History VideoGame / PokemonBlackAndWhite

* BonusBoss:
** [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Cynthia]] can be found vacationing in Caitlin's villa at Undella Town and battled. After the initial fight, she can be rematched once a day during the Spring.
** [[CreatorCameo Shigeki Morimoto]] can be found in the Game Freak building in Castelia after you've beaten the game. He can be fought once per day during every season.
** Several stationary Pokémon at relatively high levels can be found throughout Unova, with many more appearing after [[spoiler: N and Ghetsis are defeated]] and the credits roll. This includes the prerequisite third game legendary mascot, Kyurem, a Musharna available only on [[MythologyGag Fridays]], and more.

* CreatorCameo: There's always one of these in the Pokémon games, but this time you get to [[BonusBoss battle him]]! His name is Morimoto, as in one of the game designers and the creator of Mew, Shigeki Morimoto. You fight him in a building in Castelia City after beating the game. His Pokémon are pretty high leveled, too, in the 75+ range. Despite being best known for creating Mew and has said it is his favorite Pokémon, his team does not include it.

** In the story, N [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomps]] the League Champion with the help of [[spoiler:Reshiram or Zekrom]]. Later, if you go back to [[BonusBoss challenge him yourself]], his Pokémon are a good +20 levels stronger than before. It's explained that he was largely out of practice (due to retirement) which is why he was defeated by N; by the time you face him, he's got his team back up to speed.

%%* OminousMusicBoxTune: N's Playroom. ''Shudder.''
* OminousPipeOrgan: Appears in the BGM for the final battle with N.

** Ever wonder about that clown in Castelia who claims to be able to unlock anything? He was part of an unreleased event, where you could obtain the Lock Capsule in VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver and then transfer it to these games using the Relocator obtained in the same building. He would open it to find the otherwise unavaliable TM for Snarl, with a note claiming it was sealed to hide it from Team Rocket. Much like VideoGame/DiamondAndPearl with the Azure Flute, it was DummiedOut.

** Ever wonder about that clown in Castelia who claims to be able to unlock anything? He was part of an unreleased event, where you could obtain the Lock Capsule in VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver and then transfer it to these games using the Relocator obtained in the same building. He would open it to find the otherwise unavaliable TM for Snarl, with a note claiming it was sealed to hide it from Team Rocket. Much like VideoGame/DiamondandPearl with the Azure Flute, it was DummiedOut.

* IdealistVsPragmatist: This factors into the backstory, with the Heroes of Truth and Ideals. The two-- supposedly the founders of the Unova region-- once shared a powerful dragon Pokémon, but disagreed on whether to pursue absolute morals or pragmatic ideals. As a result of their schism, the dragon itself was split in half, with Reshiram going to the idealist and Zekrom going with the pragmatist. Which one the main character ends up siding with depends on which version they play.

In this installment, Creator/GameFreak [[BreakingOldTrends shakes up a number of series traditions]]. The player characters are now teenagers and have several rivals in their childhood friends. There is a greater emphasis on story, with you encountering not only the villain team, but also your (now female) Professor and the various Gym Leaders reguarly throughout the story. Game mechanics have been overhauled, with [=HMs=] not being required to traverse the region and [=TMs=] being infinite use being just a few of the changes. Long-time staples such as the Game Corner and Safari Zone are no longer present, while Pokémon Centers and Marts have been merged into one building. And, most notably, there are ''no'' Generation I-IV Pokémon in the regional Pokédex; throughout your main adventure, every Mon you encounter is a brand-new one native to Unova, which is the first main-series Pokémon region not to be based on a Japan prefecture, being inspired by the UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity metropolitan area.

* SurpriseCreepy: As usual, some of the weirder Pokédex entries. More unusually for the series, the aversion of PlayTheGameSkipTheStory and with some fairly dark themes at that caught a lot of players off guard.

* [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish Surprisingly Good Foreign Speech]]: Virtually all usages of English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish appearing in both versions of the games are grammatically correct and fluent.

* CriticalAnnoyance: Deliberately [[AvertedTrope Averted]] for the first time in the mainline games; rather than the constant beeping whenever your Pokémon is at low heath from the previous generations or the few quick beeps of successive generations, in this game and it sequel the battle music instead changes into a frantic soundtrack that incorporates the old-school beeping into its melody.

%%** Caitlin's appears to be bed-head, as she just woke up before battling. It has also been mentioned by character design artist Yusuke Ohmura that Caitlin holds her hair up with psychic power channeled through her ribbons, sending the style UpToEleven.

