Pokémon/Tear Jerker

Anime
"Ash:"
 * The end of the Indigo Conference arc. Watching a recap of Ash's entire experience of all the battles he went through, all to the glorious sound of the Pokémon Theme. It makes you feel like he really did give his all to get as far as he did. You feel proud that he did so well. And afterwards he stands in the middle of the stadium, and reasserts his vow to become a Pokémon Master. The Pokémon League may be over for Ash, but his journey has only just really begun.
 * It's recycled at the end of the Unova Conference, though not quite as effective due to faster paced, even more upbeat song they have playing over it.
 * The climax to the first episode, "Pikachu, I choose you!" Try not to get a knot on your throat when you see Ash eager to be pecked to death for an insubordinate Pokémon he only just met.
 * Pokémon episodes "Pikachu's Goodbye", "Bye Bye Butterfree", and "Charizard's Burning Ambition". Probably other episodes too.
 * For some, it's not so much the episode as the song "The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)" from the Image Song CD. You can listen to the song here, if you don't mind tearing up.
 * If it was even possible, 4Kids did manage to make the first two even sadder than it was originally (the dub opening was surprisingly effective in making Butterfree's departure dramatic). "Pikachu's Goodbye" also had a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming at the end of the episode.
 * When Metapod evolved into Butterfree in a big burst of light and the electric guitar wailed out into earshot, you cannot deny that a chill shot down your spine and the tears began to flow.
 * That one scene in Pikachu's Goodbye where the pack/flock/group/collective/whatever of Pikachu were singing. Yes, "The Time Has Come" is a tearjerker but that scene hits the spot. Watch it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQR Jz 7 s IGQI&feature=related. Warning,your mileage may vary.
 * Butterfree's goodbye was recycled ten seasons later with Jessie's Dustox. Didn't have the music making it sadder, though, the way "Bye Bye Butterfree" is.
 * The dub kind of ruined this scene, but you might want to think again. The original has the first movie's theme, "Kaze to Issho ni", playing over the release. And let's face it -- it's the first time Jessie's broken down like this. Watching her crush Dustox's Poké Ball under her foot in tears is heartbreaking, and a rare deredere moment from the Team Rocket trio's leader.
 * No mention of Misty releasing Togetic? Particularly in the original, with its positively heartrending background music. Especially when you think of it from the standpoint of Misty being a mother that has watched her 'child' be born, grow up, and then reaches the moment where she has to let go and release that child into the world to live independently of her.
 * The entire first episode of Charmander's appearance. Just picturing it freezing and shivering alone on that rock during the rain storm doing it's best to prevent its tail flame from going out, and essentially killing it is one of the saddest moment of the series.
 * Tepig's background story is just as bad. After Tepig loses a battle, his trainer abandons him in a rather cruel way; the porker is tied to a fencepost and forced to watch his trainer walk away on him. To make matters worse, he still loves his trainer; Tepig literally breaks down into tears and tries to chase after the guy. Before Don George can free him, however, Tepig shoddily bites through the rope and promptly sets off to find said ex-trainer. Oh, did I mention some of the rope gets caught around his snout? When Ash finds him, Tepig is on the verge of starving to death.
 * Even worse, Tepig doesn't harbor any ill will towards his old trainer:  Then we discover that   It's enough to make you cry...
 * Charmander's story in general is quite sad, though it does get better. It was good friends with Ash, but when it evolved, it suddenly became hostile and aggressive, which got worse when it evolved into Charizard. However, at one point, it is weakened during a battle, and Ash spends the entire night trying to keep it warm, getting blisters all over his hands in the process. The next day, for the first time, Charizard fought for Ash.
 * Some people can't watch the prequel short on the Mewtwo Returns DVD without crying, and tears up just at the sound of "Chiisaki Mono" from the sixth movie.
 * During the second movie, Team Rocket's attempt at
 * The scene in the 8th movie where
 * Also, during the aforementioned scene when
 * The Japanese version is even sadder, though Your Mileage May Vary.
 * And during the ending credits --
 * There was also.
 * Also from Movie 8,
 * Also from Movie 8,

": (Giggles) I think it's almost time for us to say goodbye. Mewtwo...live, all right? I'm sure living is wonderful. Mewtwo: ..I..I'm in the glass...in the water, but water is flowing from my eyes...what is this? Mewtwo: Tears? Mewtwo: Huh? Mewtwo:, they won't stop...The tears..what should I do? answer me..."
 * And just the way
 * The beginning of the episode "Gotta Catch You Later" where Ash, Misty, and Brock separate after being together for so long is pretty moving.
