Sandbox / Donaldthepotholer

Below is my idea for a game that may exist in an alternate universe:

Remember that series where Robot Masters were turned into virtual Mons?

Well, how about we reverse that premise? Except that a true reversal would be King Mook. But let's reverse it most of the way... and inject the preeminent Mon franchise.^note For those that that wish to inject that other franchise, I redirect you to the aforementioned Battle Network and tell you to start there.

High Concept: "the plots, characters, and attacks of Pokémon, Mega Man (Classic) style."

As such, don't expect this to become reality. At all.

Each mainline game details one Pokemon "game". The plot has been adapted as closely as possible to the source material while allowing as many high profile matches as possible. As such, plot and character Tropes that match the respective games (e.g. the elements of the Gym Leaders) are presumed as original unless indicated in the list below. The Video Game Mechanics tropes that are extant in the cited Mega Man game(s) are also to be presumed unless otherwise noted:

• Poke Man 1 = Mega Man 2 With an extra castle and Bonus Dungeon.
  • With a variant patterened after Pokémon Adventures essenitally being Poke Man: Team Rocket's Revenge
  • Also, Let's Go Poke Man!^note A Video Game Remake released between Poke Man 7 and 8 = Mega Man Powered Up
• Poke Man 2 = Mega Man 3
• Poke Man 3 has the armors and Sequential Fortresses of Mega Man 6 along with the utilities of 3 and an intermission stage ala Megaman 7 and 8.
  • Plus a variant patterened after its resepective Pokémon Adventures chapter which is essentially Poke World 2 & 3 with the ability to select characters ala Mega Man & Bass.
• Poke Man Cipher Snag has the double-fortress layout of Mega Man 4 and 5.
• Poke Man 4 = Mega Man 6 with the collection element of that game and Mega Man & Bass.
• Poke Man: The Frontier Battles = The "Wily Tower" portion of Mega Man: The Wily Wars
• Poke Man 5: Plot matches Mega Man 7, gameplay matches Mega Man & Bass. Except that you don't get to play as the Bass analog.
  • Poke Man 5-2 = Mega Man 8
  • Poke Man: World Legends = Rockman World 4 & 5
• Poke Man 6 = Mega Man 10, but with all core functions from 4-6 available, and more levels on both ends. Plus a Gym Leader playthrough having different stages and a collection sidequest.
• Poke Man 7 and Poke Man and Gladion = Early Mega Man X games with animal-based bosses instead of human-based ones, Ride Armor, and chargable weapons. The features and plots of the linked source games have a situation similar to Mega Man 8 and Mega Man & Bass'' with reused assets.
• Gen 8 = Mega Man 11 without the gears on Victor's/Gloria's side. Plus quite a few extra levels. And some DLC akin to Mega Man Unlimited

Gen 8 equivalents are still being storyboarded with Gen 9 following much later.

Due to the nature of the source games, (specifically, their being on outdated systems,) most spoilers will be unmarked.^{General policy}If a spoiler relates to a plot point that's present in the source material and doesn't relate to Let's Go, Poke Man!, it will normally be exposed. If the spoiler changes the nature of a plot point significantly or is for LGPM, it'll be covered.

Pages for games

• Poke Man 1-3 (and Remakes)
• Poke Man 4-7
• Poke Man 8-9 (still under construction)

Tropes & Trivia pertaining to the series in general

• Boss Rush: Most games. Some of them have Sequential Bosses ala Mega Man while others have the stock teleporter shtick.
• Bystander Syndrome: Most of the time, the League doesn't seem to want to do anything to stop the evil teams; and when they do, they invoke Start X to Stop X. So go beat them up for their lack of action/wrong choices!
• Collision Damage: Direct contacts go to the enemy. That being said, there are several weapons that are short range and Slide Attacks invert this.
• Curtain Call: The Gym Leaders are displayed during the credits as per the Mega Man source.
• Dark Is Evil: As per the Pokemon source, much to the dismay of the Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors setup. Hence, you don't get a Dark-type weapon in the series until Poke Man and Gladion.
• Denial of Diagonal Attack: Yep, the player can't fire up. Aversions will be listed in the respective game entries.
• Disc-One Final Boss and Disc-One Final Dungeon: Present in most games, though knowledge of the Pokemon games blunts this effect.
• Easter Egg: Several stages have alternate musics linked to a Robot Master with a similar theme. Examples include Gemini Man for Tate and Liza, Splash Woman for Misty, and Guile for Lt. Surge.
• Emergency Energy Tank: The Mega Man staples; placed where similar items (or combinations thereof) are found in the Pokemon games.
• Excuse Plot: Let's face it: All this series would do is have you do battle with as many trainers as possible, Mega Man-style.
• Mage Tower: Usually League HQ, as per the Pokemon Source. Unlike said source, only forms the latter half of the "League Fortress" stages, as those stages actually are a tower/castle/large bunker/what have you. The earlier stages are on Victory Road and any applicable approaches.
• Password Save: In most of the early games. Classic-style in the first 2 games and The Frontier Battles, X-style in The 3rd Gen. And Rockman World-style for Poke Man: World Legends.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender/Static Role, Exchangeable Character: In most of the games where you can choose the player's gender, the only difference is effectively a script swap.
• Recurring Boss: The Rivals in the Pokemon games often are used as these ala Proto Man in Mega Man 3.
• Route Boss: From 6 to 8,^note Including Gladion and Let's Go Poke Man! there is at least one gameplay route that has different bosses.
• Seahorse Steed: Used in games where the Surf HM can be combined with another water-based HM^note Excluding Waterfall
• Sky Surfing: Using the Fly HM.^note Sometimes, it's a Double Unlock being combined with the Waterfall or the Surf HM.
• Under the Sea: Averted. Most levels you expect to be this don't have underwater areas at all, due to a lack of proper Utility Moves in the source.
• Utility Weapon: Most games prior to 7 feature a singluar one called either the Cut Blade or the Smashing Cutter. This weapon destroys certain types of walls.
• Victor Gains Loser's Powers: Natch for the (main) Player Character and also applies to some of the Rivals.

