For over twenty years now, the Pokémon franchise has captured the imagination of gamers everywhere. It started out as a simple concept: collect all 151 Pokémon, while simultaneously defeating the strongest Trainers in the land. Completing the Pokédex and becoming the Pokémon League Champion: these were the ultimate goals in Red and Blue. The franchise has come a long way since then: there are now 802 Pokémon to collect, in games that are full of fresh ideas and new challenges to overcome. However, it's just as beloved as ever, and the gaming world hasn't forgotten the series' roots.

As amazing as the likes of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are, the originals - Red and Blue - will always have a special place in gamers' hearts. We'll never forget training up our Bulbasaur, Squirtle, or Charmander, or heading to Pewter City to battle our first Gym Leader. Team Rocket will always be the original "big baddies" of the game - as the Rainbow Rocket episode in USUM proved. Sure, the graphics of Red and Blue were a bit fuzzy, and there weren't as many creatures available as there are now, but who cares? The games will always have their own unique charm.

Of course, they'll als0 always have their silly aspects and amusing little moments for Pokémon fans to joke about for all eternity. The creative minds among the games' fans are still producing comics relating to Red and Blue, all these years after their release. Here are just some of the hilarious pieces they've come up with. Anyone who's ever played Pokémon Red and Blue will find something to relate to here!

25 Wanna Join Team Rocket?

via: dorkly.com

Back in Pokémon Red and Blue, your player got a chance to make some tidy cash by battling all of the trainers on the so-called "Nugget Bridge." Your prize for doing so would be, as you might have guessed, a nugget - a valuable item when sold at a Poké Mart! However, if your character did manage to defeat all of these (not very challenging) trainers, they ended up getting a bit more than they bargained for.

As this hilarious comic by Dorkly highlights, the last trainer on the bridge asks the player if they want to join Team Rocket! In the game, it won't actually allow you to do so: even if you say yes, the guy takes it the wrong way and battles you regardless. However, what if you HAD been able to join this nefarious criminal gang after all! Let's be honest, you'd be a much more competent member than all of the grunts you encounter in Red and Blue. You might even become a warlord-esque figure, as depicted in the comic, complete with the obligatory Weezing and Golbat. Seriously, do Team Rocket have access to any Pokémon other than these two and Grimer? Anyway, this comic shows what might have been if the game wasn't so set on making you a 'good guy'...

24 Rival Problems

via: https://gabasonian.deviantart.com/

There's no doubt about it: the rival character in Pokémon Red and Blue is one of the most annoying characters in the entire franchise. In fact, he's arguably outdone by Silver, the rival of Gold and Silver, and that's only because the latter guy is an actual criminal. Blue - or "the guy who looks like Gary Oak", if you're an anime fan - makes it his mission to be totally unlikeable. He's constantly rude to the player, puts you down at every opportunity, and is unbearably arrogant.

As this comic by Gabasonian on DeviantArt accurately portrays, Blue also shows up to battle you at the most inconvenient times possible. When you've just spent your time trawling through a very difficult cave, the last thing you want to do is battle this clown! Then there's the time he shows up on the S.S. Anne and interrupts what should be a nice break by insisting you battle. The guy even demands a fight when the two of you are in the Pokémon Tower, a place that's supposed to be a restful place for deceased Pokémon to find peace. How disrespectful is that? The later rivals - like X and Y's Serena, shown in the comic above - are way nicer. What was Blue's problem, anyway?!

23 So Much Waste!

via: rarecandytreatment.com

In all Pokémon games, beginning with Red and Blue, the player has the opportunity to find useful items scattered across the region they're exploring. These items all look like Poké Balls in the field, no matter what they actually are. The item could be a giant basket of Potions, and it'd still take the form of a small red ball in the game. The simple explanation for this is that it was way easier for the game's developers to give every single item the same overworld sprite.

However, this amusing piece by Rare Candy Treatment explores a different possibility. What if all items in the field are kept inside Poké Balls for safe keeping? It makes sense - they might get damaged if they're just sitting there exposed to the elements. However, this idea also raises extra questions. What happens to the Poké Balls once the item inside them is retrieved? Are they just discarded by the person who finds them? If so, that's so much waste! You'd hope that responsible trainers would at least take them to be recycled or something... Also, if the item in question is a Poké Ball, is it still kept inside ANOTHER ball? Do we get Poké Ball-ception? So many questions!

22 He Just Needed Love

Okay, we may have found a reason behind why Blue is such an obnoxious idiot for all of Pokémon Red and Blue. As the grandson of Professor Oak, you'd expect the character to get at least a little bit of special attention. Surely his Gramps would show him occasional love and affection, and be supportive of his family member, right? Well... No, actually. As this comic by Elksworthy on DeviantArt shows, poor Blue gets a bit of a rough ride of it, despite this close connection to Oak.

