Fanfic / Pokemon: Shadow of Time

Pokemon: Shadow of Time by Ron the True Fan (co-written with Takeshi Yamato and 117Jorn) is a series of Pokémon: The Series fics where Ash is sent back to the beginning of his journey in a new timeline, after it is revealed that Cyrus (the leader of Team Galactic) has basically destroyed reality in his attempts to manipulate it. The plot bears some similarities to Pokémon Reset Bloodlines, with other plot elements taken from Symbiosis and The Sun Soul, but the original fics are acknowledged, the authors’ permission to use these characters or themes has been confirmed, and various new twists are included to distinguish the two, such as the lack of Bloodliners and Ash’s Pokemon retaining some of their future moves rather than starting over from scratch.

The first arc of this series- Pokemon: Shadow of Time - Kanto Arc- has been completed as of July 2020.

The second arc- Pokemon: Shadow of Time - Orre Arc- began in August 2020 and was completed in November.

A spin-off/prequel fic, Pokemon: Shadow of Time: Rising Tides, began in December 2020, looking at Kyoji's 'origin' and his activities during Ash's own time in Orre. This fic was completed in January 2022.

The third arc- Pokemon: Shadow of Time - Johto Arc began in March 2022.

As of January 2021, the Director's Cut of the fic has begun.

Pokemon: Shadow of Time - Christmas Special began in December 2023.

The series can also be found on Archive of Our Own here.

Future plans include further spin-off fics.

Pokemon: Shadow of Time contains examples of:

