User:Blake/Pokémon League

The Pokémon League is a little-described organization that organizes and certifies Pokémon Gyms and Pokémon tournaments. Becoming the Pokémon League Champion is one of the main goals in the video games, as well as one of Ash's stated goals in life in the anime.

The members of the Pokémon League have differing roles depending on where they appear; in the video games, they are the one-time "boss" opponents the player has to overcome to progress through the game, in the anime, they are usually one-time challengers Ash has to face to become the Pokémon League Champion, and in the manga, they are alternately enemies or allies to the protagonists, depending on their individual motivations.

=Gym Leaders= Gym Leaders lead Pokémon Gyms, and offer Gym badges to Pokémon trainers who can defeat them. Usually, this challenge takes the form of a Pokémon battle, but, occasionally, the challenges are a trial of skill or endurance, or the badges are given in return for extraordinary services rendered.

Each region has at least eight Gym Leaders at a time (except for the Orange Islands, which only have four). Any trainer who earns a Gym Badge from eight Gyms is eligible to go on to face the Elite Four or participate in the Pokémon League Championships, as appropriate.

Brock
Brock (タケシ), is the Pewter City Gym Leader, and uses Rock-type Pokémon. His English name is a play on the word rock; his Japanese name is an archaic term translating to brave, but may also be a reference to a word meaning mountain or peak (岳).

In the video games, Brock is the first gym leader the player battles. He uses Geodude and Onix. When Brock is defeated, he gives the player a Boulder Badge.

At the start of the anime series Brock was the Pewter Gym Leader, who took care of his brothers and sisters since neither his father nor his mother were around during this time. After Ash defeats him, Brock steps down from his Gym Leader position to travel with him.

Misty
Misty (カスミ) is the Cerulean City Gym Leader. She specializes in Water-type Pokémon. She also appears in several seasons of the Pokémon anime, and various manga series. Her English name derives from the word mist, matching the meaning of her Japanese name, which means mist or haze.

In the video games, Misty is the Gym Leader of Cerulean City. She specializes in Water-type Pokémon.

In the anime, Misty meets Ash at the start of his Pokémon journey and travels with him after Ash steals and destroys Misty's bicycle. When they arrive at Cerulean City, Misty starts to grow nervous and takes off, leaving Ash and Brock puzzled. Ash enters the Gym and Misty reappears to challenge him. Ash wins the Cascade Badge, and Misty decides that she will continue to travel with Ash.

Lt. Surge
 Lt. Surge (マチス) is the third gym leader and resides in Vermilion City. He is an expert on Electric-type Pokémon. His title of 'Lt.' stands for Lieutenant, which he probably gained from his involvement in the military field. His name is derived from the word surge, a strong sudden flow of storm or a natural disaster.

In Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen, Lt. Surge is depicted as a paranoid American war veteran. In the Red and Blue games he uses a Voltorb, Pikachu and Raichu, but in Yellow he only uses a supercharged Raichu, much like in the anime. In Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal and HeartGold and SoulSilver, he is the first Gym Leader of Kanto that can be challenged. When defeated, he gives the player a Thunder Badge.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Lt. Surge is one of the evil leaders of Team Rocket. He used the S.S. Anne in Vermilion City to transport captured Pokémon illegally. He tried to kill Red, but was bested after Red's Poliwhirl evolved into Poliwrath. He, along with the rest of Team Rocket, was dispersed when the chimera made from the Legendary Pokémon was defeated by Red, Blue, and Green in Saffron City. Some time later, the Elite Four tried to destroy humanity. Team Rocket joined up with the trainers from Pallet Town to stop them. Lt. Surge was paired with Red according to Sabrina's Spoons of Destiny. However, with Red absent due to injuries, Lt. Surge picked Bill as his partner instead. In Johto, Lt. Surge went to Mahogany Town to investigate the rise of Team Rocket under a different leader.

In the anime, Lt. Surge is a tall, muscular tough guy, who comes across as a gentle giant at first, but ultimately believes that power is essential in Pokémon battles and calls anyone who hasn't battled him yet a "baby". When he battles Ash, his Raichu easily defeats Ash's Pikachu. However, because Lt. Surge didn't give his Pokémon the chance to learn the speed and agility it could have as a Pikachu, Ash wins the rematch by having Pikachu wear out Raichu by dodging its attacks.

Erika
 Erika (エリカ) is the fourth gym leader in the Kanto region and resides in Celadon City. She is an expert on Grass types. The fact that she is often depicted wearing a kimono, and the fact that only females train in her gym, are a tribute to geisha culture. Her name comes from Erica, a genus of flowering plants. Also, if you rearrange the letters of her name, you can make "I Rake". This may come from the fact that she seem to enjoy plants and gardening. Erika alternates between having black and violet hair.

In FireRed and LeafGreen, she practices ikebana. She fights the player with a Vileplume, Tangela, and Victreebel. When defeated, she gives the player a Rainbow Badge. It is also said that she tends to fall asleep a lot, thus implying that she may be narcoleptic.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Erika is called the "only heir of the Celadon Gym" and is treated as royalty. She also practices archery, and dresses in traditional Japanese clothes. When Red challenges her to a match, she requires that he first find an Eevee. Though she says this is a test of his strength, it is, as shown, part of a secret plan. Red manages to capture the creature (a special one, at that) with the help of Bill, and brings it to Erika. With this accomplished, Erika give Red the badge, but Red accuses her of having an evil scheme after Bill sees a file about an Eevee bio-engineering plan. While the battle is taking place, Red discovers that Erika is not actually the villain, but that the Eevee was a Team Rocket experiment. In truth, Erika was a good gym leader against Team Rocket. Because Red passes the test, Erika gave him the Eevee as a reward.

