It's a battle of evolution as Ash Ketchum, the protagonist from Pokémon: The Series, battles Charles Darwin, the man who invented the theory of evolution.
- Art Shift: Ash briefly turns into his anime counterpart when he calls out Charizard.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Darwin accuses Ash of this by pointing out that he's forcing enslaved creatures to fight for his amusement, calling him "Mighty Morphin" Michael Vick—in reference to the NFL Player who was discovered to be engaging in illegal dog-fights.
- Canon Marches On: Ash opens the battle mentioning his excitement that he finally gets to catch a ghost type Pokemon. At the time of the episode, he had no ghost types, but by 2020, he finally did get one in the form of a Gengar.
- The Cameo: Ash manages to bring out both Charizard and Pikachu, while Charles Darwin summons Ash Williams.
- Kissing Cousins: Ash mocks Darwin for getting married to his cousin, claiming this is what led most of his children to dying from serious diseases. Also counts as Kick the Dog, since Ash mocks their deaths.
- Mythology Gag:
- The opening of the battle has notes similar to the Pokemon anime's original theme.
- Darwin's opening lyric references Oak's greeting in the original games.
- Darwin dishes Ash by claiming he's "so ineffective", in reference to the game's Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors style of attacks not being very effective against various Pokemon of opposing types.
- Ash calls Darwin "a glitchy old man best left out at sea", referencing the infamous MissingNo glitch in the original game.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: Darwin makes fun of Ash for his inability to grow beyond 10 years old, despite the fact the anime has been running for over 20 years.
- Pretender Diss:Charles Darwin: You've got no Game Boy, so you'll get the broom quick!The real Ash packs a much bigger boom stick!
- Shout-Out: Darwin calls as Mighty Morphin Michael Vick.
