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Deleted line(s) 19 (click to see context) :
* AgeLift: The anime implies Ash just turned ten. In the novels, he's been ten for several months and is practically eleven.
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This is how I've seen fans take this thing these days.
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* BroadStrokes: While this work is not canon to the main anime, it still is the closest thing to a source of several questions about the series that have never been answered, like what Delia does for a living, where Misty's parents are, why Gary has a mob of cheerleaders, and others. Some of the odd bits of world building in it that aren't mentioned directly in the anime would also explain a few odd bits of the original series, like how Ash would be questioned by police like an adult, some of Delia's behavior makes more sense with the background of 'loves her son but is happy to have him out so she can explore her youth', and why so many clearly older men keep flirting with Misty.
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Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* CreationMyth: The narrator gives an origin story for the world and Pokémon, which was doubtlessly intended to be exotic to the Japanese readership, but is obviously a take on [[Literature/TheBible the book of Genesis]]. (Except that Pokémon are said to have been created at the end.) [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness This was long before the franchise began to write its own backstory.]]
to:
* CreationMyth: The narrator gives an origin story for the world and Pokémon, which was doubtlessly intended to be exotic to the Japanese readership, but is obviously a take on [[Literature/TheBible the book of Genesis]].Literature/BookOfGenesis. (Except that Pokémon are said to have been created at the end.) [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness This was long before the franchise began to write its own backstory.]]
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None
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** The old man in Pewter City museum who gave Ash a Thunderstone pebble [[spoiler: and who may or may not be Ash's great-great-grandfather]].
to:
** The old man in Pewter City museum who gave Ash a Thunderstone pebble [[spoiler: and [[spoiler:and who may or may not be Ash's great-great-grandfather]].
Changed line(s) 69 (click to see context) from:
* ReallyGetsAround: [[spoiler: Brock's many siblings]] from early on in the series [[spoiler: are actually the result of Brock's mother's numerous relationships]]. As anyone who's seen the show can tell you, they somehow all look like ''her husband''.
to:
* ReallyGetsAround: [[spoiler: Brock's [[spoiler:Brock's many siblings]] from early on in the series [[spoiler: are [[spoiler:are actually the result of Brock's mother's numerous relationships]]. As anyone who's seen the show can tell you, they somehow all look like ''her husband''.
Changed line(s) 72 (click to see context) from:
* TeenPregnancy: [[spoiler: Ash's mother]] was 18 when he was conceived.
to:
* TeenPregnancy: [[spoiler: Ash's [[spoiler:Ash's mother]] was 18 when he was conceived.
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None
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The first, entitled ''Departure'', was released in 1997, and focuses on the beginning of Ash's journey, including some background to his character. The second, entitled ''Friend''[[note]]The actual Japanese title is ''Nakama'', which can be variously translated as "friend," "comrade," et cetera[[/note]], was released in 1999, and focuses on his battles in Pewter, Cerulean and Vermillion.
The books were never released in English, but fan translations can be found [[https://pokemonthenovel.dreamwidth.org/380.html here.]]
The books were never released in English, but fan translations can be found [[https://pokemonthenovel.dreamwidth.org/380.html here.]]
to:
The first, entitled ''Departure'', was released in 1997, and focuses on the beginning of Ash's journey, including some background to his character. The second, entitled ''Friend''[[note]]The ''Friend'',[[note]]The actual Japanese title is ''Nakama'', which can be variously translated as "friend," "comrade," et cetera[[/note]], cetera[[/note]] was released in 1999, and focuses on his battles in Pewter, Cerulean and Vermillion.
The books were never released in English, but fan translations can befound [[https://pokemonthenovel.dreamwidth.org/380.html found here.]]
The books were never released in English, but fan translations can be
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None
Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
* AnimalTalk: Meowth implies that different Pokémon have different languages. Meowth practiced hard to be able to speak with Pikachu.
to:
* AnimalTalk: Meowth implies that different Pokémon have different languages. Meowth languages - he practiced hard to be able to speak with Pikachu.