A-D

• Five-Second Foreshadowing: After Kyoji warns Mewtwo of the various Legendary Pokemon that will object to his plans (while admitting Kyogre might agree to them), a mass of Legendaries show up to oppose Mewtwo in just the next chapter.
• Acid Attack: Utilised by Sligoo more than once.
• Achilles in His Tent: When Ash calls for all of his Pokemon to mobilise for the campaign in Ransei, the only one to stay behind is Mewtwo because he's basically still dealing with his mental trauma.
• Acquired Poison Immunity: It's noted that Erika isn't bothered by the scent of her perfumes because she's spent so long living with it she's basically immune by this point.
• Action Girl:
  • For the humans, Clair demonstrates this when she challenges a Shadow Tyranitar with her Dragonair.
  • For the Pokémon, this applies to Pidgeotto, Quilava, Bayleef, Tailow, Pidove, Snivy, Roggenrola, and Fletchling in general, although some of them haven't really had a chance to show their strength in an official battle yet.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: As well as Ash acknowledging his deeper feelings for his female companions, Brock is now engaged to Professor Ivy, Professor Oak is revealed to be married to Agatha (who is also Gary's grandmother), and Lance is engaged to Whitney as part of an arranged marriage.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Misty and Sabrina are intended to be more attractive than their original timeline selves, such as Sabrina wearing a more revealing outfit.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • The spirit of the King of Pokelantis makes his debut in Chapter 5 of the Director's Cut, several chapters before he appeared in the original version.
  • Ash encounters Team Plasma in Kanto trying to attack the Hidden Village, meets Anabel in his first visit to Saffron City, Iris on Cinnabar Island, and Norman, Max and Caroline around Shamouti Island (May is at home in Hoenn due to an unspecified traumatic experience).
• Adaptational Villainy: Basically applies to N compared to his anime counterpart, with this version of N representing his game counterpart's warped perspective on the Pokemon/trainer dynamic.
• Adorable Abomination: Poipole, as always.
• Airborne Aircraft Carrier: Basically applies to the ship that the Natu telekinetically move through the air.
• Alas, Poor Villain: The best description of how the characters feel about killing some Shadow Pokemon, such as when Iris had to kill a Shadow Gyarados to save her Dratini.
• Alcohol-Induced Stupidity: Defied; Ash resists resorting to drinking to escape his issues even after such difficult moments as Kaiser's death.
• All Men Are Perverts: Ash constantly defies this, to the extent that it confuses some people who expect him to be a jerk preying on the girls in his life.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Basically applies to Anabel's Eevee, as the only one of her Pokemon that isn't a psychic.
• Altar Diplomacy: Lance and Whitney are royals in this adaptation, and have been entered into an arranged marriage to secure an alliance between Kanto and Johto.
• Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: Anabel is shocked to learn that her counterpart was a member of the Battle Frontier at a younger age than she is, considering that the Frontier Brains are meant to be just below the Elite Four in terms of skill.
• Ambiguous Situation: Some sources suggest that Natus are the eyes and ears of Arceus, which is possible enough that even some of the more prejudiced soldiers in the Ranseian army won't push their luck.
• Ambiguously Bi: It would appear that at least some of Serena's personalities are willing to experiment.
• And Then What?: After Ash joins the Orre resistance, they have to acknowledge that until now they've never bothered to think beyond stopping their enemies and don't have a clear plan for what kind of society they'd build afterwards.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Clemont has to explicitly tell Bonnie that some of the girls she's 'proposed' to on his behalf were almost willing to press criminal charges before their father talked them down.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Serena delivers the following to Misty regarding why all of the girls in Ash's life need to at least publically get along, considering that he's legally obliged to practice polygamy;
  "Would you like to explain to Ash's mother why he's depressed enough to jump off a cliff if we get into a fight somewhere down the line? Because he is on that knife edge right now. The only reason he's not marching towards it is because he thinks he's not worthy of any of us! I am willing to try and fall in love with any girl that's interested in Ash just to make sure my beloved lives to a ripe old age. Are YOU?"
• Ascended Extra: The Aura Sphere Riolu goes from just being a Pokémon of the day that Ash and his friends saved to becoming part of his team.
• Ass Shove: In Rising Tide, the Dynamaxed Hydregion basically has an Aurora Beam shot up its rear end.
• Asshole Victim:
  • When Charizard and Pignite find themselves back to Charmander and Tepig and in the company of Damian and Shamus, they immediately attack their prior trainer (Charmander actually crippling Damian’s legs) before running off to find Ash.
  • Rocket Admin Archer is shot in the head by Giovanni after he doesn't call off the Olympic assault, but considering that he was planning to make Misty his Sex Slave, nobody will mourn his death.
  • Even the Pokemon Ash captured post-Sinnoh know of Paul and consider him an arrogant asshole, taking great pleasure in defeating him in a battle before the Indigo League.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: It is noted that Charizards in the Charicific Valley prove who deserves to be the Alpha by fighting each other; Ash's Charizard has to take care to display the necessary dominance to show that he deserves to visit the Valley without unintentionally usurping the original Alpha.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Basically the plan to fight the Shadow Lugia just consists of most of Ash's powerhouses attacking it in rapid succession; Ash observes that he was basically inspired by how the Legendary Birds defeated Lugia.
• Awesome, but Impractical: A good description of the Eevee Ash rescued from the Team Rocket lab on Cinnabar; it can transform into any of Eevee's evolutions and back basically at will, but it can't hold any form for more than a day and Professor Oak expresses doubt that it could hold any of its forms for a full battle.
• Ax-Crazy: It is made clear that the Samurai is this, as he kills people with his sword.
• Bad Boss: As in the original timeline, Paul tries to 'motivate' his Pokemon by threatening to release them if they don't improve.
• Barred from the Afterlife: The King of Pokelantis and the spirit that previously possessed Sabrina are afraid that this will basically happen to them if they don't break out of Ash's mind before he dies of natural causes, as otherwise they will be banished back into the cycle of reincarnation.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: Ash goes against his usual distaste for guns when faced with Sabrina trying to abduct Anabel.
• Battle Cry: The Galarian Farfetch'd often delivers one when in battle, even if it's just a training match.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Pikachu falls victim to a weird version of this; after spending time wishing for 'Ashlings', Ash has technically acquired a 'daughter' in the form of Sabrina, who was purged of a psychic parasite and mentally regressed to a twelve-year-old girl who thought of Ash and Misty as her parents and likes playing with Pikachu because he's cute even though she's physically a grown woman (although she 'grew' out of that particular phase fairly quickly).
• Became Their Own Antithesis: Ash worries that capturing Meltan will start him on a path to becoming this, as he worries about the risk of causing larger-scale problems by catching Legendaries even if Meltan wanted to be caught.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Invoked with Ash’s relationships with Misty and Iris in this new timeline, as each latch on to Ash as the first person to be truly kind to them since they left their families.
• Bedlah Babe: Iris is described as sometimes wearing an outfit that puts Ash in mind of a belly-dancer, due to Kanto being much warmer than Unova.
• Behavioral Conditioning: Clemont decides to try and 'subject' Bonnie to this by attaching Goomy to a harness on her back, Goomy hitting Bonnie with a Dragonbreath every time she tries to 'propose' to another girl on Clemont's behalf until she learns to stop, which he calls 'the Pavolian Goominator'.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Bulbasaur starts to suspect that Pidgeotto and Noctowl are examples of this.
• Berserk Button:
  • Serena shifts into a blind rage when Bonnie suggests she marry Clemont on their first meeting in this new timeline, and later goes on a rant when she learns that the Olympic was attacked while Ash was on it.
  • Even years since his last confrontation with Surge, Ash still has anger issues relating to Surge's belief that non-evolved Pokémon can't beat their evolved counterparts.
  • Misty flies into a rage when Snorlax comments on her former lack of cleavage.
  • Ash's entire team go on a rampage when Ash is shot by one of the grunts; Ash himself only survives because Natu put him into psychic stasis and teleported him to safety. Later on, Charizard and Gabite/Garchomp are willing to tear through N with their bare hands when he tries to 'free' Charizard from Ash by destroying Charizard's Poke Ball by literally melting the ball in Ash's hand.
  • Ash is so determined not to be forced to go cross-dressing again to get into the Celadon Gym that he's willing to consider burning it down if Erika refuses to let him challenge her, and has a negative reaction to Mandi just wearing a kilt during the League conference.
  • Bulbasaur delivers a decisive beat-down to Erika's Tangela as payback for his loss in the last timeline.
  • Charmeleon evolves back to Charizard to protect Ash from Aerodactyl.
  • While Ash tries to control himself, he loses his temper with Paul when Paul insults Goodra.
  • It's noted that Mega Charizard X is this for Ash's Kalos Pokemon; while they acknowledge that it isn't specifically that Pokemon's fault they lost the final match against Alain, they all resent how it happened, regarding it as an embarrassing defeat considering Greninja's type advantage.
• The Berserker: Iris's Dratini is so determined to evolve that it will dive into battles it should know it can't win.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Ash and Goodra in particular are noted as being particularly nice people, but dangerous when they want to get something done. It is also regularly observed that the Gible evolutionary line are very friendly and playful, but when angered they're perfectly willing to go on near-insane rampages against whoever wronged them.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Clair shows up just in time to save the Johto team from a Shadow Tyranitar.
  • During a raid on Pokémon Tech, Ash, Misty and the students get vital aid from the returning Squirtle.
  • In the final confrontation in Orre, the heroes are aided by Ho-oh.
• Big Eater: At one point, Gible eats through enough of the interior structure of a warehouse that he causes the entire building to collapse (albeit after he and the rest of Ash's Hoenn/Sinnoh team have left it), and has to be given a stern lecture that he can't try and eat the ship they'll be using to get to Kanto.
• Bilingual Bonus: Honojima, Denkijima and Korijima are Japanese for Fire, Lightning and Ice Islands respectively.
• Birds of a Feather: During Kyoji's time in Ferrum, his Gible meets a Sharpedo who shares Gible's enthusiasm for expressing friendship by biting things.
• Black-and-White Insanity: In his own way, this seems to apply to Paul, who considers anyone using a Shadow Pokemon to be just as bad as a Cipher Peon, acting as though Ash is the 'villain' when his only Shadow Pokemon is Pikachu, who has shown no sign of being any more dangerous than a standard Pokemon.
• Blessed with Suck: It is suggested that basically the entire Garchomp line have to deal with a version of this, as the species are naturally very affectionate but have to be careful showing that affection after they evolve in case they seriously hurt their trainers.
• Blood Knight:
  • Hinted when Treecko notes that he enjoys fighting, comparing himself to Charizard in that regard; eventually he pushes himself so far that he provokes most of Ash's Flying-types into attacking him so that he'll evolve after Charizard returns to his final stage.
  • A more ruthless, human example occurs when Kaiser of the Safari Zone is revealed to be so obsessive about "his" Dratini that he tries to shoot Ash for capturing one even when it chose to go in his Safari Ball.
  • After Ash captures a Galarian Farfetch'd, it immediately tries to fight with the three strongest Pokemon currently at the ranch, even though it has no chance against Snorlax, Monferno and Grotle.
  • To a lesser extent applies to all Pokemon, as they all enjoy a good fight to varying degrees, with Ash's powerhouses eagerly jumping into a chance to fight a Shadow Lugia and the likes of Primeape and Heracross only staying back because they know they couldn't do anything against a corrupted Psychic type. During his fight with the Elite Four, many of his Pokemon enjoy the challenge, to the extent that Krokorok in particular is only stopped from hurting himself when Ash explicitly tells him to stand down after a hard fight against Hitmonlee.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: The best way to describe N, as he is completely convinced that all trainers are basically forcing their Pokemon to fight for them against their will, with the result that he is genuinely confused when he destroys Charizard's Poke Ball and Charizard starts attacking him for hurting Ash rather than attacking Ash for 'imprisoning' him.
• Body Horror: The description of what happened to Ash's Alola classmates as reality begins to collapse.
• Botanical Abomination: It is observed that 'Frenzy Plant' (the Grass-type equivalent of Hyper Beam) doesn't just create a massive beam of solar energy, but actually manifests a semi-living mass of plant life that can only be destroyed with an equally powerful Fire attack.
• Boring, but Practical: Delia killed the Shadow Ho-oh that killed her husband with a simple axe.
• Brain Bleach: Just the idea of Agatha having any interest in Ash beyond him being her god-grandson makes Lance wish he could get that image taken out of his head. Kyoji has a similar reaction when Ash starts mentioning a swimsuit competition that put him off cross-dressing, as Kyoji doesn't want to imagine James in a female swimsuit.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: It is established that most Team Cipher Peons are brainwashed to just see potential opponents as obstacles to be overcome rather than actual people.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Basically deconstructed for Max, as he's aware that he has issues but accepts that his teachers don't have time to talk with him about them when he's already advanced for his age.
• Break the Haughty: When Ash faces Whitney for the Plain Badge, he chooses Charizard because he wants to knock her down a peg or two after seeing her over-confident attitude, but things go further than he anticipated.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The Team Rocket Trio at one point freely talk about how they're only as important as the author wants them to be and clarify that they're from this timeline rather than the original one, before they're attacked by a Jynx (which they all acknowledge is because the author doesn't like them). This is taken even further after Butch and Cassidy join the TRio in Orre; one chapter features them explicitly discussing the merits of the sound systems of the various game generations and comparing them based on factors such as the game itself or the technology of the consoles.
• Brick Joke: Literally nobody can explain why the Jaws theme accompanies Gible whenever it goes digging.
• Bring My Brown Pants: Axew is noted to have been basically peeing himself in Iris's hair because he's afraid of drowning while travelling to Orre by boat.
• Broken Bird: All of Ash's female companions are 'damaged' in some way;
  • Misty latches on to Ash after he was the first person to show true concern for her after a traumatic experience with two Shadow Pokémon (namely a Slowbro and Venomoth, who were already dealt with by Misty's sisters before Ash met Misty).
  • Serena suffers from some form of Split Personality that she can only 'control' because all of her identities share an attraction for Ash.
  • Sabrina has spent over a decade possessed by some psychic spirit, and having regained control of her body she psychologically regressed to the point where she initially thought she was twelve years old and saw Ash as her father, and continues calling him 'Dad' even after she has returned to mental adulthood while acknowledging his various partners as her 'mothers'.
  • Anabel has chosen to travel with Ash for pragmatic reasons as she's worried about being possessed by some other psychic.
  • Iris is shown to be broken down and weary of her treatment back in Unova, where she is regarded as a second-class citizen just because of her skin colour and was only invited on the trip to Rota as a Token Minority.
  • Robin Ryuot, Ash's travelling companion in Orre, is a child soldier who's spent so long focused on the war with Team Cipher that she doesn't even fully understand how she feels about Ash (and is being manipulated by the King of Pokelantis to see Ash as her 'master' on top of her existing issues).
• Brought Down to Badass:
  • After achieving his final evolutionary stage, Garchomp prefers to remain as Gible using eviolite, as this allows him to bite people as a greeting without hurting his friends and still pack a punch, although he will return to his final stage when facing a relevant battle.
  • Ash's first assault on Team Cipher after he arrives in Orre destroys most of their nuclear stockpile, limiting their opportunity to mount their final assault on the rest of the world.
  • Pikachu is eventually purged of being a Shadow Pokemon while retaining the overall power boost he received from the 'corruption'.
• Building Swing: Sewaddle notes that it had to do this with String Shot and trees in order to get to Professor Juniper's lab to meet up with Oshawott after it woke up in the new reality, which it found very uncomfortable.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • All of Ash’s past Pokemon seek to return to him once they ‘wake up’ in the new reality, even ones he hasn’t seen for years such as Primeape/Mankey and Pidgeot/Pidgeotto; his entire Johto and Unova teams join him again just after his gym battle in Vermillion City, his Hoenn and Sinnoh teams reunite with him after Saffron City, and Lycanroc and Fletchling are sent to him after Serena catches them on his behalf because there isn't space for them in the cabin she's using (although she is keeping the rest of his Alola and Kalos Pokemon with her until Ash can catch them himself).