 * The farewell of Misty in the Master Quest season.
 * Everything about that first half of the episode. Misty's sad look when she realizes she'll have to go home. How upset she is when Ash, not realizing the gravity of the situation, just comments that she has her bike back and can get home faster...then her walking away crying, thinking that Ash doesn't seem to care that they have to split up. Then Ash and Brock show up to help her battle Team Rocket...Ash compliments her on her battling and Misty, instead of brushing it off like usual, thanks Ash and says it's "sweet" of him to say. About the only thing the dub missed was the fact that in the original, Misty tells the eternally-dense Ash, point-blank, that "it was never about the bike"
 * A runner up in that season is Larvitar's backstory in "Address Unown".
 * Thank God it's followed by what is considered to be for some,
 * Some people always tear up in the first movie when  He gets better, but it doesn't make it any less sad.
 * Just listen to the music "Tears of Life" from the movie and see if you don't visualize the scene mentioned above and start sobbing hysterically.
 * The Tear Jerker song If Only Tears Could Bring You Back by Midnight Sons represents this scene in the CD.
 * "If Only Tears Could Bring You Back" might also sum up Mewtwo and Amber as well, from the Mewtwo's Origin short that was cut out from the movie's theater release.
 * For some, it's
 * Speaking of James, some people still can't get through 'Holy Matrimony' without bawling like a little kid. James telling the story of how he froze to death as a little kid after running away from home, with his Growlithe watching helplessly at his side (the fact that it was obviously fake doesn't make it any less sad) is already tear-worthy, but at the end when  is part heartwarming, part tear-jerking.
 * The ending of "Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea" qualifies.
 * "Love...you."
 * The Birth of Mewtwo. Especially when, Young Mewtwo's best friend Just the line "Don't cry, because you are alive! And life is wonderful."/"Live, all right? I'm sure living is wonderful." makes some tear up.
 * (Giggles) That's probably..tears.
 * Papa said all living things don't shed tears unless their bodies hurt. And the only ones who shed tears because they're sad are humans...Mewtwo...
 * ...Thank you for your tears. But Mewtwo, don't cry. You're going to live. And I'm sure that living is wonderful.

"Ash: You win. Guess we'll all be cold together."
 * Life is wonderful...but...why?
 * Mewtwo's entire life. He has to watch all of his friends die before he's even born, which is so traumatic for him that the scientists have to wipe his memory in order to keep it from killing him, too. Then, when he is given his first taste of the real world, he discovers that his entire reason for being is to have tests run on him, like a lab rat. Once he breaks out, he discovers that every other Pokémon is either in the wild or under the ownership of humans, who make the Pokémon do their bidding. He goes berserk at this point, and has to be forcibly taught that not all humans are bastards. He and the Pokémon clones that he created then go to live out their lives in a place apart from those who would harm them. But Giovanni comes and threatens to execute every last one of them unless Mewtwo submits to him, and hs to be bailed out by Ash and company. The last we see of him, he and the Pokémon who depend on him are still hiding from humans, probably terrified that they will be found again. Can you really blame him for going berserk several times?
 * Speaking of Pokémon, the capture of Pikachu by Mewtwo's evil Poké Balls in the first movie. Gets me every time. It's been established that Pikachu does not like being in a Poké Ball. Many times. Ash is beaten half to death by evil Poké Balls and robotic arms in a chase all over Mewtwo's fortress. He does all he can do to save his buddy, and in the end, he fails. Pikachu has been captured by The Big Bad, his freedom stripped away. He gets rescued, but still...
 * Related to Pikachu's Poké Ball phobia, Ash demanding Pikachu get into one in "Snow Way Out" so he won't die from the blizzard they're stuck in. As if to prove Pikachu's point that he won't leave his trainer's side, his other teammates come out of their Poké Balls and hug Ash...


 * The music that's playing in the background at the time makes that scene all more powerful.
 * Also from that episode, the flashback to Jessie's childhood. She was so painfully poor that a meal entirely made of snow was a delicious meal to her.
 * final goodbye to, in the fifth movie. It's really not helped by the scene a few minutes on, which shows.
 * Especially since the creator of Pokémon always used the word "faint" to describe defeated Pokémon so that kids wouldn't have to hear about death. This makes the first on screen Pokémon death even more moving considering that  and explains in the games why
 * Just a small one from "A Scare in the Air," watching Jessie and James sit there mumbling "Looks like Team Rocket's messing up again."
