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The mystery of life and death (and Mega Evolution) will be revealed.
"The next evolution in Pokémon!"
Blurb on the back of the boxes of Pokémon X and Y Versions

Pokémon X and Pokémon Y are the first games in the sixth generation of the Pokémon game series, for the Nintendo 3DS; fittingly, they are the first main-series games to have full 3D polygonal graphics. These games are set in the Kalos region, modeled after real life France.

These games are perhaps most notable for two new features: the new Fairy-typenote  and Mega Evolution. A new Eeveelution, Sylveon, was the first announced Pokémon to have the Fairy type; older Pokémon that have inherited this type include Jigglypuff, Gardevoir, Marill, and Mawile, among others. Primarily introduced to balance the Dragon type, the Fairy-type is strong against Dragon, Dark, and Fighting types, and weak against Poison- and Steel-type attacks. Mega Evolution allows many older Pokémon to transform into even more powerful forms during battle, with new stats, Abilities, and sometimes new types. This is balanced by the inability of Mega Evolved Pokémon to hold any items that would aid them in battle other than the ones that activate their Mega Evolution, and that only one Mega Evolution can be used by a Pokémon Trainer on their team per battle.

The games were announced on January 8, 2013 via Nintendo Direct, and were released October 12 later that year across most territories, another first for the Pokémon seriesnote . X and Y were the first mainline games to feature multilingual support rather than all languages being on separate game carts, although choosing a specific language "locks" the game to that language until saved data is deleted.

A new game set in the Kalos Region, Pokémon Legends Z-A, was announced on February 27, 2024 to be released the following year, 12 years after the games' release. This new entry acts as the second Legends title in the mainline series after Pokémon Legends: Arceus, turning them into a proper subseries.

Pokémon Origins, a four-episode anime special Mini Series, was produced as a nostalgia-laden tie-in special to help entice and garner support from players of the original Pokémon games and to premiere Charizard's Mega Evolution of Mega Charizard X. The miniseries aired in Japan 10 days prior to the release of Pokémon X and Y.

Not to be confused with X Meets Y, the The X of Y trope, the Pokémon 10th anniversary CD album Pokémon X: 10 Years of Pokémon, Lugia (which has been referred to as "Pokémon X" in some media), Pokémon Crystal (which was once known as Pokémon X), the webcomic Pokémon-X, or the Pokémon the Series: XY anime.

Please place information regarding the new Pokémon on the page for Generation VI Pokémon sheet.


Tropes that Pokémon X and Y provide:

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  • 100% Completion: Seeing all of the Pokémon in the Kalos region (minus the two Legendary Birds you won't get to see) rewards you with the Oval Charm, which makes eggs show up much faster at the Day Care. There is no reward for capturing all of the Kalos region Pokémon, but the reward for capturing all Pokémon in the National Pokédex (excluding some special and event Pokémon) is the Shiny Charm, which increases the chance of encountering shiny Pokémon. This was only possible with Pokémon Bank before Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire came out; now it is possible with just these four games, which is also a first in the series. You can also go beyond what previous games (and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire themselves) consider 100% completion by collecting Gen VI-native specimens of each Pokémon in the three Kalos regional dexes, earning a crown symbol for each dex you fill this way (the crown appears beside the National Dex just for collecting every Pokémon, no matter where they originated).
  • Abandoned Playground: There's one in Route 14 just north of Lumiose City, though it's in very good shape.
  • Action Mom: The player's mother, Grace, is a former Rhyhorn racer, instead of just a homemaker like previous versions. Her Rhyhorn is even outside the player's house, and it's known the player since they were born! Professor Sycamore chose them to help him out because he heard that she had just moved into the region.
  • The Ageless: 3,000 years ago, AZ was exposed to the ultimate weapon's power while trying to revive his Flowette, making him immortal.
  • A.I. Breaker:
    • The in-game AI has considerable difficulty dealing with the Protean ability. The ability changes the user's type right before it attacks, but the AI makes its decisions based on what the Pokémon's type and what it thinks its stats are before Protean takes effect. As such, the AI cannot make complex predictions on the type changes and is easily played around.
    • If the Invincible Shedinja tricknote  is successfully pulled off, the AI will attempt to target the Shedinja at every possible opportunity. Presumably this is because it is a One-Hit-Point Wonder who usually relies on its invulnerability to all damaging attacks that aren't super effective against it to survive, and without that ability it SHOULD be a sitting duck. However, because Sturdy ALWAYS works at full health, turning Shedinja into a Nigh-Invulnerable Stone Wall, the repeated attacks against it are absolutely pointless, allowing the player's other party members to wipe the enemy out with near complete impunity (excluding Area of Effect attacks)
  • Air Jousting: While seen in other Pokémon media, this game actually introduces it in the form of Sky Battles, where only Flying-types and Pokémon with the Levitate ability can participate. Certain Flying Pokémon that stand on the ground in their idle animations are ineligible for Sky Battles, including Doduo, Dodrio, and the brand new Hawlucha.
  • All There in the Manual:
    • A lot of information regarding Mega Pokémon can only be found on the XY official website.
    • The music that appears in the obligatory professor's "introduction to the Pokémon world" prologue and the epilogue is supposed to be the Leitmotif to the Kalos region itself. This is only revealed in the song's official name, which can only be seen within the game's official soundtrack due to the game not mentioning it otherwise.
  • Alpha Bitch: In the Battle Chateau, Viscountess Danielle insults your clothing by asking if you dressed in the dark or found it in the trash. This happens regardless if you're the most stylish person in all of Kalos.
  • Alternate Universe: Shortly after the game was released, Toshinobu Matsumiya, a staff member of Game Freak since the conception of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, posted a controversial Tweet that elaborated on the official timeline of the series. The events of these games happen to take place at the same time as Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, and X and Y are alternate universes to each other (similar to Black and White and the sequels). Although, it may not be confirmed as it may be related to game released.
  • Always Accurate Attack: Toxic becomes this if the user is a Poison-type. It bypasses accuracy checks and can even hit opponents during the semi-invulnerable period of Fly, Dig, and Sky Drop.
  • Amazing Technicolor Battlefield:
    • Both the battle against the title legends and Lysandre are some particularly vivid examples of this with it being a battle in space and above a pool of fire, respectively.
    • Olympia's entire gym has you battling out in the middle of space, standing on top of galaxies with stars and celestial objects all around you.
  • Ambidextrous Sprite: Averted. Asymmetrical Pokémon, like Greninja and Absol, have different mini-sprites used on the 3DS's lower screen if they face left.
  • Ambiguously Bi: Gym Freaks' host, April, will compliment/fangirl over several Gym Leaders' good looks, regardless of gender.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: There is one NPC in Kiloude City that asks you to dress in a specific clothing style because she is in an art slump. Dressing appropriately as requested nets you a special piece of clothing that isn't found in any of the storesnote .
  • Anti-Frustration Features:
    • The Exp. Share is obtained right after you beat the first gym, and has returned to the Exp.All's roots of granting the entire party experience. Unlike the Exp.All, however, where the player would have to potentially scroll through multiple consecutive messages each describing specifically how much Exp. every non-participating Pokémon received, the Exp. Share now only shows one additional message if it is enabled, thus making total party level-ups much faster.
    • You can actually start off being able to run, and using the circle pad will automatically swap you to the faster moving roller skates (which you receive fairly early on).
    • To aid in capturing Pokémon early on, the game gives you the TM for False Swipe a little after beating the first Gym.
    • It's not mandatory to use Flash any more. There are no insanely dark places in need of a light, so Flash simply expands your view by zooming out the screen and lowers encounter rates.
    • Trades with NPCs no longer require you to have the requested Pokémon in your party, allowing you to trade Pokémon that are currently in your PC. A couple trades also don't request specific Pokémon, so you can trade whatever you want, even a lowly Magikarp.
    • There's now a PC at the lab where Pokémon fossils are revived, so you don't have to walk to the Pokémon Center just to make space in your team. If you don't have a space open the Mon will just be deposited into the PC.
    • Just got the HM Surf? Somehow don't have a Water Pokémon or other Surf user by this point? Just right next to the river you need to cross to continue the game, an NPC gives you a free Lapras.
    • In the first forest area, one of your friends follows you everywhere and offers to heal your Pokémon whenever you like. Later on NPCs offer the same somewhere along the longer paths so you don't have to trek back so far to the next Pokémon Center.
    • Super Training was specifically designed to make increasing EVs much easier, while Horde Battles allow for an extremely fast (if less precise) alternative, and can be initiated by using Honey or the move Sweet Scent.
    • Base stat values now max out at 252 unlike the previous 255, preventing you from wasting the last three points.note 
    • Berry cultivation has been massively streamlined, with the player given one big field for it a stone's throw from a Fly target instead of having to scramble all over the map for multiple smaller patches. Crop yields have also been pretty much doubled, and there are new ways to obtain new types of berries. Berry plants can no longer become permanently unharvestable, either, so you won't be at risk of permanently losing a rare berry by planting it.
    • The Global Trade Station has been streamlined. You don't need to have a Pokémon listed as "seen" by the Pokédex to request it, you can browse through potential offers, and you can filter out requests based on whether you have the Pokémon the other person is requesting or if they're "special" (i.e. Event-exclusives) only.
    • All Pokémon that can't breed whatsoever (mostly Legendaries and baby Pokémon), are guaranteed at least three perfect stats when you catch it.
    • The Safari of this game is pretty much interface friendly unlike before. It now has set Pokémon depending on the friend you picked, and you can engage the Pokémon like a normal battle rather than being limited to tossing items. Plus, the Pokémon you get there have two perfect IVs of random stats and may have its hidden Ability, with better chance of that if the friend owning the zone is online!
    • Breeding has been even further streamlined from Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. For example: Both parents can pass on Hidden Abilitiesnote  and Egg Moves, and the Destiny Knot now guarantees that five IVs from either parent are inherited, making passing down existing perfect IVs much less time-consuming.
    • Getting Hidden Abilities is now easier. Aside from the mentioned things above (breeding hidden abilities being easier to do, Friend Safari encounters may contain them), horde battles may have one or two Pokémon with their hidden ability.
    • For those that want to breed Pokémon early: Fletchinder, the first evolved form of the early bird Fletchling, has Flame Body, giving you an early access (only level 17 to evolve) to quick egg hatching.
    • Meanwhile, the central area of Lumiose City — the Prism Tower area — has a circular road with a rotating camera, giving you virtually an "endless" road to bike with that has no screen changes. Even if you bump to an NPC, your character will "swerve". If you need to hatch eggs, one can simply leave the analog pad hinged to keep your character moving on one direction indefinitely in that area.
    • Pokémon hatched in these games can now relearn Egg Moves they had forgotten. In addition, Event Pokémon distributed for these games use the same feature to be able to relearn event-exclusive moves they've lost.
    • Many moves that Pokémon can only learn at very high levels can simply be obtained from the Move Relearner.
    • While Pokémon will still forget moves as they level up in the Day Care, the changes don't actually apply until the Pokémon is removed from it. This means the player doesn't have to constantly remove the Pokémon and rearrange its moveset when breeding for Egg Moves.
    • Fail to capture that sleeping Snorlax? Don't worry, it will come back and fall asleep again after the main game is completed.
    • Your character will turn their head and look at nearby objects of interest such as signs and hidden objects. This is useful for finding all three items for the Lost and Found job on the 4th floor of the hotel, which requires you to look over the entire floor.
    • In Generation V, you couldn't use TMs to restore PP, because newly taught TMs would take the PP of the move you replaced them with. No longer the case here, where if you replace a move with even 0 PP with a new TM, it will be replaced with full PP, ready to go and everything. And since Return can be learned by any Pokémon, you can teach them that and you'll never have to use Ethers for TM moves again, and they'll save you some trips to the Pokémon Center.
    • There's a new item called the Ability Capsule that allows you to switch a Pokémon's ability to another one that is available to it (although you can't give a Pokémon its Hidden Ability or give a regular ability to one that has its Hidden Ability).
    • The judge in Kiloude City who tells you if your Pokémon have any good Individual Values will also tell you if any of them have any Individual Values of 0, which can be useful for ensuring minimum Speed for Trick Room or Gyro Ball.
    • In most previous games (excluding Red, Blue & Yellow which had a stone shop), getting the precious Evolution Stones requires luck, patience, talking to trainers, or completing Battle Institutes. Here, you can get all the evolutionary stones as rewards in Secret Super Training, and Fire, Water, and Leaf Stones simply by going to the store. The Sun and Moon Stones are also commonly found if you have a Pokémon with Pickup starting at level 61.
    • Each of the attractions on the Pokémon Global Link can give players items that are one-of-a-kind or cost a lot of BP. The attractions only cost 100 PokéMiles to use, which can easily be gained through Wonder Trade.
  • Anti Poop-Socking: If you use O-Powers a lot. The regeneration rate for energy increases the more steps you take with your 3DS. As steps only accumulate with the 3DS closed, and the regeneration rate resets each day, you're encouraged to take a walk before you start playing. The powers regenerate over time, so you can also just wait, but the O-powers recharge based off the 3DS's internal clock, and not by the game. If you activate an O-Power, but forget to save and/or immediately reset, the power's energy was just wasted and you have to let it recharge.
  • Anti-Villain: Both AZ and Lysandre depending on how sympathetic you find them. AZ in particular was simply so overwhelmed with pain and grief at the loss of his partner that he was willing to sacrifice any and everything to get what he cherished back.
  • Apologetic Attacker: One of the Butlers in the Battle Chateau fights you with his Pokémon, but apologizes profusely because he's doing it in the name of his Master. When you beat him, he says he'll never reveal his Master's identity.
  • The Artifact: The gimmick of Chatot's Secret Art Chatter - allowing you to record your voice to be played whenever the move is used (the volume of which also determined the chance it inflicted Confusion) - has been removed, making it always causing Confusion. It still can't be Sketched by Smeargle and its description still mentions said mechanic.
  • Artificial Brilliance:
    • One potential Horde Battle has a gang of Seviper attacking a Zangoose, or vice-versa depending on version. The Seviper all have Persim Berries and will occasionally use Swaggernote  on each other, then use said Persim Berry to cure the resulting Confusion, leaving them stronger with no drawbacks. Granted, they're all Level 8 and your party will probably be 15 or something by that point, especially if you're using the Exp Share, but it might still catch you off guard. You can also find the same thing with a group of Durant attacking a single Heatmor, one being an anteater and the other being ants!
    • AI trainers are smart when it comes to playing the game. For example, they are able to recognize the last move the player used on their Pokémon and change their tactics accordingly. An AI trainer will also use other smart tactics, such as swapping Pokémon if they happen to know one move each. They are even able to take advantage of their Pokémon's moveset should they be set up in a competitive way. These are more noticeable within the Battle Maison (where trainers higher up within the ranks are given Pokémon with deadly movesets), simulated battles within the Vs Recorder and, within the Hoenn remakes, during battles against Secret Base trainers.
  • Artistic License – Physics: The new move Water Shuriken is said to be made up of compressed water. In real life water is barely compressible, and even then only with pressure akin to that of the bottom of the ocean.
  • Ascended Meme
    • The hidden placeholder text in case Nintendo somehow forgets to give a Wonder Card an event title is "A wild Wonder Card appears!", referencing the "A wild X appears" meme in which a word, usually a proper noun, is substituted for X.
    • The final trainer you battle before facing the Elite Four will quote Reggie's infamous "My body is ready!"
  • Aside Glance: Your Pokémon do this during battles if their affection for you is high enough, though it's not breaking the fourth wall as they're looking at you, their trainer.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: At the Battle Chateau, you are given a title in the nobility and can raise your rank by winning more battles. Naturally, this means that Gym Leaders and the Elite Four, when they show up, all have high ranks (and their Pokémon tend to be stronger than standard trainers of the same rank, even more so if you use a Writ). Gym Leaders are all Marquis/Marchioness rank, the Elite Four are the Duke/Duchess rank, and Diantha (who appears after you defeat everyone else there) is a Grand Duchess. Averted with some of the trainers there being fairly weak for their rank, with dialogue hinting that they were basically born into it.
  • Athletic Arena Level: The Cyllage City Gym is a giant rock climbing structure and the Shalour City Gym is a skating park.
  • Attract Mode: Leave the game long enough on the title screen and it will start to showcase its gimmicks, like how you can ride some monsters, how the camera pans in certain areas, the freedom of movement, the roller skates, etc. It finishes with some attacks performed by the starters and your version's Mega Evolutions.
  • Author Appeal: Lots of trips were made to France for research in preparation for the games. This is due to the fact that Japanese people have a great fascination with France and French culture in general;note  this even happens in-universe in the Japan-based Hoenn region in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, where the owner of Mauville City is fond of Kalosian culture and modeled the city after Lumiose City. Note that the tourist trainer classes are intentionally based off the Japanese Tourist.