Changed line(s) 34,35 (click to see context) from:
* CrapsackWorld: Let's just say the ''Pokémon'' world looks a ''lot'' less kid-friendly once you've read the novels. To wit,
** Pallet Town is poverty-stricken with few jobs or any access for the residents to better themselves, and most people try and fail to make it as Pokémon Trainers. The one Trainer from Pallet who even made it into the Top 1000 came back all but worshipped, as nobody else had ''ever'' achieved anything similar. These two facts combined also mean that most men end up turning to lives of crime to survive.
** Pallet Town is poverty-stricken with few jobs or any access for the residents to better themselves, and most people try and fail to make it as Pokémon Trainers. The one Trainer from Pallet who even made it into the Top 1000 came back all but worshipped, as nobody else had ''ever'' achieved anything similar. These two facts combined also mean that most men end up turning to lives of crime to survive.
to:
* CrapsackWorld: Let's just say the ''Pokémon'' world looks a ''lot'' less kid-friendly once you've read the novels. To wit,
wit:
** Pallet Town ispoverty-stricken poverty-stricken, with few jobs or any access for the residents to better themselves, and most people try and fail to make it as Pokémon Trainers. The one Trainer from Pallet who even made it into the Top 1000 came back all but worshipped, as nobody else had ''ever'' achieved anything similar. These two facts combined also mean that most men end up turning to lives of crime to survive.
** Pallet Town is
Changed line(s) 39 (click to see context) from:
** Culturally, leaving home to become a Trainer is tantamount to taking full responsibility for your own life and turning your back your home for good, which is why the trainers who don't make it never come home -- they haven't got one, anymore.
to:
** Culturally, leaving home to become a Trainer is tantamount to taking full responsibility for your own life and turning your back on your home for good, which is why the trainers who don't make it never come home -- they haven't got one, anymore.
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None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pokemon_novel.png]]
''Pocket Monsters: The Animation'' is a [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] two-installment series of LightNovels based on ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', authored by Creator/TakeshiShudo (the original chief writer for the anime, who left during the Johto League). It expands a lot on background details not mentioned or alluded to in the series proper. Many aspects of it have since been contradicted by later seasons of the anime, which leaves its canonical status invalid.
The first, entitled ''Departure'', was released in 1997, and focuses on the beginning of Ash's journey, including some background to his character. The second, entitled ''Friend''[[note]]The actual Japanese title is ''Nakama'', which can be variously translated as "friend," "comrade," et cetera[[/note]], was released in 1999, and focuses on his battles in Pewter, Cerulean and Vermillion.
The books were never released in English, but fan translations can be found [[https://pokemonthenovel.dreamwidth.org/380.html here.]]
----
!!Tropes present in the novels include:
* AdaptationalJobChange: Nurse Joy is a doctor, not a nurse.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Misty's and her sisters having [[HollywoodGenetics wildly different hair colors]] is explained by her siblings wearing wigs. They're all naturally black haired. In the anime, it's just their hair.
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: There is an {{inverted}} case, where the end of Volume 1 makes a lot more sense than the anime's Episode 4. Instead of the Samurai distracting Ash and [[NeverMyFault blaming him for the Weedle's escape]], his equivalent just catches it himself and the Beedrill swarm is just a coincidence. Pidgeotto exits the battle because it's scared of Pinsir instead of inexplicably fainting, and Ash doesn't even try to return Metapod to its ball when the Beedrill attack, making the disaster actually his fault.
* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Surge is introduced in the following chapter after Ash’s Cerulean Gym match, whereas the anime itself had a seven episode gap between these events.
* AdaptedOut: Not one [[OneShotCharacter character of the day]] from the anime is featured.
