History DarthWiki / PokemonPixel

** Silver’s Totodile, Sneazel, and Zubat (or the forms they evolve into) are absurdly patient considering they have to put up with an abusive child for a trainer. Or at least for Totodile, he may just be a doormat like Quill, just more StepfordSmiler than obvious coward, as he put up with the abuse from day one and gets the worst of it, and he appears to be the one who tries to diffuse conflicts and dissuades the other three from doing anything terrible to Silver. Sneazel also is absurdly calm for a Pokémon said to perform slash-and-runs for the hell of it. Or really, Team Silver appears to be very patient in general for being made up of species said to be capable of some very nasty cruelty.
** Brought specific attention to and becomes a DiscussedTrope with [[BloodKnight Cinna the Buneary]], who apparently was thrown out of his warren because his HotBlooded, competitive personality became considered a liability. When Hikari encounters him, he had been searching for a trainer like her he could travel and battle with. It’s heavily implied that this sort of thing isn’t uncommon for members of more timid herd species, especially Eternia Buneary like Cinna, or even that these sort of Pokémon are the ones trainers often encounter. While he initially doesn't completely trust Hikari like how all Buneary start with Zero Friendship, this is more because he wants to be convinced further he made the right choice.

** Oscar the Snivy, Rosa’s starter. According to the Pokédex Snivy are “very calm” and Serperior “will only give it their all against strong opponents”. Well apparently no one told Oscar this because, apparently being modeled after a terrier, he’s feisty, impatient, and too brave for his own good, a BloodKnight always wanting a good fight. His EstablishingCharacterMoment in fact is him bursting out of his Pokeball, running past Rosa, and looking for a wild Pokemon to fight. He's got the somewhat "cold" attitude one would expect from his species though, though it's less being "cold" and more that he has boundaries and doesn't like being coddled or dressed up like, say, Zorua would. He loves Rosa like any starter at the end of the day. (Pending)

** Gloria’s Cinderace, Beck, despite his sporty appearance, is the most quiet and calm one of Team Gloria.
* MostWritersAreAdults: One of the series’ goals is to avert this, or at least minimize it, unlike Manga/PokemonAdventures. Though it has been stated that kids in this universe probably mature faster mentally because they’re trusted to go on Pokemon journeys, the preteens still can have plushies, get excited over candy, often have a rather simple grasp of morality (which [[IncorruptiblePurePureness while it often serves them good]], can backfire on occasion, i.e. the whole drama between the Kanto trio and Silver's lack of life experience and the experience he does have being fuel for maladaptive behavior), use insults like “[[BigStupidDooDooHead doo-doo head]]”, and imitate what they see on TV. Even some of the conflict comes from the fact they have immature brains, especially in the Kanto arc, with Green even partially deconstructing the notion of giving Pokemon to kids, as he basically sees them, as the author puts it, as “action figures that go boom”. However, the author admits she's not great at writing teenagers, so the Gen 5 and 6 main characters appear to act like adults more often, while Wes is basically an adult (though even he is implied to partially act the way he does because he thinks it's edgy, or more that he processes what he's gone through in an edgy manner).

* ShoutOut: Beck's name is obviously a reference to David Beckham, and Victor's Grookey, Ringo, is obviously named after Creator/RingoStarr. Beck's "Pokemon name" that Walter and Ringo call him is also [[Literature/PeterRabbit Peter]].

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Just like the games. Despite the more realistic tone, most of the stories start out with and with the protagonists having a sense of childhood innocence and wonder, and even the teenage core protagonists set out with a lighthearted sense of adventure. Their Pokemon are colorful and goofy, the adults around them are supportive, and the series in general emphasizes ThePowerOfFriendship. But it also tends to play up the darker elements with the villains especially for the sake of realism, many of the villains clearly showing that they have intent to kill or seriously harm the protagonists if it’s needed to achieve their goals, with the [[DarkerAndEdgier “Game Over” sub-series]] showing just what happens to the hero and/or the world if they are unsuccessful, and they [[WouldHurtAChild definitely aren’t for the faint of heart and are definitely not for children]], even if few of them go into too much gratuitous detail or even describe them much directly: [[spoiler:ranging from Red and Leaf getting a brutal, Yakuza-style execution or being impaled by a Rhydon (the aftermath of the former scenario even getting a bit of an AU mini-series of their own following Green), the heavy implication that Yuuki is [[RapeAsDrama raped]] if he loses to Kagari or suffocating in the vacuum of space as the meteor destroys Earth if he loses to Deoxys, life being slowly drained out of Kalos as Kalem and Serena can merely watch as they also lay slowly dying, Nate and Rosa being impaled with icicles... Though the most terrifying one is arguably Hikari’s fate, in which Akagi creates his new world... except Hikari, who is carried through with him, having gone through severe DeathOfPersonality, [[AndIMustScream merely a husk of her former self, a daughter figure who Cyrus can shape through his own hands, just like the world itself...]]]].

* Gloria’s Cinderace, Peter, despite his sporty appearance, is the most quiet and calm one of Team Gloria.
* MostWritersAreAdults: One of the series’s goals is to avert this, or at least minimize it, unlike Manga/PokemonAdventures. Though it has been stated that kids in this universe probably mature faster mentally because they’re trusted to go on Pokemon journeys, the preteens still can have plushies, get excited over candy, often have a rather simple grasp of morality (which [[IncorruptiblePurePureness while it often serves them good]], can backfire on occasion, i.e. the whole drama between the Kanto trio and Silver's lack of life experience and the experience he does have being fuel for maladaptive behavior), use insults like “[[BigStupidDooDooHead doo-doo head]]”, and imitate what they see on TV. Even some of the conflict comes from the fact they have immature brains, especially in the Kanto arc, with Green even partially deconstructing the notion of giving Pokemon to kids, as he basically sees them, as the author puts it, as “action figures that go boom”. However, the author admits she's not great at writing teenagers, so the Gen 5 and 6 main characters appear to act like adults more often, while Wes is basically an adult (though even he is implied to partially act the way he does because he thinks it's edgy, or more that he processes what he's gone through in an edgy manner).

** Rennard [[SourSupporter is an incredible grouch for a Lucario, who are mostly portrayed as heroic]].

* KidsAreCruel: Well, more kids have limited empathy. Arguably, the Kanto trio are the most realistic children out of all sets of main characters; while Red is the one implied to be on the Autism Spectrum, and he lacks understanding of others sometimes until Leaf spells it out for him, Green is arguably worse and has a childish inability to see how the whole rivalry looks to Red. Even Leaf isn't perfect in the whole equation despite being the most empathetic in the trio, as she turns against Green and fails to communicate to Green exactly why, and she's a bit sadistic when it comes to subjecting him to slapstick especially (though he doesn't seem to mind because as the writer puts it "he's a simp who thinks it's appropriate for others to bully people they love too"). The whole conflict between Red and Green, is a testament to how children's lack of empathy can have pretty bad consequences if left to their own. It's highly likely [[spoiler:the whole conflict wouldn't have blown up into their fight after the events of the story if the characters were adults who were wise enough to at any point stop and properly communicate, or that it would have happened at all in the first place for that matter]].

* TheEeyore: Downplayed with Eva, Hikari’s lazy Eevee/Glaceon. She’s often drawn and is described with her ears and tail pointed down or dragging, and is generally a downer who likes to nap. She seems mildly depressed or tired often. However, she’s willing to put in some effort for battle. Also while she’s quiet and doesn’t let her wants known much, she loves her trainer as any and her favorite place is Hikari’s lap (she stops after she evolves after trying it and almost freezing Hikari). (Eevee choice Pending)

** Jun Though because of his impatience it can blow out quickly if he gets distracted by something else.

* {{Manchild}}: While not to the extent of how many fans portrayed him, N’s childish nature has a bit more space to shine, and Hilbert and Hilda having dialogue makes them able to point out his odd behavior too (e.g. He genuinely doesn’t understand why Hilda seemed uncomfortable and ready to sock him in the face at any moment when he pulled her into the Ferris wheel to confess his association with Team Plasma, or why she reacts with “...Oh thank hell it wasn’t- [[BigWhat YOU’RE WHAT?!]]”, and Hilbert notes how six years younger (note, N is explicitly stated to be 20), much shorter, and yet feels like he’s talking to a child). His "purity" was enforced in him growing up, and he appears to fail to comprehend ([[SymbolSwearing implied]]) swear words or a crass comment from Hilda, and in a gaiden he asks a passerby man what a couple of drunks are doing in Castelia City, to the man's confusion, apparently having no idea what even drunkenness is. [[spoiler:He’s also described to be crying, his shoulders shaking and quivering, helpless-looking like a young child, as Ghethis yells at and berates him, the sight of which makes the Hil twins’ rage at Ghethis go UpToEleven out of some kind of [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Brother/Sister Instinct]]]].

** Oscar’s name. While it might not seem like anything special, when one remembers [[Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles the inspiration for the Snivy line]], it makes a whole lot of sense. It helps that despite alluding to Lady Oscar in English the name sounds rustic enough to fit his not so regal characterization. (Pending)

* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Yuuki is definitely the manly man to [[IllBoy Mitsuru’s]] sensitive guy; the former is a rough-and-tumble, brash, and cocky kid, while the latter is a somewhat sheltered, shy, and initially insecure one.