 * The end credits to the third movie, partially because of the song playing ("To Know The Unknown"), and partially because of one scene that shows the return of Molly's long-lost mother.
 * Also from the third movie, the part when Ash is falling into the pit, and suddenly Charizard, the Pokémon that previously hated him and refused to ever do what he said, swoops out of nowhere and saves him.
 * Molly's parents both disappearing, one leaving her family, the other being dragged into another reality. Also, the whole part about rejecting her reality in favor of living in her dreams. The entire OST of the movie emphasizes the isolation and loneliness Molly experiences.
 * The entire "Team Shocker!" episode is a huge Tear Jerker. Dawn, the resident cutie is broken all of a sudden, after 2 lost appeals. Soon after, it cuts to a scene where her mom Joanna is shown disappointedly glancing at a wall full of photos of both her and daughter participating in contests. Next, Jessie goes and rubs her victory in Dawn's face. And Dawn later cries herself to sleep..
 * It was so upsetting that Ash himself was on the exact same emotional wavelength.
 * It's made even worse. For around a dozen episodes,the broken self esteem'd Dawn doesn't want to enter in contests anymore, thinks she's failing her Pokémon and tries to fake happiness.
 * The first time she loses the appeal round is pretty bad too, as Dawn runs outside and bursts into tears. It's also the very first time it's ever happened.
 * "A Poached Ego" gave us Team Rocket's Crowning Moment of Awesome at the cost of a few tears. TR comes across a poacher who has captured a bunch of wild Ekans and Koffing, the pre-evolutions of their main Pokémon: Arbok and Weezing. In an Even Evil Has Standards moment, TR attempts to free the captured Pokémon, but the poacher tries to stop them. In the climax of the episode, Meowth manages to free the Ekans and Koffing from their cages. When the poacher sends his Tyranitar after them, all three Rockets throw themselves at it. The battle is completely one-sided as the Tyranitar beats them mercilessly, all while Jessie and James are shouting at Arbok and Weezing to take the Ekans and Koffing and run far away. The fact that their Pokémon have tears running down their faces says just what they think about following that order, even if they do so anyway.
 * After, this episode became even more of a tearjerker than it already was.
 * The  is a Tear Jerker all on its own.
 * Ash's Chimchar got this while being owned by Paul. He pretty much abused it so it would get stronger from its Unstoppable Rage induced Blaze ability.
 * The episode Tears for Fears. You will be bawling by the end, for more reason than one.
 * In the 10th movie when
 * In "True Blue Swablu", near the end when just as Swablu is about to join May's team on her journey, its family comes back. The music, May desperately trying not to break down and Max's questions about why she's letting Swablu go back to its family despite it wanting to come with their group in the first place.
 * When Lapras finds its family again, but they shun it because Lapras is with humans.
 * The first episode with Lapras being abused also counts for this trope.
 * The part when Ash
 * And then the next episode...Ash's in a depression. He has to watch all of his Pokémon get treated, then lays on the side of the hill, remembering the battle over and over and over. He was in a depression for a good 25 minutes of the episode! Not even GARY beat him that hard.
 * "Do I Hear A Ralts?"
 * "Chiisaki Mono" (the ending theme for the 6th movie) Same for "One" (the ending for the 11th movie). "Soko ni Sora ga Aru Kara" has the same effect.
 * James having to give up Cacnea so it can learn Drain Punch. Sure it was a Team Rocket Pokémon that was often used as a punching bag for the protagonists, but you can't really help but root for the cactus Pokémon in his departure episode. Watching it being battered while trying to master Drain Punch can make some people tear up.
 * In the episode "Great Bowls of Fire", Dragonite snapping out of its Outrage only to witness the results of its attacks: the complete destruction of its peaceful forest home. Its tearful howls are pretty heartbreaking.
 * The scene in the twelfth movie
 * And on top of that
 * The arc. Saturn has remained his usual, cold, fierce self, but then ; and at the end when they're, the fact that Mars, who had previously been extremely spring-loaded, occasionally bordering on annoyingly insane, was just so quiet and didn't put anything in to the conversation. Of course, that scene turned (sort of) into Nightmare Fuel with how coldly and fiercely Saturn tells Jupiter that.
 * Some fans think Imagine what that would mean
 * If you know  and believe it applies in the anime universe (the verdict's out on whether it does or doesn't), then it becomes even worse.
 * The final episode of the Diamond-Pearl series, "Memories are Made of Bliss!". Brief summary: " " takes it very badly. Since the party just can't move from a region to another without splitting, there is no way this is gonna end well.
