Web Animation / Pokémon Red (Fanmade)

Pokémon Red Fan Made is a web animation series by Pedro Araujo.

The story should be familiar to most people by now. A young man named Red receives a Pokémon from Professor Oak, and sets off on a journey to become a Pokémon Master. His goal is to beat the Elite Four, after defeating Kanto's eight gym leaders. On his journey, he will compete with his rival Blue, Professor Oak's grandson, and he will confront the nefarious plans of a criminal organization called Team Rocket.

Pokémon Red Fan Made adapts the original Pokémon Red and Blue story, with some elements from other entries of the franchise, most notably the Fire Red and Leaf Green remakes, the Heart Gold and Soul Silver games, and the Pokémon Adventures manga. The web animation aims to be a retelling of the events of the Red and Blue games, but with a stronger more detailed plot.

In December 2022, Pedro debuted the sequel, Pokémon Gold (Fanmade) which stars Gold, Kris and Silver.

Can be watched here, and the movie collecting the entire animation can be watched here.

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Pokémon Red Fan Made contains the following tropes:

• 10-Minute Retirement: Both Red and Blue after Blue's Raticate dies in their SS Anne battle halt their Pokémon journey, the time for them to recover from the trauma.
• Accidental Murder: In the heat of their battle on the SS Anne, Red's Nidoking accidentally throws Blue's Raticate through the window into the sea after poisoning it. Raticate isn't rescued in time and drowns.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • Some details are added to show the logistics of a Pokémon journey, and to make it more plausible. For instance, Pokémon Centers are shown to also contain facilities for the trainers, most notably beds (which the anime also had) and washing machines.
  • The web animation combines some elements of the manga and some fan theories with the story of the games to expand on the creation of Mewtwo and on Team Rocket's activities.
  • During the Silph Co arc, Giovanni ends up capturing Mewtwo, and uses his newfound Pokémon to release his captured grunts and to launch a full-on assault on Kanto. The arc culminates with a full-fledge battle between Kanto's gym leaders and Team Rocket.
• Adaptational Badass: The captain of the SS Anne used to be in the Elite Four, and by the time he retired Agatha hadn't made the cut yet.
• Adaptational Explanation: There are a few examples of Pedro giving his take on how things transpired in Red and Blue.
  • We see how Red got his Venusaur and Blastoise: he got the Blastoise as a Squirtle from Misty, and had Leaf breed a Bulbasaur for him.
  • We see how Blue had his Kadabra evolve into Alakazam: he did a trade with Red's Graveler.
  • We see what happened to Blue's Raticate: it died in a freak accident when fighting Red's Nidoking on board the SS Anne.
  • We see flashbacks of Lt. Surge in the war he fought with his Pokémon before becoming a Gym Leader.
  • There are some scenes with Koga showing that he tried to apply for the Elite Four, but was rejected. The epilogue showed that he would eventually become one thanks to Red's recommendation after Agatha retired, which also explains what happened with her after the events of Red and Blue.
  • Most importantly, we actually see Team Rocket's actions throughout the series, as opposed to their off screen actions being told to us.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Many characters who turn up in story lines posterior to Red and Blue, of which the fan animation is a retelling, already make an appearance here:
  • After each Gym Leader's defeat, there's a flash forward one of Red's birthdays, and there are protagonists and gym leaders from future games among the guests.
  • Lance and Drake can be spotted riding their Dragonite and Salamence respectively during Surge's war flashback. Lance shows up again riding his Dragonite during the counterattack against Team Rocket.
  • Archer, Ariana, Proton, Petrel, and Silver make appearances as part of Team Rocket.
  • Bruno and Agatha first appear during Giovanni's flashback as Gym Leaders (though Bruno is then promoted) and his old friends alongside Professor Oak.
  • Mars is shown in Giovanni's flashback as his oldest daughter and sister to Silver.
  • Looker is part of the police response when Pokémon Mansion explodes, and later when Team Rocket's Celadon Hideout is busted.
  • Eusine is shown buying a new cape at the Celadon Store.
  • Red meets Koga's daughter Janine at Fuchsia City.
  • Maxie is shown pledging his allegiance to Giovanni after the latter acquires Mewtwo.
  • Lorelei shows up at Silph Co. and arrests the fleeing Blaine, though she misses the mass battle.
  • Surge mentions the Alolan form of Raichu.
  • At some point in the past, Daisy visited Johto and got her team wasted by Whitney's infamous Milktank.
  • Karen is shown as a model, taking shots alongside Lorelei.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Blue is less antagonistic and rude towards Red compared to the original game. His rivalry with him takes the form of playful teasings, and he doesn't hold his Raticate's death against Red, since it was an accident. By the time Red reaches Lavender Town, Blue has pretty much become a friendly rival (albeit one who likes to prank Red), and he and Red respectively acquire their Alakazam and Golem by double-trading with each other. Blue also doesn't have his toxic competitive mindset from the get-go. At the beginning of his journey, he's shown to care deeply about his Pokémon (especially his Rattata). He and Red team up at Silph Co. against Team Rocket, and the rival battle there only happens because Mewtwo mind controls Red into fighting Blue. However, he starts to display his canon counterpart's personality because of his anger towards his inability to live up to his grandfather's and his sister's accomplishments, and because of his resentment towards Red who's getting all the fame after Team Rocket's defeat.
  • Giovanni straddles the line of this. His actions are the same as in canon, but his backstory of once being a good man who was publicly disgraced time and time again until he snapped. Numerous parallels between Red and Blue, and Oak and Giovanni are made to show history is repeating itself. Unlike in the game canon, he also cares for both of his children and losing his daughter is implied to have caused him to spiral into getting even worse. He also willfully disbands Team Rocket for righteous reasons after being reminded of the kind of man he once was thanks to Red's efforts.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • The five trainers of Nugget Bridge are actually disguised Team Rocket goons.
  • Downplayed with Blaine. In this version of the story, instead of a honest gym leader (like in the games) or of a repentant Team Rocket defector (like in the manga), he's a willing associate of Team Rocket. Although it's pretty clear he obeys Giovanni partly for the money, and partly because he's terrified of him, and flees the moment he sees an opening. However, while he isn't shown to be truly mean or sadistic, and he only handles scientific works for Giovanni, he's aware of Team Rocket's criminal activities and still agreed to work for them in exchange of money. Therefore, he can't be considered an Anti-Villain.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: The series portray several characters who were unrelated in the original games as friends.
  • Oak, and John (the captain of the S.S. Anne) are Childhood Friends in this version. They did their first Pokémon journey together. The two boys met Agatha at Lavender town during their trip, helped her catch her first Pokémon so that she could travel with them, and the three of them formed a Power Trio. In the games, there are no indication that Oak and Agatha know the S.S. Anne captain personally, and there is also no indication that Agatha and Oak knew each other since they were teens.
  • Oak, Agatha, and John have also known Giovanni since the latter was a youngster. They were friends (or at least friendly acquaintances) when they were all working as Gym Leaders or Elite Four members. Once again, in the games proper there are no clues they know each other personally.
  • Sabrina has an Odd Friendship with Erika and Koichi, the Karate Master, in the series. In the games, there is no indication Sabrina and Erika are close, or that Koichi was anything else than her rival for the title of Saffron City's Gym Leader.
• Age Lift: In the original games, the protagonist and his rival are still children. Here, in order to make the story more realistic, Red, Blue, and Leaf are portrayed as older teenagers, with Leaf said to be roughly 16 or 17 for instance.
• And Then What?: After becoming Champion, Blue discovers he has literally nothing to do but wait for some incredibly strong trainer to repeat his feat of beating the entire Elite Four and challenging him.