** The samurai from episode 4 of the original anime is replaced with a generic bug catcher trainer.
** In addition, Brock doesn't use Geodude, nor is he mentioned to catch Zubat.
** Pewter City's Flint never appears, so Pewter Gym remains in the hands of Brock's younger brother Forrest (who is fifteen in this version, anyway).
* AgeLift: The anime implies Ash just turned ten. In the novels, he's been ten for several months and is practically eleven.
* AllThereInTheManual: Reveals a ''lot'' of information about the anime world, though how trustworthy it is is up for question, considering the divergences from it.
* AlternateContinuity: The novel's version of events differs quite a bit from the anime. Just for [[IncrediblyLamePun starters]], Ash never gets Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: Volume two ends by talking about how Ash and Pikachu have many more encounters ahead.
* AnimalTalk: Meowth implies that different Pokémon have different languages. Meowth practiced hard to be able to speak with Pikachu.
* ApologeticAttacker: Brock says he regrets attacking Pikachu with Onix, especially since Pikachu would ''die'' if it exhausts all its electricity.
* BeetleManiac: Bug Catcher (the character who replaces Samurai) is obviously one. Ash is also shown to be a huge fan of Pinsir.
* BeigeProse: The sentence structure is very plain. Usually, this works, but sometimes it falls flat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Pinsir is 1.5 meters tall. (Caterpie is also 30 centimeters, which is pretty big for a bug.)
* CanonForeigner:
** The old man in Pewter City museum who gave Ash a Thunderstone pebble [[spoiler: and who may or may not be Ash's great-great-grandfather]].
** In the novelization, Brock has a total of ''twenty'' siblings, including eight pairs of twins from nine different fathers, while he only has nine siblings in the actual anime.
* CutShort: The second novel includes a note saying it would be continued in Volume 3, but the third volume was never released, plus with Creator/TakeshiShudo dying in 2010, the series was never completed.
* CompositeCharacter: The lack of Characters of the Day means that Brock plays the role of both himself and his own father.
* ContinuitySnarl: At least ''some'' of the novels' information is contradictory to the anime, particularly from Viridian Forest onwards.
* CrapsackWorld: Let's just say the ''Pokémon'' world looks a ''lot'' less kid-friendly once you've read the novels. To wit,
** Pallet Town is poverty-stricken with few jobs or any access for the residents to better themselves, and most people try and fail to make it as Pokémon Trainers. The one Trainer from Pallet who even made it into the Top 1000 came back all but worshipped, as nobody else had ''ever'' achieved anything similar. These two facts combined also mean that most men end up turning to lives of crime to survive.
** ''Every'' parent except for Delia is a total derelict, and even she is a StepfordSmiler who resents her son.
** The entire police force is run by a single family, Gym Leaders are forced to resort to bribing challengers because [[DidntThinkThisThrough their licenses are rescinded after four consecutive losses]].
** ''Ten year olds'' are also considered legal adults; they have to pay taxes, they can be arrested, and considering it's said that Misty has "only ever had bad luck with men", the age of consent is likely ten as well.
** Culturally, leaving home to become a Trainer is tantamount to taking full responsibility for your own life and turning your back your home for good, which is why the trainers who don't make it never come home -- they haven't got one, anymore.
** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Pewter City Museum has no weekend traffic and makes up for its lack of major exhibits with whatever they've dug up, from crystals to lumps of coal]].
* CreationMyth: The narrator gives an origin story for the world and Pokémon, which was doubtlessly intended to be exotic to the Japanese readership, but is obviously a take on [[Literature/TheBible the book of Genesis]]. (Except that Pokémon are said to have been created at the end.) [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness This was long before the franchise began to write its own backstory.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: The world of ''Pokémon'' is a CrapsackWorld where [[ImprobableAge ten year olds are legal adults]] with all the taxes and troubles that entails, many Gym Leaders bribe trainers because four losses in a row means their licenses are rescinded, and Pallet Town is a desolate, crime-ridden cesspool because there are no jobs and no one ever succeeds at being a Pokémon Trainer. Even the reason behind Ash's DisappearedDad is dark: Delia MarriedTooYoung and became pregnant at [[TeenPregnancy eighteen]]. Her husband ran off one day on a Pokémon journey, just like her own dad did, and never returned. Delia doesn't love him anymore but never divorced him, and she resents Ash to a degree because she misses her youth.