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Present in mainline games on this page

• Shareware: of the Early Levels Only variety: You can play with all of the initial weapons,^note but not all at once in Poke Man 1, but once you complete the first mid-game area, the game ends. You also are unable to enter a password or save the game; though you are able to view passwords on games that have them, allowing you to pick up the registered version from where you left off in the demo. This does not apply to the remakes or alternate versions.

Poke Man 1

Gym leaders (and birds)

• Blaine^note Trainer #4: Metalsmithing: Gives Fire Blast. Its high ammo cost makes it Awesome, but Impractical. Downgraded to Flannery's Overheat only in Gen 4. Gives Trace Sizzly Slide in "Let's Go, Poke Man!"
• Brock^note Trainer #8: Archeological Research: His theme is Dishing Out Dirt, but the "weapon" he gives you is the Bide Armor, described in Charged Attack below. As per the Pokemon games, gets Roxanne's Rock Tomb in the remake, and Rock Slide in Gen 4.
• Erika^note Trainer #6: Etiquette and Horticulture: Gives Mega Drain, which is upgraded to Giga Drain in the remakes. Gives Trace Sappy Seed in "Let's Go"
• Koga^note Trainer #5: Wildlife Research and Management: Gives Toxic Shot. Consecutive hits with this weapon increase the damage dealt to the point of it being a Game-Breaker against most Bosses. Its ammo consumption prevents it from slaughtering the Boss Rush, though. He gives Trace Baddy Bad in "Let's Go" despite not having any Dark-type Pokemon.
• Misty^note Trainer #10: Aquatic Search and Rescue: Gives Bubble Beam, which, though short-range, turns out to be a Nerf Arm. Changed out for Wallace's Water Pulse in the remakes. In "Let's Go", she gives the player character Marlon's Scald Spray, while Trace gets Bouncy Bubble.
• Surge^note Trainer #9: Atomic Energy Control: Gives Thunder Bolt. Changed out for Wattson's Shock Wave in the remakes.^note Other than "Let's Go".
• Sabrina^note Trainer #7: Parapsychoanalysis and Experimentation: Uses Psychic Powers. Her original weapon is more powerful in her hands than yours, see Fake Special Attack below. For the replacements, see the respecive game entries.
• Giovanni^note Trainer #3: Infrastructure Management: Gives Fissue Strike, which has the same sort of attack animation as Earthquake, which replaced it in the remakes, but with a different damage formula.
• Articuno: Gives Ice Beam except to Trace who gets Freezy Frost.
• Zapdos: Though its theme is Shock and Awe, the weapon you get is Drill Peck, by way of his beak; except for Trace, again, who does get Buzzy Buzz from it.
• Moltres: It uses fire attacks but you don't get a weapon from it in the original. Beating it is the requirement to unlock Cerulean Cave. In the remakes, it gives you "Explosion", which is like the original's Bide Armor except that it runs on weapon energy rather than hits taken.