• Anti-Villain: Silver doesn't really want to be a villain, but he's part of Team Rocket because both of his parents are their leaders, and he's too young to do otherwise. When Giovanni goes too far after he captures Mewtwo, Silver helps Red and Blue escape, then calls Kanto's gym leaders, and reveals his father's location so that they can stop him.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Red's mother and Daisy, mere footnotes in the original game, play a bigger role. They notably help Red and Blue recover after Blue's Raticate's death. Red's mother also tries to stop Leaf when the latter steals Bulbasaur. Daisy appears from time to time in later arcs to help the heroes; such as during the huge battle at the Silph Co., or to help Leaf when the latter investigated Team Rocket's presence in the Sevii Islands.
  • Compared to the games, in which they are encountered only once the time of a fight, the Gym Leaders here play a bigger part in the story. It's especially true for Misty and Lt. Surge. Moreover, all the Gym Leaders become mentor figures for Red or one of his friends, as they give them advices and/or teach their Pokémons some of their moves.
    • Misty also spends some time with Red while he explores Cerulean City. They end up developing feelings for each other, and become a couple at the end of the arc. She returns at the end of the Vermilion Arc to teach Red how to ride a bike, and to spend some time with him. She also spends time with him after Team Rocket is defeated, and during the Beach Episode she teaches the HM Surf to his and Leaf's Pokémons.
    • Surge helps Red recover from his trauma after he accidentally causes the death of Blue's Raticate.
    • Erika (at the time incognito) helps Red and Leaf prepare for their fight against Team Rocket in Celadon, notably by telling them about the Stones allowing Pokémons to evolve. She also becomes a mentor figure for Leaf.
    • The story explores Koga's frustration of not being able to become a member of the Elite Four when he mentors Blue, and then fights Red.
    • All honest gym leaders come to the rescue during the Silph Arc.
    • Blaine is a (reluctant) associate of Team Rocket, and is shown at various points helping Giovanni. After his arrest, his interrogation allows the heroes to uncover the secrets of Mewtwo's birth and to shut down Team Rocket's operations on the Sevii Islands.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Giovanni is the strongest trainer in Team Rocket, his main team able to make short work of opponents who have crushed his Admins.
• Babies Ever After: The flash forward to Red's birthday reveals that Silver and Kris have become a couple, and have had a son.
• Badass Finger Snap: Whenever Giovanni snaps his finger during a Pokémon battle, his Pokémon will use an overwhelming move, be it his Dugtrio's Earthquake, his Nidoking's Fissure, or his Rhydon's Horn Drill.
• Battle Couple: Red and Misty team up to fight Proton during the battle at the Silph Co. building, while also being Back-to-Back Badasses.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Blue is obsessed with becoming a Pokémon Master in order to prove the world, and himself, he can be someone. In Episode 43, he succeeds. Then, he realizes that as the Master he can't travel anymore and has to spend his day at the League building, waiting for a challenger, something which rarely happens because most are defeated by the Elite Four. On a funnier note, it also means he has to put up with the Elite Four members' habits, which often confuse or annoy him.
• Beach Episode: Episode 35 segues into one, when Misty teaches Red and Leaf how to use Surf, and they later us it to reach Seafoam Islands.
• Best Her to Bed Her: G-rated version. Defeating Misty gained Red her affection. They become a couple by the end of the Cerulean Arc.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: Episode 33. The entire episode is one huge melee opposing a contingent of Team Rocket grunts led by their admins and Giovanni (with Mewtwo) versus the seven honest gym leaders, Bill, Daisy, Leaf, Blue, and Red. Brief snippets reveal that, at the same time, the members of the Elite Four are fighting the other Team Rocket forces scattered across Kanto.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • At the end of Nugget Bridge Red finds himself facing six Team Rocket Grunts... Cue Misty with her main team.
  • During the Silph Arc, all the gym leaders the heroes have encountered so far, plus Sabrina, as well as Leaf, Daisy, and Bill with Red's Nidoking come to Red's and Blue's help for their rematch against Giovanni.
• The Big Damn Kiss: Red and Misty share one at the end of the Cerulean Arc.
• Book Dumb: Bruno is a capable trainer - capable enough to be a gym leader and an Elite Four candidate. However, it's also pretty clear he's not the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to academics, enough that he didn't get why Giovanni's theories were supposed to be unbelievable - or understood them. It played a part on why Giovanni didn't take well Bruno being promoted to the Elite Four in his place.
• Bound and Gagged: Happens to two unlucky Team Rocket grunts guarding the hideout under the Casino, who are stashed by Red and Leaf into a maintenance closet after getting their uniforms stolen.
• Brick Joke: During one of Red and Blue's early matches, Red's Charmeleon delivered Blue's fainted Abra to his trainer bringing him by the tail. During their second fight in Route 22, the same happens in reverse.
• The Bus Came Back: Red's Nidoking, who was sent into the box after Raticate's death, is part of the rescue team who comes to Red's and Blue's aid during the climax of the Silph Co. Arc. Afterwards, he becomes part of Red's team once more.
• Call-Forward:
  • Giovanni is shown to have been working on the theory one can induce a Pokémon evolution through radio signals for a long time, with Archer being
  • Koga is shown having asked, and been denied, a seat at the Elite Four several times, a reference to the fact that he becomes an Elite Four member in the next game's generation.
  • During the final match between Red and Sabrina, the psychic starts having visions of Red's future, including collecting all Kanto badges, completing the Kanto Pokedex, fighting at Mount Silver (where Red also has an Espeon), the Pokémon World Tournament, Pasio (with Red being with Mega Charizard X), and the Battle Tree, and attending Red's birthday.
  • During the preparation for his League Challenge, Red is shown to procure a Squirtle and a Bulbasaur.
  • One for Pedro Araujo's next series. One flash forward to Red's birthday shows Silver and Kris will become a couple, and even have a child.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The first two arcs are mostly a compilation of funny and heartwarming moments, peppered with friendly Pokémon battles. However, the plot starts to feature darker and more drama-heavy story elements from the Vermilion Arc onwards. Blue's Raticate is accidentally Killed Off for Real during a Pokémon battle, and as a consequence Red and Blue have to deal with grief and PTSD. Team Rocket takes a more central stage, and is shown to act like a ruthless criminal syndicate: disposing of incompetent mooks, killing Marowak for their skulls, actually invading the Sevii islands and forcefully conscripting the children of an orphanage, bribing police officers, and beating up snoops who enter their hideout uninvited. Downplayed though, as the series still remains mostly light-hearted.
• Character Development: Red starts out Hot-Blooded, though after his Nidoking accidentally kills Blue's Raticate, he starts becoming quieter and more composed.
• Cheese Strategy: In-Universe. Blue calls Red out on this when he uses Legendary Pokemon against him on Route 22. In response Red decides to not use them when he challenges the Elite Four.
• Climax Boss: Giovanni is ultimately this. Blue is the Final Boss as far as Red's journey is concerned. However, Giovanni's subplot has a lot more impact on Kanto as a region. Therefore, each confrontation between Red and Giovanni is a climactic battle with high stakes. The first fight takes place in Celadon's casino, right after Red witnessed first-hand the full scope of Team Rocket's malevolence, and is now trying to put an end to the casino's illegal activities and to free the Pokémon. There are several fights with Giovanni during Team Rocket's invasion of Silph Co., which culminate with a huge battle between Team Rocket led by Giovanni with Mewtwo against the honest gym leaders, Red, Blue, Leaf, Daisy, and Bill. Finally, the last battle takes place in Viridian City's. Once more the stakes are high, since Giovanni agrees to dissolve Team Rocket if he loses while Red has to join Team Rocket if he loses.
• The Comically Serious: Lance behaves with a flare for dramatic. His hobby consists of ominously standing at the top of a waterfall under a full moon with his Gyarados, and watching Magikarps try to swim upstream. Blue is both a little confused and annoyed by this behavior.
• Composite Character:
  • Red is one of himself: both the Hot-Blooded version hinted by the creator during the franchise's early years, and the more stoic one later.