  • Autobots, Rock Out!: All of the "important battle" themes have a hardcore techno-rock feel, apart from the rival battle theme (which is more playful) and the Team Flare themes (which are somewhat tribal-sounding, with Lysandre's being more orchestral).
  • Automatic New Game: When starting the game for the first time, you first select your language, are shown the title screen, then taken straight to the introduction with the Professor.
  • Award-Bait Song: KISEKI, the second song played during the end credits - complete with (written) lyrics, in seven languages no less! It can be seen as a theme song for AZ and his relationship with his Floette, though the lyrics also bring to mind the themes that Junichi Masuda himself chose for the games.
  • Badass Adorable: Fairy-type tend to be cute, but they have an advantage against Dragon-, Fighting-, and Dark-types on the Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors.
  • Badass Bookworm: Professor Sycamore is the first Pokémon Professornote  who you can actually have a Pokémon Battle with. (Even better, once you defeat him, he'll let you have one of the Gen I starters and the stone needed for its Mega Evolution! Badass and generous.)
  • Balance Buff:
    • Some Pokémon have received a permanent 10 point boost in a particular stat.
    • Wide Guard and Quick Guard no longer fail if used consecutively.
    • Knock Off's Power is increased from 20 to 65. In addition, if Knock Off is used on a Pokémon that is holding an item that can be removed, its power will be increased by 50% on that target.
    • Toxic will never miss if it's used by a Poison-type Pokémon, even during the semi-invulnerable turn of moves like Fly and Dig.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Your Pokémon will snap at you if you persist in petting the wrong parts, such as a Meowstic's ears, one of Chesnaught's shell spikes, etc. in Pokémon-Amie.
    • Honedge's Pokédex entry mentions that if someone touches its hilt it drains their life force. In Amie, if the Honedge hasn't warmed up to you, you can touch its hilt or tassle with no recourse; it actually enjoys it. If you and the Honedge are friends, it gets angry if you touch the hilt or tassle.
    • Espurr has the same reaction with its ears, which supposedly have organs that store huge amounts of psychic power. The face Espurr makes if you accidentally touch its ears is a bit unsettling. So angry...
    • Subverted with Pikachu. They don't like being petted in the stomach, but if you persist, they're actually very ticklish there. Various Pokédex entries mention that it'll get angry if you touch the tail, but they like it. Though logically, if you pet their cheeks, you'll get shocked. Even so, it's averted there, as Pikachu actually likes you trying to pet its cheeks anyway.
  • Big Ball of Violence: The Fairy-type move Play Rough has this as its animation, except with hearts and stars rather than the usual dingbats.
  • Big Blackout: When you first arrive at Lumiose, much of the city is shut down because of a blackout, limiting your exploration to South Boulevard and Vernal Avenue. You have to circle around through Coastal Kalos and drive Team Flare out of the Power Plant before the rest of Lumiose is reopened and you can explore the whole city.
  • Big Boo's Haunt: The Lost Hotel which is not a typical Pokémon resting place, but actually an old abandoned hotel.
  • Big Eater:
    • A little boy in Shalour City tells the player that he wants to show off his awesomeness in eating contests.
    • This applies to several Pokémon in Pokémon-Amie; large Pokémon will eat Poképuffs in one bite, while smaller Pokémon can eat as many Poképuffs as larger ones even though each Puff is bigger than itself.
  • Bilingual Bonus:
    • Kalos (or rather καλός, kalós) is Greek for "beauty".
    • "Pokémon-Amie" comes from the French word "mon-amie", which means "my friend."
    • There are dozens of them dotted around the Kalos region in French and occasionally Japanese. Kizuna from the Kizuna Cafe means "Bond", fitting the friendship theme of the cafe. Route 21 is named Dernière Way (meaning last, as it's the last route before Victory Road)
    • As in Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Black, and White, the odd foreign speaking trainer or NPC can be found.
    • In one of Looker's sidequests, there's a woman who speaks only in Japanese (English in the non-English languages) - and Looker fails at translation. Thankfully, another NPC is much better at Japanese and tells you the short version of what's wrong.
  • Blackout Basement: Averted for once; there aren't any super-dark caves in Kalos, leading to Flash having different functionality from usual in the overworld.
  • Blatant Lies: You can engage in this when Calem/Serena comes up to you in Geosenge Town to ask if a Team Flare grunt had just run past you (which one did less than three seconds previous). Your rival doesn't believe you for a second if you deny it, assuming instead that you're lying to try to protect them from Team Flare. Even the response options basically call you out on it, since they're not quite the usual blunt 'Yes' and 'No' choices.
    Rival: Was someone from Team Flare here just now?
    > Yes
  • Blue with Shock: The move Worry Seed, which changes the target's ability to Insomnia, puts a purple tinge with "horror" lines on the screen.
  • Book Ends:
    • At the start of the game, a Fletchling flies into the player character's room and bumps into them, waking them up. Later, before the credits, a Fletchling performs a Fly-at-the-Camera Ending.
    • Another example: Both the prologuenote  and the epilogueendgame spoilers  uses the theme of the Kalos region as its background music.
  • Boss in Mook Clothing:
    • On Route 6, there is a Double Battle involving two Furfrou, a 'Mon which has rather well-rounded stats and an ability that cuts physical and contact damage in half. For special attackers, the fight might be lengthy. For physical ones? Absolute hell if the Pokémon being used isn't of the Fighting type.
      • One of the NPCs even uses a Super Potion on their Furfrou, considerably lengthening the battle. It's not only an overpowered item for that point in the game, but they're one of the only random Trainers to even use healing items.
    • On Route 5, there's a Rising Star who only has one Pokémon, but it's a Kadabra at Level 13, (a lower level than when Abra evolves at no less). It's very fast, most likely faster than anything you're likely to have before then, loves to spam the accuracy lowering Kinesis, and can hit very hard with Confusion. There aren't many counters available that early in the game and it can catch you off-guard if you're not anticipating it.
    • Route 10 has wild Hawlucha, which are very fast and strong compared to your likely team at this time and can easily beat down your Electric- and Psychic-types, especially if your Exp. Share is off. Fortunately, it has a hard counter in Honedge (and, if you manage to catch one right then and there, itself).
      • Additionally, there's a trainer (Hedvig) in Reflecting Cave whose Hawlucha has a deadly, unique combination of Fighting (Karate Chop), Flying (Aerial Ace), and Rock (Rock Tomb) techniques that can sweep an entire team if you don't have a good (i.e: Psychic or Fairy) counter.
    • In Victory Road's outdoor areas, there's a chance for a 'mon to swoop down on you. It's usually Fearow and sometimes Skarmory, but there's a very rare chance where it's Hydreigon, the Unova region's pseudo-legendary.
      • Additionally, the very last trainer in Victory Road, a Veteran who has an Alakazam at Level 57 with the moves Psychic, Focus Blast, Dazzling Gleam, and Shadow Ball. As with the Kadabra example above, it's very fast and hits extremely hard. May Arceus have mercy if you're playing a Nuzlocke run and lose a Pokémon to that thing.
    • A Psychic in a house on Route 18 does in the flavor of Damn You, Muscle Memory!. To be specific, he changes the setting so it's an Inverse Battle, which changes type effectiveness so that attacks once super-effective are not very effective, and vice-versa. In addition, they're at quite high levels and have maximum IVs and are fully trained. If you aren't prepared, he can easily decimate a good deal of your party.
    • Many of the Sky Trainers qualify. They have surprising variety in what they use, and exploit the fact that most Pokémon that can participate are have common weaknesses. Expect to see lots of Rock and Electric moves to take down the Flying types you are generally forced to use. Thankfully they're all optional and you aren't booted back to the Pokémon Center for losing to them, which is helpful especially since you probably won't have more than one or two Pokémon in your normal team that can participate in Sky Battles. Some particularly prominent examples:
      • Sky Trainer Elata in Azura Bay has a Pelipper that knows Double Team and Roost. Since it's relatively bulky for a Flying-type and you're unlikely to be able to take advantage of its two weaknesses (Rock and Electric) with your own flyer, the battle can quickly turn into a marathon as it raises its Evasion to avoid hits and then uses Roost to heal what damage you are able to do.
      • Sky Trainer Jeremy on Route 18 has a Driftblim and a Flygon. The former is outright immune to the Normal and Flying-type moves common to Flying-types, while the latter is a relatively beefy Ground/Dragon with a great attack.
      • Sky Trainer Sera on Route 19 uses an Aerodactyl, while resists Normal and Flying-time moves while hitting you with Rock-type moves strong against most flyers.
  • Boss Rush: Aside from the regular one with the Elite Four and Champion, this happens on Route 19 where you have to battle Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor in succession with no breaks in between (though Trevor does heal your Pokémon before he battles you). Unlike the rest of the Five-Man Band-involved activities, you are given no warning about it nor a chance to prepare before engaging them.
  • Brains and Brawn: One of the new trainer classes is a duo of a Psychic and Black Belt named "Brains and Brawn".
  • Breaking Old Trends:
    • Traditionally, each generation up until that point introduces at least one Mythical Pokémon with 100 stats all across the board. X and Y marks the first time of not doing that. Diancie serves more as Mighty Glacier instead, trading 50 points from both of its HP and Speed for more defense.
    • Every generation features at least one "Sub-Legendary" trio that can be captured before the climax of the game. X and Y have no such sub-Legendaries; the only new Legendary Pokémon are the usual major trio of Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde. The closest thing to a sub-Legendary trio are the returning Legendary birds, but they're post-game, and only one of them appears (based on the chosen starter).
    • While every other generation has an improved edition (be it an Updated Re-release or a set of sequels) that adds more content and promotes an Optional Boss related to the mascot Legendaries to the focus of the story, Gen VI stands out by not having one at all. Zygarde gets new forms as most third Legendaries do, but it'd have to wait another generation for them.
    • A minor case, but for the first time, you are the only one in your circle of rivals challenging Gyms. Checking the statues will only display your names.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: Malva of the Elite Four tends to do this when she announces events through the Spotpass feature of the Holo Caster. Especially obvious with announcements like the one for Pokémon Bank, where she states that not only can it be downloaded from the 3DS eshop, but you can also download an application that allows you to transfer Pokémon from the fifth generation through it.
  • Breakout Character: Greninja became the most popular and iconic new Pokémon species in X and Y, which was only helped by its playable role in the fourth Super Smash Bros. game. Ironically, Greninja was chosen to appear in that game based on it's conceptual appearance, well before it became popular in the X/Y game.
  • Brick Joke:
    • Same as in Book Ends: At the start of the game, a Fletching flies into the player character's room and bumps into them, waking them up. At the very end of the game, before the credits, a Fletchling flies by, then into the camera.
    • On the North Boulevard of Lumiose City is Cafe Triste, which is struggling due to getting no customers. On the same Boulevard is Office Cafe, which is just an office building floor for people who couldn't get into any popular cafe.
    • One that actually is completed nearly a year later in the demo for the remakes of Ruby and Sapphire involves a male swimmer that says he swam to Kalos all the way from Hoenn. In the demo version, which takes place at least 5 years earlier, you run into the same swimmer getting ready for his trip.
  • Brought to You by the Letter "S": Xerneas and Yveltal, which resemble an X and a Y respectively. A third Legendary Pokémon, Zygarde, roughly resembles a Z.
  • Bubblegloop Swamp: Route 14 is a swampy land which is also home to a mysterious old house. Route 19 comes much later in the game and is yet another one.
  • Building Swing: Courmarine Gym has this with ropes for the player to use.
  • The Bus Came Back: Meta example. The Hex Maniac trainer class returns to Generation VI after its last (and only) use in Generation III.
  • But Thou Must!:
    • Just like in Black and White, you are forced to catch your version legendary. Defeating it won't progress the story, or get you any experience.
    • A more subtle example: an Ace Trainer in Kiloude City asks the player character about ways to hit a Pokémon with Levitate. Every suggestion he asks the player for is a correct one.
    • When you encounter Team Flare for the first time in Glittering Cave, the first grunt will ask you, "Don't you know not to play with fire?" You actually have to answer "No" before he'll battle you.
    • When battling with Korrina to test out Mega Evolution for the first time, any and all actions you take that don't involve Mega Evolving your Lucario will lead to its instant defeat. Afterward, Korrina will insist that she wants both her Lucario to experience Mega Evolution, and than the battle will start up again as if nothing happened.
    • When you have Game Chat enabled, the game will ask following the acceptance of a trade offer whether or not you want to activate Game Chat. Refusing inexpliably cancels the offer.
  • Bystander Syndrome: You are able to invoke this trope in Geosenge Town after Team Flare activates the Ultimate Weapon that not only is going cause a lot of destruction, but will absorb all the life force of the residents in Route 10, where Phil the Photo Guy still offers his services. Yes, you can take a picture in front of a goddamn world-ending nuke. Overlaps with Permanently Missable Content, since the Ultimate Weapon gets destroyed. If you want that picture, you have to take it before completing Team Flare's secret lab.
  • Call-Back:
    • The player has to navigate Lysandre Labs by using warp tiles, just like how you get through the Silph Co. building in Generations I and III. The lab also has some tiles that force you to spin in specific directions, similar to the ones in Team Rocket's Celadon hideout and Giovanni's gym.
    • Just like in the Kanto games, there's a cave called the Unknown Dungeonnote  that can only be accessed after beating the Champion. And just like in the Kanto games, this is where Mewtwo is hiding.
    • In a cross-canon variant, these games introduce the Brains and Brawn duo, consisting of a Black Belt and a Psychic. Such a duo already appeared in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl in a double battle against Ash and Paul.
  • Camera Abuse: Very minor, but when it is raining outside, the lower screen has water droplets cascading down it. Similar things happen with the other weather conditions such as sandstorms or snow.
    • There's also a very brief occurrence of this when the Ultimate Weapon emerges from the ground in Geosenge Town.
  • Canon Immigrant: While not mentioned by name, the Pokécenter Nurse is Kalos' Nurse Joy.
  • Can't Use Stairs: This is why you can't make off with the Skiddo at the place where you can ride them. They jump ledges but can't do the stairs just outside the broken fence area.
  • Carnivore Confusion: A bizarre food example. The Pokémon Slurpuff is essentially a cherry-topped pink dessert crossed with a puppy. You can feed it cherry-topped pink desserts in the form of decorated Sweet Poké Puffs. This is somewhat justified, though, since Swirlix and Slurpuff are said to been transformed into living sweets by their diets.
  • Catharsis Factor: Invoked in Super Training with the Team Flare punching bag. The description says "For some reason, hitting this Team Flare-themed bag just feels so good." After a good beating, the Pokémon that wailed on it will be re-energized, ready to get back to training.
  • Celebrating the Heroes: After defeating Team Flare and becoming the Kalos champion, the player character receives a parade and the Honor of Kalos.
  • Cel Shading: Cel outlines and simple textures are easily noted in all (non scenery) 3D models, although the cel-shaded light-and-shadow effects are only present on the higher resolution models used in battling and certain cutscenes (the overworld models have static light and shadows).
  • Character Customization: For the first time, the appearance of the player character can be changed. Along with name and gender the character's skin color can be changed and then their clothes can be changed at boutiques and their hair style at salons. A new stat for the player character was created called Style to make use of this feature.
  • Character Name Limits: Expanded from 10 to 12. Previous obviously-shortened names like Victreebel and Feraligatr haven't had their spellings retconned, but one of the new Pokémon, Fletchinder, has an 11-letter name. Also, your character can now have up to 12 letters in his or her name, while before it was 7.
  • Chatty Hairdresser: The hairdresser in Lumiose City will always talk to you while she's cutting your hair.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Shauna's puzzle-solving device. She mentions Clemont giving it to her after you meet him, and she later uses it to undo an electronic lock in the Team Flare hideout.
  • Chef of Iron: The chefs in the restaurants in Lumiose City, who challenge you to special Pokémon battles (Double, Triple, or Rotation) if you eat there. It isn't free to dine there, of course (they're classy places) especially if you leave a tip (and doing so will endear you to the folks in the city more) but if your Pokémon do well in the battles, you win Mushrooms, that you can sell to make a profit. (These places are like unofficial Battle Institutes (they count as real battles, so items you use are consumed), where you not only have to win several battles in a row, but do it in exactly the number of turns specified. The more stars a restaurant has, the higher the entrance price is, the more skilled the chef, and the better the reward for succeeding. A special sushi bar opens up after you complete the main storyline and the job for Looker where the price is the most expensive, the trainers are the best, and you get 25 Big Nuggets if you get a perfect score.
    • Loophole Abuse: If a Pokémon faints during one of these battles and you use a Revive on it, it does not count as having fainted.
  • Cherry Blossom Girl: A new Trainer Class called the Furisode Girl fits the trope; they come in four varieties, each with a different style of kimono and hair, but all are similar.
  • Cherry Tapping: In Super Training, any Pokémon that wields the yellow ball - it rapidly fires, but scores very low on each hit compared to other balls. (Nonetheless, it's great for hitting the red bonus targets.)
