Guardians of Pokémon

Seventeen legendary guardians
possessing powers far beyond comprehension
will soon arise and protect the world from a deadly force...

What if catching them all were a matter of life and death? That’s the theme explored in Mr. Panda’s fanfic “Guardians of Pokemon”, which takes the familiar Pokemon characters and turns them into a sort of Sentai team, as well as adding a bunch of new characters, some of which are related to Ash. The plot seems…odd, to say the least.

Tropes used in Guardians of Pokémon include:
  • A-Cup Angst: Pikachu. In Chapter 128, she laments her "somewhat preteen body" and feels she'll never be able to compete with her more well-developed rivals for Ash's love; less than 10 chapters later, the "preteen" comment is contradicted when she's stated to appear to be 16.
  • All Just a Dream: Chapter 150
  • All Your Powers Combined: Not really all the powers, but Guardians often have to combine their powers to catch dual-type Pokemon. But not always, as Panda reminds us every time a dual-type is caught by a single Guardian and reviews start complaining.
    • Later, they do combine all of their powers for a super attack.
  • Anti-Villain: Bigu. Possibly also the Quirky Miniboss Squad—especially Electra, who knows Bigu's secret and is keeping it. Neriko also shows signs of wanting to join the side of good, but like the other less evil members of the Evil Guardians, her fear of what Guardia would do to her if she betrayed him keeps her in line.
    • Oh yeah. Hikaru definitely qualifies.
    • Even Oki turns out to be fairly noble in Chapter 168.
  • The Archer: Ritchie
  • Arc Fatigue: The "giving up as an April Fool's joke" is used, and the former Trope Namer Are We Still On Namek is referenced:

Brock: If we're lucky, those five minutes will last 10 episodes!

Ash: You know, we really need to stop breaking the fourth wall.

    • Chapter 149:

Derek: Then again, the writer of this movie probably just wanted to keep the story in the U.S. and honestly couldn't come up with a better reason than this.

    • Another Dub-Induced Plot Hole moment occurs when Gary and Green meet up in the tournament and Gary talks about "taking his name back".
  • Can't Catch Up: At first, it looks like the Guardians are going to get their upgrades in the same order that they awakened, as Ash and Misty are the first two to receive their first upgrade. Then Sakura upgrades less than ten episodes after her debut, and Katana, who hadn't even awakened as a Guardian when Ash and Misty got their upgrades, becomes the fourth to upgrade during the first movie. By the time Green finally gets upgraded to stage 2 in the third movie, Ash has already upgraded to stage 3.
  • Capulet Counterpart: Neriko. Misty even references the Trope Namer in Chapter 173.
  • Carry a Big Stick:Gary gets a mace as his weapon.
  • Casanova Wannabe: Brock, as usual, but this time he's joined by Dash, who starts to admire/look up to Brock (not that way) around Chapter 26.
    • Unlike Brock, however, Dash actually has an occasional success—first with Mazie and then later with Neriko.
  • Catgirl: Katana and Katori
  • Chekhov's Gun: Ash's Girl Transform was used twice early in the story and then reappears after a 104 chapter-hiatus. Apparently Girl!Ash looks enough like Mitsumi to fool heartbroken possessed Gary.
  • The Chessmaster: Professor Oak, during the Legendary Dogs arc.
  • Children Are Innocent: Played with in chapter 146.
  • Christmas Episode: The most recent chapter as of April 2010. Only problem is, it was put up for Christmas 2007.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Chapter 130 implies that Butch and Cassidy may not be loyal to Guardia, either.
  • Cliff Hanger: Chapter 130 ends with Ash apparently dead, caught in Tin Tower as it burned to the ground. The following chapter adds more drama as Mitsumi's Spirit Revive doesn't work.
  • Clothing Damage: Chapter 158.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Colonel Trey Nnnn, who gets bleeped 28 times in his lone appearance...11 of them in one paragraph (and 7 in an 8-word span)
  • Combination Attack: Misty, Sakura and Pikachu have a combination attack called Triangle Storm. The circumstances behind it suggest that Gary and Mitsumi might also be able to perform a combination attack.
    • Dash and Chibi manage to unlock one, Grass Quake.
  • Comic Book Time: "You mean how we've been tied up here for almost a year now?"
  • Completely Missing the Point: Mitsumi, all the time.
  • Continuity Nod: Episode 141, "Ekans On A Plane": Tracey is forced to fly the plane, and says, "I have to make you proud, Sky." Ash responds by pulling out a book labeled "110", the number of the chapter in which Tracey ended up in a space shooter.
  • Courtroom Antics: Chapter 148, which ends with Cleavon Schpealbunk bursting in with one last HOLD IT!...and being arrested for bad moviemaking. This also fulfills the requirement that the episode right before a movie is always zany.
  • Crazy Prepared: Chapter 148:

Mitsumi: Actually, I filed for a search warrant to search him before this trial began. Something about the name Joe Bandito just sounded suspicious to me…

  • Crossover: Chapter 75 takes place in the Digital World and heavily parodies the Pokemon-Digimon Fandom Rivalry.
    • The crossovers continue for awhile afterwards. The end of Chapter 75 has them seemingly ending up in the world of Monster Rancher, and Chapter 76 is a "Strongest Shonen Tournament" in which Kai fights Ranma Saotome, Yusuke Urameshi, and Son Goku in succession, and through a series of bizarre events, wins all three bouts without doing anything. Chapter 77 then has them in swordfights with the cast of Rurouni Kenshin, with The Stinger sending them through the well.
      • Chapter 78 starts off in what appears to be a normal world, but they still haven't fixed the Dimensional Transporter so they can't be home just yet. It soon appears that the theme of the chapter is Magical Girl anime...but like Chapter 76, there's more than one. (In fact, Mr. Panda reveals that Cardcaptor Sakura was the other influence he'd mentioned when he said there were two anime besides Pokemon that had influenced the story (the first being Sailor Moon). Of course, he still uses the sub names for the CCS characters, whereas he uses dub names for every other fandom.)
      • Chapter 79...Nope, still not home. And much like the early chapters of that manga (the ones that became "Season 0", they play a game that makes no sense. The Pharaoh wins, and they are sent to a "super-cute" world for the next chapter, and the three anime mentioned in the post-chapter A/N are Di Gi Charat, Excel Saga, and Abenobashi. The preview of Chapter 81 immediately shows that it's not over yet, either, although it would be foolish to think that there would be another chapter with just one.
      • And even once they get their ticket home at the end of Chapter 81...they end up in another anime. After a quick break to end up on the other side of the fourth wall, they get sent to one more dimension in Chapter 84...which also happens to be the second movie. It's another triple.
    • Chapter 125 also brings in the characters from a different Pokemon manga...namely the Shoujo manga Magical Pokemon Journey (PiPiPi).
      • They, and the characters from the second-generation games, return in chapter 129. They were looking for Entei, and Yoshi and Dani were looking for Raikou...which naturally means Eusine would be there, too, looking for Suicune.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: The above All Your Powers Combined attack, which seemingly defeats the Evil Guardians? Yeah, that was just a Hope Spot; Guardia then beats the entire team single-handedly a moment later.
  • Darker and Edgier: The topic as a whole is a bit grittier than the anime (although the biggest difference is that instead of being grounds for getting an episode banned, guns are common here). However, within the confines of the story, the Puzzle University Arc is unusually grim.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Gary
  • Death Is Cheap: Subverted; the Ghost Guardian has the power to revive the dead, but it uses so much energy that she can only use it four times before she becomes too weak to live.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 53 focuses on Kai, as well as setting up his relationship with Recurring Character Kikara.
  • Dead Fic: Hasn't updated since 2007. After 173 Chapters.
  • Deceptive Disciple: Gunpei
  • Did Not Do the Research: Panda admits afterwards that he screwed-up big-time regarding the One Piece portion of the crossover...then says to just regard it as a Plot Hole, since the nature of the Mega Crossover already is reason to suspend your disbelief.
    • Also, calling them the legendary "dogs." (The official term, recognized both by fans and Nintendo, is the Legendary Beasts. Regardless, they look far more feline than canine.)
  • The Ditz: Mitsumi
    • Also Delia Ketchum.
  • Double Entendre: Chapter 73: "Well, excuse me for never being inside someone's body before!"
    • Chapter 84: "Everyone, get on me!"
    • Chapter 97: "That is because my Kakuna have the power to make anything around them hard."
    • Chapter 130: After being paralyzed by Raikou's electric attacks...

