Pokémon (anime)/Characters/Original Series

All Of Them:

 * Ambiguous Gender: Since certain mechanics hadn't been introduced yet (and Attract wasn't even used until Diamond and Pearl) viewers needed to rely on hinting to determine the genders of most of Ash's Pokémon. Of all of them, Butterfree, Charizard and Totodile are all-but-stated to be male & Bayleef has a crush on Ash, though some of the others at least seem pretty obvious.
 * Back for the Finale: Twice, with Battle Frontier's "Gathering The Gang of Four" (marking the first time Ash's original team comes back together) and the second time in "An Old Family Blend", Ash calling upon his reserves back in Oak's lab (a welcome change because of Ash's standards during the last tournament, in Hoenn ).
 * Badass Adorable/Ridiculously Cute Critter: Majority of his un-evolved Pokémon. Some remain cute even after evolution (Bayleef and Quilava, we're looking at you).
 * Badass Crew
 * Berserk Button: Pretty much goes for ANY of Ash's Pokémon. Attack Ash directly and his Pokémon will beat the crap out of you (unless you have more powerful Pokémon for protection, of course). But Charizard and Pikachu are the ones you should really fear.
 * The Cameo: All of them appearing in Spurt!, most notably the enormous Team Shot at the beginning.
 * Deus Exit Machina: One way to Hand Wave Ash's tendency to leave his mons behind, but The Original Series was the worst about it. None of the Mons released during the Kanto saga have returned (to this day), and Johto was when Ash sent away the Kanto starters for various reasons (granted, they've all returned multiple times for big battles).
 * Eleventh-Hour Ranger: Any of the many Pokémon - owned by Ash - which he uses during his League tornaments which he didn't frequently keep on his team travelling the present region. May overlap with Old Master, etc.
 * Five-Man Band: The main mons within each region, generally. It changes depending on the personality and dynamics during each story arc (see below).
 * Reset Button: His party reverts to just Pikachu in every season since Hoenn, thanks in no small part to the Merchandise-Driven nature of the series.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Any and all of his Pokémon that evolved.
 * True Companions

Kanto Region

 * Book Ends: See below.
 * Five-Man Band:
 * The Hero - Pikachu
 * The Lancer - Caterpie/Metapod/Butterfree -> Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard
 * The Smart Guy - Bulbasaur
 * The Big Guy - Squirtle
 * The Chick - Pidgeotto/Pidgeot
 * Sixth Rangers - Krabby/Kingler & Muk
 * Non-Action Guy - Tauros
 * Guest Star Party Members - Haunter & Primeape
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: The original main four, from Seasons 1-3 (brought back together in late Season 9) - Pikachu is Choleric, Bulbasaur was Melancholic, Squirtle was Sanguine, and Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard was Phlegmatic.
 * Freudian Trio: During episodes 3-9
 * The Kirk: Pikachu
 * The McCoy: Butterfree
 * The Spock: Pidgeotto
 * The three Starters played out like this:
 * The Kirk: Charmander
 * The McCoy: Squirtle
 * The Spock: Bulbasaur
 * Put on a Bus: The 1st season exemplified this trope. It still happens later, but nowhere near as often.
 * Spotlight-Stealing Squad: The Kanto starters were bad at this, but especially during the Silver Conference arc. Since this was a good way to tie up Book Ends, though, hardly anyone complains about this.

Caterpie-Metapod-Butterfree (Caterpie-Trancell-Butterfree)

 * All Webbed Up: Knows String Shot.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Primary type.
 * Blow You Away: Knows Whirlwind.
 * Bus Crash: Ever since Butterfree's departure, rumors have sprung up that Butterfree die after mating. Since his last appearance was flying off to go mate with a pink Butterfree, many people believe this was his eventual fate.
 * Dogged Nice Guy: And, fortunately, he gets his mate in the end.
 * Flight: Butterfree
 * Iconic Item: The yellow scarf given to him by Brock. Given a slight Call Back when Jessie's Dustox started wearing something similar (yellow ribbons).
 * I Just Want to Be Badass: As a Caterpie, he explicitly expresses his desire to evolve pretty soon.
 * Nice Guy
 * The Power of Love: What motivates him to soundly defeat Team Rocket in his last appearance.
 * Pretty Butterfly
 * Standard Status Effects: The few times Butterfree has been used in battle (notably in the Cerulean Gym battle), he prefers to use this kind of tactic.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Butterfree's secondary type.

Pidgeotto-Pidgeot (Pigeon-Pigeot)

 * Big Badass Bird of Prey
 * Blow You Away: Knows Whirlwind and Gust.
 * A Day in the Limelight: Only ever got one real Spotlight Episode, and it was the episode that it ended up getting Put on a Bus.
 * Flight
 * Razor Wings: Knows Wing Attack.
 * Non-Elemental: Primary type.
 * Out of Focus: Despite being one of the first Pokemon Ash caught, Pidgeotto's role in the series got greatly reduced the moment Ash caught the three Kanto Starters.
 * Super Speed: As Pidgeot, living up to its Pokédex entry.
 * Undying Loyalty: Brock once stated that Pidgeotto would do anything for Ash, and from what characterisation we got to see, it shows. Unfortunately, it also became a case of...
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: The most egregious case. Why couldn't the writers pass even just a simple cameo whenever, y'know, Ash drops by Pallet Town, which is very close to Pidgeot's turf? Especially when Ash promised to come back for it after the Orange Islands saga?
 * He mentions to Falkner that he hopes to see it again, which implies that he hasn't forgotten and that maybe the flock has migrated for the seasonal changes? ...Even so, it wouldn't hurt to have a Call Back to Pidgeot - the Battle Frontier is an especially wasted opportunity, since Ash got back all the rest of his original team except Pidgeot and Butterfree when he went to battle Brandon in a 4-on-4 (surely it could've been a 5-on-5?)
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Secondary type.

Bulbasaur (Fushigidane)

 * Badass: Nearly as badass as Charizard in this department.
 * Badass Adorable: And just like Pikachu, he rejected the notion the evolving.
 * Badass Pacifist: Has been sent to Professor Oak's lab to take care of feuding Grass and Water Pokémon.
 * Big Brother Instinct: The unofficial protector of the "Hidden Village", a haven for abandoned Pokémon.
 * Blow You Away: Knows Whirlwind.
 * Broken Pokémon: Prior to joining Ash.
 * Determinator
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Knows Dig.
 * Green Thumb: Primary type.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Squirtle.
 * Not Allowed To Evolve: Kind of a subversion, as Bulbasaur doesn't WANT to evolve.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Secondary type.
 * The Power of the Sun: Knows Solarbeam.
 * Team Dad: For the Pokémon at Professor Oak's lab.
 * Whip It Good: Knows Vine Whip.

Charmander-Charmeleon-Charizard (Hitokage-Lizardo-Lizardon)

 * Achilles in His Tent: Charizard is especially guilty of this, prior to Character Development. See Deus Exit Machina below.
 * All Animals Are Dogs: For some reason, Charizard displayed dog-like traits, at least twice.
 * Androcles' Lion: Twice over: once as Charmander, and again as Charizard.
 * Badass: Top prize for being the first and most straight-up badass in Ash's team.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Knows Submission and Seismic Toss.
 * Barehanded Blade Block: Charizard blocking two Steel Wings from a LEGENDARY Pokémon, all while he's already battered and nearly beaten. What's that old saying again? A picture's worth a thousand words, right?
 * Berserk Button: Don't mock The Power of Friendship in front of him.
 * The Berserker
 * Bodyguard Crush: The next time he appeared after being Put on a Bus, Charizard has wooed the same female Charizard that oh-so-easily curbstomped him before, and is now her bodyguard; the relationship is even explicitly stated as thus.
 * Break the Haughty: In "Charizard's Burning Ambition".
 * Brilliant but Lazy: Pretty much defines Charizard, who sleeps when the fight isn't interesting enough, but can easily kick some asses. He got better.
 * Broken Pedestal: Charmander could very well be one of Pokémon's earliest examples of Undying Loyalty...until Ash and friends finally convince him how much of a douche his original trainer really is.
 * Bruiser with a Soft Center: After Character Development. Do NOT fuck with Ash or the rest of the team around him. He will fucking end you.
 * Death Glare: Knows Leer.
 * Death or Glory Attack: Knows Overheat.
 * Determinator: "Charizard Chills" is basically an entire episode of him being this trope.
 * Deus Exit Machina: In the early seasons, lest we forget. It did make the big guy's actual battles stand out, of course.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Beating the pulp out of Noland's Articuno.
 * The Ditz: As a Charmander.
 * Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: In the first movie, towards Mewtwo.
 * Evolving Attack: Seismic Toss starts off with a over-the-shoulder throw, then a traditional Type B Meteor Move, before finally settling for the Spinning Piledriver.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Knows Steel Wing.
 * Finishing Move: Whenever Charizard comes into play, you can always expect him to deliver Seismic Toss to finish off his opponents.
 * Flight: Charizard
 * Flip-Flop of God: the source of the debating controversy regarding his species' (specifically, their tail flames) tolerance to water.
 * Fountain of Expies: And how: Sceptile, Infernape, Mamoswine for Charizard, thus far. Any and all Fire-type starters owned by Ash (except Cyndaquil, but the other Trainer who wanted it didn't seem too kind) will have Charizard's basic abusive former trainer origin.
 * Hidden in Plain Sight: in one Filler episode, Ash asks his Pokémon to hide in a mansion's garden to stand guard for thieves. While the others manage to find decent hiding places, Charizard...just poses as a statue. Apparently, he can stay still for a long time really well...
 * Incoming Ham: Usually gives off a Mighty Roar to signal his arrival.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Knows Dragon Rage and Dragon Breath.
 * It Amused Me: Charizard often sports a friendly(?) smile on his face whenever he returns and gives Ash a faceful. This may indicate that the Flamethrower is not just something out of habit.
 * Jerkass->Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Megaton Punch: Supposedly knows Mega Punch.
 * Not So Different: He and Ash were both pretty arrogant starting out. Both experience Character Development after a session of Break the Haughty.
 * Which of course goes a long way towards explaining why he refused to obey for so long. As seen in Pet the Dog below, Charizard never hated Ash - he simply disrespected him.
 * Our Dragons Are Different
 * Pet the Dog: A minor, easy-to-miss moment just after his evolution.
 * Repeated in "Pallet Party Panic".  He goes back into Berserk Mode afterward.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Power-Up Letdown: He learns Overheat and Steel Wing during both appearances in the Battle Frontier, but neither one was able to help give him the victory.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Signature Move: Say it with me: SEISMIC TOSS!
 * Smug Super: After evolving and up until the Orange Island saga.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Charizard's secondary type.
 * Worf Had the Flu: "Charizard Chills"
 * All of Charizard's losses since training in the Valley is either because the opponent is overpowered (Entei), Ash having little knowledge on the opponent (Blaziken) or just grabbing the Idiot Ball (Dusclops).
 * The lattermost is definitely a case of The Worf Effect, though, to make the battle with Brandon more tense (In a 4-on-4 battle, he's the first Pokemon to be defeated).
 * Worthy Opponent: Charizard's goal in life is to find one, at least before mellowing out. He had a brief clash with Tracey's Scyther, but nothing ever came of it.

Squirtle (Zenigame)

 * Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble and Bubble Beam.
 * Cool Triangle Shades: And it's noted when he has to bring them out.
 * Dramatic Unmask: removing his shades, showing his full face before officially joining the team.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: His signature Hydro Pump+Rapid Spin combination.
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath: He did calm down after Ash caught him (prior to that threatening to kill Misty in the Japanese version), but in "Island Of The Giant Pokémon", he seemed awfully chipper at the thought of his owner getting eaten by a wild Pokémon.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: See Bulbasaur.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Large Ham: Specifically when wearing its Shades.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: Again, regarding his use of his Cool Shades.
 * Making a Splash
 * Not Allowed To Evolve: The only one of Ash's original team to not have any indication of whether he wanted to or not.
 * Plucky Comic Relief: Though not too much, his occasional antics pretty much paved the way for his Water-type successor, Totodile (a much clearer example of this).
 * Turtle Power
 * Use Your Head: Knows Skull Bash.
 * Worthy Opponent: The leader of Team Wartortle, a rival fire-fighting squad.

Krabby-Kingler (Crab-Kingler)

 * Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: He delivers one on his very first battle, soundly defeating three Pokémon on his own.
 * Too bad he hasn't been seen in ages recently.
 * Death Glare: Knows Leer.
 * Demoted to Extra: His only highlight was in the Indigo League and the Whirl Cup. After that, he's practically a Living Prop (apart from Chronicles). Worse, he hasn't been seen for over 300 episodes!
 * Eleventh-Hour Ranger: Watch his first battle and you'll see what we mean.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Knows Hyper Beam.
 * Gentle Giant
 * Giant Friendly Crab: Pretty much a Nice Guy in the rare case that it's in the spotlight.
 * Making a Splash
 * Nice Guy
 * Out of Focus: For such a great fighter, it's baffling that Ash hasn't used it since the Indigo League.
 * Worf Had the Flu: Ash was going to use him during the Silver Conference, in the 3-on-3 battle against Macey...cue three Voltorb rolling down a nearby hill, and Kingler stopping their momentum leading to its being electrocuted and unable to participate in the match. Thankfully, Squirtle shows up, having taken a break from the Squirtle Squad to temporarily rejoin Ash's team.

Haunter (Ghost)

 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * Guest Star Party Member: Ash never actually captured it, and it leaves after fulfilling its main purpose.
 * The Hyena: and even has a very distinctive laugh to go with it.
 * Our Ghosts Are Different
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Secondary type.
 * The Prankster
 * Shout-Out: His True Companions back in Pokémon Tower just screams The Three Stooges.
 * Soul Power: Primary type.