Original Version

• Abandoned Laboratory: The Pokemon Mansion, where Blaine hangs out as opposed to in the mountain as you'd expect.
• Big Boo's Haunt: Lavender Tower, encountered after 4 stages (3 in the Gen 3 Remake). Several enemies are immune to the arm cannon, forcing you to use Leader Weapons to take them down. Gary and Giovanni also make appearances here.
• Charged Attack: Brock's Bide Armor is the "Collect" type, in that you have to be hit several times and release the energy in one shot
• Checkpoint Starvation: If you die in League Stage 3 before you beat Brock, you have to go back to the start of the level. Likewise, if you die after you beat Brock but before you beat Erika, you have to go back to right after Brock. Fortunately, if you beat Misty/Blaine in these cases, you don't have to refight them again. Similarly, in the stage afterwards, you don't have to refight any of the Gym Leaders you already beat in the teleporter section on the same continue.
• Composite Character/Level: Lavender Tower has Giovanni as its boss, obviating both the Rocket H.Q. and having to make a separate King Mook for this stage.
• Dual Boss: Jessie & James are the boss of Silph Tower 1 in this version, though they do not repeat this until the Let's Go! remake.
• Eternal Engine: Zapdos' stage (the Power Plant), but not Surge's stage (which is aboard the S.S. Anne).
• Expy: Gary is one of Proto Man... sort of...
• Fake Special Attack: Sabrina's Psywave, which is essentially a psychic-typed basic cannon that has an ammo meter. All it's good for is hitting enemies that are immune to the basic cannon; despite the typing, it does the same damage to Koga as the basic cannon.
• Fantastic Nature Reserve: Koga's Safari Zone.
• Load-Bearing Boss: When you defeat Blaine in his rematch, the volcanic pocket that his boss chamber sits on erupts, requiring you to Outrun The Lava Flow.
• The Lost Woods: Erika's stage, which, unlike most of the other Gym Leaders, is actually set in her Gym.^note Which is a Greenhouse in this series.
• Power Copying: Not just you, but Gary as well. The encounter with him aboard the S.S. Anne reveals that he beat Surge ahead of you and gives him the Thunder Bolt. He has a total of 3 weapons during the Lavender Tower encounter.^note If you beat Surge, he has the Thunder Beam; if you beat Misty, he does not have the Bubble Beam and vice-versa. Otherwise, his weapons are determined at random in the Lavender encounter and retained in later encounters. If you go for Surge or Misty last, however, he has all of the first 6 GL weapons for that battle regardless of any of the above.
• Promoted to Opening Credits: To preclude having a stage select with only 3 stages, the stages of two of the Legendary Birds have been moved to the initial stage select. This is also applicable in "Let's Go, Poke Man!"
• Psycho Prototype/Rival Turned Evil: Gary, who turns out to be the True Final Boss after delivering the "kill shot" to Lance. You fight him several times in this game, and each time he has more weapons than the last.
• Recurring Boss: Gary. He's essentially a Shotoclone of the player, who develops similar skills over time.
• Shout-Out:
  • See those Notes beside the names of the Gym Leaders? The designations there are a Shout Out to the ending of Mega Man 3 where each of the initial Robot Masters had a number and function. For reference, Red, the Player Character, is designated as #02, with the function of Acquisitions Specialist. Gary^note given his (English) Anime name to avoid the Dub Name Change issue of the games has the designation #01 and has a "General Purpose" function. There is also #00, aka "Leaf", who is a "Female Trainer Prototype" and "Sister to Red and Gary," though she doesn't figure prominantly in any game, except as a player option in the first remake and as a Bonus Boss in the second.
  • The order the first four Gym Leaders are encountered in Agatha's stage is a dual Shout Out: the elements involved parallel the four types of fields featured in the "Pokemon Stadium" stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee, while the order in which they are encountered is one to Ash Ketchum's first tournament, with fire replacing ice in the latter. The order the other four are encountered in the following stage are likewise one to Pokémon Adventures, as not only do they represent the order that they appeared (with the exception of Giovanni), but the order also represents the ordering that the Leaders' respective equals among the Dex Holders appeared.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Seafoam Island, where Articuno roosts.
• Take It to the Bridge: The first half of Misty's stage. Defeating Gary drops you onto Route 25 below.
• Throw It In!: In adding Seafoam Islands and the Power Plant, this game also added in an item that could be constructed from a combination of an item found in those stages^note Max Elixer with one that could be bought^note Max Potion through a Nugget: the Mega/Mystery Tank.
• Utility Weapon: Fire Blast can melt ice cubes.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Averted with both applicable characters in the main game.
  • Giovanni takes less damage to Master Weapons in the latter encounters compared to his first appearance at Pokemon Tower
  • Gary has access to the six Gym Leader weapons at Silph Co. and the last encounter.
• What Could Have Been: Originally, Giovanni had one last fight in a stage after the Silph Co. stages; it would've been the third of the three stages referred to in Promoted To Opening Credits above. Giovanni's damage table in the Boss Rush was taken from the one he would've had there. This stage is in the next two versions below, though not the "Let's Go" version.

Team Rocket's Revenge (Pokemon Adventures Version)

• Boss Rush: Moved to Silph Co., and then only with the minibosses of the previous stages. The Gym Leaders (other than Giovanni) aren't encountered again.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • The Legendary Birds are not fought in this game. At least, not as separate entities. As per Adventures, the birds are combined into a single entity and is the Final Boss of Silph HQ.
  • Applies to Giovanni's final form as well, who replaces Sabrina as an earlier level boss, though he did get his own stage earlier.
  • Subverted with Gary, see Same Character But Different below.
• Eternal Engine: Giovanni's stage. Considering that the source had spinners in both Rocket H.Q. and the Viridian Gym, it's appropriate.
• Game-Breaker: Sabrina's Psychic Blast, Once you get it. Then again, Fire Blast doesn't work as well against Koga this time, so...
• Same Character, But Different: Gary, the Rival Turned Evil in the original, is very helpful in this version: You only fight him once in the Pokemon Tower and he gives you powerups in the final levels.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Giovanni in his own stage, and the minibosses in the other 3 Rocket Gym Stages, setting up showdowns at Silph Co.

