History Pokemon / TropesJToR

* RuleThirtyFour: Hit this franchise like a nuclear bomb and is in fact [[https://twitter.com/rakuichirakuthe/status/1674202229316931585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1674202229316931585%7Ctwgr%5Eaead4a06f849592e905e84276b9e64ef73f8078f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fautomaton-media.com%2Fen%2Fnews%2F20230707-19983%2F the most lewded franchise of all time]]. Depends where you fall if this is a good or bad thing.

* RuleThirtyFour: Hit this franchise like a nuclear bomb. Depends where you fall if this is a good or bad thing.

* MoodWhiplash: The dex entry for Swampert in ''[=FireRed=]/[=LeafGreen=]'': "Its arms are rock-hard. With one swing they can batter down its foe. It makes its nests at beautiful beaches."
* MookChivalry:
** Despite being ''criminals'', all the members of the evil organizations, from the lowest grunt to its boss, will still award you money when you beat them. In addition, they very rarely gang up on you.
** This is [[ImpliedTrope implied]] in regards to the Pokémon themselves; accuracy and evasion checks aside, battling Pokémon will always take their opponents' attacks head-on. Translating this to the anime has led to Trainers needing to verbally ''tell'' their Pokémon to dodge an incoming attack.
* MoonLogicPuzzle: Some of the Gym puzzles, and the Trick House in the third generation.
%%Please don't list type specialists who utilize this trope unless they put a somewhat unique spin on it compared to other type specialists of the same type. We've listed the general trend that this trope applies generally to type specialists up front to avoid lots of copypasted examples. If you add an example that basically amounts to "This character is hot-blooded and they're a fire-type specialist", there are a billion other fire-type specialists to whom that description applies just as much.

* MyNaymeIs: Names like "Feraligatr", "Victreebel", and "Cofagrigus" were likely artificially shortened from their natural forms ("Feraligator", "Victreebell", and "Cophagrigus") due to a 10-character limit on names in the games. However, as a result, all official media goes by the constrained names instead of dismissing the shortening as a trick of the game device. Even ''X'' and ''Y'', which added 2 more letters to the name limit, hasn't affected the names of the aforementioned Pokémon, most likely because it would be too much of a hassle to re-apply for UsefulNotes/{{Trademark}}s.

** It also appeals to multiple age groups as there are games designed for older players such as ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' (to get the most out of the game, the player needs to travel without parental supervision and have a disposable income) and ''VideoGame/PokkenTournament'' (a hardcore FightingGame for the UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity), and games designed for younger children such as ''Pokémon Playhouse'': an app designed for 3-5 year olds with no fighting whatsoever: the app consists of playing simple games and hatching Pokémon eggs.

** In the beginning, the game's respective Pokémon professor prompts you to choose a character/name.

* LongRunners: The first Pokémon games were released in Japan in 1996. New games, anime, and other media in the franchise are still being made as of 2021.

** Lugia is a Psychic/Flying-type Pokémon that exists as one of the five legendary birds of the franchise, acting as the Guardian of the Seas. It lives within the ocean and acts as a mediator between Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres, preventing one element from overcoming the others. It has the power to control the weather, calming storms with the beating of its wings.

*** It's impossible to transfer a Mew that was created with a glitch from the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Generation 1 games]] or the Coin Case glitch in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Generation 2 games]] into Pokémon Bank, unless you go through [[https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/5q4meg/how_to_trick_pokebank_into_thinking_your_gen_1/ a really elaborate process]] or soft resetting your Trainer ID to be 22796 with the name GF before you obtained the Mew.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' as well as ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver HeartGold and SoulSilver]]'' used the Pal Park feature, which utilized the GBA slot of the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS to transfer Pokémon one-way from the GBA games; players participated in a Safari Zone-like minigame to recapture their previous Pokémon. In this and future games, it wasn't required to have the National Dex to get Pokémon from outside the region in trades. The GBA slot also enabled exclusive wild Pokémon spawns in ''Diamond and Pearl'' based on which GBA game was inserted.