  • Child Prodigy: The new Rising Star trainer class, which are essentially younger Ace Trainers.
  • Church of Happyology: Team Flare are an obvious one, to the point where it is surprising Nintendo allowed it. They have to pay large sums of money to join the group, describe themselves as scientists despite bearing no resemblance to the scientist class, are heard trying to memorize mantras like "There are no real absolutes", seem completely convinced that the group is the only future and everyone else is doomed. The members are described as being cult-like early on - one NPC even says that a friend of a friend turned joined the group and went out for lunch with him and wouldn't stop talking about it being the future (which is something that happens often in real life).They also speak in very childish manners, often whining about their losses or blaming the loss on bad luck. Their main aspirations are invading all the big companies and historic buildings, and blackmailing people into selling them to them. Also, the battle sprites for them have them looking like they are hypnotized and brainwashed. Previous Team Rockets were obvious takes on Mafia groups, but Team Flare is something noticeably different.
  • Circle of Standing Stones: There's one at Geosenge Town. They turn out to be where The Ultimate Weapon is concealed.
  • Cold Iron: One of the weaknesses of the Fairy-type is the Steel-type, which also resist Fairy-type attacks.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The National Pokédex has a slider on the side that categorizes Pokémon by their generation of origin, going from Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, and then White for Gen VI. The Pokédex entry is also the same color as the generation it represents.
  • Commonplace Rare:
    • You'd be surprised that it's actually hard to find a Magikarp these days when they were all over the rivers and seas of the previous generations. They're in two specific areas, and for one of them you need to climb a waterfall to a dead end in Route 22. Gyarados, on the other hand, can be easily fished with the Super Rod in Route 22 and other places. Those things are annoyingly common.
    • Zubat used to be found in every Underground Level, and were the worst pests, but in this game, wild Zubat are only found in one place. Even there, there are other Pokémon who are far more common than Zubats, despite the cave being named after them.
    • A few others can be hard to find due to only being encountered under specific circumstances such as using Rock Smash on a boulder or leaping out of specific bushes randomly. Some are also exclusively found only in Horde encounters.
    • Audino used to be found in any route that has rustling grass in Unova. In X and Y, however, they're found only in route 6. Even then, you have to walk past a rustling bush that, most of the time, have Venipede in them. It's still possible to benefit from the huge amount of EXP they gain, since the Marchionesses and Duchesses wearing furisodes in the Battle Chateau use them as their only Pokémon. (Especially if you used a Black Wit of Challenge.)
    • This could pretty much be said for most Com Mons in these games due to the way the Kalos Pokédex is set up - outside of the Friend Safari a Pokémon can only be found wild in the location corresponding to the sector of the Kalos Pokédex it is listed in. Even the flagship common Pokémon like regional expies and Magikarp can only be found in two or three routes, and many Pokémon in general are lucky if they're even available in two.
  • The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Actually downplayed this time.
    • As always, a few NPCs scattered around the game have illegal Pokémon: Evolutions who should not actually exist at their current level or otherwise have skill sets that it shouldn't be able to have. For example, there are a few Mienshao that are below level 50.
    • Downplayed with the Battle facilities. Unlike the main game, there are no illegal Pokémon or movesets used against you. There are held items and hidden abilities that cannot be legally obtained by the player as of yet, but it is more a case of "intended to be made available, but unreleased for some reason", or "were available in the previous games but cannot be transferred to this generation via Pokémon Bank." The AI will throw legendaries at you if that's what it believes necessary to stop your run, but the trainers use legendaries that are actually legal in ranked battles. The Chatelaines take this to its logical extreme by use parties composed of nothing but legendaries. (And should you do well there, you can use your BP to score some great prizes, not just hard to find stuff like Life Orbs and Electirizers, but new stuff like Safety Goggles, Weakness Policies, and Ability Capsules.
    • Chatelaine Evelyn was accused for the longest time of having an illegal Entei because it had Sacred Fire, which is Ho-oh's Secret Art. It took until the Pokémon Bank came out for people to discover that Entei had Sacred Fire ninja'd into its moveset in the transition to Gen VI.
  • The Computer Is a Lying Bastard: The maid at the Battle Chateau tells you that only one writ can be active at a time. In reality, as many as three writs can be active at once.note 
  • Console Cameo: Continuing on from previous games the two playable characters have a Wii U in their bedrooms.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Santalune Forest is the first area you travel through. The Pokémon found inside are similar to Viridian Forest in Pokémon Red and Blue: Caterpie, Weedle, Kakuna, and Pikachu, among others.note  That's not all, though, as even the layout, item locations, and position of trainers are identical to Viridian Forest.
    • Heading east of Santalune City takes you down Route 22 to the Pokémon League, the same as heading west of Viridian City in Pokémon Red and Blue.
    • An NPC in Lumiose City notes that Professor Oak's grandson (the original rival, Blue) visited, and still uses "Smell ya later!" as a goodbye.
    • A worker in Shalour City mentions he knew a hiker who loved Ferris wheels. Apparently he finally found love.
    • Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 gets another. Visit Route 10, and an NPC will mention that someone named Colress spoke to them.
    • There's a cave in the Pokémon Village, whose entrance is barred by a trainer. However, after beating the Elite Four, the guard disappears, and you can enter and meet a familiar face: Mewtwo. The music that plays in the battle against it is a remix of the wild Pokémon encounter music from Pokémon Red and Blue. Also, the name for the cave itself, the Unknown Dungeon, is what Cerulean Cave, Mewtwo's home in Kanto, was commonly called in Gen I.
    • The sound effect for Hyper Beam is the same as in the original Gen I/II games, as well as other moves like Psychic, Psybeam, and Aurora Beam.
    • The Laverre City Gym has the same gimmick as Saffron City's (small rooms connected by teleport pads).
    • The museum is full of these. There are paintings of the Unova and Johto regions, the Sinnoh Underground, the Battle Subway from Unova, etc. There are also some paintings in the museum that were originally artwork on Pokémon trading cards, like Town Volunteers or Forest Guardian.
    • Just like in Black 2 and White 2, one NPC bothers you with a few questions, asking about how to prepare Ground-types to fight against levitating Pokémon by using items like the Iron Ball, moves like Gravity, and abilities like Mold Breaker, then challenging you to a match only to find out that there's a huge difference between how something looks on paper compared to actual battle experience. He still has an Eelektross as his final Pokémon.
    • At one point, you need to get a Poké Flute to wake up and fight a Snorlax that blocks your way, just like in Red and Blue. The sound the flute makes is also the same as in those games.
    • Pikachu's cry now uses Ikue Otani's voice. This actually dates back to Pokémon Yellow, which also uses the voice.
    • A Madame mentions how her hometown has a Pokémon center right beside a hot spring. She's referring to Lavaridge Town in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.
    • The Water Room in the Pokémon League has a contraption that plays out a 3D version of the first gen's animation of Hydro Pump.
    • An NPC will ask you if you've ever heard of Team Plasma and say that they've caused trouble in Unova "a while back".
    • Parfum Palace's garden contains statues of Reshiram and Zekrom.
    • Route 16's bridge walkways with fisherman trainers, is very reminiscent of Kanto's Route 12. Both of which locations you get a super rod.
    • The Lumiose gym is a quiz-based gym. The questions asked? "Who's that Pokémon?!" Naturally, the first answer is Pikachu.
    • Mega Venusaur seems to be based on the sprite from Pokémon Red and Blue, in which Venusaur was apparently being crushed beneath its enormous plant.
    • Youngster Keita loves shorts the same way a certain Youngster from Pokémon Red and Blue loves them: they're comfy and easy to wear. There's also a youngster named Keita in Generation 5.
    • One of the first trainers you encounter on your journey is Youngster Joey. Worry not, he doesn't have a Rattata and isn't going to call you up at the most inappropriate times just to brag about how his Scatterbug is "Top percentage".
    • The Kanto legendaries' battle music is a remix of the original Pokémon Red and Blue Wild Pokémon battle music, complete with the chiptune-esque melody.
    • A guy in the Stone Emporium in Lumiose City tells you, "Oh, I adore the ores!" then quickly adds, "Okay, you're supposed to laugh now." This is a reference to the weird guy in the Gen V games who would buy anything that was mineral-based from you for a better price.
    • Dawn's outfit from Platinum can be found in the Laverre City boutique.
    • A guy in the lobby of an office building in Lumiose City asks you, "Have you seen the Riches? I'm looking for Master Miles." This refers to a family of wealthy trainers who appeared in Undella Town in Black and White, but moved away sometime between the events of that game and the sequel to it.
    • A Fairy Tale Girl that you meet on Route 14 quips, "I can't wait to read the rest of Shauntal's latest novel!" after you defeat her; Shauntal is the Elite Four member from Unova who uses Ghost Pokémon who's always in the middle of writing when you speak to her, and who was working on a novelization of the events of Black and White when the player challenged her in the sequel.
  • Crazy-Prepared: The guy who you can battle in Inverse Battles on Route 18, definitely, given the movesets of his Pokémon. Also, a Pokémon is usually very vulnerable to its own Type in an Inverse Battle, but many of his have Abilities that make them completely immune to their own Types (or even another type it might be vulnerable to here), like Lightning Rod, Sap Sipper, and Water Absorb, eliminating that problem. Since his Pokémon are randomly selected from a set of about three dozen for each battle, these battles aren't easy, and unless you use a guide book, Trial-and-Error Gameplay is the best way to get the best prizes here.
  • Creative Closing Credits: The credits, the longest of any Pokémon game, feature concept art for items and locations rendered in a parchment-like style. The second half pairs this with an instrumental Award-Bait Song, with lyrics displayed on-screen in both the game language and either French or Japanese.
  • Creepy Child: The Fairy Tale Girl class has shades of this. One in particular can be found near the bridge in Route 19. She claims that she can see fairies everywhere while laughing in a really creepy manner, coming off like she has a few screws loose and is living in her own fantasy world.note 
  • Critical Annoyance: Downplayed. When a Pokémon's health bar reaches red, a series of beeps will play just once before letting the background music continue, whereas all the other games before it either have constant beeping over the original music or, in the case of the Gen V games, a Background Music Override.
  • Critical Hit Class: Actually a viable strategy now. The critical hit formula was changed so that any Pokémon with at least three boosts to its critical hit rate will always land critical hits. This is commonly achieved by using Focus Energy (+2) while holding a Scope Lens (+1).
    • In the main game, maximum affection also adds a critical boost. It's overridden in multiplayer like any affection benefit, but in single player it's awesome and heartwarming to see your partner use Focus Energy and then sweep the opponent with non-stop crits because it's "in sync with your wishes."
  • Crutch Character: See the series' page here.
  • Cut and Paste Environments: The hidden-floor of Lysandre's lab is the same exact layout as the lab's spin-tile floor. They didn't even bother tweaking the side-room entrances, just blocking them off with poster boards. This is Lampshaded by Malva beforehand, telling the player it should be easy to make it through the floor since the player has been in that layout before.
  • Damage Typing: X and Y appear to be playing with the long since established damage categories of the series:
    • The new Ice-type move Freeze Dry is super-effective against Water types, opening the way for similar attacks.
    • A new move, Flying Press, is a dual-typed Fighting/Flying move. note 
    • Moves themselves are given further categories that interact specifically with certain types. Ghost types are immune to trapping moves, Electric types are immune to paralysis, and Grass types are immune to spore-like moves (in addition to Leech Seed, which they've always been immune to.)
  • Damn You, Muscle Memory!:
    • Inverse Battles (only doable on Route 18) invokes this by changing type effectiveness with super-effective being not effective and vice-versa (Meaning that Fire becomes super effective against Water, and Water super effective against Grass, etc). This ends up making the Psychic who challenges you a Boss in Mook Clothing.
    • Also, the inclusion of the Fairy type. It's all too easy to fall back to the habit of hitting a Clefairy, Jigglypuff, or Mawile with a Fighting-type move, or a Gardevoir or Mr. Mime with a Dark-type move, and forget that they're part (or entirely, in the case of Clefairy) Fairy-type now, so those weaknesses are gone. And God forbid you forget that Dragon-type moves no longer deal normal damage or better to anything that's not Steel-type. On the other end, also because of the part-Fairy type, sending said Gardevoir/Mr. Mime in on a Poison type is now risky, because Poison-type attacks are now super-effective against the two.
    • Sending a Kingdra against an Ice-type Pokémon? Doable in Gen 2-5 (x1 neutrality), risky in this generation (x4 weakness). Said Ice-type may know Freeze Dry, which is, unusually for an Ice-type attack, super-effective against Water.
    • Veteran players might find themselves moving around while pressing B to run while not on a bike...even if it doesn't make the skates any faster.
    • If you have a choice between Yes and No, the cursor always starts on Yes...unless you're asked to give a tip, when No becomes the default. If you push buttons too fast you can end up a Scrooge by accident.
    • You actually have to be careful sending in Spiritomb or Sableye into battle, because their "no weakness" distinction has been eliminated. They are now weak to Fairy-Type moves.
    • You also can't send a Steel-Type on any Ghost or Dark-Type attacker and expect to Stone Wall it. The type chart has been revised and Steel has lost it's resistance to Ghost and Dark, so it may not be able to hold off their assaults as well as it did in the past. This bit Steel/Psychic Types like Metagross, Jirachi, and Bronzong really hard, as the Steel-Type nerf earned them extra weaknesses.
  • Dark Is Not Evil:
    • The Hex Maniacs can be awfully nice for a group of creepy goth girls who are obsessed with ghosts, giving you valuable TMs like Toxic and Will o' Wisp simply for talking to them. One of them even gives you the stone needed for Gengar's Mega Evolution absolutely free!
    • The punk gang who hangs out in the Lost Hotel are pretty decent folks too; the leader even teaches you an advanced rollerblade move called the cosmic flip, so long as you already know the backflip and the 360.
    • Also, this region's PC manager, Cassius, as well as his two assistants, are represented by the Punk trainer classes.
  • Darker and Edgier: Where to begin? The game's plot has a background involving war and death en masse, death is a major theme in the game (particularly in Y) with various characters making references to mortality either directly or indirectly (even in X), the version mascot in Y represents (and is said to bring) death, the villainous team's ultimate goal is genocide of 99.99% of the world population, and its leader is implied to die at the end (a first for the series).
  • Death Glare: You apparently give one to an NPC in the Parfum Palace as a Lame Pun Reaction.
    NPC: Don't try to sleep in the king's bed. It's ir-regal! Ha ha! Hey! Are you trying to use Mean Look on me?
  • Developer's Foresight: Has its own big page here.
  • Death Is Dramatic: It's not death, of course, as Pokémon who are defeated simply faint, but in this installment, a lot of them try to go out in style. Some of them, like Axew and Mr. Mime do a facepalm before retreating to their Poké Balls, others like Spinda stagger around drunkenly before collapsing, many do an Oh, Crap! before disappearing, while Haunter holds its hands up with a Big "NO!" before it is called back.
  • Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Did we just play games with, pet, and feed Poké Puffs to various legendaries in Pokémon-Amie? The game doesn't stop you from doing that! Lampshaded in this comic where Mewtwo was seen as visibly distraught when the trainer played with him in Pokémon-Amie.
  • Disc-One Nuke: See the series' page here.
  • Door to Before: All of the gyms give you some way of returning to the start when you defeat the Gym Leader, like a set of stairs or a slide. In Olympia's case, there's no path that opens for the player; instead she'll teleport you back to the start when you talk to her.
  • Dowsing Device: The Dowsing Machine. This time though, you're actually shown holding them in front of you while they emit two beams of light that change from blue to green to orange to red (and cross over each other) when you home in on a target. Pretty much high-tech versions of the old two sticks version.
  • The Dragon Slayer: One of the Fairy-type's raisons d'être. Fairy-type attacks are super-effective against Dragon-types on top of Fairy-type themselves being immune to Dragon-type attacks.
  • Dub Name Change: Par for the course for Pokémon, but this also creates some interesting situations in-universe.
    • One TV program quizzes you on the Japanese names of Pokémon (in romaji), and explains their etymology and pronunciation too.
    • Although Looker has a different name in most languages, when Emma and the foreign tourist are conversing in Japanese (or English, in non-English versions), Looker is referred to by his name in the game's language (transliterated if necessary) rather than the conversation's language.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?:
    • Averted, as defeating Team Flare and becoming Champion earns you a parade in the streets of the capital. When you wake up in your room post game your mother mentions seeing the parade on TV and how Professor Augustine Sycamore really went all out getting everyone to attend (except her apparently).
      • The aversion even extends to the player's friends/rivals, as all of them get to participate in the parade for helping out against Team Flare.
    • Another serious aversion occurs in the Power Plant. There a guy there who sells Fresh Water (a healing item) for 300 PokéDollars a bottle. However, after you drive Team Flare out and restore the power, he gives you a discount, charging you only 100 a bottle. (In most RPG video games, a merchant showing such generosity to the hero is unheard of.)
    • Played straight in the Battle Chateau, where even as a Duke/Duchess you'll get trash talked by the low-ranking Barons and Viscounts. A Lady also wonders if you picked out your clothes in the dark, or perhaps found them in a trash can, even when you're wearing clothes bought in the highly expensive and stylish Lumiose Boutique Couture. (Of course, unlike the trainers here, your rank is not included in your name, and most of them do apologize if you defeat them.) Ironically, this become less prevalent (though still exists) with the higher-ranked members; one Duchess even acknowledges you as a rising star.
    • Also played straight in the Looker story, where the Lumiose City gang trash-talks you despite likely being aware you're the champion.
    • The bouncer at Sushi High-Roller will tell you to "get famous or something and then come back" if you don't have enough Style Points in Lumiose City; this occurs even if you've become the Pokémon Champion, saved Kalos, become nobility at the Battle Chateau, and perhaps most jarringly, AFTER you've had a parade in your honour in Lumiose for your exploits. Talk about oblivious.
    • Non-player example: NPCs throughout the game talk about Diantha being a famous actress, but nobody seems to know or care that she is also the local Champion.
  • Dug Too Deep: Terminus Cave is an abandoned coal mine that closed down a few years ago, due to rumors that a monster was living deep inside. After becoming the Champion, the player can explore the cave even deeper, and find the monster in question — the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde (who is really a benevolent protector of Kalos' ecosystem).

    E-K 
  • Easter Egg:
    • A backpacker in a hotel who claims to come from a then-unrevealed region will give the player a secret object called Strange Souvenir if spoken enough times to. The item has no use, but its description claims that it's based on a Pokémon that can be found in the aformentioned region (later established to be Alola).
    • There is an ordinary-looking unmarked building located in Lumiose City. The first and third floors are normal, and full of the usual optimistic people. If the player goes to the second floor, however, they will suddenly be unable to move and the screen with start to flash. As it flashes, they can see a ghost or apparition resembling a Hex Maniac standing behind them. She will then float away, while saying "You're not the one." This "ghost" only appears the first time the player enters the floor, and never again. No mention is made of her other than in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, in which a similar girl appears standing inside Mr. Pyre. She makes the exact same statement, though she says "Ah..." after saying the phrase. However, it's possible that she's connected to a Hex Maniac in Lumiose City who seems to be concentrating on something and upon being talked to, mysteriously tells to player to make silence so that she can "hear the elevator", possibly suggesting that she was causing the apparitions by projecting herself onto that Lumiose building and Mt. Pyre.
    • If you go to Lumiose Station and look behind the time table sign, you can read a strange message that says "I'm going to go for help. Wait in the usual place." Who is going to go for what help, where is the "usual place," and who is the message addressed to?
  • Eiffel Tower Effect: The Trope Namer in action; the game's Eiffel-counterpart was all that was needed to tip us off as to the location. Even referenced by Masuda himself!
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors:
    • As usual, but X and Y also introduces the Fairy-type, the first entirely new type since Gold and Silver.
    • The game further plays with its usual elemental system by adding new moves like Freeze Dry (super-effective against a type that usually resists Ice moves) and Flying Press (which is the first, and so far only, dual-typed move).
  • Escort Mission: Hordes of Seviper and Durant will have a single Zangoose and Heatmor in them respectively (or vice-versa for Zangoose and Seviper, depending on version), with the rival Pokémon ganging up on the poor souls. They actively fight back, but unless you can help them without killing them in the process, they'll be torn apart pretty quickly; woe betide you if you aren't lucky enough to encounter the rare ones alone, as fishing them out of the hordes can be a massive chore. Fortunately you can catch a Pokémonnote  that learns Heal Pulse by level fairly early into the game which helps immensely, though there's still some luck involved. There are also a few attacks that can hit an entire Horde at once, and they might help too if the attack is super-effective against four of them but not the odd one; for example, if you use Heat Wave against four Durant and one Heatmor, the Heatmor might survive (especially if it has Flash Fire), but the four Durant likely won't.
  • Enchanted Forest: In the Winding Woods, the trees are so thick that little light reaches the ground, paths twist and turn in very strange ways and often lead to different places depending on what direction you follow them down, and animated trees make their home.
  • Eternal Engine:
    • The Poké Ball Factory, which, for the first time, actually shows a place where Poké Balls are made.
    • The Power Plant is another industrial area. This time, there are no wild Pokémon to be found, but the player must rescue both places from Team Flare.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Assuming Yveltal counts as evil (possible, seeing as it represents Death and can drain the life force from other beings, not usually considered good) it clearly objects to Lysandre's genocidal plans, as it is just as willing to oppose him in Y as Xerneas is in X.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Not that this hasn't happened in the franchise before (usually unintentionally), but Shauna seems to have a crush on your character even if you choose the female. More than one scene seems to suggest this. And if your character goes to the beauty salon enough times, the female hairdresser appears to get a crush, too (suggested by what she says), no matter which character you use.
  • Evolution Power-Up: X and Y expand the ways in which certain Pokémon evolve, particularly with regards to the new "Mega Evolution" feature (a temporary Super Mode) available to some (otherwise fully-evolved) species.
  • Exact Words:
    • A certain psychic trainer claims your aura's that of the unlucky type. When you beat her, she says "Unlucky for me, I see." Talking to her again would result in her stating that she finds your aura's that of a kind and caring type, and would appear unlucky for anyone who wishes to challenge you.
    • If you select a Pokémon in your party that has an HM move learned to be traded, it won't let you, saying "It has learned an HM move. You cannot let it leave your party." If you cancel the trade, go into the PC and deposit the Pokémon in question (which the game will let you do), trade, and select the same Pokémon, now in the PC, for trading, it will let you trade it.
  • Excited Title! Two-Part Episode Name!: The names of various Super Training courses follow this sort of pattern, with titles such as "Catch It! Noivern's Wild Wind!" or "Shoot Back! Get the Giant Wailord!"
  • The Fair Folk: A few Fairy-type Pokémon could be described as such. Gardevoir appears to be a classical glamourous fae, though just like all other times, Gardevoir's Pokédex entry says it is utterly dedicated to protecting its trainer.note  Closer to traditional fairies are Mawile (called the Deceiver Pokémon, no less, and quite vicious) and Whimsicott (a trickster sprite, reflected in its Prankster ability). Discussed by a Fairy Tale Girl NPC on Route 15, who says that the fairies cuteness is the most terrifying thing about them.
  • Fantastic Nuke:
    • Yveltal in the storyline of Pokémon Y. When killed, it absorbs the life energy of every living thing in the vicinity. This combined with the fact that it is being used by eco-terrorists and you can see why it is called the destruction Pokémon.
    • The ultimate weapon created 3,000 years ago is another example, as it was single-handedly used to end the war and killed thousands of people and Pokémon.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Like Pokémon Black and White, instead of being a region based on Japan, Kalos is based on France, in particular Paris and other notable landmarks. It even has an Eiffel Tower. The Professor even drops gratuitous French into his sentences!
  • Fantasy Counterpart Map: To match with its cultural resemblance to France, the map of Kalos also looks like that of France.
  • Featureless Protagonist: Just like the other games in the series, the Player Character is given virtually no characterization and minimal backstory. They do, however, show more expressions at various points, such as after defeating Lysandre.
  • Fighter, Mage, Thief: The starter trio, especially in their final forms. Chesnaught is covered in armour (the fighter), Delphox is a witch (the mage), and Greninja is a ninja (the thief). Word of God says this was intentional and made to fit within a Medieval European Fantasy theme.
  • Finger Poke of Doom: A new physical Fairy-type move with 90 Power is called "Play Rough". In the German version its name translates to Cuddle, and in Japanese its name translates to Frolic.
  • Fireworks of Love: In the Parfum Palace, once the protagonist and Shauna help catch the owner's Furfrou, he invites them to a fireworks show at the balcony. The cutscene that follows is heavily romantically charged with music to fit the atmosphere, regardless of whether you're playing as Calem or Serena.
  • First Town: Vaniville Town, but for once the only places of interest are the houses of the two playable characters. It's also the only hometown where the route leading to the next town is utterly devoid of Pokémon — and, for that matter, everything else.
  • Flavor Text: New Pokédex descriptions are par for the course, and may or may not reflect a species's in-game abilities.
  • Foreshadowing: At Geosenge Town, your rival notes that a Team Flare Grunt ran towards a boulder and disappeared. Later on, the "boulder" turns out to be a secret entrance to the Team Flare HQ.
  • Forest of Perpetual Autumn: Laverre City and Routes 15 and 16 have brown leaves on the trees and in piles on the ground. Route 14 also has muted foliage and an overall dark and spooky feeling that evokes Halloween.
  • Food Porn: The waiters in the restaurants of Lumiose City (except the Sushi High Roller) give detailed descriptions of the entrees. For example, the third course at the two-star Restaurant Le Yeah is "Azure Bay Slowpoke Tail [with] Payapa Berry crudités glazed in extra virgin Oran oil". The chef claims that "it has been described as the gastronomical equivalent of a Gastly glaring at a Hex Maniac". The fourth is cheese made from an Arbok's Toxic venom, aged up to 180 years; the chef claims that "simply biting into this blue cheese will give off an odor so foul, your nose hairs will burn."
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Calem/Serena (choleric), Trevor (melancholic), Shauna (sanguine), Tierno (phlegmatic) and the player character (leukine).
  • Free-Range Children: A staple as always, though in the Protagonist's case the logic behind the parenting makes a little more sense this time: the Protagonist's mother is a champion Pokémon racer and is very familiar with how rewarding such a journey can be, and approves of the idea immediately on hearing it.
  • Freeze-Frame Bonus: Furfrou was revealed through one of these on the September 4th Pokémon Direct. And it really was only a single frame.
  • French Accordion: Very sparsely used, despite Kalos being based on France. Sycamore's theme and the music playing in both Camphrier Town and Couriway Town are some of the rare examples of this trope. Amazingly, Lumiose City, which is clearly based on Paris itself, averts this completely.
  • French Jerk: Zig-Zagged. While there are many kind people throughout the region that will readily help you (if not give you a free handout), some residents will snub you for lacking Style (an actual stat the game actually keeps track of) or insult your sense of fashion.
    • This crops up if you get a French Pokémon in a trade and it out-levels your badge ranking but you try to use it anyway, thus wholly ignoring your battle commands in the usual blatant ways.
  • Game-Breaking Bug:
    • A nasty glitch was quickly discovered after release, where saving in specific areas of Lumiose City (specifically outside in the streets of North and South outer ring) could cause the game to freeze and wipe your saved file, forcing a complete reset. Nintendo released a patch that fixed the glitch and improved search filtering on the GTS. note 
    • Another gamefreeze may occur when trying to access the Holocaster for updates from the PSS menu while in Lumiose, as the game fails to initialize the rear cameras.
  • Gameplay and Story Integration:
    • Zigzagoon walking in a zigzag fashion was established as early as FireRed and LeafGreen, but, due to technical limitations, this was never shown in the games, aside from the Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon Battle Revolution and Pokémon Ranger side games. With the new engine for the portables main series, order a Zigzagoon to use a physical attack and it will indeed charge its enemy in a zigzagging motion.
    • During the day, a Chinchou's antennae will have a normal yellow look, but during the night, they noticeably light up. This is because it normally lives on the dark ocean floor, where it uses the light its electric antennae emit to communicate.
    • Likewise, Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist's carved holes glow at night, like an actual Jack-o'-lantern.
    • More examples include Grumpig actually dancing when using a special attack, Stunfisk smiling when using a special attack and Shedinja having almost no animations besides floating, even in Pokémon-Amie (like what the respective Pokémon's Pokédex entries say they do).
    • Sudowoodo gets this in a horde encounter with four Trevenant. Apparently its good enough to fool these tree Pokémon.
    • Any time a Zangoose gets mixed up in a Seviper horde (or vice versa), the rival Pokémon families will attack each other before turning their attention to you.
    • Pokémon-Amie adds this, too. Petting certain parts of Ghost-type Pokémon will cause your hand to phase through their ghostly matter, gel-like Pokémon such as Frillish and Solosis will give you a blue cursor with bubbly/smooth noises, slimy Pokémon will slow down your cursor with a goopy noise, and burning/frozen/sharp/electic Pokémon can hurt you. Some other touches tie into the established information, like Honedge discouraging you from touching its tassel or Espurr for its ears, as petting either would be a danger to the Trainer.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation:
    • The new Sky Battles only allow Flying-type Pokémon and Pokémon with Levitate to participate. This leaves out several Pokémon that are always shown flying in animations (usually Bug-types) and includes Pokémon that can't fly (such as Gyarados). It also leaves out small bird-like Pokémon whose default animation is a standing one (like Farfetch'd), despite their Flying type.
    • Banette is often seen opening its mouth, to eat or to smile. However, it's said that if it opens its mouth, its cursed energy escapes. When it Mega Evolves, its mouth unzips (along with its hands and legs), but it seems like all that's inside it are a second set of appendages.
    • You can take Muk into Pokémon-Amie. It is extremely poisonous to the touch, yet petting it is still possible.
    • It's been established in Pokémon FireRednote  that Scyther seldom flies, but not only is it eligible for sky battles, it's also depicted as constantly flying while battling.
    • Mega Evolution is possible if there is a strong enough bond between a Pokémon and its trainer...or so the in-game explanations say. There is no such requirement to pull this off, so have fun with a super pissed Mega Evolution letting it all out on its prey.
    • When a Big Blackout hits most of Lumiose City apart from the Southern Avenue, the whole city is still brightly lit when playing at night.
  • Gasshole: A new Poison-type move called Belch, which can only be used if the user had eaten a berry beforehand. Despite sounding silly, this burp is stronger than Fire Blast, Blizzard, Hurricane and Thunder.
  • Gay Paree: The game's equivalent of Paris is known as Lumiose City, and is a major Hub City in the heart of the region, similar to Castelia City and Hearthome City.
  • Gimmick Level: Route 9 and Route 17 can only be crossed by riding on a Rhyhorn and a Mamoswine, respectively. Only they can cross the rough terrain and knock the rocks out of the way.
  • Golden Mean Fallacy: Downplayed; your rival says that everyone/thing has a good point, but rarely insists that the answer lies only in the middle, extremes, or even that there is 'only' one answer.
  • Gold Digger:
    • Baron Herisson, a trainer at the Battle Chateau is a rare male example, at least that's his plan. He claims he's there to "hook up to some rich Duchess", and once you defeat him, he confesses that he's actually dead-broke.
    • Duchess Elise is another, more successful example there who doesn't even deny it, she flat-out tells you that she "has [her] master wrapped around my little finger" and is using him for money. She has a slight Freudian Excuse however, saying after you defeat her that she does it (and trains Pokémon to win battles) because she was born into poverty.
  • Good Morning, Crono: The adventure opens with a Fletchling flying in through the player's house and waking him/her up from bed.
  • Gratuitous French:
    • The route signposts, in addition to identifying the route, also have nicknames that the locals use, some of which contain French words (Ex: Route 11, also known as Miroir Way) and Professor Sycamore and several random NPCs use a few French phrases, among other things. Even Pokémon use Gratuitous French; if you talk to a Furfrou, it says "Ouaf!" which is a French onomatopoeia for a dog barking. Fitting, as the Kalos region is based on France.
      Alexa: If you want to reach Route 13, 14, or 16, you can get there from here. But, of course, we locals all know them as Lumiose Badlands, Laverre Nature Trail, and Mélancolie Path.
    • Subverted with the French lyrics to KISEKI, which are displayed if you play the game in English (or Japanese, or Korean); they tend to flow a bit better than the English lyrics, and given the game's setting, it isn't out of the question that the song was written in French first.
  • Great Offscreen War: A massive war that occurred 3000 years ago is a major plot point. Various poets and historians repeatedly mention how thousands of humans and Pokémon alike were killed because of it.
  • Green Hill Zone: Central Kalos has grassy routes between cities and towns (and one forest that was pretty much copy-pasted from the original games), lacking the more rugged terrain and weather found in other areas (especially the mountainous parts).
  • Grind Boots: Your skates can act as this. Korrina's Gym includes stretches of rails to cross in this manner. A few others are scattered throughot Kalos, mostly to reach hidden secrets or act as shortcuts.
  • Guide Dang It!:
    • The hybrid Berry recipes either require trial-and-error or a guide, because the game's not going to tell you and there are over 500 possible combinations.
    • How to get stylish enough to unlock certain features in Luminose City. Pretty much anything you do in the city (even taking cabs) counts, but there is no way of telling when you reach a new rank in game other than trial and error aside from the price reductions for Mega Stones at the Gem Emporium, and there's precious little in-game indicating this.
      • Also, some activities raise your style ranking more than others, which can help...but you're never told what the better activities actually are.
    • How do you level-up your rank in the Battle Chateau? By fighting and defeating Trainers repeatedly; the higher the Trainer's rank, the more it counts towards your Chateau title. But with the exception of the Marchionesses carrying Audino (and Gym Leaders), there's no way to know the rank of that generic NPC you're about to battle, and no way to check your progress (though you are notified when you rank up).
    • Several new Pokémon evolve under specific conditions not mentioned in the games, such as Inkay evolving into Malamar only if it hits level 30 and you hold the 3DS upside down.
    • The locations of the Mega Stones can be in very obscure places such as the inside of the Cyllage Gym at a dead end, and they can only found between 8 and 9 PM.
    • To get to the Boss in the Lost Hotel, you have to talk to four roller skaters in Lumiose City and learn new skating tricks before you can meet the Boss. There are no hints for this anywhere.
    • If you bring Hoopa to Parfum Palace and Volcanion to Lumiose Press, you'll find NPCs that talk about them (and since there are no in-game encounters for them akin to Liberty Garden in Black and White, it's the only source for detailed lore on them). Very little indicates they have any real purpose there, and a player would most likely forget about those places entirely. It also doesn't help that there's no other reward for bringing them there.
  • Guilt-Based Gaming:
    • A little bit, thanks to the Pokémon-Amie mechanic. The higher a Pokémon's affection for you, the more detailed the battle description. This includes telling you that your Pokémon is "about to cry" if its hit points become critical in battle. Try denying it your last Full Restore with that on the screen. It shakes off paralysis because it loves you, and you won't even give it medicine?
    • Having Memory Girl read your Pokémon's memories. It can be heartwarming if the best thing that the Pokémon remembers about you is its first battle with you, or the time it hatched and saw you for the first time. On the other hand, it might suck if the most poignant memory of the Pokémon is the long and harsh Super Training sessions it went through (but only if your Pokémon isn't energetic during the time of training. It'll remember it as a good thing if it is.) So, the next time you start up Super Training, you may not want to do it all in one go ever again...
    • Sending out a Pokémon at level 3 affection may bring up the message "[Pokémon] really wants some time to play with [Trainer]."
  • Gusty Glade: At certain times, Route 13 has a strong wind that pushes the player character to the right.
  • Hand Wave: The Fairy type is briefly explained as a "recent classification", presumably indicating that many former Normal-types were mistaken, but the new moves associated with the type are just there now, coming with the new type.
  • Haute Cuisine Is Weird: The more expensive the restaurant, the more eccentric the food is. Dishes include a 3000 year old bone boiled in snow for 100 days and a 180 year old aged blue cheese that is described as smelling so strongly that it'll burn your nose.
  • Heroic Mime: Surprisingly averted, at least compared to other games in this franchise. The protagonist doesn't talk much, but they have quite a bit of dialogue when interacting with other characters.
    • Also the encouragements during the punching bag training could be seen as your character saying all that, since they are the one training them after all.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard:
    • Like with Reshiram/Zekrom in Black and White, you have to capture the cover legendary that Lysandre wants to use as his weapon and turn it against Lysandre's team. Even more fitting is that his first Pokémon (a Mienshao) is weak to both cover legendaries (Fairy and Flying).
    • Also, when finally defeated, he foolishly activates his Ultimate Weapon out of pure rage, accomplishing nothing but killing himself in the process.
  • Honor Among Thieves: Invoked by Malva as the reason she assists the player during the Looker chapters.
  • Honor Before Reason: Every trainer that is able to use Mega Evolution always brings the only Pokémon capable of it out last, even if you are mowing down the rest of their team down with your own Mega Evolution.
  • Horse of a Different Color: Various Pokémon can be ridden as mounts in certain locations, like Gogoats in Lumiose City or the Skiddo ranch along Route 12. A Rhyhorn is used to cross rocky terrain near Ambrette Town, and a Mamoswine is used to plow through snow between Dendemille and Anistar.
  • Hub City: Lumiose, which is probably the clearest example yet in the main series since it connects to five routes. Oh, and it's even shaped kinda like a wheel, making it a more literal "hub" city.
  • Humans Are White: Actually, a surprising aversion. You will encounter a lot of NPCs who are various shades of brown. This also isn't including the ability to make the player character look Ambiguously Brown, passable for Arab, Latino/a, North Indian, Native American, etc.
  • Humble Hero: The protagonist can be one if the player wants him/her to be one at a few points in the game, depending on what you say to other characters (before taking down Team Flare, in which case it's hard to be one). One example: After you arrive in Lumiose, where power has been restored after you drive Team Flare out of the Power Plant, Shauna meets with you, and is giddy about the stories about how someone heroically drove the bad guys out. When she asks you if you know who it was, you can choose to tell her it was you, or you can keep it to yourself by saying "Who knows?"
  • Hypocrite:
    • Lysandre tells you how disgusted he is with the greed shown by humans (his ancestor specifically) before giving you a King's Rock, supposedly to show how generous he is. Not a minute later, you can discover - if you speak to a girl in the café - that it costs five million Pokédollars simply to join Team Flare (and she's eagerly trying to earn it). Even if you don't talk to her, you find this out later when the Admin tries to convince the owner of the Poké Ball factory to join (she calls the entrance fee a donation). A few of them believe that it's the price of being spared when the Ultimate Weapon is unleashed, but exactly what use anyone would have for money after that is questionable. But hey, they have to get the resources to repair the thing somehow. It's also implied that the whole reason they were trying to take over the place was out of greed, not just to avoid having to pay for PokéBalls themselves, but to sell them for hugely inflated prices.
    • Lampshaded by the President of the Pokeball company when the Team Flare workers call you an intruder
    President: You’re one to talk!
  • The Idealist: On Victory Road, your Rival speaks regarding your earlier actions along with Team Flare's, wishing that everyone had met halfway with their ideals before it was too late. This being despite that both sides have already spoken several times (with Team Flare refusing to compromise/make a truce); Team Flare was about to use a Weapon of Mass Destruction to wipe out both people and Pokémon, with little time to figure out options besides the direct approach; and also, even when offered a chance of cooperation and understanding, Lysandre still refused and uses the Ultimate Weapon on everyone in the area. Overall, Team Flare's arrogance brought their end upon themselves, yet your Rival still feels sad that things couldn't have ended differently. Whether or not the Player agrees with this, or how justified their Rival's idealism is/isn't, is up to personal opinion.
  • Idle Animation: The players stretch, look around, and so on - things actual people do when bored. Pokémon have an extra animation they do when they've been on the field without making a move for a while, most of which count as idle animations. For instance, Mawile clacks its huge jaw, and Riolu wipes or fidgets its right foot along the ground.
  • Idle Rich: Lots of folks in Lumiose City are like this. When you first get there, they look down on you, not letting you in some places and charging astronomical prices for some things, not because you're a lower social class, but because you aren't "stylish" enough. In this case, however, there are ways to make them change their opinion by taking certain actions in the game, like using the services in the city and the Battle Institute. (The things that increase your "stylishness" score the most tend to be more expensive and not available until later in the game, but they do open up some useful things; for example, you can reduce the price of Mega Evolution stones that would normally cost half a million Poké Dollars to only 10,000 if you keep at it.)
  • I Meant to Do That: One Team Flare Grunt in the Power Plant insists "I lost on purpose..." when you defeat him.
  • Improbable Power Discrepancy: The Battle Maison is a post-game facility that only people who have beaten the Pokémon League can enter. The trainer classes that can be fought include butlers, tourists and preschoolers. Some of them even have legendaries.
  • Interface Spoiler:
    • In a way, the fact that Mewtwo would be getting two version-specific Mega Evolutions was spoiled by an early image of the then only revealed form having the filename m2y.
    • Additionally, the page had two spots under Mewtwo's main Form, one with Mega Mewtwo Y (at the time called Speed Form). The other was empty.
    • If a character has a coloured text box, it means they're important.
  • Invisible Grid: X and Y have one like previous games in the series, but this time, not only can you move diagonally (in fact, the first gym's puzzle is pretty much there to tell you that you can), you can overcome the grid altogether using the rollerblades or bicyclenote . Surfing also appears to be off the grid.
  • Irony:
    • Mega Mewtwo Y is much smaller than standard Mewtwo, despite the name. On the other hand, Mega Mewtwo X is about a foot taller than standard Mewtwo.
    • Team Flare intended for themselves to be the last humans left alive. Instead, most of them, including the four female scientists, were presumably killed alongside Lysandre during his Villainous Breakdown; only a handful are seen afterwards.
  • ISO-Standard Urban Groceries: The Beauty class in the game carries a brown paper bag with a prominent baguette sticking out of it.
  • Is This Thing Still On?: In television, Azusa goes through an entire episode of Koukan Talk in Japanese before realizing and apologizing to the audience.
  • I Want My Mommy!: A comedic example with Viscount Herault in the Battle Chateau, who cries for his "Maman" after being defeated.
  • Japanese Tourist:
    • A new trainer class. Though it's called simply "Tourist", all of its members have Japanese names and use Pokémon from the first four regions, which took place in analogues of Japan.
    • One post-game mission involves one of these tourists whose Pokémon have been stolen, but she can't tell you because she only speaks Japanese. Looker believes that she is asking for some tea and goes to buy an expensive, fancy type of tea that turns out to be completely unnecessary. note 
  • Jerkass:
    • All of the Team Flare grunts are this, with one even stating that he hates the player. Some of them get better after the player defeats Lysandre, while others were presumably crushed to death from the collapse of the Ultimate Weapon.
    • The bouncer for the Sushi High-Roller will rudely kick you out, even if you have already beaten the Champion and become a Grand Duke/Duchess.
    • Some of the Battle Chateau trainers, partially those who are Barons/Baronesses and Viscounts/Viscountesses, are very rude, snobbish, and prideful towards the player regardless of their rank. Noticeable chateau jerks include Viscountess Danielle, who mocks the player's outfit regardless of style, even after she's defeated, and Earl Nassak, who insults the player's wealth by claiming that becoming rich is impossible for them, even if the player has 9,999,999 Poke Dollars.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Some of the Chateau patrons will actually accept their defeat gracefully if they were jerks before the battle.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Viscountess Danielle, on the other hand, will continue to bash the player's clothes after she is beaten. Earl Nassak will also say to the player that becoming rich is impossible for him/her.
  • Jump Scare: A new method of encountering wild Pokémon where Pokémon jump out, dive down, drop or swoop down at you.
  • Keep It Foreign: In the Looker sidequests, a tourist gets her Pokémon stolen by a gang. In the Japanese version (and most other languages) she speaks English, in the English version she speaks Japanese. Interestingly, Looker's Dub Name Change applies in the respective language, so you have Emma mentioning "Mr. Looker" in katakana (ルッカー) rather than "Mr. Handsome" in the English version, and "Mr. LeBelle" while speaking English in the German version.
  • Kick the Dog: Meta example; when Lysandre reveals that he also plans to exterminate all Pokémon. It is played solely for drama.
  • Killed Off for Real:
    • Lysandre's implied fate in Pokémon Y; he is directly hit by the death ray of the Ultimate Weapon, making him the first character in a main Pokémon game to canonically die. It is vaguely suggested that he's still alive in Pokémon X, but his fate is even worse...
    • Looker implies in the postgame that one of his former partner Pokémon was killed in action. This is likely the Croagunk he had that was only seen in Platinum.

    L-R 
  • Lactating Male: The move Milk Drink was exclusive to Miltank which is an Always Female Pokemon until this game, which introduced Skiddo and Gogoat. They are based on goats and can be female or male, making it this trope for the latter.
  • Lame Pun Reaction: A backpacker in Parfum Palace will state that sleeping in the king's bed is "ir-regal". Judging by his reaction, the protagonist doesn't like the joke.
    "Hey! Are you trying to use Mean Look on me?"
  • Lampshade Hanging:
    • When Lysandre appears with the robotic limbs attached to his back, Shauna points out how ridiculous he looks.
  • Large Ham: Super Training's messages as a whole seem to come from the hammiest personal trainer on earth.
  • Last Request: An old man in Anistar City has been feeling very lonely since his wife died, and he knows that he's not long for this world either. He asks that you give him a Pokémon level 5 or under and just let him spend some time with it before his time comes. When you come back to his house after defeating the Elite Four, you will find your Pokémon in the center of the floor along with an item and a note from the old man, thanking you for letting him spend his final days in comfort and happiness.
  • Lazy Artist: The reason several flying and levitating Pokémon can't enter Sky Battles, as they lack flying animations by default and alternate ones weren't made for them. This does not explain why various other perpetually airborne Pokémon aren't allowed, however...
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: A Hex Maniac on Route 16, who says she knows all about you, tells you this after you've defeated her:
    Hex Maniac: You're definitely the leader type! Like the protagonist of a game or something!
  • Let's Meet the Meat: A variation in the Le Wow restaurant where a Skiddo comes out to greet you for one of the courses, this Skiddo being the source of the milk that made the cheese in the course. This turns out to be accidental, as the Skiddo rushed out to the table appearing to be eating the note.
  • The Load: Played with. Shauna thinks that she has become this for Calem and Serena by the time you infiltrate Team Flare's base, even though the game never makes her come off as annoying, useless, or holding anyone back at any point in the story. You reassure her that she isn't and never was.
  • Lonely Piano Piece: AZ's theme, reflecting his tragic past.
  • Long Song, Short Scene:
    • The many pre-battle tracks are actually rather long. Not that you would know, since you have to sit there without doing anything to listen to them.
    • The theme for route 1, the shortest route in the game (with just a few paces between Vaniville Town and Aquacorde Town), is surprisingly long. Again, you have to sit there without doing anything to listen to it, since it only appears for exactly that route.
    • Another Long Song, Short Scene: Battle! (Successor Korrina), which only plays during the battle against her while she's teaching you how to use mega evolution. Said theme is a rather epic remix of the gym leader's theme, but that's the only place where you get to hear it outside of multiplayer battles. And said battle's rather short, so again, you have to sit there without doing anything to listen to it.
    • The gate theme also qualifies. It plays only when you go through the various gates of the cities, and since you'd most likely to zip through the gates to get to the other side, you have to sit there without doing anything to listen to it.
  • Lost in Translation: The reason why Pikachu and its clones Plusle, Minun, Pachirisu, Emolga and Dedenne are the only ones able to learn the move "Nuzzle" is because the move involves rubbing their electrified cheeksnote  against the opponents in order to not only hurt them, but also paralyze them. While this is outright stated in its move description, the move's Japanese name, "Cheek Rub", makes it far more obvious on what's actually going on than its English name (which is technically a mistranslation since it doesn't involve the Pokémon's nose nor its mouth).
  • The Lost Woods: Route 20 definitely functions as this, being a forest maze with paths that don't always match up with one another, and the ghostly tree Pokémon you might encounter there. Another straight example is the Santalune Forest, which is also the Noob Cave in Kalos.
  • Luck-Based Mission: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
  • Meaningful Name: Lumiose City is known as "The City of Light" and its name sounds like "luminosity", which is the measure of how much light something radiates.
  • Medals for Everyone: You and your friends receive the Honor of Kalos for defeating Team Flare.
  • Menswear Ghetto: While male and female characters have access to roughly the same number of articles of clothing, the options for female characters are significantly more diverse.
  • Mercy Kill: Lysandre want to erase all Pokémon from existence so that they are never used as tools of war and theft by other humans.
  • Meteor Move: Dragon Rush's new animation involves jumping into the air and crashing down on your opponent while engulfed in flames from reentry.
  • Metropolis Level: Lumiose City is similarly structured to Castelia City from Pokémon Black and White, with tall buildings and a bustling city atmosphere full of people walking the streets, but the layout is even larger. To help trainers get around, there's a taxi cab service where you can ride between the boulevards and avenues for a small fee.
  • Min-Maxing:
    • Finally no longer a Guide Dang It! situation, as Super Training lets players see their Pokémon's Effort Values and adjust them through minigames instead of having to look up which wild Pokémon pay out which stats and grind them for hours on end.
    • Although Individual Values are still just as obtuse as they ever were, there are so many tricks to obtaining Pokémon with near flawless Individual Values from the get go that even this has been mitigated somewhat.
  • Mini-Game: Once you can access the north side of Lumiose, you can work three part time jobs a day there to make cash, which are sort of like this. The Room Service Job is a memory game; the Lost and Found Job is like a scavenger hunt, and the Bed Making Job is a race with a time limit. After you complete each job/game perfectly, the money you can earn for each increases on subsequent days, but so does the difficulty.
  • Mirror Match: The fight with Korrina after the player receives their Mega Ring will always be Mega Lucario vs Mega Lucario.
  • Mistaken for Special Guest: A visitor in the Le Wow restaurant talks about how he's so nervous from being there that he can barely eat. A waitress near him takes it for him being a food critic eating very thoroughly.
  • Money for Nothing: Zigzagged. It can be relatively hard to get the money you need when you start the game, but the farther you advance, the more money you obtain, to the point that you'll most likely have more than enough money to buy whatever you like by the time you reach the Elite Four. ...If you stick to battle-related items, at least, because some of the stuff you can do or buy in Lumiose City are ridiculously expensive.
  • Monty Haul:
    • It's amazing how many useful items are just handed to you, no strings attached. You probably didn't even want a bicycle! In fact, you even get a Lapras in this game as a gift, a Mon that is usually notorious for being rare in previous games. (And technically, this one is no exception, other than the gift; wild ones appear in encounters about 2% of the time.)
    • If you eat at the Lumiose City restaurants, and have an Amulet Coin equipped to one of your party members and have a Level 3 Prize Money O-Power active, you will actually gain more money than you spend - even moreso when you sell the mushrooms you get as a dessert. That's right - in Kalos people will pay you to feed you food.
  • Mook Maker: In some Super Training regimens, the Balloon Bots summon Bit Bots (balloons) that attack alongside them.
  • Morton's Fork: No matter which button you press, Xerosic will activate the ultimate weapon despite Lysandre's promise to not activate if you choose the correct one. Admittedly, Lysandre acknowledges this and apologizes if you did pick the right one.
  • Multiform Balance:
    • Mega Pokémon gain large bonuses to certain stats but cannot use held items (due to already holding the Mega Stone that enables this form). In addition, each trainer can only have one Pokémon Mega Evolve at a time.
    • Notably, most Mega Evolutions are weaker than their Life Orb or Choice Band/Specs wielding normal forms, but usually make up for it with boosted defenses and the new abilities.
    • There's also Aegislash, who sports a Stone Wall Shield Forme and a Glass Cannon Sword Forme. Taking hits in Shield Forme, dishing the damage in Sword Forme and then using its Secret Art to change back to Shield Forme is one strategy with it.
  • Mundane Made Awesome:
    • Every battle, no matter how insignificant, is 3D, has a flashy cutscene at the start, and when you decide on your move, an epic split screen displays both Pokémon. And that's not even considering the plot-relevant battles yet.
    • Changing outfits. After selecting clothes for fitting, it always involves winking at the "camera", some sparkles, a pose and a camera flash.
  • Mundane Utility: Some of the news reports give information on various moves, including how they could be used in real life. The "practical" uses tend to be rather less thrilling than they are during battles, such as using fire moves to light candles on a birthday cake.
  • Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups: Mega-evolving a Pokémon locks out affection benefits.
  • My Rules Are Not Your Rules: In the Battle Institute, the NPCs are, on occasion, given access to Pokémon that the player is banned from using there, including Legendaries.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • It's not the first time in the franchise that a big war involving humans and Pokémon was mentioned, though Lucario And The Mystery Of Mew had a great, barely shown, war. Lt. Surge in Gen I also mentions having fought in a war alongside his Pokémon. There's also Pokémon Conquest, in which waging war and conquering all of Ransai in order to unite the region was the main focus of the game...
    • An NPC in Couriway Town says how she loves the story of the Magikarp who climbed up the waterfall. The reason why Magikarp goes from being a pathetically weak Pokémon to the powerful Gyarados is because its whole concept is based off a Chinese legend of a carp that swam its way all the way up a waterfall and was transformed into a dragon when it reached the top.
    • The fact that you can battle the regional professor. This was intended as soon as Generation I, but never implemented yet.
    • The song that plays in Coffiure Clips salon is actually an instrumental remix of the Gen III anime opening theme, Advanced Adventure!
    • The opponents in the Virtual Training blasting off after every victory should look all but too familiar to who knows Team Rocket's routine.
    • When viewed in the overworld, the Green Fedora looks exactly like Nando's hat.
    • One particular TV segment focuses on a breeder named Paul, who claims that he used to be a bad person. Anime Paul's older brother, Reggie, is a Pokemon breeder, as well.
  • Nerf:
    • The updated type chart has Steel lose its resistances against Ghost and Dark.
    • Grass-types were made immune to all spore-based attacks (Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, Spore, Cotton Spore and Rage Powder) and the ability Effect Spore. The Overcoat ability and the new Safety Goggles item also grants these immunities to the wielder.
    • Weather abilities are now just automatic versions of their move counterparts instead of having indefinite duration.
    • A large number of Special moves and Meteor Mash had their Power lowered slightly, while other moves had their Power Point reduced.
    • Zig-zagged with Hidden Power: its Power is now set to 60, when it could potentially hit 70 in previous games. While that is technically a drop in maximum damage output, it makes the move a lot more user-friendly, as before the player could had to work around the damage output and the type of Hidden Power.
    • Substitute no longer blocks against sound-based attacks like Supersonic, Hyper Voice, or Boomburst. It also won't protect the user from Pokémon with the Infiltrator ability.
    • Critical Hits now deal 1.5x the damage instead of 2x, while those boosted by the Sniper ability now do x2.25 damage instead of x3.
    • Balm Mushrooms now only sell for around 6000 as opposed to 25000 due to them being easier to obtain.
    • Minimize had its PP slashed in half and a number of moves have joined Steamroller in being able to do double the damage to those who use it such as Dragon Rush, Flying Press, and Phantom Force. Said moves are also now Always Accurate Attacks against the Minimize user.
    • Sky Drop now has a hidden weight limit that will cause it to fail if the target weighs 440.9 lbs. (200 kg) or more.
    • The Gems had their damage bonus reduced from 50% to 30%, and only the Normal Gem is available.
    • The redirection moves Rage Powder and Follow Me are now in a lower priority bracket. This mainly affects their ability to redirect Fake Out (now impossible) and Extreme Speed and Feint (if the opponents are faster than the user).
    • Moves with semi-invulnerable turns (Dive, Fly, etc) have been added to the list of moves Assist can't call. Combining the ability Prankster (gives +1 priority to non-damaging moves) with these moves via Assist and careful teambuilding, plus giving your Purrloin/Liepard (the only mons with access to both Prankster and Assist) a Lagging Tail and Full Incense (holder moves last in their priority bracket) had made it possible to ensure your mons would vanish this turn before your opponent could attack, and reappear the next turn after, making it unreasonably difficult to even get a hit in. There were ways around the strategy, but if a team didn't happen to have any of them, they would be completely hosed from the moment the battle started.
  • Never Bareheaded:
    • Enforced for the player characters - you can remove the accessory sitting on your hat, or replace it with a new one, but you can't have your hero go hat-less.
    • There is one time when you can remove your hat - when you go to the hair salon in Lumiose City to get your hair cut and styled. (It would be kind of silly to think that the beautician could do her job with you wearing it.)
  • Never Say "Die":
    • While death is a rather heavy theme in these games (especially in Y), in most cases death-related words are replaced with euphemisms without changing the meaning, although the words "death" and "die" are used very rarely (by one NPC and from old Pokédex entries).
    • Averted in Japan with Yveltal's Secret Art, which is called "Death Wing." Played straight in the English translation, where it's called "Oblivion Wing."
    • Yveltal is called the "Destruction Pokémon" in both English and Japanese, even though "death" is a more obvious antithesis to Xerneas' "life" theme, and Yveltal's Flavor Text makes it clear that this Pokémon's signature trait isn't physical property damage but instead sucking the Life Energy from other beings.
    • The plot appears to involve death and lots of it; still, it's phrased as "lives being taken" more often than "killed" or "death".
    • When AZ talks about all the Pokémon he murdered by trying to save Floette, he uses the phrase "took the lives of..."
    • In AZ's backstory, it's claimed that his Floette returned to him "in a tiny box".
    • When Team Flare announce their plan to kill everyone who isn't part of their group, the words "eliminate" and "wipe the slate clean" are used.
    • Averted with Malva's comment in a post-game story; she explicitly says, "Be ready to face death if you go. Prepare well if you want a shot at surviving."
    • Trying to name a Pokémon with "Kill" or "Murder" in it and the game says "you can't name your Pokémon that." "Death" is fine, though.
    • There's an NPC in Anistar you can lend one of your Pokémon to to keep him company. Eventually, all that's left is the Pokémon and a letter saying how it enabled him to "keep going...until the end".
    • Again averted with Phantump's Pokédex entry in Y; it explicitly states they are the spirits of children who died in the forest.
  • Nice Guy: The higher ranking trainers (the Earls/Countesses, Marquises/Marchionesses, and Dukes/Duchesses) at the Battle Chateau are quite nice to the player, with some considering him/her a Worthy Opponent. However, Earl Nassek is an exception.
  • Nightmare Retardant: An In-Universe example. Your friends at one point in the game hype up a Spooky House and the scary stories that get told there. When you get there, you notice that it's just a regular dim house and the old man there tells a very anticlimactic story, to which your friends, and possibly the player will be disappointed in. He even asks them to tip him, which you can refuse if you want.
  • No Indoor Voice:
    • A Hiker in the Frost Cavern keeps shouting in all caps, thinking he'll freeze if he doesn't.
    • Blackbelt Igor in Reflection Cave, who screams just one word in his sentences.
  • Noob Cave: Santalune Forest which is also a Nostalgia Level. See below.
  • No OSHA Compliance:
    • Viola's Gym has you walk on strands of thin web like they were tightropes without any sort of nets below to catch people that could lose their balance.
    • Grant's Gym involves scaling multiple rock-climbing walls without a safety harness.
    • Korrina's Gym has roller skate grind rails that go over a large pit.
    • Averted with the Ramos' Gym where you have to swing across ropes. There are nets under them, and they're even level with the ground.
  • No Power, No Color: Marvelous Deer Pokemon Xerneas, the legendary mascot of Pokemon X, has bright glowing antlers with what looks like gems of all different colors adorning their tips. When not in battle, however, its antlers dull and the "gems" all become a muted shade of blue. Even its body's hue switches between an intense blue when in battle and a softer blue palette when not.
  • Nostalgia Level: Santalune Forest. It's Viridan Forest, with all its Pokémon (plus Fletchling, Scatterbug and the Elemental Monkeys), recreated in 3D!
  • Nothing Is Scarier:
    • Invoked with the Chamber of Emptiness. It's a cave with one room, no random encounters, and a single item: Spooky Plate. And in the post-game, Banette's Mega Stone.
    • You'd expect the Sea Spirit's Cave in the middle of Azure Bay to be the lair of some dangerous Water Pokémon. Instead, if you visit it the first time you have a chance, it's even emptier than the Chamber of Emptiness; just a dark, eerie cavern with nothing but the sound of dripping water. However, after you encounter Articuno, Moltres, and Zapados in the wilds of Kalos, you can find them here, and try to capture them.
    • Also, the empty, deserted playground at the beginning of Route 14. After you battle your Rival, they leave with your other friends, and you're alone in this creepy place where the wind is howling and there's sometimes a cold rain, which has nothing except a rusty slide and jungle gym (and a sandbox that makes an ominous shuffling noise if you step on it) but nothing else. No Pokémon, nothing except a Rare Candy behind the jungle gym in this creepy deserted playground.
  • Notice This: Hunting Mega Stones in the aftergame? They'll appear as sparkles on the ground, and they're solid tiles. You will bump into them, should you try to walk over it.
  • NPC Roadblock: It's a Pokémon game, folks! It wouldn't be right if these weren't all over the place.
    • In traditional Pokémon fashion, a sleeping Snorlax blocks Route 7 and multiple NPCs standing guard at gatehouses, making sure you're not going to a new route before you've progressed the plot far enough.
    • A Swimmer on Route 8 says she lost her fossil and wants to search for it...and for some reason your character takes this as a reason not to go that way.
    • An NPC blocks a set of stairs for almost no reason at all in Shalour City. He's there solely so you don't mess up a certain Event Flag where Trevor and Tierno show up.
    • Similarily in Geosenge Town, if you try to Route 11 without chasing the Team Flare grunt to the back of the town, the exit will be "blocked" off by a group of tourists who don't even notice you there.
    • One of the Team Flare grunts in the Kalos Power Plant parks himself at the end of a one tile-wide path and refuses to move after you beat him, forcing you to go the entire way around and through every grunt in the building.
    • One of the weirdest ones is a couple of trainers who stand in the doorway to Route 16, but don't necessarily block it. They're just chatting in it with visible space between them, saying to each other (not you) about how only people cool enough to get through Route 15 can go to Route 16. Your character just backs off anyway. In a sense, it's the player character acting as the roadblock by simply not wanting to walk in between two people...
    • Frankly, the roadblocks are really easy to spot. If there's a person standing in a narrow path or doorway and you haven't done everything plot-relevant in the previous area, expect this person not to let you through until you correct that.
  • Obviously Evil: Most people can guess that Lysandre is the Big Bad the first time they see him.
  • Obvious Rule Patch:
    • Word of God confirmed Fairy was introduced to make Dragon-types less overpowered.
    • Assist can no longer call Roar and Whirlwind, since in the last Generation a Purrloin or Liepard could combine it with Prankster to get priority on them when those moves are supposed to go last.
    • Copycat is no longer given priority by Prankster if it uses those moves (plus Circle Throw and Dragon Tail), as a Prankster Riolu could use it to copy its own Roar and do the same thing.
  • Oddball in the Series: This is the only generation to date for which no third version, sequels, or DLC was released.
  • Oddly Named Sequel: Instead of a color or a precious material, the versions are named after the X- and Y-axes, which is meant to symbolize different ways of thinking that overlap at points. The Japanese logos contain a DNA helix/Mega Evolution symbol popping out in the word. To a lesser degree, the English names of the games are "Pokémon X" and "Pokémon Y", and serves just like a Lettered Sequel, rather than "Pokémon X Version" and "Pokémon Y Version", as previous generations would have called them.
  • Old Save Bonus: Using the Poké Transporter app on the 3DS, it's possible to import Pokémon from the fifth-generation games (and from the previous two in turn) into Pokémon Bank, which can then be used here. Pokémon only obtained through transfers are marked with a Poké Ball symbol in the Pokédex, and thus do not count towards the completion crowns for the Kalos regional Pokédexes.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: Lysandre, the boss of Team Flare wants to ensure enough resources for all on Earth by killing all Pokémon and all humans not part of or loyal to Team Flare. Unlike Cyrus, whose plan was to reset all of existence (Galactic included), Lysandre's plan basically amounts to genocide as he explicitly spells out that only Team Flare is to be alive by the end.
  • Opaque Nerd Glasses: Clemont and the male Scientists wear these.
  • Our Fairies Are Different: Debuting in this game is the 18th elemental type known as "Fairy", which is shared by (among many others) Sylveon, Flabebe, Swirlix, Spritzee, Jigglypuff, Marill, Gardevoir, and Mawile, as well as X version mascot Xerneas.
  • Outcast Refuge: Pokémon Village, well-hidden in a forest, has become a refuge for Pokémon living in hiding from humans. It's most famous resident is Mewtwo, who can be battled and caught after becoming Champion.
  • Oxymoronic Being:
    • The Dark-Type has long been thought to be the polar opposite of the Psychic-Type, being immune to Psychic attacks with Dark attacks being Super Effective against Psychic Pokémon. Behold Inkay (and it's evolved form, Malamar, the first Psychic/Dark hybrid. (Of course, this little guy seems to be all about opposites, called the Revolving Pokémon, with an ability called Contrary (moves that lower its stats increase it instead, and vice versa), and attacks with names like Topsy-Turvy and Switcheroo. The craziest part? In order for it to evolve when it reaches the right level, you have to hold the Nintendo 3DS upside-down starting from the moment you strike the final blow to your opponent.
    • Mawile and Klefki might count too, being Steel/Fairy hybrids. Steel is a weakness of Fairy Pokémon (possibly reflecting how Cold Iron hurts The Fair Folk) but Mawile has a huge iron jaw on its head and Klefki is made of steel. For further irony, their behaviour happens to fit The Fair Folk's traditional description well.
    • The Mythical Pokémon Volcanion is a Fire/Water-type; to date, it remans the only Pokémon with such a type. Appropriately enough, it uses steam (i.e. water boiled into a gas) to attack.
  • Palette Swap: Rising Stars, Ace Trainers, Sky Trainers, Veterans, and Psychics use the same 3-D model. This is most obvious with the male Veterans, who look noticably older and have a completely different hairstyle in their VS. art; the female Rising Stars, who look much younger in their VS. art and have a different hairstyle; and the female Sky Trainers, who have skirts in their overworld models but not in their VS. art.
  • Painting the Medium: If a Pokémon with high enough affection in Pokémon-Amie falls asleep, the message that normally says your Pokémon's sleeping is followed by another texbox that essentially goes "Zzz...Zzz...", implying that the player character has become so empathic with their Pokémon they feel sleepy alongside their Pokémon when the latter falls asleep.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Gee, who could those two Defenders of Kalos be? They have blonde and purple hair and white suits. Who are they? Furthermore, in the Japanese version, the female character is the only one in the game to address herself as あたくしnote . And Tierno certainly isn't fooled; from the nonchalant way he uses their real names, he apparently didn't even notice they were trying to keep their identities secret. When he does, they stammer and try to deny their identities. (In fact, in one scene, the player seems to tell them I Never Told You My Name after they use it, and they make up a pretty lame excuse.)