Gen 3 Remake

This was the first game in the series to offer a shop, due to the fact that Fire Red & Leaf Green was the first Pokemon game to have enough Shop Fodder to make one worthwhile.

• Amplifier Artifact: Instead of the two Psychic-type weapons (either the Joke or the Breaker), Sabrina unlocks the "Armor" setting. This carries forward to the second Remake, but not on the Rival's path. For more on these armors, see the Poke Man 3 roster.
• Escape Rope: A permanent one^note In the form of a cleanse tag, which is more like an Encounter Repellant earned automatically when Pokemon Tower is cleared. Like in the Mega Man games, does not work when the Gym Leader hasn't been defeated.
• Same Character, But Different: Brock and Moltres, due to the transfer of the "Explosion" weapon from the former to the latter.
• Suspicious Videogame Generosity: Of the 6 E-Tanks found in the initial levels, 3 of them are found in the Safari Zone. You. Will. Need. Them, see below.
• That One Boss: Koga, who doesn't really have a weakness in this version.^note Koga in the first game was actually based off of his Pokemon Yellow appearance in order to defy this Trope; as was giving Sabrina Psychic in the PokeSpe version, allowing Koga to be based off of his Pokemon Red version; as "Yellow" wasn't used in the games' GBA remake, we're stuck with an overpowered boss relative to the other 5 options.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Giovanni gets a stage similar to the one from "Team Rocket's Revenge" after the Silph Co. Fortress.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Averted in the same way as the original game... plus when you beat Mewtwo, the League changes its weakness tables. Then again, beating Mewtwo nets Psychic Blast, Koga's and Agatha's actual weakness.

Let's Go Poke Man!

• Arrange Mode: After beating the main path, an option appears replacing Trace, Articuno, the Gym Leaders,^note other than Giovanni and the Elite with "Coach Trainers" (and Moltres). The Champion is the same guy as on Trace's route. The weapons you get are also different (for the most past) from the initial playthrough, and you don't get the old ones at all, though you still get the Secret Items from the corresponding levels.
• Cipher Scything: Jessie and James individually function as the first 2 mini-bosses on Trace's route.^note Either on Route 25, the SS Anne, or in the Marsh Gym; Archer is the 3rd Miniboss. Both routes still have them as a Dual Boss on Silph Fortress 1. There is also a Legacy Boss Battle in Pokemon Tower. And a different Final Boss in League Stage 5.
• Dark Is Not Evil: In Trace's route, Koga gives the Dark-type weapon Baddy Bad. He still gives Toxic Shot on the main route.
• Legacy Boss Battle: Two cases on Trace's Route:
  • To get the Sparkly Swirl, you have to defeat Mina from Alola aboard the S.S. Anne. While she was in the games published immediately prior, this game is set a good while before those games...
  • At Lavender Tower, Trace encounters Gary, who wants to see how much his "little brother" has grown.
• Same Character, But Different: Gary acts a bit more like his "Team Rocket's Revenge" incarnation than the other prior two.
• Slide Attack: Sizzly Slide for Trace.
• Shout-Out: Gary calls Trace his "Little Brother" during their battle at Lavender Tower, mirroring Proto Man's attitude towards Mega Man in the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon. And, like the cartoon, the relationship is contentious at best.
  TRACE: You're no more my "brother" than these Gym Leaders are!
• Utility Weapon: For the main player, Fire Blast still takes out the ice cubes, but now you have another option: The Scald Spray, see the entry in 5th Generation for more. Trace is limited to Sizzly Slide, which has its drawbacks... The Second Quest has Fire Punch, which only works at close range.
• Variant Power Copying: Trace utilizes special attacks based on Eevee's 8 forms, obtained from 5 Kanto Gym Leaders, 2 Birds,... and a Guest Star from Alola.

Poke Man 2

Gym Leaders

• Bugsy: Gives Fury Cutter in the original, which functions as the Bug-Type equivalent of Toxic Shot, except it's a slash instead of a lob shot. In the remakes, U-Turn.
• Chuck: Gives Dynamic Punch in the original, Focus Punch in the remake.
• Clair: Gives Dragon Breath in the original, upgraded to Dragon Pulse in the remake.
• Falkner: While his theme is Flying Attacks, his weapon in the original is actually Mud Shot. It's worse (on both sides) in the remake, where he doesn't have an appreciable weapon at all; just a rechargeable Emergency Energy Tank^note Using excess health powerups, ala Mega Man X
• Jasmine: Gives Iron Tail which is expressed as a Spin Attack.
• Morty: Gives Shadow Ball.
• Pryce: Gives Icy Wind in the original, Hail Storm in the Remake.
• Whitney: Gives Attract Stopper, which works like Mega Man 4's Flash Stopper. This is the reason why you can't play as a girl in this one.^note That, and the swap from Crystal to Lyra made Ethan the Canon Protagonist by default.

There are two more new Gym Leaders in the mix: Janine suceedes her father, Koga, even getting his weapon (at least in the original) while Gary replaces Giovanni, though he uses weapons besides Giovanni's Fissure. Incidentally, they're in the same stage in the original.