In the anime, Erika is the owner of a perfume shop inside of Celadon City, in addition to being the local gym leader. Her clothing is different from her other incarnations: she no longer sports the traditional kimono, instead opting for a sleeker single-piece green suit. Ash, not knowing that the owner of the shop is also the city's Gym Leader, ends up insulting her (by calling perfume a "girl thing"), which causes Erika to ban him from both her shop and her gym. Since Ash is determined to win a Rainbow Badge, he disguises himself as a girl named Ashley with Team Rocket's help and sneaks into the gym while Team Rocket pretends to be his parents. Ash is discovered by Pikachu, and Erika battles him rather than kicking him out. While they are battling, Team Rocket interrupts, setting the gym on fire. A rush ensues as trainers attempt to rescue all the Pokémon in the gym by recalling them to their Poké Balls and carrying them out, but, in the confusion, Erika's Gloom (which she loved since childhood after it rescued her from a Grimer) gets trapped in the inferno. Erika tries to save it, but Ash volunteers and succeeds in saving Erika's Gloom from the burning Gym. As a reward for his courageous efforts in playing a part in saving her Gloom, Erika gives Ash the Rainbow Badge.

Koga
 Koga (キョウ) is a character in the Pokémon video game series. He is the second member of Johto's Elite Four that the player must face. He was also once the gym leader of Fuchsia City, but relieved his duties to his daughter Janine. He is an expert on Poison types. He is a ninja, and his students study ninjutsu in his gym. His name is a reference to the Kōga-ryū school of ninjutsu.

In Pokémon Red and Blue, Koga operates the Fuchsia city gym, which is also a training ground for the ninja arts. While technically the fifth 'boss,' due to a player's ability to battle Sabrina first causes him to sometimes be advertised to be the sixth boss of the game. Koga is also part of the guard that protects the border of the Safari Zone. He is noted as being the easiest of the later battles, as direct attacks will quickly dispatch poison Pokémon, as well as his habit of randomly switching Pokémon in and out, which allows the player to quickly take out all his Pokémon with the same strategy. He has two Koffing, a Muk and a Weezing. In Pokémon Yellow, Koga has three Venonats and a Venomoth. Koga's special attack is Toxic, which inflicts the opponent with a Poison status that deals double damage each turn. When defeated, Koga gives the player a Soul Badge.

Later, in Pokémon Gold and Silver, he has been promoted to a member of the Elite Four, with his daughter, Janine, taking over his previous duties at the Fuchsia gym.

In the anime, Koga is a ninja-like character whose gym is full of trap doors, booby-traps, and other such hidden items. He is the fifth gym leader boss, but the sixth boss that Ash faced. After Ash, Misty, and Brock make their way around these, and finally locate Koga, Ash challenges him to a match. Team Rocket interrupts the match, but are defeated with the help of Misty's Psyduck. A rematch occurs outside, which Ash wins; Koga, impressed by Psyduck's skill, offers a trade, which Misty declines. In the anime, Koga has a sister named Aya (whom Brock hits on).

In the RBY saga of Pokémon Adventures, Koga, the former Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, is an ex-Team Rocket executive, and part of the former Team Rocket Triad (composed of Lt. Surge, Sabrina and himself.) During the Silph Co. battle, he uses Articuno, along with his Poison Pokémon, in order to battle Red and Blue. After the fall of Team Rocket, he vanishes along with the rest of the Team Rocket triad and his gym is taken over by his daughter, Janine. His Arbok is able to regrow its tail if it is cut off (it was once cut off by Green's Charmeleon and Agatha's Arbok). He is last seen at the end of the GSC saga, when he joins Will, Karen and Bruno to help form a good Elite Four.

Janine
 Janine (アンズ) is the fifth gym leader in the Kanto region and resides in Fuchsia City. She is an expert on Poison-types. In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Janine became the gym leader when her father Koga joined the Elite Four. Janine is also the most mischievous of the Gym leaders and likes to play tricks on her opponents. Her main trick is getting all her trainers to disguise as her to confuse the opponent trainer. Her localized name is a pun on the word ninja.

In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, she speaks of training in her father's footsteps. In this game, she is called Charine (perhaps as a matter of translation).

Janine has never appeared in the Pokémon anime, but Koga instead has a sister named Aya. Ash first met her when he went to challenge Koga for a Gym Badge and again while she was training in Johto.

Sabrina
 Sabrina (ナツメ) is a fictional character in the Pokémon video game series. She is the sixth Gym Leader in the Kanto region (as in Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow, her badge is listed as the sixth one), although she is sometimes advertised to be the fifth gym leader, and resides in Saffron City (Yamabuki City). It should be noted, however, in the Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal games, Sabrina is typically the second Kanto gym leader defeated. She is an expert on Psychic types. Sabrina gives out the Marsh Badge to trainers who defeat her.