Pikachu: I guess you could start by touching me.
Dash: You don't say...
Pikachu: With your mallet...

    • Same chapter, after Todd shrinks Peanut in order to rescue him (putting him in his pocket):

Brock: Where's Peanut?
Todd: Don't worry. He's safe in my pants.
Brock: ...I was talking about the person, Peanut.

Tenchi: I understand you need them in these capsules, but was it necessary to have them strip down to nothing?
Washu: *looks at him for a minute* Yes.

  • Festival Episode: 100th episode special!
  • Foreshadowing: In chapter 44, when the Guardians get put in the dollhouse, Misty is made to be Ritchie's wife. They later end up dating.
    • At the end of Chapter 132, Ritchie says that it was probably a bad idea letting the other Wingull get away. The next chapter, a Pelipper interferes with the soul switching and causes the mass Freaky Friday Flip mentioned below.
  • Four Is Death: As mentioned above, the Ghost Guardian can only revive the dead a total of four times, at which point her life force will be completely drained.
  • Freaky Friday Flip: After the Guardians return from the land of lost souls, Green and Misty get flipped as a result of Green intentionally taking Misty's body in order to get close to Ash. Ash and Ritchie are the only ones who notice.
    • It Gets Worse. The next chapter, in the process of trying to fix the previous switch, they all end up in someone else's body. Naturally, Panda uses this to give the readers a puzzle, trying to figure out who ended up where. He also didn't give the answer key, although most of the correct answers can be found by reading the reviews, though the reviewer in question seems to have made one mistake.
  • Freudian Excuse: Bigu, big-time.
  • Frickin' Laser Beams: Sakura after her second upgrade.
  • Fusion Dance: Latios and Latias become Lati@s (which due to the limitations of fanfiction.net had to be written as Latis; Panda explains the way it should have been in an A/N afterwards—because the @ symbol looks like an a inside an o, you see) in the third movie.
  • Gender Bender: It wouldn't be Pokémon if Ash didn't end up in a dress at least once...except this time it's a true gender swap. Initially involuntary, but subsequently gets added to Ash's list of powers.
  • Gender Blender Name: Hikaru. Misty actually turns the "Tomboy" insult back around at her.
  • Gender Flip: At the time this story was written, Ash's Pikachu's canon gender was unknown, but it has since been confirmed as male. Here, however, it's female...and human, and part of Ash's Unwanted Harem.
  • Genki Girl: Hikaru
  • Genre Savvy: "What kind of court are we running here? Oh… It's probably another parody again…"
  • Gotta Catch Em All
  • The Gunslinger: Oki and Sakura
  • Hand Wave: Panda will occasionally point out a Plot Hole and then do absolutely nothing to try to fix it.
  • Heel Face Turn: Yes, Jessie and James awaken as Guardians and join the twerps. They've always been much more effective at good than at evil in the show, anyway.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: Upon upgrading for a second time, the Guardians' special weapons gain a new form, and most of these are bladed weapons. Ash's upgraded weapon is "Super Psychic Scepter Blade", Misty's is "Super Water Rod Saber", and Pikachu's is "Super Electric Battery Katars"
    • Their opposite numbers among the Evil Guardians have identical weapons. (Well, we haven't actually seen Guardia's yet, but we can assume.)
  • Heroic BSOD: Brock goes through one after falling for the fake Misty and is unable to look at the real Misty for awhile.
  • Heroic Mime: Ash during the RPG portion of the Trapped In Video Game Land scenario and for one episode thereafter.
  • Hero of Another Story:It's increasingly looking like the "Evil" Guardians aren't really evil after all. Also, there are going to be certain moments where the "Evil" Guardians are the ones who will have to capture certain Pokémon.
  • Hey, You: Green calling Todd "bugboy" starts to become a Running Gag after awhile.
    • Actually, Green does this to everyone. Todd is "bugboy", Ritchie is "brown-hair", Dash is "the idiot", Brock is "rockhead", Sakura is "gun girl", James is "antitwerp", Pikachu is "blondie", Tracey is "arty", Chibi is "the kid", Katana is "cat", and of course, Misty is "that stupid tomboy".
  • Hot-Blooded: Falkner
  • How We Got Here: Chapter 146: Disorganized Crime
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Katana and Pikachu both go through this. They get over it eventually.
  • Incredible Shrinking Man: Todd can do this, both to himself and to others.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Dash, being attacked by a wild Poochyena, yells at it, "Out, damned spot!" Who knew he was so cultured?