** Scouter (name pending) [[SourSupporter is an incredible grouch for a Lucario, who are mostly portrayed as heroic]].

* TheBully: Green Ookido is somewhat meaner in this fic than in the games, as the author used the backstory in the manual of the original games. While a lot of his ego is PlayedForLaughs, it’s also made clear that him suddenly becoming extremely competitive and harsh towards him was a massive blow to Red, who already was a target of bullying (Pending). However, Green never fully intended to hurt Red, more that he thought of himself as the hero of his own story and thought the trash talk and competition was all part of the fun, not realizing how much it was hurting his best friend. Still, there are also various reasons heavily implied to have indeed laid under this rival attitude; resentment of being identical in ability to and always being associated with Red, the boy all of their peers agreed was a bit of a dweeb, a superiority complex that came with being the grandson of such a high-profile Professor and wanting to seem cooler and grown-up, his jealousy over his grandfather treating Red like another grandson, and jealousy induced by his crush on Leaf, I.e. plain good old preteen immaturity.

* PunnyName: Leaf has a last name in Japanese; “Aōi”, making her name “Aoi Leaf”. Not only is “Aoi” Japanese for “Blue” (indeed, the Japanese Blue was called “Aō”), but in somewhat old-fashioned Japanese it can also mean “green”, making her name “Green Leaf”, thus making her represent both Pokémon Blue and Leaf Green.

* PaedoHunt: As for the most part characterizations are closer to how they were in ORAS, Kagari is still a scientist with dubious sanity... and it’s also made clear that she is very attracted to Yuuki, a 12-year-old boy. Sexually attracted. And while Courtney looks pretty young, she’s probably well past 18. However, this is treated as something {{Squick}}y and horrifying, and the fact she is completely oblivious to her feelings being wrong only furthers the point of how detached from reality she is. Yuuki eventually catches on and is understandably creeped out, as avoiding predators is apparently taught in Trainer’s School.

** Let us not forget Oscar, quite possibly the most feisty Snivy there is, following in the footsteps of Skipper with surprisingly HotBlooded grass starters who look coolheaded. He basically acts like Pip, except not as dependent. He was modeled after a terrier after all. He loves looking for fights, and is also incredibly energetic. While he calms down more over the course of the story, it never truly goes away.

* AdultsAreUseless: This being Pokémon, it happens, but it’s somewhat downplayed compared to a lot of other media. The adults are at least heavily implied if not shown to be actively facilitating safe, fulfilling journeys for young trainers. Parents and neighbors can also be shown to be a bit more of a presence in the characters’ lives; with Red for example, from what we see the adults around him pretty clearly looked out for him even if he was bullied by his peers, what with his heavily implied special needs, his mom being very involved with her son and Professor Oak evidently basically saw Red as a second grandson, teaching him how to handle Pokémon and allowing him to help around the lab because the boy was so fascinated by his studies (in the same gaiden this is seen we also get to see him as Blue’s primary caregiver). All the main characters keep contact with their parents, even high school age Kalem. It’s also shown that law enforcement does indeed do what it can, operating much like in ''WebAnimation/PokemonGenerations''. In the Black and White arc especially, adults seem to really know what they’re doing and are actively helpful against Team Plasma. Then there’s stuff like [[spoiler:[[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Lance]]] and Kukui taking in [[spoiler:Silver]] and Lillie respectively, with a few gaiden focused on their relationships and empathizing the importance of parental figures]].

* AllAnimalsAreDomesticated: Most Pokemon seems to accept that humans aren’t enemies, and even look forward to being captured, even if it’s just because of the free meals; though they’re also usually a bit distant initially towards the trainer themselves. Though there are still reminders that these are indeed wild animals, with correction devices on Pokéballs in the case of emergencies (though sadly that means these can be easily abused by abusive trainers).

* CrossdressingVoices: Almost all of the preteen male protagonists are “voiced” by female UTAU, with the notable exceptions of Blue (Kaibara Daiki on the higher parts, Kaibara Daichi on lower parts, with reduced gender flags) and Brendan (Root Leta). Their assigned UTAU never changes either (except Blue, who gets two as a child due to how the voicebank works), though pitched versions of UTAU are often considered [[Rule63 sort of]] different characters anyway.

* DevelopmentGag: Crosses with MythologyGag; the author loves to include nods to early concept art in art of the characters when they were younger (I.e. Red is shown at age 9 in a minimally changed version of his Capumon design, Leaf at that age is shown with darker brown hair, her black minidress, and white gloves, with her hair still having darker brown tips at the start of the story, Ethan at age 8 is wearing a purple hoodie of a similar shade to the male character on the cover of the Gold and Silver announcement pamphlet, Kris’s pigtails are hanging down instead of defying gravity and she’s wearing a white collared shirt and pleated skirt) or even occasionally newly hatched Pokemon like Vulpex. Other details from the early stages of development may be added as well, such as Ethan having a skateboard, or Red’s Rhydon plushie being the first one he got.

** Cinna (?), Dawn’s Buneary/Lopunny, is male.

** Lappie, Red’s Lapras is less a serene and graceful beast of the sea and more a BoisterousBruiser who, according to “Pokémon Talk: Team Red and Leaf (Guest Starring Team Blue)”, [[SurferDude talks exactly how you’d expect with that characterization]].
** Quill, as a Cyndaquil, is, as Ethan says himself, a "wuss". This is in line with his species Pokedex entry. However, he doesn't exactly stop being a wuss upon evolution either, and is still a bit of a CowardlyLion by the end. Ethan doesn't really mind by then though, saying that that's just how Quill is.

** Brought specific attention to and becomes a DiscussedTrope with [[BloodKnight Cinna the Buneary]], who apparently was thrown out of his warren because his HotBlooded, competitive personality became considered a liability. When Dawn encounters him, he had been searching for a trainer like her he could travel and battle with. It’s heavily implied that this sort of thing isn’t uncommon for members of more timid herd species, especially Eternia Buneary like Cinna, or even that these sort of Pokémon are the ones trainers often encounter. While he initially doesn't completely trust Dawn like how all Buneary start with Zero Friendship, this is more because he wants to be convinced further he made the right choice.

* MostWritersAreAdults: One of the series’s goals is to avert this, or at least minimize it, unlike Manga/PokemonAdventures. Though it has been stated that kids in this universe probably mature faster mentally because they’re trusted to go on Pokemon journeys, the preteens still can have plushies, get excited over candy, often have a rather simple grasp of morality (which [[IncorruptiblePurePureness while it often serves them good]], can backfire on occasion, i.e. the whole drama between the Kanto trio and Silver's lack of life experience and the experience he does have being fuel for maladaptive behavior), use insults like “[[BigStupidDooDooHead doo-doo head]]”, and imitate what they see on TV. Even some of the conflict comes from the fact they have immature brains, especially in the Kanto arc, with Blue even partially deconstructing the notion of giving Pokemon to kids, as he basically sees them, as the author puts it, as “action figures that go boom”. However, the author admits she's not great at writing teenagers, so the Gen 5 and 6 main characters appear to act like adults more often, while Wes is basically an adult (though even he is implied to partially act the way he does because he thinks it's edgy, or more that he processes what he's gone through in an edgy manner).

* SyntheticVoiceActor: The “voice actors” for the characters are Music/{{UTAU}}s. Or in Selene’s case, an UTAU of [[Creator/AyaSuzaki an actual voice actor]]. Most are never heard speaking normally however. The author has justified this (as opposed to using the VideoGame/PokemonMasters voices) on the grounds that "canon" voice actors for game versions of characters are never consistent.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Just like the games. Despite the more realistic tone, most of the stories start out with and with the protagonists having a sense of childhood innocence and wonder, and even the teenage core protagonists set out with a lighthearted sense of adventure. Their Pokemon are colorful and goofy, the adults around them are supportive, and the series in general emphasizes ThePowerOfFriendship. But it also tends to play up the darker elements with the villains especially for the sake of realism, many of the villains clearly showing that they have intent to kill or seriously harm the protagonists if it’s needed to achieve their goals, with the [[DarkerAndEdgier “Game Over” sub-series]] showing just what happens to the hero and/or the world if they are unsuccessful, and they [[WouldHurtAChild definitely aren’t for the faint of heart and are definitely not for children]], even if few of them go into too much gratuitous detail or even describe them much directly: [[spoiler:ranging from Red and Leaf getting a brutal, Yakuza-style execution or being impaled by a Rhydon (the aftermath of the former scenario even getting a bit of an AU mini-series of their own following Blue), the heavy implication that Yuuki is [[RapeAsDrama raped]] if he loses to Kagari or suffocating in the vacuum of space as the meteor destroys Earth if he loses to Deoxys, life being slowly drained out of Kalos as Kalem and Serena can merely watch as they also lay slowly dying, Nate and Rosa being impaled with icicles... Though the most terrifying one is arguably Hikari’s fate, in which Akagi creates his new world... except Hikari, who is carried through with him, having gone through severe DeathOfPersonality, [[AndIMustScream merely a husk of her former self, a daughter figure who Cyrus can shape through his own hands, just like the world itself...]]]].