* MotorMouth: N speaks pretty fast. This is actually [[PaintingTheMedium portrayed through his dialogue]]; regardless of what you have it set to normally, his dialogue always scrolls at the maximum speed. If you already have it set at max speed his goes [[UpToEleven even faster]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: The story for these games deal with more complex social/emotional issues than previous entries in the series, like animal abuse, some GrayAndGrayMorality, and a bit of {{Deconstruction}} of a couple of the franchise's staples like ToBeAMaster.

** If the player tries to gets around [[spoiler:catching the Title Legendary by filling every PC Box and have a full party, you won't have to catch it and can be fought later at Dragonspiral Tower.]]

%%**N has been interpreted as a high-functioning autistic, though his upbringing goes a long way toward explaining his quirks. Still, the whole "thinks more like a Pokémon than a human" thing calls Film/TempleGrandin to mind, and ''boy'' has he got the social awkwardness down.

* LostWoods: The Pinwheel Forest subverts this with two paths. It has a straight path out as well as a maze path but the straight path is blocked on the first visit requiring you to explore the winding path. Lostlorn Forest is also this but it is not a full dungeon and is just an optional area.

* {{Meganekko}}: Fennel and Shauntal.

In this installment, Creator/GameFreak [[BreakingOldTrends shakes up a number of series traditions]]. The player characters are now teenagers and have several rivals in their childhood friends. There is a greater emphasis on story, with you encountering not only the villain team, but also your (now female) Professor and the various Gym Leaders reguarly throughout the story. Game mechanics have been overhauled, with [=HMs=] not being required to traverse the region and [=TMs=] being infinite use being just a few of the changes. Long-time staples such as the Game Corner and Safari Zone are no longer present, while Pokémon Centers and Marts have been merged into one building. And, most notably, there are ''no'' Generation I-IV Pokémon in the regional Pokédex; throughout your main adventure, every Mon you encounter is a brand-new one native to Unova, which is the first Pokémon region not to be based on a Japan prefecture, being inspired by the UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity metropolitan area.

* RapunzelHair
** Professor Juniper's friend, Fennel.
** Caitlin of the Elite Four.
** Iris as well. Overlaps with AnimeHair.
** N too.
** A non-human example - Zoroark's mane is tied up into a long ponytail.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler: N's upbringing by Ghetsis, locked in a room with meaningless toys, socially isolated, and emotionally abused, so that he will become a Tykebomb for Ghetsis to take over Unova and then the world. Implications are strong that Ghetsis planned to dispose of N when he played his part]]. To rub salt in that, [[spoiler: one of the Plasma agents mentions that N might not actually be Ghetsis's son, and might have been ''kidnapped from another family'' to be raised in a psychologically-abusive, socially-maladjusted environment as a disposable figurehead for Team Plasma]].

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: On Skyarrow Bridge, an NPC says "The way the bridge curves right here... I've never seen anything like it!" While its not that abnormal a bridge (by real life standards), it is the most three dimensional scene in any Pokémon game until ''VideoGame/PokemonXandY''. And they have this conversation to remind you of that.

* LongSongShortScene: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-B2cnSqPy8&feature=related A fairly awesome version of the Red/Blue Champion battle theme]] greets you... in the finals of the annual Video Game Championships.

* NoobCave: Wellspring Cave located on Route 3. On the first visit it is a short round path with your first battles with Team Plasma grunts, but of course it is deeper and can be explored more with HMs.

* RecurringRiff: Several battle themes use a recurring beat in the background. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnJwd9zrjiA&feature=related It's most notable in the background of the Elite Four battle theme.]]

* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:The Shadow Triad and six of the Seven Sages.]]

* CrutchCharacter: See the [[{{CrutchCharacter/Pokemon}} series' page here]].
* CurseOfThePharaoh: Yamask and Cofagrigus have the Mummy ability, which changes the ability of an opponent Pokemon if it uses a move that makes contact with them into the Mummy ability. Cofragrigus has the appearance of an Egyptian sarcophagus and the ability invokes the idea of the Pharaoh's curse.

* DuelingMessiahs: The player character and N Harmonia take the roles of the conflicting heroes of Unova - one representing truth, one representing ideals. If N wins, then humans and Pokemon will be separated [[spoiler:and Ghetsis Harmonia will take control of the entire region]], but if you win then the region will stay as it is [[spoiler:and Ghetsis's plans will fall apart.]]

* FriendToAllLivingThings: N is able to understand how Pokémon are feeling, and everything he does is motivated by his desire to protect them. [[spoiler: Deconstructed, as he was conditioned into such through emotional and psychological abuse and neglect, and is effectively a cultivated feral child.]]

* GameGourmet: A maid on Route 5, known as the Gourmet Maniac, will buy any manner of food or ingredients from you for higher than they'd normally sell for, including stuff your Pokemon don't normally eat such as Sticks (scallions for Farfetch'd), mushrooms, honey, Leftovers, Lucky Eggs, and Shoal Salt.