Ash: Her weapon is a fan?!
Misty: Cool! And let's see. That contributes to our mandatory pun of the day.

    • After meeting Colonel Trey Nnnn:

Green: Nnnn? This is hands-down, the worst pun of a name I have ever heard!

      • Fridge Brilliance: There's actually a second pun in that name, one that might not have even been intended. Think about how his rank is abbreviated.
  • Ineffectual Loner: Who else but Gary?
  • The Ingenue: Mitsumi averts this hard.
  • Innocent Fanservice Girl: Pikachu, in her debut chapter as a human.
  • Intimate Healing: Gary to Mitsumi.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Ritchie, when he realizes that Misty still loves Ash.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gary.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Not surprisingly, this is Katana's weapon.
  • Knife Nut: Pikachu's katars.
    • Electra has them too.
    • Eusine also uses a knife.
  • The Ladette: Green, which makes her constant "Tomboy" insults to Misty all the more ironic. (Note that this is just her personality—unlike the trope description, she dresses and attempts to be feminine—it's just that she's, well, crude, rude and aggressive, not to mention greedy as can be. And doesn't even bother to remember anyone's name other than Ash.)
    • According to the Chapter 136 preview, she also fits the "drinking" aspect, as she was the first to suggest booze. And in the chapter itself, she pretty much forces the liquor on everyone, not to mention challenges Misty to a Drinking Contest.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Frequent, often as references to the anime (or occasionally, other anime).
    • On multiple occasions. When each Guardian goes to make a capture, they yell out "[type] Ball!" When Green, the Dragon guardian, does this, Misty asks, "Isn't that a copyrighted name?"
    • Also, this A/N in chapter 102:

And... let's see... I'll try... to cut down... on... the... ellipses... I'll... try............................