For one, at the very start of the game, the Professor seemingly forgets his own grandson's name! Sure, this may just be a mechanic to allow the player to name their rival, but still... It's pretty funny and kinda sad. It also means that you can give your rival an incredibly rude name, meaning Oak spends the rest of the game insulting one of his own family members. Oh dear.

Then there's the fact that Oak seems more supportive of the player becoming the Pokémon League Champion than his own grandson getting the title! He tends to just lecture Blue about how he treats his Pokémon rather than show him any love or sympathy when he loses his crown. No wonder Blue is such a rude kid - did he get any affection at all growing up?!

21 What Mom Goes Through

via: jhallpokemon.deviantart.com

Let's all take a minute to spare a thought for the player's mom in Pokémon Red and Blue. As this comic by JHALLpokemon on DeviantArt suggests, she must live an incredibly lonely life! For one, her only child goes on a grand adventure at the mere age of ten, leaving their mom all alone in that poky old house in Pallet Town. There's no way of contacting your mom on your journey, as the PokéGear clearly wasn't a thing yet - this phone-like mechanic was only introduced in Gold and Silver. So, your mom has to sit there at home worrying, with no way of contacting their young child who's gone out into the wilderness to make small animals fight each other.

Yeah, we'd all become a bit messed up in that scenario.

Then there's the fact that the player's dad clearly isn't on the scene. We're never explicitly told where this guy is, but this comic has taken the line that he's also a Pokémon trainer who's left to go on a quest around Kanto. This poor woman is abandoned by literally everyone she loves for the exact same reason. Here's hoping Professor Oak at least offers her the hand of friendship! Don't forget to call your mom and tell her that you love her, folks: the player in Red and Blue clearly did.

20 Limited Movepools

via: awkwardzombie.com

One of the most frustrating things about the first generation of Pokémon games was the fact that some really awesome Pokémon had really, really bad move pools. Like, there were barely any moves to start with, which wasn't helpful. However, the range of attacking moves on offer was genuinely dreadful. Every Pokémon didn't learn nearly enough of them, or if they did, they were all Normal-type.

No Same Type Attack Bonus for you, poor Pokémon Red and Blue player!

This hilarious comic by Katie Dietrich of Awkward Zombie perfectly sums up this issue. At the start of the game especially, you could legitimately find yourself in a situation where your prized Pokémon didn't know any attacking moves at all. Not helpful, Game Freak! Like, it's okay with Magikarp - we all know that the whole point with that Pokémon is to transform it into a totally useless fish that only knows Splash into a fearsome water-beast. However, any other Pokémon being unable to attack is basically inexcusable. Thank goodness that after Generation Two, Pokémon's developers all sat down and had a big old think about what extra moves could be added to the game. Generation Three's diversity was honestly so refreshing.

19 Disobedient Pokémon Problems

via: vgcats.com/super

Now, don't get us wrong: we know why the whole "disobedient Pokémon" mechanic has existed since Red and Blue. Essentially, it means that you can't just trade a super-strong Pokémon into your game before the first badge. Where would be the fun in storming the game with a Level 100 Mewtwo right from the very start? To combat this issue, the developers introduced the mechanic that meant traded Pokémon of certain levels wouldn't obey you until you'd earned a certain Gym Badge. It seems fair, to be honest.

However, that doesn't mean that the mechanic isn't totally infuriating when you fall foul of it. This comic by Super Effective exemplifies just how awful it can be. The player's Clefairy decides to just do its own thing and use Metronome instead of Double-Slap, with hilariously pathetic results. You just know that if your traded Pokémon does decide to disobey you, they're going to pick their least effective move and lose the battle for you. That's how this cruel, unfair world works. The player just wanted to use a super-cool Clefairy from another game! Does this really warrant total humiliation in front of his rival? According to Game Freak, apparently so. Sad times.

18 Times Have Changed

via: dorkly.com

Ah, time for some HM nostalgia. As most Pokémon fans know, the most recent games in the series - Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon - totally get rid of all HMs, introducing the concept of "ride Pokémon" instead. Back in our day, you had to use up one of your Pokémon's precious move slots to teach them a kinda rubbish in-battle move that'll allow them to cut small bushes down in the field. These days, you get given specific Pokémon that are trained to do these jobs - and they don't even take up spaces in your party! It's a miracle!

As this comic by Dorkly highlights, both Red and Blue's HM mechanic and Sun and Moon's Ride Pokémon have their own flaws logic-wise. In the case of Red and Blue, it was pretty laughable that Charizard couldn't, say, use its extensive firepower to burn bushes to a crisp. Instead, it had to forget an often better move to make room for its cutting ability. See, THIS is why so many players used HM slaves! On the contrary, Sun and Moon's Ride Pokémon don't take up precious move or party slots... But they must take up a lot of physical space. Like, you can use any of these Pokémon with the click of a finger. Do they materialize out of thin air? Do they just follow you around all of the time? The latter option doesn't seem that practical, as the comic shows!

17 Oh, Team Rocket

via: fr33z3dry.deviantart.com

Oh, Team Rocket. For a supposedly fearsome and much-loved criminal organization, they really were pathetically easy to defeat in Pokémon Red and Blue. It's like they weren't even trying to bring all of their nefarious plans to fruition! Sure, their big boss, Giovanni, was actually a pretty challenging Trainer to battle... But the rest of them? Not so much. You'd think that the Team's leaders would have spent some time training up all of the new Grunts, but clearly not.

This comic by Fr33z3Dry on DeviantArt sums things up quite nicely. Even if Team Rocket weren't being compared to someone as awesome as Clint Eastwood, they still wouldn't fare very well. For one, their Pokémon are usually all severely under-leveled. They've clearly barely battled at all until some kid from Pallet Town comes along to thwart their plans. You'd think that for security reasons they'd keep all of their Pokémon at a decent level!

It'd make getting rid of intruders so much easier!

Then you have the total lack of diversity in the Pokémon they use. Koffing. Zubat. Grimer. The occasional Rattata. That's literally it. Like, these Pokémon aren't TOTALLY useless, but they're still nowhere near perfect! Team Rocket would have been way harder to beat if they'd all been armed with Dragonites or Nidokings. But no. They stick with their sub-par pals and suffer because of it.

16 Poor, Unappreciated Venusaur...

via: memecenter.com

Every Pokémon Red and Blue fan can remember the first time they had the option to choose a starter creature from Professor Oak. Our first Pokémon - how exciting! Of course, we all did our research to try and find out what the final forms of Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle looked like. There was Blastoise, the cool turtle with literal water cannons on its back! It paled in comparison to Charizard, though, the awesome fire-breathing dragon-like creature that can mow down almost anything in its path. You'd be the envy of your friends if you managed to bag either of these Pokémon.

And then, there was Venusaur... Poor, unappreciated Venusaur. As this cartoon by an unknown MemeCenter contributor shows, Venusaur got a lot of flack from Generation One Pokémon players. Like, how could the weird dinosaur-type thing with a flower on its back possibly compare to the long-lost cousin of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or a pretty monstrous flying fire lizard? So few players actually chose Bulbasaur as their starter, despite the fact that it's pretty adorable (and is super-effective against the first two gyms, JUST SAYING). The hate for Venusaur has decreased somewhat since Pokémon X and Y gave it an awesome Mega-Evolution, but it's still best known as the starters that Red and Blue players forgot.

15 Remember Those Graphics?

via: dorkly.com/tag/pokemon

Maybe this is only a problem that hindsight has created, but man, were Pokémon Red and Blue's graphics hilariously bad compared to the current games' offerings! Yes, we know, this is due to the advancement of video game technology over the past two decades. No, there's nothing that Game Freak or Nintendo could have done about it at the time. We don't blame them at all for the poor visuals of the early games... But they're still pretty fun to look back and have a giggle at from time to time.

As this comic from Dorkly highlights, the graphics and animations in Red and Blue's Pokémon battles are particularly amusing when considered with hindsight. Although each Pokémon's battle sprite was kinda impressive for the time, they're still pretty clunky and blurred compared to the super-sharp offerings we get today. It's the moves that were particularly underwhelming, though. The example that's given in the comic - Charizard's Flamethrower - is one of the worst. Instead of being the great jet of fire that you would imagine from such a powerful move, it was literally just a few little puffs of flame. Like, a child could blow that out. This move is less fiery than the candles on a birthday cake. Talk about a disappointment! No wonder that Alakazam is so unimpressed...

14 The Problem With Magikarp

via: coelasquid.deviantart.com

Oh, Magikarp. So many trainers have tried to raise you in the hopes of getting that coveted Gyarados, but have given up when they realize just how terrible you truly are. This Pokémon was basically Game Freak's attempt to troll us all, and boy, did it work. It's the classic Ugly Duckling story: an ugly, rubbish creature eventually transforms into a beautiful, powerful water dragon after hours and hours of grinding.

It's bad enough that Magikarp doesn't learn an attacking move - Tackle - until Level 15. The worst part, though, is the fact that it takes SO MANY EXPERIENCE POINTS to gain a level. Raising one is the ultimate test of any Trainer's patience. It's arguably worth it for the end result... But it's still one heck of a slog.

This comic by Coelasquid on DeviantArt is the first in a series about a slacker Trainer and his beloved Magikarp, Mr. Fish. Professor Oak's reaction to this guy's choice of starter says it all, really: why would anyone pick a Magikarp to be their first ever Pokémon, unless they want to fail? Luckily, though, this guy manages to prove the haters wrong. Just you wait until Mr. Fish evolves into Mr. Much Bigger Fish...

13 So Many Rules

via: rainyazurehoodie.tumblr.com

It's inevitable that in over twenty years' worth of Pokémon games, certain original features and mechanics have changed beyond recognition. Much of the content of Pokémon Red and Blue has either been improved upon or ditched entirely in favor of more streamlined gameplay. We've already seen the example of HMs being removed as of Sun and Moon. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg. We don't even have the bike anymore, and pretty much all of the old "rules" from Red and Blue are totally irrelevant now.

As this comic from Tumblr user RainyAzureHoodie reminds us, back in the Pokémon Red and Blue games, Professor Oak was always on hand to chastise the player whenever they did something that was against "the rules". From the first generation onwards, each successive Pokémon Professor took on this incredibly naggy role. Originally, Oak mostly told you off from trying to use the bike indoors. To be fair, he has a point with that one - there's hardly room to start zooming around inside a Pokémon Center. There were also the various alerts when you tried to use an HM in the incorrect circumstances - for example, attempting to Surf on concrete. We all tried it.

These days, though, these constant lectures have all stopped. There are no HMs to misuse, or a bike to use in inappropriate places. You can even run indoors, something Professor Birch from Ruby and Sapphire would find appalling. Times have changed...

12 The Truth About Repels

via: vgcats.com/super

While pretty much every item you can find in the Pokémon universe is useful in its own way, the Repel is a thing of true beauty. Everyone gets to the point in their game where they're really just sick and tired of battling wild Pokémon all the time. Maybe your entire team is on low health, and you need to get to a Pokémon Center without being ambushed. Maybe you want to get through a cave quicker than at a snail's pace. Either way, the Repel is the item for you.

It saves time, energy, and your Pokémon's health.

The thing is... Have you ever actually thought about what's in a Repel? It must be something pretty darn potent to keep away the majority of wild Pokémon. This comic from Super Effective considers the possibility that the scent comes from a not-so-nice source... We don't get to find out exactly what the secret ingredient is, but maybe that's for the best. Also, I just kinda assumed that the Trainer sprays Repels around them to keep Pokémon away, but this guy at least sprays it all over HIMSELF. It may be a more efficient way of doing things, but wouldn't you end up smelling really, really bad? These are the questions that linger in the minds of true Pokémon Red and Blue fans. Well, not really, but you get the picture.

11 The Blue Universe

Honestly, is there anyone out there who didn't try to convince their parents to buy them both Red AND Blue so that they could catch all 150 available Pokémon? Your pleas may not have been successful, but we all had that goal. The fact that certain Pokémon are only available in either Red or Blue does have some benefits to gameplay. It encourages you to connect and trade with other Pokémon players! It stops the game from being too easy! However, it's mostly just a pain in the neck - especially if you only realized AFTER buying one of the games that a Pokémon you really wanted to use was exclusive to the other version. That's true emotional pain right there.

This anonymous cartoon on FunnyJunk explores one major question surrounding version-exclusive Pokémon. How can the region of Kanto only contain some Pokémon in one version and some in the other? Is there some kind of parallel universe going on here? Maybe in the Blue universe, certain ancient Pokémon evolved in different ways to the Red universe, causing this discrepancy in the Pokémon available? Alternatively, maybe we're just reading far too much into this? Probably the latter, to be honest, but this is still a great comic!

10 Fly Logic

via: safelyendangered.com

The logic behind which Pokémon can learn Fly and which can't has been controversial ever since Pokémon Red and Blue hit the shelves. For those who've only played Sun and Moon and don't know what these HM things are, Fly enabled the player to immediately transport themselves to any place in Kanto that a) they'd already visited and b) had a Pokémon Center. It was one of the most useful HMs of all, and it was the main reason why a lot of Trainers kept a bird Pokémon around, even if they didn't really want to use it in battle.

However, as this comic from Safely Endangered shows, sometimes which Pokémon could learn Fly and which could not really didn't make sense. Let's take Pidgey, for example. It is quite clearly a bird - the Pokémon version of a pigeon, really - but it allegedly can't fly. Maybe there's a difference between being able to learn the HM Fly and actually flying at all... But it's still a bit strange. Then again, a rather large boy riding on the back of a flying Pidgey also would be rather strange. Such a tiny bird wouldn't be able to carry the weight of a human. But does this mean it can't fly at all? Where is the logic here?

9 It's A Tough Economy

via: gabasonian.deviantart.com

It turns out that even in the Pokémon world, very little in life comes for free. You need to earn Pokédollars in order to buy Potions, Poké Balls, and other important items. If you save up enough cash, you can even buy cool TMs and vitamins to improve your team's battle prowess! The main way to get Pokédollars in the game is to defeat lots of Pokémon Trainers and collect together a ton of prize money. Every single trainer in the game will fork out at least some cash - even little kids.

But hang on... Is this mechanic really ethical?

What happens when a Trainer gives away all of their prize money? Are they left totally broke as well as totally defeated? Well, yes, according to this comic by Gabasonian on DeviantArt! Bet you never thought about that when you were crushing Youngster Joey and his Rattata, did you? That little kid probably gave you all of his pocket money following the battle! It does make you wonder, though, about the state of the economy in the Pokémon world. How do Trainers even make a living if they keep on losing battles? Do they just hope and pray that they find a Nugget lying around that they can sell for some quick cash? It's a mystery...

8 The Original Sprites

via: dorkly.com

Ah yes - another comic that reminisces about the questionable graphics back in Pokémon Red and Blue. In Generations One and Two, the Pokémon sprites that appeared when you went to have a look at your party looked nothing like the creatures in question. In fact, there were only a handful of sprites that existed, and each Pokémon was seemingly assigned the one that made the most sense considering their form and type. Some classics included the animal that kinda looked like a cow, every water-type being the same floppy fish, and a good proportion of all monsters having the sprite that resembles a Rhyhorn. Good times.

As this comic by Dorkly shows, the sprites were a bit of a letdown compared to the actual awesome designs of many Pokémon. It seems like a bit of a waste to reduce something as awesome as a Dragonite into a generic bouncing blob-monster! Thank goodness this was fixed in Ruby and Sapphire, and every individual Pokémon was given their own sprite that ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE THEM. Again, it's not like Pokémon Red and Blue's developers had much of a choice in this based on the technology they had to work with... But we're all still glad that Generic Bird and Almost A Cow are things of the past.

7 Game Vs. Anime

via: gabasonian.deviantart.com

Man, how good was the original Pokémon anime series? Following Ash and Pikachu on their journey around Kanto made our after-school TV sessions so much more fun! Those were the glory days when his companions were Brock and Misty and Team Rocket could still come up with original "evil scheme" ideas... While the anime is still pretty decent, there's always going to be something special about Indigo League! As if Red and Blue weren't popular enough games already, the anime introduced Pokémon to a whole new fanbase.

Of course, many of the characters in the anime are based on video-game counterparts! This comic by Gabasonian on DeviantArt imagines what it would be like if the game and anime versions of each person happened to meet. Firstly, we have Red and Ash - and of course, we have a joke about how Red literally never talks. He couldn't be more different to Ash Ketchum, who often finds it difficult to shut up! On the other hand, Blue and Gary are kinda similar - they're both mean, initially better trainers than Red/Ash, and pretty in love with themselves. Poor anime Professor Oak, though - he has to find out that his game counterpart is kinda dumb! What's his OWN GRANDSON'S name again? Gerald? Gerry? GARY!

6 Did Anyone Actually Use Lickitung?

via: brawlinthefamily.com

Question: did anyone who played the original Pokémon games actually use Lickitung at all? For one, it was pretty difficult to get hold of: it could only actually be caught in the Japanese version of Blue! In every other version of the Generation One games, it was available as a one-off trade from a girl on Route 18. Even if you did have the Slowbro that the girl wanted, though... Isn't Lickitung just a bit too weird to use? Like, there's something a bit sinister about its glazed eyes and huge, protruding tongue. I imagine it would be a bit difficult to get attached to a creature that's so fundamentally strange.

Maybe we're being a bit too harsh on Lickitung, though.

As this comic by Brawl In The Family demonstrates, it's probably a Pokémon that's found it hard to find its purpose in life. It couldn't keep up with stamp collecting because its tongue just got in the way. A kissing booth wasn't the right way to go, either, for pretty obvious reasons. Would anyone want to give that a smooch? At least if it's used in battle, it has a use for that big old tongue. There's a reason it learns the move Lick!