  • While in Orre, Ash runs into Butch and Cassidy, who retreated to Orre because it seemed to be the point furthest away from Ash. Later in the Orre arc, Kyoji returns from Ransei with a small army behind him to help Ash oppose Team Cipher.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: All of Ash's Pokémon basically take it for granted that he has contact with Legendaries to explain their sudden appearance in a new version of the past, even those who weren't present for such moments as his encounter with Arceus.
• Butt-Monkey: Belladonna, Ash's sister, often has to deal with being knocked around by Ash's Pokemon while she's trying to study them in her role as Oak's assistant.
• Buxom Beauty Standard
  • Apparently Rocket Admin Ariana has the loyalty of around a third of Team Rocket because they like looking at her rack.
  • Lance finds himself reflecting that Whitney has such huge "tracts of land" he's amazed that her back hasn't given out.
  • Basically defied for Ash's female companions; Misty and Iris are rather put out by their growing breasts, and it's observed that Ash isn't that bothered about their size in that regard anyway.
• Cannot Tell a Lie: In Rising Tide, when Kyoji returns to Ransei, his Natu immediately tells the locals of its species about Ash.
• Canon Immigrant: The multi-evolution Eevee is taken from the manga, as is Ash's Spearow after it evolves into Fearow (they're from different mangas, Eevee from Pokemon Special and Fearow from The Electric Tale of Pikachu)).
• Cassandra Truth:
  • At one point Giovanni asks the Team Rocket Trio to order an operation in Mount Moon to be aborted; the Rocket Admins in charge of the operation don't believe that the Trio would ever be Giovanni's messengers, and as a result the operation suffers serious losses when Ash and Misty find them.
  • When Giovanni reveals his status as Ash's uncle, Ash nevertheless takes some time to dismiss the idea that Giovanni is his father because it reinforces the perceived necessity of his vow not to have a relationship, although Kyoji encourages him to get a second opinion anyway.
• Cast from Lifespan: Referenced when Pidgeotto tries to use Hyper Beam; as she learned it as a Pidgeot, Pikachu warns Ash that using it too often in her current state could have a detrimental effect on her health.
• Cathartic Scream: Ash basically ends up doing them when he yells about his issues to Sir Aaron's spirit when they meet in the Tree of Beginning, venting about his troubles helping Ash feel better about them for a time.
• Chainmail Bikini: It is noted that most psychics basically wear such clothing when in action as they are more powerful when only 'clad' in sunlight, hence why Sabrina wears such revealing outfits.
• Character Catchphrase: Ash muses that "I hate this timeline" might as well be his catchphrase, given how often he's said it since reality was reset.
• Character Development: A few in-narrative examples;
  • Ash acknowledges that he grew past his inability to take criticism of his battle style by Johto, apart from when dealing with particularly frustrating cases such as Paul.
  • Charizard reveals that he received some lessons in meditation in the Charicific Valley to learn focus as opposed to just charging into every battle, working to pass those lessons on to Poipole so it won't generate poison by accident.
• The Chosen One: Ash is specifically referred to as the Chosen of Arceus by the entity that once posed as the King of Pokelantis. It is later revealed that Agatha is the Chosen of Giratina, which accounts for her mastery of Ghost Pokemon.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: When Ghetsis prepares to shoot Giovanni, Giovanni observes that he expected that betrayal.
• Church Militant: Could apply to Team Cipher, who see Yveltal as their dark god; it is also observed that they went to war with the Ranger Union as the Union basically had a similar relationship to Xerneas, Yveltal's opposite.
• Civilization Destroyer: A comparatively minor example, but it is noted that Unova was particularly devastated by the Shadow War; 48% of Pokemon in the southern half of the country were converted into Shadow Pokemon after it fell to Cipher, and with Cipher Peons staying behind after the war ended it took around 24 years for Unova to reunify at the cost of basically all social development.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: At least hinted at for Misty when she and Ash spend some time travelling with Melanie from the Hidden Village, although she just glares at the other girl rather than doing anything explicit.
• Closest Thing We Got: Invoked by Giovanni when he notes that, after some of his Admins nearly killed Ash despite his explicit orders, Jessie, James and Meowth are actually the closest thing he has to competent followers left as they actually obeyed his orders without him being constantly present.
• Combo Platter Powers: Invoked when Quilava basically combines multiple attacks when competing in the Celadon Gym; using Odor Sleuth to focus its attack and then mixing Flame Wheel with Aerial Ace makes it virtually impossible for Erika's Weepinbell to evade Quilava's attack.
• Commitment Issues: Ash rejects the idea of romantic relationships to avoid turning out like his father, who abandoned him and his mother when Ash was young.
• Continuity Nod: Ash and Pikachu discuss their past experience as temporary ghosts when they first visited Lavender Town.
• Contrived Coincidence: Suggested;
  • By sheer apparent coincidence, Ash's Johto and Unova teams meet up when the Unova team dig themselves to exactly the spot where the Johto team were contemplating their next move on Route 27, while the Hoenn and Sinnoh teams ran into each other at Route 118.
  • Later on (again by apparent chance), Team Rocket and Team Aqua stage attacks on the same ship at the same time.
  • After Hunter J attacks the Germanic, Serena and Ash's Kalos Pokémon transfer to the Aquitania and meet up with Ash's Alola Pokémon.
• Convenient Replacement Character: Kyoji basically seems to be taking this role for Brock in terms of his knowledge of cooking, although he's less obvious about his attraction to beautiful women than Brock was.
• Cool, but Stupid: The best description of a Xatu appearing in a pirate hat.
• Cool Old Guy: Blaine; the riddles might be annoying, but it's hard not to admire the man for coming up with such interesting challenges in the first place.
• Cool Ship: The Germanic, Aquitania and Olympic are particular examples of this.
• Crippling Overspecialization:
  • Ash defeats Solidad in a tournament because her training style as a coordinator focuses on looking flashy rather than delivering more powerful attacks.
  • Invoked as the main reason Paul's training strategy doesn't work; he basically relies on only a few key powerhouses and expects the rest of his team to just shield his best Pokemon from serious injury until he's ready to take his opponents down.
  • During his fight with Lance's Charizard, Goodra notes that the Pokemon has minimal fire-type attacks as Lance has concentrated on training its dragon-type moves, creating a weakness in its combat style. It's observed that Lance's Dragonite is so large that he finds it hard to keep up with Pikachu in their battle, although this is justified as few Pokemon of Pikachu's size would be capable of the power necessary to be more than an annoyance to Dragonite.
  • When Ash faces Whitney, her reliance on her usual strategy of using Miltank's Attract and then Rollout works against her when facing Charizard; Attract doesn't work on Pokemon that mate for life and have already found their mate, and instead provokes Charizard into a wild rage against Miltank for trying to threaten that bond.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Minor B, one of the most prominent members of Team Cipher, is killed when he is thrown into a pool of molten magma.
• Crystal Dragon Jesus: Rising Tides affirms that Ash is at least perceived to be the Child of Arceus by a religion in Ransei, with a divine and human soul co-existing in his body.
• Culture Clash: Orre civilisation has evolved to use sand to clean things rather than water due to the lack of water in the country.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Noctowl single-handedly takes down twenty-three different Pokémon (belonging to six different trainers) when Ash visits Pokémon Tech.
  • At Oak's lab, Oak's Dragonite single-handedly takes on most of Ash's team and wins, although it provides enough 'incentive' for Turtwig and Chimchar to evolve to the next stage.
  • When Ash faces Paul again, Goodra manages to take down three of Paul's Pokemon on his own.
  • Ash manages to score a range of victories in the Pokemon League without losing a single Pokemon.
  • During subsequent training sessions, Ash's Pokemon regularly defeat the girls' Pokemon due to their greater experience.
  • When Ash is nearly assassinated by the Ransei Empress as part of an attempted coup, his Pokemon easily tear through the opposition against them as he goes to confront the Empress in person.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: When Ash faces the Elite Four, he chooses a relatively random selection of his Pokemon, as most of the team are so well-trained by now that he doesn't want to go in relying on specific types to blaze through his battles, but chooses to limit himself to feel like he earned his victories.
• Curse Cut Short: Ash doesn't allow his Farfetch'd to finish saying 'cunt' even though he's basically the only one who could understand it.
• Dark and Troubled Past:
  • Kyoji reveals in chapter 27 that he was part of a major crime family in Ransei and was constantly judged for his family's crimes even though he actively tried to help destroy them.
  • Cynthia has unspecified issues with Team Galactic.
• Darker and Edgier: Quite a few of these have already emerged, such as references to a Shadow Lugia that apparently means that plane travel is no longer an option, the Samurai of Viridian Forest now being an outright serial killer, or Sabrina being possessed by some kind of mental parasite.
• Deal with the Devil: Invoked as one possible reason why Ghetsis has survived everything he's been through so far.
• Death by Adaptation: It is later confirmed that Damian- Charizard/Charmander's original trainer- was killed by a Shadow Jigglypuff shortly after Charmander abandoned him, and Koga dies of exposure to various poisons after a final clash with Team Rocket.
• Deathbed Confession: Hunter J dies after she helps stop her brother's attempt to capture the Shamouti Legendary Birds, and is assured as she dies that while she will be judged for her thefts, it will be taken into account that she didn't intend to kill all life in the original timeline.
• Defiant to the End: Even when dying of poison, Koga is skilled enough to defeat Rocket Admin Proton in a fight despite Proton having a gun, Koga evading many of the bullets fired at him.
• Despair Event Horizon: Gaffrey acknowledges that Ash has likely crossed this point after witnessing the destruction of his old reality and is only holding on now to ensure that those he cares about survive.
• Deus ex Machina:
  • When the parasite that was in Sabrina tries to take over Ash, the parasite is trapped in his subconscious along with the entity known as the King of Pokelantis by Arceus Itself.
  • In Chapter 29, not only do a mass of Legendaries show up to stop Mewtwo's plans, but later Arceus rewards Kyoji for his aid by giving him the gift of understanding Pokemon in the same manner as Ash.
  • In Rising Tide, the arrival of Primal Groundon to stop a Gigantamaxed Shadow Hydregion is treated as aid from Arceus.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Kyoji delivers one to Mewtwo pointing out all the Legendaries that would stop him if he actually tried to put his plan to flood the world into action.
  • During his fight with Ash, Paul acknowledges that he made a mistake when he sends out Magby to fight Goodra in the rain.
  • After his battle with Ash, Paul only realises after he's released most of his weaker Pokemon in frustration that he also released his Shiny Magikarp.
  • A more minor example when Jeanette has Bellsprout use Wrap on Tepig, as she was probably genuinely unaware of Tepig's ability to use Flame Charge in that stage.
  • Later, Giovanni calls out Ghetsis for trying to hold a Gible captive, as the land-shark manages to eat its way out of the cage.
  • Hopefully applies to the King of Pokelantis, who has been using his control of Ash's Aura to try and influence Robin's initial attraction to Ash to make her his bodyguard/servant, not fully taking into account that he's currently encouraging her to protect Ash rather than him.
  • All but explicitly called invoked in Rising Tide when Sun Xeufung steals material from Galar to Dynamax a Hydregion, as such a force is too powerful for anything short of a Legendary to defeat or control.
• Diplomatic Impunity: Ash considers using his status as the Crown Prince of Rota to protect him if he feels the 'need' to burn down the Celadon Gym if Erika refuses his challenge.
• Discard and Draw: Basically Paul's attitude after his loss to Ash, as he releases most of his lower-level Pokemon so that he can focus on building up a stronger team.
• Distinction Without a Difference:
  • According to Celebi, it doesn't know Teleport and instead relies on 'selective time dilation' to achieve a similar result, which apparently prevents it from just teleporting Ash's Kalos and Alola Pokemon to him from Serena.
  • While Ash just considers himself a Pokemon trainer, others note that he is essentially a general given the scale of things he has dealt with in the past and his own experiences, observing that he can identify key areas of concern and trust his "troops" to deal with the finer details on their own initiative.
• Distracted by the Sexy:
  • A Galarian Farfetch'd falls victim to this when he first sees a Natu during the campaign against Team Cipher in Orre.
  • Ash at least wonders if Lorelei is trying to invoke this given her attire when he faces her in battle, but it doesn't work for Ash as she's twice his age and not his type.
• Do Androids Dream?: Essentially applies to the Regis, who are basically an early kind of mechanical Pokemon; they want to help Ash, but lack the emotional capacity to understand how to do so.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength:
  • Muk is so eager to see Ash that it almost smothers him before remembering that he needs to breath.
  • After Gible evolves, Gabite attempts to repeat his usual 'greeting' and nearly crushes Ash's skull.
• Doesn't Like Guns: The existence of Shadow Pokémon mean that trainers are now required to carry guns as well as their regular Pokémon, which Ash doesn't like even if he's resigned to having it.
• Doublethink: In Rising Tide, the president of the People's Republic of Ferrum blames Orre for the new Shadow infestation when he unleashed it on himself, and just defines it to himself as 'not my fault'.
• Downer Ending: The Kanto Arc concludes with the girls all in comas after their injuries in Cipher's attack, Rota demanding the Leagues do something about Cipher or lose the Lucarios keeping the Shadow Pokemon plague in check, and Kyoji has been ordered to return to Ransei to discuss his discoveries. The only positive development is Ash heading to Orre to deal with Team Cipher himself, and he is unaware that Rota actually needs him to return to the Tree of Beginning at a certain point to keep it alive or there will be potentially global consequences.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: During the Shamouti crisis, Mewtwo is unable to help despite being basically Ash's Pokemon as he's essentially suffering from a Heroic B So D after witnessing Ash's memories.
• The Dreaded:
  • Delia Ketchum was apparently such a skilled Pokémon trainer in the past that Giovanni refuses to allow any of Team Rocket's forces to engage Ash in battle lest they incur her wrath. Just the news that her son is on the ship they're attacking is enough to prompt a Team Aqua grunt to try and get off the ship as quickly as possible, and the Orreian resistance against Team Cipher all know of her defeat of a Shadow Ho-Oh after it killed her husband and just need to be told that Ash is her son.
  • Professor Oak apparently has such a significant reputation that it is considered suicide for any of the villain teams to try attacking him directly despite his age.
  • From Oak's perspective, Snorlax; it only doesn't apply because he's getting extra funding, rather than having to feed the Pokémon in question by himself.
  • It is often stated that Team Rocket never attacked Silph until Sabrina was basically 'taken out'.
  • Jessie receives her killer Mimikyu again, although Giovanni makes it clear that he won't tolerate it killing Ash's Pikachu.
  • Ash and his relevant Pokemon are all terrified when they confront Jigglypuff, who is now a Shadow Pokémon.
  • Dark Pokemon are apparently so dangerous to Psychics that just being in their presence makes Psychics uncomfortable, as noted by Sabrina after Ash's Krokorok evolves into Krookodile even though Krookodile is focused on Mewtwo. On a wider note, Yveltal, the only known Dark-type Legendary, is basically the Pokemon version of the Grim Reaper, and is confirmed to be the reason Giratina hides in another realm... making even the Champions concerned when Yveltal finally shows up.
  • When Robin accidentally unleashes Shadow Lugia, even the Champions are concerned about the prospect of this monster returning to the fold.
  • From the perspective of Team Cipher, Melmetal is apparently considered one of the main reasons they failed in their initial expansion efforts.
• Driven to Suicide:
  • When a Hypno tries to read Ash's mind, it subsequently kills itself from the sheer horror of what it found there.
  • It is noted that everything Ash experienced before the reality reset would have made lesser men kill themselves from the horror of it. It's later confirmed that the King of Pokelantis in particular intends to drive Ash to suicide so that he will be able to take over Ash's body, and is frustrated when his Cathartic Scream at Sir Aaron helps him get past some of his anger for a time.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Gaffrey gets drunk with Ash to help him deal with his guilt and grief over the deaths of Kaiser, Proton and Koga.
• Drunk with Power: Suggested for Charmander, as it’s observed that his rebellious attitude after his evolution in the original timeline was due to the surge of power necessary for evolution having an adverse effect on his brain chemistry until his fight with Tad’s Poliwrath.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Invoked; Astral Iris advises her new-timeline self that she needs to take her time and let Dratini get used to her, just as she had to earn Dragonite's respect in the original timeline.
• Dumb Muscle: Gible might be jocular and come across as insane, but he's also the first regular Pokémon so far to defeat a Shadow Pokémon, driving off a Shadow Flygon that tried to attack the Hoenn and Sinnoh teams.