 * And while that's happening, this music plays, which in and of itself is a bit of a Tear Jerker for fans of the old seasons.
 * And if you watch the Japanese version, you see this tribute during the ending credits. It's a simple, but beautiful sequence which  and reaffirms the series' themes of friendship. The song playing, In Your Heart, Lalala, itself counts as a major tearjerker, especially if you know the lyrics.
 * "You're heart's beating around the clock... Time ticking away, it doesn't stop."
 * Ash
 * Lawrence in the end of the second movie. Sure he was greedy, but he never came across as evil, and to see him wandering aimlessly in the ruins of his collection only to find the one scrap left. He picks it up and stares blankly over the ocean. To add onto it, that collection of his was made of ancient artifacts. That's world history that just got vaporized.
 * The scene in Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions where
 * It gets even worse.
 * Squirtle leaving Ash and rejoining the Squirtle Squad.
 * Very, very minor compared to some of the examples on here, but a recent episode of Black and White-- "A UFO for Elgyem"-- starts out with "our heroes" sleeping with peaceful music playing in the background. Players of the game (that is to say, almost everybody watching) will recognize the music as Emotion/ . It's not a sad moment or anything, but it certainly is unexpected and can re-open the wound about . A sad Easter Egg, indeed.
 * Just that the scene in question only uses "Emotion" and not the other, which has a completely different melody. Of course, the scenes in which "Emotion" played in the game were also partially kinda sad, but it's still not ...
 * When Meloetta leaves Ash and friends to go with Ridley back to their home. As with Dawn's departure from her visit in Unova, a farewell song by Meloetta plays in the background, making the moment effectively touching.
 * Iris and Cilan's departure in the second-to-last Best Wishes episode. The lead-in to it went by so quickly that playing a montage of the two characters' scenes might hit you harder with the realization that two friends are leaving the show.
 * The "Fly Me to the Moon" episode. Period. Ash & co. find a trainer with a Pidgey called Orville, who is the only one in the entire island who can fly. He wants to fly in the sky higher than any other Pidgey did, and reach outer space. Ash & friend(and more importantly, Team Rocket)help him, and obviously he achieves his goal...But when he reaches the atmosphere, he's already freezing, and without oxygen, on the verge of death....Meowth, who is translating what Orville says through a communicator, says that Orville told "he has never seen something so beautiful" when he sees the Sun from the atmosphere. Meowth then pleads to Orville to get back to Earth before it's too late, and the Pidgey falls from the skies in an unconscious dive.....He gets better, of course, but to see the self-sacrifice of the Pidgey to achieve his dream almost reducing even Meowth to tears was...oh dammit...
 * Pokémon the Movie: Black And White -- after trying so hard to get Victini free, those pillars clouded around him, and all seems hopeless he apologizes for not being able to keep his promise, then sheds a tear before nearly dying.
 * Very, very minor compared to some of the examples on here, but a recent episode of Black and White-- "A UFO for Elgyem"-- starts out with "our heroes" sleeping with peaceful music playing in the background. Players of the game (that is to say, almost everybody watching) will recognize the music as Emotion/ . It's not a sad moment or anything, but it certainly is unexpected and can re-open the wound about . A sad Easter Egg, indeed.
 * Just that the scene in question only uses "Emotion" and not the other, which has a completely different melody. Of course, the scenes in which "Emotion" played in the game were also partially kinda sad, but it's still not ...
 * When Meloetta leaves Ash and friends to go with Ridley back to their home. As with Dawn's departure from her visit in Unova, a farewell song by Meloetta plays in the background, making the moment effectively touching.
 * Iris and Cilan's departure in the second-to-last Best Wishes episode. The lead-in to it went by so quickly that playing a montage of the two characters' scenes might hit you harder with the realization that two friends are leaving the show.
 * The "Fly Me to the Moon" episode. Period. Ash & co. find a trainer with a Pidgey called Orville, who is the only one in the entire island who can fly. He wants to fly in the sky higher than any other Pidgey did, and reach outer space. Ash & friend(and more importantly, Team Rocket)help him, and obviously he achieves his goal...But when he reaches the atmosphere, he's already freezing, and without oxygen, on the verge of death....Meowth, who is translating what Orville says through a communicator, says that Orville told "he has never seen something so beautiful" when he sees the Sun from the atmosphere. Meowth then pleads to Orville to get back to Earth before it's too late, and the Pidgey falls from the skies in an unconscious dive.....He gets better, of course, but to see the self-sacrifice of the Pidgey to achieve his dream almost reducing even Meowth to tears was...oh dammit...