Primeape (Okorizaru)

 * Bare Fisted Monkey
 * The Berserker
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: As with most of his species; the Pokédex even lampshades it.
 * Jerkass: Until Ash saved him from a nasty fall.
 * Satellite Character: Primeape's sole purpose was to provide Ash with some brief character growth (and a quick route to Celadon City), though it did display quite some personality with what little screen-time it was given.
 * Unstoppable Rage
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Hasn't even been MENTIONED since Ash dumped it off at the fighting dojo in "The Punchy Pokémon". At least Pidgeot got a mention in the Falkner gym battle episode.
 * They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character

Muk (Betbeton)

 * Dark Is Not Evil: After his capture.
 * Does Not Know His Own Strength: Zigg-zagged. On one hand, it can control its poison level, which is why no one could suffer any ill effects from being around it, let alone when Muk glomps them. The weight when Muk bears down on them, on the other hand...
 * Eleventh-Hour Ranger: He was an unexpected surprise against Ash's fourth Indigo League opponent.
 * Gentle Giant: Used to be evil but later on, it's known to give out hugs. Professor Oak probably had a hand in reforming it.
 * The Glomp: Does this to anyone it likes.
 * Love You and Everybody: Yes, whether it's some complete stranger (what Professor Birch was to him at the time), Jessie from Team Rocket, anyone.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Poisonous Pokémon
 * Running Gag: He'll always glomp someone whenever he appears, no exceptions.
 * Stone Wall
 * Walking Wasteland

Tauros (30) (Kentauros)

 * Ass Shove: In "Second Time's the Charm"; you can thank a swarm of Beedrill for that.
 * Call Back: The "Beginner's Luck" strategy, which won Ash his first match at the Indigo League, was later brought up in his Orange League battle against Drake. Both battles involve, as the name suggests, a Pokémon that he has never even used before (Krabby and Tauros, respectively).
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Knows Fissure.
 * Doppelganger Spin: Knows Double Team.
 * Dub Induced Plot Hole: All 30 of them were caught in a 4Kids-banned episode.
 * Gentle Giant: Stampeding aside, Tauros are very mild-manner - the Pokédex entry in "The Legend of Dratini" states that they are so gentle, they will only attack if provoked, and Ash's Tauros repeatedly demonstrate(s) this.
 * Horn Attack
 * Irony: Whenever Ash was trying to capture another Pokémon, the Tauros would always get in the way of the capture by stampeding in front of him. Rinse and repeat until Ash used up all his Safari Balls. Keep in mind that Tauros are one of the rarest species in the Kanto Safari Zone...
 * A Load of Bull
 * Lightning Bruiser: Even though it had never battled before, the Tauros Ash used in his battle against Drake survived a fight with Drake's Gengar, took down his Venusaur and managed to put up a good fight against his Dragonite before finally going down. It's repeatedly shown itself to be surprisingly fast in addition to hitting like a freight train.
 * Mundane Utility: on one occasion, their stampeding were used to wake up Snorlax when the lab was in need of his firepower.
 * Non-Elemental
 * The Worf Effect: Tauros was the first Pokémon to fall in the Ash vs. Gary battle, defeated rather quickly by Nidoqueen. [[Tropes Are Not Bad This wasn't badly executed, though - its defeat showed just how powerful Gary's team was, and that Ash really needed much more than power-battling in mind if he wanted to defeat his rival.

Orange Islands

 * Five-Man Band:
 * The Hero - Pikachu
 * The Lancer - Charizard
 * The Smart Guy - Bulbasaur
 * The Big Guy - Squirtle
 * The Chick - Lapras
 * Sixth Ranger - Snorlax
 * Eleventh-Hour Ranger - Tauros

Lapras (Laplace)

 * All of the Other Reindeer: When Lapras was reunited with its herd, they briefly ostracized it for associating with humans. Things got better.
 * An Ice Pokémon: Secondary type.
 * The Bus Came Back: The only Pokémon to make a significant reappearance in the anime after it was officially released into the wild.
 * Gentle Giant: Lapras in general are large, but kind creatures. This Lapras in particular is still an infant while in Ash's team.
 * Get on the Boat: Ash and company's transport through the Orange Archipelago.
 * Making a Splash: Primary type.
 * Passing the Torch: Now the leader of its herd.
 * Stock Ness Monster
 * Took a Level In Badass: By the end of the Orange Islands saga, it was able to tie with Orange Crew Champion Drake's Gengar - impressive given how it (she?) was easily intimidated by humans at the start and not so strong. Even more when it returns for one episode in Johto, all grown up.

Snorlax (Kabigon)

 * Acrofatic: Capable of some impressive running and jumping, despite his very heavy build.
 * Let's put it another way: he would win a hundred-meter race as long as there's food at the finish line.
 * An Ice Pokémon: Knows Ice Punch.
 * Berserk Button: It beat up Team Rocket (with a Hyper Beam no less) so it could get to a supply of food.
 * Just like in the games, it's not a good idea to rudely interrupt his nap, either, as Harrison's Hypno (see 'Supporting Cast') found out the hard way.
 * Big Eater
 * Breath Weapon: Knows Hyper Beam.
 * Death Glare: Gave an epic one to Harrison's Hypno. Cue Oh Crap expression and major ass-kicking.
 * Deus Exit Machina: His sleeping habit means that Ash can't rely on him for his Orange League championship match, forcing Ash to use a Tauros for the first time.
 * Gentle Giant: Unless it involves food.
 * Heavy Sleeper: Of course.
 * Implacable Mon: Not even the sea can stop his tracks.
 * Megaton Punch: Knows Mega Punch and Ice Punch.
 * Mighty Glacier: A borderline Stone Wall as well, as he can take quite a beating and still fight back. (see "Wheel of Frontier")
 * Non-Elemental
 * Stout Strength: When he sets his mind to it, he's also one of Ash's strongest Pokémon.
 * Of all Ash's Pokémon during the Silver Conference, Snorlax had the most consistent performace - in both 6-on-6 matches (against Gary and Harrison) he took out two Pokémon each and overall gave the best contribution of all his trainer's participating Pokémon.

Johto Region

 * Five-Man Band:
 * The Hero - Pikachu
 * The Lancer - Cyndaquil
 * The Smart Guy - Noctowl
 * The Big Girl - Chikorita/Bayleef
 * The Chick - Totodile
 * Kid Appeal Character - Phanpy
 * Sixth Ranger - Heracross
 * Tagalong Kid - Larvitar
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Inverted: whilst none were copies of the previous spot-holders, much of the team was built up as Ash's old team was Put on a Bus. Both Cyndaquil and Totodile soon after Charizard and Squirtle left, while Heracross - a Bug Type - was captured first, and later left the regular party (though he simply stayed at Oak's, as opposed to a permanent departure a la Butterfree).

Heracross (Heracros)

 * Ascended Extra
 * Badass: Heracross was always a strong fighter, but it was never more clear than when he defeated Gary's Magmar - scoring Ash's first KO in the match in the process.
 * Or it's one-on-one duel with a Scizor earlier in the season.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Secondary type.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Primary type.
 * Death Glare: Knows Leer.
 * Determinator: He beat Gary's Magmar even after he was set on fire.
 * Establishing Character Moment: Protecting a lone Butterfree from a swarm of Pinsir but refusing to fight back. And, right afterwards, when he sees Bulbasaur...
 * Flight
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Knows Hyper Beam.
 * The Glomp: On Bulbasaur. Worse still, don't forget that Heracross is larger than Bulbasaur.
 * Horn Attack: Knows this attack and Megahorn.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Nice Guy
 * Out of Focus: Similar to Pidgeotto's fate in the first season, Heracross ended up getting relegated to the background to make room for the Johto Starters.
 * Power-Up Letdown: Hyper Beam does nothing in his battle against Darkrai.
 * Running Gag: Don't put him and Bulbasaur in the same scene.
 * Sleepwalking: Learns Sleep Talk in time for the Sinnoh League, which proves useful against Kricketune and.
 * Spam Attack: Knows Fury Swipes.
 * Sweet Tooth
 * The Worf Effect: He's taken down, in a single move, by Gary's Blastoise in the Johto League (after handily defeating a Magmar). Justified in that he was facing a well-raised and powerful Starter Pokémon.
 * Also being the first to fall against Tobias's Darkrai, in spite of being the best equipped to fight it type wise. Even most of the damage it did inflict were offset by Darkrai's Dream Eater.

Chikorita-Bayleef (Chicorita-Bayleaf)

 * Action Girl
 * Clingy Jealous Girl
 * Determinator: Notably, standing up to Charizard in her first appearance, and even tying with him!
 * Does Not Know Her Own Strength: She tried to leap into Ash's arms after evolving into Bayleef, but because she was so big, she constantly kept tackling him.
 * Green Thumb
 * In a Single Bound: Can use her Vine Whip to pull off this effect.
 * Interspecies Romance: With Ash.
 * Whip It Good: Knows Vine Whip.

Cyndaquil-Quilava (Hinoarashi-Magmarashi)

 * Always Accurate Attack: Knows Swift and Aerial Ace.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Knows Flame Wheel.
 * Magma Mon: Knows Eruption.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Smoke Out: Knows Smokescreen.
 * Super Speed
 * Took a Level In Badass: Always strong, Cyndaquil was basically a child when Ash first caught it and originally couldn't maintain its flame.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Aerial Ace.

Totodile (Waninoko)

 * Casting a Shadow: Knows Bite.
 * Dance Battler: Dances a bit when it's called out for battle and when it's not battling.
 * Death Glare: Knows Leer and Scary Face.
 * Heartbroken Badass
 * Interspecies Romance: With an Azumarill and a Quagsire.
 * Keet
 * Making a Splash
 * Satellite Character: Totodile ended up getting the least focus and development out of the three starters.
 * Use Your Head: Knows Skull Bash.

Noctowl (Yorunozuku)

 * Big Badass Bird of Prey
 * Blow You Away: Knows Air Slash
 * Everything's Better with Sparkles: So far, the most prominent "shiny" Pokémon in the anime.
 * Flight
 * Informed Ability: Its supposed to be very smart, even among other Noctowl. Never brought up again after Ash captured it.
 * Non-Elemental: Primary type.
 * Out of Focus: After the gym battle with Morty, Noctowl didn't have much of a role in the Johto seasons.
 * The Owl-Knowing One
 * Pokémon not to Scale: Another of Noctowl's famous traits is that it is much smaller than other Noctowl (complete with having several size comparisons in the series).
 * Took a Level In Badass: Barely did anything in Johto except for being Ash's main battler against Morty, but when it returned for the Sinnoh League it had learned Sky Attack, Air Slash, and Extrasensory, and soundly defeats Conway's Lickilicky with its new powerful moves.
 * Psychic Powers: Knows Hypnosis, Confusion and Extrasensory. Foresight arguably also counts, as it made Morty's Ghost Pokémon vulnerable to physical attacks.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Secondary type.

Phanpy-Donphan (Gomazou-Donfan)

 * Adult Child: evolution made him grow physically, but not mentally. A good example is an episode where it found a wicker ball being tossed around by three baby Rhyhorn. It immediately decided to play with them and caused them to run away in terror. It's still a powerhouse either way.
 * Ascended Extra
 * Badass Adorable: As a Phanpy.
 * Breath Weapon: Knows Hyper Beam.
 * Bruiser with a Soft Center: Donphan dwarfs most other mons in size and power, yet is also a softie, and a friend to baby Pokémon.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Ground type.
 * Earthquake Machine: Knows Earthquake.
 * Goo-Goo Godlike: Though it would still lose battles semi-frequently in Johto.
 * Rolling Attack: Knows Rollout.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Again, as Phanpy.
 * Sixth Ranger: His addition to the Battle Frontier roster. He's the only Pokémon to have been put in Professor Oak's lab once, before returning to Ash's team for a second, separate tenure (contrasting Aipom who was on two consecutive terms under Ash's ownership).
 * Unskilled but Strong: Phanpy's lack of experience makes up for having incredible strength.

Larvitar (Yogiras)

 * Casting a Shadow: Knows Bite.
 * Dark and Troubled Past
 * Defrosting Ice Prince: Finally opens up to Brock and Misty late into his story arc.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Half Rock type, half Ground type.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending: For a small-arc Pokemon, Larvitar goes through a lot and needs to grow up quite a bit, but in the end he's finally reunited with his mother.
 * Goo-Goo Godlike
 * Guest Star Party Member: Like Haunter, Larvitar was never officially caught by Ash and leaves the group after being reunited with his mother.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Knows Screech, so if Larvitar ever gets scared, cover your ears.
 * Troubled but Cute
 * The Woobie: In-universe, so very much.

Misty (Kasumi)
"Voiced by: Mayumi Iizuka (JP), Rachael Lillis (EN, 4Kids), Michele Knotz (EN, current)"

The youngest of four sisters, she hasn't been blessed with her sisters' looks or charisma...luckily, however, she got all of the talent at monster battles and deadpan snark. Originally rather temperamental, with a crush on Ash that she covered with strong Tsundere tendencies; after acquiring Togepi - an infant Pokémon requiring a great deal of care - she calmed down considerably. Still has a strong fanbase that's rather bitter about her replacement by May and Dawn.