* OneHitKill: Guillotine, Horn Drill, Fissure, and since Generation III, Sheer Cold, are this. In Gen I, they couldn't hit Pokémon faster than the user, while since Gen II, they can't hit Pokémon with a higher level, and their accuracy is the difference between the user's and the target's level, plus 30%[[note]]since they ignore accuracy and evasion changes, a difference of at least 70 levels is equal to a Swift-like accuracy[[/note]]. In ''Rescue Team'' and ''Explorers'' (and presumably UsefulNotes/WiiWare PMD games), the game says the Pokémon faints from "calamitous damage".

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' were released as ''Red and Green'' in Japan. When the games were remade for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, these versions were renamed "[=FireRed=] and [=LeafGreen=]''.

** 'VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' as well as ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver HeartGold and SoulSilver]] used the Pal Park feature, which utilized the GBA slot of the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS to transfer Pokémon one-way from the GBA games; players participated in a Safari Zone-like minigame to recapture their previous Pokémon. In this and future games, it wasn't required to have the National Dex to get Pokémon from outside the region in trades. The GBA slot also enabled exclusive wild Pokémon spawns in ''Diamond and Pearl'' based on which GBA game was inserted.

*** ''Sword and Shield'' cut many moves from the previous generations such as Toxic Thread, Return and Frustration, though the [=DLC=]s restored several such as Shadow Bone and Aeroblast. ''Scarlet and Violet'' cut even more moves such as Aromatherapy and Rock Wrecker. Some moves such as Corrosive Gas are programmed in, but can only be called by Metronome.

* ObviousRulePatch:
** The first, and probably most important: dividing the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense in Generation II. In the first generation of games, the fact that Special was one stat meant that a Pokémon intended to be a GlassCannon, FragileSpeedster, or StoneWall wound up being a LightningBruiser because high Special meant that they could take damage just as well as they could dish it out.
** The Psychic-type was very unbalanced back in the original pair, on account of nothing being strong against them offensively in practice or could take them on defensively due to nothing resisting bar other Psychics. The types that were supposed to be strong against Psychic according to their in-game descriptions were too weak to actually use for that purpose (Bug) or didn't work due to a glitch (Ghost, and it fell under the first part anyway). Gen 2 did a lot of things to fix this, but the most obvious change by far was the introduction of the Dark- and Steel-types; Dark attacks were super-effective against Psychics, and Dark Pokémon completely nullify Psychic attacks, while Steel-types resisted them and had the bulk to take hits repeatedly.
** The addition of breeding in Generation II meant that it was now possible to get unlimited numbers of any Pokémon species except legendaries. However, breeding a baby Pokémon requires either a Ditto or a female of the species, so any Pokémon intended to be a once-per-game occurrence, such as starters and fossils, has a gender ratio heavily skewed towards males.
** In Generation IV, moves were divided into Physical and Special based not just on their type, but based on what makes sense. Thus moves like Bite (a Dark-type move, which previously were all Special-based) now draws upon a Pokémon's Attack stat, and not its Special Attack, while a move like Hyper Beam (a Normal attack, which were previously Attack-based) draws on the Special stat. This made the myriad of Pokémon with excellent (Special) Attack stats but with the reverse typing far more effective.
** The sixth generation did the same thing to the Dragon type that the second generation did to the Psychic type. The Fairy type was introduced to counter the increasingly overpowered Dragons that were being introduced each generation, particularly those with a secondary type that neutralized the Dragon type's usual weakness to Ice. Fairy types will NoSell any Dragon-type attacks.
** The games starting from ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndEevee'' make PC Boxes accessible from the menus, allowing the player to swap their party members at almost any time. The feature is most often disabled in Gyms and against the Elite Four to prevent players from swapping their weakened team for new ones before a battle.

