Berserk Button/Anime and Manga/Pokémon

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Berserk Buttons in Pokémon include:

  • Butch, a member of Pokémon's Team Rocket, will not take happily someone butchering (no pun intended) his name. Some examples include Botch, Bob, Bill, Biff, Buffy (seriously), and a variety of other names (except the obvious one). In Japanese, the mistake is always Kosanji (instead of Kosaburo).
  • NEVER mention Misty's bike. She refuses to let Ash live it down.
  • Apparently, some time during the Hoenn arc Team Rocket got the funny idea to steal food destined for the "twerps." They soon learned that this is the very thing that turns normally Type-B Tsundere May into a bona-fide killbot. They try this again during the Sinnoh arc, and yes, she is in attendance, as these pics prove. They just didn't learn...
  • Ash used to get really pissed off when someone stole his hat (Indigo League series). He's mellowed out about it recently.
    • Ash's other berserk button is if anyone harms/kidnaps/insults Pikachu. Cases in point: Pikachu got kidnapped by Hunter J and Ash gets very, VERY pissed off [dead link], eventually starting with jumping onto a moving car, then sneaking aboard J's ship with Jessie and James (who are also going to rescue Meowth), he gets in a fight with Lucario when it insults Pikachu in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, he rescues Pikachu and takes a Poison Tail from Seviper in the back to protect Pikachu, he attacks a machine to break Pikachu out in Mewtwo Strikes Back and does a similar thing [dead link] during the third Sinnoh episode. It goes for his other Pokémon as well.
    • Ash also does not take kindly to anyone who calls him a coward. One of Ash's stand-out traits is his unwavering bravery. The most notable instance of this button being pushed was when he was under the possession of the King of Pokelantis and the Pyramid King Brandon called him a coward, instantly getting a reaction from Ash, momentarily breaking the evil king's Brainwashing influence. It is played with in many fanfiction stories.
  • If someone deliberately harms Ash, then EVERY every one of his Pokémon will pounce on you, hard. The Team Rocket trio, being the Chew Toy group that they are, managed to do such a thing just at the right moment that Charizard had finally learned to respect (and care for) his trainer (Charizard Chills, episode 105). VERY OUCH for them.
    • And just as ouch when they did it in front of his then-depowered Sceptile. The mon was so pissed off at them almost throwing Ash off their globe that it regained all of its power out of sheer hot-bloodness, rescued Ash and Pikachu and blasted TR like whoa.
  • Another Berserk Button that doesn't come up often: Ash is a Momma's Boy. Very, very much. Do not speak ill of his Hot Mom. Do not gawk at her, either. And do not try to harm and/or abduct her. Ash was ready to punch out a legendary Pokémon over this.
    • Threatening or hurting his other human companions will also not turn out well for whoever does it.
  • Fall asleep while Jigglypuff's performing and it will get angry. Steal its marker/microphone or otherwise deny it the chance to perform and it will get REALLY angry.
  • Brock does NOT take kindly to trainers abandoning their Pokémon. Neither does Misty.
  • Jessie and James will explode if someone messes up their motto.
    • However, as seen in Mewtwo Strikes Back, they don't mind if even one of the "twerps" (in this case, Ash) stops their motto before it begins.
  • Never call Jessie "a hag" or "old". It's a good way to ensure a death wish.
    • Heaven help you if you mess up or insult Jessie's hair as well. This is one of the many things that can easily set her off. Poor Seviper... she caught him bare-handed for chopping it off!
    • Even getting it wet will drive her into a fury.
  • Silver and Blue were raised as part of the Mask of Ice's recruitment and training campaign, and the two of them have developed a bond of their own. Green's "noisy woman" comments about Blue are responded to with a glare from Silver as a reminder that he is on notice; if you harass or bring harm to her, he will turn you inside out.
    • To say nothing of the beating he gave to Gold for touching her...
    • For that matter, Red was furious when finding out that Team Rocket were the ones who ruined Blue's long-awaited reunion with her parents, to the point of charging recklessly towards the Beast Trio even when they had the upper hand on him.
    • Don't kidnap or harm Green's grandpa or he will find you and use Porygon as a virus to destroy your circuitry, along with any of your predicted, inevitable outcomes.
  • When Team Rocket starts fighting in the Viridian Forest, Yellow gets just about ready to kick their asses; her usually weak Pokémon's levels jump up about fifty levels in response to her rage.
    • Lance triggers a similar response during his attempt at genocide. The moral of this little story is that Yellow is slower to anger than just about everyone else on the planet, but once she's pissed, you call your Pokémon back, you turn one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, and you never stop running while there is breath in your body.
  • Hareta has a hard time understanding the concept of evil - one of his buddies is an ex-Galactic, he lets several wrongdoers slide (though he does stop them from time to time, it's just what he does), and he even has to explain to Cyrus that he doesn't hate him for all he's done. But if you sell Pokemon in front of him...
  • Ash's Infernape will give you a good fight. But seriously, don't taunt him for being weak if he's losing. Especially if you're Paul. You're likely to trigger Blaze, and have a Crazed-Fire-Saiyan-Monkey on your hands.
  • One of the Pichu brothers, in Camp Pikachu, gets to have its own Berserk Button, complete with a anger cloud, when Sudowoodo steals the grapes.
  • Also, in one episode, Phione made a offer to battle Pikachu, but Pikachu rejects the offer. Wrong choice! Phione has fire in its eyes, and yells at Pikachu.
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