Original Version

• And Starring: Janine gets an "And Introducing" credit at the end of the Curtain Call.
• Big Boo's Haunt: Burned Tower, Morty's lair, being a amalgam of that area in Gold and Silver and Morty's Gym itself. Surge hangs out here later running interference for Blaine.
• Blood Knight: Silver. He doesn't even give a proper reason for fighting you.
• Blow You Away: Subverted with Falkner, see above. But you do get a wind weapon with Aero Blast, gained from Possessed!Misty.
• Boss Rush: Similar to the one in the previous game. Except that only 2 trainers are in Karen's stage: Pryce is occupying Misty's former chamber, with Falkner is up in the clouds that you have to climb since the lake has been frozen over. The other 6 are hiding out in Lance's level in a teleporter room.
• Carrying the Weakness: Morty's weakness is his own weapon, the Shadow Ball. Clair's weakness would be Dragon Breath/Pulse, were it not for Fury Cutter/Hail. And Whitney is vulnerable to her own weapon as well.^note At least in the last case, the "intended" weakness is a short-ranged weapon, making the self-weakness an Anti-Frustration Feature.
• Cave Behind the Falls: League Level 1 is set in the caverns behind Tohjo Falls; which also has waterfalls you have to climb... sort of.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: For those who don't know, Bugsy's a guy. So he's immune to the Attract Stopper; at least when used by you.
• Hijacked by Ganon: After you take down Team Rocket at the Radio Tower, The Leauge from the first game sends out the Kanto Leaders to secure Johto's 3 Major Legendaries, with Gary and Janine minding the forward base at Blackthorn.
• It's All Upstairs From Here: Sprout Tower, Glitter Lighthouse, the Radio Tower, and Tin Tower in Ecruteak Revisited.
• Level in the Clouds: The second part of Leaggue Stage 4.
• Levels Take Flight: The middle part of Glitter Lighthouse revisted, that is the part after the lighthouse itself. You could also use Rush Marine here, though, and thank goodness!
• The Lost Woods: Ilex Forest where Bugsy hangs about.
• Marathon Level: ALL of the "Retro Leader" stages except for the one in Ilex Forest qualify with the Two Towers and the Forward Base effectively being two levels, and the Whirl Islands two-and-a-half! Extra checkpoints have been added/retained to prevent Checkpoint Starvation.
• Ontological Inertia: Taking out Pryce in League Stage 4 doesn't suddenly thaw out Misty's pool. Instead, you have to go up to continue the stage.
• Powers via Possession: Blaine and Misty get their powers in this game from Ho-oh and Lugia respectively. Fortunately, the weapons you get from them don't have the spiritual baggage. You also prevent Sabrina and/or Erika from suffering a similar fate involving Celebi.
• Punched Across the Room: Chuck's Dynamic Punch causes this. And anyone who's "Weak" against it also takes damage from hitting the wall/floor. (You just experience the combined effect in the single punch.)
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Averted. Given the mechanics of Whitney's Attract Stopper, having a girl go after her would turn her into an Anti-Climax Boss. Further, the roughly 2:1 male:female average ratio in-game would make such an attack in the hands of a woman a near Game-Breaker.
• Remixed Level:
  • The encounters with the Kanto Leaders take place in 4 of the Johto stages, much like in Mega Man 3. One of these is in reverse with some extentions, two more are extended versions of the original stages, and the other combines two stages.
  • League Fortress Stage 3 is very much like Poke Man 1's League Stage 2. Up to and including Bruno as the stage boss. No Moltres though. League 4 also starts out like the one following Game 1's League 3 until you reach the pool, which Pryce has iced over, forcing you to go up from there. League Stage 5's first half is also the same as Game 1 Stage 4's first half... and its Disc One Final Boss is the same too.
• Rogue Protagonist: Red, as the True Final Boss.
• Same Character, But Different: Blaine and Misty, as seen in Powers Via Possession above. Partly averted with Gary, who still has their Bubble Beam and Fire Blast, and Koga, who was promoted to the League stages but still uses Toxic Shot.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Pryce's Ice Cave. Which forms the first half of the Blackthorn revisit.
• Shout-Out: The Kanto Leaders go by the moniker of "Retro Leaders", signifying their status as the previous game's bosses. The original Japanese called them Rettoreida, a mangling of "Red Leader", signifying that they work for Red now. The dual names parallel Mega Man 3's "Dokurobutu"^note Skull Robot, mistranslated as Doc Robot. Gary's sprite even dons a labcoat partly due to his career change in Pokémon: The Series and partly in reference to "Doc Robot" as rendered in Captain N: The Game Master.
• Standard Status Effects: Whomever is "weak" against Mud Shot stands still and doesn't fire while invincible. This is supposed to simulate their attempt to get the dirt out of their eyes.
• Utility Weapon: Due to the similarities in attack style, plus the four extra weapons in the second half, the Fury Cutter can also slice some obstacles similar to the Cut Blade from Poke Man 1.^note It helps that the Hive Badge is the one that unlocks Cut in the source.