* DisappearedDad:
** The novel [[http://satoshipediaeng.altervista.org/pocket-monsters-the-animation-the-secrets-of-the-pokemon-anime/ reveals]] some info about Ash's father, though he remains unnamed. Not only that, but Ash's grandfather had abandoned his mother at a young age as well.
** Brock's family has gone through nine dads. ''[[ExaggeratedTrope Nine]]''.
* EarthDrift: Unlike the rest of the franchise (including the actual anime) which is more of a FictionalEarth, it is implied to take place in a world identical to ours except for the addition of Pokémon. Real-world animals existed in the past, historical figures are mentioned by name, the Kanto region is confirmed to exist in a country called Japan, which shares the globe with other real nations, and the Gregorian calendar is used. That said, it's still not ''our'' world, and there are differences here and there such as Hollywood being in Kanto, so there is some overlap with FictionalEarth.
* {{Egopolis}}: Pallet Town[[note]]called "Masara Town" in the original Japanese[[/note]] is said to have been named after Professor Oak's ancestor, [[NormalFishInATinyPond the only resident to ever become even an average Pokémon Trainer at rank 931th and was made mayor for it]]. Both Ash and Gary wanted to do so well as to rename the town after ''themselves'' as either 'Ash Town' or 'Gary Town'.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Delia is mentioned to usually wear miniskirts, while in the show she wears a longer, regular skirt.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Members of the Jenny family tend not to appreciate their number based FamilyThemeNaming.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Bug Catcher in Viridian Forest.
* ExtinctInTheFuture: It's stated that this is the reason why real-life animals aside from humans don't appear in the ''Pokémon'' universe. An early draft of ''Anime/Pokemon3'' would have explored this further by having a plot revolving around a revived dinosaur fossil.
* FamilyThemeNaming: The Officer Jenny family are given number themed naming. (The name Jenny, Junsa in Japanese, is their surname.)
* FictionalAgeOfMajority: The light novels takes it further regarding 10-year olds in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' world, in constrast to both the games and the anime. Here, ten year olds who completed elementary school are considered legal adults with all the responsibilities that entails.
* GratuitousEnglish: As a foreigner, Surge sprinkles his dialogue with a lot of random English.
* HeroicLineage: Professor Oak descends from the greatest Trainer in the history of Pallet Town (though that isn't saying much). His brothers are also the mayor and the postmaster. It is implied that Gary's attitude is a result of feeling pressure to live up to his family's accomplishments.
* HurricaneOfPuns: Takeshi Shudo ''loves'' his puns. The FanTranslation does its best to use {{Woolseyism}}s combined with translation notes at the end of each chapter.
* ImprobableAge:
** According to the novels, a person in the ''Pokémon'' anime world is legally an adult at ''age ten''.
** Nurse Joy, who is a [[AdaptationalBadass fully licensed doctor]] in this novel, is younger than 20.
* InexplicablyAwesome: Being able to be stored and transported as data is a property of the Pokémon themselves instead of technology. In theory, they could be housed in a glasses case instead of a Poké Ball. This is never explained, but later confirmed to still be canon (and not just EarlyInstallmentWeirdness) in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus''. However, this fact originated from the guidebook ''Pocket Monsters Encyclopedia'' published a year earlier.
* LemonyNarrator: The narrator often has a snarky and convivial tone.
* LovableSexManiac: Brock even hits on Misty when they meet (which is while he's still an active Gym Leader unlike in canon), even though, in the anime, he only flirts with girls and women that aren't his traveling companions.