  • Les Yay: Poor Katana...it seems like she really liked Katori...
    • Oh yeah. Most of the Guardians' wishes involved trying to make someone else like them, and based on previous chapters, Katana's unrequited love for Ritchie was one of the more serious cases. Instead, she says she'd use her wish to bring Katori back from the side of evil.
    • Foe Yay: Misty and Green.
  • Literal Split Personality: Gary, after Mitsumi leaves. "Dark Gary" turns out to really be a Sableye.
  • Living with the Villain: Bigu moves in with Mrs. Ketchum because she wants to feel a mother's love for the first time.
  • Loveable Rogue: Green
  • Love At First Sight: Mitsumi and Gary, though we don't find this out right away due to their first chronological meeting being shown in a flashback in Chapter 138.
    • Love At First Punch: Their first meeting, in fact, was one in which neither really got to "see" the other. Blows were exchanged, however, along with philosophies.
    • In Love with the Mark: And when they finally do meet face-to-face, the Evil Guardians have one of Mitsumi's gang hostage and she's being forced to kill Gary so they can get the Viridian Gym back.
  • Love Dodecahedron: The story actually starts with Ash and Misty as a couple, but things get complicated along the way. Misty, Green, and Pikachu are all in love with Ash. Katana is in love with Ritchie, but he only has eyes for Misty. They actually start dating for awhile, but Misty's only doing it to make Ash jealous. Then there's Mitsumi, who initially appears to be another rival for Misty and Green (this was before Pikachu became a human), but that's just a Red Herring and she later ends up with Gary. Meanwhile, Brock and Dash are hitting on everyone, but among their targets is a member of their own group, Sakura, who only has eyes for Tracey. Only problem is, Chibi also wants Tracey... Dash seems like he's finally going to find happiness, as he's got a girl who actually likes him. Only problem is, she's one of the Evil Guardians...Oh, right, and then there was the time after Brock got seduced by the fake Misty where it looked like he started having feelings for Misty, only Misty got confused and thought he and Green were starting to fall for each other, resulting in each one trying to set Brock up with the other for awhile. And the time that Sakura thought that they were all going to die and decided that she might as well do it with Brock since they were the only ones left...only Brock hadn't given up and refused her.
  • Luvdisc Made Them Do It: Chapter 124
  • Magic Wand: Todd and Mitsumi get these.
  • Magnetic Hero: Magnetic Family is more like it. Ash, being The Hero, is naturally prone to be this, but Delia's motherly instincts manage to win over Bigu and even Dash manages to attract Neriko.
  • Make My Monster Grow: Mikuni, the Evil Dragon Guardian, causes trouble this way. The Dragon Guardian also has the ability to make things grow, which runs counter to the Bug Guardian's ability.
  • Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Mitsumi, to Gary. Only she's not so innocent...
  • Meganekko: Mitsumi
  • Me's a Crowd: Katana gets this power eventually, too.
  • Minion Shipping: As of Chapter 154, it looks like Hikaru has a thing for Oki. It's unclear whether or not it's requited, but it seems to be.
  • Moe: Chibi. It's even stated in the bios that as the youngest guardian, "she carries the obligation to be as cute as possible".
    • Mitsumi, too.
  • The Movie: The chapters are set up as "episodes", and occasionally there will be a super-long "movie" chapter, revolving around a legendary Pokémon. Three chapters have taken this format so far (33, 84, and 149).
    • The movies all have some relationship to the plots of the canon movies. The first one features Mew and Mewtwo; the second features the three legendary birds and Lugia, and the third features the Unown...as well as Latios, Latias, and Jirachi, the stars of the fifth and sixth movies.
  • Mushroom Samba: Chapter 154.
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: Butch still can't catch a break.
    • Butch tries to turn it back on James with the "deliberate wrong name" variety...and James is just confused as to who he's talking about.
    • "Morton? You're not even trying to get my name right anymore..."
  • Mysterious Past: It's never even really hinted at that Mitsumi has one until it suddenly comes crashing down on her. Turns out she used to be a gang leader.
  • Mysterious Waif: Both Grass Guardians, Bigu and Chibi. Also Mitsumi.
