History ShoutOut / AshesOfThePast

* [[Film/{{Armageddon}} …So no, this is not a problem you can fix simply by sending up a half-dozen guys and a really big bomb!]]

*** And even later, when he finally evolves into Crawdaunt, his Razor Shell turns red, and he gives the classic "I have the high ground" line against his opponent. He even pulls off a DynamicEntry through a cloud of mist, complete with VaderBreath.

*** Saphroneth notes in that chapter's notes that their idea of Sacred Sword (and Secret Sword) is very similar to unlocking a Noble Phantasm, with each mon's Sacred Sword being inspired by a Noble Phantasm (such as how the Swords of Justice are inspired by Curtana, Joyeuse, Durandal, and Excalibur). [[spoiler: This can be seen later when Ash's version of Secret Sword is a giant golden energy beam, which is ''very'' similar to Saber's Excali-blast.]]

** Sir Aaron makes use of [[DualWielding Kanshou and Bakuya]], and can execute the ''Crane Wing Three Realm''.

** And when we see the rest of her team during her battle with Max, they all have nicknames like Gray (Alolan Ninetales), Juvia (Primarina), Lucy (Klefki), Gajeel (Mawile), Wendy (Altaria) and Erza (Gardevoir).

** [[Anime/DigimonSavers Noguchi and his Braviary]].
** Also, Corona, Max's Charmander, can shape her [[WreathedInFlames Flame Charge and Flare Blitz]] attacks into a winged dragon BattleAura and use it to fly. She must have been taking some cues from [[Anime/DigimonSavers Agumon Burst Mode]].

* Ash's Johto League semifinal opponent is named Steve, with a team completely based off of the [[CrazyAwesome Oogakari family]] from Third Fang's infamous ''Fanfic/YetAgainWithALittleExtraHelp''.

** Another Blastoise that the group meets can recite half of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi''.

** Another Blastoise that the group meets can recite half of ''Anime/MahouSenseiNegima''.

* Tobias's starter is a [[BlackMage Delphox]], who either shapes her Mystical Fire attack to reference spells from other media, or can actually ''use'' magic spells from other media. In Ash's match alone, she made use of ''[[TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering Wall of Fire]], [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Aerora]], [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Fuego]], [[Franchise/HarryPotter Stupefy]], [[VideoGame/BaldursGate Dragon Breath]], [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Pyroclasm]], [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Flaming Sword of Rhuin]], [[VideoGame/DarkSouls Fire Surge]],'' and even ''[[Manga/MahouSenseiNegima Ouraniā Phlogōsis]]''.

** May's Wartortle claims [[WhiteSheep to not have any obsession]], but controls water through dance. Others have thought of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' as her obsession, but the fact that she doesn't know that show, has musical scores on-hand for ''[[Disney/{{Mulan}} Be A Mon]]'', and taught [[spoiler: Manaphy]] how to shape water by [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid singing how it's better underwater in a funny accent]] may indicate [[{{Creator/Disney}} something else]].

* Brock's [[spoiler:Ninetales]] and Growlie reenact the famous SpaghettiKiss date scene from ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp''. Lampshaded when the waiter asks his boss why they're serving spaghetti when it's a sushi restaurant and where the manager and cook learned to play the violin and accordion.

* During his Gym battle with Sabrina, Ash calls himself the "[[Discworld/{{Hogfather}} inner babysitter]]." Lampshaded when Sabrina asks if he stole that line from somewhere.
** In the previous chapter, Dialga's character in a roleplaying game is a monk of "[[Discworld/ThiefOfTime Deja Fu]]".

* Ash's Johto League semifinal opponent is named Steve, with a team completely based off of the [[CrazyAwesome Oogakari family]] from Third Fang's infamous Fanfic/YetAgain.

** Also, in the Kanto Grand Festival, May faces a heterochromatic-eyed trainer named [[Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid Vivio]], who has a Buneary on her shoulder.

** Another one shows up in the form of Brawly's [[CombatPragmatist Pangoro]], which is very reminiscent of Genma Saotome, from his [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty dirty fighting]], Brawly stating his style is "Anything-Goes", and a LampshadeHanging when he gets hit with a Scald attack. Unfortunately, he makes the fatal mistake of deliberately pressing Squirtle's BerserkButton [[TrashTalk through his signature Parting Shot]].

* Barry has obtained a very expressive Smeargle, whose BigOlEyebrows [[Franchise/WallaceAndGromit say a lot by themselves]].

*** And even later, when he finally evolves into Crawdaunt, his Razor Shell turns red, and he gives the classic "I have the high ground" line against his opponent.

** May's Wartortle claims [[WhiteSheep to not have any obsession]], but controls water through dance. Others have thought of ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' as her obsession, but the fact that she doesn't know that show, has musical scores on-hand for ''[[Disney/{{Mulan}} Be A Mon]]'', and taught [[spoiler: Manaphy]] how to shape water by [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid singing how it's better underwater in a funny accent]] may indicate [[{{Creator/Disney}} something else]].

* Corona, Max's Charmander, can shape her [[WreathedInFlames Flame Charge and Flare Blitz]] attacks into a winged dragon BattleAura and use it to fly. She must have been taking some cues from [[Anime/DigimonSavers Agumon Burst Mode]].

** [[WebComic/CaseyAndAndy Bob]]

** [[Literature/WeAreLegionWeAreBob Bob]] (either this or just invoking AerithAndBob)

** The original plan was to use WesternZodiac ThemeNaming for all of them, but only 5 out of the 12 have any Zodiac theme whatsoever: Leo and Scorpius (WesternZodiac), Rooster (EasternZodiac), Guanna (Taurus in the Sumerian Zodiac) and Laocoon (Greek mythological figure associated with Ophiuchus)

** [[Literature/{{Worm}} Dragon]]

** May's Wartortle claims [[WhiteSheep to not have any obsession]], but controls water through dance. Others have thought of ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' as her obsession, but the fact that she doesn't know that show, has musical scores on-hand for ''[[Disney/{{Mulan}} Be A Mon]]'', and taught [[spoiler: Manaphy]] how to shape water by [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid singing how it's better underwater in a funny accent]] may indicate [[{{Franchise/Disney}} something else]].

* Dr. Akihabara is taking his [[{{Franchise/Digimon}} CyberMon]] system to new lengths, even finding "Poké-Destined" to take on missions in cyberspace. All of them and their Pokémon partners are [[{{Expy}} expies]] of existing characters from several different seasons of {{Franchise/Digimon}}.

* One of May's contest appeals involves [[spoiler: Manaphy]] water-crafting an entire fairy-tale castle, complete with fireworks and an arc trailing overhead. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBLXhx9vdHg If that sounds familiar to you]], remember that one of his teammates has a liking for a certain [[{{Franchise/Disney}} franchise]]...

* When Oak creates twelve Porygon to help look for and/or monitor Team Galactic, one of the Porygon wants to be called [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Laserbeak]].

* When Oak creates twelve Porygon to help look for and/or monitor Team Galactic, one of the Porygon wants to be called [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Laserbeak]].