* CloudCuckooLander: Ann, Red’s Eevee and later Flareon, makes as much sense as the method she was obtained. And as she’s [[CuteBruiser one of the physically strongest members of the party]] and her fire abilities, this causes some hiccups initially. She’s perfectly capable in battle though. [[spoiler:It isn’t clear if she grows close to Blue during the timeskip because of this, or because she genuinely can see that he regrets what he has done]].

** [[spoiler:...And then Burningleaf Shipping is canonized during the G2 arc, where the two had started developing feelings for each other during the time skip. Though only Leaf seems to realize this. And by the time these feelings started to develop, Green had decided to stop pursuing Leaf because he had realized she simply wasn’t not into him and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy is now mature enough to not press it further.]]]] [[spoiler:Red and Leaf only actually become a couple in a gaiden one-shot written much later, where the two are now 17, and while Blue is heartbroken he accepts it for what it is.]]

* TakeThat: In Pokémon Tower, Red, already on edge due to the creepy atmosphere, notices Green only has five Pokéballs on his belt, and asks if one of them died. Green is amused by this and says that he released Ratticate because it was weak and he got bored with it, basically calling Red a scaredy-cat and making fun of him for the stupid idea. This is of course a reference to the fan theory that Blue’s Ratticate died after it’s defeat on the S.S. Anne, a theory the author openly dislikes.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: It’s made apparent from early on that Silver’s an incredibly troubled kid, and his immaturity otherwise makes it a bit worse. He thinks power is everything and doesn’t seem to comprehend any other goal. He is incredibly knowledgeable on how to evade police and get away with crimes. He screams and hits or kicks objects when his Pokémon don’t do as he says, with them unable to stand up to him because his Team Rocket issue Pokéballs’ emergency anti-attack mechanisms are tampered to issue harsher punishments to them and be easily abused. He only doesn’t encourage wild hunting behavior in his Pokémon because that would catch the attention of other trainers and therefore law enforcement more. He carries around a pocketknife (most likely Team Rocket issue, with the logo crudely scratched off), threatens others with it more than once, and actually ''uses it'' in the infamous scene where he tears Ethan and Lyra’s Team Rocket disguises off, to their understandable horror. He also apparently had his first drink when he was 9 (Pending).

* {{Foil}}: Hikari likes taking her time to get things done carefully, and Lucas more so. Barry is extremely impatient (pending).

* HatesBeingAlone: Despite being rather stubborn at times, Penchan, Dawn's Piplup, loves his trainer to the point of overprotectiveness and when he seemingly gets separated from her in the Distortion World (in reality she's just standing above him) he basically panics (name, starter choice, personality, and scenario all pending).

* HalfIdenticalTwins: Hilbert and Hilda look rather similar, and even have similar names. However, they have different eye colors, which makes them more distinct from each other than some other pairs of protagonists, all of whom except for Nate and Rosa (?) aren’t siblings (most egregiously Lucas and Dawn, and even Red and Leaf after their hair colors change). Hilda is apparently five minutes older, alluding to the fact she was designed first.

* {{Hotblooded}}: Hilda. While not quite to Ethan levels, she can come extremely close. She’s by far the loudest out of the main four, and is a really good example of the male BoisterousBruiser {{Eagleland}} stereotype but as a teenage girl. (Note, may develop into a mature tomboy type later? That would ruin some lines I want her to say though...)

* DramaticIrony: Used for horror in one chapter where the duo are on Route 7, the chapter introducing Salandit. Mizuki runs into a field and Yo follows her... [[OhCrap Not noticing the “Warning! Salandit breeding season! DO NOT ENTER!” signs.]] As they’re preparing lunch the duo start smelling something sweet, which Yo seems particularly fascinated by, and he starts feeling “feverish” and “funny”, becoming increasingly flustered and insisting that he be left alone, and Keahi and Pueo start acting strange as well, the former acting “itchy” and even more irritable than usual and Pueo seemingly confused, and the comedic tone of the scene is undermined as the audience is made to come to the uncomfortable realization that they’re slowly being poisoned by a female Salandit's (heavily implied to be aphrodisiac) pheromones. Made worse by how Yo has no real idea what’s happening to him and Mizuki is barely better, as Mizuki innocently complains about not having lunch before prodding him about if he’s met a girl he likes (the conversation turning to Lillie in one of Yo and Lillie’s earliest ShipTease moments, along with later as he hallucinates Lillie’s voice as he tries to rest his “fever” off, and as he is being lured to Salandit) and eventually getting a bit worried wondering if he’s actually sick until he demands to be alone, shutting himself into his tent. They send their Pokémon back in, but Mizuki’s Mudbray (Pending, name undecided) seems unaffected. As Mizuki and Mudbray go on a walk Elio finally remembers what he read about Salandit’s pheromones, but it’s too late; by the time Mizuki returns he’s gone, and she searches for him, only to find him controlled by a local female Salandit, and description of Yo is suspiciously sparse, but after Mizuki rescues him he seems to have come to some kind of realization and is horrified that his cousin had to see him in that state, insisting to Mizuki that she never speak about what happened again, to her confusion. (Pending; not only is Salandit probably introduced elsewhere, but it’s easy for a story like this to become more creepy than it needs to be).

** Lillie: Phlegmatic (possibly interchangeable with Elio)

* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: A major part of Mizuki and Yo’s dynamic. Selene is action-loving, sloppy, acts like a shonen hero, and apparently when she was little she always saw herself as the KnightInShiningArmor over the princess. Yo on the other hand is sensitive, better at chores, cooking, grooming, and at keeping things tidy, has a much better fashion sense than Mizuki (though that isn’t saying much), is more careful, and even knows how to sew. For a good deal of the story, Yo doesn’t like being called feminine, and sees Mizuki calling him “Yo-chan” as her calling him a wuss. However, after Mizuki tells him that she likes him a lot better that way and after growing more comfortable with himself, he accepts this part of him. (Pending)

--> Mizuki: This is where the 11-year-old hero sets out on their journey-quest thingy of destiny with their starter of choice, with the blessing of the professor in mind! The Route 1! Yes, Selene’s New Game starts here!

* AdultsAreUseless: This being Pokémon, it happens, but it’s somewhat downplayed compared to a lot of other media. The adults are at least heavily implied if not shown to be actively facilitating safe, fulfilling journeys for young trainers. Parents and neighbors can also be shown to be a bit more of a presence in the characters’ lives; with Red for example, from what we see the adults around him pretty clearly looked out for him even if he was bullied by his peers, what with his heavily implied special needs, his mom being very involved with her son and Professor Oak evidently basically saw Red as a second grandson, teaching him how to handle Pokémon and allowing him to help around the lab because the boy was so fascinated by his studies (in the same gaiden this is seen we also get to see him as Blue’s primary caregiver). All the main characters keep contact with their parents, even high school age Calem. It’s also shown that law enforcement does indeed do what it can, operating much like in ''WebAnimation/PokemonGenerations''. In the Black and White arc especially, adults seem to really know what they’re doing and are actively helpful against Team Plasma. Then there’s stuff like [[spoiler:[[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Lance]]] and Kukui taking in [[spoiler:Silver]] and Lillie respectively, with a few gaiden focused on their relationships and empathizing the importance of parental figures]].

** Most of the Eeveelutions are male... even Calem’s, Macaron, who evolves into Sylveon. In his appearance in FanFic/AWildBadficAppearedCommentaries, he in fact acts quite confused that others mistake him for a female.

** Sudz, Calem's Froakie. Greninja give off an impression of calmness, even aloofness. Sudz is goofy, mischievous, and a bit of an airhead, and is stated to be 9 "In Froakie years", the youngest a starter has been. He [[LetsGetDangerous is a badass when he's actually supposed to be though]].
** Torch, Calem's Charmander, is only barely less a lazy bum when he evolves into Charmeleon.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Just like the games. Despite the more realistic tone, most of the stories start out with and with the protagonists having a sense of childhood innocence and wonder, and even the teenage core protagonists set out with a lighthearted sense of adventure. Their Pokemon are colorful and goofy, the adults around them are supportive, and the series in general emphasizes ThePowerOfFriendship. But it also tends to play up the darker elements with the villains especially for the sake of realism, many of the villains clearly showing that they have intent to kill or seriously harm the protagonists if it’s needed to achieve their goals, with the [[DarkerAndEdgier “Game Over” sub-series]] showing just what happens to the hero and/or the world if they are unsuccessful, and they [[WouldHurtAChild definitely aren’t for the faint of heart and are definitely not for children]], even if few of them go into too much gratuitous detail or even describe them much directly: [[spoiler:ranging from Red and Leaf getting a brutal, Yakuza-style execution or being impaled by a Rhydon (the aftermath of the former scenario even getting a bit of an AU mini-series of their own following Blue), the heavy implication that Brendan is [[RapeAsDrama raped]] if he loses to Courtney or suffocating in the vacuum of space as the meteor destroys Earth if he loses to Deoxys, life being slowly drained out of Kalos as Calem and Serena can merely watch as they also lay slowly dying, Nate and Rosa being impaled with icicles... Though the most terrifying one is arguably Dawn’s fate, in which Cyrus creates his new world... except Dawn, who is carried through with him, having gone through severe DeathOfPersonality, [[AndIMustScream merely a husk of her former self, a daughter figure who Cyrus can shape through his own hands, just like the world itself...]]]].