  • Name's the Same: The Fire Guardian is an OC who shares a name with a recurring minor character from the earlier seasons of the anime. Then again, it's a pretty common name.
  • Nature Adores a Virgin: Subverted; Green talks a big game, but when Misty tries to trick her into agreeing to switch back by using Green's body to commit all sorts of vile and/or immoral acts, she breaks down crying, begging for her body back before Misty "defile[s] it any further" and eventually admits she's a virgin and that she's somewhat envious that Misty and Ash have already done it.
  • No Fourth Wall: Chapter 83, located at the end of the anime crossover arc, is titled "The Fourth Wall", and apparently brings the characters to the other side of it. Except they're a bit confused as to the medium.
    • Doujinshi: They also find some of these, which suggests they aren't quite in the real world as Panda was still expressing amazement at getting any sort of fanart at all.
    • Your Costume Needs Work: Misty unexpectedly wins a "Best Misty Impersonator" contest. Dash, anxious to win something, tries to win a "Best Dash" contest...and loses.
  • Nosebleed: Many end up getting this. Including a Pokémon. Okay, not really.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: It seems this is the case for Delia, though to what extent is unknown.
    • Possibly Mitsumi as well.
      • Okay, definitely Mitsumi.
  • Oblivious to Love: James.
  • Older Alter Ego: Chibi, after awakening as the Grass Guardian.
    • Also Pikachu's "Thunderstone Evolution" technique temporarily gives her a mature "Raichu" form...but when it's used up, she reverts to a "Pichu" form that's even younger-looking than Chibi.
  • One Fic Author: Mr. Panda.
  • One Steve Limit: Maintained as long as they're in their own world...but when they get into the string of crossovers, all bets are off.
  • The Only One Allowed to Insult You: Green gets mad at Hikaru for using the exact same insults that she normally uses towards Misty.
  • Operation: Jealousy: Misty repeatedly does this to Ash—first with Yoshi (the player character from Gold/Silver/Crystal), then with "Data" (the Cloud Strife-Expy they meet in the video game world who turns out to be the final boss), and then with Ritchie.
  • Orphaned Series: Though clocking in at an impressive 173 chapters, it's still far from over and hasn't been updated since December 2007.
  • Out of Focus: The Pokémon themselves. The Guardians use their own powers to battle and capture the Pokémon, so there are no true Pokémon battles.
    • Todd often laments being this, even though some of the others actually get a lot less screen time. (Particularly Kai.)
    • Jupei and Ki seem to either get left behind or go completely unnoticed until they have a line, at which point someone will say, "You're still here?"
  • Paper Fan of Doom: Jessie's weapon
  • Petal Power: One of Chibi's primary attacks.
  • Please Put Some Clothes On: Said verbatim by Ash to Green in Chapter 140.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: Dash
  • Poisonous Friend Katori, the Evil Normal Guardian. Needless to say, Katana feels betrayed.
    • Gunpei fits the trope description as well, being the ruthless former pupil of the idealistic Kai.
  • The Pollyanna: Mitsumi
    • The "eternally cheerful" character is also briefly sent up in Chapter 98 in the form of Blissey.
  • Power Fist: James gets a pair of gauntlets for his upgrade.
  • Power Incontinence: A bout of hay fever causes everyone's powers to go haywire in Chapter 88.
  • Precocious Crush: Chibi has one for Tracey.
  • Psycho Rangers: The Evil Guardians
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: Hikaru, Oki, and Electra
  • Reformed but Rejected: When Jessie and James awaken as Guardians, most of the other Guardians accept them immediately...but Misty is initially highly suspicious. And is mostly yelled at for it. (To be fair, everything she suspected Jessie and James would try to do, Meowth actually wanted to do. He never did a Heel Face Turn. Well, later he stopped being evil and just went along with them, because they're a team, and they stick together. Then he got Put on a Bus.)
  • Relationship Upgrade: The Festival Episode brings plenty of the typical romantic legends...but surprisingly, the upgrade takes place elsewhere. Namely, Mitsumi gets sick, and Gary is the only one that notices that she's fallen behind. He takes care of her...which eventually leads to taking care of her and then quickly (with the help of the lights suddenly going out) to really taking care of her. And yet...