Tropes involving her and her Pokémon include:


 * Action Girl
 * A Mini-Arc In The Limelight: Not Pokemon Chronicles but rather the first 8 episodes of The Whirl Islands Mini-Arc Possibly compensation for her having a bus reservation for sometime in the following year.
 * Badass: A few times. In fact, more than a few times in the original series, Ash and his friends would either have not succeeded in their goal or actually end up killed, even both, had it not been for her.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Between My Legs: In the episode "Forest Grumps" her legs are used as framing during her stand-off with James and Meowth.
 * Big Eater: As seen in "The Breeding Center Secret".
 * Boyish Short Hair: She is a tomboy and has short hair that's combined with Tomboyish Ponytail.
 * Butt Monkey: She's sometimes made the butt of the joke by Ash and co. in earlier episodes, and gets into more perils than the rest of the crew (once, she was Brainwashed into thinking she was a Seel). Also that her sisters look down on her. Doesn't help that she's stuck with Psyduck, which gives her a lot of the troubles.
 * Slapstick Knows No Gender: She is also not free from any physical humor; "Primeape Goes Bananas" features her getting her face kicked to the ground by an angry Mankey, and "Pokemon Fashion Flash" has her getting barbequed by Vulpix's fire not once, but twice. The latter episode also had her getting a silly makeover at which Ash laughed himself sick upon seeing it. Butt Monkey indeed.
 * Characterization Marches On: In "Bye Bye Butterfree", she (very briefly) takes Brock's going lovesick in stride and treats it as a joke, instead of using the Ear Ache Running Gag that she'd later be perfecting.
 * The Chick: Of the "Original Series" Five-Man Band.
 * Compressed Vice: Was there ever any special fear of Gyarados before the Chronicles episode where she overcame it? There was an episode where she expressed her disdain for being identified as a Gyarados-type in a fortune book. It almost seemed as she hated them. Likewise, she did show concern for the appearance of many Gyarados after escaping the St. Anne.
 * Cordon Bleugh Chef: The best way to describe how her stew in the Johto episode "Sick Daze" was so bad that not even Ash could eat it when she, earlier in the series, A: created a medicine from Salveyo Weed for Ash, Tracey, and Jessie's Stun Spore sickness, and B: was hinted to have the cooking in Episodes 3 and 4.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Demon Head: She sometimes does this when she gets mad at Ash.
 * Damsel in Distress: What she's made to look like by Meowth in episode 12. However, if you watch past the point where Ash returns with the Super Potion (fact is, true fans should have done so by now), she reveals that the Squirtle Squad wasn't really going to kill her (in the Japanese version) or turn her into a purplenette (in the English version). Ironically, Misty actually volunteered to get the super potion in the former upon learning this demand.
 * Played straight in "Pokémon Fashion Flash".
 * Early-Bird Cameo: However, Misty herself appeared in the first episode -- and became a main character -- before she was revealed to be the second Gym Leader.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Floral Theme Naming: Sakura (cherry blossom), Ayame (iris), Botan (peony), Kasumi (baby's breath or mist). The English version keeps the joke by naming the three older girls Daisy, Violet and Lily, but chose to go for preserving the pun on Misty's favorite type over the theme name. It does, however, retain how she's the odd one out.
 * Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Misty is the responsible sibling with regards to taking care of and managing the gym better than all three of her sisters. Daisy has gotten a bit better about it, but Misty is never away from the gym too long before her sisters need her to come back.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Phlegmatic (phlegm).
 * The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: With her three sisters. Things seem a touch better of late, at least with eldest sister Daisy.
 * Green Is Blue: Her eyes vary between being green or blue (or sometimes both at the same time) between the episodes; it was especially prominent before the anime switched over to digital color. Nowadays it seems that they've settled on green, like her most recent official game artwork.
 * ...making her a Green Eyed Red Head
 * Hair Decorations: Either the hair tie she uses for her side ponytail or the pearl headband of her famed mermaid costume qualifies.
 * Hero Stole My Bike: Ash did it in the first episode, culminating in the series' most famous Running Gag.
 * Inferiority Superiority Complex: To an extent. She's more open about her inferiority complex than most examples in that she will (albeit rarely) talk about her experiences as the youngest of her sisters, but other than that her quick-tempered nature and violent tendencies from early on were likely due to living in their shadows.
 * And funnily enough, Misty is the only one of them who has any real passion for training Pokemon while her sisters are more obsessed with their fame as water ballet performers.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Not an extreme case but her treatment of Ash wasn't the best for someone who was just starting out (she slapped the guy on their first meeting for "not taking care of his Pikachu" despite the fact that 1) he was carrying it 2) He showed concern over it and 3) she didn't even bother to get his side of the story or wonder why they were in the river in the first place. Even diehard fans called lack of sense for that one). Yeah Ash can be a bonehead sometimes but when he was really trying and got a reward for his selflessness she usually would be quick to shoot him down (Brock and her sister giving him a medal for winning on a technically, how Charizard joined, etc). That said she did tone down over time as the series continued.
 * Kicked Upstairs: Post-season 5, she has effectively became a Gym Leader due to her sisters being out of town for three months, and it is heavily implied that she has to lose to rookies quite a bit in order to be this in a manner that is very similar to Team Rocket.
 * The Kirk
 * The Lancer: Of the "Original Series" Five-Man Band.
 * Letting Her Hair Down: A few different times, much to the delight of fans, though the instance most people remember is her mermaid getup, in which it was most probably a wig. She does let her down for real on occasion, though.
 * Little Miss Snarker
 * Mama Bear: Do not threaten Togepi.
 * Meaningful Name
 * My Friends and Zoidberg: "Three Sensational Sisters and one runt!" according to her sisters.
 * Only One Name
 * Parental Abandonment: And the triplets don't do a good job of looking after the gym or their little sister.
 * Parent Service: Her sisters are named as this.
 * Precision F-Strike: In the Japanese version, her comment about Satoshi's heaven (catching his first Pokémon) being her hell (bugs) in episode 3.
 * Promotion to Parent: To Togepi, and later Azurill.
 * Put on a Bus: Took over as her city's Gym Leader at the end of Johto.
 * Red Headed Heroine
 * The Runt At the End: Fits the definition perfectly, Odd Name Out and all. She's often teased as such by her sisters, but of course, Youngest Child Wins, and she actually happens to be the best at training Pokemon among the four.
 * Shorttank: The goddamn trope picture.
 * She's Got Legs
 * Talking the Monster to Death: Ended up doing this in an early episode that featured a gigantic Tentacruel that was destroying the city that the heroes were currently in, as it was angry that humans were polluting its waters.
 * Talking to Herself: Rachael Lillis also did Jessie and Jigglypuff.
 * Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Sometimes has overblown fantasies about love and romance, and takes it upon herself to play matchmaker on more than one occasion.
 * This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman: While she'd be there with everyone else in stopping the Crisis of the Week/Team Rocket, she wouldn't compete in sporting competitions unless they were either water-themed or girl-themed. Granted, Ash would compete in the former as well, but Misty would outdo him in those cases.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Daisy's Girly Girl.
 * She also acts the Tomboy to her successor May's Girly Girl.
 * Tomboyish Ponytail
 * Tsundere: Prior to getting Togepi anyway. Her "motherly" tendencies were also implied in other episodes, even the first episode when she tried to check up on Pikachu. All Togepi did was expand on it.
 * Who Wears Short Shorts?
 * Why Did It Have To Be Bug Type Pokémon? And for a little bit, Why Did It Have To Be Gyarados?

Misty's Pokémon

 * Making a Splash: Naturally. She is the Cerulean Gym Leader, after all. A lot of them also know other type moves and some are dual types.
 * Poor Predictable Rock: All of her Pokémon are water-type, except for Azurill (which evolves into the Water-type Marill) and Togetic, who was released after it evolved from Togepi.

Goldeen (Tosakinto)

 * Horn Attack: Knows this attack and Horn Drill.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Knows Supersonic.
 * Out of Focus: Worse than Horsea in this regard.

Staryu (Hitodeman)

 * The Blank
 * Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble Beam.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: How it basically moves around.
 * The Faceless: Lampshaded in an early episode; in their Gym battle, Ash's Butterfree used Stun Spore on Misty's Staryu, to which she commented that it looked like it was in real pain. Ash called her out by reminding her that it didn't even have a face. To her credit, Staryu was sort of writhing and off-balance when it was hit.
 * Shout-Out: For some reason its cry sounds like Ultraman's.
 * In one episode, Staryu's core (the red jewel at the center of it's body) blinks when he is knocked out, similar to Ultraman when he's weakened or had reached his time limit.

Starmie

 * The Blank
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Same as Staryu.
 * The Faceless
 * Psychic Powers: Secondary type.
 * Put on a Bus: Left at the Cerulean Gym near the end of the Indigo season. Misty reclaimed it later as the new Gym Leader.
 * The Worf Effect: Starmie almost never won a battle on its own; the one time it did defeat an opponent, it was quickly and violently beaten by another immediately afterward, with its central core shattered.

Horsea (Tattu)

 * Bearer of Bad News: Its debut, in "Tentacool and Tentacruel".
 * Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble.
 * Out of Focus: Due to being water-bound, Horsea rarely appeared and did very little during its run (though Goldeen generally fared worse despite a longer staying time).
 * Put on a Bus: Left at the Cerulean Gym near the end of the Indigo season. Misty reclaimed it later as the new Gym Leader.
 * Smoke Out: Knows Smokescreen.
 * Trail of Ink

Psyduck (Koduck)

 * Aquaphobic Duck
 * Blessed with Suck: Psyduck needs a major headache to use his powers. 'Nuff said.
 * Butt Monkey: To be fair, he often brings it upon himself.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 * Delayed Reaction: Has a really slow reaction time. And then he met a Slowpoke...
 * The Ditz
 * Jumped At the Call: Psyduck has a bad habit of jumping into action when Misty specifically requires one of her other Pokémon.
 * Mind Over Matter
 * Psychic Powers: Knows Confusion and Psychic.
 * Shipper on Deck: He tried to get Caserin and Luverin (Misty and Daisy's Luvdisc) together in "Luvdisc is a Many Splendored Thing".

Togepi-Togetic (Togepy-Togechick)

 * Early-Bird Cameo
 * Flight: Togetic
 * Non-Elemental: Togepi
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Whenever Metronome would kick in for a Deus Ex Machina.
 * Put on a Bus
 * Tagalong Kid
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Togetic

Poliwag-Poliwhirl-Politoed (Nyoromo-Nyorozo-Nyorotono)

 * Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: As Politoed.
 * Frogs and Toads
 * Keet: Politoed.
 * Non-Action Guy: To an extent after evolving into Politoed.
 * Undying Loyalty: After Misty saved him from Team Rocket, Poliwag became devoted to her to the point of evolving during battle to try and win.

Corsola (Sunnygo)

 * Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble Beam.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Secondary type (Rock).
 * Healing Factor: Knows Recover.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: It once took down a Machoke by itself, despite a type disadvantage.
 * Psychic Powers: Knows Mirror Coat.

Gyarados

 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Knows Hyper Beam.
 * Playing with Fire: Knows Flamethrower.
 * Sea Monster
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Secondary type.

Caserin (Luvdisc) (Cuserine [Lovecus])

 * An Ice Pokémon: Knows Ice Beam.
 * Doppelganger Spin: Knows Double Team.
 * Super Speed: Knows Agility.

Azurill (Ruriri)

 * Healing Factor: Knows Refresh.
 * It Was a Gift: From Tracy, whose Marill is the mother.
 * Making a Splash: Knows Water Gun and Bubble.
 * Non-Elemental

Brock (Takeshi)
"Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (JP), Eric Stuart (EN, 4Kids), Bill Rogers (EN, current)"

No last name given. Originally the fearsome Pewter City Gym Leader (which he still runs every now and then), he left to travel with Ash on his journey. Eldest of 10 kids, which he had to raise on his own for almost two years after his parents left. He served as a mentor to Ash for a while before turning into a sort of older brother character.