* AffablyEvil: Giovanni. [[spoiler:He comes to respect Red and his audacious disregard for his own safety in facing him, to the point that he decides to battle him as his last hurrah as a gym leader, even if he starts deliberately sending out weak Pokémon once he realizes that Red is stalling until the police arrive. He even chastises Red for not giving it his all, though Red chastises him at the end for likewise holding back.]]

* BoisterousBruiser: Despite Lapras’ serene reputation, Lappie, Red’s Lapras, is more of this. Unfortunately, like Ann/Fluffy/“Tippy” (name Pending), half the time he doesn’t seem to know his own strength.
* TheBully: Blue Oak is somewhat meaner in this fic than in the games, as the author used the backstory in the manual of the original games. While a lot of his ego is PlayedForLaughs, it’s also made clear that him suddenly becoming extremely competitive and harsh towards him was a massive blow to Red, who already was a target of bullying (Pending). However, Blue never fully intended to hurt Red, more that he thought of himself as the hero of his own story and thought the trash talk and competition was all part of the fun, not realizing how much it was hurting his best friend. Still, there are also various reasons heavily implied to have indeed laid under this rival attitude; resentment of being identical in ability to and always being associated with Red, the boy all of their peers agreed was a bit of a dweeb, a superiority complex that came with being the grandson of such a high-profile Professor and wanting to seem cooler and grown-up, his jealousy over his grandfather treating Red like another grandson, and jealousy induced by his crush on Leaf, I.e. plain good old preteen immaturity.
* CloudCuckooLander: Ann/Fluffy/“Tippy” (name pending), Red’s Eevee and later Flareon, makes as much sense as the method she was obtained. And as she’s [[CuteBruiser one of the physically strongest members of the party]] and her fire abilities, this causes some hiccups initially. She’s perfectly capable in battle though. [[spoiler:It isn’t clear if she grows close to Blue during the timeskip because of this, or because she genuinely can see that he regrets what he has done]].

* DirtyCoward: Blue, despite being a good trainer in his own right and presenting himself as a tough guy, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere does not want to get involved with Team Rocket at all.]] Not that he’d ever want to make that apparent to Red or Leaf. But this actually isn’t presented negatively so much as how a reasonable 11 year old would actually act if they found themselves in his situation, because really he has no obligation to stop Team Rocket anyway, and Red and Leaf are the crazy ones for doing so.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Blue could be kind of considered one of the whole kids training Pokemon and going on a journey thing. While he's great and smart as a trainer, he doesn't act that much more mature than a normal 11 year old would, and he puts his rivalry with Red above their friendship and doesn't stop to think how it looks to him. Also see MemeticBadass.

* KidsAreCruel: Well, more kids have limited empathy. Arguably, the Kanto trio are the most realistic children out of all sets of main characters; while Red is the one implied to be on the Autism Spectrum, and he lacks understanding of others sometimes until Leaf spells it out for him, Blue is arguably worse and has a childish inability to see how the whole rivalry looks to Red. Even Leaf isn't perfect in the whole equation despite being the most empathetic in the trio, as she turns against Blue and fails to communicate to Blue exactly why, and she's a bit sadistic when it comes to subjecting him to slapstick especially (though he doesn't seem to mind because as the writer puts it "he's a simp who thinks it's appropriate for others to bully people they love too"). The whole conflict between Red and Blue, is a testament to how children's lack of empathy can have pretty bad consequences if left to their own. It's highly likely [[spoiler:the whole conflict wouldn't have blown up into their fight after the events of the story if the characters were adults who were wise enough to at any point stop and properly communicate, or that it would have happened at all in the first place for that matter]].

* LoveTriangle: Parodied. [[PrinceCharmingWannabe Only Blue thinks there’s actually a love triangle]], with neither Red nor Leaf (pending on latter) having any feelings for each other due to being so young and not really thinking about it; also, Leaf despises Blue due to how he treated Red. Blue, however, thinks that Leaf is playing hard to get and due to his whole seeing himself as the protagonist thing, had convinced himself that Red was his rival for Leaf’s heart as well, much to Red’s confusion and Leaf’s annoyance. (Pending. Maybe his feelings are hidden?)
** [[spoiler:...And then Burningleaf Shipping is canonized during the G2 arc, where the two had started developing feelings for each other during the time skip. Though only Leaf seems to realize this. And by the time these feelings started to develop, Blue had decided to stop pursuing Leaf because he had realized she simply wasn’t not into him and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy is now mature enough to not press it further.]]]] [[spoiler:Red and Leaf only actually become a couple in a gaiden one-shot written much later, where the two are now 17, and while Blue is heartbroken he accepts it for what it is.]]
* MemeticBadass: Subverted with the main characters. Well, the protagonist trio are hypercompetent as trainers yes, but in all other things they're very much children. The author apparently wrote Blue in particular as a response this sort of portrayal that Blue has gotten over the years, especially in official media, e.g. ''WebAnimation/PokemonGenerations''. He is, just like in the games, a total brat; he sees his Pokemon almost like toys and whines when poor Charmander has to remind him that he hasn't fed him yet or that he wants to play a game, and runs from Team Rocket (as well as the Pokémon Tower) out of fear instead of fighting them. With Leaf she's the most adult but as a trainer she says herself that she's rather mediocre (though this may only be because of who she has to compare herself to). And Red is a HotBlooded but heavily implied to be Autistic dork who fidgets with his cap and still sleeps with plushies, barely the mute badass fans have come to expect ([[spoiler:Until he is. But even then the muteness is shown to be the result of apathy and depression]]).

** In Lavender Town, in a bit of a BigLippedAlligatorMoment, Red has a nightmare about what could possibly be at the top of Pokémon Tower. He dreams of battling a skeletal, gaunt, pale zombie with a Gengar and Muk before it lunges at him. His Pokémon lose and are unable to protect him, and the last thing it says as it grabs a crying Red, hand around his throat and about to eat him, Yellow and Venio at zero HP and hopelessly watching, is “Finally, fresh meat...”. Cue Red waking up and screaming to an extremely concerned Leaf and team of Pokémon. This is an obvious reference to the Buried Alive Creepypasta, as according to the author, “man-eating zombie” seemed like the exact type of thing a scared preteen boy constantly in a town assaulted by bad vibes would think of. There’s also this possible TakeThat:
--> Leaf: C’mon, zombies? I mean, we don’t know what’s up there, but that would be stupid. ...Right?

* TakeThat: In Pokémon Tower, Red, already on edge due to the creepy atmosphere, notices Blue only has five Pokéballs on his belt, and asks if one of them died. Blue is amused by this and says that he released Ratticate because it was weak and he got bored with it, basically calling Red a scaredy-cat and making fun of him for the stupid idea. This is of course a reference to the fan theory that Blue’s Ratticate died after it’s defeat on the S.S. Anne, a theory the author openly dislikes.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Blue Oak used to be one of Red’s only real friends alongside Leaf before he, quite suddenly, declared Red his “rival” and started picking on him.
* WrongGenreSavvy: This arc being based on the game with the most straightfoward plot in the series, Blue, in his immaturity, essentially spends his journey [=LARPing=] as a shonen protagonist, with Red as his StockShonenRival despite Red not fitting the bill at all, and Leaf as his love interest despite her showing no interest in him at all. He is indeed in a shonen inspired story, based on a franchise whose adaptations are almost universally for the shonen demographic. Unfortunately, Red is the real protagonist of this tale, because Blue lacks the compassion, kindness, bravery, or heroism that a shonen hero should have.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Silver has one lowest voices in the preteen age range, if not the lowest, or at least second only to Brendan (who is “played by” a high-ranged male UTAU), being “played by” Kohaku Merry. It’s especially lower compared to Ethan’s more high-pitched voice.
* LovableCoward: Quill/“Cracker”, Ethan’s Cyndaquil/Quilava/Typhlosion, is a pretty big coward; he tries to get out of really intimidating battles by pretending to be sick, and he was even spooked by a Sentret. However, he is inspired by Ethan’s optimism, energy, and resolve and starts making an effort to change that. By the time he’s a Typhlosion, he still is a bit of a wuss, but is easily able to overcome it.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lance gets his moments to shine a lot. As the adult voice in the whole conflict with Silver, he provides a good role model for the boy both as a strong trainer and as a responsible, good adult over their encounters, [[spoiler:and eventually their relationship even becomes familial. In a post-story gaiden, their relationship is shown to have grown to the point that he's become like a father figure, the "responsible adult Silver needed in his life", even giving him a home to go back to and basically for all intents and purposes informally adopting him.]]
* RoyalBrat: Silver is sometimes compared to a prince both in-universe and out, what with his place in Team Rocket as the organization's heir. And oh boy is he this trope. When he was younger, he basically had the grunts wrapped around his finger and everything a kid could want, and grew up with a massive sense of self-importance and entitlement due to being the son of the boss of Team Rocket, though Giovanni still hired tutors to teach him discipline and stuff beyond his age, and he had little affection from his real parents; he barely even knows who his mother is, though he has a hunch it's Arianna. As a result, he never learned how to treat his peers as equals, or even had much interaction with other kids, much less those his age, at all. [[RichesToRags Giovanni abandoning him took all of that away from him suddenly]], but instead of humbling him, this only turned him cynical and bitter and made his behavioral problems worse, making him even more of this trope.
* StockShonenHero: It’s been stated outright that Ethan is the straightest example of this out of all of the protagonists, though Red and Brendan have strong elements of it; he’s cheerful, loud, HotBlooded, [[{{Determinator}} insanely determined]], cocky, optimistic, outgoing, naive, [[IdiotHero not the smartest kid around usually]], has a case of ChronicHeroSyndrome possibly even stronger than the others, and is a BigEater to boot.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Kris and Lyra, respectively.