  • Leaf is heavily based on her Adventures counterpart when it comes to her design and her personality, though her role in the story is closer to the Fire Red Leaf Green player character.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu:
  • Six Team Rocket mooks gang up on Misty and Red during the fight on Nugget Bridge. The grunts are utterly trounced. Justified, however, in that Misty is using her Golduck for this battle - who is far above the level of the grunts' Pokemons.
  • Actually averted when Team Rocket grunts gang up on Red and Leaf when they infiltrate the Casino Hideout. The two teenagers are not Gym leaders with high-leveled Pokémons, therefore they ultimately end up overwhelmed by number, and beaten up for their trouble. That is, until Charmeleon evolves into Charizard.
• Corrupt Cop: The regular police officers of Celadon City are shown to be on Team Rocket's payroll, who bribes them so that they turn a blind eye on the syndicate's illegal activities. Averted with Looker and the international police, who actually clean up Celadon City's corruption after Team Rocket is exposed by Red and Leaf.
• Crazy-Prepared: Misty has taught her Water Pokémon Ground-type and Ice-type moves to counter the Electric and Grass Pokémon they're weak against, as well as Electric-type moves to counter other Water Pokémon.
• Creepy Good: Koga is a master poisoner ninja; and Sabrina has a permanent Death Glare, Supernatural Gold Eyes, wields a whip, and first appears by teleporting in to Blue and Leaf's chagrin. They're honest gym leaders that come to the rescue during the Silph arc (this being Sabrina's first appearance).
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Erika has the personality of a ditzy Granola Girl, and her fight with Red is hilariously one-sided. However, she's still a competent gym leader; and during the Silph Co. Arc, she comes to help while swinging on her Tangela's vine and breaking through a window of the eleventh floor.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: We (mercifully) don't actually see it, but while Red and Leaf infiltrate the Team Rocket hideout, Red gets a front row seat to a Team Rocket grunt tearing out a struggling Marowak's skull to sell on the black market with his bare hands. We even hear it crying out in pain right before the Sickening "Crunch!".
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • At the end of Nugget Bridge, Red is cornered by six Team Rocket grunts. Then Misty arrives with her Golduck. Misty and Red utterly thrash the goons.
  • Giovanni, Ariana, and Proton (plus Silver without Pokémon) try and catch Mewtwo at Cerulean's Cave. The closest they come to even slow him down is when Giovanni punches him in frustration, and that's more because Mewtwo is surprised at the human attacking him and so doesn't fling him into a wall immediately.
  • Red has a friendly match with Misty after training with Surge... And finds out the hard way she was holding back during the Gym match.
  • Goes back and forth between Red and Leaf, and Team Rocket during the all-out fight in Celadon's hideout. At first, Red and Leaf have the advantage, since they have taken the grunts by surprise. Then, Team Rocket reinforcements arrive, and the two teenagers are overwhelmed by their more numerous opponents. Then, Charmeleon evolves into Charizard to protect his trainer, and completely thrashes the goons and their Pokémons.
  • Red and his Charizard completely obliterate the trainers of Erika's gym and even Erika herself in their Pokémon battles. It ends with the gym's staff and Leaf having to put out several fires in the gym.
  • Giovanni versus Red and Blue. Giovanni's Nidos make a very short work of their entire teams, with only Red's Snorlax managing to hold his own against Nidoking before Nidoqueen, having finished with Blue's team, joins the fight.
  • The final duel between Red and Giovanni at the end of the Silph Co. battle is one in favor of Red. His opponent isn't using his main team while his Lapras has a type advantage against Giovanni's two strongest Pokémon. After the previous brutal all-out battle, this fight feels more like a Post-Climax Confrontation, and the fact that it's the one which is recorded by witnesses fuels Red's fame even more.
• Dark and Troubled Past: As a child, Sabrina was used as a literal circus freak, forced to show off her powers for the ringmaster's money. While she escaped and eventually became a Gym Leader, she's still heavily influenced by her past until her second match with Red and a peek in his trauma help him get her out of it.
• Darker and Edgier: Downplayed, in that the story remains mostly light-hearted, and is more or less on the same page as the manga when it comes to the darkness. However, compared to the games this web animation is based on, the story is more mature at times. Blue's Raticate accidentally dies when the two trainers and their Pokémon get too carried away in their fight, and the following episodes show them having to overcome the trauma. Lt. Surge's flashback of the war with Hoenn shows him using a shotgun, and the story features Red and Blue having to overcome, respectively, PTSD and mourning. The more mature atmosphere is especially true as far as Team Rocket is concerned. Contrary to the videogames in which their most heinous crimes are a case of Offscreen Villainy, this story highlights several times the fact that Team Rocket is, well, basically a criminal syndicate. Giovanni is introduced as The Don, while having an incompetent mook fed to Arianna's Arbok. The traffic of Marowak skulls is shown to be as cruel and disgusting as one can think, with the death of Lavender Town's Marowak mother treated as a crime scene. In the Rocket Hideout, there's even a scene featuring a Mook (thankfully offscreen) tearing out a Marowak skull while a sickening crunch is heard. Finally, while we only get a few glimpses, there is a scene during which Team Rocket goons cruelly beat up two minors, Red and Leaf, when they're caught sneaking inside the Casino Hideout. Giovanni shows himself several times to be willing to kill his enemies if they bother him too much, including Red and Blue. After he captures Mewtwo, Giovanni outright orders him to destroy Oak's lab to attempt to kill his old rival.
• Darkest Hour: The end of Episode 31. Red and Blue are crushed by Giovanni's main team in a Pok&eaucte;mon battle, then the mob boss takes them hostage and uses them as leverage to get the Master Ball. Then, at the beginning of Episode 32, Giovanni captures Mewtwo, then uses his new Pokémon to release all his imprisoned goons, to destroy Oak's lab, and to launch dozens of heists all across Kanto.
• The Day the Music Lied: Blue's theme is playing while Giovanni's Nidos brutalize his and Red's teams at the same time.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Red befriends the Gym Leader he defeats, and Sabrina became friends with Koichi after beating him.
• Disc-One Nuke: Red evolves his Nidorino into Nidoking at the Sea Cottage, and finds himself with a Pokémon far stronger than any opponent he can find, even too strong (just ask Raticate). Not even Surge's previously unstoppable Raichu can do anything against him... But he's the last opponent Nidoking defeats before being benched.
• The Don: Giovanni as the leader of Team Rocket.
• The Dreaded: Anyone who knows Giovanni's role in Team Rocket is terrified of him.
• Everyone Has Standards: Blaine, Silver, and Mewtwo are all shocked by Giovanni's decision to try to kill Oak by destroying his lab with him inside. It's what pushes Blaine to try and flee at the first chance and Silver to free Red and Blue and call in the Gym Leaders.
• Evil Is Petty: One of the first things Giovanni does after he captures Mewtwo is destroying Oak's lab out of resentment. Later, he has Mewtwo mind-control Red into attacking Blue after defeating them in battle, just to rub salt into the wound.
• Face–Heel Turn: Giovanni and the Team Rocket admins: Giovanni was a respected gym leader and a Pokémon researcher with some weird theories, and the others were the only ones who actually believed he may have been on something. Ariana was a fellow scientist who eventually married him. Archer was one of Giovanni's students. Proton was a guide at Safari Park. Petrel was an employee of Celadon's casino. However, years of humiliations drove Giovanni to villainy, with his assistants following him.
• Failure Is the Only Option:
  • Blue just can't defeat Red, with their battle at the Pokémon Tower, that he was winning, being interrupted by Marowak's ghost.
    • Blue gained the lead in the second Route 22 battle... Then Red started using Legendaries.
  • After many years of humiliation it seemed Giovanni could finally prove his theories are right by creating Mewtwo at the Pokémon Mansion... Then the Pokémon escapes and blows up the Mansion, and his daughter goes missing in the chaos.