*** Newer ''Pokémon'' games implement methods to keep players from either transferring severely hacked (as in modified stats and illegitimate Abilities) Pokémon between games or from using them in things like Colosseums and the Battle Frontier. They don't seem to have found a way to do this for illegitimate move sets yet, though.
*** Pokémon Bank's side app, Poké Transporter, will not send over any pokémon that fails its hack checks. Unfortunately, there were cases where legitimate event mons were seen as hacked.
*** Cheating is now also harder because patches can be released to update software and patch previously used exploits. In one case, players were induced to update their system and close the exploit that was allowing genning Pokémon via QR codes, because the update patch for the game itself was in the eShop. In order to go online and get it, a system update was required. Not updating blocks any online play.
*** Most ''Pokémon'' games use the actual time on the system clock to determine certain events, like [=NPCs=] who will help you once daily, items that respawn, weather in the Wild Area in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', etc. If the games notice you changing the clock, they'll cancel all daily events for a while. (There's an exploit in ''Sword and Shield'' that partially prevents this though.)

*** It's impossible to transfer a Mew that was created with a glitch from the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Generation 1 games]] or the Coin Case glitch in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Generation 2 games]] into Pokémon Bank, unless you go through [[https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/5q4meg/how_to_trick_pokebank_into_thinking_your_gen_1/ a really elaborate process]] or soft resetting your Trainer ID to be 22796 with the name GF before you obtained the Mew.

*** In ''Pokémon [=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]'', if you use a Walk Through Walls cheat code to walk through the Safari Zone Gate without going through reception first, the Safari Zone will be reduced to six plain squares and the only Pokémon you encounter are Level 20 Rattata. Strangely, the encounters are treated like regular ones instead of Safari Zone encounters.

*** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'': These games introduced the "Bad EGG" anti-cheat measurement. Apart from ''Emerald'' where it can spawn from doing the Pomeg glitch, it only shows up if you do things such as alter [=IVs=], give illegal movesets or steal other trainers' Pokémon (all of which are impossible without a cheating device) then a "Bad EGG" will often spawn (usually in place of that stolen mon). This thing is just a useless egg that when it hatches will cause your game to crash. It also occasionally duplicates itself, overwriting other pokémon. Since it's an egg, [[MadeofIndestructium you can't get rid of it, and cheating to get rid of it often just made things worse]]. Finally, anytime you restart with it spawned; especially after the aforementioned crash, you will often find your data corrupted and forced to restart.

*** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonStadium Pokémon Battle Revolution]]'': Used the statbreaker glitch to hack your mons' stats or imported obviously hacked pokémon? Then in ''Battle Revolution'', all those pokémon are now just Bad Eggs, essentially making them useless for the game. They only go away once the offending Pokémon has left the DS game and its stock is reuploaded.

*** From this generation onwards, the Wonder Card system ensures that hacked items or pokémon have to be triggered by a flag in the data before they'll work, making your 900 Liberty Passes with the '900 of all items' Action Replay code useless. Same thing with the event pokémon, since the game won't recognize them as the Pokémon they're supposed to be.
*** Despite all Pokémon being released now, using a code to fill in your Pokédex will still block you from the Global Link in Generation 5.

*** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'': Any attempt to import a Pokémon with an unreleased ability into the game will result in the ability defaulting back to the regular ability after bringing it into the game/hatching it.
*** Anything created with Powersaves, the sixth gen VideoGame/GameShark device, will only be tradable if it's within legal parameters. This includes stats, moves, shininess, or unreleased Pokémon or items. Oddly enough, illegal movesets are not checked for, only illegal moves, and legality does not appear to be considered for all of the aforementioned factors at the same time, so a Shiny Pikachu that knows Fly, Surf, and Volt Tackle at the same time (which was flat-out impossible for the moveset until Gen VII, and is still flat-out impossible for a Shiny Pikachu as of writing) is considered tradable.

*** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'': Game Sync allowed Creator/GameFreak to detect things like unreleased items or the sole unreleased Pokémon, Marshadow, and players got banned from online events and battling for it. Also, Game Freak seems to be targeting giveaways on the GTS, banning players for trading too many Pokémon too fast. Sadly, a few innocents got caught up in the bans but couldn't get the problem fixed any sooner than the pre-determined ban length.

*** Attempt to use GPS spoofing in ''VideoGame/PokemonGo''[[note]]that is, trick the game into thinking you're somewhere you're not[[/note]] and this will result in an hour-long ban--but this isn't a typical ban in that it will not lock you out of the game. Instead, you're denied access to [=PokéStops=] and gyms, and wild Pokémon will always run away from you. This was later changed so that GPS spoofing will result in a proper, typical ban. (Rooted and jailbroken users are also denied access to the game, leading to the creation of patches to fix the problem.) Of course, players have figured out this can be bypassed by teleporting back home after engaging the Pokémon but before catching it. There were also cases of people using cars and public transportation to hatch eggs at a quick rate instead of actually walking to do it. Niantic countered the exploit by disabling the tracker that counts your steps, which means eggs and any achievements/activities related to distance walked would be halted until you started walking again. Likewise, the tracker won't count your steps if all you're doing is walking in circles around your house; you actually have to walk a good distance for the game to count your steps.
** Fangames:
*** ''VideoGame/PokemonClover'':
*** Cheat in the game, and after beating the champion, you will be arrested, just before you register your team in the Hall of Fame. This effectively soft-locks your game, trapping your character in a jail cell forever. There's a noose in the corner, labeled [[DrivenToSuicide "the easy way out"]], but using it ''deletes your save file''. Note that things like emulator save states are fair game; the game will do this only if you do stuff like hacking items in or getting Legendary Pokemon you have no possible way to obtain before becoming Champion illegitimately.
*** As of Version 1.2, '''''DO NOT EVEN BOTHER''''' trying to activate a "Walk Through Walls" cheat in an attempt to skip some of the obstacles or get into a place where you have no business being in before you even complete the Elite Four because if you pull that stunt, the game will immediately teleport you to that room. As in, straight away, no matter where you are when the code is activated. But, should you be stupid enough to do that, you can delete the code from your cheat list; merely disabling the WTW cheat is not enough because the game still thinks you have it on, thus triggering the failsafe. Though, if you didn't think to save your game and/or make a save state before you activated the code, well... it really sucks to be you, in that case.

* NoFairCheating: Using a cheat device on the DS titles would lock them out from participating in official Creator/{{Nintendo}}-sanctioned tournaments.

** The games starting from ''VideoGame/LetsGoPikachuAndEevee'' make PC Boxes accessible from the menus, allowing the player to swap their party members at almost any time. The feature is most often disabled in Gyms and against the Elite Four to prevent players from swapping their weakened team for new ones before a battle.

* OlympusMons: The game allows you to capture, among other things: Elemental birds of ice, thunder, and fire[[note]]Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres[[/note]]; the common ancestor of most other {{Mon}}s and its SuperSoldier [[CloningBlues clone]] GoneHorriblyRight[[note]]Mew and Mewtwo[[/note]]; Elemental beasts of thunder, fire, and water[[note]]Raikou, Entei, and Suicune[[/note]]; a draconic bird and a rainbow phoenix that can cause storms with a flap of its wings[[note]]Lugia and Ho-Oh[[/note]]; a time-traveling avatar of flora[[note]]Celebi[[/note]]; golems of rock, ice, and steel[[note]]Regirock, Regice, and Registeel[[/note]]; twin dragons with enough psychic firepower to stop a tidal wave[[note]]Latios and Latias[[/note]]; the embodiments of the sea, earth, and sky[[note]]Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza[[/note]]; a wish granting FunSize star[[note]]Jirachi[[/note]]; a shapeshifting alien virus creature[[note]]Deoxys[[/note]]; the creators of knowledge, emotion, and free will[[note]]Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf[[/note]]; the masters of time, space, and antimatter/death[[note]]Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina[[/note]]; a volcano spirit[[note]]Heatran[[/note]]; a colossal golem that supposedly moved continents and created the aforementioned golems[[note]]Regigigas[[/note]]; the crescent moon/living embodiment of dreams and the new moon/a living embodiment of nightmares[[note]]Cresselia and Darkrai[[/note]]; a guardian of the seas with the power to FreakyFridayFlip others[[note]]Manaphy[[/note]] and its child[[note]]Phione[[/note]]; another avatar of flora for good measure[[note]]Shaymin[[/note]]; and what is outright stated [[note]]In the Heart Gold and Soul Silver Dex entries[[/note]] to be ''[[PhysicalGod the creator of the Pokémon universe itself]]''[[note]]Arceus[[/note]].