Tropes involving him and his Pokémon include:

"Holly: I'm sorry, but I'm just not interested in younger men."
 * Ambiguously Brown: Is he a really tan asian guy or a light-skinned black guy? It should be noted in the games he's much more lighter skinned.
 * The Artifact: See above about Flanderization.
 * Art Shift: When Brock enters a contest, part of his routine involves...well...let's just say this is a face I'll be seeing in my nightmares for a while.
 * Bag of Holding/Hammerspace: Exemplified early in the Indigo saga.
 * Balloon Belly: EP 171 and AG 012.
 * Big Brother Mentor
 * Bishie Sparkle: Not exactly Bishonen, but this is just one of a few times he's used the trick...
 * Calling the Old Man Out: has every reason to be angry with his father for abandoning the family for a long period of time. Except that, instead of chewing Flint out, Brock instead opted for telling Flint about the chores and daily routine that he has to undergo to take care of the children (it's a long list), while Brock himself goes off on his own journey.
 * Casanova Wannabe
 * Characterization Marches On: In the earliest episodes, seemed no more attracted to women than would be expected of his Vague Age, and when he was, no more awkward. Nowadays...
 * Chick Magnet: Made into one for all of five seconds in "Harley Rides Again" when several girls start fawning over his Bonsly.
 * Chivalrous Pervert: G-rated.
 * Color Failure
 * Color Failure


 * Combat Commentator
 * Double Standard: Brock fancies himself something of a "Love Doctor", yet has also been known to hit on women involved with (or even outright married to) another man.
 * Err...not quite. He usually backs down in such instances, such as the Joy in DP 028 (who he only tried flirting with before he realised she was married).
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: while Ash and company are still in the Orange Islands, Brock is a guest of the Ketchum household, and becomes a rival to Mimey when it comes to doing the chores. It's like they're being rivals over something else.
 * Dynamic Entry: How did he first appear in the Advance Generation series? Throw Forretress as an Action Bomb against a flock of Taillow, that's what!
 * Eyes Always Shut
 * Flanderization: Started out as a mentor type, gained the lovable pervert shtick and eventually became reduced to it, attempts have been made to regain the previous role, with variable success.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble
 * Melancholic: Original series and Diamond & Pearl.
 * Phlegmatic II: Advance Generation
 * Genre Savvy:
 * There are times when he manages to dodge Croagunk's Poison Jab, or, several times when the group is in trouble, he intentionally flirts with girls to get Croagunk to pop out and free them. He also notices if Croagunk doesn't jab him "on time".
 * He has some non-Croagunk related examples. For instance, while at the Old Chataeu, Dawn and Ash are freaking out over the fridge behind him turning into an evil Rotom fridge . Brock turns to look, but every time, it just turns back into a normal fridge. He does this once or twice, realizes something is up, then keeps doing it a few times until he pauses for a split second and then looks. Since Rotom was used to the pattern it had turned into a normal fridge when Brock paused, then back into a Rotom fridge when Brock looked. Anyone else would dismiss it and not bother looking again after the first two times.
 * Image Song: "Takeshi's Paradise"
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Brock's family from his father's side all look or will end up looking exactly the same as him, regardless if they're male or female. Brock's mom is the only one who looks different.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: In spite of his tenure on the show, he is Out of Focus for possibly more than 90% of it. When he does get to show his stuff, however, he's very competent. Best example might be "Leave it to Brocko" from the DP saga.
 * Manly Tears: Sometimes
 * The Medic:
 * Mundane Utility: really mundane example: Lotad's flat head? Extra table. And, of course there's Croagunk's Poison Jab, which saw more use for you-know-what than in actual battles.
 * Noodle Incident: Asking about his stay on the Orange Islands with Prof. Ivy is not a good idea. (He does mention Ivy in the English version of the seventh movie, though.)
 * Out of Focus: For being the one traveling companion who was part of the main cast for more than ten years (only dropping out very briefly in the Orange Islands arc), they sure didn't treat him as well as they could have.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Increasingly so, particularly in most of Sinnoh where both of his traveling companions shared co-star status. Lampshaded in the 11th movie, where Ash and Dawn both spring into action against the Big Bad, and Brock briefly gets depressed over being left behind...literally.
 * In one episode Team Rocket review their typical plans with accompanying graphics to find out why they always fail. When they get to the step where the heroes counterattack, the graphic shows Ash commanding Pikachu and Dawn commanding Piplup to attack...while Brock just stands in the background.
 * Overused Running Gag: Thankfully, they tend to mix it up, especially with Bonsly (in a brief stint ) and Croagunk.
 * Parental Abandonment: They actually come back (yes, his mom was alive all this time, though 4Kids chose to ignore the plot hole they wrote themselves into), but it's understandable that Brock's less than pleased when they go on vacation and leave his 9 siblings by themselves.
 * Passing the Torch: Handed over control of the gym to his younger brother Forrest.
 * Put on a Bus: Four times! Originally, it was because the anime crew thought he might be considered an Asian stereotype to a global audience (it's his eyes). Brought back because, as it turns out, nobody cared about that. The next two times were when the Johto and Hoenn gangs went their separate ways, neither of which were very long. And most recently (and possibly permanently).
 * Raging Stiffie: G-rated version, obviously. Basically it's gotten to the point that when he doesn't have this around Inexplicably Identical Individuals, regardless if they're male or female, he starts getting suspicious (often he's right; it's Team Rocket or someone else disguised as the nurse or officer).
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Aside from being Team Dad, he can also be classified as a Team Mom, with good reason.
 * Serial Romeo
 * The Smart Guy: Of every Five-Man Band he's been in. In "Advanced Generation", he somewhat shares the role with Max.
 * Something Else Also Rises: "Fleeing Tower of Sunyshore". Brock and Flint have to work together to power up the Pokémon Center's backup generator. Brock was egged on by Nurse Joy several times, causing the energy gauge of the generator to...go sky-high.
 * The Spock
 * Stalker with a Crush: how else would you describe him having that infamous "guidebook"? Or the fact that he can distinguish Jennys and Joys from each other?
 * Strong Family Resemblance: With his nine siblings and his dad.
 * Talking to Himself: Eric Stuart also did James.
 * Team Chef
 * Team Dad
 * Tempting Fate: Brock has started to realize that every time he starts swooning over Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny, Croagunk is only moments away from poison jabbing him, so he tries to control himself and back down.
 * Throw the Dog a Bone --> Yank the Dog's Chain: Oh, they do this sometimes with his hopeless flirtations. It just has a way of going straight to hell before the end of the episode.
 * Tritagonist: He's usually in the background compared the lead male and female, but sometimes the show (or at least, the current story) makes it clear that he's this (at least for the humans). This is most evident during the Galactic arc, where not only does his Croagunk get a rivalry with Saturn's Toxicroak, he's also
 * Twin Threesome Fantasy: which actually happens.
 * Supreme Chef
 * We Need a Distraction: a minor Running Gag, and he sometimes convinces others to join him in the act (Corphish [twice!], Lombre, Dawn)...
 * Wingding Eyes: Gets hearts in his eyes every time he looks at a pretty girl.
 * Word of Dante: His last name was guessed to be Harrison for a while in the early days, originating from one fan's love of actor Harrison Ford and carrying on through a mailing list and the internet at large. It occasionally shows back up.
 * The Worf Effect: In spite of his aforementioned competence, his Plot Armor is thinner than those of his friends because of their star/co-star status. If he participates in a competition or tournament that his friends also join, he's likely to either lose early on or eventually get beaten by them (not always realistically).

Brock's Pokémon
% In Advanced Generation: "The Kirk: Mudkip/Marshtomp The McCoy: Lotad/Lombre/Ludicolo (Hoenn) & Bonsly (Kanto) The Spock: Forretress"
 * Dishing Out Dirt: His main type is the Rock-type. If counting sub-elements, a few of his Pokémon are also Ground and Steel types.
 * Ironically, despite priding himself in being a Rock-type specialist, the only Rock-type he caught during the series proper was Bonsly.
 * Freudian Trio:

% In Diamond and Pearl: "The Kirk: Bonsly/Sudowoodo The McCoy: Happiny/Chansey The Spock: Croagunk"


 * Poor Predictable Rock: Averted, as soon as Brock stopped being the Gym Leader, he stopped having a Rock-type theme for his Pokémon team, though he tries to have at least one Rock-type Pokémon on his team. Nonetheless, he is quite firm about keeping Pewter Gym's Rock theme intact.

Onix-Steelix (Iwark-Haganeil)

 * Dishing Out Dirt: As a Onix, he was a Rock/Ground type. As a Steelix, Ground is his secondary type.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Steelix's primary type.
 * Gentle Giant: Outside of battle. Especially prominent when he reappeared as Steelix.
 * The Worf Effect: While supposedly Brock's strongest Pokémon, it loses quite a lot (including to Meowth once, when Meowth dumped water on it and somehow finished it off with Fury Swipes). The impression is further strengthened by the fact that Onix was by far the largest of the main cast's Pokémon during the whole Kanto and Johto sagas.

Geodude (Isitsubute)

 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Knows Seismic Toss.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Rock/Ground type.
 * Out of Focus: Barely got any personality, character development, battles, and was mainly used in places where Onyx was too big to fit.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 * Power Floats
 * Shout-Out: "The Punchy Pokémon" implies Geodude is a Fighting-type; it IS a fighting-type in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Zubat-Golbat-Crobat

 * Bat Out of Hell: Subverted.
 * Blow You Away: Knows Whirlwind.
 * Flight
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Knows Supersonic and Sonicboom.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Primary type.
 * The Power of Friendship/Love: Is it any wonder it took such a short time for Golbat to evolve into Crobat, after Brock's caring for it?
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Secondary type.

Vulpix (Rokon)

 * Badass Adorable
 * Kitsune
 * Out of Focus: Too adorable for its own good, especially since it's (currently) the only Pokémon Brock no longer owns (all the others are at Pewter Gym).
 * Playing with Fire
 * Put on a Bus: Returned it to the girl who gave it to him.
 * Spoiled Brat: In its first appearance - it roasts Misty just for unexpectedly picking it up, before curling back up with a light yawn.
 * The Worf Effect: Introduced as being extremely powerful, but is never shown winning an actual battle.

Pineco-Forretress (Kunugidama-Foretos)

 * Action Bomb: Knows SelfDestruct and Explosion.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Knows Spikes.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Forretress' secondary type.
 * The Stoic: Forretress; Pineco was a lot more excitable.

Lotad-Lombre-Ludicolo (Hassboh-Hasubrero-Runpappa)

 * Beware the Nice Ones: He's always been a Nice Guy, even in his first stage, but he's really powerful and not afraid to show it when his friends are in danger.
 * Bullet Seed
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Kind of "out there" compared to others of its species, especially as a Lotad. Don't ever assume he's stupid, though.
 * Confusion Fu: His battle style is unpredictable.
 * Green Thumb: Secondary type.
 * Kappa
 * Keet: As Ludicolo, which is characteristic of the species. See also Nice Guy below
 * Making a Splash: Primary type.
 * Nice Guy: Shown very early in Advanced Generation.

Mudkip-Marshtomp (Mizugorou-Numacraw)

 * Barrier Warrior: Knows Protect.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Marshtomp's secondary type (Ground).
 * Kuudere: Towards Brock in his first appearance. In general, he's more sweet than icy.
 * Lamarck Was Right: How else would you explain this?
 * Making a Splash
 * Overshadowed by Awesome/Can't Catch Up: The one member of the Hoenn group's starter trio that saw the least action, hence his evolution coming late, and the only one to never even reach his final stage.
 * Team Dad: Mudkip was just as mature - if not moreso - than Pikachu and tried hard to both keep the peace and take care of the younger ones. "Turning Over A New Nuzleaf" was the first great example.

Bonsly-Sudowoodo (Usohachi-Usokkie)

 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Knows Hammer Arm.
 * Casting a Shadow: Knows Fake Tears.
 * Character Tics: Sudowoodo has a habit of saluting Brock.
 * Cool Big Bro: Towards Happiny, since they seem to appear together often.
 * Cry Cute: Bonsly
 * Ditto Fighter: Knows Mimic.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Rock type.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Bonsly...ironically, early in Sinnoh he learned Mimic and evolved into Sudowoodo an episode later.
 * Older and Wiser: As a Bonsly he was a big crybaby; after evolving, he became a hardworking, loyal battler unafraid to enter the fray and - as an added bonus - unlikely to angst. For instance, when Brock chose Coragunk over him for the cosplay competition (to win Happiny's egg), Sudowoodo gets over the crushing disappointment in seconds.
 * Out of Focus: To a degree (mostly since Croagunk was more prominent), but he still gets some shining moments of prominence and never actually decays as a tough battler.
 * Took a Level In Badass: In "Leave it to Brocko", where he evolves.
 * When Trees Attack: Even though he's actually a Rock-type.
 * In "Leave It To Brocko", they use this to their advantage to put a lost, frightened young Nuzleaf at ease, since Bonsly's tree-like appearance reassured Nuzleaf that they were friendly.
 * Yes-Man: Sudowoodo, a more endearing example than most as he's obviously very devoted to his trainer.

Croagunk (Gureggru)
"Oh, c'mon! Imagination is against the law?"
 * Ass Shove: Croagunk's Poison Jab almost always is depicted like this.
 * Beat: Croagunk is the source of a lot of awkward silences...just staring...and croaking...
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Secondary type.
 * Brick Break
 * Evil Laugh: Crogunk everytime he has to poison jab Brock and drag him off behind him. Cro-cro-cro-croooo
 * In the Japanese version, instead of Pokémon-Speak, it's an actual Evil Laugh...
 * Fascinating Eyebrow: Bizarrely, when Brock is trying to orient him in the group's daily routine...
 * Frogs and Toads
 * Ineffectual Loner
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's usually quick to come to the rescue of Brock (or the rest of the group) if they're in real danger.
 * Missed Him by That Much: in "Jumping Rocket Ship", the group gets separated, and Croagunk is simply taking a trip through Canalave's canals by way of several boats. Every time he appears, it was just a split-second before/after one group is in the same scene. For the record, it was Croagunk who's the last Pokémon to be "found" (or rather, Croagunk found them thanks to Brock being himself).
 * Not So Stoic: There are a few times that he outright laughs at his trainer's misfortune towards girls.
 * OOC Is Serious Business: Once, his rivalry with Saturn's Toxicroak made him completely ignore Brock's advances to a girl.
 * Pet the Dog: Can often come across as a Jerkass at times, but the writers occasionally show that he can have a protective side as well.
 * There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in "Doc Brock" - after Pachirisu has recovered from its sickness thanks to Brock and he's agrees to lecture Ash & Dawn about medicine, the screen briefly shoots to the window to show Croagunk, eyes closed in that Animesque manner characters have when they're being tender. Besides the subject matter of the episode, that heartwarming little shot gives subtle Foreshadowing to.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Primary type.
 * Real Men Hate Sugar: Shown several times to be adverse to any sweet food.
 * Running Gag:
 * He's waaay too obsessed with his reflection.
 * Also the whole "stab and drag Brock away from girls" thing, of course.
 * Sixth Ranger: If the main characters make up a Five-Man Band each series/generation, then Croagunk - who joins last and appears the least - is this to the "Diamond and Pearl" band.
 * The Stoic
 * Super Senses: His version of the "Anticipation" ability allows him to have better perception of the surroundings.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: The first time Croagunk went too far in attacking Brock, Dawn calls him out on it (he even looks genuinly abashed). On another occasion, Brock delivers one himself, right after getting stabbed:

Happiny-Chansey (Pinpuku-Lucky)

 * Badass Adorable
 * Cheerful Child
 * Children Are Innocent: Inverted - unlike Togepi for example, she was more likely to be aware of when things weren't going well (even on the day she hatched) and could become relatively serious if the situation called for it; on the other hand, her usual demeanour is that of a sweet-natured Cheerful Child.
 * Goo-Goo Godlike
 * Healing Factor: Knows Softboiled.
 * The Medic
 * Nice Girl: Really quite a sweetheart, as is natural for her species - in her intro episode, she initially offers the Oval Stone which Brock carved her back to him as a sign of friendship and trust, despite how badly she'd previously wanted it upon hatching. From that point on, it's pretty safe to say that she's less of a divisive character than Togepi ever was.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 * The Smurfette Principle: So far Brock's only (confirmed) female Pokémon.

