A Pokémon comic series by Duckyworth
. It follows the Pokémon of a young man named Callum, and the adventures that they have. However, they have to keep their eyes open for a band of murderous ghost types known as the Buster Ghosts, whose mission is to free their master, Dante the Spiritomb, from his interdimensional prison. Even non-ghost employees of them pose a threat.
Callum's team also faces many dangers from other sources, and they must stick together to prevent the uprising of Dante and his Buster Ghosts.
Doesn't mean they're all serious. Things tend to get wacky from time to time.
The series has a unique art style, and is notable for giving Pokémon human-like societies alongside humans.
This webcomic contains examples of:
- Absurdly Bright Light: Sunlight the Volcarona's Dramatic Entrance into the International Bug Council. When he sees that everyone is Blinded by the Light, he offers to stop doing it.
- Almost Kiss: Kindle and Feng were about to kiss once, but then Dynamique ruined the moment by interrupting.
- Awesome Aussie: Villainous example in Ned the Scrafty. It's a bit downplayed compared to most of the other villains, though.
- Badass Adorable: Fluffles, Cerise, Birthday, Lumine, Pistachio, Sassy, Buggins, and a couple others.
- Beat: The International Bug Council when Droplet's opinion on the validity of Regent's right to the throne is nothing more than a frightened rant on his species, calling them "Dante Incarnate."
- Big Damn Heroes: Several members of Callum's team arrive to help Zap and Fluffles with some Zangeese at the end of "Path to Parenthood."
- Happens again in "Fighting Spirits."
- Tide, Bill's mother, pulls this off in "Welcome Home."
- The Big Damn Kiss: Feng-Shui plants one on Kindle at the end of "Burning Up for You".
- Between Dracula and Lucy at the end of "Creatures of the Night."
- Big "NO!": Pyro when he lands a date with a... Probopass.
- Vladimir when he's left in a collapsing cave, having been defeated by Kindle and Tyson.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: Calymene was only using Regent to bring the International Bug Council to its knees, and was about to reap his soul to send to Dante, had Honey and friends not stepped in.
- Exploration Team Alpha.
- Burning with Anger: An angry Kindle is a force to be reckoned with. Tyson learned that the hard way.
- Call-Back: The berry balm that Zap and Fluffles used in "Path to Parenthood" appears again in "The New Generation."
- Casanova Wannabe: Pyro the Charizard.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The little Wingull in "A Whale of a Problem." Turns out he's Bill's little brother Winston.
- Cigar Chomper: Gash the Zangoose.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Plumage. According to Dynamique, she's been trying to track down a pickle-shaped cloud.
- Cool Old Lady: In Pokémon years, Scratch could be considered 'old,' but she likes to live on the wild side. She's a member of the Mud Bombers (other members are Dynamique, Pingu, and Sago).
- Creepy Twins: The Frillish Twins that Vladimir has employed.
- Dark Is Evil: The Buster Ghosts.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Dracula's clan. As it turns out, vampires are loyal followers of Arceus, even when Dante had placed the vampire curse on them!
- Defeat by Modesty: Ned stops fighting when his pants ripped off]] in "The New Generation."
- The Dog Bites Back: Non-lethal example where Feng, once free from the control of a 'Soul Controller,' she proceeds to Drain Punch Ned, and follows up with a Groin Attack.
- Dramatic Entrance: Sunlight the Volcarona uses Sunny Day to announce his arrival in the International Bug Council. Everybody in the room covers their eyes because the light is so bright.
- Driven by Envy: Kindle was once resentful of Tyson beating him in a sparring match. Thankfully, it was temporary, especially after they meet the Buster Ghosts.
- The Dreaded Toilet Duty: In "Poke Doodles Villains 3" Musk is offended when he gets the job of scrubbing the toilet... again.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Kindle and his father, Volc, are shocked to learn that Balthsar is the leader of The Forty Thieves.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Despite how massively embarrassing his mother is, Vladimir does love her.
