of cooking.
• Brutal Honesty: Red can tend to be brutally honest. People can be a bit taken aback by this (like Keisuke the homeless man, when Red tells him he has a dirty abode), but sometimes it can be a positive thing (like when he tells Yuumi, a girl pressured to be a strong trainer by her parents, “Why do you have to do that if you don’t want to?”).
• The Bully: Green Ookido is slightly meaner in this fic than in the games, as the author used the backstory in the manual of the original games. While a lot of his ego is Played for Laughs, it’s also made clear that him suddenly becoming extremely competitive and harsh towards him was a massive blow to Red, who already was a target of bullying (Pending). However, Green never fully intended to hurt Red, more that he thought of himself as the hero of his own story and thought the trash talk and competition was all part of the fun, not realizing how much it was hurting his best friend. Still, there are also various reasons heavily implied to have indeed laid under this rival attitude; resentment of being identical in ability to and always being associated with Red, the boy all of their peers agreed was a bit of a dweeb, a superiority complex that came with being the grandson of such a high-profile Professor and wanting to seem cooler and grown-up, his jealousy over his grandfather treating Red like another grandson, and jealousy induced by his crush on Leaf, I.e. plain good old preteen immaturity.
• Color Motif: Not only is Red’s actually red, but this is an enforced trope; he literally cannot stand to be without a red article of clothing on him.
• The Cutie: Ann the Flareon. Especially shown by her human design and demeanor as a human in “My Party Is Human?!”.
• Dirty Coward: Green, despite being a good trainer in his own right and presenting himself as a tough guy, does not want to get involved with Team Rocket at all. Not that he’d ever want to make that apparent to Red or Leaf. But this actually isn’t presented negatively so much as how a reasonable 11 year old would actually act if they found themselves in his situation, because really he has no obligation to stop Team Rocket anyway, and Red and Leaf are the crazy ones for doing so.
• Deconstruction: Green could be kind of considered one of the whole kids training Pokemon and going on a journey thing. While he's great and smart as a trainer, he doesn't act that much more mature than a normal 11 year old would, and he puts his rivalry with Red above their friendship and doesn't stop to think how it looks to him. Also see Memetic Badass.
• Downer Ending: While the ending seems to be happy, Red’s relationship with Green is still left up in the air. And by the time of the Gen 2 arc it’s apparent that there is no happy ending to this arc, as Red loses purpose in life and spirals into depression, and his friendship with Green is in ruins.
• Filler: One of the notable things about the “filler” in this arc (as well as the Johto arc) is the handful of episodes revolving around interactions with what the author calls “characters of the day”, some of them based on the many faceless NPCs, others not; apparently, these were to emphasize the theme of connecting with people, which was what Satoshi Tajiri originally intended to be the core of the series. These can range from the main duo just listening to a kid from an abusive home, sheltering from the rain under a homeless man’s makeshift roof, or Red arguing with a jaded former trainer that he has a chance at winning the league. These seem one-off… But then a handful of them return in the next arc to tell Hibiki about said interactions.
• Gratuitous English: Green names a lot of his Pokémon in English or with names derived from English, resulting in them being this in-universe; namely Eguze (Exeggutor), Rhino (Rhydon), Alex (Alakazam), Ratty (Ratticate), and arguably Po (Pidgeot), though that name is derived from Pidgey’s Japanese name. His Charizard’s name, Sepaltra, is a case of mangled Gratuitous Spanish. However, his Arcanine in the Gen 2 arc is named “Hachi”, a Japanese name, a nod to his Character Development.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Yellow gets rather easily angered, especially initially, and is rather quick to fire warning shots if something annoys him.
• Hot-Blooded: Red, actually, despite his reputation as The Silent Bob, is this just like in early official material. He’s passionate, insanely determined, has a very strong sense of justice. Though it’s not as intense at is is with Hibiki. Well, in this arc at least. Though even post-timeskip, flashes of this show through.
  • Also Yellow. He’s rather intense, passionate, brash, and doesn’t seem to understand his own size, always eager for a battle.
• Idiot Hero: Red isn’t exactly an idiot; he’s very smart for his age. But because he didn’t go through Trainer’s School due to the professor giving his card to him directly, despite knowing the names and typing of all Kanto Pokémon, he is initially ignorant of things like type advantages and disadvantages beyond the fire-grass-water triangle and weakening Pokémon before capturing them. This is apparently because Red is partially meant as a stand-in for players who played the original games in 1996, much like the Red of Pokémon Origins, with artistic license on him memorizing all the Pokémon because that’s what his character would do. He doesn’t stay like this for long, however.
• Kids Are Cruel: Well, more kids have limited empathy. Arguably, the Kanto trio are the most realistic children out of all sets of main characters; while Red is the one implied to be on the Autism Spectrum, and he lacks understanding of others sometimes until Leaf spells it out for him, Green is arguably worse and has a childish inability to see how the whole rivalry looks to Red. Even Leaf isn't perfect in the whole equation despite being the most empathetic in the trio, as she turns against Green and fails to communicate to Green exactly why, and she's a bit sadistic when it comes to subjecting him to slapstick especially (though he doesn't seem to mind because as the writer puts it "he's a simp who thinks it's appropriate for others to bully people they love too"). The whole conflict between Red and Green is a testament to how children's lack of empathy can have pretty bad consequences if left to their own. It's highly likely the whole conflict wouldn't have blown up into their fight after the events of the story if the characters were adults who were wise enough to at any point stop and properly communicate, or that it would have happened at all in the first place for that matter.
• The Leader: While Red is of course the leader of his Pokémon, Tanetane, Red’s Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur, takes on the role of Team Red’s responsible leader and Team Dad often, even sometimes being more competent than Red initially, and often more emotionally mature. This is much like Ash’s Bulbasaur from the anime, though this was apparently unintentional.
• Loose Canon: It’s left unclear if the gaiden based on Pokémon Strangled Red is canon, though the author says “Not... Maybe”.
• Love Triangle: Parodied. Only Green thinks there’s actually a love triangle, with neither Red nor Leaf having any feelings for each other due to being so young and not really thinking about it; also, Leaf despises Green due to how he treated Red. Green, however, thinks that Leaf is playing hard to get and due to his whole seeing himself as the protagonist thing, had convinced himself that Red was his rival for Leaf’s heart as well, much to Red’s confusion and Leaf’s annoyance. (Pending. Maybe his feelings are hidden?)
  • ...And then Burningleaf Shipping is canonized during the G2 arc, where the two had started developing feelings for each other during the time skip. Though only Leaf seems to realize this. And by the time these feelings started to develop, Green had decided to stop pursuing Leaf because he had realized she simply wasn’t not into him and is now mature enough to not press it further. Red and Leaf only actually become a couple in a gaiden one-shot written much later, where the two are now 17, and while Green is heartbroken he accepts it for what it is.
• Memetic Badass: Subverted with the main characters. Well, the protagonist trio are hypercompetent as trainers yes, but in all other things they're very much children. The author apparently wrote Green in particular as a response this sort of portrayal that Blue Oak has gotten over the years, especially in official media, e.g. Pokémon Generations. He is, just like in the games, a total brat; he sees his Pokemon almost like toys and whines when poor Sepaltra has to remind him that he hasn't fed him yet or that he wants to play a game, and runs from Team Rocket (as well as the Pokémon Tower) out of fear instead of fighting them. With Leaf she's the most adult but as a trainer she says herself that she's rather mediocre (though this may only be because of who she has to compare herself to). And Red is a Hot-Blooded but heavily implied to be Autistic dork who fidgets with his cap and still sleeps with plushies, barely the mute badass fans have come to expect. (Until he is. But even then the muteness is shown to be the result of apathy and depression).
• Mythology Gag:
  • “I’m gonna be the very best, like no one ever was!” - Red
  • In Shion Town, in a bit of a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment, Red has a nightmare about what could possibly be at the top of Pokémon Tower. He dreams of battling a skeletal, gaunt, pale zombie with a Gengar and Muk before it lunges at him. His Pokémon lose and are unable to protect him, and the last thing it says as it grabs a crying Red, hand around his throat and about to eat him, Yellow and Tanetane at zero HP and hopelessly watching, is “Finally, fresh meat...”. Cue Red waking up and screaming to an extremely concerned Leaf and team of Pokémon. This is an obvious reference to the Buried Alive Creepypasta, as according to the author, “man-eating zombie” seemed like the exact type of thing a scared preteen boy constantly in a town assaulted by bad vibes would think of.
    Leaf: C’mon, zombies? I mean, we don’t know what’s up there, but that would be stupid. ...Right?
• No Social Skills: Red is very socially awkward. He may be oblivious as to how others feel, though he knows this and at times, like before trying to storm Silph Co and makes damn sure Leaf wants to come along, is extra careful about it. He also once goes through the homeowner’s fridge at a Trainer Stop without asking, and Leaf has to remind him he has to ask first. He also has no idea how to make small talk and often begins conversations with “Uh… Hello, do you like Pokémon?”. And these are only three examples of many of him being socially awkward. This is part of his implied Autism.
• Oblivious to Love: Or more, oblivious to his own feelings; Red has no idea what it is that he feels for Kasumi when he meets her, expressing frustration as he stumbles over his own words and as it affects his battle performance so much that he loses Tanetane, a grass type, to a Starmie, a water type. He’s able to pull himself through when he sends out Yellow, however. Leaf suspects after the battle that he has a crush, and teases him for it, and Red is surprised that this is what love feels like. This contrasts him with Green, who is very aware about his feelings for Leaf. It turns out that Kasumi thinks he’s cute as well, though she’s way more aware of her feelings.
• The Prankster: Downplayed, but Leaf likes pranks. In a gaiden taking place before their journey, she and Green engage in a gradually escalating prank war as Red watches in amazement. She doesn’t do much to Red outside of suddenly booping him on the nose.
• Protectorate: While it’s common for Pokemon to see their trainers like this, Tanetane, Red’s Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venasaur, takes his responsibility towards Red very seriously. Apparently his personality was based off of herding dogs like German Shepherds, Sheepdogs, and Collies, as such it’s to be expected. He’s also the Team Dad to the rest of the party, despite being apparently not much older than Red himself mentally.
  • In the emotional sense, Red is this to Leaf as well. She can even be a bit overprotective of him and his feelings due to Red's history of being rather isolated. The feeling is shown to be mutual.
• Punny Name: Leaf has a last name; “Aōi”, making her name “Aoi Leaf”. Not only is “Aoi” Japanese for “Blue” (indeed, the Japanese Blue was called “Aō”), but in somewhat old-fashioned Japanese it can also mean “green”, making her name “Green Leaf”, thus making her represent both Pokémon Blue and Leaf Green.
• Take That!: In Pokémon Tower, Red, already on edge due to the creepy atmosphere, notices Green only has five Pokéballs on his belt, and asks if one of them died. Green is amused by this and says that he released Ratticate because it was weak and he got bored with it, basically calling Red a scaredy-cat and making fun of him for the stupid idea. This is of course a reference to the fan theory that Green’s Ratticate died after its defeat on the S.S. Anne, a theory the author openly dislikes.
  • Red, very eager to use his new Pikachu, tries to battle Takeshi with Yellow, just like how Ash battled Brock with Pikachu in the anime. Yellow promptly gets his butt kicked and is very disappointed in, and a bit angry with, Red. Takeshi even asks “Are you sure?” after Red sends out Yellow.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Green used to be one of Red’s only real friends alongside Leaf before he, quite suddenly, declared Red his “rival” and started picking on him.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Red is the type of kid to take on Team Rocket, and loves all Pokémon… But the mere sight of a Grimer or Muk makes his sensory issues act up and overwhelms him. Apparently, even natto makes his skin crawl, so a sludge monster is of course incredibly stressful to be around. This obviously becomes an issue when battling Kyou, and Kyou even gives him the option of not battling his ace, but Red manages to pull through, and once he’s able to get back into Battle Mode he’s able to shut off the unnecessary stimulation.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: This arc being based on the game with the most straightforward plot in the series, Green, in his immaturity, essentially spends his journey LARPing as a shonen protagonist, with Red as his Stock Shōnen Rival despite Red not fitting the bill at all, and Leaf as his love interest despite her showing no interest in him at all. He is indeed in a shonen inspired story, based on a franchise whose adaptations are almost universally for the shonen demographic. Unfortunately, Red is the real protagonist of this tale, because Green lacks the compassion, kindness, bravery, or heroism that a shonen hero should have.