 * Pokémon the Movie: Black And White -- after trying so hard to get Victini free, those pillars clouded around him, and all seems hopeless he apologizes for not being able to keep his promise, then sheds a tear before nearly dying.

Manga

 * Pokémon Special has its own page
 * Magical Pokémon Journey gives us a singular example. In a series that's usually sunshine and rainbows, smack at the end of volume 7 we get a random story of a senile Quagsire looking for the Charmander he used to love. They find the hill where they promised to meet only to find The ultimate kicker is that this is what Viz finished their run of the entire series with.
 * Pokémon Golden Boys has Black's Bayleef, later Gold's Bayleef. After its been released by the Jerkass that is Black, it takes quite a lot of time for it to get over Black's notion of it.
 * Pokémon Zensho has a small example in what happened to Shigeru's mom. All other adaptations tend to keep their "mysterious disappearance" ambiguous, but this manga makes it quite clear that . It makes even Shigeru look sympathetic to an extent, though the tears tend to be shed more on his sister.
 * Basically everything involving in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure. It's similar to Blue's, if she was raised by a borderline Complete Monster and made into a fighting machine.
 * On the same token, the, may also bring out the waterworks. It's especially poignant because it was, before Pokemon Special got around to it, the only storyline in which . For anyone who's a fan of  in normal canon, this is especially therapeutic.
 * Koya in DPA has a backstory pretty much MADE of Kick the Dog.
 * Phantom Thief Pokémon 7 has Hiori's search for his long-lost sister, and the events after they meet. His sister, who has Identity Amnesia, has been taken by a terrorist group and created into a dangerous monster. He tries to snap sense into her, and she just beats him.

Video Games

 * Tear Jerker
 * The final battle with in GSC to be uncharacteristically poignant for the series. No words, not even a flashy departure.
 * Pokémon. Mystery. Dungeon. Especially in the second one, namely  My god.
 * The ending for Grovyle's special episode in Sky. Oh. My. God.
 * The ending to the game where
 * The music and the dialog makes this scene even harder to watch.
 * The ending to Igglybuff the Prodigy was definately a big one, too. Poor master Armaldo.
 * The resolution of the story between in the first game.
 * The Music from both games didn't help at all.
 * Also a CMOH at the end of the HG/SS credits when and the music box starts playing.
 * Not a scene but rather a music piece (and fan-made, at that), but this remix of the Dark Cave from GSC/HGSS is just...ugh, why must you make me cry in the middle of the night...?
 * In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Kangaskhan's phrase upon reaching low health qualifies. "I'm done... Please, take care of my baby..."
 * Cyrus's backstory. Just...nngh. Especially when you find out that his grandfather KNEW he was going insane and almost intervened...but for some reason didn't.
 * According to the old man, Cyrus was an aloof but otherwise relatively normal child prodigy, who was slowly broken and then gradually turned insane as he was forced to live up to his parents' unreasonable expectations. Grandpa saw what was happening. Why didn't he save Cyrus? He didn't consider it proper to tell them how to raise their own child. Listening to that, and the regret he expresses as he tells his story, and especially knowing how twisted Cyrus ended up, and knowing that if the old man had intervened Cyrus could have grown up happy and adjusted...is heartbreaking.
 * In Pokémon FR/LG, in the Sevii Islands, there's a boy who's Onix died, and he is polishing a monument for it. It got me a bit more than it should have.
 * The endings of both of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon generations. If you don't tear up at least a little, you're probably lacking a bit in the soul department.
 * When I reached the ending of the first PMD I cried so very hard, especially the part where your partner is crying after saying goodbye...
 * The ending for the sequel was much more heart-wrenching than the first (although that was sad, too) but
 * One line:
 * Manaphy's departure...
 * could count if it wasn't for  beforehand dampening your pants. Heck, Nightmare Fuel is a common cure to these sad moments.
 * The anime adaptation of the scene only makes it even more heart wrenching.
 * The true tear-jerking moment began when Grovyle said:
 * The fifth special episode en Sky as it ends with
 * Add to this the Igglybuff Special Episode on Explorers of Sky. You play the episode as Igglybuff, who makes a friend in Armaldo, a retired explorer. The two of them go exploring dungeons together, and the two grow to enjoy adventuring as a duo. Then the bomb gets dropped at the very end when  God, this troper got teary eyed just writing that all up...
 * Cue horribly tear-jerking credits music!