- Evil Poacher: Ned the Scrafty. Yes, a Pokémon is a poacher...
- Femme Fatale: Subverted by Feng-Shui. While she did work for Ned, she was forced into it with a threat to pilfer her soul with a device attuned to it. She doesn't like it one bit, especially after meeting and falling in love with Kindle.
- First Kiss: Most of the couples probably had theirs offscreen (though it's ambiguous with Dracula and Lucy's kiss in "Creatures of the Night"). The most certain first kiss onscreen is between Kindle and Feng.
- Flat Scare: Regent does this to poor Droplet, who is terrified of his species.
- Flat "What": Splash (who is a Seaking, a FISH Pokémon) says this when told that Callum, Kindle, and Kerny are fishing. Sassy attempts to quell any anger from him by telling him it's 'catch and release' fishing.
- Genki Girl: Plumage the Pidgeot.
- Gentleman Adventurer: Bill.
- Good Parents: Zap and Fluffles, Aqua and Bayou, Kindle and Feng, and all the characters' parents.
- Even Vlad's mother, Velma, in her own twisted way...
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Feng-Shui the Mienshao is purple!
- Green Thumb: Bulb(Venusaur), Kerny(Sunflora), Cerise(Cherrim), and Mulch(Serperior).
- Groin Attack: Feng-Shui does this to Ned after she has had enough of his crap.
- And Moby the Wailord later nails him in that same spot with his waterspout!
- Happily Adopted: Bill was adopted by Callum after the trainer rescued his egg from Frostbite and Arkose.
- Feng was adopted by a Audino named Pinkie following the Mienshao/Mienfoo massacre.
- Happily Married: Zap and Fluffles, Aqua and Bayou, and Kindle and Feng-Shui.
- Held Gaze: Between couples.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Paranorm and Voodoo.
- An Ice Person: Pistachio the Vanilluxe(hero) and Frostbite the Weavile(villain).
- I Have No Son!: This is basically Lucy's parents reaction to seeing their daughter as a vampire. They later accept that vampires are not really evil, and that Lucy is Dracula's bride.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Musk the Skuntank. After he evolved from a Stunky, his main job assigned by Vladimir revolved around dealing with menial chores such as mopping up floors in Vladimir's lair. When he does get a real job, such as poisoning swimming water in "A Whale Of A Problem" he ends up failing in stupid ways.
- Inevitable Waterfall: Frostbite and Arkose fall down one at the end of "Welcome Home."
- The Forty Thieves (sans Balthasar and Nazeem) run into police this way.
- Interspecies Romance: Most of the official couples.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pyro. He may be a cranky, perverted Charizard, but when it comes down to it, he does really care for his teammates.
- Killed Off for Real: Balthasar the Alakazam.
- The Klutz: Hydro the Samurott.
- The Lad-ette: Dynamique.
- To a lesser extent, Sago the Seismitoad.
- Kindle's daughter, Tinder, may grow up to be one of these.
- Audrey the Mawile of Exploration Team Alpha.
- The Leader: Kindle the Typhlosion.
- Love at First Sight: Kindle when he first meets Feng-Shui the Mienshao.
- Mulch when he meets Bulb... although it was a bit awkward at the time, given their ages, but it worked out when Mulch was fully evolved.
- Love Triangle: Droplet the Masquerian and Honey the Vespiqueen fight over Buggins the Butterfree.
- Making a Splash: Aqua(Blastoise), Bayou(Swampert), Splash(Seaking), Pingu(Empoleon), Sago(Seismitoad), Bill(Pelipper), and Hydro(Samurott).
- Man Behind the Man: While Regent was planning to usurp the throne, it was Calymene who manipulated him into doing so. Honey helped Regent see the truth, and now the Dustox is seeking to be a better Pokémon by being an apprentice to the Royal Vizier.
- Man Bites Man: Scratch's teeth are sharp—sharp enough to chew through iron bars! Anybody on the receiving end of a bite from her is in for a world of pain...