Gen 4 Remake

• Boss Rush: Same as in the original version... plus a similar one using the Kanto Leaders in the revised Mt. Silver
• Collapsing Ceiling Boss: Brock's new Rock Slide gives him this ability. Fortunately, that's the weapon he gives you upon defeat. It only works in enclosed spaces, but given it doesn't come up until the second half, that shouldn't be much of a problem.
• Discard and Draw: Two cases: one a weapon and one a Leader. Both among the "Retro Leaders"
  • Gary exchanges the old master weapons he had for Trick Room, which is described in the Gravity Master entry below. He can still fire his original buster along with that, though.
  • Sabrina's weapon in this installment is the Skill Swapper, which trades various Boss Abilities. This actually includes Collision Damage for two of the Kanto Bosses as well as energy absorbtion or immunity with some others. Be careful during the Boss Rushes, though: using it on one boss then using it on another boss will give the 2nd boss the abilities of the 1st (while you still take the abilities of the 2nd).
• Discount Card: The Amulet Coin, found in the Radio Tower. If you miss it there, there's another one in Surge's stage.
• Escape Rope: A permanant one in the Smoke Bomb^note Which, in Pokemon functions as an Escape Battle Technique
• Eternal Engine: Gary's taken over Giovanni's old residence in Viridian.
• Feed It with Fire: Misty can be recharged when Water Pulse is used against her. This is swappable using Sabrina's Skill Swap. Two of the five Kimono Girls can also recover health when Shock Wave is used on one and Water Pulse on the other.
• Gravity Master: Gary's weapon in the remake is Trick Room, a weapon that increases its damage based on the opponent's speed.
• Hailfire Peaks: The revised Seafoam Islands: The level itself is as Articuno's level was in the original game, but the Boss room heats things up considerably.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: One would think that, with Falkner not having an actual weapon in this remake, that he'd be a pushover. But once his health is below one-half, he reenergizes himself. It Only Works Once per life, though. He becomes a Degraded Boss when he loses this ability in his rematch.
• Level in Reverse: The first half of the first Radio Tower stage is most of Whitney's stage in reverse. Remembering where the turn-off to the second half of the former was will help track down one of the Kimono Girls later on.
• Limited Move Arsenal: In the latter half of the game, With 8 more Gym Leaders plus Unlockable Content, you have to choose which Master Weapons you'll be taking with you to each (set of) stages. Fortunately, the Indigo Plateau and Mt. Silver count as separate "sets".
• Man on Fire: If you hit Blaine/Surge with a contact-range attack, they burn/electrocute you. Fortunately, you can turn the tables on them with Sabrina's Skill Swap.
• One-Time Dungeon: The Radio Tower. Fortunately, the only special item there can also be found in Lt. Surge's stage.
• Remixed Level: Five of the Kanto Levels in the earlier games^note Including Sabrina's level in Team Rocket's Revenge make a comeback here, though two of them have different bosses. The League Fortress example in the original is also valid here except that Moltres is back. Also, technically, the Radio Tower and subsequent revisits of Whitney's stage as expressed in Level In Reverse above.
• Same Character, But Different: Several of the Gym Leaders, due to the changes in the TMs awarded in Heart Gold and Soul Silver. The game itself may fall under this Trope, with the addition of a shop and Unlockable Content.
• Unlockable Content: There are two extra stages that can be unlocked after taking down Silver after having beaten 12 stages and then defeating the five Kimono Girls that show up in five of the eight Johto stages, some at stage ends, others on side paths. A third stage, after the endgame, requires these two stages to be beaten along with the rest of the game. All three of these stages have weapons for you.
• What Could Have Been: Eusine, Li^note Of Sprout Tower, Kiyo^note The Dojo Master at Mt. Mortar, and Lyra were also supposed to have been Mini Bosses tied into unlocking the Unlockable Content referenced above.

Poke Man 3

Gym Leaders

• Brawly: Gives the Bulk Armor, an Amplifier Artifact that enhances Physical attacks[note]]Rock Tomb, Facade, and Aerial Ace, plus your normal cannon in the remake[[/note]] and defense.
• Flannery: Gives Overheat, which is a Percent Damage Attack.
• Liza & Tate: Half Identical Twins who use Psychic Powers. Give the Mind Armor, an Amplifier Artifact that enhances Special attacks^note Shock Wave/Volt Switch, Overheat, and Water Pulse/Pledge and defense.
• Norman: Gives Fascade Strike, an Outside-the-Box Tactic that works best on certain foes. Replaced with the Bide Armor in the remake.
• Roxanne: Rock Tomb
• Wallace: Gives Water Pulse in the original; a revamped Water Pledge in the remake.
• Wattson: Gives the Always Accurate Shock Wave; changed to Volt Switch in the remake.
• Winnoa: Gives Aerial Ace which also functions as a Homing Projectile. In the remakes, gives you the Roost Suit instead.