* MarriedTooYoung: According to the book, Delia married her unnamed husband in her teens and gave birth to Ash at 19. When Ash was young, his father decided to run off on a Pokémon journey. He hasn't been heard from since. Delia is no longer in love with her husband, however she hasn't bothered to divorce him. It's noted that, as a child, Delia's own father also ran away on a journey and never came back.
* MumLooksLikeASister: It is said that Ash’s mother is often mistaken for his elder sister by those unaware of their relation.
* NoSenseOfHumor: James does not recognize figures of speech, and has to look them up in a dictionary.
* ObligatorySwearing: Only an artifact of the FanTranslation, of course, but it is very jarring to read Ash exclaiming something like "Damn straight!"
* ParentsAsPeople: The books go into depth on Delia more than the actual anime. It's also mentioned that, though she loves her son, she was happy to have him out of the house so that she can live her youth. She also has severe issues with the abandonment by both her husband and her father.
* PowerIncontinence: The Nurse Joy of Pewter City advises against Ash against using a Thunderstone on Pikachu because [[DeadlyUpgrade prematurely evolved and inexperienced Raichu are likely to electrocute themselves so badly they induce cardiac arrest]], and the ones that survive are often so terrified that they stop using electricity entirely and their body begins to decay.
* ReallyGetsAround: [[spoiler: Brock's many siblings]] from early on in the series [[spoiler: are actually the result of Brock's mother's numerous relationships]]. As anyone who's seen the show can tell you, they somehow all look like ''her husband''.
* SelfDeprecation: Shudo calls himself a terrible writer in the introduction.
* SequelHook: Volume two’s epilogue features Bill, hinting at volume three covering the episode set at his lighthouse.
* TeenPregnancy: [[spoiler: Ash's mother]] was 18 when he was conceived.
* ThisIsReality: The narration frequently describes an unrealistic trope as being like something in an anime or video games, while saying that such a thing does ''not'' happen in the book. Also, the Team Rocket trio break the fourth wall at one point, to complain about how them saying the motto the second time would be considered {{Padding}} in a novel [[StrictlyFormula (as opposed to a cartoon)]].
* UncertainDoom: Towards the end of the first book, the narrator outright states that it was impossible to know whether or not Team Rocket survived the Beedrill attack. They do return in the second volume, but are left in another ambiguous situation at the end.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Brock]]'s dad in relation to his kids, biologically speaking. In the anime, [[spoiler:Brock's siblings]] are all both of his parents biological children. Here, they're [[spoiler:the product of several different relationships]].
* UnreliableIllustrator: Some of Sayuri Ichiishi’s illustrations don’t match what’s written. For example, Gary is described as “wearing a frilly shirt with a tuxedo and a cattleya flower pinned to his breast”, however the accompanying illustration depicts him in his usual outfit from the show.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: At age 17 Delia was featured on the cover of a adult-targeted magazine called 'Pokémon Pals', becoming both a symbol of pride for the remote and ignored Pallet Town as well as being far too good for the men of Pallet Town after such recognition.
----
''Pocket Monsters: The Animation'' is a [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] two-installment series of LightNovels based on ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', authored by Creator/TakeshiShudo (the original chief writer for the anime, who left during the Johto League). It expands a lot on background details not mentioned or alluded to in the series proper. Many aspects of it have since been contradicted by later seasons of the anime, which leaves its canonical status invalid.
The first, entitled ''Departure'', was released in 1997, and focuses on the beginning of Ash's journey, including some background to his character. The second, entitled ''Friend''[[note]]The actual Japanese title is ''Nakama'', which can be variously translated as "friend," "comrade," et cetera[[/note]], was released in 1999, and focuses on his battles in Pewter, Cerulean and Vermillion.
The books were never released in English, but fan translations can be found [[https://pokemonthenovel.dreamwidth.org/380.html here.]]
----
!!Tropes present in the novels include:
* AdaptationalJobChange: Nurse Joy is a doctor, not a nurse.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Misty's and her sisters having [[HollywoodGenetics wildly different hair colors]] is explained by her siblings wearing wigs. They're all naturally black haired. In the anime, it's just their hair.