In the anime, Sabrina is actually the fourth of the Gym Leaders that Ash faces, rather than the fifth or sixth Leader as she is in the video games. According to a passing jogger, Sabrina inherited her psychic powers from her father (who turns out to be the jogger). As a child, Sabrina used her psychic powers in destructive ways (such as making her house collapse just by touching one of the support beams) and became obsessed with making herself mentally stronger. Because of this, Sabrina's neglected her childhood and became less emotional as she grew older, leading to the utter breakdown of her family when Sabrina turned her mother into a doll and her father ran away to avoid his daughter's wrath. The childhood she never experienced and her repressed emotions soon divorced themselves from Sabrina's mind and manifested themselves into a toddler-aged green-haired girl dressed in white. From then on, Sabrina existed as two entities: the cold, heartless woman who lusted for power, and the cheerful, yet lonely little girl who wanted to play and have fun. When she first met Ash and his friends, she leads them to Saffron City, then rescues them from Team Rocket. Then, when Ash first battles against Sabrina, her Abra evolves into a Kadabra and easily defeats Ash's Pikachu. She uses her psychic abilities to shrink Ash and his friends to the size of dolls, but they are rescued by Sabrina's father, who teleports them out. Ash then leaves for the haunted Pokémon Tower of Lavender Town to catch a Ghost-type Pokémon, which Sabrina's father says are the only Pokémon that can defeat her Psychic Pokémon, though it should be noted that, in the video games, Gastly and its evolutionary forms, Haunter and Gengar, are not pure Ghost types; they are Ghost/Poison, the latter type of which is weak against Psychic attacks. Pure Ghost-types would not be introduced until Generation II.

Ash befriends a Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar in the tower, and the Haunter accompanies Ash back to Saffron City. The Haunter seems confident in its ability to win the battle, but when it comes time to fight it is nowhere to be found, and Sabrina turns Brock and Misty into actual dolls, while Ash narrowly escapes with help from Sabrina's father. Ash manages to find Haunter in town just as it foils another one of Team Rocket's schemes to capture Pikachu. Believing this to be the reason for Haunter's disappearance, Ash quickly forgives Haunter, and they march back to the gym, only to have Haunter disappear again. Pikachu offers to take on Kadabra once more. Defeat seems certain until Haunter starts making comical faces at Sabrina, then producing a cartoon bomb that blows up in their faces. This makes Sabrina laugh for the first time in years, and the "doll" that was once created from the childhood Sabrina repressed merged back into Sabrina's body, giving the once cruel Gym Leader back her emotions and humanity. In addition, since Sabrina is telepathically linked to her Kadabra, it is immobilized with laughter as well and unable to continue the battle, causing Ash to win by default; Sabrina then gives Ash the Marsh Badge.

In the manga Electric Tale of Pikachu, Sabrina is happy and friendly (unlike her anime counterpart), but she finds herself joining in battle with a group of hunters against a giant ancient Haunter named The Black Fog (on account of the legion of Gastly that surround it at all times). During a fight, Sabrina gets her soul devoured by the Fog and falls into a coma. Ash and his friends have to defeat the Haunter to save Sabrina's soul.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Sabrina is, alongside Giovanni, the main villain of the RGB arc. She is, in addition to being the Saffron City Gym Leader, a member of Team Rocket. She is one of three elite "Executives", subordinate only to Giovanni himself. She makes a Barrier around Saffron City to take over Kanto by using Zapmolcuno created by herself. After Team Rocket is disbanded, Sabrina does not associate with its later incarnation, Neo Team Rocket.She is very beuatiful but also very ferocious and quite vain and self centered. One major difference between her physical appearance in the anime and manga is that in the anime her black hair is waist length, while in the manga it's almost floor length. This incredible hair length could have something to do with her self centered personality as she is often seen swinging it.

Blaine
 Blaine (カツラ), is a character in the Pokémon video game series, the Pokémon anime series and the Pokémon manga series. Blaine is the seventh Gym leader in the Kanto region, who is an expert on Fire-type Pokémon. Blaine resides in Cinnabar Island, and in the anime and the GSC games has his gym inside a volcano. His name could be a take off the word "blaze". One of Blaine's unique traits, at least in the video games and anime, is his affection for riddles. This, combined with his training of Fire Pokémon, has earned him the nickname "The Hotheaded Quiz Master". Due to this fact, his name may also be a reference to the character "Blaine the Mono" in Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, who also has an affection for riddles. According to information gained from various characters in the game, Blaine was inspired to train fire Pokémon after he was guided out of a freezing mountain range by the fire bird Moltres. He is also an old friend of Mr. Fuji, an old man in Lavender Town that looks after orphaned Pokémon, such as Cubone.

In Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, FireRed and LeafGreen, Blaine is the second to last gym leader in the Kanto region. In Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen, battles with his underlings can be avoided by correctly answering riddles. Victory against Blaine earns the player both a Volcano Badge and TM 38, Fire Blast. Blaine makes his home on Cinnabar Island in Red, Blue, Yellow, Fire Red and Leaf Green, as a native of the island who has lived there since before the creation of the island's Pokémon lab. By Gold and Silver, he has moved to the Seafoam Islands due to the eruption of the once-dormant Cinnabar Island volcano, which made it impossible for him to locate his gym there. Strangely, the volcano does not appear anywhere near Cinnabar Island in Red, Blue, Yellow, Fire Red or Leaf Green.

In the two Pokémon Stadium games, Blaine is a member of the gym leader lineups. Unlike the other games, he does not entirely rely on fire Pokémon, using the non-fire types Clefable, Kangaskhan, Chansey, Tangela, Parasect, Octillery and Vileplume. The reason for this is unknown, though it is possible the Grass Pokémon and Octillery are to thwart any Water- or Ground-type Pokémon the player may be using, or because of the lack of fire types in the early games.