Tracey Sketchit (Kenji)
"Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (JP), Ted Lewis (EN, 4Kids), Craig Blair (EN, current)"

A friend of Ash's, who he met on his trip to the Orange Islands. Specializes in Pokémon watching; i.e. he draws pictures of Pokémon in their natural habitat with surgical precision. Tracey primarily draws Pokémon, but there are several human subjects scattered around his various sketchbooks. Huge fan of Prof. Oak.

Tropes involving him and his Pokémon include:


 * Adventure Couple: He and Daisy fit some of the criteria, which is probably why they're often shipped together.
 * Awesome By Analysis: Tracey's typical battle style. He can predict an opponent's moves based on having seen the set-up motions before and get a counterattack going immediately, which isn't too shabby. In his initial appearance, he was able to discern upbringing problems with a group of trainers' Pokémon, and gauge how strong and well-conditioned Pikachu was with but a mere precursory glance.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Melancholic.
 * Meaningful/Punny Name: What do you think does he do in his free time? Take a wild guess.
 * Nice Guy
 * Non-Action Guy: He can battle if he has to, but he uses his Pokemon mainly for fieldwork.
 * Out of Focus: His last appearance in the series (to date) was in the very first episode of DP. He was about to appear in the Battle Subway two-parter via videophone, but
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Both in terms of Pokémon, and character (regarding Brock). Poor guy.
 * Put on a Bus: Now Prof. Oak's assistant.
 * Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Savvy Guy to Daisy's Energetic Girl.
 * Shipper on Deck: Occasionally ran afoul of Misty by hinting at certain things...
 * Shirtless Scene: A few, accounting for his entire pre-departure fanbase.
 * The Smart Guy: Of the Orange Islands portion of the "Original Series" Five-Man Band.
 * The Spock

Venonat (Kongpang)

 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Primary type.
 * Green Thumb: Knows Sleep Powder.
 * Keet
 * Non-Action Guy: Compared to its teammates.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Secondary type.
 * Super Senses: Vision

Marill (Maril)

 * Early-Bird Cameo
 * Making a Splash
 * Nice Guy
 * Rodent of Unusual Size
 * Super Senses: Hearing

Scyther (Strike)

 * Badass Grandpa: Rejected from his tribe because he was too old to remain the leader (though he makes ammends with his young successor before accepting Tracey as his trainer).
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Primary type.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Doppelganger Spin: Knows Double Team.
 * Flight
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * The Rival: Very briefly with Charizard due to some initial aggression. After repelling a Team Rocket attack, they "flex their muscles" a bit before making peace.
 * Team Dad: To a degree towards the other Pokémon. Definitely towards his tribe, given he left the Pokémon Centre (still injured) to save them from Team Rocket.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Secondary type.

Professor Samuel Oak (Dr. Yukinari Okido)
"Voiced by: Unsho Ishizuka (JP), Stuart Zagnit (EN, 4Kids), Jimmy Zoppi (EN, current)"



Professor Oak comes from Pallet Town. He is Gary Oak's grandfather and gave Pikachu to Ash as a last resort after he woke up late to take one of the other three starters. His status as a semi-main character means that he shows up the most out of all the professors in the series.


 * Cool Old Guy
 * Friend To All Pokémon: One way or another, he'll find a way to get on a Pokémon's good side.
 * Gentleman and a Scholar: Besides being one of the leading experts on Pokémon, he's also a world-renowned poet.
 * Iron Butt Monkey: In the Japanese version, Oak would often have a short segment at the end of an episode demonstrating a certain quality or attack that Pokémon can execute. It usually always ends up being used on him. He's been burned, electrocuted, frozen, punched, bitten, and flung across the room more times than you can count.
 * Mission Control: Most of Ash's pre-Unova Pokémon are just a phone call away courtesy of him. He also plays a straighter example in Pokémon 3.
 * The Professor
 * Ship Tease: With Delia. In Pokémon Live, Ash asks Professor Oak not to bring his mother home too late.
 * Stable Time Loop:

Gary Oak (Shigeru Ookido)
"Voiced by: Yuko Kobayashi (JP), Jimmy Zoppi (EN)"



Ash's first rival when he started off as a Pokémon trainer. Gary would usually one-up Ash and take any chance to insult him when they met up, but after Ash finally defeated Gary, he soon realized that being a trainer wasn't really his calling, and has since befriended Ash and followed in his grandpa's footsteps to become a Pokémon professor.


 * The Ace: Gary seems to be pretty much be the best at what he does, and even claims to be the top trainer out of the four in his year who left Pallet Town, and is always at least two steps ahead of Ash. He even had time to go on a vacation because he had so many damn badges!
 * All Guys Want Cheerleaders: His fanclub was mostly made up of these.
 * Always Someone Better
 * Anime Hair
 * Art Evolution: When we see him after the Battle Frontier, his design matches his game counterpart in FireRed/LeafGreen.
 * Barrier Warrior: Electivire's Protect.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies; Scizor
 * Brainy Brunette: Even becomes a Pokémon researcher, just like his grandfather
 * And even before that, Gary had such a high knowledge of Pokemon, he barely needed to use his Pokédex to get any info on them, in contrast to Ash who uses his every time he sees a Pokemon, even ones he's already seen.
 * Break the Haughty: Being owned by Mewtwo, then losing in the last round of the Pokémon League preliminaries. He gets better, though.
 * It was somewhat implied Gary had never lost before, which seems to shape him into a more humble person. Break the Haughty indeed.
 * Casting a Shadow: Umbreon,Blastoise's Bite.
 * Chekhov MIA: Disappears for the entire AG saga, appearing only in the last episodes to tell Ash about Sinnoh.
 * Deadpan Snarker: The "deadpan" part coming in from Johto and onwards.
 * Demoted to Extra: Has only shown up four times in Diamond and Pearl in two of which he got his ass handed to him by Team Galactic, and he didn't appear at all in Hoenn.
 * Dishing Out Dirt (Rock/Ground): Golem, Nidoking and Nidoqueen
 * Doppelganger Spin: Umbreon, who knew Double Team as an Eevee.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Scizor, Electivire's Iron Tail.
 * Elemental Punch: Electivire's Thunder Punch.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Blastoise's Rapid Spin.
 * Fountain of Expies: Drew, Paul, Kenny, and Trip, we're looking at you.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Nidoqueen's Hyper Beam.
 * Friendly Enemy: In Johto.
 * Guest Star Party Member: At times, most notably in several "Diamond and Pearl" series episodes.
 * Handsome Lech and Kidanova: He travels with a large group of older girls. That is one pimp pre-teen.
 * Horn Attack: Nidoking's attack.
 * Insufferable Genius: While most of the time he's a Small Name, Big Ego type who loses his more important battles, he's still quite a competent trainer and is more than happy to show it off. Him gaining ten badges in Kanto and flaunting them to Ash is one of the most (in)famous examples.
 * Jerkass -> Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He gets better from Johto onwards, but this can still pop up.
 * Large Ham: During his Small Name, Big Ego Kanto days.
 * Making a Splash: Blastoise and Krabby.
 * Megaton Punch: Nidoqueen's Mega Punch.
 * Mythology Gag: His eyes are green as either a reference to his game counterparts JPN name (Green), one of the first two games in the series (Red and Green) or both.
 * The Other Darrin: Totally averted! Gary is currently the only character that kept his English voice actor after the anime transferred rights.
 * Pet the Dog: "Battle for the Badge": he prevents Meowth from further inflicting Electric Torture on Ash after Ash was winning the gym battle.
 * Playing with Fire: Arcanine and Magmar.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Nidoking and Nidoqueen.
 * Psychic Powers: Umbreon's Agility and Psychic.
 * The Reveal: It wasn't until his second match with Ash that we learned he started with None of his main Pokémon were even shown until Episode 116. We did hear at a few points in early episodes that he caught a lot of Pokémon.
 * Over 200, according to Professor Oak, meaning since there were only 151 kinda in the Kanto saga, he's caught quite a few more than the same species.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Ash's red of the "Original Series".
 * The Rival
 * Shock and Awe: Electivire
 * Shout-Out: Shigeru...what Nintendo legend do we know with that name.
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Really thinks highly of himself in the first season, which only increases the irony over the fact that he loses in the preliminaries of the Indigo League. Played for hilarity when, during a swimsuit contest (the same one Delia eventually won), he actually believes everyone is watching him.
 * Soul Power: Umbreon's Shadow Ball.
 * Super Speed: Arcanine
 * Took a Level In Kindness: Becomes considerably nicer to Ash during the Johto Arc.
 * Use Your Head: Blastoise's Skull Bash.
 * We Used to Be Friends: With Ash, before a quarrel involving a broken Pokeball.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Dodrio

Delia Ketchum (Hanako)


"Voiced by: Masami Toyoshima (JP), Veronica Taylor (EN, 4Kids), Sarah Natochenny (EN, current)"

Ash's always-loving Mom. Not much more needs to be said about her. Just let the tropes do the talking.

"Delia: Oh, Pikachu! It's so good to see you again, oh you're so cute, I could just hug you all day -- oh, hi Ash."
 * All There in the Manual: About her having an actual job apart from just minding the house: a restaurant that she inherited from her mother.
 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Delia frequently and loudly reminds Ash to change his you-know-whats. Sometimes his friends are around. Sometimes there's a small crowd. Sometimes it's being filmed on live TV. However, Delia's obssession with her son's underwear is limited to the 4Kids dub.
 * And the Rest: Delia has been known to do this to her own son.


 * The Atoner: In Pokémon Live, Delia feels guilty for associating herself with Giovanni as a young woman and wishes to keep Ash from learning the truth about her past.
 * Battle Butler: Well, how else shall we call Mimey?
 * Beware the Nice Ones: In some Chronicles episodes, she actually shows some skill as a trainer.
 * The Ditz: Not always, but she has her moments.
 * Former Teen Rebel: According to Pokémon Live, where she reveals she had dated a "bad boy" for a time, a "bad boy" who
 * Green Thumb: She enjoys gardening as her favorite hobby.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Both of Ash's dub actors also voiced her.
 * Hot Mom: Delia was a MILF before the term was coined. She won a bikini contest against girls half her age.
 * Idiot Hair: Delia sports an ahoge just for the sake of having one. She is neither an idiot nor mischievous.
 * Marilyn Maneuver: yes, they went there. She was just imagining it.
 * Neat Freak: Mimey. He once vaccuumed Ash in the face because he apparently hadn't taken a bath for so long.
 * Psychic Powers: Delia owns a very powerful Mr. Mime. Well, she doesn't own Mimey so much as he showed up on her doorstep and she fed him because she thought he was Ash...long story. Anyway, he's basically part of the family now.
 * Talking to Herself: Has the same voice actor as Ash and May; even after The Other Darrin, she still shares a voice actress with Ash.
 * Team Mom: Treats Ash's friends like her own children. When Ash and Misty returned to Kanto after the Orange Islands saga, they found that Delia had found a Heroic BSOD-inflicted Brock and was letting him stay at the Ketchum house while she nursed him back to health.
 * Teen Pregnancy: Delia is/was 28 years old when Ash turned 10 and started on his journey as a trainer.
 * Thanks for the Mammary: Admit it, you wish you were Pikachu right now.

Officer Jenny (Junsar)


"Voiced by: Chinami Nishimura (JP), Megan Hollingshead, Jamie Davyous Owens, Kayzie Rogers, Maya Rosewood, and Emily Williams (EN)"

If there's a town with any semblance of law enforcement, then Officer Jenny will be there.

The numerous Jennies out there exhibit the following tropes:


 * Action Girl: Being a police officer and all, Jenny is (usually) not afraid to leap into the action.
 * Biker Babe: Most of them drive a motorcycle as a preferred vehicle of choice.
 * Art Evolution: Officer Jenny got a complete makeover in the Unova region. She went from having shoulder-length hair and a blue uniform to grass-green short cropped hair with a beige uniform in Unova. Some have commented on her appearance, saying she looks like a Butch Lesbian.
 * Between My Legs: The shot used when a Jenny first appears in Best Wishes episode 38.
 * Cowboy Cop: One particular Jenny enjoys taking down criminals with her...bowling skills. That same Jenny came all the way from Kanto just to capture Team Rocket.
 * Drives Like Crazy: The Jenny in "Pokémon Emergency!"
 * Gender Equals Breed: Ash and Co. once met a Luxray trainer named Marble, a young Jenny. As with Joy, this indicates that men have no impact on genetics in the family.
 * Genre Savvy: the Jenny in "A Poached Ego", where she instantly beats the poacher Rico by quickly stealing the Poké Ball containing his ace, Tyranitar.
 * Improbable Weapon User: "Stealing the Conversation", where one Jenny stopped criminals with a bowling ball.
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Former co-Trope Namer. All Jennies look exactly alike, but each Jenny is told apart by the insignia on their hat, representing the town they're from.
 * Phrase Catcher: a Running Gag with new main characters (and Ash in Unova) is that they would always mistake the second Jenny they meet on their journey with the first one.
 * Playing with Fire: Most Jennies have a Growlithe or Arcanine.
 * Poor Predictable Rock: Though only most, since there have been Jennies that use other Pokémon as well, ranging from Luxray to Gastly.
 * Police Are Useless: Played with, as while the Jennies do try to help Ash and friends, it's usually the latter who save the day. Played completely straight, however, by the Eterna City Jenny from "A Secret Sphere of Influence".
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Most of them, but especially the Jennies in "Pokémon Emergency!" and "Spinarak Attack". The former even gives Ash a free ride to the Pokémon Center!
 * She's Got Legs: And every so often the animators decide to remind us as much.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Quite a few, like the one in "An Egg-Sitting Adventure!"
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair: In earlier episodes, it was blue.
 * Zerg Rush: The Eterna City Jenny uses this technique with a crapload of other officers to corner Nando in "A Secret Sphere of Influence".