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: There is an {{inverted}} case, where the end of Volume 1 makes a lot more sense than the anime's Episode 4. Instead of the Samurai distracting Ash and [[NeverMyFault blaming him for the Weedle's escape]], his equivalent just catches it himself and the Beedrill swarm is just a coincidence. Pidgeotto exits the battle because it's scared of Pinsir instead of inexplicably fainting, and Ash doesn't even try to return Metapod to its ball when the Beedrill attack, making the disaster actually his fault.
* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Surge is introduced in the following chapter after Ash’s Cerulean Gym match, whereas the anime itself had a seven episode gap between these events.
* AdaptedOut: Not one [[OneShotCharacter character of the day]] from the anime is featured.
** The samurai from episode 4 of the original anime is replaced with a generic bug catcher trainer.
** In addition, Brock doesn't use Geodude, nor is he mentioned to catch Zubat.
** Pewter City's Flint never appears, so Pewter Gym remains in the hands of Brock's younger brother Forrest (who is fifteen in this version, anyway).
* AgeLift: The anime implies Ash just turned ten. In the novels, he's been ten for several months and is practically eleven.
* AllThereInTheManual: Reveals a ''lot'' of information about the anime world, though how trustworthy it is is up for question, considering the divergences from it.
* AlternateContinuity: The novel's version of events differs quite a bit from the anime. Just for [[IncrediblyLamePun starters]], Ash never gets Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: Volume two ends by talking about how Ash and Pikachu have many more encounters ahead.
* AnimalTalk: Meowth implies that different Pokémon have different languages. Meowth practiced hard to be able to speak with Pikachu.
* ApologeticAttacker: Brock says he regrets attacking Pikachu with Onix, especially since Pikachu would ''die'' if it exhausts all its electricity.
* BeetleManiac: Bug Catcher (the character who replaces Samurai) is obviously one. Ash is also shown to be a huge fan of Pinsir.
* BeigeProse: The sentence structure is very plain. Usually, this works, but sometimes it falls flat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Pinsir is 1.5 meters tall. (Caterpie is also 30 centimeters, which is pretty big for a bug.)
* CanonForeigner:
** The old man in Pewter City museum who gave Ash a Thunderstone pebble [[spoiler: and who may or may not be Ash's great-great-grandfather]].
** In the novelization, Brock has a total of ''twenty'' siblings, including eight pairs of twins from nine different fathers, while he only has nine siblings in the actual anime.
* CutShort: The second novel includes a note saying it would be continued in Volume 3, but the third volume was never released, plus with Creator/TakeshiShudo dying in 2010, the series was never completed.
* CompositeCharacter: The lack of Characters of the Day means that Brock plays the role of both himself and his own father.
* ContinuitySnarl: At least ''some'' of the novels' information is contradictory to the anime, particularly from Viridian Forest onwards.
* CrapsackWorld: Let's just say the ''Pokémon'' world looks a ''lot'' less kid-friendly once you've read the novels. To wit,
** Pallet Town is poverty-stricken with few jobs or any access for the residents to better themselves, and most people try and fail to make it as Pokémon Trainers. The one Trainer from Pallet who even made it into the Top 1000 came back all but worshipped, as nobody else had ''ever'' achieved anything similar. These two facts combined also mean that most men end up turning to lives of crime to survive.
** ''Every'' parent except for Delia is a total derelict, and even she is a StepfordSmiler who resents her son.
** The entire police force is run by a single family, Gym Leaders are forced to resort to bribing challengers because [[DidntThinkThisThrough their licenses are rescinded after four consecutive losses]].
** ''Ten year olds'' are also considered legal adults; they have to pay taxes, they can be arrested, and considering it's said that Misty has "only ever had bad luck with men", the age of consent is likely ten as well.