In the anime, while Ash is on his way to Cinnabar Island in order to challenge Blaine for a Volcano Badge, he is told by Gary Oak that there is no badge. However, Ash does not believe his rival, suspecting that the latter only wants to trick him out of a badge. However, upon arriving, he learns that Gary was actually telling the truth, as a hippie-like character shows Ash and his friends the old, burned-down ruins of Blaine's abandoned gym. The hippie then tells them that as Cinnabar Island grew into a popular tourist attraction, too many non-serious Pokémon challengers arrived, driving Blaine away. He then hands them a business card for his hotel with the location disguised as a riddle.

After Ash and his friends are unable to find a place to stay (the Pokémon Center being full of tourists as well), Misty figures out this riddle, and as a reward, the hippie (who seemingly appears out of nowhere) gives them free lodging. Through Misty's Togepi, they find a secret entrance into Cinnabar Island's volcano at the hippie's hotel, and learn that the riddling hippie is Blaine in disguise. Ash, now knowing who Blaine is, challenges him to a match. While Ash calls upon Charizard early in the match, the Pokémon still refuses to listen to him, so he uses Pikachu instead. However, Magmar proves to be too much, and Ash is forced to pull out, with Pikachu nearly getting killed falling in lava. In the next episode, Team Rocket tries to get hold of Magmar thus setting Blaine's volcano gym on ice thereby causing the volcano to erupt. Ash,Misty and Brock assist Blaine in saving the entire island and Blaine gives Ash another chance for a battle. This time, Charizard follows Ash's orders (only to test Magmar's strength and see who's stronger) and defeats Magmar with a Seismic Toss attack after a tough fight, winning Ash the Volcano Badge.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Blaine is first introduced as a Team Rocket scientist working on the creation of Mewtwo. However, his appearance is brief, and he is not given a name until later. It is later revealed that he also was involved in experiments on Eevee, Gyarados, and others. He chose to work with Team Rocket based on his love of science, but regretted his decision after hearing about how Red had been taking on the organization. As revealed in Blaine's dreams, he combined the DNA of Mew with his own DNA in order to finish Mewtwo while working with Team Rocket. This also left some of Mewtwo's DNA inside of Blaine, which was claiming Blaine's life, but allowed the gym leader to track the Pokémon. After Mewtwo broke free of the Team Rocket facility, Blaine left the group and went into hiding until he helped Red fight off some Team Rocket thugs. During the escape from Team Rocket thugs and their Moltres, he discovers the old amber that Red has been carrying, and has him revive it into an Aerodactyl to fight off the Moltres, after which he lets Red keep it as he goes off to find Mewtwo. Red later reencounters Blaine and is able to help him capture Mewtwo with a Master Ball. Because of the DNA that they share, they are unable to be separated for very long without becoming ill. As a scientist, Blaine tries to find a way to separate them without hurting either.

Blaine later reappears two years later as the fourth member of the alliance of good gym leaders (the other three being Brock, Misty and Erika) to help find Red, who has gone missing. When the Elite Four launch attacks on Pewter, Cerulean and Celadon City, Blaine is forced to go to Cerise Island, the location of the Elite Four's secret base, with the aid of Yellow, Green, Blue and Bill, with the intent of dissolving the group. However, they find Lt. Surge, Sabrina and Koga instead, who state that they wish to help defeat the Elite Four, as the Elite Four are destroying the land that Team Rocket wishes to rule. He and Yellow are then paired together to fight against the Elite Four by Sabrina's "Spoons of Destiny", eventually facing off against Lance. However, the bond between Mewtwo and Blaine proves to be his undoing, as he faints before the battle is over.

Blaine next shows up in the "Mask of Ice" plot during the Johto vs. Kanto Gym Leader Competition during the tri-annual Pokémon League Tournament, in which he faces off against Clair. While the competition is apparently simply a matter of having the two regions compete against each other, in reality, it is to find out who the new leader of Team Rocket was, as fragments from the leader's Ice Mask had been discovered to be made out of the same material as gym badges. When the Legendary Dogs choose battle partners, Entei selected Blaine based on his specialty with Fire Pokémon, and it was then revealed that Blaine had been searching for Entei at the same time for his healing flame. Using the flame, Entei is able to break the bond between Blaine and Mewtwo by removing the DNA in Blane's arm, at which point Mewtwo leaves. Blaine is then able to use the legendary Pokémon to easily defeat Clair, who had insisted on holding their match on a runaway magnet train on which all the gym leaders had become trapped. Blaine then works with Misty and Lt. Surge (who were battle partners with Suicune and Raikou) to fight against the Mask of Ice and free Lugia and Ho-oh from his control. Ultimately, however, it is the emotions of a large number of Pokémon that frees the two legendary birds.

Giovanni
 Giovanni (サカキ) is the leader of Team Rocket in the world of Pokémon, and he is also a former Viridian City Gym Leader. Though he's labelled as a Ground-type user in the video games, the group of Pokémon that Giovanni uses in the anime and manga are actually quite diverse. Giovanni's special attack in the game is fissure that can KO the opponent at once, but it has a low hit rate and it doesn't work on flying types. When defeated in his gym, Giovanni gives the victor an Earth Badge. The gym remains closed most of the time, while Giovanni is off managing Team Rocket. His English name is both a play on the mafia stereotype and a reference to the prefix geo-, while his Japanese name may refer to Cleyera japonica, which the Earth Badge resembles.