Nurse Joy


"Voiced by: Ayako Shiraishi, Kikuko Inoue, and Yuriko Yamaguchi (JP); Megan Hollingshead, Bella Hudson, and Michele Knotz (EN)"

Much like Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy is found anywhere that has a Pokémon center.

The numerous Joys found around the world exhibit the following tropes:


 * Art Evolution: Along with Jenny above, Nurse Joy also underwent a makeover for the Unova region. The bangs of her hair were parted, giving her an overall much younger appearance. She also no longer wears a white apron.
 * Blue Eyes
 * Dark Skinned Rose-Haired Girl: Most of the Joys who live in the Orange Islands have a healthy tan due to living in such sunny environments.
 * Deadly Doctor: One particular Joy near the end of the Battle Frontier arc kicked Ash's ass in a battle with Chansey, then routinely rushed his Corphish to be healed.
 * Friend To All Pokémon: Well, she is a nurse, so it's her job to take care of them.
 * Gender Equals Breed: More recent episodes have shown children Joys named Marnie and Paige, who look exactly the same as their mother. The father looks nothing like the rest of the family. This also implies that Joy is the surname.
 * Hospital Hottie: Makes one go Brock over them.
 * Inexplicably Identical Individuals: The other former Co-Trope Namer. Every Joy in the world looks exactly the same. The only way to tell them apart is by the color of the cross on their hats, which will range through every color except Red due to copyright reasons. Brock can tell them apart without that fact, and in fact can tell when someone is only pretending to be Joy (He doesn't go crazy over them).
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: In one of the Diamond/Pearl side stories, Forrest battles a Joy to keep the Pewter Gym open.
 * The Medic: See Non-Elemental.
 * Muscles Are Meaningless: One of the dark skinned Joys mentioned above also has super-strength. You wouldn't know it by looking at her. She is, however, commented as been more muscular than the other Joys.
 * Non-Elemental: Most Joys have Chansey or Blissey. The Unova Joys have Audino.
 * Phrase Catcher: similar to Jenny's entry above.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: some Joys can easily be interpreted as this. And then there's the voice...

Giovanni (Sakaki)


"Voiced by: Hirotaka Suzuoki (JP, original), Kenta Miyake (JP, current), Craig Blair (EN, 2nd voice), Ted Lewis (EN, 4Kids and current voice)"

The boss of Team Rocket.


 * Actor Existence Failure: His original voice actor passed away towards the end of Advanced Generation, necessitating a re-casting.
 * Adaptational Villainy: Giovanni from the the original games already was a villain, but eventually ends up making a Heel Face Turn, dissolving the Team Rocket and dedicating his life to study Pokémon. This never happens in the anime, and he is portrayed as much more violent and sociopathic in his methods whenever he appears.
 * Badass: He was a Gym Leader at one point and is smoothly running his criminal enterprise without any issue. Then there was the battle with Ash where he demolished him without breaking a sweat, proving his credentials as a battler.
 * Bad Boss: Right before he was Demoted to Extra (until he became a primary antagonistic force and reminded the fans that yes, you do not mess with this man), Giovanni made the cold decision to make Jessie and James head of the blimp squad, blimps that were so old they fell apart from just one flight, which he had been intending so that the trio would crash and he could collect the insurance policy on their blimp. Yes, he was going to quite possibly kill them off.
 * Big Bad: De-facto one of the Kanto arc, back when Jessie, James and Meowth actually worked for him. He was also the Bigger Bad of the first movie, and the Big Bad of it's sequel. Afterwards he was Demoted to Extra and just sent them along on fool's errands.
 * Was restored to this role for Team Rocket's arc in Best Wishes, up until the Operation Tempest two-parter. Afterwards he dropped back Out of Focus.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: At the climax of Operation Tempest.
 * The Comically Serious: Which makes Meowth's daydreams about him all the weirder.
 * Especially the infamous one where a bunch of Pokémon...hump him.
 * Or the chibi Gene Kelly dance.
 * The Bagon and the coconut. Good Arceus Almighty, the Bagon and the coconut!.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: He owned Pokemon Land, an attraction park featuring giant robot Pokemon, implying that he is some sort of businessman, which could come along with being a Gym Leader.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: He's shown giving one to Gary by using Mewtwo. And, when he and Ash finally squared off in Best Wishes, his Persian effortlessly destroys Pikachu.
 * Demoted to Extra: At least until Best Wishes.
 * Deus Exit Machina: He goes off on some Team Rocket business just in time for Ash's eight gym battle.
 * Diabolical Mastermind: With a conqueror complex, too!
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: In the 'Birth of Mewtwo' CD drama.
 * Evil Is Not a Toy: The overwhelming power of the Reveal Glass takes control of him, temporarily driving him into insanity.
 * Much earlier than that, he was using Mewtwo to curb-stomp challengers at his gym and do random tasks before he got his base destroyed from saying too much.
 * Faux Affably Evil: He's cultured, civilized, and intelligent...and one of the most repulsive people in the series. His attitude towards his enemies is one of condescension at best and derision at worst.
 * The Faceless: Until Gary fights him.
 * Freudian Excuse: He describes his mother in rather...caressing tones in the CD drama, but his mother seems cold towards him and refers to him only as her 'brat boy'. This probably caused him to become eviler than her, as part of a means to prove himself. He may have something of an Inferiority Superiority Complex in this case..
 * Graceful Loser: The resolution to Operation Tempest shows he knows when to cut his losses.
 * Infinity+1 Sword: In the first movie, it's explained how he aquired Mewtwo...and later on, how it destroyed the Team Rocket HQ.
 * Knight of Cerebus
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia: He and all his Team Rocket agents (save the TRio) had their memories of Mewtwo wiped by the Mon in question towards the end of Mewtwo Returns.
 * Laughing Mad: [In the climax for Operation Tempest.]
 * Made of Iron: Please remember, Giovanni survived Mewtwo destroying his headquarters with nothing more than a few scrapes and a bad attitude. He also survived a huge super-charged Electro Ball from Pikachu. Being Made of Iron must be a prerequisite for joining Team Rocket.
 * Magnificent Bastard: That his criminal empire is still standing speaks for itself.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Of Mewtwo initially claiming that the two were partners to get him to work for Giovanni. That was until Gio got cocky enough to tell Mewtwo to its face that he lied and considered the Pokemon his most powerful puppet. Mewtwo blew up one of his headquarters in response and escaped while Gio was showhow unharmed from it.
 * Man of Wealth and Taste: Part of being such a Magnificent Bastard.
 * Milking the Giant Cow: [Shown here.]
 * Mr. Exposition: Had a Basil Exposition role towards Jessie, James, and Meowth early into Best Wishes.
 * The Other Darrin: His seiyuu had to be replaced when Hirotaka Suzuoki died. Zig Zagged in the dub where after the entire show was recast, he was played by Craig Blair in two episodes of season 10. Then Ted Lewis, his original voice actor, returned to the role and has been doing it ever since.
 * Right-Hand-Cat: Persian. In the anime inspired Yellow version, he uses it to battle!
 * Screw the Rules, I Have Money and/or Screw the Rules, I Have a Nuke: Mewtwo. Or the Meteonite. Or the Kami Trio.
 * The Sociopath: Shows himself to be this from time to time, especially in Mewtwo Returns.
 * The Unfought: Until Operation Tempest in Best Wishes.
 * Vile Villain Saccharine Show
 * Would Hurt a Child: Unsurprisingly, he was willing to crush Ash to death to convince Meloetta to further his plans in Operation Tempest.

Todd Snap (Toru)
"Voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi (JP), Jimmy Zoppi (ENG)"

An enthusiastic Pokémon photographer, Todd Snap loves taking photos of Pokémon in their natural habitat and learns from Ash how to properly understand their feelings. In his first appearance, he tries to catch a photo of Pikachu after misunderstanding Team Rocket's request to "catch" Pikachu. He becomes a travelling companion to Ash, Misty and Brock for a short while before departing to explore Kanto's mountain region. He reunites with his friends in Johto, trying to snap Articuno whilst accompanied by Jigglypuff. He is fittingly the star of Pokémon Snap.


 * Awesome Personnel Carrier: Professor Oak gives the Zero One multipurpose vehicle to Todd in Pokémon Snap. The vehicle can go on land via railway tracks, can travel down rivers, and fly using rocket boosters.
 * The Bus Came Back: For a second 3-parter during the Johto saga.
 * Camera Fiend
 * Chekhov's Skill: His skills in photography (and camera) proved vital in gathering evidence against Cassidy and Butch, bringing their breeding centre scheme crashing down.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Basically his entire original appearance, since its purpose was to promote Pokémon Snap.
 * Going for the Big Scoop
 * Guest Star Party Member
 * Non-Action Guy
 * Photo Op with the Dog: Todd tries to do with Pikachu and other Pokémon throughout his appearances.
 * Put on a Bus: In Season 1, and then reappears in Johto.
 * Running Gag: Todd takes photos at the most inappropriate moments.

Ritchie (Hiroshi)
"Voiced by: Minami Takayama (JP), Tara Jayne (EN)"


 * Blow You Away: Happy's Whirlwind.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies:Happy (Butterfree)
 * Cross-Dressing Voices
 * Cute Shotaro Boy
 * A Day in the Limelight: Had a few episodes to himself in Chronicles.
 * Dishing Out Dirt (Rock & Ground): Cruise (Pupitar)
 * Doppelganger Spin: Rose's Double Team.
 * Expy: Of Ash himself, right down to the similarity of his team.
 * Guest Star Party Member: During the three-part Lugia arc in the Whirl Islands.
 * Green Thumb: Happy's Sleep Powder.
 * Hero of Another Story: Appears in a few episodes of Pokémon Chronicles.
 * The Nicknamer: Towards his team.
 * Playing with Fire: Zippo (Charmeleon)
 * Psychic Powers: Sparky's Agility.
 * Rummage Fail: So far the only character to put stickers on his Pokéballs to avert this.
 * Shock and Awe: Sparky (Pikachu)
 * Sixth Ranger: At the end of the Indigo League arc/season, and during the three-part Lugia arc in Johto.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Rose (Taillow), Happy (Butterfree)

Cassidy and Butch (Yamato and Kosaburo)
"Voiced by: Masako Katsuki and Takehito Koyasu (JP), Megan Hollingshead, Andi Whaley, Emily Williams, and Eric Stuart and Jimmy Zoppi (EN)"

Two recurring agents of Team Rocket, Cassidy and Butch are far more competent than Jessie, James and Meowth and wear the tradition Team Rocket black uniform rather than the trio's white outfits. They started to suffer from Villain Decay in Pokémon Chronicles.


 * Always Someone Better: They were essentially versions of Jessie and James who were actually competent. At least, until Flanderization set in.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall
 * Butt Monkey: Usually Butch.
 * Card-Carrying Villain: if their motto is anything to go by.
 * Catchphrase Spouting Duo: An alternate version of the usual trio's motto.
 * Darker and Edgier: Than the usual trio until Best Wishes.
 * Dark Action Girl: Cassidy
 * Flanderization: In Pokémon Chronicles.
 * Knight of Cerebus: Subverted. Even though they've always more competant than the main trio, it never lasts after they're defeated.
 * Large Hams
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: In a Running Gag, Butch is called the wrong name repeatedly - like Botch, Biff, Hutch, Bob and even Buffy.
 * The Rivals: To Jessie, James and Meowth.
 * Terrible Trio: Alongside their on-and-off Team Pet Raticate.
 * Those Two Bad Guys
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: They haven't been seen for a while now.
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair: Butch
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair: Butch

Doctor Namba
"Voiced by: Ichiro Nagai (JP), Jimmy Zoppi (EN)"

Team Rocket's resident chief Mad Scientist, Dr. Namba seems to be Cassidy and Butch's superior officer. He's got a Badass Mustache.


 * Badass Mustache
 * Big Bad: Of the three-part Lugia arc during Master Quest.
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: Subverted since the torture session is hilarious - in Pokémon Chronicles, Dr. Namba has Cassidy and Butch.
 * Grumpy Old Man
 * Kick the Dog: He is more than willing to do this if it means getting results for his research.
 * Mad Scientist
 * Mission Control: To Butch and Cassidy.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: Not unlike Butch, but turned Up to Eleven: He knows that someone is getting his name wrong no matter what part of the globe that person is, and conveniently phones them!
 * Villain Decay: All his appearances since his original stint as Big Bad of a three-part arc.