Gary: About what happened...none of it leaves this Pokemon Center.
Mitsumi: *nods* None of it.

Hikaru: *to Misty* Now you'll learn why I'm the Water Guardian, and you're just a stupid tomboy... *gets smashed by Green's Dragon Slam* Hey! What's the deal?!
Green: Heh! Only her true rival can call her a stupid tomboy!

  • Rouge Angles of Satin: In Chapter 114, "shirt" was accidentally rendered as "shit" at one point. Though Panda corrected this when it was pointed out to him, he engaged in a bit of self-parody by intentionally using "shirt" as an Unusual Euphemism for "shit" in the following chapter.
  • Saying Too Much: Sayer Blight finally slips up when he tries to hypnotize Ash...and accidentally makes him mention Jupei and Ki, who had been left behind again. He then gasps: "Oh no! Where are those little fuzzballs…" and is immediately caught by Gary, who deduces that Blight is really the creature that took over his dark side, Sableye.
  • Schedule Slip: Panda promises that the third official character art will be coming soon at the end of Chapter 87. The story has nearly doubled in length, but there are still only two official character arts...and it's been over two years since the last chapter came out, at that. And judging by the review dates, he was still updating multiple times a week at the time (only four months from the date that it was started.) Which puts this at over half a decade.
    • It appears that the schedule slip began somewhere around chapter 120.
  • The Scrappy: Dash is treated like one in-universe, which Mr. Panda says is to make him loved by the fans. For the more conventional scrappy, we have one of the show's scrappies, Ritchie.
  • Sdrawkcab Name: Nipul, in the anime crossover arc.
    • Spell My Name with an "S": Somewhere in between his arrival and his true identity being revealed, his alias changes to Nupil.
  • Sentai: Probably the best description of what the Guardians are.
    • Mr. Panda actually addresses this in the A/N after chapter 13, though he states that he never actually watched Power Rangers and the transforming aspect was more inspired by Sailor Moon.
  • Separated at Birth: Ash and Dash
  • Shout-Out: Chapter 91 turns into a Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner cartoon.
  • Showing Off the New Body: Variation; it's not another person's body being flaunted, but a more mature version of her own.
  • Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids: Green apparently wanted to be a superhero as a kid, before being broken and turned into the grumpy Jerkass we're all used to. Well, this is heavily implied, anyway.
  • Simple Staff: Ash's scepter; Misty's rod
  • Soap Opera Disease: Dragon's Rage
  • Something About a Rose: Chibi's weapon.
  • Something They Would Never Say: Green catches on that the Misty they're seeing is a fake when she quickly and casually gives the correct answer when Green asks "What is my name?"
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: Dash and Neriko
  • Stepford Smiler: Mitsumi, as a result of Mako's death.
  • The Stoic: Kai. On the villains' side, Oki.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: In response to a review:

Mr. Panda: Time Travel, eh? I don't think I've ever hinted at that... *looks back several chapters specifically to chapter 85* Oh wait. I hope I'm not being suspicious. *shifts eyes*

  • Symbol Swearing: Col. Nnnn
  • Taken for Granite: Everyone except Brock in Chapter 135.
  • That Was Objectionable: Being a parody of the already over-the-top Ace Attorney series, it was bound to happen eventually in Chapter 148. Mitsumi objects to the entire trial when Blight goes too far over the top trying to frame Gary for some sort of crime.
  • Theme Naming: The M Gang: Mitsumi, Mirei, Miki, Mic, Mike, and Mako
  • Token Mini-Moe: Chibi
    • Later joined by Pikachu...maybe. Her debut suggests that she's old enough to titillate the likes of Dash and Brock, but in chapter 128, she laments her "somewhat preteen body" and feels she won't be able to compete with the more-developed Green (and only a few chapters later, the Freaky Friday Flip happens and Misty remarks that Green is slightly flatter than she is, so...). Her Pichu form goes beyond this, as she becomes a baby, although it doesn't last long.
      • Chapter 136 contradicts this, as when they try to figure out her age, Sakura says she looks to be about 16. Guess she's just flat.
  • Tragic Villain: Any member of the Evil Guardians that wants to repent but is afraid to go against Guardia probably counts, but Bigu is a particularly notable example due to spending much of the second half of the story not committing any evil acts and hoping that Guardia won't notice that she's forsaken her Evil Guardian duties in order to live a quiet life in Pallet Town with Mrs. Ketchum. Essentially, she's a more prolonged version of Molly from the third movie. Also Neriko, after she falls in love with Dash.
    • Unfortunately for Bigu, Guardia is the Psychic Evil Guardian—naturally he knows the truth.
  • Trapped In Video Game Land: The end of chapter 106 has the Guardians sucked into a video game world as a result of Butch and Cassidy's machine. In order, we see Dash and Brock in a Platformer (specifically, a Super Mario Bros parody), Sakura in a shooter (one with online multiplayer, at that), Chibi in a Rhythm Game, Tracey in a Shoot'Em Up (multiple lines from Zero Wing appear, as does "Do a barrel roll!"), Todd in a sort of combined stealth/logic puzzle game, Ritchie and Katana in a Dating Sim (Ritchie's the protagonist, and all of the female Guardians are "present", but Katana's the only one that's from the real world), Kai in (what else?) a Fighting Game (mostly parodying Street Fighter, with fighters named Kyu and Ren and a move called the Ripoffdouken, but it ends with "FINISH HIM!"), Jessie and Butch in a GTA-Expy, James and the mascots and Cassidy in an obvious Ocarina of Time-Expy, Pikachu in...some bizarre Sonic the Hedgehog/VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry/kart racing/pinball mash-up that was also an Escort Mission, Gary and Mitsumi in a Survival Horror game, and finally everyone in an RPG (with Ash as the Heroic Mime—Misty and Green, the only other two that hadn't already been in a game, were in his party, while the others all ended up together somewhere else). The RPG takes four chapters; the others all take one. (The last chapter of the RPG also features Jigglypuff as Kirby.)
  • Truman Show Plot: Chapter 149, an Amazing Race parody.
  • Try Not to Die: Chapter 129:

Ash: Okay, guys. I appreciate you coming with me, but promise me one thing. Don't die on me.
Green: Only if you do the same.

Ayumi: Shh... I like a man who likes to control the fears of others.

  • Unstoppable Rage: Green's Dragon's Rage ability is powered by anger, so when Misty stops fighting with her, she loses her ability to transform.
  • Unwanted Harem: Ash starts to develop one.
  • Verbal Tic: Katana, meow.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Ash's gender bending, Chibi's age-changing, Pikachu's "evolution" technique. Katana's Metamorphosis Transform changes the shape of other people.
    • Like all three of the above examples, Green's Dragon's Rage was also an involuntary transformation the first time.
  • Weasel Mascot: Jupei and Ki
  • Wham! Episode: Two in short succession: Chapters 91 and 93. The first has the Guardians chasing a super-charged Natu across the desert west of Pallet Town which Electra set up in order to get them out of the way so that Bigu could move in with Delia, which only ends when Raikou shocks it and they realize that they've chased it all the way to Violet City. The latter takes place at Sprout Tower and features a mysterious man trying to use one of the Clear Bells to summon a Legendary Dog, and also ends with Chibi apparently regrowing the moving pillar that holds up the tower after the Bellsprout inside was revealed and captured--a mysterious ability that only Tracey seemed to notice. Together, they launch an arc that would take over 50 chapters to completely resolve.
    • Episodes 129 and 130 provide The Climax of said arc, and the latter qualifies as another Wham! Episode as it ends with Ash trapped inside Tin Tower as it burns to the ground.
    • Chapter 136 looks like it's just going to be a light-hearted, "everybody gets drunk" chapter, which it is...up until the end. The wham doesn't let up for three whole chapters.
  • Whip It Good: Chibi after her second upgrade.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: "I do not understand your logic. Wouldn't it be more sensible to just kill the Guardians and leave the dogs easy prey for ourselves?" Note that Oki is not responding to the use of an overly convoluted method of killing them, but rather to Electra's plan to let the Guardians lead them to the Legendary Dogs.
  • Wooden Katanas Are Even Better: Kai's weapon.
  • A Worldwide Punomenon: Guess which Pokémon they catch when they end up on the other side of the fourth wall. Mr. Spinda.
  • Worthy Opponent: Chapter 168. Hikaru, Electra and Oki aren't planning to uphold their deal with Lawrence III, expecting him to betray them, but nevertheless go along with him so they can get a rematch with their opposite numbers in the Guardians.
  • You Don't Want to Die a Virgin, Do You?: When everyone else has been turned to stone, Sakura gives up all hope that they're going to survive and relents to Brock's advances...and Brock refuses her, saying that they still have a chance to survive.
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