  • Peninsula of Power Leveling: See the series' page here.
  • Permanently Missable Content:
    • Like the 4th and 5th generations, there are periodic events allowing players to acquire rare Pokémon and/or items, although you are actually allowed to trade them outside of the global trade center; the first XY event is a special Torchic with its hidden ability and possessing the item needed to unlock Blaziken's Mega Evolution (which is otherwise unobtainable in-game). Just like with most event Pokémon, many players are trading the Torchic to another game copy, then starting the game over to stockpile more and more Torchics with the Mega Stone.
    • The stones for the Geosenge Town Photo Spot. Before the event happens, you can take a photo in front of the stones. Once the ultimate weapon sprouts, you can't get a photo in front of the rocks anymore, and once it's destroyed, the photo backdrop will be a smoldering crater instead.
  • Pink Means Feminine: Feminine clothes are given a frilly pink tag, and this designation includes a good number of pink-colored clothes like the Frilly Dress and Sundae Dress. There are, however, a couple of pink clothes that don't fall under this category, usually being more sporty than girly.
  • Plot Hole: Sycamore acts as though Mega Evolution is a big secret that you must uncover. By the time you get to the Tower of Mastery, you realize that this is not the case at all, and this element of the plot is promptly dropped. Heck, pretty much anything Sycamore says about Mega Evolution is contradicted.
  • Pokémon Speak:
    • Pikachu's cry has been changed to this (just like in Yellow).
    • Whether it's intentional or just a coincidence, Oddish's remastered cry actually sounds out "Aww-Dsh" quite clearly.
    • Staying in fashion with the previous games (like Pokémon Black 2 and White 2), some Pokémon when talked to will say random noises, while others will sound out parts of their names. Mewtwo, for example, shouts "Mew!" when engaged and at one point Korrina's Lucario says "Carr...", while Pokémon such as Mimi the Espurr will hiss and growl instead.
    • Even zigzagged within the same species; the player character encounters two Lucario and Abomasnow during the story, and one has Pokémon Speak in its speech bubbles while the other has regular growling onomatopoeia.
  • Police Are Useless: Once again, it seems Looker is only good for telling the player what to do.
  • Pop Quiz: Lumiose's Gym involves identifying the silhouettes of different Pokémon.
  • Port Town: Coumarine City. Once again it is the only functioning port town in Kalos (except you can't board a ship to take you anywhere).
  • Power Creep:
    • Downplayed with the new Mons, as only a couple have any overkill stats.
    • Played completely straight with Mega Evolutions, which Word of God describes as being on par with Legendaries in terms of raw power (and in a couple cases like Mega Mawile, actually exceed them).
  • Power Echoes: Mega Evolved Pokémon let out an echoed cry after their transformation, and when defeated.
  • The Power of Friendship:
  • The Power of Love: Petting and playing with your Pokémon in Pokémon-amie will enhance their battle performance. It gets to severely heartwarming degrees at later points when your bond from the Amie is so strong, your Pokémon will refuse to faint because it wants you to see it's best side in battle, or dodges an oncoming attack because it loves you so damn much.
  • Powered by a Forsaken Child: AZ's machine, which can revive the dead, and can also be basically used as a nuke. "The lives of many Pokémon were taken" to power it.
  • Power Perversion Potential:
    • The Pokédex allows you to freely rotate the Pokémon and view them from any angle. This allows players to look up Gardevoir's or Hitmonchan's skirt if they want. There's nothing to see up there.
    • How many people rubbed their Pokémon in inappropriate locations? And how many of them liked it?
  • Power Up Mount: Averted. You get to ride Ryhorn, Skiddo, Gogoat, and Mamoswine in specific locations.
  • Pun: This generation is much, much punnier than any previous. The first notable example comes from a backpacker inside Parfum Palace:
    Don't try to sleep in the king's bed. It's ir-regal! Ha ha! Hey! Are you trying to use Mean Look on me?
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
    • Shauna's response after watching the fireworks is "That. Was. AMAZING!"
    • The girl that gives you the TM for Bulk Up talks in this manner.
      Bulk Up! Bulks up! The body! To raise! Attack stat! And Defense stat!
  • Puppy-Dog Eyes: A new Fairy-type move called Baby-Doll Eyes. It has increased priority and lowers the foe's attack.
  • Purposely Overpowered: The EXP Share was made this way to make the games more inviting towards newer players. Previously, it was a held item that allowed a single Pokémon to gain experience regardless of whether or not they had participated in battle. Now, it's a key item that gives all Pokémon who didn't participate in the battle half of the experience point they would've earned if they did participate, making it very easy to accidentally over level your Pokémon in comparison to the levels the NPCs' Pokémon would have at the point in the game you're in.
  • Production Foreshadowing: One of the hotel guests is a backpacker who tells you that you "should check out my region," and later he gives you a Strange Souvenir, which eventually is revealed to be from, you guessed it, Alola.
  • Railroading: Everywhere in the main game. Until you do whatever the plot wants you, there's always something preventing you from going too far off the path.
  • Recruited from the Gutter: The entire postgame sidequest featuring Looker revolves around this trope with Emma, who was living as an orphan in the streets of Lumoise City. At the end of the storyline Looker has to move on, but purchases the agency building for her to live in and lets her keep the expansion suit so she can fight crime as Essentia.
  • Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: Seeing as you have four Rivals in this game and all four are your allies, it seems you do have a small team in this game, so the Trope does apply. (Although, like all Pokémon games, no-one "recruits" the heroes, unless them being drawn into a mess by circumstance counts as being recruited.)
  • Restart the World: Team Flare's ultimate goal is to destroy all the people not associated with Team Flare and all Pokémon.
  • Retcon:
    • Meta examples. For example, ViceGrip is now Vice Grip (even though there was never reason to format it as such), while Faint Attack and Hi Jump Kick are now correctly spelled as Feint Attacknote  and High Jump Kick. This also applies to species (such as Ogre Scorpion instead of Ogre Scorp), items (such as X Sp. Atk instead of X Special) and Abilities (Compound Eyes instead of Compoundeyes)
    • There's also acknowledgement of the newly introduced Fairy type of Pokémon, which effectively retconned numerous Normal types.
    • Some Pokémon had their stats increased in this game, usually in a single stat by 10.
    • Fairy-type has been added to several Pokémon, and in some cases outright replaces a former Normal-type.
  • Rhymes on a Dime: The greeter at the start of each gym will greet you with a rhyme themed for that gym.
    How's the bout, little sprout? You got it figured out yet, Champ? Yup! Old man Ramos' Gym is all about Grass!
  • Rich Bitch:
    • An apt description for many of the money-loving Team Flare's members.
    • Several people in the Battle Chateau seem to be this at first, but they'll usually show a more affable side once you beat them. Viscountess Danielle and Earl Nassak, on the other hand...
  • Riddle Me This: The Lumiose Gym is made up of five floors; on the first four, Clemont's sister Bonnie gives you a silhouette, and tells you to identify it by going to one of three trainers that matches. (It's a Homage to the anime's "Who's that Pokémon?" quip.) The correct trainer is much easier than the other two, and getting it right can get you to Clemont faster, but while the first two are easy, the third is harder (it's one of the three elemental monkeys), and with the fourth, she gives you three silhouettes that look very much alike (all are Pokémon that look like moths) and tells you to choose which is one is the one she names.
  • Right on the Tick: One of the most economical healing items in the game is the Lumiose Galette, a cookie you can buy from a vendor in Lumiose City. It does everything a Full Heal does, but only costs 100 Poké Dollars, and if you buy enough of them, the vendor lowers the price to only 80. However, she tends to sell out fast, and to be assured that you can get a lot of them, you have to be at the stand when they make a new batch, which they do at 3AM, 9AM, 3PM, and 9PM. On top of that, if you get there when they're fresh, you get a Moomoo Milk with your galette for free.
  • Robot Maid: Julia in the Battle Chateau talks like a robot in a loud monotone voice, detects you as a threat, and activates her defense systems. She "WAS ONLY CREATED FOR BATTLE..."
  • Rollerblade Good: Rollerskates debut as a new form of fast transport, obtained as early as the second town. They also allow for movement off of the 8 directional grid of normal movement. The Shalour City Gym is also a roller derby, right down to having to collide with opponents to battle them.

    S-Z 
  • Scenery Porn: This trope was a big theme of Kalos's design—"Kalos" is even the Greek word for beauty. Photo spots and strategically-placed benches (which will change the camera angle to something more appropriate if sat in) emphasize notable examples. The official map artwork even appears to be Impressionist instead of realistic.
  • Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: An elderly Artist in the Battle Maison, before he battles you, says that he will make you cry because you don't know when to quit.
  • Scunthorpe Problem: All text inputs (Pokémon nicknames, your Trainer name, etc.) have built-in wordcensors that test your input against not just what language you're playing language, but all languages the game includes. This means you can't use names like "Spike"note  or "Viola"note  — the latter is especially noticeable because it's the name of a Gym Leader. There are several of cases where a couple of letters next to one of these words will allow it to bypass the filter. Similar filters are applied when transporting Pokémon from previous generations — you're informed that the nickname was blocked and it gets reset to the species name.
  • Serial Escalation: A rollerblader at the bike shop wonders if she'd go even faster if she rode a bike while rollerblading.
  • Sequel Hook:
    • A Backpacker that stays in the various hotels around the game mentions that he loves the Kalos region, but where he comes from is pretty cool too. He starts to describe one city, but quickly changes his mind, saying that "You'll see it soon enough."
    • Along with this he will give you the "Strange Souvenir" if you talk to him enough, which depicts the supposed legendary of that region according to the item's description, talk to him later on and he will say outright that it's not Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, or Unova. We later learn that it's from Alola, and you can even buy multiples of the item there.
    • An NPC mentions that there is a region somewhere that has a waterfall that flows backward.
    • After you complete the Looker missions, it is said that while your part is done, their story is just beginning.
    • A strange "Hex Maniac" (who may be an actual ghost) at one point accosts you in a Lumiose City building and says that you "aren't the one".
    • The official X and Y Guidebook says "In addition to the thirteen Berries that can only be cultivated through mutation, another fourteen Berries do not appear in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y and can be obtained only by trading them from other regions.", which seems simple enough at first, you'd just send them with a Pokémon through the Pokémon Bank, right? Wrong, as the Bank doesn't allow Hold Items, hinting at further regions on the 3DS.
    • Zygarde's X Pokédex entry states that when Kalos' ecosystem falls into disarray, it appears and reveals its secret power. You also find it randomly in a cave with only an NPC saying a "monster" is rumored to lurk inside hinting where it is. Just like how you find Rayquaza in Ruby and Sapphire, Giratina in Diamond and Pearl, and Kyurem in Black and White. However, there never was another Kalos game that expanded on it like the prior three.
    • At the beginning of the post-game, Shauna says she's going to a faraway region. Likely due to the fact that no more Kalos games materialized, this was never followed up.
    • In the house where the old man talks about the box Legendary after capturing it, a girl speaks about a separate group who inquired about it several years back.
  • Sequential Boss: Some of the boss battles in Secret Super Training consist of fighting multiple balloon bots in a row, usually its evolved forms.
  • Serious Business: Aside from the Pokémon battles themselves:
    • Just go to a random Cafe in Lumiose City and you will find people who treat photography, Pokémon-Amie, Super Training, poetry, loneliness, Furfrou haircuts and even tipping to be Serious Businesses.
    • Other than Cafes, Berry Juice making is definitely Serious Business.
    • Stylishness in Lumiose, enough to get you barred from certain restaurants and shops until you are "stylish enough"...and later get discounts just because you've got it.
  • Severely Specialized Store:
    • Of the six fashion boutiques, the first one (in Santalune City) only sells hats and hat accessories.
    • Lumiose City has a number of stores that only sell one type of product, like the Poké Ball Boutique and the Stone Emporium (which sells evolution stones).
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: Team Flare may be a Nebulous Evil Organisation with a lot of Faceless Goons but they sure have spiffy uniforms. And they take it seriously. At the PokéBall factory, your snarky rival is able to make a female Grunt very angry by asking if she's there to "work a part-time job to pay for that dumb suit."
  • Shifting Sand Land: Route 13. Here Pokémon follow you around and pop out of piles of clay instead of appearing in tall grass. Not to mention the wind that is constantly blowing here.
  • Shoplift and Die: If you don't have the cash to pay their fare, taxi drivers attack you.
  • Sibling Team: One of the Double Battle trainer classes is "Mysterious Sisters" (a Hex Maniac and a Fairy Tale Girl).
  • Sidetracked By The Golden Saucer:
    • The Super Training mini-game can pretty much distract the player from the main quest.
    • The three Pokémon-Amie minigames (berry matching, twitch-reflex yarn juggling, and jigsaw solving) are also quite addictive, and reward you with Poké-puff to feed your partners.
    • Wonder Trade is even more like gambling than the Game Corner. It can be incredibly addictive trying to get rare mons from it, or breeding large quantities of rare ones and distributing them to lucky traders.
    • The PR Video Studio can become this. You'd be surprised how much time you spend editing together a video filled with various poses, backgrounds, musics, sound effects, and special effects for you and/or your Pokémon of choice.
  • Silk Hiding Steel: Marchioness Fiona in the Battle Chateau admits that she's a bodybuilder, hiding a "tapestry of muscles" underneath her elegant furisode.
  • Sleep Cute: Two Skiddo can be found sleeping together in Lumiose City at night. More sleeping ones be found on the ranch on Route 12. (Along with a few that are wide awake, which you can ride.)
  • Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Frost Cavern plays this straight. Snowbelle City is the typical snowy town but it is the first ice type gym that subverts this trope by not including sliding ice puzzles. Route 17 is a snowy path with piles of snow so high, you need to use a Mamoswine to tread through the heavy snow.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Compared to the dialogue of those with the Duke/Duchess and Marquise/Marchioness-ranked people in the Chateau, a large deal of the Barons and Viscountesses are rather boastful and arrogant of their status even though they're saying this to the Player Character, who can potentially be a Grand Duke/Grand Duchess.
  • Snake Oil Salesman:
    • A Magikarp Salesman appears in this game, and he's even more crooked than any others. After you talk to a hiker that you meet in the hotels enough times, he offers you a "Super Special" Magikarp in exchange for a Gyarados. It's nothing but a plain old Magikarp, and only Lvl 5, lower than one you could catch yourself. (If you knew that the guy's name was "Caveat" and that the Magikarp's name was "Carpe Diem", it might tip you off, but you only learn that if you trade it.) The only compensation is that the Magikarp has an Adamant nature (which lowers Special Attack to boost its Attack) and has a perfect IV in Attack.
    • In fact, that might make you suspicious of a similar trade involving someone in a hotel, involving a maid who also makes an offer after you speak to her enough times, but in this case, you might feel bad for ripping her off. The Mon she offers is a female Eevee with a Docile Nature (for a Mon as mutable as Eevee, that's good) and she throws in a Rare Candy for free. Even better, she'll accept any old Mon for it.
  • Snake Versus Mongoose: While Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire introduced Zangoose and Seviper and established the enmity between them, this game shows it in action whenever there's a horde battle. Basically, the horde in question will have four of one Pokémon and one of the other (depending on version), with the four immediately ganging up on the one.
  • Snowy Sleigh Bells: Snowbelle City's theme wouldn't have the same glacial flair without some sleigh bells.
  • Socialization Bonus:
    • In addition to the usual trading 'mons between people, there are O-Powers. Working similarly to the Pass Powers of Black and White, you can use them on yourself or others to gain various buffs, like a temporary stat boost, healing, or increased prize money from trainers. The energy cost for using them on other people is less than if you use them on yourself, and you earn higher-level powers by using the lower-level ones, so naturally using powers on others will get you there more quickly. The Energy charges up faster if you have more steps for the day in your 3DS.
    • The Friend Safari makes two Pokémon of a certain type available based on the friend codes on your 3DS system (three if the person has Pokémon X/Y and has defeated the Elite Four in said game). They're guaranteed to have at least two maxed out IVs on random stats, and the Pokémon also have a chance of having their Hidden Ability.
    • Pokémon Miles are earned by either StreetPassing another player who has played Pokémon X or Y, or through battles and trades (including Wonder Trade) with other people particularly on the internet. Miles can be exchanged for various recovery items and PP Ups either in-game at the Lumiose south Pokémon Center, or on the Pokémon website.
  • Spiritual Successor: To Pokémon Red and Blue and Pokémon Gold and Silver (especially HeartGold and SoulSilver). The sheer number of Kanto exclusives in Kalosnote , along with the small number of brand-new species and new Eeveelution with a new type, gives Kalos a very Johto-ish feel, as if X and Y are part of a trilogy with the aforementioned two sets of games.
  • Standard Power-Up Pose: Most Mega Evolutions do this while transforming.
  • Stop Poking Me!: Like with the Berserk Button entry above, your Pokémon will get angry if you keep poking them, by repeatedly tapping the screen in Pokémon-Amie.
  • Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: Hex Maniacs invoke this to some degree. There's also the actual ghost or apparition in Lumiose that uses the same model.
  • Superboss: After becomng the Champion, the player can find the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo, Zygarde, and one of the Legendary birds (depending on which Kalos starter was chosen). All of them appear at Level 70, being the highest-leveled wild Pokémon in the game.
  • Super Mode: Mega Evolution gives new forms to certain Pokémon. Once it's activated via a button, they gain more powerful abilities (and in some cases new types) along with stats apparently on par with legendary Pokémon. Mega Evolution's weakness is that only lasts in-battle and only while holding Mega Stones, preventing use of regular items. In addition, only one Mega Evolution can be used per trainer per battle.
  • Surprisingly Creepy Moment: The Kalos region takes great pride in how beautiful the locations are, how friendly and generous the people are, and its great history. Then you find out about the various bloody wars it had in that history. One of these wars was so violent that it only ended because someone built an equivalent to a nuke and set it off, destroying virtually everything. The villainous team also wants to set off the same weapon once more.
  • Sword of Plot Advancement: As with Zekrom and Reshiram in Pokémon Black and White, you are forced to catch Xerneas or Yveltal to proceed with the game and can use it in the final battle against Lysandre.
  • Tank Controls
    • Rhyhorn and Mamoswine can only move forward, backward, and turn left and right at 45 degree angles to cover the 8 main directions. They can't turn and move at the same time like the player can.
    • When maneuvering around Lumiose City's wide boulevards, left and right rotate the camera/player, while up and down move the player forward or back. (But once you start walking, you can freely walk all 8 directions). Lumiose City's tight alleyways (and Glittering Cave's similar narrowness) are another matter, where pressing left or right rotates the player by 90 degrees, and down causes the character to make an about-face.
  • Testosterone Poisoning: The lines from core training when your Pokémon has a special bag to hit.
    "Double it. Double it ALLLLLLL!"
    "It’s time to bloom! Let’s boost our bond—with MUSCLES!"
  • The Taxi: Lumiose has them, though you don't have to use them. If you do, you either pay the fare or battle the driver.
  • Thematic Sequel Logo Change: The "X" is stylized to represent Xerneas' antlers, and the "Y" Yveltal's wings. The Japanese version of the logo also contains the Mega Evolution symbol, the game's central mechanic.
  • 13 Is Unlucky: Route 13 is full of mons that appear and chase you even with Repel active, and most of them have abilities that prevent you from running away! And then there are those frequent wind gusts that knock you off your stride. To say Route 13 is That One Level is an understatement. It also doesn't help that during the story, this is where you run into Team Flare once again.
  • Too Awesome to Use: The Master Ball, as usual. Xerneas and Yvetal have higher catch rates than other Olympus Mons since the player is required to catch them and there aren't any traditional Roaming Legendaries that the Master Ball would make easier to catch.
  • Took a Shortcut: Malva tells you to hurry to your next destination while she continues to lounge around in her chair. When you get there, she is somehow already waiting for you, but actually gives you kudos for getting there so fast.
  • Transformation Is a Free Action: Literally, as Pokémon can Mega Evolve and attack on the same turn. The Mega Evolution itself happens before anything else in that turn, although the Pokémon who just Mega Transformed will still utilize their regular form's speed stat for that turn.
  • Transformation Trinket: In two parts. The Mega Stone needed to Mega Evolve a specific Pokémon and the Mega Ring the trainer uses to activate it.
  • Triumphant Reprise: In the epilogue of the game, the song named "AZ" gets a Triumphant Reprise as his Floette returned to him.
  • Truck Driver's Gear Change: "Kiseki", the song that plays during the ending credits, features lyrics in both English and French for players to sing along with. It also changes key while repeating the refrain halfway through the song.
  • Turns Red: In the Super Secret Training, four balloons use this strategy. The Aegislash balloon starts attacking rather slowly, but once you've hit a certain score and enough time has passed, its attacks and movements will speed up dramatically. The Roserade balloon inverts this; its movements and attacks are lightning-quick, but once you hit a certain score and enough time has passed, it slows down greatly. Both the Mega Tyranitar balloon and the Mega Aggron balloon start off in their powered-up state to signify that they're stronger than the Tyranitar balloon and the Aggron balloon. They all turn a bright magenta when in their powered-up stages.
  • Umpteenth Customer: When the player first enters the Cyllage City Bike Shop, they are told that they are the ten thousand and first customer. Apparently, if they were the ten-thousandth, they would have gotten a free bike, although they still only have to answer a short quiz to get one anyway.
  • Uncommon Time: The Victory Road theme in X/Y is in 7/4 time.
  • Units Not to Scale:
    • The boats in the marina in Coumarine City appear to only be large enough to fit one person to drive it.
    • Even with 3D models, the game has no choice but to scale down huge Pokémon like Wailord during battle. It's not much longer than how Onix and Steelix are usually represented, and none of those three are represented at the 47 feet, 28 feet, and 30 feet tall that they respectively should be. More comparable to the 5 foot Greninja when it stands up.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight:
    • Mega Evolution. You'd think other NPC trainers and gym leaders would be wondering how you are transforming your Pokémon.
    • Lysandre publicly announcing to everyone over holo-caster that he will be wiping out Kalos, then levels half of Geosenge by activating a gigantic crystalline flower of death. Surely, something like this should've caused panic among the public and be all over the TV and holo-caster news.
    • The girl in Cyllage City who gives massages. When she ends up massaging Arceus, you'd think that would draw attention. Also the random NPC's who comment on the first Pokémon in your party. None of them find it strange that you have "God" in your pocket.
  • Unreliable Illustrator: Early on in the game, a Snorlax falls asleep in the middle of the road as an homage to the Broken Bridge in the original games. Just like before, the player has to use the Poké Flute to wake up the Snorlax and fight it. Unfortunately, while the game insists that the Snorlax "opens its eyes wide", the model's eyes remain closed.
  • The Unreveal: As part of the plot, you'll see the Pokémon world from space. Everything but Kalos is covered in clouds.
  • Unwanted Assistance: Can happen if you max out a Pokémon's affection, resulting in it landing a critical hit on a Pokémon you wanted to catch. No, you were not "in sync with your trainer's wishes."
  • Versus Character Splash: Even regular trainers will get these before battle. Story important characters like Rivals have detailed (Read, less Super-Deformed) 3D models in the splashes while normal trainers have static artwork.
  • Video Game 3D Leap: While the previous two generations of games had a Sprite/Polygon Mix (specifically, 2D sprites rendered in a 3D world) and home console spinoffs like Pokémon Colosseum had already been in full 3D, this is the first main series handheld game to feature everything constructed with 3D models.
  • Video Game Caring Potential:
    • Pokémon-Amie. Your team is no longer a static companion, as you're able to interact with them like pets. The battle text also changes slightly as you bond with them, such as being reassured by your presence, eagerly awaiting your next action, or the trainer saying some very encouraging words back to their Pokémon. It pays off too. Pokémon with a high affection love you so much that it gives them the strength to shake off status effect like Burn or Paralysis, enduring an attack that would normally KO them, score more critical hits, and other benefits. Having a high affection is just plain beneficial all around.
      • Aside from what's affected by Pokémon-Amie the messages during battles make a lot of effort to try to tug at your heart strings and make you care for your Pokémon in general. Like for example if your Pokémon gets to low health, and the health bar turns red you'll see a message that says it is "in a bit of a pinch. It looks like it might start to cry."
    • You can give tips to certain NPCs that do services for you to make them happier. There's no indication that this benefits you in any way, so this trope would have to apply for you to do it in the first place.
    • You can use O-Powers on other people to help them out. While O-Powers are cheaper to use, and thus easier to grind, when used on other people, there's nothing stopping you from using max level O-Powers to help people anyway.
    • Wonder Trade can result in this if you decide to give something rare away, whether it be a Pokémon with perfect IVs and Egg Moves, items, or even Pokérus.
      • It is even invoked frequently by groups within the Pokémon community by hosting mass events to wonder trade certain Pokémon. Often times, adding items to them is encouraged to make this trope even more present.
    • Using Pokémon-Amie with Pokémon you've maxed out on affection, as you aren't required to maintain its stats. However, it's just nice to play with your friends and helpers and reward them after a tough battle or two.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential:
    • You could be a greedy jerk by only giving away Com Mons on Wonder Trade. Just know that you'll probably be getting Com Mons back.
    • The game has a built in profanity filter which prevents players from giving offensive and obscene nicknames to Pokémon. However, some players bypass the filter by giving Pokémon insulting names and trading them away on Wonder Trade. It is possible to insult people in this manner.
    • For all this talk about caring, you can also be a Jerkass Troll on Pokémon-Amie. You can wave a Poképuff in front of the Pokémon and drop it, while they're hungry. You can induce Stop Poking Me! reactions too. Just don't expect your Pokémon to be happy about it.
    • As demonstrated in this thread, you can be mean to the taxi drivers of Lumiose and deliberately take rides when broke just to upset them into battling you.
    • It's possible to send up to ten O-powers to a single person, even if they're all the same power. They don't stack, and you're given a notification that pauses the game that you've received one if you aren't in battle.
  • Video Game Delegation Penalty: You may choose to leave two of your Mons at the Pokémon Day Care. Pokémon in Day Care gain one experience point per every step the player takes. While its nice to have a Pokémon leveling-up while you simply walk around, there are several drawbacks to this method. For one, Pokémon in Day Care will not evolve. Two, if a Pokémon reaches a level where it can learn a new move, it will always learn that move; if the Pokémon already knows four moves, its first move will be forgotten and the new move will be placed last. This can lead to your Mons forgetting moves you wanted while learning moves you do not. Third, the Mon will not gain Effort Points as it would have if you leveled it up yourself through battle. This will leave it with somewhat lesser stats at higher levels than it would have had if you leveled it up yourself.
  • Video Game Perversity Potential: Despite Nintendo's implementation of language and content filters, players will find a way.
    • There's a group of wags deliberately editing their PR videos with amusingly inappropriate dialogue.
    • A minor example comparatively, but Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor try to nickname you. You then get an option to have them call you by a different nickname. Have them address you as something like 'Master' or 'Milord' for a bit of a dom feel, especially with Shauna addressing you as 'Master'.
    • Pokémon-Amie allows a player to pet their Pokémon on pretty much any part of the body — ANY part of the body, even where Nonhumans Lack Attributes should logically apply.
    • Tying together with Virtual Paper Doll below, if playing a female player character, you could deliberately wear revealing clothing like the Halter Tops paired with miniskirts.
    • Many times you'll get Pokémon nicknamed things like ASSEATER, Do Not Want, Wonder Trash, Garbage, Chlamydia, and other pretty cruel things to name your Pokémon (with some of them being named that as a message for people to not trade them, but in order to send that message, you had to go out and catch one...) because usually putting things in all caps or using camel case gets you around the filters.
  • Virtual Paper Doll: Player characters are now customizable to some extent—there are three different hair color/skintone combinations (brunet/pale, blond/even paler, and brunet/dark) for either gender. You can also buy clothing at boutiques within various cities, and even change your hair color and style. At the Trainer PR studio, you can even acquire contact lenses to change your eye color, and a makeup artist can change your skin tone. (It's worth noting that girls have a wider variety of hairstyles than guys, whose hairstyles range from shaggy to crewcut.)
  • Virtual Pet: The Pokémon-Amie feature allows you to pet, feed, and play with your Pokémon.
  • Vocal Evolution: Pikachu's old in-game cry has been replaced with its anime voicenote . Every other Pokémon has received an upgrade to their game cries to better fit the 3DS sound. Compare Mewtwo to Mewtwo and Exeggutor to Exeggutor. You'll notice they're not nearly as harsh sounding as they were.
  • Waistcoat of Style: One of the women's clothing choices is this. Hope you can spare 120,000 bucks for one though!
  • Wake-Up Call Boss:
    • Viola can catch quite a few people by surprise, that are expecting to solo a Bug-type gym with Fennekin. Her first Pokémon is a Surskit (a Bug/Water-type), who not only carries a Water attack but a move that weakens Fire-type moves.
    • While not too difficult, it is possible to come in unprepared for the first two gyms. This especially applies to those who didn't overlevel.
    • And for those who didn't get the memo, there is also Rock-type gym leader Grant. His two Pokémon are decently bulky, and hits hard for this point in the game, so even super-effective attacks may only do scratch damage. They also got movesets to lower your speed and make you flinch. Finally, both are dual-types, and one of them is a previously-unseen Dragon/Rock dual-type, so you can't just bring out a Grass or Water-type Pokémon, unlike Roxanne or Brock.
  • Wham Line: "In reality, those stones that line Route 10 are the graves of Pokémon."
    • "There was a man and a Pokémon. He loved that Pokémon very much. A war began. The man’s beloved Pokémon took part in the war. Several years passed. He was given a tiny box."
    • Before both of those, this line kicks off the finale of Team Flare's story as it's broadcast loud and clear from their leader:
      Lysandre: Team Flare will revive the ultimate weapon, eliminate everyone who isn't in our group, and return the world to a beautiful, natural state.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • During the beginning of the game, it is suggested that Tierno and Trevor received starter Pokémon, but none of the three Kalos or Kanto starters ever appear on their teams.
    • During the selection of the Kanto starters, dialogue suggests that Shauna and Calem/Serena choose Kanto starter of their own. Yet regardless of which Pokémon the player chooses, neither of the other two appear on their teams at any point in the game.
    • When choosing either the Jaw or the Sail fossils in Glittering Cave, Calem/Serena receives the one that you didn't choose. Neither the Tyrunt or Amaura lines appear on your rival's team.
  • What the Hell, Player?: Pokémon will give this reaction in Pokémon-Amie if you hit them, pet them in the wrong spot, or drop a Poké Puff while they're hungry.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?: Comes up a few times:
    • AZ's Floette was killed in the Great Offscreen War, and later resurrected and given immortality. However, the resurrection required the death of numerous Pokémon, making her regret being brought back to life.
    • In X, shortly before you fight Xerneas, Team Flare threaten to give you eternal life so you will eternally regret failing to stop them. Oh and in the post-game? Sycamore straight up says you were exposed to the energy the machine gave off. You and your Five-Man Band could be immortals. Also, Lysandre, who was directly hit by the Ultimate Weapon's beam in X. Let's hope for him that he was crushed before the beam's effects made him immortal. Because if not, seeing as he's Buried Alive...
  • Windmill Scenery: Dendemille Town is a rural, windy village which has a six-bladed windmill as its most prominent landscape feature.
  • Wolverine Publicity: With the reveal of its Y Mega Evolution, Mewtwo almost became the Lucario/Zoroark-type "mascot" of the generation. However, possibly due to the unexpected Audience Reactions to the Mewtwo from the 16th anime movie, Charizard ended up taking its place, and found its way into all sorts of gratuitous appearances (especially as Mega Charizard X).
  • The Wonka: Probably the case with the "very elusive" manager of the Hotel Richissime, a very classy, very expensive hotel in Lumiose City, who you only see if you do well enough at the part-time jobs to earn 50,000 PokéDollars per job; she's one of the Punk Girl trainers.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds:
    • AZ. Being so distraught about the death of his Floette in war that he built a nuke and gave all of Kalos the holocaust treatment to revive it definitely makes him that.
    • Lysandre as well, as from what can be gathered about him from various NPCs is that he went insane because nothing short of "kill a lot of people and Pokémon and use your erstwhile terrorist cell to rebuild the shattered remains of the world" was proving to be viable in solving the matter of limited resources and he felt responsible for being descended from royalty.
  • "X" Makes Anything Cool: Pokémon X.
  • You Can't Thwart Stage One: It doesn't make much difference that you beat Team Flare's Grunts, Admins, and Scientists at the Power Plant or Poké Ball Factory - they still completed enough of their objective to continue with the next phase of their plan all the same.
  • Zerg Rush:
    • A new form of Random Encounter called Horde Battles have your one Pokémon face against 5 wild Pokémon at one time. Hope you have Herd Hitting Attacks — or that your Mon is strong enough to endure multiple hits (potentially with side effects) per turn. Fortunately, Conservation of Ninjutsu is in effect; horde Pokémon are roughly half the level of other Pokémon in the area, and/or appear in their unevolved forms.
    • There are benefits to encountering Hordes. First of all, one of the five Pokémon might have its Hidden Ability (although finding which one isn't easy, and there's no guarantee any of them will have it.) Second, defeating a Horde gains more Effort Value in one (or occasionally two) areas than defeating regular wild Pokémon. (Which area depends on the Horde.) Third, in a mixed Horde, the odd one is always a Mon that is very rare individually in the version you're playing, and Hordes are easy to attract using Honey or the move Sweet Scent. Of course, this causes other problems. As stated above, in some mixed Hordes, the other four will gang up on the odd one, and in others, the other four will help it.


Alternative Title(s): Pokemon X, Pokemon Y

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