Tropes in the Gold and Silver arc include:

• Armor-Piercing Question: It doesn’t quite do the trick completely, but Hibiki telling Silver “What’s the point, man? If Pokémon are just tools to you, if you don’t form connections to them; what’s the point, man? How does that make you strong? That just makes you a kid ordering them around. What’s the point if you don’t share their feelings and their accomplishments? That doesn’t sound cool or strong to me.” sticks with him and is probably why Wataru’s words are able to ultimately get to him.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Bui, as an Eevee, is basically this. He’s a bit spoiled, bossy, and doesn’t know his own size; he’s been compared to a Chihuahua by the author.
• Deadpan Snarker: Kris, Hibiki surprisingly (though his insults can range from surprisingly smart to Red and Green tier), Silver, even Kotone has her moments.
• "Everybody Dies" Ending: ”Silver’s Nightmare”. First, Silver discovers that the entirety of Tokiwa City has been massacred in the underground complex that used to be one of his homes. When he finally reaches Sakaki’s old office, he sees the beheaded corpses of Green, Po, and most importantly to him, Kris and Basil, at the center of the room a crazed version of his father with Mewtwo (though Silver can’t quite describe what Mewtwo looks like), a grieving Kotone cradling Marie’s corpse, and a terrified Hibiki and Hinotato; then he witnesses Kotone get murdered, then Hinotaro, then Hibiki, then Mewtwo turns on Sakaki, before finally coming for him. However, this is averted in the alternate route, where Mewtwo spares him. It’s all a dream anyway, though.
• Foil: Hibiki and Kris aren’t completely dissimilar; both love the thrill of adventure, and aren’t too averse to risky behavior, but Kris is the mature voice of reason to Hibiki’s immaturity.
  • Hibiki and Silver are both cocky preteen boys who can have a temper when it comes to what they’re passionate about, but their similarities end there; Hibiki has a loving mother and friends, loves his Pokémon as much as is possible, expects the best of people, and is able to admit when he needs help despite his pride. Silver is none of this.
  • Hibiki and Hinotaro as well. Hibiki is a cocky, Hot-Blooded, insanely determined kid who rushes into danger, Hinotaro is a Lovable Coward.
  • Hinotaro and Merry. The latter is incredibly brave and Hot-Blooded, serving as a bit of a role model to Hinotaro.
• Halloween Episode: There’s two:
  • “Silver’s Nightmare”, where Silver meets a twisted, crazed, murderous version of his father who uses Mewtwo to, well, murder people, based on Pokémon Tarnished Gold. This one serves as a bit of a Heartwarming Moment however, as Silver is genuinely upset about his Pokémon dying and tries to protect Hibiki in his nightmare, and after Silver wakes up screaming, the first thing he does is hug Jin and then he calls Hibiki, Kris, and Kotone, bursting into tears when Hibiki picks up.
  • “Hibiki’s Nightmare”, a gaiden fic which was posted after the end of the Gen 2 arc, where Hibiki dreams he dies and is forgotten, obviously based on Pokémon Lost Silver. Ends on a depressing note where Hibiki, absolutely shaken, asks Kris if his achievements would really be forgotten.
• Hot-Blooded: Hibiki. See Stock Shōnen Hero.
  • Sharing this with his trainer is Merry, his Mareep/Flaafy/Ampharos. She ran off from her flock because she wanted to seek out a life of battle, and when she found Hibiki she pretty much jumped at the call.
  • In a different way from the above two, Riki the Heracross, who has a huge Samurai Complex and is apparently obsessed with honor. Much like his trainer, he also has a bit of a hero complex, as how Silver treats his Pokémon is shown to anger him.
• Idiot Hero: Hibiki. His M.O. is getting by on sheer determination and when he first hits a fight where he has to be strategic in the form of Akane he struggles. It’s from this battle onwards he starts to be more strategic, but he can still be rather Book Dumb.
• Imprinting: Spike, Hibiki’s newly hatched Togepi, imprints on Hinotaro. Though despite seeing Hinotaro as his parent, he’s the somewhat protective half, not Hinotaro, due to seeing his “parent” as vulnerable.
• Lovable Coward: Hinotaro, Hibiki’s Cyndaquil/Quilava/Typhlosion, is a pretty big coward; he tries to get out of intimidating battles by pretending to be sick, and he was even spooked by a Pidgey. However, he is inspired by Hibiki’s optimism, energy, and resolve and starts making an effort to change that. By the time he’s a Typhlosion, he still is a bit of a wuss, but is easily able to overcome it.
• Mythology Gag: Hinotaro’s name is very similar to the name Pokémon Adventures Gold, who always uses the -taro suffix in the Japanese version when naming his Pokémon, gives his Cyndaquil, though Gold’s is named Bakutaro, his name taking from Typhlosion rather than Cyndaquil’s species name. Hinotaro’s name is also rendered as ヒノタロー, not ヒノタロウ, the latter of which is more accurate to how Gold names his Pokémon.
• The Prankster: Downplayed, but Hibiki is as mischievous as Leaf and then some; he likes pulling jokes on his friends and Pokémon, (e.g. waking Hinotaro up by yelling “Boo!” (And getting almost burnt for his efforts), being the one to cook for once only to put spicy Figy sauce in Kotone’s sandwich, hiding Kris’ cap before she wakes up, etc).
  • Becomes a bit heartwarming in a post-story gaiden: Hibiki dumps a bucket of water over Silver as he enters his room looking for him. Silver is pissed but Hibiki tells him that friends pull jokes on each other, and Silver considers it. Hibiki promptly gets hit by a Water Gun courtesy of Jin the next time he comes to the Dragon’s Den; cue both of them laughing.
• Put on a Bus: Tacchii, Hibiki’s Furret, likes being with Hibiki and Hinotaro but it turns out she isn’t awfully passionate about battle. Hibiki eventually realizes this, and he sends her to live with his mother to keep her company.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Wataru gets his moments to shine a lot. As the adult voice in the whole conflict with Silver, he provides a good role model for the boy both as a strong trainer and as a responsible, good adult over their encounters, and eventually their relationship even becomes familial. In a post-story gaiden, their relationship is shown to have grown to the point that he's become like a father figure, the "responsible adult Silver needed in his life", even giving him a home to go back to and basically for all intents and purposes informally adopting him.
• Royal Brat: Silver is sometimes compared to a prince both in-universe and out, what with his place in Team Rocket as the organization's heir. And oh boy is he this trope. When he was younger, he basically had the grunts wrapped around his finger and everything a kid could want, and grew up with a massive sense of self-importance and entitlement due to being the son of the boss of Team Rocket, though Sakaki still hired tutors to teach him discipline and stuff beyond his age, and he had little affection from his real parents. As a result, he never learned how to treat his peers as equals, or even had much interaction with other kids, much less those his age, at all. Sakaki abandoning him took all of that away from him suddenly, but instead of humbling him, this only turned him cynical and bitter and made his behavioral problems worse, making him even more of this trope.
• Sleepyhead: Puririn the Wigglytuff. She is usually seen asleep.
• Stock Shōnen Hero: It’s been stated outright that Hibiki is the straightest example of this out of all of the protagonists, though Red and Yuuki have strong elements of it; he’s cheerful, loud, Hot-Blooded, insanely determined, cocky, optimistic, outgoing, naive, not the smartest kid around usually, has a case of Chronic Hero Syndrome possibly even stronger than the others, and is a Big Eater to boot.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kris and Kotone, respectively.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: It’s made apparent from early on that Silver’s an incredibly troubled kid, and his immaturity otherwise makes it a bit worse. He thinks power is everything and doesn’t seem to comprehend any other goal. He is incredibly knowledgeable on how to evade police and get away with crimes. He screams and hits or kicks objects when his Pokémon don’t do as he says, with them unable to stand up to him because his Team Rocket issue Pokéballs’ emergency anti-attack mechanisms are tampered to issue harsher punishments to them and be easily abused. He only doesn’t encourage wild hunting behavior in his Pokémon because that would catch the attention of other trainers and therefore law enforcement more. He carries around a pocketknife (most likely Team Rocket issue, with the logo crudely scratched off), threatens others with it more than once, and actually uses it in the infamous scene where he tears Hibiki’s Team Rocket disguise off, to their understandable horror. He also apparently had his first drink when he was 9 (Pending).

Tropes in the Ruby and Sapphire arc include:

• Boisterous Bruiser: Yuuki can have an attitude that resembles this, with the author summing up his personality as “Someone who would wield an axe in a JRPG”; however, in terms of looks he’s a normal 12-year-old boy. This machismo is in great contrast to many other portrayals, most notably Ruby of Pokémon Adventures, which often portray him as a coordinator who may have Camp Straight inclinations.
• Gratuitous English: In-universe, while the fic is in English, Skipper’s name. Because Galarian sounds cool.
• The Idiot from Osaka: Yuuki is from Johto, and unlike how his counterparts tend to be, he’s one of the most brash, stubborn protagonists out of the entire lineup aside from Hilda.
• Keet: Tobi. He’s a speedy, almost hyperactive, happy-go-lucky Swellow whose ability Guts is explained by sheer optimism.
• Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: The easiest way to dupe Yuuki into doing anything is to call him a coward or “kid”. No matter what it is, he’ll probably charge in just to prove you wrong.
• Pædo Hunt: As for the most part characterizations are closer to how they were in ORAS, Kagari is still a scientist with dubious sanity... and it’s also made clear that she is very attracted to Yuuki, a 12-year-old boy. Sexually attracted. And while Kagari looks pretty young, she’s probably well past 18. However, this is treated as something Squicky and horrifying, and the fact she is completely oblivious to her feelings being wrong only furthers the point of how detached from reality she is, and a Magma Grunt serving under her is shown understandably a bit horrified as she vents to him about “choosing” between Yuuki and Matsuba. Don is the first to catch on, immediately knows Kagari is bad news, and her Camerupt confirms it. But all the more horrifying is that Yuuki, despite being taught about predators, thinks he’s all grown up and likes the fact that she apparently likes him, even though she creeps him out a bit. His Pokémon and his mother have to talk sense into him. This problem is bad enough that it gets even Skipper riled up. In the “Game Over” series, she outright rapes him.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Yuuki never admits he's afraid. However, as the Hoenn region becomes engulfed in the natural disaster of the century, as a result also of his Character Development, he finally admits to Haruka that he is indeed afraid, and has been afraid this entire time, and that he's just some 12-year-old being entrusted with the fate of the world.
  • Skipper, after Yuuki dismisses his and the other Pokémons’ concerns about Kagari for the last time, outright snaps and actually slaps him. The others are shocked as much as Yuuki is.
• Puppy Love: Yuuki and Haruka actually become a couple at the end, one of the few couples, especially among the preteen protagonists, who become an Official Couple, at least within their own story arc.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man:
  • Yuuki and Skipper. The former is a rough-and-tumble, brash, and cocky kid, the latter is coolheaded, graceful, and modest. This forms a large part of their dynamics.
  • Yuuki is also definitely the manly man to Mitsuru’s sensitive guy; Yuuki is Yuuki, while the latter is a somewhat sheltered, shy, and initially insecure.

Tropes in the Diamond and Pearl arc include:

• Badass Adorable: Hikari’s favorite kind of Pokémon, as can be seen in her party lineup. Notably there’s Cinnamon the Blood Knight Buneary/Lopunny.
  • While all preteen (and even early teen) protagonists tap into this as part of their appeal to some extent, Hikari herself is among the girliest of the female protagonists; she loves making sweets and poffins, fluffy things, cute things, glitter, decorating with Pokéball seals, and pink. This doesn’t stop her from being as brave or as good a battler as the other main protagonists. Especially notable as she’s the first female Gym Challenger in the series. She’s also the youngest alongside Red, having just had her 11th birthday.
• Big Eater: Hikari encounters Mukkun, her Starly, as he’s trying to steal her lunch. Mukkun will basically do anything for one of Hikari’s poffins, and it’s a Running Gag for Hikari to promise him extra poffins if he does well in a battle.
• Carnivore Confusion: Addressed. Mint sees Cinnamon and Mukkun as food initially, and they are not amused; Mint gets ear-punched at least once by an angry Cinnamon for her efforts. But Hikari is able to teach her out of it. By the time Cinnamon evolves they become rather close, and Cinnamon is even attracted to her if him throwing himself at her after battles is any indication.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Penchan, Hikari’s Piplup/Prinplup/Empoleon, is about as scatterbrained as Jun (Hikari even jokes that he’s like Jun in Pokémon form), and this results in him coming off as a bit loopy. He once tries to eat rocks, tends to burst out of his Poké Ball for no reason, and runs onto stage during another Pokémon’s act in a contest because of how shiny it is, among other things.
• Determinator: Hikari, as shared by her starter Pokémon Penchan. Well, Hikari starts as a bit of an wuss, but she evolves to have an indomitable will over the course of their journey, learning after Penchan, her friends, and her many trials. It's no wonder Azelf chooses her. (plot point pending)
  • On the other hand, the boys show a lot of willpower from the start; Jun may seem like he’d give up easily due to being easily distracted, but as shown with scenes of him training Futaba, he can show a surprising amount of dedication if he puts his mind to it. And even when he gets distracted, he is able to go back to whatever he was distracted from and keep going. Kouki’s resolve isn’t emphasized as much, but he shows a lot of dedication to his studies, and helping the professor in his studies.
• The Eeyore: Downplayed with Eve, Hikari’s lazy Eevee/Glaceon. She’s often drawn and is described with her ears and tail pointed down or dragging, and is generally a downer who likes to nap. She seems mildly depressed or tired often. However, she’s willing to put in some effort for battle. Also while she’s quiet and doesn’t let her wants known much, she loves her trainer as any and her favorite place is Hikari’s lap (she stops after she evolves after trying it and almost freezing Hikari).
• Foil: Jun and his Turtwig Futaba. Futaba, being a turtle, is slow, and sometimes can't keep up with Jun. Being a kind, even if immature trainer, Jun tries doing good by his starter and tries becoming patient for him. In turn, Futaba tries to be quicker for his trainer.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Hikari. She loves standard girly things, But she also likes battling and adventure as much as any protagonist, and doesn't mind getting dirty, especially later on, if she gets to find out something interesting. She's not above chic or coolness as well, as shown when she enters the Cool contest with Penchan.
• Hot-Blooded:
  • Jun, though because of his impatience it can blow out quickly if he gets distracted by something else.
  • Cinnamon. The Buneary/Lopunny is incredibly passionate about whatever challenges he faces, especially battling, the entire reason his warren threw him out.
  • Mint, to a lesser extent.
• Imprinting: Much like how Spike imprints on Hinotaro, Aichan, Hikari’s Lucario, imprints on Mint, who is very eager to take on a motherly role. They’re very close, and Mint usually comes out of her ball to congratulate Aichan after a battle, with them often spending their downtime together.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Cinnamon is a G-rated version of one, if how… affectionate he is with Mint and Anri after battles is any indication.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Kouki becomes enraged upon finding what Team Galactic is doing to the Lake Guardians. He promptly catches himself and apologizes to Hikari for having to see that, but Hikari tells him that it’s okay to be mad.
• Pet the Dog: One can immediately see that Akagi is a hypocrite by the fact that he names his Pokémon, showing that he has attachment to them, and the fact that he has a Crobat, facts that Hikari point out. He’s shown a few times to question his own goals, and Hikari sees this, believing there’s good in him.
• Redemption Rejection: Akagi rejects Hikari’s offer to start over and turn over a new leaf.
• Understatement: Kouki does this sometimes. He was taught to be polite and subdued, and he tends to underreact and not show strong emotion in general. He describes getting his Arceus knows how expensive Pokédex stolen as “a bit of trouble”.

Tropes in the Unova arc include:

• The All-American Boy: Hilbert acts like a modernized version of one.
• Big Eater: Hilda, and even more so her Tepig Bucky, being a pig. His brother, Teppie, Bianca’s Tepig, however, doesn’t seem to be as much of one.
• Brother–Sister Team: While they do part ways at times, Hilbert and Hilda both being protagonists is emphasized more than the other protagonist duos, even though Hilbert is nominally the main protagonist.
• Cult: The depiction of Team Plasma is fleshed out a bit more with inspiration from American-based Christian cults or cult-like organizations, a blend of Corrupt Church and Church of Happyology, with things like them apparently knocking on doors like Jehovah's Witnesses, the expensive membership fees, and the creepy emphasis on the enforcement of and personality cult around N ("King of Team Plasma, King of Pokemon")'s purity, being painted as a Messiah figure more than standard royalty.
• Did Their Research: Hilbert, Hilda, Bianca, their parents, and other Nuemva and surrounding area townspeople have a bit of an Upstate NY accent, and they, and Hilda especially, use words in a way only Upstate New Yorkers really do (like “I says”). Cheren is apparently the exception because he’s more educated.
• Foil: Hilbert and Hilda. Cheren and Bianca are also foils to each other and to the twins, with Cheren being the nerd to Hilbert’s more laid-back All American Boy and Hilda’s brash, and Bianca being the unconfident Girly Girl to the twins’ more confident natures, plus Hilda’s Tomboy.
  • Also, Team Hilbert on average tends to be on the high-energy side, in contrast to him, and Team Hilda tends to be the opposite, in contrast to her.
• Genki Girl: Blaze the Simisear. She may be the most hyperactive Pokémon in the series, seeming constantly on some kind of sugar high.
• Half-Identical Twins: Hilbert and Hilda look rather similar, and even have similar names. However, they have different eye colors, which makes them more distinct from each other than some other pairs of protagonists, all of whom except for Nate and Rosa (?) aren’t siblings (most egregiously Kouki and Hikari). Hilda is apparently five minutes older, alluding to the fact she was designed first.
• Hormone-Addled Teenager: The protagonists are 14, so it comes up at times in stuff like Hilda and the odd crass joke she makes, particularly if she sees someone attractive (or initially when talking about N), or Hilbert and even Cheren getting nervous and awkward around attractive women like Elesa or Skyla.
• Hotblooded: Hilda. While not quite to Hibiki levels, she can come extremely close. She’s by far the loudest out of the main four, and is a really good example of the male Boisterous Bruiser Eagleland stereotype but as a teenage girl. (Note, may develop into a mature tomboy type later? That would ruin some lines I want her to say though...)
  Hilda: WOOT! Let’s blow this place!
• Manchild: While not to the extent of how some fans portrayed him, N’s childish nature has a bit more space to shine, and Hilbert and Hilda having dialogue makes them able to point out his odd behavior too (e.g. He genuinely doesn’t understand why Hilbert is on edge about being stuck in a Ferris wheel with him). His "purity" was enforced in him growing up, and he appears to fail to comprehend (implied) swear words or a crass comment from Hilda, and in a short chapter he asks a passerby man what a couple of drunks are doing in Castelia City, to the man's confusion, apparently having no idea what even drunkenness is. He’s also described to be crying, his shoulders shaking and quivering, helpless-looking like a young child, as Ghetsis yells at and berates him, the sight of which makes the Hil twins’ rage at Ghethis grow out of some kind of Big Brother/Sister Instinct.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Hilbert (Blue) and Hilda (Red) are some of the best examples of this in a protagonist duo since Generation 2. Not only is Hilbert calm, mellow, and polite while Hilda is brash and loud, but Hilbert is mainly associated with blue and black, while Hilda is with hot pink and white, and Hilbert chooses Oshawott (water) while Hilda chooses Tepig (fire, later gaining the fighting type).
  Hilbert, in his and Hilda’s Character Song, “HilHil Battling Night”: Go with the flow, powerful as the sea!
  Hilda, in her part: Blaze high brightly, epic pillars of flames!
• Running Gag:
  • N being compared to or called a Jedi.
  • Bucky being distracted by food. (Pending)
• Ship Sinking: Out of universe, Word of God has specifically stated she dislikes FerrisWheelShipping (N/Hilda) and IsshuShipping (N/Hilbert) because in Pokemon Pixel the Hil twins are 14 and N is 20, so "that would be kinda weird!", and that their friendship is strictly platonic Fire-Forged Friends. She also doesn't think that N is mature enough to be in a relationship. "Shippy" scenes like the Ferris Wheel scene are made explicitly not (with Hilda being creeped out by it from the start and N being utterly oblivious to how it looks to her, and the whole scene is intentionally painfully awkward).
• Shout-Out: Because Rosa and Nate especially are nerds and the setting is based on New York, references to Show Within a Show isn't rare, at least some of which are clear references to real shows, as well as other references:
  • Hilbert is a bit of a comic nerd. One of the comics he has in the pile of comics he brings with him is "CrobatMan". Nate is also said to like "CrobatMan" movies, though according to Word of God he's more a Marvel person. Hilbert also apparently likes Archie Comics, though this isn't brought up much aside from a few visual depictions due to it having no difference in the Pokemon universe (apparently, they're one of the few comics that Hilbert is confident in Hilda not borrowing without notice).
  • A Star Wars Pokemon crossover concept the author has written and drawn about before seems to be a Show Within a Show in-universe and is alluded to multiple times in both arcs, and Hilbert, to an extent Hilda, and especially the B2W2 trio share a love for it. It's casually mentioned to not even have a funny title either, it's straight up called "Star Wars" (Author: "Thank goodness this is fanfic, not published!"). Though it's made less blatant by the Pokemon element being spoken of in relation to it, with things like Hilbert questioning "Is he some kind of Jedi? Am I seeing this?" after seeing N speak to his Pokemon for the first time or Rosa saying that she always saw the coordination Jedi have with their Pokemon as a role model.
  • N’s Vanilluxes’ names, Hans and Dozzel (rendered in notes as HansDozzel) are corruptions of the name of the ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs. (Pending; may name them after Ben and Jerry’s or Baskin Robbins or something instead)
  • Oscar’s name. While it might not seem like anything special, when one remembers the inspiration for the Snivy line, it makes a whole lot of sense. It helps that despite alluding to Lady Oscar in English the name sounds rustic enough to fit his not so regal characterization.
  • Hugh's sister's Purrloin's name is "Selina".
  • Some of Rosa's favorite shows are a show from Johto called Sailor Sylveon (the inspiration for her hair, the difference appearing to be that the Sailor Scouts transform into Magical Girl forms based on Eeveelutions) and "My Little Eevee: Friendship Is Magic" (previously Bianca also says she's a fan, saying that one of the characters, Bolting Blitzie, presumably the counterpart of Rainbow Dash, reminds her of Hilda, and Nate initially makes fun of Rosa for it (and Rosa insists that "It's much cooler than it looks!") but eventually admits he likes as well when the duo are stuck in a storm and she makes him watch it together. The release date of B2W2, 2012, was also around the peak of the Brony craze). Though "Skitty Punch!", "Princess Cleira of the Moon Kingdom" (more Kanto cartoons, i.e. basically anime), "Mrs. Galvantula and Mrs. Palpitoad", "Pikablu Adventures" (weekly cartoons the BW quartret B2W2 trio used to watch respectively), or "Sparky the Emolga" (a mascot platformer video game franchise) seem to have no particular inspiration outside of vague genre.

• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Judging by the strings of symbols that pop up at times in Hilda’s dialogue and the disapproving comments she gets from the other three (and confused looks from N) due to them, Hilda doesn’t exactly have a clean mouth. Though most often she uses really mild swears like “Dammit!”. Justified due to her being 14 and trying to be a bit edgy.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Hilda and Bianca respectively. The former is loud, opinionated, rough, and very assertive, with many masculine interests, while the latter is soft-spoken, unsure of herself and wears poofy hats and skirts.
  • Hilda and Rosa as well. The latter is much more feminine than the former in most aspects, though that doesn’t stop Rosa from being energetic and having a love for adventure either.
• Wolf Whistle: Hilda lets out a wolf whistle when she and Hilbert see N for the first time. Hilbert chastises her for this.
  Hilda: *Wolf Whistle* Look at that hottie over there! What’s he doing here?
  Hilbert: *hushed* Hilda!
  N: ?
• Trademark Favorite Food:
  • Hilbert is apparently fond of PB&J sandwiches and apples, fitting for his "modern All American Boy" characterization.
  • While, in true New York fashion, all protagonists and rivals and some Pokemon show some fondness for it in the Unova arcs, Hilda, Nate, and Hugh are especially noticeably fond of pizza.
  • Cheesecake for Bianca, Rosa, and Zorua, with Rosa particularly when served with Castelia ice cream, this too an allusion to the IRL New York being famous for it. (pending except for Rosa)

Tropes exclusive to the Black 2 and White 2 arc.

• Hates Being Alone: Zorua/Zoroark might be a bit of a brat, but more than anything he hates even the thought of being alone; while part of it is due to the fact that he just likes attention, there’s also the fact that N leaving him with Rood made him deeply fear abandonment.
• Hot-Blooded:
  • HUGH. Just like in the games, this guy starts seeing red as soon as even the thought of Team Plasma comes up.
  • Rosa and Nate have their moments as well. Rosa especially can be a pretty enthusiastic gal, though both are more the happy hotblooded type than angry hotblooded like Hugh, and they're a bit more mellow than Hilda.
  • Let us not forget Oscar, quite possibly the most feisty Snivy there is, following in the footsteps of Skipper with surprisingly Hot-Blooded grass starters who look coolheaded. He basically acts like Penchan, except not as dependent. He was modeled after a terrier after all. He loves looking for fights, and is also incredibly energetic. While he calms down more over the course of the story, it never truly goes away.

• Loners Are Freaks: Actually Averted with Oscar. He's established to like his personal space more than a lot of other Pokemon characters in the series, and one of the first lessons Rosa has to learn is respecting Oscar's boundaries, as he gets stressed out from too much attention directed at him, though eventually he comes to tolerate it more (and luckily for Rosa, she gets Pokemon who are way more willing for her amateur acting career and love of the spotlight, especially Zorua). He initially gets annoyed as Rosa starts catching new party members, with others having to earn his respect first. Still, he's incredibly energetic, positive, and even charismatic if needed, and hardly fits the introvert stereotype one might expect, and he's pretty open about loving his trainer, it's just that he needs her to respect his boundaries as well.
• Perky Goth: Rita, Rosa’s Gothitelle, is basically this. Despite her dark appearance, she’s very peppy and optimistic.
• Sweet Tooth: Rosa loves sweets, though in particular she seems to have a fondness for cheesecake. Unfortunately, so does Zorua/Zoroark, resulting in them getting into fights over it several times (pending depending on what nature I give him). Being a Pokemon with a Hasty nature, Oscar also shows a fondness for sweets.

Tropes in the X and Y arc include:

• Can't Catch Up: Serena starts as Kalem’s almost equal, but she cannot win, no matter how many times she battles him. This causes her much anguish.
• Expy: Word of God is that Kalem is a bit of an expy of Sonic The Hedgehog, or at least he started that way.
• Catapult Nightmare: Kalem in “Vegetable Mareep” after he wakes up from his nightmare.
• Composite Character: Salle is a composite of two Pokémon from the writer’s play through of X; Scarlette, a female Talonflame scrapped from the team, and Torch, a male Charizard, whose personality was more of a Lazy Bum.
• The Fashionista: Serena is a fashionable young lady, though she doesn’t let that get in the way of her adventuring.
• Gratuitous English: Because Kalem comes from Unova, he names Sudz an English name. Everyone else usually gives their Pokémon French names.
• Gratuitous French: Everywhere, from the Pokemon nicknames (which are often derived from the French species names) to the dialogue. Though in-universe, the French is the default language.
• Halloween Episode: Though in-story Kalem reaches the Lost Hotel by mid-autumn, explicitly around Halloween, “Vegetable Mareep” was actually posted on Halloween. It’s a It Was All A Dream creepypasta based episode much like the earlier “Silver’s Nightmare” and “Hibiki’s Nightmare”, based on Vegetable Mareep of Kalos, where Kalem finds a mysterious berry that immediately grows into a herd of Mareep growing in it that die in a horrific way, and also wither away and die in his possession. He eventually gets surrounded by the trees and they start growing on him before he wakes up Catapult Nightmare style. Unlike ”Daisuke and Miki”, a supernatural tragedy, “Hibiki’s Nightmare”, a psychological horror, and “Silver’s Nightmare”, a fic indirectly exploring Silver’s fears, “Vegetable Mareep” is a cheesy B-movie style horror, though Kalem is no less phased by it.
• Hot-Blooded: Both of the girls in Kalem’s party:
  • Following in the footsteps of Merry, Rai, and Cinnamon, Salle the Charmander is a rather short-tempered hothead who loves battle.
  • Norle, a rather passionate Honedge who sees Kalem and his team as her fellow brothers and sisters in arms and has a strong sense of honor.
• Interspecies Romance: One-sided. Salle develops a crush on Kalem, something which Kalem takes a bit to realize (though he does consider the possibility, he dismisses it). She glomps and rubs up to him after battles and is clearly jealous of Shauna, Serena, and even Norle, despite them being fairly close.
• Loose Canon: The author doesn’t consider the chapter “The Catacombs of Lumiose” explicit canon due to the Catacombs not being a real place in-game. However, it does drop in some Foreshadowing to future events, confusing its canonicity further.
• Running Gag:
  • Sudz taking Kalem’s hat and running.
  • Salle’s crush on Kalem and glomping him after battles.

Tropes in the Sun and Moon arc include:

• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Mizuki's attention span... Isn't really much to write home about, though as the story progresses she gradually becomes better with it.
  • Pikko the Toucannon can be rather scatterbrained as well. Well, more that she tends to get bored easily.
• Big Eater: Mizuki and Hau both. Though Hau is more so when it comes to malasadas, Mizuki isn’t so picky. The fact that her cousin is a Supreme Chef definitely helps.
  • Also Grappy, Mizuki’s Muk. He can put away a lot of trash, and Mizuki often needs to take him dumpster diving when they’re in cities. (Gender pending)
• Bilingual Bonus: Several characters’ Pokémon have Hawaiian names; Hau’s Popplio for example is named Hoku (“Star”), while his Pikachu is Hekili (“Thunder”).
• Catchphrase: Yo and Mizuki have “Kitto umaku ikuyo!” (It’ll probably go well!), a sort of Survival Mantra for each other, whether it be Mizuki reassuring Yo to help get over his moving blues, or Yo giving Mizuki strength before confronting Lusamine. Yo imparts these words onto Lillie as well, and she takes them to heart.
  Mizuki: Remember Yo, kitto umaku ikuyo!
  Yo: Yeah… kitto umaku ikune.

  Yo: Mizuki and I have a thing we like to say… “Kitto umaku ikuyo!”.
  Lillie: Kitto… Umaku…
  Yo: In your language it’s maybe something like… “It will probably go well!” And I don’t know your problems… But it will probably go well! I hope they will, at least.
• Cats Are Mean: Litto, Yo’s Litten, can be a jerk, pulling nasty pranks like singeing Yo’s finger for no reason other than it amusing him. Though deep down he does care for his trainer and isn’t all that bad.
• Cats Are Snarkers: Litto, again.
• Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder: Yo often ends up as this to Mizuki. Though Rowley (her Rowlet/Dartrix/Decidueye) also shares the job as well.
• Delusions of Parental Love: Hau sincerely believes that his parents love him, when they haven’t contacted him in 5 years after leaving for Kanto. He used to think that it was his fault, but apparently has “realized” that his parents had good reason to leave. Mizuki tries telling him he has awful parents, and he doesn’t take it well.
• Dramatic Irony: Used for horror in “Salandit Trouble”. The duo are on Route 7, and Mizuki runs into a field and Yo follows her... Not noticing the “Warning! Salandit breeding season! DO NOT ENTER!” sign. As they’re preparing lunch the duo start smelling something sweet, which Yo seems particularly fascinated by. Eventually he starts feeling “feverish” and “funny”, becoming increasingly flustered, breathing heavily, his heartbeat growing increasingly rapid. Litto and Rowley start acting strange as well, the former acting “itchy” and irritable, and Rowley seemingly confused, and the audience is made to come to the uncomfortable realization that they’re slowly being poisoned by a female Salandit's (heavily implied to be aphrodisiac) pheromones. Made worse by how Yo has no real idea what’s happening to him and Mizuki is barely better. She eventually gets a bit worried, wondering if he’s actually sick. They send their Pokémon back in, though most of Yo’s Pokémon, as well as Raffy (Mizuki’s Rockruff) and Passhii (her Passimian) seem mysteriously unaffected (pending on which of Mizuki’s Pokémon are affected). Yo is hardly able to finish cooking, by which time he’s so flustered, insisting Mizuki not touch him, that he demands to be alone, shutting himself into his tent. As Mizuki and Passhii go on a walk, Yo finally remembers what he read about Salandit’s pheromones, but it’s too late; by the time Mizuki returns he’s gone, and she searches for him, only to find him controlled by a local female Salandit. Description of Yo is suspiciously sparse, but what is described (the Pokémon rubbing her snout against his face for example) is deeply uncomfortable. After Mizuki defeats the Pokémon and rescues him, he seems to have come to some kind of realization and is horrified that his cousin had to see him in that state, insisting to Mizuki that she never speak about what happened again, to her confusion. (Pending; not only is Salandit probably introduced elsewhere, but it’s easy for a story like this to become more creepy than it needs to be).
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Yo’s biological parents are dead. He doesn’t remember them at all, as they died when he was a year old, but his aunt made sure that he knew well that they loved him very much.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Mizuki calls Yo Yo-Chan, a name he thinks is embarrassing. She also takes to calling Gladion “Edgelord”, which usually provokes a very, very frustrated reaction from him.
• Expy: Yo is based on the main boy from the Sun and Moon trailers. This is why he has Litten despite Popplio seemingly fitting him more, and is why he has the Moving Angst character arc.
• Foil:
  • Mizuki becomes used to Alola really quickly, while Yo has Moving Angst. He especially serves as a foil to Mizuki at the start, when he’s the most shy and withdrawn. He’s also by far the more levelheaded, an Only Sane Man, and the feminine guy to Mizuki’s tomboy.
  • Mizuki is a Cloud Cuckoolander, an airhead, and energetic. Her starter, Rowley, is a calm, not quite Cold Sniper but coolheaded Rowlet/Dartrix/Decidueye.
  • Lillie serves as this to Mizuki and vice-versa; while Mizuki is tomboyish, rough, airheaded, carefree, optimistic, and cheerful, brimming with childhood innocence, Lillie is shy, withdrawn, delicate, and an abused child who was forced to leave childhood behind. As the story progresses, Mizuki helps her regain the confidence and innocence she has lost. That also ties into the fact that in contrast to the other three, Mizuki has loving parents/a good relationship with them, and Yo’s parents, while dead, loved him unconditionally. Both Lillie and Gladion had their childhood stolen from them, and had an abusive mother who they were forced to watch slowly grow mad, their father’s whereabouts unknown. Hau, meanwhile, doesn’t even know where his parents are, them having apparently just abandoned him, causing him trauma when he was merely 6 years old. But Mizuki’s mother is clearly loving and nurturing, even towards Yo, who isn’t even her own child, even if she can embarrass him at times, and her dad calls often. They are, for all intents and purposes, Yo’s parents as well. With the Aether siblings in particular, there’s the aforementioned childhood innocence Mizuki and Yo had where Gladion and Lillie didn’t. These become very apparent when Lillie on Eggsecutor Island comments to Yo how she sort of envies them, and when Gladion wistfully tells them to treasure what they have.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: While they aren’t actually siblings, Mizuki and Yo’s dynamic is basically this.
• Gratuitous Japanese: Mizuki and Yo’s catchphrase/Survival Mantra, “Kitto umaku ikuyo!”, is always rendered in Japanese/romaji. However, this isn’t for no reason; Yo later tells Lillie about it, and the author states that the scene would have been weird if it had always been rendered in English.
• Hotblooded: Raffy. She is yet another member of the “Yellow archetype”, i.e. she is the team hothead for this arc. (Gender pending) Mizuki even takes note of the unbroken streak of hotheads being in every Prodigy champion’s team as part of her Leaning on the Fourth Wall shtick when capturing Raffy:
  Mizuki: Don’t you know, Yo-chan? Every winning Prodigy’s party has a battle-loving hothead!
  • Mizuki as well, being a bit of a Stock Shōnen Hero.
  • The first thing Konpeito (Yo’s Minior) does upon crashing down is to challenge Leia, and by extension Yo, to a battle. They’re seemingly fearless, and breaking their shell merely makes them angry.
• Idiot Hero: Mizuki... isn’t exactly the type to think deeply about things. However, much like Hibiki before her, she does get consequences for this, and is forced to come up with better battle strategies at least.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Mizuki greatly admires the Prodigies of previous generations, so much that she has recognized a lot of the plot beats they go through, resulting in this.
  Mizuki: This is where the 11-year-old hero sets out on their journey-quest thingy of destiny with their starter of choice, with the blessing of the professor in mind! The Route 1! Yes, Mizuki’s New Game starts here!
  Yo: ...You’re really convinced, aren’t you?
  Mizuki: Yup!
  Yo: And you aren’t going to listen to anything I say against that, right?
  Mizuki: Nope!
  Yo: Yeah, sounds like Mizuki alright.
  Mizuki: Look, see? Route 1! Hope there will be some surprises, I hate predictable! *starts walking off in a high stride, humming*
  Yo: *shrugs*

• Like Brother and Sister: Yo and Mizuki are technically cousins, but they may as well be twins, and they say that they basically see each other as such.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: A major part of Mizuki and Yo’s dynamic. Mizuki is action-loving, sloppy, acts like a shonen hero, and apparently when she was little she always saw herself as the Knight in Shining Armor over the princess. Yo on the other hand is sensitive, better at chores, cooking, grooming, and at keeping things tidy, has a much better fashion sense than Mizuki (though that isn’t saying much), is more careful, and even knows how to sew.
• Moving Angst: Yo doesn’t hate Alola, but he has some of this at first, in contrast to Mizuki, who immediately makes Alola home. As a result, he’s initially a bit shy and withdrawn. Hau sees this and becomes his and Mizuki’s friend immediately. Making friends with him and Lillie and seeing everything Alola has to offer helps him come out of his shell, revealing him to be a more optimistic, friendly person.
• Mythology Gag: As mentioned, Yo is partially based off of the boy from the Sun and Moon trailers. His and Hau’s dynamic is based around that of the boy and his new friend, and Hau even names his Popplio Hoku, the name of the boy’s new friend in the trailers.
• Nephewism: Yo was raised by his aunt, Mizuki’s mother, and to a lesser extent her husband, because his parents died when he was a year old. She’s basically his mother, but insists he calls her “Auntie” because she doesn’t want to replace her sister and the love she had for her son.
• No Biological Sex: Dex and Rotor, Mizuki and Yo’s Rotom PokéDexes, are this. Yo doesn’t know whether to address them by “he” or “she”, and Rotor, to Yo’s initial confusion, says that “they” might be the closest thing he’s looking for.
  • Konpeito, Yo’s Minior, is captured much later on, making them the first non-legendary in a protagonist’s party that is genderless.
    Yo: So I’m supposed to call you “they” too, right?
  • Nebby and Stella also lack gender in their bios, but are somehow recognized as male and female by Lillie. They indeed turn out to be male and female respectively.
• Puppy Love: Yo and Lillie. It starts with Yo having implied feelings for her, manifesting in wanting to help her and blushing and denial when Mizuki brings it up. But it really only starts going anywhere when Mizuki, Yo, and Lillie are on Eggecutor Island. Lillie talks about wanting to journey with Mizuki and Yo in the future, and when she addresses Yo she looks away a bit, as if hiding a blush; after Mizuki falls asleep, they sit alongside each other in silence, just with each other as company. Their feelings develop as the story goes on, and by the end of the main story, just before Lillie leaves, they have a rather intimate moment, and it’s implied that they’re considering it in the future.Then, saying she’s been working to be finally brave enough to do what she’s about to do, she kisses him.
• Running Gag: A few, especially related Mizuki’s quirky behavior.
  • Mizuki calling Gladion “Edgelord” and his cool facade breaking for a few moments to get mad at her or tell her to shut up.
  • Mizuki taking a running dash and diving into beds. Including other people’s.
  • Mizuki doing pirouettes while bored.
  • Mizuki bringing up meta references Leaning on the Fourth Wall.
  • Mizuki finding the weirdest things cute, and her incredibly underplayed reactions to terrifying things like, say, a giant Lurantis in her face (though by the end she’s very much aware of the severity of her situation).
  • As in the original game, Nebby and Stella escaping from Lillie’s bag and Lillie’s increasing frustration.
  • Slapstick happening to Team Skull members, including Guzma. (Pending)
• Shout-Out: While not in-universe, the author often refers to the main characters of this arc as “The Alola Five-O”.
• Stock Shōnen Hero: Mizuki is basically a female version of one. She acts a lot like Hibiki, but with more emphasis on being a Cloud Cuckoo Lander and even more of an admiration for heroics. Though unlike Hibiki, this does get deconstructed a bit.
• The Stoic: Pyuu, Yo’s Pyukumuku, barely emotes at all. No one can really tell what she’s thinking at any given time, and she seems to barely react to her environment.
• Supreme Chef: Yo has very good cooking skills for his age. Of course, he passes the Grass Trial with flying colors. Mizuki on the other hand only passes barely with Yo coaching him the entire time.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Mizuki and Lillie respectively; their lighthearted interactions mostly hinge on this as well as Red Oni, Blue Oni.
• Troll: Litto. He likes messing with Yo and other party members.
  • Also Dex and Rotor. They apparently display dark entries on purpose to scare Mizuki and Yo. Mostly Yo.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: As mentioned under Leaning on the Fourth Wall, Mizuki is a massive fangirl for her predecessors, and she’s also recognized the motions all of them go through. This is most apparent in how she, to their delight, is the only person who takes Team Skull seriously, jumping to the conclusion that they’re her Evil Team from their dark clothes. In any other game she would have been able to predict the story beats; too bad she’s in Sun and Moon.

Tropes in the Orre duology include:

• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Sundance and Moonshine wear grey and green neckerchiefs respectively.
• Darker and Edgier: Especially the Colosseum arc; the other fics can also be dark when they want to be, but with this arc it’s way more obvious and prominent from the start. The protagonist, Wes, is not only older than any before and since (17, later 18), but very cynical and jaded, and overall Orre is basically a Crapsack World, an isolated part of the continent that all outside administration has all but abandoned. This arc is also the only series where it’s common that battles can not only draw blood (including from Wes and even Michael themselves), but actually be deadly (though it doesn’t actually happen much offscreen), as becoming a Shadow Pokemon triggers what the author has referred to out-of-universe as “Nuzlocke mode”, the Pokemon’s “wild” state, where they hunt to kill. But ultimately, it’s still idealistic at the end of the day just like the other series, and the Gale of Darkness arc, while still having darkness within it, shows many improvements to the world, not to mention Michael is closer to the standard Pikupro protagonist.
• Deadpan Snarker: Wes is quick to dryly snark about the events around him, especially when things get ridiculous.
  • Silent Snarker: Sundance is just as snarky as his trainer.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Wes. He’s cold, aloof, distrustful, snarky, bitter, cynical, and initially finds Rui annoying and makes it clear that he does. But he cares much for Pokémon, and his reason for leaving Team Snagem the way he did was because he found out about the Shadow Pokémon program. He’s a Benevolent Boss as much as Red or Hibiki or any other protagonist, and is absolutely determined to stop the Shadow Pokémon program. And he eventually comes to open his heart to humans as well, especially Rui.
  • Sundance, though he’s less aloof like his trainer and more an arrogant, spiteful jerk. He even signals to Wes to ignore Rui’s kidnapping and initially bullies Jack (Shadow Makuhita), though after being told repeatedly to stop he relents. But he cares unconditionally for Wes and Moonshine, and later even comes to care for Rui.
• Sibling Team: Wes’ Espeon and Umbreon, Sundance and Moonshine, are twin brothers, or at least as far as we or Wes know. While there was no way for Wes to know they were actually related, they’re around the same age and act like brothers, Wes calls them “the Twins”, and the author calls them the “Eevee Twins” as well. (In a later published gaiden story, it’s revealed that they indeed are siblings)
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Moonshine is sweet, almost motherly to Wes, and very kindhearted, always trying to get Wes to do the right thing. Sundance on the other hand is an arrogant Jerk with a Heart of Gold even more so than his trainer, who only really cares about Wes and Moonshine, initially bullies new Pokémon and picks on Rui, and has a sadistic streak.

Tropes in the Gaiden stories (stories unable to be categorized, often due to taking place outside of the adventure)

• Cool Big Bro: Daisuke to Red. 9-year-old Red (as Daisuke’s adventure takes about 7 months, “Daisuke and Miki” now starts a little less than two years before Gen 1) admires 14-year-old Daisuke a lot, even going so far as to buy an outfit that looks a lot like Daisuke’s, the outfit he ultimately goes on his journey with. It’s shown that Green greatly admires him as well.
  Red: Daisuke-niisan… I wanna show you something. *goes through his stuff* … Look! I made mom get me an outfit and hat just like yours! It’s a bit big, but I’m sure it’ll fit by the time I go on my journey.
  Daisuke: Haha! Wow… I’m flattered! Put it on, put it on!
  Red: Okay, turn around! … Now you can look. Tah-dah!
  Daisuke: *roughly presses down on Red’s head* Heh-heh! You look great in it! You look like a little me!
• Dramatic Irony: One chapter of “Daisuke and Miki” features Red’s perspective as he sees Daisuke returning home after summoning Missingno., about to murder Ryou. He doesn’t suspect a thing.
• Dub Name Change: Invoked in “Daisuke and Miki”. Because Steven is a character created by a member of the English community, he doesn’t have an original Japanese name, and neither does his brother Mike. As such, the two are named Daisuke and Ryou respectively, after canon characters who share English names very close to theirs, Steven Stone (Daigo) and Michael (Ryouta).
• Excessive Mourning: Daisuke in “Daisuke and Miki” after Miki dies.
• Ironic Episode Title: “Daisuke and Miki”. If the fact that the fanfic was published on Halloween didn’t tip you off and the name “Miki” didn’t ring a bell, the fact that a story with such an innocent title is about death and a supernatural murder would be really shocking. The fic is untagged with anything that would indicate it’s content except a higher rating than usual (T), reserved for the Orre duology usually, and Daisuke is only mentioned in the tags as “untagged character”.
• Loose Canon: As mentioned in the Gen 1 section, the Pokémon Strangled Red story, “Daisuke and Miki”. While Daisuke and Ryou show up occasionally in backstory fics after the release of “Daisuke and Miki”, the murder is never brought up in the story, as if it never happened, and Red never shows signs of trauma that would come from his idol becoming a murderer, nor do Leaf or Green.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In “Confession”, 16-year-old Red verbally confesses his love to Leaf, his first words in a long while.

Tropes in the post-Alola gaidens include:

• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": In “The Curse of Being Champion”, it’s revealed that Leon’s idol was Red, and the boy was great inspiration to a young 4 year old Leon. As an adult, finding being champion to be increasingly unfulfilling, he one day finds Red’s autobiography at a book store. Upon reading it, he realizes that he has indeed become his idol in more ways than one; that he’s at his “Mt. Shirogane” stage or close to it. He finds comfort in the fact that his idol experienced the same.
• Shout-Out: All the starter names are real world references in the Galar stories; Beck's name is obviously a reference to David Beckham, and Victor's Grookey, Ringo, is obviously named after Ringo Starr, and Ian the Sobble is named after Ian Fleming.
• Work Info Title: Red’s autobiography is, being such, titled The First “Prodigy”: A Red Tajiri Autobiography.

Tropes in Kanto and the World include:

• The Alcoholic: Orre, apparently. His official art features him holding a bottle of whiskey, though because of his lack of scenes this isn’t shown much.
• Ambiguously Brown: Unova is drawn like this to symbolize his diverse population, being of no one determinate race.
• Beware the Nice Ones: While it isn’t shown, Hoenn and even Kanto are said to have a “volcanic” temper if anything manages to anger them. Hoenn is shown on the verge of unleashing it though when Kalos hits on his wife.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Hoenn, being the resident manly-man.
  • Unova. Though he doesn’t have quite the body type of one, he definitely acts like one.
  • To a lesser extent Johto, though Kanto definitely sees her as this.
• Brother–Sister Team: Kanto and Johto make up the core of the family, with Johto as the face and leader, and Kanto as her partner.
• Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Not exactly, unlike Hetalia. Kanto and the World is a bit more equal with its gender ratio than Hetalia, with 5 out of its 13 named characters (Johto, Sinnoh, Kyuryu, Paldea, and Alola) being female.
• Character Development: While the in-universe author didn’t intend it when starting out, after Red becomes champion and the Prodigy Phenomenon starts becoming a thing, Kanto apparently gains a huge boom in national attention, and the comic reflects it, as it depicts him in the middle of a long process of gaining international prestige. It’s an arc that starts with the Science Boom and the founding of Silph Co., but post-Phenomenon he uses the new national attention to really build up his region with new cultural resources, new infrastructure, and promotes the hell out of his half of the entertainment industry, producing a lot of media, particularly action shows and increasingly, moe shows, of which the Kanseka anime is apparently an early pioneer of. He also gets the image of being a hub for strong trainers. By the more “recent” comics, he’s much more confident in himself, and arguably is as quirky as the rest of the cast, on equal footing with Johto on all levels.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Kalos, just like France. Though he’s only ever seen flirting with female characters (namely Johto, Paldea, and once even Kyuryu, to Hoenn’s chagrin, though Kalos says he’s kidding). He isn’t shown to be a borderline sexual harasser like early canon France was.
• Country Cousin: Kitakami is a simple man with simple rural values. He of course has a huge culture clash when visiting Johto; he almost gets washed away in the crowds of the Kogane Department Store, finds certain anime bizarre, and in general finds all the noise of Kogane city rather overwhelming.
• Crossover: The premise of the comics is “What if Hidekaz Himaurya existed in the Pokémon world and wrote a comic like Hetalia” (though the comic where Kanto meets Red and the fics are written “out of character”, as the author herself instead of Pokéverse Hima). It could be considered a crossover with the author’s other series, Alt-talia. Though, the title borrows from Scandinavia and the World, because the author couldn’t come up with anything better.
• The Everyman: Kanto is the most “normal” of his family. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes, and is generally the most subdued. He’s thought of as “boring” in comparison to Johto and the other members of his family.
• Expy: Obviously, Unova is one for America, Kalos for France, Galar for Alt-talia England, Paldea for Alt-talia Spain, and Alola for Alt-talia Hawaii. Kanto acts a lot like Japan as well.
• The Face: Johto is this as well as The Leader of the family.
  • Unova is said to be part of a close-knit alliance union as well, and acts as its face and representative.
• The Ghost: We never see the missing two members of the Archipelago Alliance, they aren’t even named, we just know they exist. There are also many other implied characters.
• Hot-Blooded: Hoenn can be this, especially when it comes to contests. Kyuryu’s hotblooded streak comes out when it comes to battle.
  • Kanto shows signs of passion and ambition, but post Prodigy Phenomenon this becomes way more apparent, though he remains a bit of an introvert.
  • Galar, under his gentlemanly persona, is a consummate, passionate battler and very competitive, being the most passionate about battling, as well as watching battling.
  • Paldea, being Spain and all that. This is her default state, regardless of it involving battle or not.
• I Have Many Names: Unova has many exonyms; the Japanese regions call him Isshu, Paldea calls him Teselia, and Kalos calls him Unys. It’s explained that over the years most regions requested they be called by their endonyms internationally, but Unova, being the diverse region, was completely fine with everyone calling him by different names, and even encouraged it.
  Unova: You can call me anything you want to call me! Hahaha!
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Orre seems like a jerk; his first instinct when approached is to pull out a knife. He has an aura to him that naturally scares people, and he can be rather abrasive. He’s also apparently an alcoholic and can turn violent without his whiskey. But those who know him better like Johto and Hoenn know that he’s a good-humored, even somewhat cheerful.
• Marriage of Convenience: The reason Kyuryu married Hoenn. Kyuryu married him because of an increasingly competitive world required she needed another Region to protect her, and she turned to the nearest big Region, offering to be annexed on the condition that her culture be protected. This required her to really swallow her pride though. Despite this start, while it’s unknown if Kyuryu has true romantic feelings for Hoenn, they’ve been happily married for centuries, and have no intention of separating.
• Moe Anthropomorphism: Well, this is based on Hetalia.
• Nations as People: Once again, Hetalia. Though they’re called regions, they are basically nations. The mini-series is used to explain Pikupro’s worldbuilding in easily digestible format.
• Never Gets Drunk: Hoenn and Kyuryu love drinking, and drink the most out of the Japanese regions. One comic shows them having fun drinking while the rest of the family is on the verge of passing out from trying to catch up with them.
• Oblivious to Love: Alola appears to be completely oblivious to Kanto’s crush on her.
• Official Couple: Hoenn x Kyuryu (Houryu) is the only one in the series that we know of, per the author. Johto has a crush on Kalos, and Kanto one on Alola, but these go nowhere.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: In-universe. The comic was originally built around the joke that Kanto is boring compared to Johto and is somewhat overshadowed by her. Then the Prodigy Phenomenon happens. This results in Kanto having a character arc that wasn’t even intended by the in-universe author.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Hoenn is a well-built, rather masculine guy, but he’s more into contests than battles (though he likes them as well), no matter the category. In one comic, he and Kalos bond over their mutual appreciation of Pokémon beauty. By contrast, Kyuryu is more passionate about battle.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Kanto and Johto. Kanto is polite, introverted, and subdued, acting a lot like Hetalia Japan, while Johto is the fun, social, comedic older sister who often overshadows Kanto (though to strangers she’s very polite). Though when it comes to battle Kanto can be really passionate and competitive, and Johto can be graceful and traditional. (Pending)
• Satellite Love Interest: The author admits that Kyuryu (The former Ryukyu Kingdom of the Pokémon world), while no doubt having a rich culture, has no real character in the comics shown other than being Hoenn’s wife and being the more battle-living of the two, because not much is known to us about Saiyu (Ever Grande) and the surrounding area by itself, and Kyuryu itself is a fabrication by the author. The author says it’s likely that in the in-universe comic she has a lot of character, she just can’t show it due to above lack of info other than just facts about the real Okinawa.
• Show Within a Show: Intended to be. Though some Kanto and the World related media, namely the ones where the Regions and Pikupro protagonists directly interact, seem to take place in a separate universe where the Regions actually exist instead of being fictional characters.
• Signature Mon: Kanto grows especially fond of Pikachu after Red wins the championship. It helps that apparently all foreign wild Pikachu trace their roots to him. He naturally gets a male Pikachu named Pika. Though his main companion is, ironically, a female Persian named Tama. Most of the others also have a Pokémon that is considered their main companion:
  • Johto: Sento, a male Stantler
  • Hoenn: Guri, a female Shiftry
  • Kyuryu: Habbuu, a male Serviper, and Coco, a female Aggron
  • Sinnoh: Sora, a female Staraptor
  • Unova: Sam, a male Braviary
  • Kalos: Cherie, a female Florges
  • Alola: Keonaona, a female Comfey
  • Galar: Sir Birdy/Nigel, a male Corviknight
  • Paldea: Manuel, a male Arboliva
  • Kitakami: Bokko, a male Snorunt, and Kenji, a male Dipplin
  • Orre: Bluester, a male Donphan
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Naturally, Galar and Kalos, just like England and France. They will argue about anything and everything. According to Word of God, it’s also likely that a lot of fans in-universe probably ship them.
  • From what we see of them, Kongou and Shinju (the Diamond and Pearl clans respectively) are this. This causes issues when Hisui appears to them. They tell her nasty lies about each other and despise the other’s influence in Hisui’s life.
• The Stoic: Kitakami isn’t very visibly emotional, and is rather quiet. Though this hides that he’s rather shy when faced with a foreigner.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Kitakami really likes apples. His official chibi art even features him with an apple on his head, much like how in Spain’s chibi art in Hetalia he has a tomato on his head. Kitakami also gets a comic about how apples became such a huge crop, and one of his two partner Pokémon is a Dipplin he is shown obtaining in this comic.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Johto doesn’t seem like one at first glance, but she is capable of acting like this.