Professor Felina Ivy (Dr. Uchikido)
"Voiced by: Keiko Han (JP), Kayzie Rogers (EN)"

Professor Ivy lives in the Orange Islands. She was introduced for little more reason than to give the GS Ball to Ash, Misty, and Brock.

She exhibits the following tropes:


 * Hot Librarian: Those glasses are sexy.
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Noodle Incident: Nobody knows why Brock is terrified of her these days. He's certainly not telling.

Casey (Nanako)
"Voiced by: Nina Kumagaya (JP), Kara Edwards (EN)"

One girl fan of baseball and recurrent character in Johto. Appeared in three episodes in the Johto series, in one of the openings in Johto, side to side with Ritchie and Gary and participated of two Chronicles episodes, one as the main character.


 * A Day in the Limelight: Is the main character in a Chronicles episode.
 * Action Girl
 * Animal Motifs: Electabuzz
 * Baseball Episode
 * Berserk Button: Questioning her loyalty to the Electabuzz baseball team, as Ash did in his first appearance (though since Charizard gave her entire team a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, this had a different negative effect at first).
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Beedrill
 * Development Gag: A subtle one. "Casey" was originally supposed to be Ash's name.
 * The Ditz: She's cute but not too bright.
 * Fan Girl: To the Electabuzz baseball team, which are expies of the Osaka Hanshin Tigers, a Real Life baseball team which is much loved in Japan.
 * Fan of Underdog
 * Flight: Pidgey and Beedrill.
 * Gender Blender Name: In the English dub. See Development Gag, above.
 * Genki Girl
 * Green Thumb: Meganium
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Kansai Regional Accent: In the original.
 * Meaningful Name: She's a fan of a baseball team, and thus named after the poem "Casey At The Bat".
 * Nice Hat: A baseball cap with a lightning bolt design on the front.
 * Non-Elemental: Rattata
 * Running Gag: Her appearances to the gang is never complete without her (and her team) singing the Electabuzz theme song.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Beedrill
 * She's Got Legs
 * Shock and Awe: Elekid
 * What the Hell, Hero?: She pushed her Chikorita in her second appearance (during the Bug-Catching Contest) so she could beat Ash. Thankfully she learned her lesson afterwards, and Ash giving her the Beedrill he won the Contest with helped her appreciate the lesson all the more.
 * Who Wears Short Shorts?
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Pidgey
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Harrison (Hazuki)
One of the participants of the Silver Conference. Originates from Hoenn and was responsible for defeating Ash.


 * Attack Reflector: Houndoom's Counter.
 * An Ice Pokémon: Sneasel
 * Badass
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Blaziken
 * Canine Companion
 * Casting a Shadow: Houndoom, Sneasel, Steelix's Crunch.
 * Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Steelix
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Steelix, Sneasel's Metal Claw.
 * Fragile Speedster: Kecleon
 * Glass Cannon: Sneasel
 * Jack of All Stats: Houndoom
 * Lightning Bruiser: Blaziken
 * Mighty Glacier: Steelix
 * Non-Elemental: Miltank and Kecleon.
 * Playing with Fire: Houndoom, Blaziken
 * Psychic Powers: Hypno, Kecleon's Psybeam.
 * Squishy Wizard: Hypno
 * Soul Power: Sneasel's Shadow Ball, and Kecleon's Lick.
 * Mon Bites Mon: Houndoom's Bite.
 * Oh Crap: When Hypno realised what a bad idea it was to wake Snorlax using Dream Eater, its face became a case study of this trope.
 * Right-Hand Attack Dog: Houndoom, who appears occasionally outside its ball with its trainer.
 * Use Your Head: Houndoom's Headbutt.
 * Visible Invisibility: Kecleon
 * Worf Had the Flu: after being too injured in fighting Ash's Charizard, Blaziken was unable to participate in Harrison's next battle, costing him the win.

Duplica (Imite)
"Voiced by: Orine Fukushima (JP), Megan Hollingshead (EN)"

A girl who manages her own theater, putting on performances for any travelers who happen to stop by.


 * Ascended Extra: Kind of. While she only made two anime appearances, she showed up in the game Pokémon Zany Cards and the manga The Electric Tale of Pikachu.
 * The Bus Came Back: In EP174.
 * Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: She can swap costumes at the drop of a hat.
 * Costume Copycat
 * Expy: She's one for Copycat from the games.
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Meaningful Name: "Imite" comes from "imitate," and "Duplica" comes from "duplicate".
 * Morphic Resonance: A problem with her first Ditto was that it couldn't Transform into Pokémon properly due to still having the same Ditto face when it transformed (which ironically Jessie fixed by threatening it). Another Ditto could render a perfect transformation...except for its size, which she demonstrated by having it transform into a tiny Onix.
 * Nice Hat: The first time we see her, she's dressed up as Ash with a replica of his hat to match.
 * Non-Elemental: Ditto and Mini-Dit.
 * Stage Magician
 * Troll: If she feels like using her imitation skills to mess with you, she WILL.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Jigglypuff (Purin)
"Voiced by: Mika Kanai (JP), Rachael Lillis (EN)"

A cute, pink, balloon-like Pokémon who becomes a recurring character up until the Hoenn arc. Desiring to sing her beautiful song, Jigglypuff randomly pops up now and again to attempt her dream. However, her power causes people to fall asleep, and oblivious to this side effect, Jigglypuff assumes her victims are humiliating her, prompting her to use her marker pen (her microphone) to draw on their faces.


 * Badass Adorable: Beware that DoubleSlap of hers...
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Jigglypuff can be pretty scary when she realizes people have fallen asleep. She's even scarier if you take her marker microphone away.
 * Blue Eyes
 * Breakout Character: Second only to Pikachu in terms of popularity.
 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: See Yank the Dog's Chain below.
 * The Ditz
 * Face Doodling
 * Killer Rabbit
 * Magic Music
 * Make Me Wanna Shout
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter
 * Signature Move: Jigglypuff uses Sing as a talent rather than an attack.
 * Yank the Dog's Chain: She never did find someone to stay with who could listen to her song all the way: the Whismur in her last appearance (whose Soundproof ability negated the effects of Sing) fell asleep from exhaustion. Naturally, she got cross and left, and hasn't been seen since.

Kanto Gym Leaders

 * Long Bus Trip: The only Gym that was visited during the Battle Frontier saga, which was placed in Kanto instead of Hoenn, was the Pewter Gym. Misty traveled with the group at the beginning of the arc, but she parted ways just outside of Cerulean City.
 * One Episode Wonder: Lt. Surge, Erika & Koga.
 * Out of Focus: In the anime, compared to several other mediums (most notably Pokémon Special, where several were even Team Rocket agents). Even the Johto Gym Leaders (most of them, anyway) didn't get it this bad.

Forrest (Jiro)
"Voiced by: Romi Park (JP), Andy Rannells (EN, 4Kids), Joanna Burns (EN, current)."

The oldest of the Brocklings after Brock, Forrest is one of Pewter City's gym leaders, sharing the position with his parents. He finally becomes the sole official Gym Leader after passing a test posited by the PIA.


 * Ambiguously Brown
 * Big Brother Worship
 * Dishing Out Dirt : As the Pewter Gym Leader, he's a specialist in rock type]] Pokémon.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Steelix's primary type
 * Eyes Always Shut
 * Like Big Bro Like Little Bro: Dub-only, he has a similar interest in girls as Brock.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Takes his role as Gym Leader seriously, much more than his parents and still more than his brother does
 * Took a Level In Badass: In a spin-off episode which first aired during Best Wishes, he has a Rhyperior which puts up a damn good fight against.
 * Poisonous Pokemon: Crobat
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Crobat

Flint (Muno)

 * Ambiguously Brown
 * Brick Joke: his debut has him sitting in the outskirts of Pewter City in a Lotus Position. In the Chronicles episode showing Brock's return to Pewter City, he's back in the same spot again. He even has the same disguise!
 * Disappeared Dad: Who came back. While he's certainly proven himself a bit more responsible than his wife, she can still drag him along into irresponsibility. Most notable when he's pulled along on vacation with her (taking Ludicolo to carry the bags), leaving Brock to clean up their mess.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: His Golem is proof of this.
 * Eyes Always Shut
 * Like Father, Like Son: Apparently, Brock takes his weakness for girls from him, although this was only shown around Lola.
 * One Flint Limit: Averted - we also have Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four.
 * Parents as People: A surprisingly good example - when he's not being neglectful or just plain stupid, he can actually be a thoughtful and loving father. For instance, according to Brock he's the one who gifted Brock his Onix on his son's tenth birthday - the two of them sat together on Onix's head to watch the sunrise, and Flint's Happy Birthday message made Brock feel it was the first time he truly had his father's recognition.
 * Sickeningly Sweethearts: with Lola, to the point that even their own children are creeped out.

Lola (Mizuho)

 * Dub Induced Plot Hole: One of the most famous examples in the anime.
 * Hot Mom
 * Making a Splash
 * Meaningful Name: Her Japanese name, Mizuho, contains the characters for mizu, which means "water".
 * Missing Mom: Until she suddenly came back...with every intent of remodelling the Gym, against the wishes of pretty much her entire family.
 * Not Quite Dead
 * Sickeningly Sweethearts: with Flint.
 * Social Services Does Not Exist: Or else she (and even her husband) would have already received a call from them a long time ago.

Daisy (Sakura)
"Voiced by: Rei Sakuma (JP), Lisa Ortiz (EN)"

Misty's eldest sister. Got a large role in two of the Chronicles specials, proving surprisingly popular in the process.


 * Action Girl: See Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 * Adventure Couple: With Tracey, although there's no clear indication they're an actual couple.
 * Aloof Big Sister --> Cool Big Sis
 * An Ice Pokémon: Dewgong is an actual ice type, and her Luvdisc uses Ice Beam.
 * Bash Sisters: We've only seen her battle once, and she holds her own quite well teamed up with Misty. Maybe it's just lack of effort?
 * Bifauxnen: She's the "handsome prince" in the water show from the first season.
 * Brainless Beauty/Dumb Blonde: Played up a bit in the dub - the Valley Girl accent naturally doesn't help - but it's present to an extent in the original as well. Though she's actually a good deal smarter than she lets on.
 * Character Development: Started off as a Flat Character like her sisters, but eventually developed her own unique personality.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Sure, as the oldest, she didn't win the battling skills, but throw a pair of Cool Shades on her and suddenly she's an action heroine to be reckoned with, spearheading the mission to chase down Butch and Cassidy with her driving skills. Once the glasses come off, she of course freaks out and needs to team up with Misty in order to battle effectively.
 * Dismotivation: Does not wish to do actual work, and is not above bribing gym challengers into completing household chores.
 * Drives Like Crazy
 * Hair Decorations
 * Floral Theme Naming
 * Flower in Her Hair
 * Hello, Nurse!: One-third of the Sensational Sisters.
 * Hot Chick with a Sword: Briefly wields a prop sword in "The Misty Mermaid."
 * Imagine Spot: Notable for setting up a blatantly lying episode trailer that sent the shippers into conniption fits.
 * Making a Splash
 * Name's the Same: As Blue's sister from the games. In the Japanese version, she shares a name with the Eevee trainer Sakura, ironically the "runt" of her own family.
 * Parent Service
 * Rapunzel Hair: Waist-length blonde hair.
 * Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Energetic Girl to Tracey's Savvy Guy.
 * Shipper on Deck: Albeit in the most backhanded way possible. In fact, in the Cerulean gym's debut, all three sisters instantly ask Ash if he's Misty's boyfriend.
 * Spoiled Sweet: Self-absorbed and blunt, but she gives no indication of intentional meanness and is in fact usually nicer than Lily, Violet, or even Misty herself. Even in her first appearance she was more teasingly supportive of Misty rather than just teasing like Lily and Violet.
 * Sweater Girl
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Misty's Tomboy.
 * Valley Girl: As are Lily and Violet.

Violet (Ayame) & Lily (Botan)
"Violet voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami, (JP) Rachel Lillis (EN) Lily voiced by: Yōko Asada (JP), Megan Hollingshead (EN)"

The middle siblings in Misty's family. Share several tropes with Daisy (above).


 * Big Sister Bullies: Though not so much "bullies" as insensitive and over-teasing, rather. Lily in particular, being the second youngest.
 * Floral Theme Naming
 * Hair Decorations: Violet.
 * Making a Splash
 * Satellite Characters: To an extent.
 * Those Two Girls
 * Valley Girls: Just like Daisy.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Violet.

Lt. Surge (Mathis)

 * The Brute: Surge is practically the largest human in the anime; his fighting style with his Raichu also reflects this.
 * Dark-Skinned Blond: Though it's more of a healthy tan.
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty: Possibly, judging by his attitude towards strength and power.
 * Eagle Land: Flavor 2, in contrast to the games where he's a Flavor 1. His new-earned respect for Ash (after defeating him) shows some Flavor 1, though - he's a bit of both with emphasis on the 2nd.
 * Graceful Loser: All Gym Leaders tend to be this, but even now Surge's attitude made him the most surprising of the bunch.
 * Gratuitous English: In the original Japanese.
 * Jerkass/Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Precision F-Strike: Lets off a "Goddamn!" in the Japanese version.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Wake Up Call Boss: Surge is also remembered as the first Gym Leader who didn't just give Ash a badge for a random good deed.