E-M

• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • The first chapter of the Director's Cut ends with the appearance of a woman who is confirmed to be the Priestess of Arceus who appeared in full later in the original fic.
  • Ash meets Solidad while on a detour to Rota on his way to Cerulean City, when he only met Solidad and travelled to Rota while taking part in the Battle Frontier in canon.
• Eldritch Location: Orre is basically this, considering that the Dark and Shadow Pokemon there make it a very uncomfortable place for psychics.
• Elective Mute: Janine's initial silence was a sign of her mourning her father's death.
• Encyclopedia Exposita: Each chapter ends with an entry or two from a Team Rocket database providing either general background information about the new world or specific background details about Ash and his Pokémon.
• Entertainingly Wrong: During Hisui Chronicles, while Ash is trapped in the past, he stops an attempted seduction by Azeru by revealing that he's from the future and knows her descendant, which leads to Arezu assuming that he's involved with Mars when Ash is actually involved with other women while actively opposed to Mars.
• Ethical Slut: Serena's more sexually-inclined personality makes it clear to Misty that she would never do anything to anyone against their will (although she concedes that she wouldn't be against drugging a partner as part of a potential fantasy), and explicitly informs Ash that she would only do anything to him if he was "awake, consenting, and eager [..] and older".
• Even Evil Has Standards: It's noted that even Ferrum, the most ruthless nation in the Pokemon world, wouldn't resort to outright cruelty to Pokemon such as cutting the fins off Gibles.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Suggested; at one point Pikachu starts to say something that suggests Clemont might have had a thing for Ash, but Ash asks Pikachu not to finish that sentence for the sake of his sanity.
• Everyone Can See It: Invoked when Ash observes that basically everyone knew that Jessie was involved with James, even if they never admit to their relationship directly.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Despite Pikachu trying to ship Ash with various girls, he makes it clear that he wants Ash to have a good relationship and would discourage Ash if he was, for example, trying to get involved with the likes of Hunter J.
  • Although Paul releases his Marill after it loses to Quilava, he acknowledges that he made the mistake when he sends out Magby to fight Goodra in the rain.
  • A more negative example of this occurs when one of the Rota guard expresses disapproval of Ash's current relationships just because none of the girls joined him in the initial assault on Orre, even though they were all injured in the earlier attack on Indigo Stadium. Later, the head guard recognises that the girls aren't helping Ash stop the Legendary Birds around Shamouti for the practical reason that none of them have a Pokemon capable of flight, and appreciates that they're doing what they can with the Pokemon they own.
  • The TRio affirm that while they'd steal and sell Pokemon, they'd never torture the Pokemon they capture.
  • When Kyoji is in the Ferrum Region in Rising Tide, he observes that the police brutality in that region is worse than it was in Ransei; he might have been beaten because of his family ties, but at least that was because of something specific rather than just his political affiliations.
  • When some Rotans are trying to get Ash to conceive an heir with one of the girls, even Serena's most sex-crazed personality recognises that Ash doesn't want to go that far and restricts herself to half-naked cuddles.
• Everything's Better with Sparkles: After Yveltal is purified, it reverts to its Shiny appearance of white and red rather than the standard black and red.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • A minor example; when Hunter J first meets Ash and the rest of the 'harem', she is initially dismissive of the idea that the girls are anything more to Ash than a source of sex, but soon realises after meeting them that he genuinely cares about them.
  • The King of Pokelantis disagrees with Gaffrey's attempt to encourage Ash to move past the deaths of his old reality just because he can't understand why anyone else's life has value.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • Murkrows are suggested to be this to Natus.
  • During the Shamouti crisis, XD-001- the corrupted Shadow Lugia- appears to attack the Shamouti Lugia.
• Evil Is Petty: After learning of Ash's true history, Janine muses that Cyrus's manipulations are likely the reason Ash never won a League, as after winning the Battle Frontier he should have had enough experience to win in a more conventional contest.
• Evil Laugh: Goodra basically lets out one when he evolves from Sligoo as he's fighting Paul.
• Evil Versus Evil:
  • From Chapter 24, Team Rocket and Team Plasma are officially at war.
  • It is revealed during the Orre arc that Team Cipher's initial campaign was based around a desire to kill Cyrus based on visions of his future (although they caused large-scale damage because they didn't know enough about Cyrus to just try and target his own family), and the remnants of Team Rocket have come to Orre to assist Ash against them.
• Eviler than Thou: The entity that was once the King of Pokelantis swiftly makes it clear to Sabrina that it's the more dangerous of the two of them.
• Exact Words: Oak warns Ash not to release Meltan or there will be consequences, Ash assuming that he means that releasing Meltan will be dangerous but actually Oak just intends to show embarrassing baby pictures of Ash.
• Exotic Extended Marriage: Due to his status as the Crown Prince of Rota, after an incident where the royal family were nearly decimated by a plague, Ash is actually legally obliged to practice polygamy.
• Expy: Gaffrey, Ash's psychiatrist, is envisioned as being portrayed by Edward James Olmos, with his name and character intended to be a mix of Olmos's most famous roles in Blade Runner (Gaff) and Battlestar Galactica (2003) (William Adama).
• Expy: Surge's Magneton is basically a Pokemon version of H.K-47.
• Eye Colour Change: It is noted that Sabrina's eyes change colour as a side-effect to her powers, and Serena's eyes are later shown changing as an apparent side-effect of her multiple personalities alternating control.
• Eye Scream:
  • Pidove at one point tears out a sniper's eyes before killing him for being part of a group that nearly kills Ash.
  • During the crisis at Shamouti, at one point Rowlett peaks Shadow Lugia in the eye.
• Face Death with Dignity: Anabel is prepared to do this when the ship she's on is attacked, only for her Eevee to evolve into Espeon and save her life.
• Fake Relationship: At least suggested when Kyoji, Misty and Anabel agree to at least pretend to be considering each other as romantic partners to give Ash time to get over the many issues that stop him considering himself a suitable partner even though the girls are all in love with him to varying degrees.
• False Flag Operation: In Rising Ride, the goverment of Ferrum unleashes Shadow Pokemon with the goal of stepping into stop them and prove itself to the common people.
• Famous Ancestor: Robin is noted as being the descendant of Michael Ryuto and Wes; it's observed that Michael caused serious damage to Team Cipher's operations before they finally managed to kill him and his wife, although his child escaped.
• Fanservice Costumes: When Ash is in hospital, he learns that his various female companions are all wearing sexy nurse costumes created by Leavanny on Gible's suggestion.
• Fantastic Nuke: A variation; nuclear weapons do exist as we know them in reality, but use of Pokemon allows humans to deal with the potential fallout of such weapons without worrying about contamination.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Belladonna is so prejudiced against Shadow Pokemon that she contemplates shooting Pikachu just because he's a Shadow Pokemon despite Oak's assurances that he's taken all relevant precautions.
  • Paul also has a variation of this, as he immediately acts as though Pikachu is a monster just because he's a Shadow Pokemon even though he hasn't seen Pikachu do anything 'dangerous'.
• Fantastic Science: Brought up with revelation that the internet in this reality was inspired by the Regis.
• Fatal Flaw: Hunter J's flaw is Greed, which leads to her losing her Salamence and sustaining a range of injuries when she is attacked by Ash's Kalos team while trying to complete her latest contract.
• Feel No Pain: A variation for Mandi's Exeggutor in the Indigo Conference, as at least one of its heads appears to actually enjoy pain.
• Fisher King: It is established that Legendary Pokemon are this to each region, as their presence ensures that people and Pokemon retain their symbiotic balance as the Legendaries maintain the more exotic energies. In the case of Ransei, Ash has to get rid of the current Empress and her son so that the local Legendary Pokemon can return to the kingdom and restore balance.
• Flat "What": Basically Goomy's reaction to Clemont's latest choice of name for his 'Pavloian Goominator'.
• Foil: Word of God confirms that Kyoji is intended to serve as one for Ash, as he is more open to potential relationships but just worries about how others will see him.
• Foregone Conclusion:
  • When Ash 'accidentally' sends Charizard out against Ritchie's Charmander, all parties watching know that Charizard will win, and Ash just asks if they can treat it as a kind of training match because Charizard doesn't want to actually hurt Zippo.
  • When Ash arrives in Orre and Robin immediately expresses an attraction to him, Pikachu notes that Ash should have expected that given his track record of a girl a region, with the other girls expressing a similar sentiment when they arrive.
  • Word of God confirms that the Galarian Farfetch'd that is sighted in Orre is Ash's future catch.
  • While Ash didn't explicitly win the Indigo Conference as Team Cipher's attack basically called it off before the final battles, most agree that he would have won as nobody believes his remaining opponents could have beaten him.
• Foreshadowing:
  • The Unova delegation to acknowledge Ash's status as the Crown Prince of Rota note that they will need to bring a Token Minority to "pander to the Kantoans"; their likely candidate seems obvious.
  • Reference is made to a Shadow Lugia that rendered air travel basically impossible long before Ash arrives in Orre and his new companion accidentally releases that Lugia.
• Freaky Is Cool: Referenced when Kyoji mentions that he likes "weird", such as Sabrina's unconventional 'relationship' to Ash where she considers him her father despite being older.
• Freudian Excuse:
  • Ash tries to avoid romantic relationships because he doesn’t want to become like his father, who abandoned Ash and Delia when Ash was still young in the original timeline.
  • Ash never trained with his Aura because he felt as though he failed Lucario in the original timeline.
• The Friend Nobody Likes:
  • In as much as the Kanto gym leaders are friends rather than just colleagues, Sabrina is clearly presented as this for the other gym leaders before her battle with Ash, the others only tolerating her creepy habits because they know she's too powerful for them to order around.
  • After the Orre arc, it is suggested that Robin is this for the other girls; Misty, Iris and Serena know Ash from the original timeline, Anabel fell for him under natural circumstances, and they accept May and Dawn as inevitabilities (for the same reason as Misty, Iris, and Serena), but they're less sure about a relative 'newbie' like Robin.
• Friend to All Children: When Charizard visits the Charicific Valley, he is immediately kind to a small Charmander that greeted him, even as the Charmander's mother provokes him into a fight.
• Friendly Enemy: The Team Rocket Trio's status as this is affirmed when Ash runs into them in Orre, as he appreciates familiarity and they are actually willing to help him at this point.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Gligar/Gliscor seems to be this for Ash's Sinnoh team, to the extent that the other five basically forgot about him while searching the region for each other before he came to meet them himself.
• From Bad to Worse:
  • While in Orre, Ash and his allies go from facing Shadow Lugia to facing Yveltal, which is basically the Pokemon equivalent of the devil.
  • As though the canon Shamouti crisis wasn't bad enough, here the corrupted Shadow Lugia, XD-001, appears to join the fight on top of the enraged Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres.
• Game Face: Pac-Gible attempts to adopt this by adding black paint to his face, but it doesn't make him look any less cute.
• Generation Xerox: A weird variation of this, as Sabrina wonders if her 'free love' philosophy and openness to multiple partners comes from Ash or Misty.
• Glass Cannon:
  • Despite Krabby's relative experience, it loses a battle to Spheal in the Cerulean Gym for the simple reason that it wasn't heavy enough to take a hit from its bulkier opponent.
    • Later chapters affirm that most of Ash's Pokemon are this, relying on raw power and speed to avoid taking hits that they wouldn't be able to cope with.
  • Appears to be a good description of Hunter J's ship, with J explicitly musing that the Defiance-class ships such as hers "were meant to hit hard and get the Hell out, not hang in a firefight for the long haul".
• Glass-Shattering Sound: After Noibat hatches, he nearly destroys the windows in their cabin because he was screeching so loudly.
• God in Human Form: It is noted that the Legendaries seen on Earth are actually just avatars of their true state.
• Godzilla Threshold:
  • During the Viridian Gym battle, Ash uses Mega Evolution for the first time to deliver a decisive blow to Giovanni.
  • While in Orre, Pikachu has to accept going into a Poke Ball despite the fact that it genuinely hurts him in this timeline because he has to infiltrate Team Cipher's facilities.
  • Later, Ash's new Galarian Farfetch'd gets Ivysaur, Monferno and Charjabug to deactivate Ash's ball limiter, with the result that he can now carry as many Pokemon as he wants at a time.
• Gone Horribly Right:
  • Yveltal was apparently created when Giratina tried to prove that it could create life just like Arceus; since Giratina is known as the Lord of Death and Reincarnation, Yveltal was a creature of death rather than life.
  • While Ash is travelling through Johto, his attempt to break Whitney's arrogant attitude by using Charizard goes further than he wanted when Miltank's use of Attract provokes Charizard into a blinding rage that nearly kills Miltank and allows Charizard to deliver a Curb-Stomp Battle to the rest of her team.
• Good Is Not Nice:
  • Kyoji might be Ash's friend, but he is also willing and able to call Ash on his attitude towards relationships.
  • On a wider scale, the resistance against Team Cipher in Orre are willing to resort to any means to win.
• Good Is Not Soft: It is made clear that the only reason some of Ash's companions aren't trying to go off and kill Cyrus already is that they realise that they need to get stronger before facing him.
• Grand Theft Me: It is revealed that Sabrina has been possessed by a mind parasite since she was twelve, with the parasite attempting to take over Anabel before Anabel's Pokémon summon Ash for help, after which the parasite tries and fails to take control of Ash.
• Groin Attack: During Cipher's attack on Indigo Stadium, Erika shoots a Cipher Peon in the crotch.
• Guilt Complex: Everyone who knows about the events of Altomere agree that Ash shouldn't blame himself for Latios's death.
• Has a Type:
  • Ash reflects that his experience with Giselle in particular taught him that he has a thing for girls with long hair; Jessie is ruled out because she's older and with James, but Misty, May, Dawn, Iris and Serena all apply, even if Misty and May wear their hair tied back and Serena's haircut helped him put her out of his mind until she kissed him.
    • After Ash becomes the "official" ruler of Rota, one of his guards mistakenly assumes that Ash appreciates girls with large chests.
  • Kyoji has an interest in girls with particularly unique hairstyles, such as the Joys and Jennys (although he's not as expressive about his interest in them as Brock was).
• Hated by All: People back in Ransei didn't like Kyoji because his family had a criminal history, even if he helped to take the rest of his family down.
• Have We Met Yet?: During the Orre arc, Meltan reveals that it has met Ash at some point in the past, which Pidgeot immediately concludes means that Ash will go back in time at some future date.
• Head Pet: Natus are known for sitting on peoples' heads.
• Heal the Cutie: Ash's female companions all come to recognise that they're needed to help Ash regain his sense of self-worth, as otherwise he's likely to try and commit suicide after defeating Cyrus because he would feel as though he no longer has anything to live for.
• Heel Realization: Particularly shown for Charmander, who is fighting particularly hard for Ash to make up for his attitude as a Charmeleon and Charizard the first time round.
• Help Yourself in the Future:
  • After Misty learns the truth about Ash's history, she has a 'talk' with a psychic imprint of her original-timeline-self created by Ash's mind due to his encounters with Mewtwo, who helps her acknowledge that Ash hasn't manipulated her but is genuinely looking out for her.
  • As it turns out, Ash has basically been using his future knowledge to help most of the people he met in the original timeline that he didn't meet here, such as warning the construction crew about the Diglett colony or advising Duplica on how to help her Ditto.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Basically applies to Sharpedo, as the species can be friendly but they have a fearsome reputation.
• Hero-Worshipper: Max, to a greater extent than in canon, as he takes steps to officially become Ash's apprentice.
• Heroic BSoD: Misty has one the first time she sees Celebi, and Ash has one himself when he accidentally makes a Rocket grunt shoot himself in the head with the grunt's own gun.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Ash is at least willing to die to save the sinking Olympic, attempting a difficult repair job that nearly drowns him before Misty's Gyarados saves his life.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: In Rising Tides, Kyoji and his allies hide in an old resistance base that is known to the Ferrum government because the government assume that it won't be used because it's known to them.
• Hit So Hard, the Calendar Felt It: The Directors Cut confirms that the mass creation of Shadow Pokemon was so devastating that it prompted people to change the calendar, so what would have been 1996 in Anno Domini terms is 'AS62' in Sinnoh (although Chimchar notes that Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh all use calendars linked to legendary Pokemon in some way).
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Team Cipher are destroyed by Yveltal after they unleashed it.
  • When Ash faces Whitney, her attempt to have Miltank use Attract on Charizard provokes Charizard into a feral rage that causes him to inflict literally crippling injuries on Miltank and then tear through the rest of her team basically single-handedly, because Whitney didn't take into account that Charizards mate for life and get angry when something threatens that bond.
• Hollywood Evolution: Invoked when characters speculate that humans are basically an 'offshot' evolution of Pokemon, scientists speculating that the 'first' human was a Psychic/Fighting type to account for human psychics or Ash's ability to use Aura.
• Honor Before Reason: A minor example; Serena can configure Poke Balls to Ash's Trainer ID so that she can catch his future team on his behalf, but Froakie in particular refuses this as he claims that he will only accept being caught if Ash is the one to use the ball, defending it as a 'cultural thing'.
• Hope Spot: While in Orre, Ash's allies discover data on the purify chamber, which should allow them to return Shadow Pokemon to normal if it can be recreated.
• Hopeless Suitor: Bulbasuar hopes that Chikorita won't be too disappointed at having her feelings for Ash being rejected all over again.
• Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: Invoked and defied, with Lance observing that he has no idea why anyone tried that.
• I Didn't Mean to Kill Him: During a fight with Team Rocket, Ash accidentally kills a grunt during a fight when his opponent's gun goes off while it's pointing at the man's head.
• I Hate Past Me: Looking back on his past journeys, Ash is particularly embarrassed at his performance in Unova (although others speculate that Cyrus had something to do with Ash's poor performance in post-Sinnoh Leagues), while Charizard is annoyed at his former attitude before his fight with Tad and Poliwrath. Ash later explicitly wonders if it's pathetic that he enjoyed the image of a crowd of people cheering his name, but is assured that he was just a kid with a dream rather than being particularly stupid.
• I Just Want to Be Badass: Just like in Reset Bloodlines, many of Ash’s de-evolved Pokemon want to return to their fully-evolved state as soon as possible, with Charmander and Sandile being particularly happy when they evolve. The only exceptions so far shown are Turtwig, who was never comfortable as Torterra and would prefer to remain small and agile as he never felt he was a good fit as a large potential powerhouse, and Gabite, who prefers being a Gible as it lets him bite people without causing potentially fatal damage. Mimikyu also expresses a desire to evolve, but has to accept that it can only grow as strong as it can get in its current state.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: When Ash meets Sir Aaron's spirit, he observes that he'd give anything for a monotonous year as opposed to the chaos he usually ends up facing.
• I Just Want to Have Friends:
  • In contrast to Jessie’s Mimikyu, Ash’s Mimikyu is very friendly and keen to become part of a team, although it has no problem with Ash being selective in his catches as it considers this proof that they’re part of an ‘exclusive club’.
  • In Rising Tide, Kyoji ends up taking in a Sharpedo that just wanted friends as it can't meet people on its own due to the fearsome reputation of its species.
• I Need a Freaking Drink:
  • After learning that Ash has faced the Shadow Lugia that caused such terror, Belladonna, despite being legally too young to drink, starts downing some of the cheap beer in Oak's fridge, with Oak assuring her that he understands so long as she doesn't touch the good wine.
  • Back in Orre, Pernon gets very drunk to celebrate defeating a Legendary and the knowledge that he doesn't have to spend more time with Ash as the boy goes after more Legendaries.
  • In Ransei, Hiruzen, Kyoji's old commanding officer, immediately goes for the rice wine after his meeting with Kyoji revealed such details as Kyoji's new relationship with Sabrina and Ash's status as the Chosen of Arceus.
  • The President of Selen turns to drink to cope with the seemingly imminent destruction threatened by Dynamaxed Hydregion fighting with Groundon.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: While Ash doesn't feel he's worthy of a relationship with his female travelling partners, he makes it clear that he wants them to find someone better than him.
• Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance:
  • The Johto team were unaware that Noctowl went after Ash on his own, and spent some time still looking for him before they went to Ash.
  • Due to Snorlax spending so much time asleep, it apparently didn't realise what had happened until over three weeks after the reality reset, initially assuming it had just been moved to another ranch.
  • It is explicitly noted that Mewtwo is unaware of just how much trouble he's in after being confronted by Ash.
  • Kyoji was unaware of the existence of Shiny Pokemon until Chapter 32.
  • Ash has very little political experience, such as not knowing about communists.
  • During the Orre arc, Ash's Dratini evolves into Dragonair and is confused as he assumed that Dragonair was a female-only state as the only Dragonair he knew in the Safari Zone was female; Professor Oak's Dragonite has to assure him that this is normal.
  • Looking back on her behaviour around Shamouti Island, Misty is embarrassed that she made such a big deal about Melody's interest in Ash when Ash was only interested in the 'adventure' of the ritual rather than Melody as a girl.
• Immune to Mind Control: As the Chosen of Arceus, Ash is basically immune to mind control; the entity that was once the King of Pokelantis notes that he only managed to enter Ash because Arceus wasn't paying attention at the time, and now the King is trapped in Ash's mind along with the entity that possessed Sabrina.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The serial-killer Samurai is killed by Beedrill, and Ash later stabs Rocket Admin Proton right through the chest (while taking care not to cause explicitly lethal damage), with Koga repeating the process later to finish Proton off for good.
• Improbable Infant Survival: The only survivor of a Clefairy colony in Mount Moon, after Team Rocket cause a rockslide during a battle with Ash, is a Cleffa.
• Improbable Weapon User: One of the Orre resistance against Team Cipher uses an entrenching tool- basically an elaborate shovel- as his weapon of choice.
• Improvised Weapon: In Orre, the smith that makes weapons for Team Cipher is revealed to be The Mole, declaring his allegiance by attacking his would-be interrogators with a sharpened shovel wielded in the style of an axe.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite reality being reconstructed from a point shortly after Litten evolved, Ash still meets his Poipole (albeit with help from Celebi). Later on, when Ash meets Max, Max ends up receiving a Ralts as his first Pokemon which is identified as the same Ralts he promised to train with in the original timeline.
• The Ingenue/Manchild: Both basically apply to Sabrina; after she is exorcised of the parasite that possessed her, she psychologically regresses back to the persona of the twelve-year-old girl she was when she was originally possessed, with the result that she was actually scared and confused about the fact that she had breasts. She soon grew past that stage, but still has interesting views on the subject of romance.
• Insecure Love Interest: The main reason Ash avoids possible romance with his travelling companions is that he worries about being like his abandoning father and is convinced the girls deserve better, even though he privately confirms that he had feelings for Misty, May, Dawn, Iris and Serena.
• Interspecies Adoption: Invoked as it is noted that those Pokemon Ash hatched from eggs- Phanphy/Donphan, Scraggy and Noibat/Noivern- all think of Ash as ‘Dad’ rather than as a trainer (also applies to Togepi, but mainly in the sense that Togepi saw Ash as Misty’s partner rather than seeing him as ‘Daddy’ on his own). Even aside from this, Ash's Pokémon are described as seeing each other as family, such as Noctowl and Pidgeotto briefly fighting because Noctowl sees Pidgeot as having 'betrayed the parliament' before it's explained exactly why Pidgeot never came back, Snivy referring to Ash as her 'idiot brother', Heracross thinking of Phanphy as a brother after retrieving his egg, or Charizard referring to Ash as his brother after N tried to 'free' Charizard by melting his Poke Ball and wounding Ash's hand.
  • Interestingly turns out to be defied by Rowlett; the Toucannon and Pikipek nest Rowlett lived with before Ash caught him actually was Rowlett's family, as his mother was a Dartrix who left his egg in the nest after spending time with a Trumbeak.
• Irony: As confirmed by Word of God, just as Team Cipher's reign of terror over Orre began with a nuclear bomb, the beginning of the end starts with another nuke going off.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: Agatha expresses frustration at how some Legendary Pokémon, such as Giratina, are gender-fluid, making it hard to know how she should refer to them.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Ash's life has basically become an example of this, as his status as the Chosen of Arceus is the main reason he's encountered so many unconventional problems during his travels.
• It's a Long Story: Kyoji often uses this when talking with his travelling companions in Rising Tides to discuss how the region will perceive Ash.
• Jack of All Trades: Blaine refers to Ash as one, observing that he's capable of using a wide range of Pokémon effectively in battle, often winning despite a type disadvantage.
• Jerkass Realization: Erika basically has this after Ash confronts her about her failures as a Gym Leader, prompting her to sell her perfume counter to one of her trainers and do a mass of paperwork to confirm what she's dealt with.
• Joker Immunity: Suggested for Ghetsis, who has apparently survived being shot in the face by Delia after she broke both his legs.
• Keep the Reward: Ash tries to do this after Lara offers him a Ponyta egg for winning the race, but he's eventually persuaded to accept it.
• King Incognito: Probably a good description of Ash's attitude towards his new role as the Crown Prince of Rota, as he just wants to be treated like everyone else even if news of his 'coronation' has already spread as far as Kalos.
• Kissing Under the Influence: The head of the Rota Royal Guard attempts to get Ash to do this and more to keep him "contained" in Rota by giving some of the girls pheromones, the goal being for him to impregnate one of his future wives.
• Knee-capping: Ash contemplates doing this to stop Kidd Summers investigating the Tree of Beginning.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Ash has shades of this on occasion, such as when he muses that he doesn't want to drag his Pokémon or his travelling companions into danger, but if he doesn't stop the threats he'll face on his travels than he isn't sure who will.
• Knight Templar: The Maidens of Arceus are dedicated to protecting the Chosen One, even if they're frustrated with his choice of companions at times.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Surge and his junior trainers all recognise when Ash has proven himself in a battle to the extent that continuing the fight would put them at unnecessary risk.
• Land Shark: Emphasis is placed on Gible's status as a land-shark, to the extent that the Jaws theme plays whenever he is digging through the ground.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • It is explicitly acknowledged that Ash's gunshot wound and the injuries he sustained to his hand from the melted Poke Ball should have taken weeks to heal, rather than the days and hours they took respectively (implied to be the result of his Aura abilities and Celebi accelerating the healing process respectively).
  • Proton notes that Koga stabbed him in the same place where Ash stabbed him during a previous fight.
  • It is acknowledged that Gligar has a tendency to hide because his species evolved to hide in dark caves, so he automatically avoids crowds.
  • At one point Ash reflects that it's been a while since he saw anyone use the move 'Earthquake' (a reference to how the show stopped using it after a series of quakes in Japan).
  • Ash is so used to the idea that trouble follows him around that he's surprised Absols have never reacted badly to him.
• Language Barrier: Briefly acknowledged; the other girls have trouble understanding Serena's Kalosian when she joins them, although she and Ash taught each other Kantoian and Kalosian when they met as children.
• Large Ham: Surge is both a very large man and has a certain warped sense of humour, such as stating that Ash will have to face his 'privates' while phrasing it in a manner that suggests something less polite.
• Laser Sword: One of Kyoji's weapons is this, although Ash refers to it as a lightsaber until learning that those films weren't made in this timeline.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • A Natu humping a man's leg is intended to be a reference to the kalapo, or owl parrot, which was known for humping a researcher's leg; Natu was based on the aforementioned animal.
  • In Rising Tide, when Maren notes that her information on Pokemon is based on a guide that's fifteen years old, this is a reference to the Generation Four games, which came out fifteen years before that chapter was released.
• Les Yay:
  • It is implied that Erika had a fling with the Celadon City Nurse Joy.
  • While Ash is in Orre, one of Serena's other personalities officially 'converts' Misty to bisexuality in the name of saving Ash's life by avoiding conflict between his assorted love interests.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: A variation; Charizard helps Magmar evolve to Magmortar so that the fight will be more evenly matched.
• Let's Get Out of Here: Ash all-but-explicitly says this when he learns that Never-Melt-Ice is only created by Legendaries, as the only viable candidate is Articuno and he has bad experience with that Legendary Pokemon in the wild.
• Let's You and Him Fight: At one point, a Rocket and Aqua Admin are distracted from their current raid on a ship to start fighting each other due to an old grudge.
• Logical Weakness:
  • Invoked when Misty muses that she would have a chance against even Elite-level fire-types with her own Pokémon.
  • It is acknowledged that Goomy is weak to salt water much like conventional slugs.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • Although Ash's visit to the Saffron Gym resulted in the apparent 'death' of the entity possessing Sabrina, considering that the entity was trying to mind-wipe him and others the League are willing to just consider this an unconventional Soul Badge win.
  • Later, Ash is excused from any legal consequences when his Pokémon kill most of the Team Rocket members involved in the Silph Co. attack as they were acting in his defence after he was nearly killed.
  • When confronting Mewtwo, Kyoji observes that technically there isn't a law against a Pokemon being a Pokemon trainer, but that's mainly because there's never been a Pokemon with the capabilities to do so.
  • Discussed when Falkner learns that Ash will be challenging him in future; considering that Pikachu has defeated Legendaries, Falkner immediately sets off to consult the rulebook to find if there's any kind of loophole that would stop Ash using Pikachu in his gym, as otherwise it would be a Curb-Stomp Battle in Ash's favour.
• Lost in Translation: Apparently the only existing original copy of the Shamouti legend has been damaged so that various sources disagreed on what exactly was meant by the phrase "turn to ash".
• Love at First Sight: After Ash arrives in Orre, Robin, a member of the local resistance against Team Cipher, swiftly feels an attraction towards him that she can't explain.
• MacGuffin: The GS Ball is revealed to be a creation by the Great Smith, a Ransein who created some of the first Poke Balls, with the ball in question containing a young Celebi; Kyoji speculates it was formed using feathers from Ho-Oh and Lugia, as the Smith was known for using parts from Pokemon for his most powerful creations.
• Magical Defibrillator: To a point; Pikachu is able to shock Anabel's heart back into action using Thunderbolt after Shadow-Jigglypuff stops it with a Thunderpunch, but Ash still needs to give Anabel CPR to get air back in her lungs, and it takes her a week or so to recover from being technically dead for over a minute.
• Male Gaze: When Ash first meets Misty in the new timeline, he tries not to look too closely at her curves.
• Mama Bear: A variation; Quilava is now a mother, and asks that Ash find another trainer for her son as she doesn't want Cyndaquil to be at risk if he becomes caught up in one of Ash's bigger problems, even if she and his other Pokemon are dedicated to standing by him.
• Marshmallow Hell: Misty unwittingly does this to Ash after they're abruptly teleported away by Anabel's Natus.
• Meaningful Name: Iris's surname is Arajar, which roughly translates to 'Dragon' in Indian.
• The Medic: Chikorita appears to essentially be the medic of most of Ash's Pokémon, before he captures a Shiny Chansey in the Safari Zone.
• Mêlée à Trois: The fight on New Island reaches a point where Ash's Charizard faces Mewtwo's other Venusaur and Blastoise clones, having already defeated his Charizard clone and Ash and Charizard seeking to make a point about the perceived superiority of Mewtwo's clones.
• Mental Affair: Anabel and Serena ultimately engage in one to help develop Anabel's psychic potential while they wait for Ash to be receptive to their advances.
• Mercy Kill: In Orre, Ash finds a room dedicated to brainwashing new grunts for Team Cipher and lets Pikachu destroy the brainwashing equipment and kill everyone linked to it once he confirms that all present are basically dead already.
• Mind Rape: As part of her Dark and Troubled Past, Misty was psychically attacked by a Shadow Slowbro and Venomoth, with Brock noting that she got off lucky compared to similar cases he's seen.
• A Minor Kidroduction: In chapter 26, Iris is bitten by a Dratini that Word of God confirms will eventually become the Dragonite she had in canon.
• Mistaken for Murderer: Cleffa initially assumes that Muk is trying to smother it before coming to understand that Muk's just a very enthusiastic hugger.
• Mistaken Identity: To a point; Ash initially assumes that Giovanni is his father when a Gible asks him why he smells like "the one with black hair" after he stumbles on a Team Rocket operation, but Giovanni soon clarifies that he's actually Ash's uncle rather than his father.
• Modesty Bedsheet: Averted; at one point Misty only isn't flashing Ash because she was wearing a loose bikini.
• The Mole: During the Orre arc, Ash encounters a former member of the Rotan guard who was exiled to Orre for past failures and had spent decades trying to discreetly undermine them before Ash came to Orre, giving the man a new king to follow.
• Mole in Charge: Giovanni appears to have manoeuvred himself into a position where not only does nobody in even the Elite Four know about his role as the boss of Team Rocket, but he is also officially in charge of the hunt for Team Rocket, using this as the excuse for him being absent from his gym 70% of the time.
• Monster Progenitor: Yveltal is described by Mewtwo as the 'original' Shadow Pokemon.
• Mood Dissonance: During Cipher's attack on the Indigo Stadium, the mood is briefly undermined when Moltres destroys Team Cipher's zeppelins, which releases the helium.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • Serena often shifts from berserk to happy when discussing topics relating to Ash (although this could be attributed to her Split Personality).
  • The fic itself can rapidly shift moods at times, such as a chapter featuring a joking meeting between Kyoji's Gible and a Sharpedo and then turning into a conflict with a deranged Hydregion.
  • As a more specific example, Chapter 4 of the Johto arc opens with Kyoji and Sabrina realising that Ash has the King of Pokelantis and Sabrian's former parasite in his mind, and then switches to Ash dealing with Kyoji's overly-friendly Sharpedo.
• Morality Pet: At one point, Misty ends up essentially getting her own prior-timeline-self as one, as a 'psychic imprint' of the original Misty appears to her and advises her not to kill the grunts attacking the ship she's currently on.
• Morton's Fork: Probably the best way to describe Pikachu's dislike of Poke Balls; in the original timeline his ball was defective and hurt him when he was caught, and in the new timeline it literally burns due to his part-Shadow status.
• Mr. Exposition: In Rising Tide, Sabrina fills this role when she explains Ash's history with Shamouti and his reasons for his vow against romance to Kyoji.
• Mr. Fanservice: Ash inadvertently gives Misty a show when she walks in on him exercising with his shirt off.
• Ms. Fanservice: Misty becomes this with relative ease when Ash sees her wearing a bikini while they're walking on a hot day.
• Mundane Utility:
  • Sabrina uses her psychic powers as basically an umbrella during a storm.
  • Ash muses that he received some ninja training from Aya, which he used in the original timeline for everything from evading the girls during awkward moments to stealing the last cookie before he and Delia originally went to Aloha.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: Discussed when Astral Iris speculates on the possibilities of the other girls suffering an 'accidental' death so that she can have Ash to herself, although Word of God confirms that this will never actually happen.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg: Loosely applies to Serena's split personalities and her astral ghost from the previous timeline, as her astral ghost still just looks like Serena of the new timeline with a different haircut while the other personalities manifest with their own distinct appearances on the astral plane.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Ash blames himself when a Cleffa's family are killed by a rockslide during a battle with Team Rocket.
  • After Anabel meets Jigglypuff at Oak's lab, she assures it that she understands it was corrupted by Shadow when it killed her, but Jigglypuff still feels guilty.
  • Apparently Giratina hides in the Distortion realm because it blames itself for the circumstances that led to the creation of Shadow Pokemon.
  • Team Cipher member Lovrina starts to realise the scale of her team's evil after talking with Kyoji, which leads to her joining the campaign against Ferrum.
  • When Sabrina shows Hunter J Ash's memories of the original timeline, J is horrified to learn the part she played in the destruction of reality.
• My Greatest Failure: Ash is still troubled by memories of his 'failures' in Altomere and at the Tree of Beginning, both of which resulted in the death of an ally; it's explicitly stated that Latios's death in Altomere stopped him confessing his feelings for Misty as he felt unworthy after such a failure. Misty herself observes that this may be because it was the first time anything actually stayed dead, as Entei technically wasn't real and Celebi was swiftly revived.
• Mythology Gag:
  • References are made to the infamous cancelled Porygon episode and the various expansion packs for the Nintendo game consoles.
  • As in the original series, Surge evolved his Raichu too early, although he now explicitly regrets that choice.
  • Giovanni owns one of the few Shellder that know Teleport, and it is noted that everyone forgets to teach them that move.
  • Erika is accused of being a bad Gym Leader, which is a reference to how there was a Rocket base in Celadon City in the games.
  • As part of the reconstruction of reality, Snorlax is found blocking Route 13/14, just like in the games.
  • At one point, Pikachu drinks coffee.
  • While preventing Team Rocket's assault on Silph Co., Ash receives what turns out to be his Lapras as a gift, just like in the original games.
  • Ash's trainer ID is 410001997, which is a reference to the original air-date of the anime; April 1 1997.
  • When Ash arrives in Cinnabar, he has to find the key to the Gym in a burned-out lab as a reference to the game; apparently Blaine relocates the place where he hides the key every month to give the trainers an additional challenge.
  • When Ash visits the Orre region, he is wearing Red's outfit from the original games (minus the hat).
  • When Gaffrey dons his military uniform, he's basically wearing the Colonial fleet uniform.
  • Ash's Spearow evolves into Fearow in Orre, much like the Fearow Ash has in the manga.
  • After Ash's Dratini evolves into Dragonair, it is unable to fly, just like Ash's Dragonite in "Pokemon Journeys" couldn't fly before it evolved.