* BoisterousBruiser: Brendan can have an attitude that resembles this, with the author summing up his personality as “Someone who would wield an axe in a JRPG”; however, in terms of looks he’s a normal 12-year-old boy. This machismo is in great contrast to many other portrayals, most notably Ruby of Manga/PokemonAdventures, which often portray him as a coordinator who may have CampStraight inclinations (though he does participate in contests... in the “Tough” category).
* HotBlooded: Brendan and, despite his looks, Skipper (his Treeko/Grovyle/Sceptile) both. Skipper somehow more so.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Brendan is definitely the manly man to [[IllBoy Wally’s]] sensitive guy; the former is a rough-and-tumble, brash, and cocky kid, while the latter is a somewhat sheltered, shy, and initially insecure one.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: The easiest way to dupe Brendan into doing anything is to call him a coward or “kid”. No matter what it is, he’ll probably charge in just to prove you wrong.
* PaedoHunt: As for the most part characterizations are closer to how they were in ORAS, Courtney is still a scientist with dubious sanity... and it’s also made clear that she is very attracted to Brendan, a 12-year-old boy. Sexually attracted. And while Courtney looks pretty young, she’s probably well past 18. However, this is treated as something {{Squick}}y and horrifying, and the fact she is completely oblivious to her feelings being wrong only furthers the point of how detached from reality she is. Brendan eventually catches on and is understandably creeped out, as avoiding predators is apparently taught in Trainer’s School.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Brendan never admits he's afraid. However, [[spoiler:as the Hoenn region becomes engulfed in the natural disaster of the century, as a result also of his CharacterDevelopment, he finally admits to May that he is indeed afraid, and has been afraid this entire time, and that he's just some 12-year-old being entrusted with the fate of the world]].
* PuppyLove: [[spoiler:Brendan and May actually become a couple at the end, one of the few couples, especially among the preteen protagonists, who become an OfficialCouple, at least within their own story arc.]]
* TheIdiotFromOsaka: Brendan is from Johto, and unlike how his counterparts tend to be, he’s one of the most brash, stubborn protagonists out of the entire lineup aside from Hilda.

* BadassAdorable: Dawn’s favorite kind of Pokémon, as can be seen in her party lineup. Notably there’s Cinna the BloodKnight Buneary/Lopunny.
** While all preteen (and even early teen) protagonists tap into this as part of their appeal to some extent, Dawn herself is among the girliest of the female protagonists; she loves making sweets and poffins, fluffy things, cute things, glitter, decorating with Pokéball seals, and [[PinkIsFeminine pink]]. This doesn’t stop her from being as brave or as good a battler as the other main protagonists. Especially notable as she’s the first female Gym Challenger in the series. She’s also the youngest alongside Red, having just had her [=11th=] birthday.
* {{Determinator}}: Dawn, as shared by her starter Pokémon Pip. Well more Dawn evolves to have an indomitable will over the course of their journey (pending), learning after Pip and her many trials. (pending) It's no wonder [[spoiler:Azelf chooses her]]. (plot point pending)
* TheEeyore: Downplayed with Eva, Dawn’s lazy Eevee/Glaceon. She’s often drawn and is described with her ears and tail pointed down or dragging, and is generally a downer who likes to nap. She seems mildly depressed or tired often. However, she’s willing to put in some effort for battle. Also while she’s quiet and doesn’t let her wants known much, she loves her trainer as any and her favorite place is Dawn’s lap (she stops after she evolves after trying it and almost freezing Dawn). (Eevee choice Pending)
* {{Foil}}: Dawn likes taking her time to get things done carefully, and Lucas more so. Barry is extremely impatient (pending).
** Barry and his Turtwig Twinleaf. Twinleaf, being a turtle, is slow, even if cheerful, and sometimes can't keep up with Barry. Being a kind, even if immature trainer, Barry tries doing good by his starter and tries becoming patient for him. In turn, Twinleaf tries to be quicker for his trainer. (starter choice pending)
* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Dawn. She loves standard girly things, though her preferences aren't exactly frilly. But she also likes battling and adventure as much as any protagonist, and doesn't mind getting dirty, especially later on, if she gets to find out something interesting. She's not above chic or coolness as well, as shown when she enters the Cool contest with Pip. (pending)
* HatesBeingAlone: Despite being rather stubborn at times, Pip, Dawn's Piplup, loves his trainer to the point of overprotectiveness and when he seemingly gets separated from her in the Distortion World (in reality she's just standing above him) he basically panics (name, starter choice, personality, and scenario all pending).

** Barry. Though because of his impatience it can blow out quickly if he gets distracted by something else.

** Pip has his moments as well. He loves battle as much as Cinna and loves new challenges, often wanting to take on more than he can chew.

* {{Expy}}: WordOfGod is that Calem is a bit of a flirty expy of VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog, or at least he started that way.

** Sudz taking Calem’s hat and running.
** Scarlette (Calem’s Fletchling) wing-glomping Calem and flirting with both him and other bird Pokémon.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Selene “may or may not have ADHD", according to the author. Her strange behavior and at times lack of consideration of boundaries may indicate it, or she may also be on the Autism spectrum like Red is, though with her it appears less detrimental.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Selene's attention span... Isn't really much to write home about, though as the story progresses she gradually becomes better with it.
* BigEater: Selene and Hau both. Though Hau is more so when it comes to [[TrademarkFavoriteFood malasadas]], Selene isn’t so picky. The fact that her cousin is a SupremeChef definitely helps.
* CatsAreMean: Keahi, Elio’s Litten, can be a jerk, pulling nasty pranks like singing Elio’s finger for no reason other than [[ItAmusedMe it amusing him]]. Though [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold deep down he does care for his trainer and isn’t all that bad]].

* CloudCuckooLandersMinder: Elio often ends up as this to Selene. Though Pueo (her Rowlet/Dartrix/Decidueye) also shares the job as well.
* DramaticIrony: Used for horror in one chapter where the duo are on Route 7, the chapter introducing Salandit. Selene runs into a field and Elio follows her... [[OhCrap Not noticing the “Warning! Salandit breeding season! DO NOT ENTER!” signs.]] As they’re preparing lunch the duo start smelling something sweet, which Elio seems particularly fascinated by, and he starts feeling “feverish” and “funny”, becoming increasingly flustered and insisting that he be left alone, and Keahi and Pueo start acting strange as well, the former acting “itchy” and even more irritable than usual and Pueo seemingly confused, and the comedic tone of the scene is undermined as the audience is made to come to the uncomfortable realization that they’re slowly being poisoned by a female Salandit's (heavily implied to be aphrodisiac) pheromones. Made worse by how Elio has no real idea what’s happening to him and Selene is barely better, as Selene innocently complains about not having lunch before prodding him about if he’s met a girl he likes (the conversation turning to Lillie in one of Elio and Lillie’s earliest ShipTease moments, along with later as he hallucinates Lillie’s voice as he tries to rest his “fever” off, and as he is being lured to Salandit) and eventually getting a bit worried wondering if he’s actually sick until he demands to be alone, shutting himself into his tent. They send their Pokémon back in, but Selene’s Mudbray (Pending, name undecided) seems unaffected. As Selene and Mudbray go on a walk Elio finally remembers what he read about Salandit’s pheromones, but it’s too late; by the time Selene returns he’s gone, and she searches for him, only to find him controlled by a local female Salandit, and description of Elio is suspiciously sparse, but after Selene rescues him he seems to have come to some kind of realization and is horrified that his cousin had to see him in that state, insisting to Selene that she never speak about what happened again, to her confusion. (Pending; not only is Salandit probably introduced elsewhere, but it’s easy for a story like this to become more creepy than it needs to be).
* EmbarrassingNickname: A RunningGag is that Selene [[TheNicknamer likes giving out silly nicknames]]; in particular, she calls Elio “Ellie” (or “Yō-chan”), which he gets flustered over because he thinks it sounds girly. Another RunningGag is that she takes to calling Gladion “Edgelord”, which usually provokes a very, very frustrated reaction from him.
* {{Expy}}: Elio is based on the boy from the Sun and Moon trailers. This is why he has Litten despite Popplio seemingly fitting him more.
* {{Foil}}: Elio and Selene are pretty obvious, with their contrasting, [[JustForPun night and day]] differences in personality. However, Lillie also serves as this to Selene and vice-versa; while Selene is tomboyish, rough, airheaded, carefree, optimistic, and cheerful, brimming with childhood innocence, Lillie is shy, withdrawn, delicate, [[spoiler:and an abused child who was forced to leave childhood behind. As the story progresses, Selene helps her regain the confidence and innocence she has lost]]. That also ties into the fact that in contrast to the other three, [[spoiler:Selene and Elio have a loving parent/good relationship with them. Both Lillie and Gladion had their childhood stolen from them, and had an abusive mother who they were forced to watch slowly grow mad, their father’s whereabouts unknown. Hau, meanwhile, doesn’t even know where his parents are, them having apparently just abandoned their claim to the Island Master name and him, and while Hala isn’t a bad grandparent there’s still the sense that the poor boy feels like he’s in his grandfather’s shadow. But Selene’s mother is clearly loving and nurturing, even towards Elio, who isn’t even her own child, [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents even if she can embarrass him at times]]. And it’s shown that Elio’s own parents, while they aren’t able to be there for him that often, also clearly love and care for him, giving him video calls regularly. With the Aether siblings in particular, there’s the aforementioned childhood innocence Selene and Elio had where Gladion and Lillie didn’t. These become very apparent when Lillie on Eggsecutor Island comments to Elio how she sort of envies them, and when Gladion wistfully tells them to treasure what they have.]]