• Fandom Nod:
  • Giovanni seems to subscribe to the idea Gengar is Clefable's shadow, or at least that they're linked.
  • Giovanni somehow got his hands on numerous Ditto early in his experiments with Mew's DNA.
• Foil: Koga to Giovanni: Koga has repeatedly applied to the Elite Four and has been rejected every time, just like Giovanni had to see the Book Dumb Bruno enter in his place; but where this played a part in Giovanni's descent into villainy, Koga remains a honest gym leader. They seem aware of this, as during the battle at Silph Co. they show exceptional contempt for each other.
• Fed to the Beast: Team Rocket agents that fail too often are fed to Ariana's Arbok. Later, Giovanni threatens to do the same to the defeated Red and Blue if the Silph Co. president won't give up the Master Ball.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing:
  • At Silph Co., Giovanni's Rhyhorn one-shots Blue's Exeggcute before going down to Blue's Blastoise, hinting that this time Giovanni is using his main team. Immediately confirmed when Giovanni sends in his Rhydon and annihilates Blastoise.
  • During Red and Blue's rematch against Giovanni the camera repeatedly cuts to a hole in the roof through which sunlight comes in. As Mewtwo prepares to annihilate them, a surprise Solar Beam hurts Mewtwo and announces Leaf's arrival with her newly evolved Venusaur.
• Foreshadowing:
  • At Nugget Bridge Red's Nidorino trounces Blue's Rattata. After evolving Nidoking will accidentally kill Raticate on the SS Anne.
  • Leaf can be seen in the background a few episodes before her debut, watching Red and Blue from behind a tree.
  • Giovanni's Nidoking actually forced Mewtwo to try and defend itself, and after Mewtwo hits him with Psychic he's still standing, if too weakened to continue fighting. At Silph Co. Nidoking and Nidoqueen will tear apart Red and Blue's teams at the same time.
  • When Red first arrives in Lavender Town he's repeatedly observed by the ghost outside the Pokémon Tower. When the Silph Scope is recovered, it turns out there are two ghosts, and the one that appeared outside was Raticate's.
  • When Red first goes through Route 8 he doesn't fight the Gambler near the Underground Path, and soon after he procures HM02 and uses it to teach Fly to his Doduo. This Gambler and a Pokémon capable of using Fly are what you need to trigger the Mew Glitch.
  • During the battle at Silph Co. Sabrina's Alakazam holds his own against Mewtwo for a while before being defeated, anticipating just how powerful she is as a trainer and how hard her Gym Challenge will be.
• Freudian Excuse:
  • Giovanni's motivation to become a criminal stems from all the humiliation he suffered while trying to prove his Pokémon theories.
  • Sabrina's harshness stems from her childhood, during which she was mistreated by the owner of the circus for which she worked.
• Good Is Not Nice: Sabrina is on the side of the law, and helps the heroes fight the Team Rocket during the events of the Silph Co. However, she's also a harsh trainer who uses a whip with her Pokémon. She also takes full advantage of her psychic powers against her opponents during Gym battles, and doesn't hesitate to disrupt them with terrifying illusions. After Red manages to reach out to her at the end of their second battle, she mellows.
• Granola Girl: While not completely out of touch with reality, Erika is still portrayed as a not very well grounded nature-loving woman. Red actually has to remind her that they're supposed to fight a Pokémon battle when she starts to talk about her love of nature and flowers.
• Great Offscreen War: One apparently took place between Hoenn and Kanto some time in the past. Lt. Surge, his Raichu and at least one of the trainers of his gym, Lance, and Drake all took part in it.
• Green-Eyed Monster: The birth of Blue's resentment towards Red and of his hardcore competitive mindset stems from his jealousy to see that only Red gets credited for the victory against Giovanni and Team Rocket.
• Handicapped Badass: Giovanni's Nidoking lost his left eye to Mewtwo. In his first battle after that encounter he tears through Red and Blue's teams.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Giovanni tried for years to capture Mew, or at least prove its existence to the world, and always failed. In the meantime, Red stumbled on the Mew Glitch.
• Heel–Face Turn: Twice:
  • One of the Rocket Grunts at Pokémon Tower ends up leaving the Team in horror at his own actions after seeing Marowak's ghost.
  • Silver frees Red and Blue and call the Gym Leaders to deal with Team Rocket after seeing how far gone Giovanni is.
• Hidden Depths: Erika is shown to be a huge Granola Girl, and it's implied she's a pothead, but she's also shown to be very insightful when she helps Red and Leaf prepare themselves for their fight against Team Rocket. She later mentors Leaf, helping her overcome her traumas. And she's just as badass as all the other gym leaders when she takes part in the Silph Co. building's battle.
• Honest Corporate Executive: The CEO of Silph Co. refuses Giovanni's money in exchange of the Master Ball, and only agrees to give it to him after he threatens Blue's and Red's lives.
• Hope Spot:
  • When Blue's Raticate is thrown in the water while poisoned, the crew of the SS Anne manages to recover him... But the attempt to revive him fails.
  • When Blue faces Giovanni at Silph Co. he quickly takes out his Rhyhorn. Then Giovanni sends out Rhydon, revealing his best Pokémon have recovered from the fight with Mewtwo. It takes Red's arrival and them taking him two-on-one to turn back the tide... At least until Giovanni sends out his Nidoking and Nidoqueen together.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Mewtwo spends the entire battle at Silph Co. holding back as much as they can, as they don't want to be there in the slightest. The moment the Master Ball forcing them to stay is destroyed they show just how powerful they really are to open a way out and flee.
• The Juggernaut: Lance's Dragon type Pokémon are able to shrug off almost any attack save for the strongest ones (or their weakness). At least as long as they're not weakened with Poison...
• Karma Houdini: To some extent, Giovanni is one. On the one hand, he has a Heel Realization, disbands Team Rocket, promises to dedicate the rest of his life to the study of Pokémon, and (for what we see) keeps said promise. However, since he goes in hiding after his defeat, he still gets away with serious crimes: ruling the Marowak skulls traffic, having incompetent mooks killed, attempting to kill Oak, taking an entire building hostage, and launching a full-scale raid on the country.
• Kick the Dog: A flashback of Episode 43 shows that during his fight with Sabrina, Blue also managed to break through her mental defenses and to see a glimpse of her backstory. His reaction was to cruelly mock her, which reduced her to tears.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: How the fight at the Rocket Hideout ends: Giovanni decides it's time to cut his losses and escapes with Petrel while leaving Red the Silph Scope and the key to retrieve the prizes, and Red, exhausted and hurt from the battle against the Team Rocket Grunts before reaching Giovanni lets them leave before they realize his situation.
• Left the Background Music On: Whenever we hear Blue's theme (listed as "The Oak's Theme" on Blue's item list) it's always playing in-universe, even blasting it from the SS Anne's loudspeakers.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: When he fights Giovanni at Silph Co. Blue takes out his Rhyhorn quickly and with relatively little damage... Then Giovanni reveals his main team has recovered from the encounter with Mewtwo by sending out his Rhydon. He does it again when he sends out his Nidoking and Nidoqueen, who mops the floor with Blue and Red's teams at the same time.
• Like Brother and Sister: Red and Leaf. They near always adventure together after getting to know one another and team-up frequently, but have no interest in one another romantically. Leaf also likes to tease him like a sibling does. Later episodes show she'd basically been adopted into the family and stays with him and his mother in Pallet Town.
• Lightning Bruiser:
  • Giovanni's Nidoking and Nidoqueen hit hard, move fast, and can take a beating, as demonstrated by Nidoking tanking a Psychic from Mewtwo and standing up and, later by the Curb-Stomp Battle they inflict on Red and Blue's teams.
  • Lance's Pokemon, especially his Dragons, are also shown to be faster, stronger and a lot more durable than average.