N-Z

• Named by the Adaptation: Hunter J is here named as Jeanette Lilianna Lawrence (at least she's speculated to be based on DNA evidence), and implied to be the sister of the hunter from the second movie.
• Narnia Time: During the fight to protect Celebi, Ash is sent back in time, basically experiences the events of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and then returns to the present after nine months, arriving back at essentially the moment he left his time.
• National Stereotypes: Invoked when Sewaddle notes that Unova is typically lazy as an excuse for why he in particular takes so long to evolve compared to other Bug-types.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • During the Viridian Gym battle, Charizard accidentally releases Mewtwo from the underground facility where Giovanni was keeping it after slamming Rhyperior into the ground too hard.
  • During the Orre arc, Robin concedes that she made things worse by unleashing the Shadow Lugia.
• No Nudity Taboo: While in Orre, Ash is frustrated when Robin doesn't leave the room while he's changing, as she's basically a child soldier who hasn't been raised with any true concept of nudity taboos.
• No-Sell:
  • Goomy eventually pushes Serena's Eevee to evolve into a Sylveon, after which Goomy's Dragon-type moves have no effect.
  • It is noted that Pokemon are basically immune to any attack while they're evolving, as the energy being channelled basically makes them immune to anything short of Arceus using Judgement (it has been speculated that a nuke could do the job, but nobody wants to test that).
  • When confronting Hunter J's 'stolen' Salemance, Ash's Mimikyu helps to defect the attacks using its natural immunity to Dragon-type attacks.
  • According to reports, during the Battle of Ecruteak someone tried to kill Suicine by dropping a bomb on it, and the only result was that the Legendary apparently got a headache; only Pokemon can damage Legendaries rather than anything made by man.
  • Apparently the Friendship Stylers used by Pokemon Rangers send Shadow Pokemon into a murderous frenzy, making it virtually impossible for Rangers to deal with Shadow Pokemon where Trainers can at least catch them.
  • Ash's will is so strong that he can resist a chemical pheromone intended to drive him mad with lust so that he would impregnate at least one of his future wives.
• Non-Indicative Name: It's noted that Sharpedo's reputation as the "Brutal" Pokemon is basically a layover from its previous evolutionary state, Carvanha, as Sharpedo itself is very friendly.
• Noodle Incident:
  • The events of Coliseum and XD: Gale of Darkness happened over ninety years ago, leading to a war that crippled the planet because others didn't "finish the job", resulting in such continued scars as a lack of aircraft and Kalos being decimated outside of the major towns.
    • The loss of the aviation industry is specifically attributed to the Cipher War.
  • Pidgeot never returned to Ash because environmental chaos caused by the Legendary Birds running rampant forced Pidgeot's flock to migrate and Pidgeot never managed to come back.
  • Gligar joined the Sinnoh team before they made their way to Hoenn, and has apparently spent some time attacking them because he's annoyed that they almost forgot about him.
  • Misty's ever-present bad reaction to Bug-type Pokémon.
  • Surge apparently had a bad experience with Sandiles in Unova in the new timeline, as he appears to be having a minor flashback when Ash's Sandile arrives.
  • At one point Serena shoots a Shadow Gyarados with a crossbow while yelling about how the species "ruined everything for her"; it is later explained that this is because a shoal of Shadow Gyarados once took up residence along the coast of Kalos, preventing Serena making contact with Ash for over two years.
  • The Icelandic apparently had a bad experience where it was attacked by Shadow Gyarados.
  • Apparently the Ash of the new timeline experienced something so traumatic that it left him emotionally crippled to the point where it was debated if he'd even be able to leave Pallet Town; a later encounter with Giovanni suggests that it involved a Shadow Ho-Oh that killed his father, which Delia, Agatha and Oak later confirm to Kyoji.
  • Serena's mental state in the new timeline is attributed to existing mental issues and a bad encounter with a psychic that was trying to brainwash her into liking him rather than Ash.
  • The last time there were a mass of Legendaries in the same place before the confrontation with Mewtwo on New Island was the Battle of Ecruteak City at the end of the Cipher War.
• Not So Above It All: Cynthia of all people expresses a desire for Eviolite to turn her Garchomp back into Gible.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Astral Misty muses that Iris is very like her, except that Iris has an inferiority complex she tries to cover up.
• Not So Similar: While Ash worries if he's a pervert when he finds himself washing Misty and Anabel's clothes, when he catches Dario watching them he is assured by Natu that it's not the same as he's actively trying not to be a pervert.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: According to Team Cipher Admin Miror B., Team Cipher were aware of Cyrus's goal to destroy reality as far back as sixty years ago and attempted their planned conquest to stop it, but only ended up killing several innocent people (unable to kill Cyrus himself as the man wasn't even born yet) and creating Shadow Pokemon on a large scale.
• Not Worth Killing: A non-fatal example of this; Ash isn't interested in fighting weaker opponents such as Joe from Pokémon Tech, only going through with the fight because he's forced into it.
• Nuke 'em: Agate Village was destroyed in a nuclear explosion, and it is observed that Unova is stereotypically keen to use their nuclear weapons.
• #1 Dime: Ash's original hat appears to be this; he leaves the hat behind when travelling to Orre to keep it safe, with the hope that Misty and the girls will bring it when they regain consciousness and come after him.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • From Ash and Pikachu's perspective, Brock not flirting with a Nurse Joy is weird enough for them to both wonder about it (explained later as Brock is engaged in this timeline and has worked to limit his old reaction to pretty girls).
  • After Ash gets shot, Snorlax in particular is more motivated to start working on fighting back, to the point of actively helping the other Pokémon train.
  • In the Safari Zone, the fact that even a Chansey wanted to kill Kaiser is a clear sign that the man deserved his fate.
  • Ash is generally in favour of Thou Shalt Not Kill to give people a chance to reform and improve; if he's ever pissed off enough to openly want someone dead, it's treated by those who know him as a fairly clear sign that this person deserves it.
• Oblivious Adoption: A particularly bizarre example of this; after being purged of the psychic parasite that controlled her since she was 12, Sabrina, although physically in her mid-twenties, mentally regressed back to the girl she was when she was originally possessed and somehow 'imprinted' on Ash and Misty as her 'parents' even though they're only in their teens. Even after she's mentally 'aged up' back to adulthood, Sabrina continues to consider Ash her father and his various female partners her 'mothers', although she's now able to recognise that they're not actually related to her given the obvious age gap where she's older than them.
• Offered the Crown: Ash is shocked and reluctant to accept his new status as Crown Prince of Rota, even if he isn't given much choice in whether or not to accept.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
  • Whitney apparently went into the Lake of Rage and defeated the Shiny Gyarados with a baseball bat to capture it as a betrothal gift for Lance.
  • While Misty and Anabel were recovering from injuries, the other girls dealt with matters such as destroying the Mirage Pokemon system before it could be developed to a level where it would endanger others.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Ash's Kalos team panic when they realise their ship is about to be attacked by Hunter J.
  • Jigglypuff is shocked when she realises that she has been captured by Ash.
  • Mewtwo's clone Charizard has a moment when facing Ash's Charizard, even when unaware of Charizard's time-travelling experience.
  • The King of Pokelantis and the parasite that possessed Sabrina are seeking an opportunity to escape Ash's subconscious.
  • Once in Orre, Rin, Pernon and their Pokemon are all terrified when Surge mentions that Team Cipher are still working on refining the Shadow Pokemon process in case they wish to try and corrupt Arceus at some future date.
  • When Ash goes to te Tree of Beginning, he is shocked to find Regielecki and Regidrago there as well as the four Regis he was familiar with.
• Olympus Mons: All Legendary Pokemon are clearly treated as Gods, to the extent that Ash and Kyoji at one point meet a woman they tentatively identify as a priestess of Arceus.
• Omniglot: Ash reflects that he's always been able to easily pick up spoken languages, learning Unovan, Kalosian and Alolan shortly after arriving in those regions, even if the written version could give him trouble.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Possibly the best description of Misty's thoughts on Serena in the original timeline, as Astral Misty reflects that Serena was the only true 'rival' for Ash's affection as she didn't consider May and Dawn serious enough threats and Iris needed to get over her issues.
• Only Sane Man: After the confrontation at Indigo Stadium, Lovrina starts to realise how far Team Cipher have fallen, but also recognises that she's the only one truly bothered about it.
• Other Me Annoys Me: Astral Serena is particularly disturbed when she finds herself in her other self's mind along with other-Serena's multiple personalities, although she perks up when she learns that she's engaged to Ash.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Everyone who sees Goodra, at any stage, expresses incredulity that it's a dragon-type.
• Out-Gambitted: When the Ransei Empress try to assassinate Ash and then deny all responsibility, Ash bluntly reveals that he not only recorded their confession, but broadcast it live throughout the country, making it clear that they can't deny what they did.
• Papa Bear: Not witnessed first-hand, but Norman's thoughts make it clear that he would have unleashed his full rage on whoever did something bad to May if something hadn't already happened to the man in question.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Ash's thoughts observe that he has been able to see through Team Rocket's disguises for years, and he just 'pretends' not to recognise them in the hope that they'll use this moment to give up their plans, and also muses that he can see through Kukui's disguise as the Masked Royal as well.
• Piranha Problem: While in the Safari Zone, Ash is forced to shoot Kaiser in self-defence, and he ends up falling into a pool full of Bacuslin, although Pikachu and other Pokemon present assure Ash that he only acted in self-defence.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: May basically apply to Sabrina; she reverts to a twelve-year-old mentality after Ash 'exorcises' the parasite within her, but it is noted that she has basically become a teenager in just a few chapters, Word of God confirming that this is due to her psychic powers recognising that she needs to 'grow up' again. By Chapter 18, she has regained enough maturity to attend a conference with the other Gym Leaders, but is dressed more casually than before and still refers to Ash as 'Dad'.
• Poisonous Person: Poipole is being kept out of battles until it can control its poison ability so that it won't just accidentally poison Ash and his other Pokemon.
• Pokémon Speak: Invoked when Cynthia starts yelling out "Clip! Gible! Garchomp!" while trying to express her interest in Ash's eviolite (which reverses evolution for fully-evolved Pokemon).
• Power-Strain Blackout: Like Incineroar in canon, Mankey evolves into Primeape after an intense bout with Heracross and then passes out from the strain; later on, Lara's Ponyta evolves into Rapidash while Ash is riding it and collapses after crossing the finish line of the race, Garchomp practically collapses after fighting a Hydregion alongside Charizard, and Glalie hits the ground after it evolved following a powerful Ice Beam to take down a Salamence.
• Power Incontinence: As it turns out, Jigglypuff was literally unaware that it was using Sing every time it sang; once it is encouraged to sing without using the move it is suggested people may be able to listen to it all the way through.
• Pragmatic Hero:
  • Basically the reason Ash goes to Orre alone at first; he recognises that the girls will follow him, but at the time they are all injured from Cipher's attack and Ash wants to give them time to recover.
  • Once in Orre, Ash's ally Robin tells him that their best solution for dealing with a Team Cipher base in the city of Pyrite is just to blow it up, as Pyrite is the source of one of Team Cipher's mind-control broadcasting systems so everyone there is basically a slave already.
  • Likewise, Kyoji and his allies in Ferrum decide their best strategy is to wait to take action rather than attack immediately after arriving, making a public debut and then hiding for a month or so while the government exhausts their initial response.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • When Hunter J attacks the RMS Germanic, her thoughts make it clear that she will be careful about the amount of damage she inflicts, as her Pokémon hunts are relatively low-key crimes while destroying a ship would have her classified as a terrorist. She even condemns her brother for going after the Titans of Shamouti as they're too powerful and dangerous.
  • As part of his desire to prove his superiority, Mewtwo has Shellshocker teleported to New Island and uses Heal Pulse to help the Blastoise recover from its remaining injuries from fighting Sabrina, purely so that Mewtwo can make a point out his superiority.
  • It is noted that Team Cipher wouldn't bomb the Orre Region as they already control it; they are stupid and evil, but they aren't "counterproductively stupid evil".
• Pride: This is noted as a particular problem for Charizard and Sceptile; while trying to get back to his final stage, Grovyle provokes a fight with Charizard by insulting his mate despite warnings that both needed to rest.
• Properly Paranoid: Basically the reason Ash brings his strongest team to a League finale even when he knows his opponent is friendly, because he's dealt with too many villain team interruptions to feel comfortable leaving things to chance, which pays off when Team Cipher attack during his battle.
• Prophecy Twist: Team Orre have interpreted the Shamouti Prophecy as a sign of their victory rather than a warning about the dangers of provoking the Birds.
• Psychic Link: It is established that Serena has formed one with Fenniken, with the result that Fenniken lashes out in a rage just like Serena when Serena learns that Ash is in hospital.
• Puppeteer Parasite: It turns out that Sabrina has been possessed by a psychic parasite since she was twelve years old, the parasite itself claiming to have been alive for centuries.
• Putting the Band Back Together: After history is 'reset', the first few chapters focus on Ash's regional Pokémon seeking each other out with the goal of rejoining him, to the extent that Heracross, Sandile and Hawlucha retrieve Phanphy, Scraggy and Noibat's eggs so that they will hatch in Ash's ownership.
• Race Against the Clock: The exact time frame hasn't been stated, but after arriving in Orre, Ash learns that he has to be at the Tree of Beginning within a certain time frame to stabilise it or its death will destroy the world.
• Race Lift:
  • Mandi the Astounding, Ash's first opponent in the Indigo League, is now Galarian and wearing a kilt.
  • Neesha (from the first film) is stated as coming from a Pokemon Ranger nation, although she doesn't look any different from canon.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Arguably applies to Ash's non-Kanto Pokemon, who came together to track each other down in their relevant regions and then go and look for Ash. Outsiders often find it strange to see such diverse Pokemon as Ash’s Johto (Chikorita, Totodile, Cyndaquil, Heracross and Phanpy’s egg), Sinnoh (Turtwig, Chimchar, Buizel, Starly and Gible) and Kalos (Froakie, Fletchling, Hawlucha, Goomy and Noibat’s egg) teams walking around without a trainer.
• Ramming Always Works: Hunter J has her ship ram her brother's ship in an attempt to stop him completing his plan to capture the Birds after witnessing the scope of the plan.
• Reality Warping Is Not a Toy: The parasite that once possessed Sabrina intends to use Molly Hale's reality-warping Unown to either make a new body for herself or possess Molly's.
• Really Royalty Reveal: Ash learns that he is actually a direct descendant of Sir Aaron of Rota, who was also the king of Rota in this timeline, and is thus Rota’s Prince.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Ash and Misty deliver one to the students of Pokémon Tech when Ash beats basically their entire student body with just Noctowl, Misty observing that they lost even with a type advantage while Ash criticises their lack of experience and them becoming fixated on Noctowl's status as a Shiny rather than recognising what he's physically capable of.