Blue
 Blue (グリーン) is the main antagonist of Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen. Although the player can change his name at the beginning of the game, the game will generically refer to the character as “Blue”. He serves as a repeated foil and recurring boss for the player.

After defeating all of the Johto Gym Leaders, the player is granted access to Kanto, the setting of the original generation of Pokémon games. The player will proceed to defeat all of the Kanto Gym Leaders, but will be unable to find the leader of the Viridian City Gym as no mention of it has been made after Giovanni departed from the Gym.

The player can find Blue on the remains of Cinnabar Island, staring out into the sea. Blue speaks to the player briefly and returns to Viridian, where he is revealed to be the Gym Leader. After beating all of the other Kanto Gym Leaders and speaking to Blue, the player can then challenge him in the Viridian Gym. If the player defeats Blue, he or she receives their 16th badge and Professor Oak will grant them access to Mt. Silver.

Blue's Pokémon are the same ones he used at the end of Red, Green, Blue, FireRed, and LeafGreen (minus the starter). Because of this, he is said to be much more difficult to beat than the other Gym Leaders, as his team doesn't use a specific type and are of higher levels than the other gym leader's Pokémon.

Gary Oak is loosely based on Blue, in the same sense of Ash Ketchum being based on Red, but all are distinct characters.

Falkner


Falkner (ハヤト) is in charge of the Zephyr Badge, and resides in Violet City. He is an expert on Flying types. Falkner's right eye is always covered up by his hair. He is the only first gym leader in the Pokémon games not to deal with Rock-type Pokémon, unlike Brock, Roxanne and Roark. Falkner's main Pokémon differs depending on the series; while in the Pokémon anime is a Pidgeot, in the Pokémon Adventures manga is a Skarmory. His English name may be based on the word falconer, "one who trains falcons" while his Japanese name, Hayato, may be a reference to hayai, meaning swift.

In Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal, Falkner's title is "The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon". He inherited his rather simplistic gym full of bird cages from his father, who is never seen but apparently on the road. It could be said that in the games, there is a small amount of rivalry between him and his father. Falkner is always thought of as cool and handsome but his father is said to be more so. Falkner battles using his father's bird Pokémon, and aspires to be the greatest bird master, but his low-level Pidgey and Pidgeotto will likely pose little threat to the player's team, due to their low levels. He hands over the Zephyr Badge and TM31(Mud-Slap) when defeated.

In Round One of Pokémon Stadium 2 Gym Leader Castle, the player must defeat Falkner's Pidgeot, Fearow, Noctowl, Togetic, Farfetch'd and Delibird. In Round Two, the only Pokémon he retains is his Pidgeot but it is now joined by a Charizard, Dodrio, Zapdos, Gligar and Skarmory.

Falkner meets Ash Ketchum after Falkner's Hoothoot foils an attempt by Team Rocket to steal Ash's Pikachu. After returning Pikachu, he and Ash battle for the Zephyr Badge. Despite Ash's Charizard's wing being badly damaged, he defeats Falkner's Hoothoot, Pidgeot, and his surprisingly high-jumping Dodrio. During their battle, Falkner's many students cheer for him and chant in unison. His gym is very tall and spiral shaped and he battles on the very top of it.

In Pokémon Adventures, Falkner is actually a police officer who takes over the Violet City gym after the disappearance of his father, the former gym leader. He interrogates Gold for information after Silver steals Professor Elm's Totodile; later, Gold helps him capture a Skarmory, with which Falkner passes the Gym Leader Exam. His father has a friendly, if competitive, rivalry with Chuck, and fights alongside him when the two are defeated by Suicune. Falkner's other Pokémon are a Pidgeotto and a Noctowl. He defeats Janine due to a forfeit on her part as she believed to have seen her father in the audience.

Bugsy


Bugsy (ツクシ) is in charge of the Hive Badge, and resides in Azalea Town. He is an expert on Bug-type Pokémon. Bugsy is a researcher of bug Pokémon whose main Pokémon is a Scyther. His name derives from the word bug.

In in Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal, Bugsy's title is "The Walking Bug Pokémon Encyclopedia". His research on bug Pokémon has made him an authority on them. Bugsy discovered the move Fury Cutter in his research, and gives it out to the player as TM49 in addition to the Hive Badge when defeated. Bugsy's signature Pokémon is a Scyther, but his team also contains a Kakuna and a Metapod. His gym is very forest-like in appearance, with trees and grass growing inside. In Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Bugsy will have a rematch party with Shedinja, Vespiquen, Pinsir, Heracross, Yanmega, Scizor.

Bugsy appears in Pokémon Stadium 2 Gym Leader Castle. His team in Round One includes a Butterfree, a Beedrill, Weepinbell and Pupitar. In Round Two, he has a Raticate, a Sudowoodo, a Quagsire, and a Heracross. Bugsy also uses Scyther and Pinsir in both rounds.

In the anime, Bugsy is a fairly nondescript gym leader whose gym is a large greenhouse dome with a forest-like interior. His motto is "Whoever learns the rules of the Bug Pokémon learns to rule the Bug Pokémon", and his signature Pokémon is Scyther, which he has specifically trained to counter fire Pokémon. His other Pokémon are a Spinarak that specializes in String Shot, and a particularly hard and hard-hitting Metapod, which is the only Metapod ever seen in the anime using damaging moves like Tackle. When Ash challenges Bugsy's Pokémon Gym, Ash's relatively inexperienced Cyndaquil fails to defeat Spinarak. Ash's Chikorita succeeds, but in turn is defeated by Bugsy's Metapod. Pikachu finishes off Metapod, and in the end, Cyndaquil comes back to defeat Scyther, winning Ash the Hive Badge.

In Pokémon Adventures, Bugsy is an androgynous-looking (so much so that Gold hit on him when they first met) archaeologist investigating the Ruins of Alph and the Symbol Pokémon. His signature Pokémon is a Heracross, supplemented with a Metapod. He later acquires a Kakuna and Scyther. He also has a special method of catching Pokémon, one which was invented by him and Kurt, the Poké Ball master. Bugsy has an external capture net attached to his Poké Ball, so when he traps the Pokémon inside the capture net it is automatically sucked into the Poké Ball. If the Pokémon manages to escape from the Poké Ball, it will still be trapped inside the external capture net and thus will still be unable to break free completely. However, when Bugsy faces Suicune his efforts to fight the legendary Pokémon head-on fail as his Heracross's strength falls to the much-stronger Suicune. Eventually Bugsy tries to use the capture net method to capture Suicune, but Suicune manages to break Bugsy's net for the first time, and escapes. Later, he is defeated by Sabrina in the Gym Leaders' Challenge.

Whitney


Whitney (アカネ) is in charge of the Plain Badge, and resides in Goldenrod City. She is an expert on Normal types. Whitney's signature Pokémon is a Miltank, and in all other series she has a Clefairy, or a member of its evolutionary line, belongs to her team. Whitney's name in English means white islands. It was probably chosen because "white" relates to being without color and therefore plain and normal. Her Japanese name, Akane, can be taken to mean madder (a type of plant) or deep red (possibly related to her hair color).

In Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal, Whitney's title is "The Incredibly Pretty Girl". Although she's a beginner in Pokémon battles, her talent attracted the Pokémon League to choose her as a Gym Leader. Her gym is filled with other young girls like herself, who use cute Normal-type Pokémon like Meowth. The blocks inside her gym are shaped like a Clefairy. Whitney doesn't like trainers who are too serious in battle. In her gym battle, she uses a Clefairy and a Miltank. When Whitney is defeated, she throws a temper tantrum and cries, but after drying her eyes and blowing her nose she will get over her loss and give the player the Plain Badge alongside the TM45 (Attract). In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Whitney will have a rematch party with Bibarel, Lickilicky, Clefable, Girafarig, Delcatty, Miltank.

She later appears in Pokémon Stadium 2 Gym Leader Castle. Her line-up in Round One includes a Clefable, a Wigglytuff, a (somewhat uncharacteristic) Gloom, a Dodrio and a Stantler. The second time the player faces her, in Round Two, she has a Persian, a Donphan, a Tauros, a Golduck and a Mr. Mime. She also uses Miltank in both rounds.

In the anime, Whitney is the niece of a Miltank farmer, and has the unique ability to always take the right path to wherever she needs to go; as long as she has no idea how to get to her destination, this is also noted for her clumsiness. She ends up leading Ash and his friends on a wild goose chase through Goldenrod City, ending at the Goldenrod Galleria, before Ash realizes that she is the gym leader. They battle, but after defeating her Nidorina and Clefairy, Ash's Pokémon turn out to be no match for Whitney's Miltank. After working at Whitney's uncle's farm for a bit and foiling a Team Rocket scheme, he earns a rematch with Whitney, where Pikachu outmaneuvers and knocks out her Miltank.

In Pokémon Adventures, Whitney is an actress who is good friends with DJ Mary (to whom she gave a Smeargle). She met Gold while performing at the Radio Tower in Goldenrod City, but the two clashed and ended up competing against each other in a bike race. Whitney isn't a strong Gym Leader, according to Suicune, and is the one of two Johto Gym Leaders (along with Pryce) that Suicune doesn't challenge for the right to be its partner in the fight against the Mask of Ice. In the end, she was the first to realize that Pryce was the villain known as the Mask of Ice. Whitney has a Cleffa and Igglybuff who work together to stun and confuse enemies to set them up for Miltank's attacks. At one point she also has a particularly mischievous Smeargle, but she gives it away. She faces Misty at the Pokémon League and loses due to a Hyper Beam from Starmie.

Morty


Morty (マツバ) is in charge of the Fog Badge (Phantom Badge in Japanese language versions), and resides in Ecruteak City. He is very mysterious, owing to his nature as a trainer of Ghost Pokémon. In all series he appeared, Morty owns a Pokémon from the Gastly evolutionary familly.

In Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal, Morty's title is "The Mystic Seer of the Future". His gym has dark pit, and the trainers whose stands inside appear to float over it. The player must navigate along the invisible floor to reach Morty and challenge him. Only in Pokémon Crystal, Morty joins Eusine in the Burned Tower to study what are said to be legendary Pokémon: Entei, Raikou and Suicune. In his gym battle, Morty uses Gastly, a pair of Haunter and a Gengar. When defeated, in addition to the Fog Badge, Morty gives out TM30 (Shadow Ball). In HeartGold and SoulSilver, He will have a rematch party with Drifblim, Dusknoir, Sableye, Mismagius, and a pair of Gengar.

Morty also appears in Pokémon Stadium 2. He has, along with his Gengar, an Ariados, a Sudowoodo, a Marowak, a Girafarig and a Noctowl when challenged in Round One. When faced again in Round Two, Morty maintains his Gengar, but add to his team an Exeggutor, a Lapras, a Misdreavus, a Granbull and a Mantine.

Morty (and later, Eusine) is one of few people who is knowledgeable on Ecruteak City history. He knows quite a bit about the origins of Ho-Oh, Entei, Raikou and Suicune. However, he is too afraid of secret information slipping out to tell anyone except Ash and his friends. Morty also teaches classes about battling techniques and caring for Pokémon. When Ash faced him in a gym battle, his Gastly defeated Ash's Pikachu but lost to Cyndaquil, which was later outdone by Morty's Haunter; putting Ash in a tight spot. However, Ash defeated Morty's Haunter and Gengar using Noctowl's newly learnt Confusion attack.

In Pokémon Adventures, he is an item finder, using his powers as a psychic clairvoyant to locate lost objects and Pokémon and see objects at a distance. When Team Rocket attacks Ecruteak City, Morty is out of town but later assists in its reconstruction. His dream is to one day be able to see Ho-Oh. The rainbow Pokémon's power is so great, it blocks Morty's abilities. He and Lt. Surge finish in a draw due to his Misdreavus' Destiny Bond.

Chuck


Chuck (シジマ) is in charge of the Storm Badge, and resides in Cianwood City. He is an expert on Fighting types. His signature Pokémon in all series he appeared is a Poliwrath. Chuck is the first gym leader not to wear a shirt, making him similar to Bruno of the Elite Four, as he only wears his martial arts trousers and belt. His name may have come from the verb form of the word chuck, which means to throw something. It may also be derived from the latter part of the word "nunchuck" (nunchaku), which is the name of a popular kung-fu weapon. Another theory is that he is named after renowned martial artist Chuck Norris.

In Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal, Chuck's title is "His Roaring Fists Do the Talking". Chuck's gym has many boulders around, and the player must solve a puzzle involving them in his gym before challenging him. When challenged, he intimidates his opponent before battle by telling how his Pokémon "will crush stones and shatter bones," then lifts and tosses a boulder. Then he realizes that the player means a Pokémon battle, not a fighting battle. In his gym battle, Chuck uses a Primeape and a Poliwrath. After defeated he gives out the Storm Badge and TM01 (DynamicPunch) to the player. He also vows to train 24 hours a day. Also, his wife standing outside the gym gives the player HM02 (Fly) and thinks that her husband should do more training, since he was getting "a little chubby". In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Chuck is will have a rematch party with Medicham, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Primeape, Poliwrath, Breloom

Chuck appears in Pokémon Stadium 2 Gym Leader Castle. When challenged in Round One and Round Two, he keeps a Poliwrath, a Sandslash and a Hitmonchan in his team; however in Round One he also uses a Primeape, a Machoke and a Granbull, and in Round Two, an Ursaring and (somewhat unusuals) Hypno and Ampharos.

Chuck is fanatically devoted to physical fitness, and is unusually positive-minded and emotional sharing these qualities with his Machoke, who he shares a very close bond with. Despite owning the Cianwood Gym, he prefers to train on the beach, often sparring with Machoke, even encouraging it to use submission on him. He teases his wife (and is teased right back), and has a tendency to break out into tears. His wife seems to share his general goodwill and positive outlook; she ends up commissioning Team Rocket to help with the chores and feeds them generously, under the impression that they are students come to study at the gym. Chuck chides Ash and his friends for being out of shape, after wearing them out on a long hike to his gym. In the ensuing battle, Pikachu turns out to be no match for his buff Poliwrath, but Ash's Bayleef defeats both his Poliwrath and his Machoke.

In Pokémon Adventures, Chuck is more of a meditative martial artist, and considers personal martial arts training to be an important part of Pokémon training. He trained Blue (Pokémon) to be a Pokémon trainer, after being introduced to Blue by Professor Oak. Blue would later go on to defeat Chuck at the Pokémon League Tournament, demonstrating clearly that he had learned his lessons well. Chuck is a friendly rival of Falkner's father, and aids him in a battle against Suicune, a battle they end up losing despite working together. His team consists of Poliwrath, Primeape, Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmontop.

Jasmine


Jasmine (ミカン) is in charge of the Mineral Badge (Steel Badge in Japanese), and resides in Olivine City. She is an expert on Steel types, with her signature Pokémon being Steelix. Jasmine also owns an Ampharos which lights the Olivine Lighthouse. She seems in her teens and qiute pretty for her age, with waist length brown hair and a unique dress style. Her English name derives from "mine" as in a mineral cave

In Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal, Jasmine's title is "The Steel-Clad Defense Girl". The player is unable to fight her immediately, as she is busy taking care of her sick Ampharos (named "Amphy") at the Olivine Lighthouse. First, the player must get special medicine from the pharmacy in Cianwood City and give it to her. A villager in Olivine City says that she used to train Rock types, such as Onix, before the discovery of Steel types. The Olivine City Gym is probably the most simply designed Pokémon Gym in Johto. It consists of one straight, fairly short boulder-lined walkway leading up to a small set of steps onto a raised stone platform. For this reason, and possibly due somewhat to Jasmine's shy nature, she appears to be the only member of her gym, accompanied only by a pair of Magnemite and her Steelix. After she is defeated, she gives out Mineral Badge and TM23 (Iron Tail). In HeartGold and SoulSilver, she will have a rematch party with Bronzong, Skarmory, Empoleon, Metagross, Magnezone, Steelix.