Original Version

• Armor and Magic Don't Mix/Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups: You can only wear one Amplifier Artifact per Area.^note A single Fortress Stage Group counts as a single area. You can also opt to equip no armor even after you get both. The Remakes add Norman's Bide Armor and Winnoa's Roost Suit; again, only one Armor per area.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Teams Magma and Aqua are both against each other and against you. The League is more actively involved this time and responds to Magma' and Aqua's attempts to resurrect Groundon and Kyogre respectively with their own attempt to resurrect Rayquazza.
• Eternal Engine: New Mauville, where Wattson hangs out.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Your ally, who went after the evil team that you didn't, is controlled^note By what means we don't know by said evil team when you go after them. This happens regardless of which team you go after.
• It's Up to You: Subverted. Whomever you do not pick will "test" you sometime in the initial 8 stages, then go after one team while you go after the other. They don't get the job done, but at least they clear the first level of that base for you.
• Lethal Lava Land: Subverted again, Flannery's level is Lavaridge town itself. However, Team Magma's fortress is within Mt. Chimney.
• Levels Take Flight: The first League Level traveling from roughly Sootopolis to Fort Evergrande.
• Mook Promotion: In the 2nd runthrough, Wallace is at Fort Evergrande directing League operations, leaving his Battle Butler Juan to oversee Sootopolis.
• New Game Plus: When you beat the game the first time, you get a password which changes some of the bosses and forces you to go to the stages you didn't in your first run. If you are able to do that, then you can access The Very Definitely Final Dungeon.
• Percent Damage Attack: The initial calculation for Flannery's Overheat is multiplied by a value based on your current weapons energy (which is 2x at full stength and floors at 0.5x after 3 uses). Flannery always has her multiple at 1x.
• Remixed Level: Both of the selectable mid-game levels start the same as two of the original stages: Team Aqua is at the Weather Institute in Winnoa's stage, while Team Magma is at the spaceport in Tate and Liza's.
• Shared Life-Meter: Tate & Liza, natch.
• True Final Boss: Steven and Rayquazza at the end of the New Game Plus in this version.
• Underground Level: Not just Roxanne's level (RusTurf Tunnel), but also Wallace's (The Cave of Origin).
• Underwater Ruins: Seafloor Cavern, where Team Aqua goes to after flushing them out of their Lilycove City hideout.

Pokemon Adventures version

• Actually a Doombot: The Tate/Liza that you fight on Mt. Pyre is actually an illusion double created by one of Team Magma's agents; the real Tate & Liza had already been captured, see You Can't Thwart Stage One below.
• Already Done for You: Not only does your partner take down at least two Gym Leaders,^note specifically Winnoa and Brawly, plus whomever you would've selected fourth if you continued at least once, but you both get to duplicate weapons, which'll come in handy when you assault the fortresses.
• Amplifier Artifact: The Armors are Absent in this version. Their attributes were combined and split with Ruby getting the defensive attributes and Sapphire getting the offensive ones, see below.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Only two Big Bads this time, as the League retains its sanity here... though several of its officers do defect...
• Cutting Off the Branches: You go to Mt. Chimney first. This reflects Adventures using Archie as the True Final Boss of the Emerald arc.
• Fractional Winning Condition: Of the 4 stages you can select,^note Roxanne, Wattson, Flannery, and Wallace you only need to finish 3 in order to advance in the game... unless you beat said first 3 without using a Continue, in which case you also get to take down the one that's left.
• Glass Cannon: Sapphire. She jumps higher/farther, uses rapid fire,^note Though, unlike Bass, she can't shoot diagonally, and, when she hits a weakness, she inflicts an extra point of damage. However, she takes more damage than Ruby and she can't charge her shots.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: The League's defeat at Mt. Pyre is the cause of the defection of most of the Gym Leaders. Of course, there is general disagreement as to which evil team is the greater evil, so three Gym Leaders each go to each team, as per Adventures; only Norman and the incapacitated twins remain with the League.
• It's Up to You: Played out as in the original version: Your partner actually takes down three^note two on a No Continues Run of the Gym Leaders and the agent from each evil team that penetrated Mt. Pyre earlier. You still have to rescue them from Archie after they fail to take him down, but at least they aren't Brainwashed this time. Rather ironic considering the source material.
• Mighty Glacier: Ruby. He isn't as agile as Sapphire, but he can Charge his shots and takes less damage from enemies.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Averted for the Player Characters, see Glass Cannon and Mighty Glacier above. Played straight with Tate & Liza, but see Actually A Doombot above.
• Route Boss: If you're Ruby, your opponent in the intro stage is Tate. If you're Sapphire, your opponent is Liza. They're fakes either way, see Actually A Doombot above.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: The intro stage is you and your partner responding to a distress call at Mt. Pyre. By the time you reach the end of the level, Archie and Maxie have already taken the orbs.