• The Mentor:
  • Surge becomes this to Red after his 10-Minute Retirement.
  • Erika becomes one to Leaf.
• Mime and Music-Only Cartoon: There is no spoken dialogue, save for a few screams at key moments and the in-game cries of the Pokémon.
• Mind Rape: Basically what Sabrina does to Red during their initial gym battle, to the point that Red comes out of it looking (and presumably feeling) somewhat violated.
• Mood Whiplash: Episode 35 starts with Red being thoroughly Mind Raped by Sabrina during his gym battle with her. It then segues to him...having a fun, relaxing Beach Episode with Leaf, Misty and Daisy before triumphantly capturing Articuno.
• Mook Chivalry: Averted. Team Rocket Grunts always try and gang up on their opponents if given the chance.
• Ms. Fanservice:
  • Misty: she spends the gym battle swimming, and once she goes out of the gym she's wearing bike shorts and a sports bra.
  • Daisy, Blue's sister, also qualifies. During the Beach Episode, she shows up clad in a bikini.
  • Lorelai doesn't pale in comparison to Daisy, as she's also incredibly buxom. In-Universe, she works part-time as a model for some magazines.
• Mr. Fanservice: Lt Surge. During the Beach Episode, he shows up only clad in a tight speedo.
• Mugged for Disguise: To infiltrate Team Rocket's hideout under Celadon City's Casino, Leaf and Red steal the uniforms of two grunts they defeat in a Pokémon battle. In a typical display of this trope, they stash the Bound and Gagged goons into a maintenance closet.
• Mutual Kill: Of a non-lethal version. During their championship match, Red's Nidoking and Blue's Rhydon engage in a brutal slugfest that ends with Nidoking landing a Fissure as Rhydon nails them with a Horn Drill for a double 1-Hit K.O.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Oak and Agatha's reaction when Red shows them the Great Ball containing Mew, making them realize that Giovanni was right on that and they have a part in his descent to villainy.
• Mythology Gag: Plenty:
  • Pokémon and character often take stances right from their in-game sprites, and camera feeds are identical to overworld sprites.
  • Pokémon calls and moves have the same sounds from the games.
  • As in Adventures, Blaine is a scientist affiliated with Team Rocket and one of Mewtwo's creators (Giovanni and Fuji had a part in the experiment) in addition to a gym leader.
  • Some trainers from a certain class are identical to their Gen 1 art (though not all of them).
  • Red starts out with his original outfit, though he switches to his Fire Red Leaf Green outfit after his 10-Minute Retirement.
  • Misty knows a Slowbro trainer that is a dead-ringer for her sister Daisy in the anime.
  • The battle between Red's Pikachu and Blue's Kadabra on the SS Anne is identical to the first fight between Ash and Sabrina in the anime.
  • Misty has a bike, and gives Red a passage back to Cerulean City when he gets the Bike Voucher.
  • Red's Doduo "flies" the way Doduo flies in Pokémon Stadium—by kicking its legs.
  • Giovanni's flashback shows a young professor Oak identical to how he appears in Pokémon Adventures.
  • Leaf was conscripted into Team Rocket for a while, and Silver is part of it under Giovanni.
  • Leaf first shows up wearing a Little Black Dress as in her unused original design, and her flashback shows her wearing her Let's Go outfit before being kidnapped by Team Rocket. Her canon outfit is only hinted when she tries on the hat at the Celadon Store. When she arrives to help Red and Blue during the Silph Arc, she's wearing said canon outfit.
  • Red's mother's Pokémon is a Poliwag, a reference to Red's starter in Adventures.
  • When Red's Charizard uses Seismic Toss the animation is identical to the anime, with the full moon in place of the Earth image.
  • The journalists who interview Red and Leaf after they defeat Team Rocket at Celadon City are the same ones as in Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald.
  • Erika's gym is forbidden to the boys, and the staff woman actually attempts to make Red wear the same dress and wig that Ash puts on to enter it in the anime (though Red simply burns the dress and wig, Blue is shown to have actually agreed to play along).
  • The second half of episode 26 features the Mew Glitch.
  • During the climax of the Silph Co. Arc, the gym leaders come to fight Team Rocket, which is a reference to the way this arc ended in the manga. The only difference is that, in this version, Surge, Koga and Sabrina are on the good guys' side.
  • After Team Rocket is defeated at the end of the Silph Co. arc, one TV news title reads: "Team Rocket blasts off."
  • In Episode 35, Lt. Surge is at one point shown chilling on a surfboard, alongside with his Pikachu. His surfing Pikachu, as in Pokemon Yellow.
  • Sabrina's terrifying battle with Red may remind one of her Obviously Evil characterization from the anime.
  • In Episode 36, Red hallucinates seeing MissingNO after he passes out due to almost drowning near Cinnabar Island.
  • When Daisy recalls her trip to Johto, she mentions that she had a friendly Pokémon battle against Whitney, who utterly trounced Daisy's team with her Miltank. This is of course a nod to Miltank's infamous reputation as a hard early boss, and a literal Beef Gate.
  • In Episode 42, Blue quotes the first verses of the anime's first opening.
• "No. Just… No" Reaction: When Red enters Celadon Gym to challenge Erika he's told males are banned, and the only way for him to challenge the leader is to crossdress as Blue had done, and is even offered a cute outfit. Red sends Charizard out to burn the outfit and battles his way to Erika.
• Odd Friendship: Quick snippets during Episode 37 hint that stern no-nonsense Sabrina likes to spend her free time with carefree Erika and Koichi, the Karate Master.
• Official Couple: Red and Misty start a relationship at the end of the Cerulean Arc, as he's about to leave. The following flash forward to Red's birthday shows they are still a couple.
• Oh, Crap!: Blue's reaction at Silph Co. when Giovanni's Rhydon one-shots his Blastoise.
  • Giovanni (and all of Team Rocket) have their moment during his Gym battle with Red when the challenger sends in Articuno.
• Passed-Over Promotion: One of the many humiliations Giovanni suffered in the past was being passed over for Bruno when a vacancy in the Elite Four opened.
• Pet the Dog: Giovanni threatens to have Red and Blue killed to make Silph Co.'s CEO give him the Master Ball. After the CEO gives in to his demand, Giovanni actually keeps up his end of the bargain, and simply has the two teenagers captured, instead of going back on his word.
• Police Are Useless: Two occasions so far, though in both cases it's a Justified Trope.
  • At the Pokémon Mansion, Looker takes in a scared girl... Not knowing she's Giovanni's daughter and he just kept him from finding her, contributing to his descent into (further) villainy. Justified in the sense that he didn't know that Giovanni was looking for her because of the chaos, and because Giovanni didn't try to contact the authorities to see if his daughter had been found, either because he thought she had died or because he was already wanted for conducting illegal experiences at that point.
  • When Red and Leaf try to warn the police in Celadon and Saffron about Team Rocket they're rebuffed and ignored, and the latter even bars them from entrance... as the cops are on Team Rocket's payroll.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Misty becomes Red's girlfriend in this version, while in the canon game she's simply a gym leader he faces once.
• Put on a Bus: Red regularly changes the Pokémon of his team, and therefore puts the ones he stops using in the box. There are a few noteworthy examples:
  • Red puts Nidoking in the box indefinitely, as he just can't bring himself to use him in battle anymore after Nidoking accidentally killed Blue's Raticate.
  • Under less tragic circumstances, this is also what happens to Red's Clefable. Clefairy/Clefable is one of Red's main partners during the first arcs. However, after Red acquires the HM Fly, he replaces Clefable with Doduo, since he needs a flyer. Later, after he captures Snorlax, Red replaces his Golem with him.
• Rank Up: Bruno and Agatha used to be gym leaders in Pewter City and Saffron City respectively before joining the Elite Four, with Bruno's promotion being shown on-screen (and being one of the humiliations Giovanni suffered).
• Related in the Adaptation: Ariana is Giovanni's wife, and Mars is their daughter and Silver's older sister.
• Running Gag:
  • Blue's rival theme is actually played in-universe by Blue himself. First he listens to it on a walkman, then he whistles it, then he plays it on a boombox in Cerulean City, then he hijacks the SS Anne's speakers to play it, then he pranks Red with a music box in Lavender Tower, and finally he plays it on a boombox again on Route 22 to catch Red's attention, only this time so loudly that it scares away all the surrounding wild Pokémon.
  • Pikachu just can't get a Thunder Stone to evolve. Red buys one, Pikachu accidentally drops it. Red buys a second one, wind makes it fall off Pikachu's hands. Leaf steals his money before he can buy a third one. Then, after defeating Team Rocket and earning some more cash, he returns to the store, and finds out they're all sold-out. Raichu ends up being the final Pokémon that Red needs to finish his Pokedex at the end, and he needs to trade with Leaf to get one after the stone got stolen.
  • Every person who trains with Lt. Surge turns into a bodybuilder.
• Scissors Cuts Rock: To highlight just how formidable an opponent Giovanni is when he uses his main team, his Rhyhorn and Rhydon respectively defeat Blue's Exeggcute and Blastoise during their battle at Silph Co., two Pokémon against whom they have a double weakness in the Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Twice during the mass battle at Silph Co.:
  • Seeing the forces rallied against Giovanni and that nobody is looking at him, Blaine grabs a briefcase of money and flees. He's captured by Lorelei in the lobby.
  • Upon being given the Master Ball controlling him, Mewtwo breaks it, breaks the building, and leaves.
• Sequel Hook: A few:
  • After Red leaves her Gym with the Badge, Sabrina has a vision of Gold coming in.
  • One of Daisy's maps shows New Bark Town and Mount Silver in Johto, plus the paths to reach them. On the same occasion she shows she owns a few small Berry Trees and bottles of Moo Moo Milk, and recounts of the time she got her clocks cleaned by Whitney and her demon Milktank.
  • As Blue is going to the Pokémon League, Silver can be spotted in his canon outfit (as opposed to the white Team Rocket uniform he had worn so far) and showing an attitude similar to the one he had at the start of the Gen II Games.
  • All of these hooks are explored in the sequel, Pokémon Gold (Fanmade).
• Signature Mon:
  • Misty uses a wide variety of Water-type Pokémon, but it seems her favorite partner is Golduck. He's the one she brings whenever there's a high-staked battle against Team Rocket (or when she truly wants to defeat Red), and he also helps her when she wants to show off during her gym battles.
  • Giovanni has his Nidoqueen and his Nidoking, who gets a scar on the left eye during his battle with Mewtwo.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Surge used to be one due his wartime experience, and knows how to help comfort traumatized people. This turns out helpful when Red challenges him after his Nidoking killed Blue's Raticate.
• Shout-Out:
  • At one point during their fight, Misty shows off by imitating the well-known pose of Ariel at the end of the Part of Your World reprise.
  • In his bedroom, Blue has action figures of Leonardo, Sub-Zero, and a blue Power Ranger. He also has a pyjama top adorned with Sonic's head.
  • When they part ways, Lt. Surge and Red say goodbye by doing the Predator handshake.
  • When Red enters a house in Lavender Town, there's a shot of the door being opened in first-person POV, like in Resident Evil.
  • Also in Lavender Town, we get some horror movie parodies—Alakazam invokes Count Orlock, Blue does the "Here's Johnny!" face and Red briefly poses to invoke Jason Voorhes. Fittingly, this episode was released around the Halloween season.
  • When Leaf tries on her hat at Celadon City's store, there are also on the shelf the Peach Crown and the Mario Cap, and Jill's hat.
  • When Red's Charmeleon evolves into Charizard it's treated as if he were going Super Saiyan, complete with Bruce Faulconer's Super Saiyan Theme.
  • When Giovanni's Kangaskhan uses the Comet Punch, it's the Pegasus Comet Fist.
  • Master Roshi is the man spying on the girls in Erika's gym.
  • The Team Rocket grunt who has a Heel–Face Turn at the end of the Celadon Arc throws his costume in a garbage can, in a way that's reminiscent of Spider-Man: No More.
  • After their training with Koga, Blue's Blastoise dons a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle outfit.
  • Some of the hallucinations during Red's first fight against Sabrina refer to horror films. At one point, two hallucinations of Sabrina use the same pose as the ghost twin sisters of The Shining, and at an other point Sabrina exits a TV the same way Sadako does. Sabrina does it again during their second fight. This time, she references Georgie's scene in It and the shower scene of Psycho.
  • When he retrieves the Old Amber, Red meets John Hammond.
  • When he challenges Giovanni for the Earth Badge and shows he has all the other Kanto Badges, Blue channels the "Gary Motherfucking Oak" meme, and specifically the "There are eight badges in Kanto, he has ten" variant... Including the part where it's not supposed to be possible, as Blaine was in jail at the time it's later revealed that Blaine had escaped and Blue recaptured him and forced him to give him the Volcano Badge.
  • Blaine channels Doctor Eggman when he finally decides to collaborate with the police.
  • Yotsuba and Nino Nakano work at the Pokémon League headquarters as a Pokémon Nurse and cashier respectively.
• Shrinking Violet: Red appears to be a slight example, as he really doesn't like the attention he keeps getting for his accomplishments against Team Rocket.
• Stepford Smiler: Giovanni. Inside he's full of anger and frustration at his life and the years-long string of failures he's in, but outside he always wears a cocky smile. Best exemplified in Episode 34: He keeps his arrogant demeanor and grin even when his son Silver renounces him and runs away... but once he's alone in the privacy of his office, he compltely loses it, smashing at his desk and incoherently screaming in anger and pain.
• Story Arc: Thanks to Pedro breaking down several episodes into sub movies, there are some Story Arcs that can be broken down.
  • ​Episodes 1-6 (Introduction Arc): Red and Blue begin their Pokémon journeys and begin collecting Badges. This arc includes Red's battle against Brock.
  • Episodes 7-14 (Cerulean Arc): This arc focuses on Red spending time in Cerulean City, meeting Misty and starting a relationship with her. This arc also introduces Team Rocket to the story.
  • Episodes 15-21 (Vermilion Arc): This arc features Red and Blue traveling to Vermilion City, but they deal with the fallout of Raticate's death due to an accident in a Pokémon battle onboard the S.S. Anne. This arc also features Red's battle against Lt. Surge.
  • Episodes 22-27 (Lavender-Celadon Arc): This arc brings Red back and forth from Lavender Town to Celadon City, meeting Leaf, fighting Giovanni for the first time, and capturing Mew.
  • Episodes 28-34(Fuschia-Silph Co. Arc): This arc features Red fighting Koga and his battle against Team Rocket at Silph Co.
  • Episodes 35-37 (Saffron Arc): This arc features Red fighting Sabrina for the Marsh Badge and capturing Articuno and Zapdos.
  • Episodes 38-40 (Cinnabar-Viridian Arc): This arc features Red fighting Blaine for the Volcano Badge and having one final battle against Giovanni.
  • Episodes 41-48 (Indigo Plateau Arc): This arc features Red training for his eventual battle at the Indigo Plateau, culminating in one final battle against Blue for the title of the Pokémon Champion.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • During his attempt to catch Mewtwo Giovanni's Nidoking and Nidoqueen are powerful enough to actually hurt their opponent... But as they are part Poison types they are brutally thrashed by a single Psychic each.
  • When infiltrating Team Rocket's hideout at Celadon, Red and Leaf first try to be discreet by disguising themselves as Team Rocket goons. This strategy works. However, when Red witnesses two grunts cruelly tear out the skull of a Marowak, he can't control his rage and directly attacks them. A fight breaks out and the alarm is sounded. Soon, reinforcements arrive. While Red has the power of righteous anger on his side, he and Leaf are quickly overcome by their enemies' superior number. Team Rocket then proves that they're not a kid-friendly criminal syndicate, as their goons start to beat up the two restrained teenagers, and if it weren't for Charmeleon evolving into Charizard, Red's and Leaf's adventure would have ended very badly.
  • Red brings a Fire/Flying Charizard to battle in Erika's Grass-type gym after defeating Giovanni. Curbstomp Battle ensues.
  • During the fight at Silph Co., Red and Blue use items to keep up with Giovanni's strongest Pokémon, with Blue having used a Max Revive after his Blastoise was taken out, while Team Rocket's Executives look on... Until the end, when they step in and grab their bags after Giovanni was finished with thrashing their teams.
    • In the above battle, Red's Snorlax manages to hold his own against Nidoqueen when Nidoking, having finished off Blue's team, teams up with Nidoqueen against the last remaining opponent.
  • Upon capturing Mewtwo Giovanni wasted no time in freeing his captured minions and have them attack all of Kanto... And getting the attention of the Elite Four: Bruno and Agatha rescue Professor Oak from the Grunts sent to make sure he was dead at his lab, Lance proceeds to tear apart Team Rocket's flying units, and Lorelei arrives at Silph Co. and arrests the fleeing Blaine, though she's too late to join the mass battle.
  • Leaf may have been receiving help getting over her past as a forced Team Rocket member but trauma doesn't go away easily... And she freezes when at Silph Co. she spots Archer, who was directly responsible for her capture.
  • In the mass battle at Silph Co. Red and their allies have on average stronger Pokémon... But Team Rocket has the numerical superiority, and they use it. Surge's Electabuzz is defeated when a Grunt's Kadabra pins him down long enough for Petrel's Electrode and Weezing to use Self-Destruct on him.
    • This also goes the other way: Mewtwo is by far the strongest Pokémon on either side but he can only strike down one Pok&eauctemon at a time, and more than once he's overwhelmed by attacks from multiple directions. The strategy that eventually takes him out of the fight involves Red, Blue and Leaf using their starters hitting him with everything they have long enough for Sabrina to steal the Master Ball.
    • All of that said, those stronger Pokémon have to be constantly attacked or they can take out most opponents with one or two hits. Most of the Team Rocket Grunts' Pok&eaucte;mon are defeated in seconds when Surge's Raichu hops on Red's Charizard and is moved high enough to attack at full strength without worrying about defense, leaving only Giovanni, the Admins, and Mewtwo able to fight, allowing for the plan that takes out Mewtwo.
  • Mewtwo has absolutely no loyalty to Team Rocket and is on their side only because Giovanni captured him with the Master Ball and he has to obey him. Mewtwo repeatedly just stands and tanks attacks doing the bare minimum unless Giovanni directly orders him around.
    • Also, Red and Koga quickly catch up on Mewtwo having to obey to whoever holds the Master Ball and have Sabrina use her own telekinetic powers to steal it, with the device eventually ending in Red's hands.
    • Red gives the Master Ball to Mewtwo... Who, upon registering what has just happened, destroys it and then, having no stake in the fight, blows his way out of Silph Co.
  • Red's Mew may be a Legendary Pokémon... But it's underleveled, and Sabrina trounces it during his first attempt at her badge.
  • After defeating the Elite Four and becoming the new Champion, Blue expects to lead a life crushing challenger after challenger. Instead, challengers rarely if every get past Lorelei, as the Elite Four are indeed the kind of trainers one has to defeat to become Champion.
  • The Elite Four and trainers on their level being just that good, their Pokémon can make full use of their abilities, such as a Dugtrio that uses Dig to attack from the ceiling or a Machamp that uses two arms to hold the target and the other two to pummel them into oblivion, or defy expectations, such as a Jynx being a formidable Physical fighter in spite of the species being more gifted toward Special moves.
• Sympathetic Criminal: Leaf steals Bulbasaur from Professor Oak... because she needs a Pokémon to take on Team Rocket and free her home in the Sevii Islands.
• Theme Music Power-Up: Whenever non-game tracks are used, something epic is about to happen:
  • During the battle with Misty's Starmie, Dvorak's From the New World starts play as soon as it and Red's Pikachu get both in the water, before Pikachu can finally put its type advantage to full use.
  • During the raid on Team Rocket's HQ a slow violin music starts playing when Red, Charmeleon, and Leaf are overwhelmed by the Grunts' numbers... Then the music starts picking up pace, Charmeleon's sends out Charizard's call, and the track reveals itself for Bruce Faulconer's Super Saiyan Theme as Charmeleon starts evolving and trouncing all the Pokémon that were holding him down.
  • As soon as Red and Charizard approach Erika for her gym challenge, In the Hall of the Mountain King starts heralding the imminent Curb-Stomp Battle.
  • The final battle in the Pokémon Tower is scored with an epic orchestral arrangement of Lavender Town's theme, underscoring the sheer danger posed by Marowak's ghost and her wrath as she lends her strength to Cubone to fight Team Rocket off.
  • Ever since evolving, Red's Charizard had been invincible, and its entrance in the gym battle with Koga was marked by him annihilating Koga's Koffing... Then "Envelope" starts playing as Koga calls in his Weezing, against which Charizard is completely powerless. Later, Weezing's Explosion and Koga's flashback are scored with "Fire and Thunder".
  • The battle against Giovanni at Silph Co. has again "From the New World" and a remix of Blue's battle theme from Fire Red and Leaf Green, and has Giovanni send in his main team against Blue and Red and demonstrate why he's the leader of Team Rocket. The latter plays as Giovanni's Nidoking and Nidoqueen brutalize Red and Blue's teams and win him the fight.
  • An instrumental version of "Brother, My Brother" plays during the Silph Co. Rival Battle, as Giovanni is having Mewtwo mind-control Red into fighting Blue.
  • An orchestral arrangement of the Victory Road theme plays as Red and Blue start their rematch against Giovanni and Mewtwo, and continues as Leaf, the Gym Leaders, Daisy Oak, Bill, and Red's Nidoking arrive to join the battle. It's then followed by an orchestral arrangement of the Gym Leaders's Battle Theme as the fight starts.
  • The Ode to Joy plays during the endgame of Red and Sabrina's second match as her psychic powers show her parts of Red's future and his past trauma, helping her getting past her own.
  • During the Gym Battle between Red and Giovanni this starts playing when Red decides to get serious and grabs Mew's Pokeball.
  • During the fight with Lance, Dragonite's entrance is accompained by this orchestral cover of the Dragon's Den theme.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Red's as silent as always, but his facial expression makes it clear that he's boiling with rage when he sees two Team Rocket grunts rip off a Marowak skull. Cue Megaton Punch in the goon's face.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Misty is the self-proclaimed "Tomboyish Mermaid", but she also loves plush toys, like the cute cuddly pink Clefairy dolls.
• Troll: The Hiker with a self-destructing Geodude and the Geodude: Apparently they only did it to annoy Red.
• Ungrateful Bastard: A downplayed case with Mewtwo. During the climax of the battle at the Silph Co., Red manages to snatch Giovanni's Master Ball and to give it to Mewtwo so that he can free himself. Mewtwo's first action is to release a powerful wave of energy in order to leave the building, without caring that the people who help him free himself are caught in the blast as well. It's downplayed in the sense that he doesn't try to directly harm his liberator and probably doesn't reason like a human, but given the fact that he has more sentience than the average Pokémon, you'd still think he could show a little more gratitude.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Oak and Agatha still remember a time when Giovanni was a friendly outgoing youngster.
• Victory by Endurance:
  • This is how Red manages to defeat Koga's Weezing. Since the Pokémon is too fast, and uses Smokescreen to dodge all attacks and poison to gradually subdue his opponent, Red has Snorlax tank all attacks and recover with Rest until his opponent runs out of energy and is forced to use Self-destruct.