- Including herself.
- May–December Romance: Bulb (who is the oldest) and Mulch (one of the youngest).
- Aqua (who's about as old as Bulb), and Bayou (somewhere in the middle age-wise of Callum's Pokémon).
- Kindle (Sixth eldest), and Feng-Shui (a few months old in her first appearance; her village was Ned's second assignment, after the events of "The New Generation," and she was a baby Mienfoo at the time).
- Mean Boss: Vladimir is not very nice.
- The Medic: Honey.
- Moment Killer: Agh! Kindle and Feng were going to kiss! Great timing, Dynamique.
- Ms. Fanservice: Sassy. Figures, since she's a Lopunny.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Callum's signature fishing rod cast.
- Never Mess with Granny: Bulb may be the oldest of Callum's Pokémon, but she's no less skilled than her younger teammates.
- Not a Morning Person: Dracula and Lucy. Justified in that they're vampires
- Official Couple: Of the heroes, we have Zap and Fluffles, Aqua and Bayou, Kindle and Feng, Tyson and Sassy, Birthday and Cerise, Bolt and Dynamique, Psyches and Plumage, Dracula and Lucy, Bulb and Mulch, and Pingu and Sago.
- From the baddies, there's Gash and Frostbite, and Calymene and Apparatia.
- Opposites Attract: Psyches the genius Xatu and Plumage the hyperactive Pidgeot.
- Oral Fixation: Gash and Frostbite smoke.
- Hydro is often seen with a piece of straw in his mouth.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Dracula the Crobat and Lucy the Swoobat. Instead of turning someone into a vampire with one bite, the transformation involves a ritual, which is shown via flashback in "Creatures of the Night." They suffer from bloodlust from time to time, and when they're angry, it's best to stay out of their way. However, they're among the heroes.
- Panicky Expectant Father: Zap, down to the point where he's a little overprotective of his wife Fluffles. He gets better once the little ones are born.
- Parental Abandonment: Several of the characters.
- Bill was the only surviving egg of his parents (the others were eaten by Frostbite), and when he hatched, he had already been separated from his mother and in Callum's hands. Luckily, he later got to meet his mother, and he's not an only child anymore!
- When he was a Cyndaquil, Kindle was separated from his parents when a landslide struck. Turns out it was the fault of Kindle's father's old friend Balthasar the Alakazam, who was bitter about being replaced in his eyes. Kindle and his parents eventually reunited.
- This is the practice of Tyson's pack. Doesn't mean his parents don't love him; it's just a method of making a newborn stronger.
- Feng-Shui is the lone survivor of a massacre carried out on her village by Vladimir, Paranorm, Voodoo, and Ned.
- Playing with Fire: Kindle(Typhlosion), Pyro(Charizard), and Lumine(Chandelure).
- Post-Kiss Catatonia: This happens to Kindle when he has his first kiss with Feng-Shui. Even funnier is when Dynamique taps him... and he faints.
- Pregnant Badass: Fluffles the Linoone in her first appearance. Though she doesn't do much, she proves she can defend herself by hitting Gash with a frickin' Hyper Beam!
- A member of the Forty Thieves doesn't scare the heavily-pregnant Flare (Kindle's mother).
- Pregnant Hostage: Fluffles is kidnapped by a band of Zangeese led by Gash.
- Quintessential British Gentleman: Bill the Pelipper.
- Raised Lighter Tribute: Done by Bayou at the Mud Bomber's concert in "Burning Up For You."
- Red Herring: In-universe, at first, it was thought that Volc and Flare's neighbor, Brine the Feraligatr and his wife, was responsible for the landslide that made them lose Kindle. However, readers were savvy enough to know that it was NOT Brine, and another clue that it wasn't him was the fact that his son, Torrent, was caught in the landslide as well.
