History Characters / PokemonGenerationIBulbasaurToTentacruel

[[folder:Squirtle , Wartortle, and Blastoise ''[-(Zenigame, Kameil, and Kamex)-]'']]

* ArmorPiercingAttack: Super Fang halves the current HP of the target. No exceptions. [[NoSellUnless it's a Ghost.]]

* ArmorPiercingAttack: Super Fang halves the current HP of the target. No exceptions. Unless it's a Ghost.

* HyperDestructiveBouncingBall: Igglybuff claimed to be this in its Pokédex entry. [[InformedAbility Supposedly]], if something causes it to start bouncing ''nothing'' can stop it.

** In Generation 1, Charmander had a row of spikes down their back. This is present in the sprites, official artwork, and every adaptation bar the anime. Starting with ''Gold and Silver'', the spikes were removed.

* CartoonCreature: Are they toads? Lizards? Dinosaurs? [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicynodont Dicynodonts?]] [[LampshadeHanging Bulbasaur's Japanese name even translates into "isn't it strange"]]. In-universe, there is a mystery on whether to classify it as a plant or an animal. VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee shows Venusaur hopping like a toad when following behind the player, muddying the waters further.

* WeaksauceWeakness: It's said that the Charmander family will die if the flames on their tails are extinguished. Getting caught in strong enough rain can be fatal to them, as seen in the anime episode that introduces Ash's Charmander. However, in a later episode, Charizard was shown with its tail submerged in water for a short period of time and the tail flame did not go out, and in another episode another Charizard actually swam for a short time fully submerged, which indicates that Charizard's fire isn't easily extinguished and is not any kind of normal fire but rather a physical display of the pokemon's life force. Rather than the tail flame being a vulnerability, it seems more to function as just a way to visually gauge the pokemon's current strength and health. If the Pokémon dies, then the flame goes out, but it may not be able to be extinguished in any other way.

* MeaningfulName: Zenigame (銭亀) means "baby pond turtle" or, more literally "coin turtle". Kameil is either a combination of "kame" (亀), meaning turtle, and the English word "tail," and/or is a pun on the word "kameru" (噛める), meaing "to be able to bite." Kamex seems to be a combination of "kame" and "max" (as in "maximum").

** In Generation V, Butterfree is able to learn Quiver Dance, a move that raises the user's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed all at once. All three Pokémon can also learn Electroweb via tutoring, giving them some form of defence against Flying types. Butterfree also gets access to the Hidden Ability Tinted Lens, which powers up moves that are not very effective on the opponent.

* BlowYouAway: Butterfree can learn Gust, Whirlwind, and Air Slash by levelling up.

* RazorWind: Butterfree can learn Air Slash by levelling up.

* MeaningfulName: Onisuzume combines "oni" (鬼 "ogre, demon", referring to the evoluitionary line's mean disposition) with "suzume" (雀 "sparrow"). Onidrill combines "oni" and "drill" (referring to its long beak).

* BalanceBuff: Due to taking the role of starter, Pikachu was given almost twice as large a move pool in ''Yellow'', which was kept throughout later games (where it naturally could then be inherited to Raichu if evolved afterwards). Gen VI also gave Pikachu a small boost in defence stats (Raichu didn't inherit this, though did get a small Speed increase instead).

* BreakoutCharacter: Of all the costumes available, Pikachu Libre quickly became a fan-favourite and would go on to appear in several games after her debut, such as being a completely separate character from the standard Pikachu in ''VideoGame/PokkenTournament'' and becoming one of Pikachu's alternate costumes in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.

* OrganicBra: Nidoqueen has two noticable chest plates.
* PaletteSwap: Literally, in fact. The two genders' shiny forms switch colours with each other.

Another family of pink Pokémon. These Pokémon have balloon-like bodies, huge eyes, and a tuff of hair on their heads. Originally all pure Normal-Type, they [[RetCon have gained the Fairy-type in Generation VI]]. They have a high HP stat, and can learn a large number of moves, but their other stats are very average. Their talents include sleep-inducing singing.

* DamageSpongeBoss: They have incredibly high HP, but poor defences and only average attacking stats.

* RazorWind: Learns Air Cutter and Air Slash by levelling up.

** Persian's Alolan form in Gen VII also gets Fur Coat as their primary ability, which doubles their physical Defence in battle.

* BreakoutCharacter: Like Pikachu, Meowth became quite popular as a result of being a main character in the anime, and during its popularity was utilised a lot in spin off material, despite its species line being dropped out from every regional Pokédex between Gen II and VII.

* MagicKnight: Its Alolan form prioritises Special Attack, and even its normal form's physical Attack is only slightly higher than Special Attack. Persian learns Swift immediately upon evolving, and through [=TM=]s and Move Tutors has a decent Special movepool with Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Water Pulse, and Hyper Voice.

** Alolan Persian's primary ability Fur Coat doubles its Defence boost in battle, making it an impressive StoneWall against physical attacks.

* WolverinePublicity: Not nearly as much as Pikachu, but the anime made Meowth one of the most recognisable Pokémon and thus the games are fond of making occasional {{Mythology Gag}}s to its Team Rocket connection.

* MagikarpPower: Growlithe has average stats for an un-evolved Pokémon, but when you evolve it, Arcanine's base stats are far above average, beaten only by legendaries, pseudo-legendaries, and Mega Evolutions (and three Pokémon with detrimental abilities hampering their usefulness)[[note]]Slaking has stats on par with Kyogre and Groudon, but its Truant ability prevents it from attacking every other turn. Archeops is only ''slightly'' stronger than Arcanine overall, but plays the role of ultimate GlassCannon by having poor defenses and HP and an ability that halves its potent offensive stats when its HP drops below 50%, and Wishiwashi, with Schooling allow it to become a Mighty Glacier with attack stats comparable to legendaries and megas, but revert back to the weakest pokemon stat-wise after dropping to 25% HP[[/note]].

* SeriesMascot: Poliwhirl was very heavily utilized in marketing way back in the Red & Blue days. It was featured in many tie-ins and promotional items. The ''Special'' Manga even had the main character, Red, have one as his very first Pokemon before getting Bulbasaur and Pikachu later on. This might be attributed to Poliwhirl being the series creator's favorite mon.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Synchronize, one of their abilities, passes on poison, burn, or paralysis to the pokemon which inflicted it. Its Mega Evolution gets the ability Trace, letting it copy beneficial abilities for itself and turn an opponent's ability against them. Naturally, Mega Alakazam can have it turned on itself if it copies an ability that's useless for it.

In the same way that the Abra kin represents brains, the Machop line represents brawn. These Pokémon are fantastically strong and use their muscles very effectively when it comes to manual labour. In order to get the four-armed Machamp, you need to trade it into another game. Like the Abra line is to the Psychic type, they are the standard Fighting-types recurring across multiple generations, appearing in the wild and all regional Dexes except in the fifth generation. In ''Pokemon Sun and Moon'', its immense strength can be put to use as a Poké Ride, enabling the player to shove enormous blocks around.

* CrutchCharacter: Fully evolved at level 10, and is outclassed when your starter or anything else evolves. Also subverted; the StandardStatusEffects moves that Butterfree has are useful for quite some time.

* ActionInitiative: Can learn Sucker Punch.

* ActionInitiative: They can learn Fake Out and Feint, both of them having a higher priority than most priority attacks. They are also boosted by Technician.

* ActionInitiative: Arcanine is one of the ''very'' few Pokémon that learns Extreme Speed.

* DepndingOnTheArtist: The promotional artwork and Anime/PokemonGenerations depicts Pikachu with a much bigger and rounder head.

* PintsizedPowerhouse: Diglett is only 8 inches, but it can learn moves like Magnitude that can inflict lots of damage on Electric, Fire, Steel, and Rock-type Pokemon.

** Alolan Persian's primary ability Fur Coat doubles its Defence boost in battle, making it an impressive Stone Wall against physical attacks.

* GoodCounterpart: To the Houndoom line. Both are Fire-type dogs who evolve once, have one ability that [[TheDreaded frightens their opponents in some manner]] (Intimidate for Growlithe, Unnerve for Houndour) and [[ElementalAbsorption Flash Fire]] as another, with Houndoom also possessing the Dark-type to contrast Arcanine's [[HeroicDog heroic nature]].

* PintsizedPowerhouse: Diglett is only 8 inches, but it can learn moves like Magnitude that can inflict lots of damage on electric, fire, steel, and rock type Pokemon.

* AlwaysAccurateAttack
%%** Could learn Swift in the first two generations by tm.
** Mega Pidgeot's ability is No Guard, which makes it so all attacks that it uses or target it into these. Those Hurricanes now have perfect accuracy, so watch out! They can also learn Aerial Ace and Feint Attack, which are naturally this.

%%** Could learn Swift in the first two generations by tm. It's one of the more useful attacks it could learn in 1, though that may have more to do with how bad its gen 1 moveset was.

** Could learn Swift in the first two generations by tm. It's one of the more useful attacks it could learn in 1, though that may have more to do with how bad its gen 1 moveset was.

* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Mega Pidgeot's ability is No Guard, which makes it so all attacks that it uses or target it into these. Those Hurricanes now have perfect accuracy, so watch out! They can also learn Aerial Ace and Feint Attack, which are naturally this.

* LootMakingAttack You collect the earnings of a Meowth or Persian that used Pay Day if you win the battle, even if it was the opponent.

* MoneySpider: You collect the earnings of a Meowth or Persian that used Pay Day if you win the battle, even if it was the opponent.

* TookALevelInKindness: Alolan Ninetales to their cousins in other regions. They're described as being very gentle and are even known to help humans in distress at times, but maintain their vengeful streak for people who desecrate their homes.

* PsychicPowers: One of the most well-known Psychic-Type Pokémon families in the franchise.

** EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In ''Red'', ''Green'', and ''Blue'', Charizard was unable to learn Fly despite being part flying. This was fixed from ''Yellow'' onwards.