  • Not directly, but Ash's Pokemon all observe that it was unfair of Erika to ban Ash from her gym just because he said he didn't like her perfume, which should have no bearing on his worth as a challenger.
  • During Team Cipher's attack on the Indigo Stadium, Kyoji is able to convince junior team member Lovrina to defect by pointing out that none of her Shadow Pokemon are controllable and the reason people haven't tried to help Orre is that they keep creating Shadow Pokemon rather than people just not liking them 'because'.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Outside of certain situations (such as a resentment of Erika's poor standards), League officials are reasonable enough to take in the full picture when they find Ash with Sabrina having somehow mentally regressed back to the persona of a twelve-year-old girl.
  • Back in Ransei, Kyoji's former superior in the military, Hiruzen, wasn't happy about Kyoji being badly treated by the other soldiers just because he came from a criminal background, but Hiruzen remained impartial to avoid making it worse.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Lt. Surge's Magneton has red glowing eyes and a murderous personality.
• Redemption Equals Death: To a point; Hunter J decides to sacrifice herself to stop her brother's efforts to capture the Legendary Birds, but acknowledges that this one act won't make up for her past actions.
• Refuge in Audacity: When Pineco questions Phanpy’s apparent maturity just after hatching, Phanpy claims ignorance of what Pineco’s talking about and the other Pokemon just decides to go with it.
• Related in the Adaptation:
  • In the new timeline, Red and Yellow of the manga are Ash's siblings, while Delia Ketchum is Giovanni’s sister, as well as being a former member of the Elite Four.
  • It is later revealed that Drayden is Iris's paternal grandfather, and Misty refers to Koga and Blaine as her uncles (although this may be more honorary than a reference to their biological relationship).
  • Chapter 29 confirms that Ash's father in this timeline is Grimsley, of the Unovan Elite Four, who was killed protecting Ash from a Shadow Ho-Oh.
  • It is confirmed that in this timeline, Verity is Cynthia's daughter (something that was denied by the film's director).
  • While basically all Pokemon apart from Arceus, the Creation Trio and the Lake Trio are in some way 'related' to Mew, Porygon is a particularly close example as it was created as a result of another attempt to clone Mew.
• Retired Badass:
  • Delia Ketchum is retired from her old role in the Elite Four, and her former colleagues all make it clear they'd prefer it if she stayed retired because she's scary when angry.
  • Chapter 34 reveals that Professor Oak was the first Champion of the modern Kanto League, and Ash's psychiatrist Gaffrey is another retired Elite Four member.
• Riddle for the Ages:
  • Literally nobody seems to know why Gible makes the Jaws theme play whenever he's digging through the ground.
  • When Treecko and Tailow find Corphish, he has a bag of 'props' that include a fake human head he can use for a ventriloquist act; when Treecko asks how he can make the head speak human when he can't speak it himself, Corphish simply states that a good magician doesn't reveal his secrets.
  • Delia and Belladonna apparently knew the real reason Ash's father left, and chose to leave Ash ignorant of the truth after an apparent case of amnesia (until he learned the answer on his own).
  • The cause of the conflict between Ransei and Rota is unknown, but both sides appear to still officially regard each other as enemies even if Janine can confirm that Ash won't have that issue as he doesn't even like his title that much.
  • Nobody knows why spoons are the chosen tool for psychics to focus their powers (apparently sporks were used at least once and the points make it harder to focus, but nobody knows why that's a thing).
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: In Rising Tide, the captain of an enemy ship correctly deduces that his ship is being sabotaged during a confrontation with Kyoji and Sabrina's crew, but he believed he had traitors on board when in reality it was Sabrina using her psychic abilities under the guidance of Kyoji's Gible.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: All of Ash’s Pokemon retain their memories of the original timeline the moment they ‘wake up’ in the new reality, along with most of their moves; a few Legendary Pokémon, such as Celebi and Solgaleo, share this 'immunity'.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Basically applies to Ash's lab Pokémon when Quilava, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Totodile and Noctowl all attack the just-captured Jigglypuff as payback for all the times it put them to sleep in the original timeline (while others such as Scraggy and Krokorok are just fighting it to get more experience to evolve).
• Rousing Speech: Cleffa receives one from Ivysaur when it learns that Ash is the Chosen of Arceus and Ash's Pokemon have to help him stop the world from ending, prompting Cleffa to start considering how it needs to become stronger to help him.
• Rule of Symbolism: During Ash's first full public appearance in the Rotan court, he is officially hailed as the second coming of Sir Aaron when it's revealed that he has a Lucario and a Pidgeot, both of which are part of Rota's crest.
• Rules Lawyer:
  • Paul tries to invoke this against Ash by arguing that he can't use Pikachu in League battles due to Pikachu's Shadow Pokemon status, but is informed that actually it's fully legal to use Shadow Pokemon so long as the rules are adhered to.
  • Later, there is no problem with Pikachu attacking Mandi during a League match as Ash didn't order the attack and Pikachu just aimed at Mandi's kilt ("that eyesore of a skirt") rather than Mandi himself.
  • When Pokemon collector Lawrence goes after the Legendary Birds in the Orange Islands, he observes that he won't anger the Leagues because the Orange Islands aren't part of any League, with their own system being basically just an 'evolution' of the old system of four warrior kings acting under one superior.
  • When Kyoji questions how he can have a polyamorous relationship, Sabrina points out that as she is technically Ash's adopted daughter, she qualifies as a princess of Rota, and therefore part of the royal family who are legally encouraged to be polygamous.
  • When Lance decides to have his battle with Ash in Blackthorn as the Indigo Stadium has been damaged and no Kanto gyms will let him fight Ash there, he points out that Ash doesn't need to sign up for the Johto League to enter Johto as Lance has appointed Ash his champion in the reconquest of Johto.
• Running Gag:
  • Whenever Gible encounters one of Ash's new/old team (or Ash and his human companions), he 'introduces' himself by biting them on the head.
  • Every time Ash responds to a new Pokémon in a manner that confirms he can understand them, they are shocked that he can do so; Pikachu eventually vows that he'll shock the next Pokémon to react in that manner, which happens to be Regice at the Tree of Beginning.
  • For a time-travelling Legendary Pokémon, Celebi has terrible timing, coming to talk with Ash or his Pokémon while they are in front of people who Ash may not want to know his secret, such as Platinum (Dawn's sister) and Lt. Surge.
  • With Dawn's Piplup apparently not hatched yet, Gible's Draco Meteors somehow target the Team Rocket Boss, despite Gible being miles from Giovanni and unaware of his identity.
  • In Chapter 21, Misty spends some time running from Kabuto before she learns that Kabuto isn't a Bug-type of any kind.
  • People keep referring to Ghetsis as 'Dennis'.
  • During the Indigo League, Moltres keeps attacking Mandi whenever it sees him.
• Sanity Slippage: Goodra in particular observes that Ash is basically hanging on by a thread after everything he's gone through.
• Saying Too Much: Ash is forced to tell the truth to Misty when he keeps mentioning the SS Anne, which doesn't exist in this world; most of the people who learn the truth about his history after this are also basically told the truth because he made too many subtle mistakes, such as recognising Iris before anyone could have told him her name.
• Screw Destiny: Celebi notes that Ash's role is basically to take a situation that could mean the end of the world and change it into something that people can survive.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When Paul has the Viridian Nurse Joy release most of his 'weak' Pokemon after he loses his battle to Ash, Joy decides to transfer most of the released Pokemon to Ash and his friends instead; it's technically illegal, but since Paul doesn't care what happens to his old team and she knows Ash is a good person, Joy does it anyway, with only the Centre's Chansey aware of her actions and showing no sign that she disapproves.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!:
  • When the TRio hear Ash screaming (after his mother informs him that he is now betrothed to Serena), they decide to just leave him alone to deal with whatever inspired that scream himself.
  • After one of his grunts shoots Ash in a manner that could have killed him, Giovanni is ordered to leave Team Rocket for good in two weeks or Delia will report his role in the organisation to the Elite Four and set out to take it apart herself; he finally decides to leave for good after Ash defeats him in his final gym battle.
  • When Butch and Cassidy are forced to take part in a Team Rocket assault on the Fuschia Gym, they make it clear to Janine that they intend to get away from the battle as soon as possible.
  • Sabrina shows Hunter J Ash's memories of the original timeline, and witnessing the scale of what she did back then drives J to abandon her brother's attempt to capture the Legendary Birds of Shamouti and flee his ship.
• Secret-Keeper: As well as Ash and his original Pokémon, new team members such as Spearow have been told about the reality reset. Surge and Misty learn the truth in Vermillion City after Ash's gym battle sees his Johto and Unova team literally dig their way into the middle of the battlefield after Raichu's defeat, and Ash goes on to share his real history with his other travelling companions such as Anabel, Janine, Kyoji, Iris, and Serena.
• Secret Test of Character: Ash basically passes this for the Eevee he rescued from the lab on Cinnibar; after experiencing harsh trainers who just wanted to torture her as a science experiment, a talk with Blaine's old Ponyta helps Eevee recognise that Ash won't abuse or mistreat her.
• Seen It All: Due to Ash's long experience in the original timeline, Misty's Gyarados's attempts to intimidate him don't really work as he's seen things far scarier than a Gyarados, having even fought this very Gyarados after it Mega-Evolved.
• Selective Obliviousness: It is noted that the Maidens of Arceus will ignore all of Kyoji's protests that he didn't steal a Natu from them but it came with him on its own accord, and its accompanying Gible only attacked the other Natu because it was playing.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Ash's basic goal at this point is to stop Cyrus getting into a position to unmake existence in the new timeline.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Ash unwittingly quotes Misty from her talk with Melody.
• Ship Sinking: Ash notes that he never had to worry about Lillie, Lana or Mallow becoming interested in him when he was in Alola because there was enough of an age gap that they all saw him as an older brother figure.
• Ship Tease:
  • Word of God notes that Kyoji and Sabrina will be a couple in the future, with Kyoji immediately finding Sabrina attractive but concerned about the implications of her psychic abilities.
  • Serena's Fennekin finds Charizard attractive, although nothing will come of it as the two are of incompatible egg groups.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: In-Universe.
  • When Ash's Johto and Unova team meet, they immediately start arguing about whether Misty or Iris was a better fit for Ash, advantages ranging from Iris being more available to travel where Misty is 'confined' to the gym to Misty being more comfortable with her available titles while Iris has vaguer goals. The only two not shown to take part in the 'debate' are Sandile and Heracross, Sandile aware that Ash doesn't want to get involved with any of the girls and Heracross forcing the others to focus on the immediate priority of getting back to Ash.
  • While Ash is in Orre, Serena starts to suggest to the others that they need to take steps to avoid this, as Ash's fragile mental state means that they will all be needed to keep him from killing himself, and they can't risk him being provoked by finding any of them arguing.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Ash muses at one point that his Pokemon for particular regions always seem to favour him getting involved with his current female travelling companion, such as Noctowl supporting a relationship with Misty or his Kalos team acting like the very idea of Ash and Serena not knowing each other violates some law of the universe.
    • Notably, Pikachu apparently doesn't have a particular preference, so long as he has 'Ashlings' to play with in his old age; Charizard is also noted to have met so many of the girls that he doesn't have a 'personal favourite'.
  • Ash's family all appear to be in favour of his new royalty status leaving him 'obliged' to take multiple wives, as Delia expresses approval of the potential of him being involved with Misty, Serena and Anabel to date, and is relatively unphased at Sabrina calling her 'Gramma'.
  • Anabel's Natu shows support for the idea of Ash with Anabel and the other girls.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: Mewtwo basically does this to Kyoji, throwing him into the wall whenever Kyoji tries to make an argument against Mewtwo's plans for global destruction.
• Skeptic No Longer: Kyoji initially didn't believe in prophecies about the Chosen of Arceus, but has become a believer after seeing Ash in action by the time of Rising Tide.
• Skewed Priorities: Astral Misty is somewhat put out that Butterfree forced the water from Ash's lungs after a near-drowning as it prevents her other self giving him his 'first kiss' via CPR.
• Skyward Scream: Ash's first appearance in Rising Tide is him letting out a scream of frustration which can be heard in Selen when he's in Orre.
• Slave Mooks: Most of Team Cipher are basically brainwashed so that they have no sense of self-preservation and just do whatever their masters order.
• Small Girl, Big Gun:
  • When facing a Shadow Tyranitar, Clair uses a massive grenade launcher to take on the corrupted Pokémon, which is a very large gun compared to her established size.
  • During Cipher's attack on Indigo Stadium, it is observed that Erika is carrying a very large Unovan revolver.
• Small Name, Big Ego: A fair description of Paul as of Chapter 31; he arrogantly challenged Ash for all of his existing badges, only to get his entire team defeated and be thus banned from competing in any other League contests for the next year and a half.
• The Social Darwinist: Paul considers himself this, but ignores the reasons why this approach doesn't work.
• Socialization Bonus: Suggested for Yellow, who has apparently spent so much time with Mimey that she appears to have a degree of psychic awareness, making various quick deductions about Ash's various travelling companions.
• Sole Survivor: After a fight with Team Rocket causes a rock slide in Mount Moon, the only survivor of the Clefairy group living there is a Cleffa.
• Spirit Advisor: There is at least potential for all of Ash's old friends to gain one. After Ash was caught between Mew and Mewtwo's psychic blasts in the original timeline, he gained the ability to absorb psychic impressions from his travelling companions so long as they spent a few months in constant contact with him in the old timeline and have spent a few weeks with him in the new one; Misty has already met the 'ghost' of her previous self after Ash won his battle with Lieutenant Surge, and Iris's manifests later, although Serena's 'ghost' has a disturbing experience when she manifests amid the multiple personalities of her counterpart.
• Split Personality: Serena appears to suffer from a variation of this, with some aspects of her being more potentially violent than others, but she is able to keep these other identities under control as they all agree on their feelings for Ash.
• Stable Time Loop: Suggested;
  • It appears that Poke Balls were developed based on people witnessing Ash's use of his Poke Balls while trying to protect Arceus and trying to recreate the 'magic' he used to summon them.
  • It has been all but explicitly stated that Oak gave Ash Pikachu because he remembers Ash's meeting with 'Sammy' via Celebi.
• Stating the Simple Solution: When Kyoji learns that Ash has a herd of Tauros, he asks why they haven't been using those Tauros and some carriages to get around rather than walking everywhere.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Agatha (and to a lesser extent, Serena) pull off a few of these.
• Stepford Smiler: Ash observes that he basically became the male version of this after Altomere in particular, trying to give the impression of being happy so that Misty and Brock wouldn't be obliged to send him home for being depressed.
• Stock Scream: Surge's Raichu basically lets one out after Pikachu defeats it in the gym battle.