** Selene: Sanguine
** Elio: Melancholic

* IdiotHero: Selene... isn’t exactly the type to think deeply about things. However, much like Ethan before her, she does get consequences for this, and is forced to come up with better battle strategies at least.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Elio and Selene are technically cousins, but they may as well be twins, and they say that they basically see each other as such.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: A major part of Selene and Elio’s dynamic. Selene is action-loving, sloppy, acts like a shonen hero, and apparently when she was little she always saw herself as the KnightInShiningArmor over the princess. Elio on the other hand is sensitive, better at chores, cooking, grooming, and at keeping things tidy, has a much better fashion sense than Selene (though that isn’t saying much), is more careful, and even knows how to sew. For a good deal of the story, Elio doesn’t like being called feminine, and sees Selene calling him “Ellie” as her calling him a wuss. However, after Selene tells him that she likes him a lot better that way and after growing more comfortable with himself, he accepts this part of him. (Pending)
* PuppyLove: Elio and Lillie. It starts with Elio having implied feelings for her, manifesting in wanting to help her and blushing and denial when Selene brings it up. But it really only starts going anywhere when [[spoiler:Selene, Elio, and Lillie are on Eggecutor Island. Lillie talks about wanting to journey with Selene and Elio in the future, and when she addresses Elio she looks away a bit, as if hiding a blush, and Elio can see her actually blushing; after Selene falls asleep, they sit alongside each other in silence, just with each other as company. Their feelings develop as the story goes on, and by the end of the main story, just before Lillie leaves, they have a rather intimate moment, and it’s implied that they’re considering it in the future.]][[spoiler:Then, saying she’s been working to be finally brave enough to do what she’s about to do, she kisses him]].
** Hau starts to show feelings towards Selene as well; Selene, despite getting crushes on several guys, fails to notice. [[spoilers:But then she does, and she kisses him.]]
* RunningGag: A few, especially related Selene’s quirky behavior.
** Selene’s silly nicknames.
*** In particular, her calling Elio “Ellie” and getting a flustered “Selene!”, or Gladion “Edgelord” and his cool facade breaking for a few moments to get mad at her or tell her to shut up.
** Selene laying in people’s beds to apparently sense their mental state. Though it’s used seriously when she lays in [[spoiler:Lusamine’s during their storming of Aether HQ.]]
** Selene doing pirouettes while bored.
** Selene bringing up meta references LeaningOnTheFourthWall.
** Selene finding the weirdest things cute, and her incredibly underplayed reactions to terrifying things like, say, a giant Lurantis in her face (though by the end she’s very much aware of the severity of her situation).
** Selene’s crushes on several men that seem to come and go on a whim (Pending).

** Elio catching himself being “girly”.

* StockShonenHero: Selene is basically a female version of one. She acts a lot like Ethan, but with more emphasis on being a CloudCuckooLander and even more of an admiration for heroics. Though unlike Ethan, this does get deconstructed a bit.
* SupremeChef: Elio has extremely good cooking skills for his age. Of course, he passes the Grass Trial with flying colors.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Selene and Lillie respectively; their lighthearted interactions mostly hinge on this as well as RedOniBlueOni.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Selene is a massive fangirl for her predecessors, and she’s also recognized the motions all of them go through. This is most apparent in how she, to their delight, is the only person who takes Team Skull seriously, jumping to the conclusion that they’re her Evil Team from their dark clothes and “Team” naming scheme. In any other game she would have been able to predict the story beats; too bad she’s in Sun and Moon.
--> Selene: This is where the 11-year-old hero sets out on their journey-quest thingy of destiny with their starter of choice, with the blessing of the professor in mind! The Route 1! Yes, Selene’s New Game starts here!
--> Elio: ...[[DeadpanSnarker You’re really convinced, aren’t you?]]
--> Selene: Yup!
--> Elio: And you aren’t going to listen to anything I say against that, right?
--> Selene: Nope!
--> Elio: Of course. Why am I not surprised?
--> Selene: Look, see? Route 1! Hope there will be some surprises, I hate boring! *starts walking off in a high stride, humming*
--> Elio: *sighs deeply*

* AdultsAreUseless: This being Pokémon, it happens, but it’s somewhat downplayed compared to a lot of other media. The adults are at least heavily implied if not shown to be actively facilitating safe, fulfilling journeys for young trainers. Parents and neighbors can also be shown to be a bit more of a presence in the characters’ lives; with Red for example, from what we see the adults around him pretty clearly looked out for him even if he was bullied by his peers, what with his heavily implied special needs, his mom being very involved with her son and Professor Oak evidently basically saw Red as a second grandson, teaching him how to handle Pokémon and allowing him to help around the lab because the boy was so fascinated by his studies (in the same gaiden this is seen we also get to see him as Blue’s primary caregiver). All the main characters keep contact with their parents, even high school age Calem. It’s also shown that law enforcement does indeed do what it can, operating much like in Anime/PokemonGenerations. In the Black and White arc especially, adults seem to really know what they’re doing and are actively helpful against Team Plasma. Then there’s stuff like [[spoiler:[[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Lance]]] and Kukui taking in [[spoiler:Silver]] and Lillie respectively, with a few gaiden focused on their relationships and empathizing the importance of parental figures]].

* MemeticBadass: Subverted with the main characters. Well, the protagonist trio are hypercompetent as trainers yes, but in all other things they're very much children. The author apparently wrote Blue in particular as a response this sort of portrayal that Blue has gotten over the years, especially iin official media, e.g. Anime/PokemonGenerations. He is, just like in the games, a total brat; he sees his Pokemon almost like toys and whines when poor Charmander has to remind him that he hasn't fed him yet or that he wants to play a game, and runs from Team Rocket (as well as the Pokémon Tower) out of fear instead of fighting them. With Leaf she's the most adult but as a trainer she says herself that she's rather mediocre (though this may only be because of who she has to compare herself to). And Red is a HotBlooded but heavily implied to be Autistic dork who fidgets with his cap and still sleeps with plushies, barely the mute badass fans have come to expect ([[spoiler:Until he is. But even then the muteness is shown to be the result of apathy and depression]]).

* KidsAreCruel: Well, more kids have limited empathy. Arguably, the Kanto trio are the most realistic children out of all sets of main characters; while Red is the one implied to be on the Autism Spectrum, and he lacks understanding of others sometimes until Leaf spells it out for him, Blue is arguably worse and has a childish inability to see how the whole rivalry looks to Red. Even Leaf isn't perfect in the whole equation despite being the most empathetic in the trio, as she turns against Blue and fails to communicate to Blue exactly why, and she's a bit sadistic when it comes to subjecting him to slapstick especially (though he doesn't seem to mind because as the writer puts it "he's a simp who thinks it's appropriate for others to bully people they love too"). The whole conflict between Red and Blue, is a testament to how children's lack of empathy can have pretty bad consequences if left to their own. It's highly likely [[spoiler:the whole conflict would have blown up into their fight after the events of the story if the characters were adults who were wise enough to at any point stop and properly communicate, or that it would have happened at all in the first place for that matter]].