Sabrina (Natsume)

 * Adaptation Dye Job: From blue/black hair (in the games), to dark green (in the anime).
 * Ax Crazy: A more controlled, tranquil version of this, but Sabrina is clearly nuts, clearly dangerous to anyone who crosses her way, is the only Gym Leader (aside from Giovanni, of course) you could truly call "evil", and has the power to warp reality for little provocation. Before Ash and his Haunter made her sane again, she routinely turned anyone who lost to her into toys for her split personality to play with, usually in highly dangerous ways (bowling, anyone?). No wonder her gym is nigh deserted most of the time.
 * Badass
 * Creepy Doll
 * Creepy Monotone
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Or to explain it in episodes in which Ash faces her in battle: Defeat means being doomed to spend an eternity playing with her split personality.
 * Defeating Sabrina, on the other hand, ends up redeeming her (though it was done unconventionally - due to her telepathic link with Kadabra, neither of them were able to continue battling after Haunter made her laugh and reignited the flame of her human soul).
 * Emotionless Girl: Her state of being until Haunter and Ash helped her reconnect with her humanity, causing a Split Personality Merge.
 * Enfant Terrible: When she was a child, after developing psychic powers. This catches up to her, with her split personality being the playful little girl who was buried by the obsessive psychic perfectionist.
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Knight of Cerebus
 * One Arc Wonder
 * Playing Against Type: Who's more shocking, Chibiusa or Lina Inverse?
 * Psychopathic Manchild: Her split personality, manifested by a Creepy Doll.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Redemption Earns Life: In more than one way - Ash's determination to beat her not only turned her good, but essentially saved her soul as well.
 * Split Personality
 * That One Boss: In-Universe, even many of the more powerful Gym Leaders later in the series weren't as much of a pain for Ash to battle as Sabrina - who else did he have to challenge thrice (though to be fair, the second time there was no actual battle).
 * When She Laughs
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair

Erika

 * Adaptation Dye Job: From black hair in the games to blue.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: Towards Ash.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Apparently thinks that badmouthing her perfume shop is enough reason to disallow challengers access to her Gym. She does accept Ash's direct challenge, though, and give him the badge in gratitude for saving her Gloom's life.
 * Considering Brock and Erika herself said gym leaders have to accept all challenges, Ash should have reported her to the league for her immature behavior.
 * It should be noted that she says nothing of the sort in the original Japanese version, meaning that even if her reasons were petty, she did have a right to refuse his challenge. It's implied she only accepted face-to-face in order to badmouth him/kick his ass.
 * Green Thumb: She specialises in Grass types:
 * Hannibal Lecture: Tries this with Ash during their Gym Battle by criticising his "lack of compassion" towards his Pokémon, either to demoralise him or to teach him a lesson.
 * Ojou
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Gloom and Weepinbell's secondary type.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: Insulting perfume constitutes for you getting banned from her gym.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Koga (Kyou)

 * Aloof Big Brother/Big Brother Mentor: Towards Aya, his younger sister.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Venonat/Venomoth's primary type.
 * Flight: Both Venomoth and Golbat.
 * Highly-Visible Ninja: Lampshaded by Misty.
 * Actually she called his younger sister Aya out on this. Though Koga's cnime attire still wasn't particularly shady.
 * Improbable Hairstyle
 * Poisonous Person: He specialises in Poison types
 * The Quiet One
 * The Stoic: In stark contrast to his Large Ham game personna.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Golbat's secondary type.

Blaine (Katsura)

 * Actually, I Am Him: His debut.
 * Bald of Awesome: Though he wears a wig much of the time (possibly vanity), he proudly displays his bald pate to Ash once he's been defeated.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Rhydon (Ground/Rock)
 * Einstein Hair
 * Horn Attack: Rhydon's Horn Drill.
 * Mythology Gag: A subtle one with his disguise: take away his wig and balding hair, keep the glasses and paint the fake mustache white. You get videogame Blaine! Justified since his design had reportedly changed several times during the development of the games.
 * Old Master
 * Phrase Catcher: "Not another riddle!"
 * Pungeon Master
 * Playing with Fire: He specialises in Fire types
 * Riddle Me This
 * Stealth Mentor: Blaine revealed it is not only a gym leader's job to test battle competence, but their judgment as owners of Pokemon, stating gym leaders may indeed disqualify trainers if they push their Pokemon past the limit.
 * Use Your Head: Magmar's Skull Bash.

Lorelei (Kanna)

 * An Ice Pokémon: She has Ice Pokémon.
 * Break the Haughty: Ash had been getting a pretty big head about his winning streak, and even tries to goad Lorelei by claiming she is afraid to battle him. Sure, one of the best trainers in the region is intimidated by a random big mouth.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Lorelei's Slowbro makes quick work of Charizard.
 * Dub Name Change: Was called Prima in the English dub of the series, rumor has it that it was due to trying to match the mouth movements. (Namely due to how "Prima" has the same amount of syllables as "Kanna" which is her name in the Japanese version.) But in Pokémon Puzzle League for the N64, her name was restored to Lorelei.
 * Even the Girls Want Her: People often joke that this is how Misty reacted to her in Lorelei's episode in the series.
 * Hotter and Sexier: While Lorelei was never ugly to begin with in the anime they made her body to be considerably "curvier" sort to speak, though Pokémon Puzzle League for the N64 plays around with this by even making her personality a little bit flirty.
 * Meaningful Name: Lorelei is known as Kanna in Japan which means "Well Blossomed Flower" which did cause some dirty jokes about how "Well Blossomed" she is.
 * Meganekko
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * One-Scene Wonder: Was only in one episode of the anime.
 * Sexy Mentor: Tried to be one to Ash in her only episode in the anime series.

Bruno (Shiba)

 * Ambiguously Brown
 * Broken Pedestal: A subversion, after Ash and Brock begged Bruno to take them as students Bruno agreed to it as long as they do what he says. However to Bruno it was a rather transparent plot to get Ash and Brock to do some chores for him in which he inevitably admitted to that. Brock tried to do a sneak attack on Bruno in which Brock almost knocked Bruno out and over the course of the episode Misty suspects that Bruno is a phony. However Bruno definitely proves how powerful he is while giving them a lesson in The Power of Friendship while taming a wild Onix.
 * Charles Atlas Superpower: His strength and agility does slightly border on being superhuman.
 * Gentle Giant: Became one in Pokémon Puzzle League for the N64.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Is the only Elite Four member mentioned here in this page whom Ash got to meet before he went through the Kanto Pokémon League.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Alike the aforementioned Lorelei, he was only in one episode.
 * Rated "M" for Manly: The reason why Ash and Brock wanted to become his students.
 * Walking Shirtless Scene

Agatha (Kikuko)

 * Cool Old Lady: She may have been a really late cameo as a temporary gym leader of Viridian City and does not do all that much more than that but at least she certainly gets to show off her skills as a Pokémon Trainer.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Like Lorelei and Bruno she was only in one episode of the series so far.

Lance (Wataru)

 * Badass
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Gyarados' Hyper Beam.
 * Guest Star Party Member: Essentially this during both his two-parter appearances.
 * Making a Splash: The Red Gyarados.
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A Dragon-trainer who is also a Secret Police agent in the anime.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Is still very much a Dragon Pokémon Trainer.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Subverted, unlike the other Elite Four members mentioned here he actually appeared in more than one episode (granted only four episodes, but still).
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Or at least have Pink hair, granted its suppose to be bright red but often enough in the show it more looks pink than red.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Gyarados' secondary type.

Faulkner (Hayato)

 * Big Badass Bird of Prey: His Pidgeot. Dodrio as well, to a lesser degree.
 * Big Damn Heroes: He first appears on a hang-glider, rescues Pikachu, and blasts off Team Rocket. Then introductions are made.
 * Break the Haughty: Ash's victory is implied to have humbled him somewhat.
 * Elemental Powers: He trains Flying types.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: His Dodrio knows Tri Attack.
 * Non-Elemental: Primary Type
 * Hypocrite: He states how he hates the concensus that Flying types would always lose to Electric types due to a type disadvantage...and then subsequently patronises Ash for using Chikorita, for no reason besides her type disadvantage. He backed it up, but it was still an egotistical thing to do, and was followed by Laser-Guided Karma (below).
 * In a Single Bound: His Dodrio is a very good jumper.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's boastful of the superiority of his chosen Pokémon type and self-righteous about his methods, but he's good at heart and even went out of his way to save Pikachu with no personal gain involved.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: After boasting of the strength of his Flying types, his Hoothoot takes out Ash's Chikorita easily; following that, his first two Pokémon are both defeated by Pikachu.
 * Multiple Head Case: Dodrio.
 * One Episode Wonder
 * Owl Be Damned: Hoothoot
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings

Bugsy (Tsukushi)

 * Achilles' Heel: His Scyther can use Swords Dance to create the perfect shield from Fire type attacks...except those coming from directly above, which Ash exploits to defeat him.
 * Competitive Balance:
 * Fragile Speedster: Spinarak
 * Lightning Bruiser: Metapod & Scyther.
 * Elemental Powers: He raises Bug type Pokémon.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Spinarak's secondary type.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Scyther's secondary type.
 * Flight: Scyther
 * One Episode Wonder
 * You Gotta Have Purple Hair

Whitney (Akane)

 * Ascended Meme: Rarely was there a player who - the first time they battled her - failed to get through her Clefairy, only to have their entire team clobbered by Miltank. Guess what happened to Ash the first time they battled.
 * Badass Adorable
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: She seems silly and playful, and her Nidorina and Clefairy go down quickly, but she's still the only Johto Gym Leader who Ash ever lost against.
 * The Ditz
 * Elemental Powers:
 * Non-Elemental: Clefairy and Miltank.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Nidorina
 * Lightning Bruiser: Good God, Miltank...
 * Nice Girl
 * No Sense of Direction: Gets lost in her own home town.
 * Rose-Haired Girl
 * Wake Up Call Boss

Morty (Matsuba)

 * The Bus Came Back: Returned in "For Ho-Oh The Bells Toll".
 * Elemental Powers: He uses Ghost type Pokémon.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Ghastly/Haunter/Gengar's secondary type.
 * Psychic Powers: Ghastly's Confusion and Haunter's Hypnosis.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: He has little reason to believe that Ash truly saw Ho-Oh (a Pokémon last seen three centuries ago), but he doesn't completely dismiss the notion and later, impressed by Ash's victory and "spirit", he concedes his challenger may indeed have seen Ho-Oh. He's also quite forgiving of their disturbing the Pokémon that live at the Burned Tower.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to his friend Eusine's red.
 * The Stoic: He doesn't show an excess of emotion and mostly expresses himself with controlled smiles or frowns.
 * Talking To Ghost Pokémon: Though unlike most examples, Morty mastered this through practice rather than inherent talent.

Chuck (Shijima)

 * Badass Moustache
 * Badass Normal: He can fight and train with his own Pokémon, but he's also...
 * Brilliant but Lazy: Thus, he's let himself go, tiring easily and having put on a little weight.
 * Bruiser With a Soft Centre: Chuck and his Machoke not only embody this trope, they're proud of it.
 * Elemental Powers: He trains Fighting types.
 * Making a Splash: Poliwrath's primary type.
 * Improbable Hairstyle: The way the hair on the back of his head sticks up.
 * The Mentor: Has many students, the most notable one we know of being Brawly the Gym Leader of Dewford Town (in Hoenn).
 * One Episode Wonder: Notably the last time this has so far happened with a Gym Leader.
 * Spirited Competitor
 * Tears of Joy
 * Walking Shirtless Scene: All the damn time!

Jasmine (Mikan)

 * The Bus Came Back: Makes a one-episode appearance in the "Diamond and Pearl" series.
 * Characterisation Marches On: Was a borderline Shrinking Violet/Yamato Nadeshiko in her first episode. When she reappears, she's clearly taken a level in confidence and is more headstrong than before (though it may be justified in that her Ampharos was terribly sick at first, leaving her concerned).
 * Elemental Powers: She trains Steel types.
 * Casting a Shadow: Steelix's Crunch.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Steelix's secondary type (Ground), and Sandstorm attack (Rock).
 * Shock and Awe: Magnemite's primary type.
 * Every Girl Is Cuter With Hair Decs
 * Worf Had the Flu: She refused to leave the Lighthouse until her Ampharos had fully recovered, which necessitated the entire Whirl Islands arc. After it got better, she finally agreed to battle Ash.

Pryce (Yanagi)

 * Badass Grandpa
 * Cool Old Guy: Once he mellows out a little.
 * Defrosting Ice King
 * Early-Bird Cameo: He appears briefly in "Rage of Innocence" before having his full introduction in the following episode.
 * Elemental Powers: He specialises in Ice type Pokémon.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Piloswine's secondary type.
 * Making a Splash: Dewgong's primary type.
 * Freudian Excuse: As a boy, he loved Pokémon dearly and was a skilled trainer. One day, and subsequently hardening his heart towards Pokémon. Only after meeting Ash was it revealed that, leading to Pryce's My God, What Have I Done? realisation.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even in his "hating Pokémon" period, his softer side wasn't gone but...buried, way deep down.
 * Tender Tears: When he realises that he was, and again when
 * Use Your Head: Dewgong's Skull Bash.
 * Use Your Head: Dewgong's Skull Bash.

Clair (Ibuki)

 * Action Girl
 * Always Accurate Attack: Kingdra's Swift.
 * Badass
 * A Day in the Limelight: She has a five-episode arc.
 * Elemental Powers: She uses Dragon types:
 * Casting a Shadow: Gyarados' Bite.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Dragonair's Iron Tail.
 * Making a Splash: Kingdra & Gyarados' primary type. Dragonair's Rain Dance.
 * Shock and Awe: Dragonair's Thunder Wave.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Gyarados's secondary type.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Gyarados and Kindgra's Hyper Beam.
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: In her first episode, she refused to do anything (including perform the tri-annual ritual required of her) while her Dratini was shedding. It actually turned out to be in the process of evolving.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair