The hero and her starter.
"I'll show not just Ariel, but EVERYONE, the true strength, will... and elegance... of BUG POKEMON!"
— Chrys Elis
Chrys Elis is a Pokemon trainer from the town of Pallet who arrived at Professor Oak's lab 15 minutes late and— wait, come back!
Bugged Run is a fan webcomic by Cedra Wryte inspired by her actual monotype playthrough of Pokémon FireRed. The comic follows a teenage girl named Chrys Elis on her journey through Kanto, trailing about 15 minutes behind the player characters of the games in her quest to become the Indigo Champion with a team composed entirely of her favorite type of Pokémon: bugs! Setting out from Pallet Town with her starter, Caterpie, and antagonized by her obnoxiously perfect rival, Ariel, Chrys must set aside her untenable inclination to brute force her way past challenges, and find a way to win with the most underpowered type in the game.
Read it here.
Bugged Run provides examples of:
- The Ace: Ariel breezes through all the challenges she's shown facing, starting with beating Gary as a Funny Background Event while talking to Chrys. Obnoxiously, she's entirely aware of how good she is.
- Art Evolution: The driving motivation behind the comic's creation was as an art exercise to get more practice with digital art. The comic starts out in black and white with no backgrounds, simple page layouts, and sloppy linework. The linework is noticeably cleaner on the second page, page 3 is semi-colored, page 5 starts using more dynamic layouts, and backgrounds start appearing by page 8. By page 11, the comic is in full color with detailed backgrounds, more standardized character designs, and proper speech balloons. Shading begins on page 16.
- Boring, but Practical: Chrys wins her rematch with Brock by having Elle stack defense boosts from Harden while fighting Geodude until she can survive Onyx's Rock Tomb.
- Distaff Counterpart: Chrys is a Gender Flip of the classic Always Male Bug Catcher NPC trainers.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Chrys rejects Ariel's offer to give her a stronger Pokémon after losing their match in Pewter City, having a flashback to other times throughout their lives where Ariel has taken pity on her.
- Friend to Bugs:
- The entire premise of the comic. Chrys loves bug-type Pokémon so much that she swears to win the Indigo League with a team of only bug types.
- Chrys encounters an unnamed Bug Catcher in the Viridian Forest; a recurring enemy NPC archetype who only uses bug-type Pokémon.
- A Handful for an Eye: Ariel's Pidgey hits Viral with a Sand Attack, leading to several panels from Viral's semi-blinded point of view.
- Head Pet: Elle frequently rides around on Chrys's head before evolving to Metapod.
- Hero of Another Story: The comic follows the plot of FireRed and LeafGreen... literally. Ariel plays the role of the female player character from FRLG, with Chrys trailing along in her wake, arriving in Pewter City just as Ariel is heading out after beating Brock, and at Mt. Moon just in time to pass a group of charred Rocket grunts fleeing from her.
- Graceful Loser: Brock praises Chrys for her quick improvement and ingenuity compared to their last battle after she wins her rematch, and goes above and beyond his duty as a gym leader by providing her with a non-standard TM that will suit her needs better, and advising her to do a little extra looking around Mt. Moon on her way to Cerulean City.
- Parrot Pet Position: Elle and Viral both rode around on various parts of Chrys's body, most usually her shoulders, in their larval forms. Viral even got to ride around on her like a living backpack in his Kakuna stage.
- Punny Name
- Ariel is a play on "aerial," referencing her preference for flying Pokémon.
- Chrys Elis is a play on "chrysalis," another name for butterly pupae.
- Rock Monster: Brock's specialty. His gym team is made up of Geodude, a living rock with arms, and Onyx, a gigantic rock snake.
- Shout-Out:
- Ariel names her Charmander "Smaug" after the infamous dragon from The Hobbit. Chrys calls her out on this.
- Viral's name is taken from Viral of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Ariel calls Chrys out on this.
- Ariel's Pidgey is named Sue in reference to Sue Bird, the veteran forward center of the Seattle Storm WNBA team.
- Chrys's chant of "Bug Type, Bug Type, Bug Type!" is an allusion to Benny the Space Guy's ecstatic refrain of "Spaceship, spaceship, spaceship!" in The LEGO Movie.
- Ariel refers to a teacher named Mr. McSuge in a flashback, a reference to Aikuro Mikisugi from Kill la Kill.
- Stalker with a Crush: A larval (har har) example in the unnamed Bug Catcher Chrys encounters in Viridian Forest, who starts following her around uninvited after their battle making comments about how she's Not Like Other Girls, and would be hotter with a Scyther on her team, ending with shades of Entitled to Have You when she finally unambiguously ditches him.
- To Be a Master: Chrys's ultimate goal is to not only become the Indigo Champion, but to do so using only bug-type Pokémon in order to prove their worth.
- Tomboy: Chrys, with her short hair, boisterous nature, and affinity for creepy crawlies.
