I dunno what to tell you, man. It's not like you can control wild Pokemon. Pretty sure if you put up a sign saying "USERS OF SUPERSONIC WILL BE FINED", the Zubat are just gonna ignore it because, y'know, they don't have eyes.

Also, maybe don't stand too close to Firebreathers.

 I just think it's weird that Union Cave is the only way to get from Violet City to Azalea Town, and yet this Hiker is treating it like some kind of out-of-the-way location.

(Also, ever notice how the Pokémon world tends to have a lot of roadways that go through really inconvenient obstacles like multileveled cave systems and labyrinthine forests? It's a transportation engineer's nightmare. Hmmmmmm it's almost like the regions were designed to make the player traverse multiple dungeon-like environments to progress, instead of being logistically feasible.)

 You thought this was a comic about Pokémon but actually it's a comic about economics! Edutainment at its finest. :)

 What, you thought you'd seen the last of zombie Lass? :)

The Pokémon world is actually a pretty stressful place if every time you make eye contact with somebody, you have to have a Pokémon battle with them. (And definitely wouldn't help with social anxiety.)

 You ask your mom to put some of your prize money in savings, and she pulls this on you.

 Not everybody can have a Pokémon like Ash's superpowered Pikachu, I guess.

 I just always found it very odd that a) a major route in the center of the Johto region that connects multiple large cities is only wide enough for a single person to pass through, and b) a 4-foot-tall Pokemon can completely block traffic and derail an entire region's transport logistics. #videogamelogic #gatedprogress

 I mean, really, it's a bit uncanny that this 1500-year-old Unown script perfectly correlates to the modern English alphabet.

Also kinda weird that no researcher seems to have noticed this, but the 10-year-old player character can figure it out. #videogamelogic #maincharactervibes

 Also, I found a 1500-year-old Berry in a secret room, so I went ahead and fed it to my Pokémon. Shouldn't be a problem, right?

 I have a lot of questions about the way the Ruins of Alph are handled as an ancient archaeological site. Methinks it's time for an audit.

 I feel like kids in the Pokémon world take on an unusual amount of responsibility.

Which, when you're a kid is a dream come true because you're like "oh yeah, I'm ready to ADULT" but then as an adult you're more like "oh no honey, let me do everything for you until you're 30". (Except the moms in the Pokémon world seem strangely eager for their kids to take off on their Trainer journeys already.)

When you talk a big game like that, but you're the first Gym Leader in a region with wimpy little level 8 unevolved Pokémon, it's just kind of awkward, y'know?

 If you're just playing the game, this is cute. But this exchange takes on a whole new level of meaning in the context of this comic.

So, the starters for Pokemon Winds and Waves have been announced, and I have to say I'm not super impressed. The Grass-type and Water-type look like knockoffs of preexisting Pokemon, and the Fire-type... do we really need another fire puppy?

So to vent my frustration I thought it would be fun to make up totally hypothetical final evolutions for these guys that take their concepts in different directions from previous Pokemon. And I gave them all an Australia and New Zealand theme because I just really want a region based off those two countries.

Moatipu (from "moa" and "tipu", Maori for "plant") is a Grass/Ground type based off the extinct moa of New Zealand. It grows Berries in its feathers which drop to the ground while it walks, dispersing seeds. It can often be seen walking around burned forests dropping Berries--for this reason, it is sometimes called "the parent of the forest".

Thylacleo (from "thylacine" and "leo" but also a play on the extinct Thylacoleo) is a Fire-type based on the extinct thylacine, a.k.a. Tasmanian tiger. While most of its coat is pleasantly warm to the touch, its stripes are white-hot with energy and should be avoided. It races across deserts and grasslands with its flaming tail held aloft like a banner as a form of communication among its kind.

Torrentie (from "torrent" and "perentie") is a Water/Poison-type based off the perentie and monitor lizards in general. The thick portion at the end of its tail is full of venom, and when it swings its tail at enemies, the venom is exuded through the skin through the force of impact.

I'm sure the actual final evolutions won't look anything like this, but one can dream. 

 I honestly felt really bad for traumatizing that poor Chikorita, so I decided to draw a happier moment for it. It's okay, I promise! (And don't worry, Oak gets his due at the end of this chapter.)

 One of those things that seems to make sense from a gameplay perspective, but is really difficult to believe from an in-universe perspective.

Maybe that's why Mewtwo in the first movie used a hypnotized Nurse Joy to carry out his bidding--he can't figure out how to do stuff like send letters and open doors and operate cloning machines.

 Earl Dervish is certainly an unforgettable NPC. Just... don't follow him too closely. I get kinda dizzy just reading this one.

 So it either smells like fresh-baked cookies, or old perfume and too many cats.

The line between supporting your kid growing up and just plain kicking them out can be blurry sometimes.