* MythologyGag: Some references are included to the VideoGame/PokemonMasters versions of the protagonists as long as they don’t contradict anything else about the character as the author writes them. Some, like Dawn, are basically just copies of their PM counterparts because the author had issues coming up with characterization.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Especially compared to many of the author's later ideas like DarthWiki/ProjectAlter and ''especially'' DarthWiki/AltTalia (and it’s various spinoffs) and despite playing up darker and more realistic elements, it sits with her Super Smash Bros works (which are connected to this series through their Pokemon characters anyway) very much on the idealistic side of the scale, if not more so; if Alt-talia’s overarching themes are “Nations follow their interests, whether good or bad” and “[[WellIntentionedExtremist Everyone is working towards their own utopia]]”, Pokémon Pixel’s are ThePowerOfFriendship and [[ChildrenAreInnocent childhood]] [[ComingOfAgeStory innocence]], with plucky kid heroes saving the day from everything from organized crime to the end of the world. This is despite the fact that this series puts the most effort in at least trying to be realistic out of her works, even downplaying some of the more extreme fantasy elements (or at least as much is possible in a series literally about a bunch of elemental animals who just happen to be easily domesticated), while the abovementioned more cynical works pretty much give up on trying to explain the fantastical elements as anything but just plain magic, especially Project Alter (though in Alt-talia, at least the “canon” stories, the nations and their pets are the only fantastical elements for the most part). In fact, she goes out of the way to make the somewhat overly optimistic elements of the Pokemon world realistic parts of the world. It’s explained that humans and Pokémon recognized the potential they have as symbiotic organisms early on, and thus the fact that Pokémon are sentient, feeling beings with rights has been universally ingrained into human culture, and society has become structured around the logistics of making children on their Pokemon journey happy, safe (though they often conveniently fail for our protagonists when they need them most), and able to reintegrate safely into non-battling society if they fail; Pokemon themselves see being captured as a great honor, seeing themselves as knights looking for a lord of sorts (and for those that don't, there's even trainer etiquette about giving a Pokemon a chance to make a choice), tending to genuinely become stronger easier if well cared for. Basically, it assumes humanity has taken the best routes in its development for the most part, at least in regards to humanity’s relationship with Pokémon and how society treats children. While it does feature {{Deconstruction}} or jabs at things like unrealistic shonen tropes or even its own younger protagonists’ simplicity at points, it’s always maintained that friendship and genuine desire to do good triumphs in the end, being a good person and trainer is the path to true happiness and the pursuit of just strength only leads to personal misery and emptiness as glory from victory is a fleeting feeling, and even children can take down immense odds with sheer force of morale on their side. Even the first Orre arc is pretty idealistic at its core, with Wes becoming more and more of a hero as it goes on, and him never abandoning his ideal of treating Pokémon well despite his seeming cynicism.

* AffablyEvil: Giovanni. [[spoiler:He comes to respect Red and his audacious disregard for his own safety in facing him, to the point that he decides to battle him as his last hurrah as a gym leader, even if he starts deliberately sending out weak Pokémon once he realizes that Red is stalling until the police arrive. He even chastises Red for not giving it his all.]]
* AmbiguousDisorder: Red, according to WordOfGod, “is written like someone with Asperger’s”, though whether he actually is isn’t stated. However, he indeed seems like a textbook case; his social skills are very lacking, he can be [[BrutalHonesty really blunt]], he fidgets with things, [[CharacterTic especially his hat]] or favorite plushie if he has it on hand, needs to have at least one red article of clothing on his person at all times, is sensitive to gooey textures and gross things to the point that [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes he almost shuts down when faced with a Grimer or Muk]] (Pending), and is extremely fixated on Pokemon and Pokemon battles to the point he manages to fanboy over them and his in particular on an equal level with the PokéManiac for two whole hours [[spoiler:and he falls into a deep depression when he runs himself into the ground with it]]. This is apparently due to the fact that Creator/SatoshiTajiri has the condition, as does the author.

* TheEeyore: Downplayed with Eva, Dawn’s lazy Eevee/Glaceon. She’s often drawn and is described with her ears and tail pointed down or dragging, and is generally a downer who likes to nap. She seems mildly depressed or tired often. However, she’s willing to put in some effort for battle. Also while she’s quiet and doesn’t let her wants known much, she loves her trainer as any and her favorite place is Dawn’s lap (she stops after she evolves after trying it and almost freezing Dawn).

* TheEeyore: Downplayed with Eva, Dawn’s lazy Eevee/Glaceon. She’s often drawn and is described with her ears and tail pointed down or dragging, and is generally a downer who likes to nap. She seems mildly depressed or tired often. However, she’s willing to put in some effort for battle. Also while she’s quiet and doesn’t let her wants known much, she loves her trainer as any and her favorite place is Dawn’s lap (Which Dawn puts her on often, to Pip’s chagrin).

** Torch being mid-nap upon existing his Pokéball.

--> Hilda: *WolfWhistle* Look at that hottie over there! What’s he doing here?
--> Hilbert: *hushed* Hilda!
--> N: ?

** Let us not forget Oscar, quite possibly the most feisty Snivy there is, following in the footsteps of Skipper with surprisingly HotBlooded grass starters who look coolheaded. He was modeled after a terrier after all. He loves looking for fights, and is also incredibly energetic. While he calms down more over the course of the story, it never truly goes away.

* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: Often used to tell Pokemon apart in art, aside from maybe being drawn slightly differently; held items are most common (e.g. Yellow’s Light Ball pendant), though other identification is also not uncommon (e.g. Wes’s Eevee Brothers wearing neckerchiefs, Yellow wearing Red’s old hat), though they may be taken off in battle.

** “[[Anime/{{Pokemon}} I’m gonna be the very best, like no one ever was!]]” - Red

** In Lavender Town, in a bit of a BigLippedAlligatorMoment, Red has a nightmare about what could possibly be at the top of Pokémon Tower. [[Fanfic/BuriedAlive He dreams of battling and being eaten by a skeletal, gaunt, pale zombie, and the last thing it says before it eats a terrified Red is “Finally, fresh meat...”]]. Cue him waking up and screaming. According to the author, “man-eating zombie” seemed like the exact type of thing a scared preteen boy constantly assaulted by bad vibes would think of.

* AdultsAreUseless: This being Pokémon, it happens, but it’s somewhat downplayed compared to a lot of other media. The adults are at least heavily implied if not shown to be actively facilitating safe, fulfilling journeys for young trainers. Parents and neighbors can also be shown to be a bit more of a presence in the characters’ lives; with Red for example, from what we see the adults around him pretty clearly looked out for him even if he was bullied by his peers, what with his heavily implied special needs, his mom being very involved with her son and Professor Oak evidently basically saw Red as a second grandson, teaching him how to handle Pokémon and allowing him to help around the lab because the boy was so fascinated by his studies (in the same gaiden this is seen we also get to see him as Blue’s primary caregiver). All the main characters keep contact with their parents, even high school age Calem. It’s also shown that law enforcement does indeed do what it can, operating much like in Anime/PokemonGenerations. In the Black and White arc especially, adults seem to really know what they’re doing and are actively helpful against Team Plasma.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Especially compared to many of the author's later ideas like DarthWiki/ProjectAlter and ''especially'' DarthWiki/AltTalia (and it’s various spinoffs) and despite playing up darker and more realistic elements, it sits with her Super Smash Bros works (which are connected to this series through their Pokemon characters anyway) very much on the idealistic side of the scale, if not more so; if Alt-talia’s overarching themes are “Nations follow their interests, whether good or bad” and “[[WellIntentionedExtremist Everyone is working towards their own utopia]]”, Pokémon Pixel’s are ThePowerOfFriendship and [[ChildrenAreInnocent childhood]] [[ComingOfAgeStory innocence]], with plucky kid heroes saving the day from everything from organized crime to the end of the world. This is despite the fact that this series puts the most effort in at least trying to be realistic out of her works, even downplaying some of the more extreme fantasy elements (or at least as much is possible in a series literally about a bunch of elemental animals who just happen to be easily domesticated), while the abovementioned more cynical works pretty much give up on trying to explain the fantastical elements as anything but just plain magic, especially Project Alter (though in Alt-talia, at least the “canon” stories, the nations and their pets are the only fantastical elements for the most part). In fact, she goes out of the way to make the somewhat overly optimistic elements of the Pokemon world realistic parts of the world. It’s explained that humans and Pokémon recognized the potential they have as symbiotic organisms early on, and thus the fact that Pokémon are sentient, feeling beings with rights has been universally ingrained into human culture, and society has become structured around the logistics of making children on their Pokemon journey happy, safe (though they often conveniently fail for our protagonists when they need them most), and able to reintegrate safely into non-battling society if they fail; Pokemon themselves explicitly see being captured as a great honor, seeing themselves as knights looking for a lord of sorts (and for those that don't, there's even trainer etiquette about giving a Pokemon a chance to make a choice), tending to genuinely become stronger easier if well cared for. Basically, it assumes humanity has taken the best routes in its development for the most part, at least in regards to humanity’s relationship with Pokémon and how society treats children. While it does feature {{Deconstruction}} or jabs at things like unrealistic shonen tropes or even its own younger protagonists’ simplicity at points, it’s always maintained that friendship and genuine desire to do good triumphs in the end, being a good person and trainer is the path to true happiness and the pursuit of just strength only leads to personal misery and emptiness as glory from victory is a fleeting feeling, and even children can take down immense odds with sheer force of morale on their side. Even the first Orre arc is pretty idealistic at its core, with Wes becoming more and more of a hero as it goes on, and him never abandoning his ideal of treating Pokémon well despite his seeming cynicism.

* SyntheticVoiceActor: The “voice actors” for the characters are Music/{{UTAU}}s. Or in Selene’s case, an UTAU of [[Creator/AyaSuzaki an actual voice actor]]. Most are never heard speaking normally however. The author has justified this on the grounds that "canon" voice actors for game versions of characters are never consistent.