• Stop Worshipping Me: Ash is particularly put out at the devotion of the Sisterhood of Ransei, a group of women devoted to serving the "Chosen One" in whatever capacity he might wish (when Ash already has the Rotan guard to protect him and his various girlfriends as partners).
• Strong as They Need to Be: It's observed that this basically applies to Team Rocket in the original timeline, as they woudl alternate between a competent threat or idiots depending on the scale of the current threat and other factors.
• Summon Bigger Fish: Faced with the threat of a Gigantamaxed Shadow Hydregion, Primal Reversion Groundon is apparently dispatched by Arceus, and later Rayquaza shows up to help defeat the foe.
• Suddenly Always Knew That:
  • Chimchar can not only read and write, but also knows a surprising amount about science and technology as he read books after the Sinnoh League while he was at the lab.
  • Anabel reveals that she did some research on Rota's history while the girls were recovering before the assault on Orre as she recognises that they need to know more given their future with Ash.
• Super Drowning Skills: Robin has absolutely no idea how to swim, leaving her very uncomfortable her first time on a boat.
• Super Mode: Not actively shown so far, but Blaine gives Ash a set of Mega Stones after his victory, which include the Mega Stones for Charizard, Pidgeot, Gyarados and Sceptile.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Invoked; the Shadow Lugia used by Team Cipher would just be a 'regular' Lugia if it wasn't corrupted, but in its current state it's as powerful as the Lugia from around Shamouti Island.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: At least one of Serena's personalities tries too hard to deny that she's attracted to Ash while listing all the reasons the other personas like him.
• Swallowed Whole: Briefly invoked when Garchomp tries to affectionately bite Noibat and almost eats it without taking his new size into account.
• T. Rexpy: When Ash arrives in Grandpa Canyon, he discovers Tyrunt and Tyrantrum, along with the expected Kantonian prehistoric Pokémon.
• Take That!:
  • At one point Noctowl and Pidgeotto basically criticise the concept of the 'betrayal' fic, observing that it's completely implausible for all of Ash's friends to suddenly turn on him.
  • Word of God states that Iris's harder past in this world is intended to be payback for her attitude towards Ash early in their travels together, even as it's acknowledged that she improved over time.
  • Sabrina dismisses the idea of psychics trying to take over the 'mundanes' (as speculated in Babylon 5) as too much work.
  • Ash delivers a big one to the Orange Islands, dismissing that entire period of his life as a lot of work for relatively little reward, considering that nobody ever worked out what the GS Ball was for.
  • A relatively brief example; Ash muses at one point that his habit of planning battles in advance is comparable to Skyla's Air Battles', but notes that the difference is that he doesn't take those battles seriously.
  • The author's notes affirm a distaste for the idea of creating new regions and Pokemon for the series when canon offers more than enough material.
  • Ash expresses a distaste for how "that sci-fi show" became darker and bleaker with each later series, to the extent that he muses that "the creator must be spinning in his grave".
  • Word of God expresses disapproval of how other fics basically ignore Ash's PTSD after witnessing universe-destroying events in favour of focusing on the themes of the anime genre.
• Talking Animal: To a point; while Ash’s Pokemon can’t talk to humans directly in their own languages, while the Region teams were travelling alone Chimchar was able to communicate by writing messages to explain that they were looking for their lost trainer.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Once Ash realises that the King of Pokelantis and Sabrina's old parasite are in his mind, he makes it clear that he won't give in to them and he'll only leave them alone if they help when asked, such as asking the king for his insight into means of dealing with the Unown.
• Tempting Fate: Sabrina proclaims "Arceus will have to end me!", and the next day Ash shows up, unwittingly acting in his role as the Chosen One of Arceus.
• Thanks for the Mammary: At one point, Kyoji accidentally gropes Lacus, but she doesn't slap him for it as she recognises that he was just jolted while riding Altaria.
• Theory Tunnelvision: Ash has rejected the idea of dating any of his travelling companions because he doesn't want to abandon them like he believes his father did, ignoring how even his Pokémon are aware that the girls would be willing to follow him on his travels.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill:
  • Agatha apparently shot Madame Boss (Giovanni's predecessor as the head of Team Rocket) repeatedly with a shotgun and then had her ghosts "do their worst" to what was left.
  • Ash observes that Team Cipher seem to have no concept of 'overkill', considering that they have nuked entire villages to keep certain artifacts secret.
  • After Whitney's Miltank's use of Attract provokes Charizard into a blinding rage at the threat to his bond to his mate, it's noted that only his close bond with Ash stopped him going so far that he actually killed Miltank in the subsequent battle.
• Think Unsexy Thoughts: Ash tries to have a cold shower to get his mind off thoughts of his female companions.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Even with the more dangerous world he's in now, Ash refuses to kill, although Pikachu notes that he and the rest of Ash's team would be willing to go that far if they were sure it was the only way to save Ash's life; Bulbasaur later explicitly states that if someone tries to kill Ash his Pokémon will kill them in turn.
• Time-Travel Tense Trouble: Celebi observes that humans don't have the linguistic capabilities to discuss some of the terms involved in time travel, Anabel confirming this issue when talking with the girls later.
• Title Drop: In Rising Tide, characters reflect on how they will be swallowed by the "rising tide" of Arceus's rage.
• Token Good Teammate: It is noted that Gibles are basically the friendliest of all the Dragon types unless they've been subject to horrible abuse, with other Dragons requiring considerable patience to earn their respect.
• Too Dumb to Live: A group of Rocket Grunts just watch as a rocket goes up and then comes back down to hit them after they fired it.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Not only is Pikachu a Shadow Pokemon with extra power, but many of Ash’s Pokemon retain the moves they learned in the future even in their pre-evolved states (although with mixed results, such as the risks of Pidgeotto using Hyper Beam).
  • Chapter 17 sees Pikachu leading the team in training sessions in the Saffron Gym and inspiring more training back at the ranch, with the result that Pidove, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Pidgeotto and Starly have all evolved.
  • During the confrontation at Shamouti, Rowlett evolves into Dartrix while confronting the Shadow Lugia.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: Ash explicitly speculates that the reason he took a step backwards in Unova in terms of his tactical ability was minor brain damage inflicted on him during the confrontation with Zekrom.
• Touched by Vorlons: Apparently Professor Oak, Agatha and Blaine have received the blessings of Celebi, Giratina and Moltres respectively, giving them some form of extended life so that they can continue to serve in their roles, although Agatha notes that she still likes to use her cane even if she doesn't actually need it. When Ash travels to the Orange Islands, it's revealed that the Orange Crew are all blessed by the local Lugia to be aware of disturbances in the local climate.
• Tunnel King: Gible and Sandile have shown themselves to be very good diggers, which they use to help their various regional teams come together.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: It would appear that Kaiser was this for the Safari Zone, shooting at least twenty trainers who tried to take 'his' Dratini and only holding on to his job for so long because he basically got lost in the paperwork for the rest of the League until Ash ended up killing him.
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • Basically applies to Hunter J, although in fairness to her she couldn't have known that the first-stage Pokémon who attacked her had the experience of fully-evolved fighters.
  • Also shown by the Ferrum government, whose president proclaims that he and his government are gods and dismisses the Legendaries as pretenders to the title, assuming that Ash and his allies won't be a threat.
  • A lower-key example of this occurs when Lance declares Ash his champion to challenge the Johto Gym Leaders as part of a Johtoan righte of challenge, with most Gym leaders- specifically Bugsy, Morty, Jasmine and Pryce- assuming that Ash was just chosen because of his father's reputation and aren't aware of how good Ash is as a trainer on his own merits.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • All of Ash's Pokémon have this for him; Froakie refers to Ash as his 'liege-lord' and Snivy immediately leaves her current trainer (who she acknowledges was never cruel to her but just didn't get her) to return to her "idiot brother", with his travelling Pokémon doing their best to avoid being caught by anyone but Ash, and even Mankey and Lapras considering Ash their trainer despite Mankey having spent time with another trainer and Lapras having been basically wild for years.
  • In the confrontation at Shamouti, Hunter J's crew remain with her even after she says they can leave when preparing the ship for a sacrificial collision.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Ash has variations of this will basically all of his female travelling companions (with the exception of Sabrina, who sees herself as his daughter), but refuses to get involved with any of them as he thinks he isn't worthy of it.
• Unskilled, but Strong: A good description of Mewtwo, who has more raw psychic power than any Pokemon apart from Arceus but doesn't have much training in using that power in anything more than massive displays of strength.
• Uptown Girl: Serena in this new timeline is essentially part of a noble family, but she is still attracted to Ash despite her mother advising Serena to find someone of her own social status, before Ash is revealed to be the Crown Prince of Rota.
• Valley Girl: Thoroughly averted; Word of God affirms that the writers hate that interpretation of the Sensational Sisters in the English version of the show.
• Vigilante Execution: It is noted that if Team Rocket sleeper agents are found in the Orange Islands, the lynch mobs that kill them are actually rewarded for it.
• Villainous Breakdown: In Rising Tide, Xuefeng suffers one when Kyoji's interference compromises his own plans to stage a proper coup by unleashing Shadow Pokemon on his enemies.
• Villainous Lineage: When Ash initially believes that Giovanni is his father, he reflects that this is another reason for him to be against romantic relationships as he doesn't want to continue a villain family line.
• Walking the Earth: It is noted that the Rotan royal family, including Ash, are practically cursed with wanderlust, unable to simply settle down until family obligations require it, and even then they'll move on later.
• Weak, but Skilled:
  • A good description of Ash and his Pokémon at the start of the fic; they retain at least most of their original moves before they were sent back in time (beyond the possibility that there are some moves they just can't do at their current evolutionary level, such as Charmander being obviously unable to use Wing Attack), but while they have that knowledge they're physically unable to take that much damage, requiring Ash to not push his team too far or risk them getting seriously hurt. Eventually Pikachu sets out to remedy this weakness by using their new 'ownership' of the Saffron City gym to train the rest of the team while Ash is in hospital, allowing such developments as Pikachu regaining Iron Tail and Starly evolving into Staravia. Later, Sabrina and Charizard are basically this in comparison to Mewtwo and his cloned Charizard, as the two lacks the raw power of their opponents but make up for it with greater experience.
  • On a human level, most of Ash's future partners lack physical strength of their own; while they aren't unhealthy, they lack stamina.
• Weirdness Magnet: All of Ash's Pokémon are relatively blasé about finding themselves in an altered version of the past as they're aware that their trainer gets into interesting situations.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Belladonna is outraged and terrified at the thought of Ash having a Shadow Pokemon as his starter, but considering that her father was killed by a Shadow Ho-Oh, she has legitimate reasons for her concerns.
• Wham Episode:
  • The Mewtwo confrontation chapters reveal the identity of Ash's father and pit Mewtwo against a mass of Legendaries.
  • The final confrontion with Yveltal sees the threat of Shadow Pokemon apparently ended for good, but Hunter J is now in an alliance with her brother, the 'Pokemon Collector' who went after the Legendary Birds and Lugia.
  • Ash's trip to the Tree of Beginning not only sees the girls talk with their Astrals selves, but ends with Ash encountering some form of Sir Aaron himself.
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: When in Orre, Robin, Ash's new female companion, is so emotionally repressed after years of basically being a child soldier against Team Cipher's reign of terror that she has no true idea what 'love' actually is, requiring Kyoji and Sabrina to call in Serena for help explaining the concept to her.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Retroactively brought up by Misty; looking back on Ash's loss to Ritchie in the original timeline, she observes that clear outside interference should have prompted everyone involved to accept the decision to reschedule that particular match.
• Why Can't I Hate You?: Jokingly invoked by Kyoji, who observes that Ash is too nice to hate even if he gets all this attention from girls that he doesn't actually want.
• Willfully Weak: In Rising Tide, characters note that Primal Reversion Groundon is deliberately holding back so that he doesn't cause too much collateral damage while fighting a Shadow Hydregion.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Pineco is led to believe that this applies to Phanphy after he hatches, to justify why a newborn Pokémon is acting so mature without telling their new associate the truth.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Shadow Pokemon are powerful, but are also notoriously hard to train, with the result that Professor Oak is obliged to give Ash another Pokemon to balance out Pikachu even though Pikachu shows no sign of going berserk. During Rising Tide, a Dynamaxed Hydregion goes insane with its new power and can only be defeated by Groundon and Rayquaza.
• World of Snark: Because this is a post-end-of-the-world-as-we-knew-it thing, sarcasm is the most common coping mechanism.
• Worth It: Max basically says this when he tries to watch Ash's match with Agatha even though the match is taking place in the Distortion Realm, which could drive others insane without Agatha's protection.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • In the end, Giovanni acknowledges Ash as such, and even Paul appreciates how many of his Pokemon Ash managed to defeat.
  • Wes and Michael are each acknowledged as these for Team Cipher, to the extent that some members still feel that their deaths (dragged out of bed and killed) was not a suitable final fate for their enemies, and express regret that they couldn't win Robin to their side.
• Yandere: Serena is explicitly described as such due to her warped mental state, with some of her personalities being overly expressive about her attraction to Ash.
• Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning: The electric attacks of Lt. Surge's Magneton are red in color rather than the usual blue or yellow from the games and anime.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • In chapter 23, Kyoji delivers one to Ash, pointing out to him that, despite his concerns about turning out like his father and the dangers he's encountered during his travels, Ash isn't the 'damaged goods' he believes he is as he genuinely cares about the girls and his Pokemon despite everything he's been through, where anyone else would have just become a bitter old man who's willing to let the world burn.
  • In Rising Tide, Kyoji does this again for Lacus to encourage her to try and Mega Evolve Altaria to face a corrupted Hydregion, even though she feels her past as a Cipher Admin makes her incapable of achieving that kind of bond with another.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Invoked with Janine, Koga's daughter, whose father is proud of her but has to maintain an appearance of professional distance most of the time.
• You Have Failed Me: Demonstrated by Paul, and the reason he released his Marill after it lost against Ash's Quilava, although Marill was subsequently taken on by Kyoji.
• Zerg Rush: When Ash's Charizard "returns" to the Charicific Valley, he basically does this to every other Charizard in the valley; the last Charizard standing only lasts for so long because he was larger than Ash's and Charizard didn't want to use his most powerful attacks.

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