Pokémon Red (Fanmade) / YMMV

Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Red's training with Lt. Surge is highlighted by an hilariously over-the-top musical clip featuring several Lt Surge playing the electric guitar, with several Electabuzz playing the drums and Pikachus firing machine guns in the air, and dozens of military jeeps, planes, helicopters and tanks. At the same time, Red and his Pokémon, who are as ripped as characters from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure the time of this clip, lay waste on the trainers near Vermilion City. By the way, during his introduction in the clip, Red does the splits between two tanks that are carried by helicopters. It's never mentioned afterwards.
Cry for the Devil: Giovanni is a ruthless mob boss, and the series doesn't shy away from showing exactly how cruel such a man is: leading a traffic that causes the deaths of plenty of Marowaks, having incompetent mooks killed off, having teenagers beaten up, and trying to kill those who defy him. However, he is also humanized by his Freudian Excuse, and in these moments it can be easy to feel bad for him. Episode 22 shows in a flashback the string of humiliations and frustrations that led him to embrace the lifestyle of a criminal Don. In Episode 34 he's humiliatingly defeated in front of all Kanto literally right after he finally succeeded in his obsession of capturing Mewtwo and there's a scene that shows him completely losing it after his son Silver renounced him and ran away.
Growing the Beard: The Vermilion Arc. It introduces longer more drama-heavy story points with the appearance of Giovanni, then the death of Blue's Ratticate, and the following arc of Red and Blue having to overcome the trauma. The last few episodes of said Arc are slightly longer than the previous ones, and feature Red's training with Lt. Surge, highlighted by an hilariously badass training montage featuring some sort of weird musical clip. The series then goes one step further with the Celadon Arc, during which the episodes become longer on average^note, while keeping a well-paced and well-edited narration. During said arc, Team Rocket takes a more central stage, Giovanni's backstory is revealed, and there's also the introduction of Leaf.
It Was His Sled: Leaf is part of the story. It was a huge Wham Shot back in Episode 19. However, since Episode 24, she has become one of the main protagonists, alongside Red and Blue, so it's impossible to hide her presence to newcomers.
Memetic Badass:
- Misty, since she has a much stronger team than in any canon and managed to defeat Red, a Memetic Badass in his own right. Some claim that this incarnation of Misty is what anime Misty wants to be.
- The series and its sequel deconstruct this with Red. He has a huge Memetic Badass reputation in-universe... But that's the only thing the simple folk see at Red, which upsets him to the point he exiled himself atop a freezing mountain top.
Signature Scene:
- During the early days of the series, the scene of Raticate's death stood out the most. It's a well-executed and well-paced Mood Whiplash, that took inspiration from one of the most well-known and popular theories of the original games. The scene was also a turning point for the series as a whole, as it marked the beginning of the story Growing the Beard.
- The climactic battle at the Silph Co. between the main characters, helped by Daisy, Bill, and all the honest Gym leaders, and Team Rocket while Giovanni is using Mewtwo is seen as a peak of the series, due to the sheer scope of the fight, its high stakes, and the number of trainers and Pokémon involved.
Unexpected Character:
- Green/Leaf suddenly appears in episode 19, which can be a surprise since the animation is mostly a retelling of the original Red and Blue games.
- Episode 26 has Mew showing up through the Mew Glitch. While his involvement in the story isn't a surprise, the fact that he appears so soon during the story and actually ends up captured by Red certainly is.
- Similarly, the infamous MissingNo. glitch from Cinnabar Island in Episode 36.

YMMV / Pokémon Red (Fanmade)

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