* AdultsAreUseless: This being Pokémon, it happens, but it’s somewhat downplayed compared to a lot of other media. The adults are at least heavily implied if not shown to be actively facilitating safe, fulfilling journeys for young trainers. Parents and neighbors can also be shown to be a bit more of a presence in the characters’ lives; with Red for example, from what we see the adults around him pretty clearly looked out for him even if he was bullied by his peers, what with his heavily implied special needs, his mom being very involved with her son and Professor Oak evidently basically saw Red as a second grandson, teaching him how to handle Pokémon and allowing him to help around the lab because the boy was so fascinated by his studies (in the same gaiden this is seen we also get to see him as Blue’s primary caregiver). All the main characters keep contact with their parents, even high school age Calem. It’s also heavily implied that law enforcement does indeed do what it can, operating much like in Anime/PokemonGenerations. In the Black and White arc especially, adults seem to really know what they’re doing and are actively helpful against Team Plasma.

* TheBully: Blue Oak is somewhat meaner in this fic than in the games, as the author used the backstory in the manual of the original games. While a lot of his ego is PlayedForLaughs, it’s also made clear that him suddenly becoming extremely competitive and harsh towards him was a massive blow to Red, who already was a target of bullying. However, Blue never fully intended to hurt Red, more that he thought of himself as the hero of his own story and thought the trash talk and competition was all part of the fun, not realizing how much it was hurting his best friend. Still, there are also various reasons heavily implied to have indeed laid under this rival attitude; resentment of being identical in ability to and always being associated with Red, the boy all of their peers agreed was a bit of a dweeb, a superiority complex that came with being the grandson of such a high-profile Professor and wanting to seem cooler and grown-up, his jealousy over his grandfather treating Red like another grandson, and jealousy induced by his crush on Leaf, I.e. plain good old preteen immaturity.

* BrotherSisterTeam: While they do part ways at times, Hilbert and Hilda both being protagonists is emphasized more than the other protagonist duos, as well as them being a duo in general, even though Hilbert is nominally the main protagonist.

* HormoneAddledTeenager: The protagonists are 14, so it comes up at times, albeit the awkwardness of adolescence is rather downplayed, especially in contrast to the strong childhood motif in arcs with preteen protagonists, since the author apparently went through a very mundane puberty; it’s most notable with Hilda and the odd crass joke she makes, particularly if she sees someone attractive (or initially when talking about N). Still, it’s shown that Hilbert and even Cheren aren’t immune to getting nervous and awkward around attractive women like Elesa or Skyla.

** While, in true New York fashion, all protagonists and some Pokemon show some fondness for it, Hilda, Nate, and Hugh are especially noticeably fond of pizza.

* Cloudcuckoolander: Sudz is probably the best Pokemon example since Ann.

** Sudz taking Calem’s hat.

* DramaticIrony: Used for horror in one chapter where the duo are on Route 7, the chapter introducing Salandit. Selene runs into a field and Elio follows her... [[OhCrap Not noticing the “Warning! Salandit breeding season! DO NOT ENTER!” signs.]] As they’re preparing lunch the duo start smelling something sweet, which Elio seems particularly fascinated by, and he starts feeling “feverish” and “funny”, becoming increasingly flustered and insisting that he be left alone, and Keahi and Pueo start acting strange as well, the former acting “itchy” and more irritable than usual and Pueo seemingly confused, and the comedic tone of the scene is undermined as the audience is made to come to the uncomfortable realization that they’re slowly being poisoned by a female Salandit's (heavily implied to be aphrodisiac) pheromones. Made worse by how Elio has no real idea what’s happening to him and Selene is barely better, as Selene innocently complains about not having lunch before prodding him about if he’s met a girl he likes (the conversation turning to Lillie in one of Elio and Lillie’s earliest ShipTease moments, along with later as he hallucinates Lillie’s voice as he tries to rest his “fever” off, and as he is being lured to Salandit) and eventually getting a bit worried wondering if he’s actually sick until he demands to be alone, shutting himself into his tent. They send their Pokémon back in, but Selene’s Mudbray (Pending, name undecided) seems unaffected. As Selene and Mudbray go on a walk Elio finally remembers what he read about Salandit’s pheromones, but it’s too late; by the time Selene returns he’s gone, and she searches for him, only to find him controlled by a local female Salandit, and description of Elio is suspiciously sparse, but after Selene rescues him he seems to have come to some kind of realization and is horrified that his cousin had to see him in that state, insisting to Selene that she never speak about what happened again, to her confusion. (Pending; not only is Salandit probably introduced elsewhere, but it’s easy for a story like this to become more creepy than it needs to be).

* FourTemperamentEnsamble: With Hau removed, the main group becomes a really good example of this:

* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: A major part of Selene and Elio’s dynamic. Selene is action-loving, sloppy, acts like a shonen hero, and apparently when she was little she always saw herself as the KnightInShiningArmor over the princess. Elio on the other hand is sensitive, better at chores, cooking, grooming, and at keeping things tidy, has a much better fashion sense than Selene (though that isn’t saying much), is more careful, and even knows how to sew. For a good deal of the story, Elio doesn’t like being called feminine, and sees Selene calling him “Ellie” as her calling him girly. However, after Selene tells him that she likes him a lot better that way and after growing more comfortable with himself, he accepts this part of him.

** Selene doing pirouettes while bored (happens only about twice or thrice, however).

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Especially compared to many of the author's later ideas like DarthWiki/ProjectAlter and ''especially'' DarthWiki/AltTalia (and it’s various spinoffs) and despite playing up darker and more realistic elements, it sits with her Super Smash Bros works (which are connected to this series through their Pokemon characters anyway) very much on the idealistic side of the scale, if not more so; if Alt-talia’s overarching themes are “Nations follow their interests, whether good or bad” and “[[WellIntentionedExtremist Everyone is working towards their own utopia]]”, and Project Alter’s is HumansAreFlawed/everything is flawed (as well as, albeit, the idealistic themes of "co-existence and diversity is wonderful" and "sometimes it's okay being stupid and silly"), Pokémon Pixel’s are ThePowerOfFriendship and [[ChildrenAreInnocent childhood]] [[ComingOfAgeStory innocence]], with plucky kid heroes saving the day from everything from organized crime to the end of the world. This is despite the fact that this series puts the most effort in at least trying to be realistic out of her works, even downplaying some of the more extreme fantasy elements (or at least as much is possible in a series literally about a bunch of elemental animals who just happen to be easily domesticated), while the abovementioned more cynical works pretty much give up on trying to explain the fantastical elements as anything but just plain magic, especially Project Alter (though in Alt-talia, at least the “canon” stories, the nations and their pets are the only fantastical elements for the most part). In fact, she goes out of the way to make the somewhat overly optimistic elements of the Pokemon world realistic parts of the world. It’s explained that humans and Pokémon recognized the potential they have as symbiotic organisms early on, and thus the fact that Pokémon are sentient, feeling beings with rights has been universally ingrained into human culture, and society has become structured around the logistics of making children on their Pokemon journey happy, safe (though they often conveniently fail for our protagonists when they need them most), and able to reintegrate safely into non-battling society if they fail; Pokemon themselves explicitly see being captured as a great honor, seeing themselves as knights looking for a lord of sorts (and for those that don't, there's even trainer etiquette about giving a Pokemon a chance to make a choice), tending to genuinely become stronger easier if well cared for. Basically, it assumes humanity has taken the best routes in its development for the most part, at least in regards to humanity’s relationship with Pokémon and how society treats children. While it does feature {{Deconstruction}} or jabs at things like unrealistic shonen tropes or even its own younger protagonists’ simplicity at points, it’s always maintained that friendship and genuine desire to do good triumphs in the end, being a good person and trainer is the path to true happiness and the pursuit of just strength only leads to personal misery and emptiness as glory from victory is a fleeting feeling, and even children can take down immense odds with sheer force of morale on their side. Even the first Orre arc is pretty idealistic at its core, with Wes becoming more and more of a hero as it goes on, and him never abandoning his ideal of treating Pokémon well despite his seeming cynicism.

* PuppyLove: [[spoiler:Elio does actually start to have feelings for Lillie towards the end. At the end of the main story, just before Lillie leaves, they have a rather intimate moment even, and it’s implied that they’re considering it in the future]].
** Hau starts to show possible feelings towards Selene; Selene, despite getting crushes on several guys, fails to notice. [[spoilers:But then she does.]]

* BadassAdorable: Dawn’s favorite kind of Pokémon, as can be seen in her party lineup. Notably there’s Cinna the BloodKnight Buneary/Lopunny.
** While all preteen (and even early teen) protagonists tap into this as part of their appeal to some extent, Dawn herself is among the girliest of the female protagonists; she loves making sweets and poffins, fluffy things, cute things, glitter, decorating with Pokéball seals, and [[GirlsLovePink pink]]. This doesn’t stop her from being as brave or as good a battler as the other main protagonists. Especially notable as she’s the first female Gym Challenger in the series. She’s also the youngest alongside Red, having just had her [=11th=] birthday.