Breaking the fourth wall

"Breaking the " refers to a point at which a character acknowledges that he or she is fictional. In the Pokémon franchise several characters appear to break the "fourth wall" in the, , and in the.

There are several ways of breaking the fourth wall; examples include when characters refer to a particular episode or season, when characters stop others from performing an occult or criminal act by referring to the fact that it is a "children's show", when characters respond to a real world person who is not physically present (such as the narrator), when characters talk to the viewer or player directly rather than to their in-game avatar, or when characters crash into the screen and either slide down from it or cause it to crack from impact.

In the anime
In the, the fourth wall has been broken numerous times. Most of these examples are from the English dub. The most common characters to do this are.

Core series

 * Trainer Tips signs and message boards provide advice to the player in using the game's control scheme. Similar instructions are also given by NPCs, such as the player's mother, the regional Pokémon Professor, and NPCs telling the player that they are saving.
 * In the Generation I games and, there is a sign on that says "Don't throw the game, throw Poké Balls instead!".
 * The Game Freak office can be found in Celadon City, Castelia City and Heahea City. The characters there will announce their role in the game when the undefined speaks to them:
 * "I'm the game designer!"
 * "I wrote the story!"
 * "I'm the graphic artist! I drew you!" or "I'm the graphic designer! I'm a skilled dot artist!"
 * "Me? I'm the programmer!".
 * In addition, examining the computers gives the message "It's the game program! Messing with it could bug out the game!"
 * In the Pokémon Communication Center, a staff member receives an email stating Game Freak's desire of linking at worldwide level without link cable barriers.
 * In, a on  mentions real life before giving away a.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

 * In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky both and  break the fourth wall at 4th entry of their diaries, mentioning the Y and A buttons, respectively.
 * During the post game of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, senses something and leans towards the screen, indicating he's sensing the player's presence. This is confirmed later at the Hill of Universal Order, where Hydreigon and player's partner turn to look at the screen, realizing that the player has been watching them the whole time.

Pokémon Ranger series

 * At the beginning of the first game, when explaining the control style of the game, an NPC says that he uses the stylus instead of the D-pad because he is from the "touch generation". This is a reference to Nintendo's  line of games for casual gamers, which were brand new at the time of Pokémon Ranger's release.
 * During the ending of the first official mission in the first Pokémon Ranger game, Professor Hastings knows the game options exist by saying, "By options, I don't mean fooling with some text settings, I mean consider what we might do!"
 * In the mission that introduces Sven in Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia there are many Team Dim Sun goons taking Dark Shards from Chroma Ruins. Sven explains that to make them leave the place, a is needed. Then, he turns to the screen and says "you know what I mean?"
 * Also, after capturing the hypnotized Pokémon of a couple of Dim Sun Admins in Almia Castle, said Admins make a comment about how they were not given names, not even "Admin A" or "Admin B".
 * At the end of the Mission in Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, the Capture Styler breaks the fourth wall, telling the player themselves to wait a moment during Nema's explanation of how Heatran learned.

Pokémon Rumble series

 * In Pokémon Rumble World, if the Toy Pokémon in use does not have a second move, pressing B will cause it to look up at the screen for a couple of seconds.
 * In the castle courtyard, pressing A will cause it to look out at the screen as before, while pressing B will cause it to jump up and down.

In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga

 * In You Gotta Have Friends, there is a footnote explaining that "Ash has been busy since the last comic."
 * In the beginning of You Bet Your Wife, Ash is shown with a pen, as if he drew the title page himself. comments to him "Since when are you Toshihiro Ono?".
 * In Side Story: Ash vs. Gary, as is saying goodbye to the giant, he adds "The End" into his farewell speech. Ash retorts, "This comic isn't over till I say it is!".

In the Magical Pokémon Journey manga

 * In The Legendary Articuno, a text box thanks the reader for their "unflagging support in reading this comic."
 * In Eevee... Pokémon Genius!, when Coconut appears for the first time with Almond, Hazel exclaims "Who thinks she can share a panel with my Almond?!".
 * In Charmander's Peanut, the story so far is explained by "the marketing department" and encourages the reader to buy many copies of Volume 1 to find out what previously happened in the story.
 * In the "Bonus Bonus 2" chapter of Magical Pokémon Journey volume 2, Hazel refers to, , and as "the people from Volume 1."
 * In the same bonus chapter, Ash's Pikachu shows a video of him bouncing a Poké Ball on his head from One Hundred Fifty-One (the lyrics to  are used in the English translation).
 * Also in the same bonus chapter, Hazel and Misty state that they change their outfits when they aren't appearing in the manga.
 * In A Quest of Life or Death, Almond mentions, "it's been a few issues since I got really creamed" after being attacked by a wild.
 * In Vulpix and Cyndaquil, Coconut laments, "Nothing has worked for me since I appeared in this comic."
 * In The Exorcist Nurse!!, tells Peanut that it's been "three years since you've had a starring role."
 * In True Identities, Master Ditto says to Walnut, "This comic will never end if you continue to be like this!"

In the manga

 * In PMXY09, shows  and  a copy of CoroCoro magazine, which is where the manga is serialized in real life.

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