** Culturally, leaving home to become a Trainer is tantamount to taking full responsibility for your own life and turning your back your home for good, which is why the trainers who don't make it never come home -- they haven't got one, anymore.
** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Pewter City Museum has no weekend traffic and makes up for its lack of major exhibits with whatever they've dug up, from crystals to lumps of coal]].
* CreationMyth: The narrator gives an origin story for the world and Pokémon, which was doubtlessly intended to be exotic to the Japanese readership, but is obviously a take on [[Literature/TheBible the book of Genesis]]. (Except that Pokémon are said to have been created at the end.) [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness This was long before the franchise began to write its own backstory.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: The world of ''Pokémon'' is a CrapsackWorld where [[ImprobableAge ten year olds are legal adults]] with all the taxes and troubles that entails, many Gym Leaders bribe trainers because four losses in a row means their licenses are rescinded, and Pallet Town is a desolate, crime-ridden cesspool because there are no jobs and no one ever succeeds at being a Pokémon Trainer. Even the reason behind Ash's DisappearedDad is dark: Delia MarriedTooYoung and became pregnant at [[TeenPregnancy eighteen]]. Her husband ran off one day on a Pokémon journey, just like her own dad did, and never returned. Delia doesn't love him anymore but never divorced him, and she resents Ash to a degree because she misses her youth.
* DisappearedDad:
** The novel [[http://satoshipediaeng.altervista.org/pocket-monsters-the-animation-the-secrets-of-the-pokemon-anime/ reveals]] some info about Ash's father, though he remains unnamed. Not only that, but Ash's grandfather had abandoned his mother at a young age as well.
** Brock's family has gone through nine dads. ''[[ExaggeratedTrope Nine]]''.
* EarthDrift: Unlike the rest of the franchise (including the actual anime) which is more of a FictionalEarth, it is implied to take place in a world identical to ours except for the addition of Pokémon. Real-world animals existed in the past, historical figures are mentioned by name, the Kanto region is confirmed to exist in a country called Japan, which shares the globe with other real nations, and the Gregorian calendar is used. That said, it's still not ''our'' world, and there are differences here and there such as Hollywood being in Kanto, so there is some overlap with FictionalEarth.
* {{Egopolis}}: Pallet Town[[note]]called "Masara Town" in the original Japanese[[/note]] is said to have been named after Professor Oak's ancestor, [[NormalFishInATinyPond the only resident to ever become even an average Pokémon Trainer at rank 931th and was made mayor for it]]. Both Ash and Gary wanted to do so well as to rename the town after ''themselves'' as either 'Ash Town' or 'Gary Town'.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Delia is mentioned to usually wear miniskirts, while in the show she wears a longer, regular skirt.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Members of the Jenny family tend not to appreciate their number based FamilyThemeNaming.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Bug Catcher in Viridian Forest.
* ExtinctInTheFuture: It's stated that this is the reason why real-life animals aside from humans don't appear in the ''Pokémon'' universe. An early draft of ''Anime/Pokemon3'' would have explored this further by having a plot revolving around a revived dinosaur fossil.
* FamilyThemeNaming: The Officer Jenny family are given number themed naming. (The name Jenny, Junsa in Japanese, is their surname.)
* FictionalAgeOfMajority: The light novels takes it further regarding 10-year olds in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' world, in constrast to both the games and the anime. Here, ten year olds who completed elementary school are considered legal adults with all the responsibilities that entails.
* GratuitousEnglish: As a foreigner, Surge sprinkles his dialogue with a lot of random English.
* HeroicLineage: Professor Oak descends from the greatest Trainer in the history of Pallet Town (though that isn't saying much). His brothers are also the mayor and the postmaster. It is implied that Gary's attitude is a result of feeling pressure to live up to his family's accomplishments.
* HurricaneOfPuns: Takeshi Shudo ''loves'' his puns. The FanTranslation does its best to use {{Woolseyism}}s combined with translation notes at the end of each chapter.