- The Resenter: Pyro resents being overshadowed by the younger Pokémon. It's Played for Drama in two cases: the first, in "Fighting Spirits", where he tells an upset Kindle that it's his turn to be overshadowed, causing Kindle to start resent Tyson (temporarily), and the second, in "Like Father, Like Son," he's manipulated by Balthasar into thinking that he's been pushed aside for Kindle to catch up with his father—and Pyro nearly abandons them! Had Feng-Shui not talked him out of it, the team would have been dead.
- But, on the funnier side of things, Pyro also resents not having a girlfriend, like some of the other male members; even worse, a few of his teammates are already parents!
- Balthasar, who resents being 'pushed into the background and ignored' by younger members of Exploration Team Alpha. He fails to realize that bottling up his emotions and going solitary made the others unaware of his feelings.
- The Runaway: Honey. She ran away because she was forbidden to explore the outside world, and being a young Combee, believed that it was just her parents being mean when they were being (admittedly over)protective parents.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Dante the Spiritomb.
- Leviathan the Hydreigon.
- Sealed Good in a Can: Archangel the Haxorus.
- Shipper on Deck: In the background of one of the panels of page 8 of "Burning Up For You," you can see Dynamique nudging Scratch, and Plumage making an 'aww' face at Kindle and Feng.
- Shock and Awe: Zap(Luxray), Bolt(Manetric), and Dynamique(Raichu).
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Zap and Fluffles' kids: The hyperactive, mischievous Shinx Watt, and his much more mild Zigzagoon sisters Zig and Zag.
- Kindle and Feng's kids: The tough little tomboy Tinder and her much calmer brother Jian.
- Possibly the most extreme example of this trope in the entire series would have to be the sadistic, evil-from-birth Leviathan and the pure-hearted Archangel.
- Silver Fox: Kindle's mother, Flare, is already a grandmother, and yet, she's attractive enough to attract Pyro! He wisely backs off once he learns who she is, though.
- Smelly Skunk: Musk's natural stench became too disgusting for Vladimir after he evolved from a Stunky into a Skuntank. To keep his other henchmen from being disgusted, Vladimir relegated him to doing menial chores such as mopping up floors in his lair.
- Sole Survivor: Bill's egg was the only one that didn't get smashed by Frostbite and Arkose.
- Feng-Shui, the sole survivor of the Mienshao massacre caused by Vladimir, Paranorm, Voodoo, and Ned.
- Succession Crisis: While Honey's parents haven't died yet, there was still the dispute of who is the heir of the International Bug Council after Honey ran away. Regent the Dustox had been voted the new heir, and Honey had to work to prove herself the rightful heir. After learning about the behind-the-scenes work of Calymene and kicking him out, Regent relinquishes his right to the throne to Honey, after realizing that she's more worthy for leadership of the Big Council.
- Taken for Granite: Well, techinically, Balthasar turned into gold a la Sa'luk.
- Technical Pacifist: Kerny the Sunflora. She's basically a G-Rated hippie.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Kindle just loves curry and Razz Berries.
- The Voiceless: Psyches. Without his circlet, he can't communicate.
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Hydro said this in the beginning of "A Whale of a Problem." That's Tempting Fate right there.
- And Scratch calls him out for it later.
- Whole Episode Flashback: "The New Generation."
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Droplet is not thrilled when Regent the Dustox is voted the new heir of the International Bug Council. She's terrified of the fella's species.
- With Catlike Tread: Kindle once tried to temporarily sneak away from his friends' concert to meet with Feng-Shui but Plumage popped up in front of him and blew his cover.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Buster Ghosts and their employees Gash, Frostbite, and Ned.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Fluffles.
- Feng-Shui has shades of this as well.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: It's hinted that whoever Frostbite has hired for an accomplice usually ends up dead by the time the deed is done. The only employee to have survived is Arkose the Aerodactyl.
- Gash outright stated that he left his brothers in a Zubat-filled cave.
- You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: Dracula. When he's angry enough, his vampiric instincts kick in, he goes downright BERSERK.
- Though not as often, the same thing happens to Lucy when she's angry enough.