* MartialArtistsAreAlwaysBarefoot:Trainers that specialize in Fighting-type Pokémon often go barefoot, including the common Black Belts, [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Bruno]], [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Chuck]], and[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Maylene]], [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Marshal]], and [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Bea]].

** Quite a few abilities enable Pokémon to NoSell various types or moves. For example, Levitate blocks Ground-type moves, Soundproof blocks [[MakeMeWannaShout sound-based moves]], abilities like [[FeedItWithFire Flash Fire]] or Water Absorb absorb certain types of moves to provide a buff, Clear Body prevents your stats from being lowered, Cloud Nine negates weather conditions... There's a lot of these.

** [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokémon]], owing to their above-average or godly stats, tend to be reserved for the late game. By then, a player likely already has a team that covers any niche a Legendary might, and there may only be a few boss fights or the FinalBoss left. And some {{Optional Boss}}es, like Mewtwo in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' or Kyurem in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', come in ''after'' the game's over — and with [[BrutalBonusLevel the Battle facilities]] banning Pokémon of their tier, there's often nothing left for them to do but sit in a PC.

* ReincarnatedAsANonHumanoid: According to various PokéDex entries this is the case for Yamask and legend has it could be the case for Phanthump, Phantump are said to be tree stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest. Yamask, carries a mask that looks like the face they had in their human life and occasionally looks at ''and cries''. A less depressing example is in the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' games which generally start with you waking as a Pokémon with vague memories of being formally human but now you are in a world without humans.

* OlympusMons: The game allows you to capture, among other things: Elemental birds of ice, thunder, and fire[[note]]Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres[[/note]]; the common ancestor of most other {{Mon}}s and its SuperSoldier [[CloningBlues clone]] GoneHorriblyRight[[note]]Mew and Mewtwo[[/note]]; Elemental beasts of thunder, fire, and water[[note]]Raikou, Entei, and Suicune[[/note]]; a draconic bird and a rainbow phoenix that can cause storms with a flap of its wings[[note]]Lugia and Ho-Oh[[/note]]; a time-traveling avatar of flora[[note]]Celebi[[/note]]; golems of rock, ice, and steel[[note]]Regirock, Regice, and Registeel[[/note]]; twin dragons with enough psychic firepower to stop a tidal wave[[note]]Latios and Latias[[/note]]; the embodiments of the sea, earth, and sky[[note]]Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza[[/note]]; a wish granting FunSize star[[note]]Jirachi[[/note]]; a shapeshifting alien virus creature[[note]]Deoxys[[/note]]; the creators of knowledge, emotion, and free will[[note]]Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf[[/note]]; the masters of time, space, and antimatter/death[[note]]Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina[[/note]]; a volcano spirit[[note]]Heatran[[/note]]; a colossal golem that supposedly moved continents and created the aforementioned rock, ice, and steel golems[[note]]Regigigas[[/note]]; the crescent moon/living embodiment of dreams and the new moon/a living embodiment of nightmares[[note]]Cresselia and Darkrai[[/note]]; the prince of the seas[[note]]Manaphy[[/note]] and his son[[note]]Phione[[/note]]; another avatar of flora for good measure[[note]]Shaymin[[/note]]; and what is outright stated [[note]]In the Heart Gold and Soul Silver Dex entries[[/note]] to be ''[[PhysicalGod the creator of the Pokémon universe itself]]''[[note]]Arceus[[/note]].
** As of the 5th gen, there's a small critter that is the personification of victory (and possibly a nuke)[[note]]Victini[[/note]], ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' and d'Artagnan[[note]]Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, and Keldeo[[/note]], dragons of Yang, Yin, and Wuji that were originally one entity that may or may not have been an alien[[note]]Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem[[/note]], the Japanese gods of wind, thunder, and fertility[[note]]Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus[[/note]], a muse[[note]]Meloetta[[/note]], and a long since extinct insect resurrected from a fossil and cybernetically enhanced by Team Plasma scientists in the hope of creating the ultimate weapon[[note]]Genesect[[/note]].

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' adds in the four guardian deities of Alola[[note]]Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Fini[[/note]], cute living nebulas[[note]]Cosmog and Cosmoem[[/note]], avatars of the sun[[note]]Solgaleo[[/note]] and moon[[note]]Lunala[[/note]], an ancient clockwork rabbit doll/prototype Poké Ball that can absorb life energy[[note]]Magearna[[/note]], [[spoiler:a whole posse of extradimensional StarfishAliens[[note]]the Ultra Beasts[[/note]], a failed attempt at a chimera-like weapon to counteract such aliens[[note]]Type: Null and Silvally[[/note]]]] and a crippled but still powerful light manipulator[[note]]Necrozma[[/note]]. There's also a brawling lightning cat[[note]]Zeraora[[/note]], a small pile of liquid metal, and a massive pile of liquid metal[[note]]Meltan and Melmeltal[[/note]].
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' and their DLC keep enlarging the group, adding twin weapon-wielding wolves who defended their land from a calamity[[note]]Zacian and Zamazenta[[/note]], [[spoiler:the energy-absorbing alien creature who triggered said calamity[[note]]Eternatus[[/note]]]], a bear-like martial-arts expert and its evolution[[note]]Kubfu and Urshifu[[/note]], concentrations of electric and "dragon" energy who are mates of the aforementioned golem trio[[note]]Regieleki and Regidrago[[/note]], crueler versions of the elemental birds with different typing[[note]]Galarian Articuno, Galaria Zapdos and Galarian Moltres[[/note]], a fertility god who once ruled over the land[[note]]Calyrex[[/note]] [[spoiler:and its steeds[[note]]Glastrier and Spectrier[[/note]]]], and a territorial and aggressive GreenThumb monkey[[note]]Zarude[[/note]].

* OneHeadTaller: Not for romantic reasons. However, measuring a person's height by their head is a way of telling their age in all medias. Children usually are 5 heads tall, teens six, and adults seven.

* RuderAndCruder: The Japanese versions of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' and the ''Manga/PokemonZensho'' anime have Lt. Surge saying "dammit" in English. To Japanese ears this is just an American stereotype, but the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series otherwise doesn't feature profanity until ''Film/Detective Pikachu'', which contains the first instances of swearing in an English-language Pokemon release.

** Most of the main series games have a Fisherman with 6 [[JokeCharacter Magikarps.]] In fact, in Generation V, since Magikarp can't be found prior to obtaining the National Dex, this trainer has Magikarp at ''Level 60'' (58[[note]]53 in Easy and 63 in Challenge[[/note]] in sequels). Alluded to in ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' where the Fisherman medal is achieved by catching Magikarp. But not just ''any'' Magikarp this time — they need to be ''large'' Magikarp. Hoenn games have a Fisherman with 6 Magikarp — but when you go back for a rematch it's become a Magikarp ''[[OhCrap and 5 Gyarados]]''.

* RidiculouslyAliveUndead: Ghost-type Pokemon are Pokemon meant to be based on ghosts, with some of them (such as Gengar, Phantump, and Yamask) even being stated to be once-living humans. Despite this, they are shown to be just as capable of breeding, eating, sleeping, and getting status conditions just like any other type of Pokemon. They even seem to be capable of dying, with the ghost of a Mimikyu and the remains of a Trevenant being seen in the [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries anime]].

** Aqua Ring is a move that restores HP. It is visualized by a "veil" of three or more rings of water materializing around the Pokemon.

* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Typhlosion. It's a 5-foot tall badger. On fire.

** [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation V]]'s [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVMinccinoToVolcarona Mienfoo and Mienshao]] are also based on them; according to the Pokedex, Mienfoo make up their packs in numbers and use their (normally unseen) claws to slice through enemies, and while Meinshao don't attack with claws, they instead use their arm fur are utilized as whips.

** Rock, Ground, and Steel Types are immune to damage from Sandstorm.

** Shadow Pokemon are immune to damage from Shadow Sky.

** The series only plays this straight with Mossdeep Gym Leaders Tate and Liza, who look like young children (complete with TwinTelepathy). And ''maybe'' Caitlin, depending on which generation you're playing. All the other prominent Psychic-type trainers (eg. Sabrina, Will, Lucian, as well as the Psychic trainer class) appear to be at least in their twenties.

** In the English versions, almost every single Gym Leader and Elite Four member's name is a pun on their preferred type. Lt. Surge, Wattson, Volkner and Elesa are Electric trainers, [[ChivalrousPervert Brock]], Roxanne and Roark are Rock trainers, [[AnIcePerson Pryce]], [[AnIcePerson Candice]] and Brycen are Ice trainers, Fantina, Morty and Shauntal are Ghost trainers, and so forth.

* MysteriousPurple: The Ghost type is assigned purple in the franchise's ColorCodedElements, several Ghost-type Pokemon incorporate purple in their designs, and Ghost-type specialists tend to wear a lot of purple. Ghost-types are otherworldly and unknown, and feature frequently in hauntings, mysteries, and legends throughout the various games.

** Deoxys, a humanioid alien personification of DNA.

** Dragapault, a prehistoric stealth bomber ghost dragon that shoots its babies like missiles

** The move Rage increases a Pokemon's attack power if they get hit while using it.

** The move Endeavor takes the attacking Pokemon's HP and sets the opponent's HP to the exact same level. This has prompted the famous FEAR strategy where a level 1 Pokemon that knows Endeavour can hold a Focus Sash to tank the first hit at 1 HP, use Endeavour to bring the offending mon's HP to 1 as well, and finish it off by going first with a move like Quick Attack.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'': The move, Softboiled, can be used out of battle to transfer 20% of the user's Max HP to another Pokemon.

*** Growl: Lowers attack.
*** Tail Whip: Lowers defense.
** From ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' onwards: Attract, which only works when used by gendered Pokemon, on Pokemon of the opposite gender, to infatuate them and reduce the chances that they're able to attack.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonEmerald'' has the only instance where one of these can inflict Frozen, and it's technically an event, not a battle. In the Battle Pike, A Gentleman's Dusclops can run up and try to freeze your Pokemon with an "Ice Beam", although not dealing the damage of a regular one. The trainer claims it's easily startled due to its Timid nature.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'': Kelfki's Fairy Lock attack stops all Pokemon from leaving the battle for a turn, unless they faint or by moves / items that cause it.

*** Shadow Down: lowers opponents' defense by 2 stages.

*** Shadow Sky: DamageOverTime for non-Shadow Pokemon for 5 turns.

** There are tons of ways to NoSell things in Pokémon, but there are also some ways to NoSell the NoSell. One of the more prominent is the ability Mold Breaker, which allows your moves to bypass abilities that would normally result in a NoSell (a Ground-type move would be able to hit something with Levitate, for example). Mold Breaker cannot overcome elemental immunities, however, so that Ground-type move would still have no effect on a Flying-type Pokémon.

** The move Doubleslap can hit up to ''five times''. It's a [[LostInTranslation dub-induced thing]]; the original Japanese name is Round Trip Slap.

* NPCRandomEncounterImmunity: Averted, and still justified anyway. Wild Pokémon are said to only jump out at people who are carrying Pokémon with them... but ''everyone'' carries Pokémon with them, and the trainers in each area will have level-appropriate mons with them.

'''Bugcatcher Rick''': If you lock eyes with a trainer, you have to challenge! It's a rule!
** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet''; The open-world nature of the game makes it so you have to talk to the other trainer to engage in battle, with the first trainer lampshading how in Paldea mere eye-contact isn't enough to convey intent to battle.

** The majority of the gym leaders in the games have them. Just guess which elements these guys specialize in: B''rock'', ''Misty'', Lt. ''Surge'', ''Falkner'', ''Bug''sy, ''Whit''ney, Pr''yce'', ''Rox''anne, ''Brawl''y, ''Watt''son, the list goes on.
** Most Pokémon names are Portmanteaus or puns. The dub tries to match this by [[{{Woolseyism}} creating equivalents that western audiences will appreciate]].

** Gen 1: Sliph Company.

** Gen 8: Macro Cosmos, a massive business conglomerate with no less then 14 business subsidiaries ranging from transportation, media, finances and energy production. Its president, Rose, is also the chairman of the Galar Pokémon League.

** Quite a few Pokémon do this while evolving. The most obvious example is Magikarp to Gyarados (small karp to sea serpent), but there are others, such as Vibrava to Flygon (lacewing to dragon) and Feebas to Milotic (fish to elegant-looking sea serpent).

** Mimikyu is a ghost that conceals its true form (that acts as a BrownNote to anyone unfortunate to see it) with old merchandise to take advantage of Pikachu's popularity.
** An example in hindsight can be found in Sudowoodo, a rock-type Pokemon that disguises itself as a tree. When the actual tree-like Trevenant was introduced later, it was possible to see a Sudowoodo in a horde of Trevenant in Kalos.
** The Pokemon Lurantis is based on the famous orchid mantis, except it [[GenuineImpostor actually is an orchid flower pretending to be a mantis that imitates an orchid flower]].

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'': Tate and Liza are twins who are able to psychically communicate with each other and specialize in the Psychic-type. They face you as a tag-team in a double gym battle, and their signature mons are Solrock and Lunatone, two closely associated Pokemon based on The Sun and The Moon respectively.

*** [[AmericansAreCowboys Clay]] is a ground-type gym leader who also works a second job as a the head of a gem mining company. His SignatureMon Excadrill is a giant mole with drills for hands.
*** [[TheDragon N]] believes that keeping Pokemon in Pokeballs is abhorrent. As a result, he uses a different team every time he battles you, and his team is made up exclusively of Pokemon found in that area. This implies that he likely caught his entire team minutes beforehand for the sole purpose of battling you, then releases them after you beat him.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'': Volo uses a team that's almost identical to that of his descendent Cynthia in ''VideoGame/PokemonPlatinum''. However, his SignatureMon is the peaceful Fairy/Flying type Togekiss while Cynthia's is the violent Dragon/Ground type Garchomp, with Fairy-types being a counter to Dragon-types and Flying-types being a counter to Ground-types. One of the Pokemon found on Cynthia's Platinum team, the Water-type Milotic, is not available in the Hisui dex, so Volo has it replaced with a Fire/Rock-type Hisuian Arcanine. [[spoiler: This alludes to how Volo is the BigBad of his game while Cynthia was the BigGood of her's]].

** Also, grinding early on makes for funny situations. You can also skip some early trainers, who then say that you look pretty easy and challenge you, only to find that you have a team of Level 100's.

** Up through Generation IV, Selfdestruct and Explosion actually inflicted double their stated attack power because they [[GuideDangIt secretly]] reduced the opponent's Defense by half. This has been changed as of Gen V, likely due in part to the introduction of Triple Battles, where this could be extremely centralizing, even more so than it already was in Double Battles.