** Conversely, [[spoiler:Ghetsis]] sees Pokemon as nothing but tools. His Hydreigon is shown as underleveled (suggesting forced, artificial evolution).

** This even applies to those members who [[spoiler: are using "freeing Pokemon" as a cover for their plans of world domination]]. They're trying to convince people to release their Pokemon... and they do this whilst using/battling Pokemon themselves- blatantly going against everything they're 'supposed' to stand for.
* HypocriticalHumor: A Team Plasma scientist tells the player, "Team Galactic and Team Rocket drew too much attention to themselves. That's why their plans were thwarted." The scientist is in a huge castle that just emerged from the ground, rather noisily. [[spoiler: Which, by the way, rose from the ground right behind the LEAGUE.]] In fact, Team Plasma is even more publicized than those other teams, as Ghetsis makes multiple speeches to various townsfolk.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: On Skyarrow Bridge, an NPC says "The way the bridge curves right here... I've never seen anything like it!" While its not that abnormal a bridge (by real life standards), it is the most three dimensional scene in any Pokémon game until [[VideoGame/PokemonXandY. And they have this conversation to remind you of that.

* MundaneUtility: The television show "Moves for Living" is all about how useful the new Pokémon moves are in everyday life. This may be a subversion, though, since Pokemon moves can't be used by people (and techniques/fight tactics that are moves like Tackle and Low Kick are already being used everyday, both in the Pokemon world and out of it).

** Players of the first generation remember the Magikarp salesman who sold you one for $500 for a Pokemon that can easily be caught with an old rod two cities later. In Pokemon Black and White, the salesman returns and unlike before, it's really a cheap deal for said Pokemon because he's the only method of getting Magikarp and its evolution Gyarados besides breeding.

* NightmarishNursery: At the end of the game, it is possible to go into N's childhood room. The creepiness factor is played for all it's worth, with one of the trains on the train set moving on its own, an OminousMusicBoxTune version of N's theme is playing, and everything is either unfinished or covered in Pokemon claw marks. One member of the Shadow Triad even mentions how he doesn't know what to feel walking into the room. It gets even worse in the [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 sequel]], as it has sustained damage since then, which is reflected in the music going off-key.

** Geechisu/Geechis/Geetis/Geecis/Ghetsis has the same issue with his name, which each language's official localizations having its own take on the spelling as well. WordOfGod confirms that it's derived from the G and C# ("Cis") timpanis that play during his battle theme, but didn't give a spelling. [[Invoked]]

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon:[[spoiler:N's Castle. It's not so much a dungeon as it is the location for the final battle between you and N.]]

* VideoGameDelegationPenalty: You may choose to leave one (later two) of your Mons at the Pokémon Day Care. Pokémon in Day Care gain one experience point per every step the player takes. While its nice to have a Pokémon leveling-up while you simply walk around, there are several drawbacks to this method. For one, Pokémon in Day Care will not evolve. Two, if a Pokémon reaches a level where it can learn a new move, it will always learn that move; if the Pokemon already knows four moves, its first move will be forgotten and the new move will be placed last. This can lead to your Mons forgetting moves you wanted while learning moves you do not. Third, the Mon will not gain Effort Points as it would have if you leveled it up yourself through battle. This will leave it with somewhat lesser stats at higher levels than it would have had if you leveled it up yourself.
* VileVulture: Vullaby and Mandibuzz are dark-type pokemon and their designs are based on vultures, specifically the turkey vulture.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Basculin come in red and blue varieties, and the Pokédex says that the two will start fighting instantly when they meet. [[GangBangers Bloods and Crips]], anyone?
** Or more cynically, Democrats and Republicans.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: N, Ghetsis, and Cilan have green hair; Cress, Brycen, Lenora, and Ace Trainers have blue hair; Iris, Shauntal, and Fennel have purple hair.

JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red and Blue]]'', which were ''in'' black and white since they were for the original UsefulNotes/GameBoy. Also not to be confused with the simulation game ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite''. The English dub of the AnimatedAdaptation known as ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes]]'' in Japan also shares the same name as these games.

In this installment, Creator/GameFreak [[SoftReboot shakes up a number of series traditions]]: the player characters are older, the resident Professor (Juniper) is a woman, Pokémon Centers and Pokémon Marts have been merged into one building, there are ''no'' Generation I-IV Pokémon in the regional Pokédex, [=TMs=] can be used an infinite amount of times, there's no Game Corner or Safari Zone present, and the new Unova region isn't based on a region of Japan but on UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity (and a little UsefulNotes/NewJersey as well, with the sequels adding more New Jersey).