Gen 6 Remake

• Canon Foreigner: The Mt. Chimney Fortress was not in Omega Ruby, but is carried over from Emerald to give Team Magma its own fortress.
• Charged Attack:
  • Norman's Bide Armor operates as Brock's did back in the original Poke Man.
  • Frenzy Plant, which is found by colecting items in the early stages. Fully charged, it deals three times the damage as uncharged at twice the Mana cost.
• Collection Sidequest: You can get a weapon from the 4 Gym Leaders who give armor: collecting a part in all 4 of their stages yields Frenzy Plant. The other 6 selectable locales also contain pieces of a key to the Southern Island stage.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Once you've gotten Steven down to low health, Zinnia pops in and offs Steven similar to how Gary downed Dragon Emperor Lance in Poke Man 1. She then uses Steven's Macguffin to unlock the Sky Tower.
• Double Agent: Zinnia, between Aqua and Magma, but is actually working for neither. She's all against the League's operations on Rayquazza, though, primarily because she wants to control it herself.
• Double Unlock: Averted due to the anticipation of Power-Up Letdown below: Since Norman and Winnoa were each half of the unlock for the Rush Marine and Jet adaptors respectively, this game just makes those respective adaptors require only defeating those respective bosses and not the other one.^note Tate & Liza and Wallace respectively.
• Dragon Their Feet: Both Archie and Maxie imply that there's a third Admin for their team that you didn't fight, but wonder where they went off to. Whichever you fought second would complain that her "replacement" wasn't good at all.
• Dragon with an Agenda: While Aqua, Magma, and the League were in a Melee A Trois already, Zinnia neddled the first two in an attempt to get to Rayquazza before the third.
• Greater-Scope Villain/Outside-Context Villain: Deyoxs. It arrives at the Sky Pillar just as you defeat Rayquazza and, apart from some vague hints from the League side, there's no prior mention.
• Healing Factor: Winnoa's Roost Suit. Regernates 1 HP per second after standing still for about 3. Not likely to happen anywhere in a level except in most Boss Corridors. It also allows for a separate E-Tank running on extra collected life energy, much like Falkner's version of the suit did.
• Manchurian Agent: Apparently, Zinnia was in charge of the Brainwashing Machine, as just before you face her at the top of Sky Tower, the other player character, whom was brainwashed against you earlier, arrives to fight on Zinnia's behalf.
• One-Winged Angel: Used quite often here. In fact, Steven's second forme finally gives the series an equivalent to the Wily Capsule!
• Production Throwback: In the rematch at the Sky Pillar, Wallace has the same damage tables that he had as the Disc One Final Boss in the original.
• Power-Up Letdown: Thanks to being Mutually Exclusive between themselves as well as the two armors from the original, the Bide Armor and the Roost Suit get this.
• Secret Level: One is opened up by collecting multiple items in the mid-game levels.
• True Final Boss: Zinnia, Rayquazza, and Deyoxs in the single run-through in this version.

Other Games

Poke Man, Cipher Snag

• Adapted Out: The Hexagon Brothers. Granted, there was a bit of overlap between them and Verde, Rosso, and Bluno, who were Demoted to Miniboss, as well as with some of the admins themselves, with their weapons being inferior.
• Casting a Shadow: Gorigan uses Shadow Ball
• Collapsing Ceiling Boss: Mirror B has Rock Slide, which is only effective indoors.
• Compressed Adaptation: Not only does this entry combine two games of the source material, it also leaves out Pyrite Town proper, allowing instant access to both The Under and the Coal Mine.
• Fille Fatale: Lovrina, who uses the Attract Stopper against you. You can use it against her later on, though it's not her proper weakness.^note That happens to be Rock Slide.
• Mad Scientist: Ein, though he left the lab to Lovrina in order to conduct field work aboard the S.S. Libra. Also has a case for Psycho Electro, as his weapon is the Thunder Storm.
• Mirror Match: After 4 stages, you're instantly set against Fein, who is Cipher's Dopelganger. Except that he has the weapons from the 4 bosses that you didn't beat yet. Hopefully, one of those isn't Thunder Storm, because that's his weakness.
• Playing with Fire: Dakim uses Fire Blast as his ranged weapon.
• Psychic Powers: Snattle uses Psychic Blast
• Scissors Cuts Rock: One would expect Rock Slide to be Gonzap's weakness due to the fact that the latter uses Drill Peck. But, it's actually the reverse as Drill Peck is Mirror B's weakness. This is because while a given Cipher Admin's "weapon" is based on their Shadow Pokemon, their damage tables are based on their whole party.^note In Mirror B's case, he has 4 Ludicollo...
• Team Member in the Adaptation: In the source, Mirror B was a loose cannon within Cipher and Gonzap's Team Snagem was officially independent, albeit on the take under the table. In this game, they're listed as main-tier bosses alongside the 6 proper Cipher Admins.
• The Baroness: Venus. Surprisingly, she doesn't hold the Attract Stopper... making it her weakness. She instead uses Surf Wave.
• The Brute: Dakim and Gorigan are big and burly and hit like trucks at close range.
• What Could Have Been: At one point, the game would have taken a cue from the fangame Mega Man Rock Force by having Cipher capture 4 characters each from Kanto and Hoenn; when rescued, they would each be playable. Among them would have been Brock, who would have had a psychological Scissors Cuts Rock moment with his Rock Slide.^note The others would have been Misty, Koga, Sabrina, Wattson, Flannery, Winnoa,... and Steven

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