 * The very first Pokémon generation, as well as their remakes, include the Lavender Town plot. The Lavender Town music is slow and kinda sad on its own, and its biggest feature is Pokémon Tower, a graveyard for departed Pokémon. That's not why the town's plot is so heartbreaking. Apparently, Team Rocket tried to capture a rare Cubone, but its mother saved it - and the Rockets killed her. You actually meet both the little Cubone and the vengeful spirit of mama Marowak... and it's up to the player to calm her spirit by facing her in battle. Mr. Fuji is praying alone for Marowak's spirit...
 * Pearl and Diamond manage to pull this off with one hell of a Player Punch as well. The main character arrives at Lake Verity too late, and Team Galactic has already set off a bomb in order to drain the lake and capture the Legendary Pokémon living in it. As a consequence of the explosion, you see Magikarp and Gyarados that were also in the lake, now flopping feebly on the dry lake bed in their death throes. A nearby Galactic Grunt just shrugs and states that those Pokémon are useless, so their mass slaughter is acceptable in order to Take Over the World.
 * While it's common knowledge now, fighting through a game that can take 120+ hours to beat and finding  at the very end was a kick in the face.
 * Finding Cinnabar Island completely desolated in Gold and Silver. This troper was so excited, surfing south from Pallet Town to go back to his favorite place from the first game...and it's gone. The saddest part is the story about Blaine, and how he's now all alone on the Seafoam Islands, no trainers, no gym, just him and what Pokémon he has left. Thank God he's at least got company and a renovated gym in the remakes.
 * And the remakes add this.
 * Finding out, after you've beaten him and sent him into self-imposed exile, that Cyrus has a grandfather who cares deeply for him and blames himself for the boy's life winding up so terribly.
 * Silver screaming after Giovanni about how he'll be the strongest and never have to rely on anybody. The boy's only around seven or eight in that scene and just watched his failure of a father walk off on him.
 * Pretty much anything in the GS remakes where Celebi is involved. You just end up feeling sorry for both Silver and Team Rocket; the former was a sociopath because his dad was never there, and Team Rocket's big takeover of the radio station is now all for naught. Neither of them will ever see the most important figure in their lives again. Worse, he doesn't even turn the radio off before the game suggests he's jumped...
 * Thankfully, he didn't succeed in his possible suicide attempt, since he's around for the World Tournament years later.
 * Yamask, full stop. Just look at the Poké Dex entries!
 * The Lavender town music for G/S/C sounds really sad.
 * Nuzlockes, particulary when a Pokémon you have raised since the beggining dies or your favorite dies.
 * Alternatively, they're upsetting for a different reason. To some players who grew up on Pokémon, Nuzlockes are a serious Player Punch due to the inability to accept the idea that Pokémon beaten in battle die (the constant reminders the game gives that they're just fainted only reinforce that). As a result, it paints the player character as obsessed with winning to the point of abandoning any Pokémon that can't win a battle; the mere idea of someone who began the game young and innocent becoming so corrupted by obsession is.... upsetting, to say the least.
 * A very serious example of Real Life Fridge Horror: The space shuttle in the Pewter City museum is supposed to be the Columbia.
 * This was retconned in FR/LG, but still...
 * It's implied that Maylene's father is a gambling addict who rarely ever leaves Celadon Game Corner. Maylene doesn't look that much older than the eleven year old protagonist, and she's implied to be rather poor.
 * Alternatively, they're upsetting for a different reason. To some players who grew up on Pokémon, Nuzlockes are a serious Player Punch due to the inability to accept the idea that Pokémon beaten in battle die (the constant reminders the game gives that they're just fainted only reinforce that). As a result, it paints the player character as obsessed with winning to the point of abandoning any Pokémon that can't win a battle; the mere idea of someone who began the game young and innocent becoming so corrupted by obsession is.... upsetting, to say the least.
 * A very serious example of Real Life Fridge Horror: The space shuttle in the Pewter City museum is supposed to be the Columbia.
 * This was retconned in FR/LG, but still...
 * It's implied that Maylene's father is a gambling addict who rarely ever leaves Celadon Game Corner. Maylene doesn't look that much older than the eleven year old protagonist, and she's implied to be rather poor.

Other

 * Maré Odomo's Letters To An Absent Father is a series of strips in which the framing device are letters sent by Ash to his father. For those who played Gold/Sylver/Crystal/HeartGold/SoulSilver all the way to the end this one is a downer in many levels.
 * Not quite! One last strip has been added and it's much more hopeful but still very much a Tear Jerker, just for a different reason.