Mythology Gag / Pokémon Masters

In General

• The first trainers who join you are Brock and Misty, just like in the first seasons of Pokémon: The Series. Following that, Brock is depicted as the opposite of his anime personality: he admits he's very nervous around pretty girls.
• According to Brendan, May focuses on Contests, like her anime counterpart.
• Barry in this game is properly named, just like his anime counterpart (see Named by the Adaptation below), and has an Empoleon if you decide to evolve his Piplup twice. Unlike his anime counterpart which comes off as a Butt-Monkey Leeroy Jenkins Satellite Character, he's an Adaptational Nice Guy here — though he still constantly threatens to fine people.
• Sabrina's English VA voice matches her stoic, to-the-point incarnation from the anime, just without the evil attitude.
• Serena’s sync pair Pokémon being the Fennekin line is a clear nod to her anime counterpart.
• Lear, Rachel, and Sawyer correspond to Arlo (haughty Kantonian royals with snobby, elitist attitudes and who used to be good guys), Sierra (elegant Dark-type specialists with Liepard motifs and known for being devious sneaky bastards), and Cliff (soft-spoken Lightning Bruiser brutes with undying loyalty and a major temper) of Pokémon GO.
• Leaf, Blue, and Red being buddy-buddy is a callback to their Fire-Forged Friends status in Pokemon Adventures.
• Kris says here she wants to be a researcher. Her Pokémon Adventures counterpart is Professor Oak's aide.
• Lusamine, Gladion, and Lillie being a family harkens back to their reconciliation in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, on top of Lusamine taking far more after her anime version. Lusamine, however, does show signs of her darker portrayal in Sun and Moon.
• Lusamine's EX palette changes her clothes to black, referencing the warped appearance she took as Mother Beast. Her Sygna Suit's EX palette meanwhile gives her the color scheme of Dawn Wings Necrozma.
• Lusamine's choice of partner, Pheromosa, references her original counterpart's obsession with the Ultra Beasts.
• Gloria's victory pose is identical to the one she does in Pokémon Sword and Shield.
  • Her Sync Pair Story additionally has references to the first encounter with Zacian/Zamazenta at the Slumbering Weald in those games; not only does the player encounter Zacian (though in its Crowned Sword form instead of its Hero of Many Battles form) without Gloria present at first, but the game treats it as a mysterious Pokemon, and the results of the two options the player is given reflect to that of this encounter; if the player attempts to back off, a mysterious force prevents them from retreating, and if the player decides to fight, Pikachu’s attack has no effect on Zacian.
• There's an implication Eternatus was sealed instead of being kept by one of the Galar champions, as in Pokemon Journeys - hence it escaping.
• One of Dawn's lines has her appoint herself your mentor, as she did in Diamond and Pearl if she was Professor Rowan's assistant.
• This isn't the first time a Paul (of sorts) has served as the rival to a Pikachu-wielding main character while obsessing over strength and victory - despite being told by multiple Gym Leaders and said main character there's more to Pokemon battles than that - to the detriment of his Pokemon, relationships, and right into villainy.
• Sabrina's 2022 New Year outfit is a miko uniform, and she's noticeably more gentle and personable. The same goes for Sabrina's incarnation in The Electric Tale of Pikachu.
• Wally's Sygna Suit being paired with a Shiny Gardevoir is a homage to the fact that in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire the Ralts he catches in the game can be shiny (and it will also evolve into a Gardevoir and is male like in the games, although it won't be shiny there).
• Victor is depicted as more introverted, shier, and tech-savvy when compared to Genki Girl Gloria, who just loves battling; this is accurate to their depiction in Pokémon Adventures.
• The Hisui event establishes that Akari is the native and Rei is the faller; this matches with the Hisui special in the anime, where it's established that Akari is a Hisuian native.
• Nate's Neo Champion outfit is given a Shiny Haxorus, as a reference to the Shiny Haxorus you can catch in the Nature Preserve after you complete the Unovan Dex.
• Penny has a British accent to match with her Galar origin.

A Day With...

• Before he found Mew, Professor Oak's Sync Pair Story reveals that the Pokémon he brought to Pasio was a Nidorino. He uses it to battle Agatha's Gengar, referencing the opening of the original Red and Blue.
• Swimsuit Misty's "A Day With" heavily implies the Psyduck with her is the same one from the anime (annoying, useless, but eventually forming a genuine bond with).
• The start of Gloria's Sync Pair Story sees the player character encounter Zacian and have Pikachu attack it, only for the attack to do nothing- a dead reference to the encounter the player has with either Zacian or Zamazenta at the start of Sword and Shield.
• Sygna Suit Red's "A Day With" reveals that Red had his Pikachu fight against Brock's Onix and Lt. Surge's Raichu. Both of these are a reference to the anime, where Red's counterpart Ash also had his Pikachu fight against the two Gym Leaders Pokemon. The former also doubles as a reference to Pokemon Adventures as well.
• Oleana's "A Day With" ends with her giving the player a very lengthy presentation on how Dynamax works, how Pasio's Dynamax works differently from Galar's and there's a difference between regular Dynamax and Gigantamax, which mirrors the end of her episode in Pokémon: Twilight Wings, where she angrily chews out the Corviknight Taxi flyer for conflating Dynamax with Gigantamax after watching a match featuring a Gigantamaxed Pokemon.

Events

• In Shining Hearts, Steven recalls battling a trainer with a Mega Charizard. This of course is a reference to Alain from the XY anime Mega Evolution Special.
• The entirety of the "Double Trouble" event is a direct reference to Jessie, James, and Meowth's roles in the anime, with Meowth translating Pokémon, him hitting on a Purrloin (who is actually female this time, unlike a previous incident), Meowth throwing a fight to a Bug-type to boost its confidence (though it's Nincada instead of Paras), all three are still nearly financially-broke which leads to James not wanting to build a Humongous Mecha until they reach the forest to lower costs, building a cheap pitfall trap, and they even recreate their famous introduction with the player protagonist inserted in.
  • The same applies to the "Blasting Off Again" event where the player character actually fights Team Rocket- with the inevitable blast off once you win.
• In the Battle Buffet Bash event, Brock is seen wanting some jelly-filled donuts,◊ bringing to mind a certain scene of his anime counterpart.
• Trainers and Gym Leaders dressing up in old-school armor and vying for territory in the Poke Wars is a major reference to Pokémon Conquest.
• During the Winter Wishes event, Leon's Calyrex puts yet another socially-awkward dark-skinned macho bearded man (in this case, Sawyer) into a psychic trance to personally speak with Leon, just like the Calyrex of Sword/Shield's Crown Tundra expansion did to Peony so it could communicate with the player.
• The "Classic Thunderbolt" event has Tina's Flareon go through a rebellious phase after evolving when they used to get along just fine prior, alluding to Ash's own case with his Charizard when it first evolved as a Charmander. He even refers to it when reassuring Tina he's been through similar situations with his own Pokémon which he's now gotten past.
• The first time we see the Galarian Legendary Birds in Fight for the Future Together event, it mirrors the scenario where they first gathered at the Dyna Hill tree: Galarian Moltres is attacked by Galarian Zapdos, before Galarian Articuno interrupts them, with the final scene before their Trainers discussing about them being a near replica before the Player in Galar's Rotom Phone had gone off.
• During the Fight for the Future Together event, Bea mentions she is trying to avenge a 'humiliating defeat' Leon handed her and that she trained for weeks for their rematch. This is an episode of Pokémon: Twilight Wings.
• In the costume event Solve The Case, Looker, an International Police operative, makes an accusation to Melony, accusing her of using ice to make a key. An episode in the Decolore Island arc of the anime featured a similar case.
• During a cutscene in the event "Let's Have a Fruitful Battle!", you can reject Nemona's request to battle, and her dialogue is similar to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet when you reject her request to be rivals for life.
  Nemona: (if the player says No once) Oops! Couldn't hear you! I'll say it again: you wanna battle Trainers from different regions, right?!
  Nemona: (if the player says No again) Sorry, not going to stop until I hear a yes! I wanna battle against Trainers from different regions!
  Nemona: (if the player says No yet again) OK, wait! You WILL battle, won't you?!
  Nemona: (if the player continues to say No) You! Me! Battle! Yes?! (she repeats this until you say Yes)
  • Later, she does the same exact "I'm going to keep repeating myself until you give up" shtick on Bede.

Gameplay

• When Brock uses his Sync Move, he stands shirtless with his arms crossed over his chest, exactly the same as his original sprite in the Generation I games.
• Most characters from Alola have Sync Moves named after and based on Z-Moves, unlike other characters who use powered-up normal moves for Sync Moves.
• Gladion's ability to change Silvally's type on the fly appears to be a nod to how, in the anime, he could toss Silvally the type Memories during the middle of a battle, although he can only do this once a battle.
• Misty's "Catch Us If You Can!" move references one of the dub songs for Pokémon: The First Movie, which also happened to be Misty's theme in Pokemon Puzzle League.
• When paired with Snorlax, Red's trainer move is "You and Me!", and in his sygna suit paired with Charizard, it's "My Destiny!", both referencing the opening theme to the anime English dub's first season.
• When chosen as a party member, Fantina references the anime’s iconic "I choose you!" line.
  Fantina: You choose me? No, I choose you!

The Pokémon Center

• A Youngster that shows up in the Pokémon Center loves to talk about how great and comfortable shorts are to wear, a Running Gag that has persisted throughout franchise.
• You now can turn Professor Oak forgetting his own grandson's name right back on him by asking "Who are you, again?" after his lengthy intro. Blue immediately knows that you're taking the piss.
• Talking with Lillie (Anniversary) may reveal that her Lunala isn't Nebby, but rather the Cosmog offspring the protagonist caught in the alternate Alola.
• During the 2024 April Fool's Event - there's an 'Acerola' that, like the illusion during her Trial in the Trifty Megamart, yells at you to get out.
  • If you do a battle and then come back to the Pokemon Center, you can encounter a Hex Maniac that will tell you you're not the one before quite literally gliding away (she has no walk cycle), much like the infamous Lumiose City Ghost Girl in Pokémon X and Y.
  • The Pokemon Center theme is replaced with the infamously creepy Lavender Town theme (the original Chip Tune version from Red and Blue) to go with the ghost theming, as well as possible referencing the many creepypastas surrounding the town and its song.

Trainer Lodge

• One of N's best topics is "Speaking quickly", is a reference to his tendency to do so in the original games where his dialogue is always set to 'Fast' no matter what the player set the dialogue speed to.