* ImprobableAge:
** According to the novels, a person in the ''Pokémon'' anime world is legally an adult at ''age ten''.
** Nurse Joy, who is a [[AdaptationalBadass fully licensed doctor]] in this novel, is younger than 20.
* InexplicablyAwesome: Being able to be stored and transported as data is a property of the Pokémon themselves instead of technology. In theory, they could be housed in a glasses case instead of a Poké Ball. This is never explained, but later confirmed to still be canon (and not just EarlyInstallmentWeirdness) in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus''. However, this fact originated from the guidebook ''Pocket Monsters Encyclopedia'' published a year earlier.
* LemonyNarrator: The narrator often has a snarky and convivial tone.
* LovableSexManiac: Brock even hits on Misty when they meet (which is while he's still an active Gym Leader unlike in canon), even though, in the anime, he only flirts with girls and women that aren't his traveling companions.
* MarriedTooYoung: According to the book, Delia married her unnamed husband in her teens and gave birth to Ash at 19. When Ash was young, his father decided to run off on a Pokémon journey. He hasn't been heard from since. Delia is no longer in love with her husband, however she hasn't bothered to divorce him. It's noted that, as a child, Delia's own father also ran away on a journey and never came back.
* MumLooksLikeASister: It is said that Ash’s mother is often mistaken for his elder sister by those unaware of their relation.
* NoSenseOfHumor: James does not recognize figures of speech, and has to look them up in a dictionary.
* ObligatorySwearing: Only an artifact of the FanTranslation, of course, but it is very jarring to read Ash exclaiming something like "Damn straight!"
* ParentsAsPeople: The books go into depth on Delia more than the actual anime. It's also mentioned that, though she loves her son, she was happy to have him out of the house so that she can live her youth. She also has severe issues with the abandonment by both her husband and her father.
* PowerIncontinence: The Nurse Joy of Pewter City advises against Ash against using a Thunderstone on Pikachu because [[DeadlyUpgrade prematurely evolved and inexperienced Raichu are likely to electrocute themselves so badly they induce cardiac arrest]], and the ones that survive are often so terrified that they stop using electricity entirely and their body begins to decay.
* ReallyGetsAround: [[spoiler: Brock's many siblings]] from early on in the series [[spoiler: are actually the result of Brock's mother's numerous relationships]]. As anyone who's seen the show can tell you, they somehow all look like ''her husband''.
* SelfDeprecation: Shudo calls himself a terrible writer in the introduction.
* SequelHook: Volume two’s epilogue features Bill, hinting at volume three covering the episode set at his lighthouse.
* TeenPregnancy: [[spoiler: Ash's mother]] was 18 when he was conceived.
* ThisIsReality: The narration frequently describes an unrealistic trope as being like something in an anime or video games, while saying that such a thing does ''not'' happen in the book. Also, the Team Rocket trio break the fourth wall at one point, to complain about how them saying the motto the second time would be considered {{Padding}} in a novel [[StrictlyFormula (as opposed to a cartoon)]].
* UncertainDoom: Towards the end of the first book, the narrator outright states that it was impossible to know whether or not Team Rocket survived the Beedrill attack. They do return in the second volume, but are left in another ambiguous situation at the end.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Brock]]'s dad in relation to his kids, biologically speaking. In the anime, [[spoiler:Brock's siblings]] are all both of his parents biological children. Here, they're [[spoiler:the product of several different relationships]].
* UnreliableIllustrator: Some of Sayuri Ichiishi’s illustrations don’t match what’s written. For example, Gary is described as “wearing a frilly shirt with a tuxedo and a cattleya flower pinned to his breast”, however the accompanying illustration depicts him in his usual outfit from the show.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: At age 17 Delia was featured on the cover of a adult-targeted magazine called 'Pokémon Pals', becoming both a symbol of pride for the remote and ignored Pallet Town as well as being far too good for the men of Pallet Town after such recognition.
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