  • Comes back with Lance's Dragonite: the Pokémon was an absolute monster, but after being Poisoned by Nidoking he would gradually wear down.
• Victory Is Boring: After becoming Champion, Blue finds out he has literally nothing to do the entire day due most opponents being crushed by Lorelei, let alone getting all the way to the Champion. This is also why the Elite Four members other than Lorelei have hobbies: it's extremely rare for anyone but Lorelei to actually have a job to do, and even Lorelei herself works part-time as a model for some magazines.
• Villainous Breakdown: Giovanni doesn't take Mewtwo destroying the Master Ball and leaving very well. Not at all. He spends a few seconds prostrate on his knees while Mewtwo destroys part of the Silph Co. building and flees. Then after recovering his spirits, he spots Red, and flies into a murderous rage. He grabs some Pokéballs, and fully intends to sic his Nidorino on the young trainer to kill him.
• Villain Has a Point: Giovanni may be a villain, but at least two of his theories the scientific community laughed at are entirely correct: Mew exists, and it's indeed possible to artificially evolve a Pokémon through radio waves.
• Villainous Valor: Giovanni actually punches Mewtwo during his attempt to capture him.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: A few:
  • Misty, several times actually.
    • For both Blue and Red, giving them a really hard time. Her Starmie in particular is so powerful that once they realize how powerful it is they see it as a giant, and her as a gigantic mermaid. Even Red's Pikachu is given a tough fight, in spite of his type advantage AND of the fact that he's fighting Starmie after the latter is both already poisoned and tired after defeating three of Red's Pokémons. Utimately, Pikachu and Red have to resort to tricking Starmie into following Pikachu into the water, so that the latter can release a powerful thunder attack and electrocute all the water to knock Starmie out.
    • Once again for Red later, when they fight in a non-gym battle after Red trained with Surge and she uses her Golduck: Pikachu (who had previously defeated her Starmie) has no chance.
    • For Leaf: She was riding high after winning two badges in two days against Brock and Surge, then she challenged Misty... who took out her Venusaur with a single Ice Beam from a Squirtle. The rest of the match was just as one-sided and reminded Leaf she's still a relative beginner compared to Red.
  • Once his starter evolved into Charizard Red seemed unstoppable, easily able to take on anything he faced... Until the gym battle with Koga and his Weezing, whose poison and (augmented) speed forced Red to recall him.
  • Sabrina had off-screen battles with both Leaf and Blue, and by the aftermath and their reactions at meeting her again they were one-sided in her favor. Later, when Red tries to fight her, she once more confirm her status by utterly crushing him after a one-sided Curb-Stomp Battle during which he doesn't manage to knock out even one of her Pokémon.
  • In the battle with Koga Red's Snorlax revealed himself as his new powerhouse. At Silph Co. against Giovanni he's stalemated by The Don's Nidoqueen and thrashed when Nidoking enters the fray
• War Is Hell: There's a brief flashback of Surge's wartime experience... In a devastated city, with Kantonian and Hoenn troops trying to kill each other, and Lance and Drake dueling in the sky for who will have the privilege to Hyper Beam the enemy from above.
• We Used to Be Friends: Giovanni was friend with Oak and Agatha. He burnt all bridges with them after he created Team Rocket. One of the first things he does after capturing Mewtwo is to order him to destroy Oak's lab, while Oak is still inside.
• Wham Episode: Three so far:
  • Episode 16, Raticate's Death?. Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Before that, the series was light-hearted and mostly humorous. The death of Blue's Raticate marks a turning point. From this moment, while still mostly humorous, the story starts to deal with more serious drama and longer arcs.
  • Episode 19, where Daisy works on a map that hints at the Sevii Islands and we first see Leaf.
  • Episode 22, with Giovanni's backstory.
  • Episode 31, where Giovanni defeats and captured Red and Blue and obtains the Master Ball.
• Wham Shot: In episode 19 we spot Leaf observing Red in Pallet Town.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Apparently Blue had to do this to get into Erika's Gym. Red, predictably, finds it hilarious.
• Who's Laughing Now?: Giovanni's entire motivation: once upon a time he was a honest trainer and a Pokémon researcher with a wish to prove Mew exists, but after years of humiliations, including people literally laughing at his theories, left him embittered and angry until he made Team Rocket to steal the funds for his experiments (with Blaine, who had previously laughed at his theories, immediately changing his tune when Giovanni shows up with the cash). It happens again during his rematch with Mewtwo, when he has the Master Ball. Both Giovanni and his Nidoking clearly appreciate getting their revenge by subduing the arrogant Pokémon.
• Willfully Weak: The gym leaders and the gym trainers use teams proportional to the power level of their challengers. Brock, Misty, Surge, Erika, Koga, and the swimmer in Misty's gym are all shown to have far stronger Pokémon than the ones they use against Red and Blue in the gym battles. On the contrary, Erika uses a weaker team against beginner trainer Leaf compared to the one she used against Red.
  • At Silph Co., Mewtwo was blatantly holding back and all but trying to lose, as they didn't want to be there and knew that if they were defeated Team Rocket would almost certainly follow. The moment he gets the chance to escape he shows everyone just how much they were holding back and leaves.
• The Worf Effect: Giovanni is often involved in this:
  • Mewtwo's power is first established when he thrashes Giovanni's main team, putting his best Pokémon out of commission for Red's attack on the Rocket Hideout.
  • At Silph Co Blue finds himself on the receiving end of this when he challenges Giovanni, establishing how devastating the Team Rocket's leader's main team actually is when not facing Mewtwo. It takes him and Red joining forces to take out Rhydon, at which point his Nidos mop the floor with their entire teams at the same time without him even having to reveal Dugtrio.
  • Red and Blue's Gym Challenges against Giovanni show how strong they have grown since Silph Co, as this time they manage to defeat him.
• Worf Had the Flu: Twice when Red faces Giovanni:
  • At the Rocket Hideout the Team Rocket's boss doesn't use his best Pokémon, as they still have to recover after being thrashed by Mewtwo, and has to rely on a Rhyhorn, an Onix, and a Kangaskhan he had on hand, with only the latter putting up a fight.
  • When they fight again one-on-one at Silph Co. it happens after Mewtwo's escape has thrashed the building and knocked out every Pokémon that was out for the fight, forcing Giovanni to rely on four Pokémon he found lying around (implied to be part of a secondary team of his) and Red to use a Lapras given him by a Gentleman.
• Yank the Dog's Chain:
  • At the Rocket Hideout and Silph Co., the Team Rocket Grunts gain the upper hand with numerical superiority. Then, at the former, Red's Charmeleon evolves into Charizard and delivers a brutal beatdown to the grunts while at the latter, Lt. Surge's Raichu hops onto Red's Charizard back and fries all of their Pokémon, with the exception of a few Cubone who are easily washed away by Blue's Blastoise.
  • At Silph Co., Giovanni is able to wipe the floor with Red and Blue, get the Master Ball, catch Mewtwo, free his imprisoned grunts to rampage around Kanto and blow up Oak's Lab. Then, Silver rebels and frees Red and Blue while calling in the calvary. Giovanni's plans crumble so badly after that, the man is left suffering a Villainous Breakdown by the end of the Silph Co. battle due to how many times Red's interfered.
• You Have Failed Me: The Team Rocket Grunt responsible for Mount Moon, recovering TM28 and gaining access to Cerulean Cave is fed to Ariana's Arbok after the failure of those operations. It's also implied to be the fate awaiting the man watching Saffron City's gate after he fails to prevent Leaf from entering the town.
• Younger Than They Look: Giovanni is only slightly younger than Professor Oak and Agatha^note It's hinted he was a youngster when they were teenagers, but looks much younger.