In Pokémon Stadium 2, the player must battle her twice. In Round One, she has a Magneton, Forretress, Steelix, Skarmory, a Mantine and a Corsola. In Round Two, other than Steelix, she has a totally new line-up of Blastoise, Rapidash, Slowbro, Scizor and Stantler.

She appears in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl; when she apparently came to Sinnoh region to make herself stronger. She gives the player HM07 (Waterfall) after the 8th Gym Leader, Volkner, is defeated. Jasmine also appears as an opponent in the Master Rank Pokémon contests, with a Steelix named "Rusty".

In the anime, Jasmine's Ampharos, named "Sparkle", is used to light the way over the shore but it has become ill. She asks Ash to fetch her medicine from Cianwood City, and Ash and his friends retrieve the medicine and send it back with one of Jasmine's students, Janina. Several weeks later, Ash and his friends return from the Whirl Islands and Ash challenges Jasmine to a Gym battle. Ash's Pikachu defeats Jasmine's Magnemite but is defeated by Steelix. However Ash's Cyndaquil came through and beat Steelix with great difficulty, earning Ash his Mineral Badge. Unlike her other incarnations, the anime Jasmine is a far more confident girl, especially during her second appearance, where she makes an entrance via summoning her Steelix as she herself somersaults off the cliff she is standing on then landing on her Steelix. Later, during the Gym match, she appears to be anything but meek since she doesn't hestiate to tell Ash she will not make the battle easy for him.

In Pokémon Adventures, Jasmine is caught in an earthquake caused by Team Rocket while traveling through Ecruteak City, and when she climbs the Tin Tower to get away from the shaking she gets caught in some rubble. Using Ampharos to send off a distress flare, she catches the attention of both Gold and Silver. The two boys try to rescue her, but Ampharos does it successfully, leaving the young rivals trapped in the tower.nJasmine later recovers. At the Pokémon League Tournament, she fights against and defeats Brock. She covers her Steelix in rubble to make it look like an Onix, thinking that the newly-discovered Steel Pokémon would be too horrifying for people to see. Jasmine once specialized in Rock-type Pokémon before Crystal and Professor Oak discovered Steel-type Pokémon. Her two Togetics are the parents of Gold's Togepi.

Pryce
 Pryce (ヤナギ) is in charge of the Glacier Badge, and resides in Mahogany Town. He is an expert on Ice types. His signature Pokémon is Piloswine. Pryce's name may be derived from the word ice.

Pryce's title is "The Teacher of Winter's Harshness" in Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal. An elder Pokémon trainer, Pryce, the winter trainer, has seen and suffered much in his lifetime. He's trained Pokémon for some 50 years, and the Pokémon he battles with have been with him since before the player was born. As stated in the games, the secret behind Pryce's power is his meditation under a waterfall daily, which strengthens his mind and body. His Gym is covered in a ice floor, and the player must resolve a floor puzzle in order to reach Pryce. Also, the player can only access Mahogany's Gym after the events involving Team Rocket in the Lake of Rage. Pryce uses a Seel, a Dewgong, and a Piloswine in his Gym battle, in which Piloswine is his strongest Pokémon. Upon his the defeat, Pryce gives out the Glacier Badge and TM16 (Icy Wind). In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he will have a rematch party with Abomasnow, Dewgong, Walrein, Glalie, Froslass, Mamoswine.

Pryce also appears in Pokémon Stadium 2 Gym Leader Castle. When faced in Round One, he has a Cloyster, an Ursaring, a Donphan and a Jynx, along with his Piloswine and Dewgong. In Round Two, only Pryce's Piloswine is kept, adding Tentacruel, Hitmontop, Quagsire, Girafarig and an Articuno to his team.

Pryce first appears as a cold and abrasive man who believes that Pokémon are for battling and nothing more, as a result of an incident from his youth. After he and his Piloswine had been badly burned by a Magmar during a storm, his beloved Piloswine disappeared and Pryce believed it to have abandoned him. When he encounters with Ash, the two of them are trapped into an underground and they come across a frozen Piloswine, which turns out to be Pryce's. Realizing that it had tried to find healing herbs for him, Pryce reconciles with his reunited Pokémon and turns over a new leaf, once again seeing Pokémon as friends. Afterwards, Pryce battles Ash having his Dewgong defeated by Cyndaquil and Piloswine by Pikachu. Ash then receives the Glacier Badge.

In Pokémon Adventures, it is revealed that Pryce is actually the leader of a newly resuscitated Team Rocket under the guise of the Mask of Ice, with the intent of controlling time. Half of the Mask of Ice's body is composed of ice, while the other half is Pryce sitting in a wheelchair, explaining why he retains no damage when his lower half is attacked. He is able to shoot ice because of the Swinub sitting in his lap. He was the only Johto Gym Leader other than Whitney who was not challenged by Suicune, due to his connections with Team Rocket. He has various types of Pokémon, but is known mostly as an Ice-type user. He owns a particularly powerful Delibird to supplement his Swinub, as well as a special Lapras, whose parents were killed in an icy wasteland years ago. The sadness of the Lapras prompted Pryce to research methods of controlling and reversing time so he could go back to save his Lapras' parents. He was also rumored to have had connections with Team Rocket much earlier. While facing Gold, he says that he lied about his Pokémon just being tools to him, as he really believes they should be loved, and be symbols of love as well. But thanks to Celebi, who played a song his childhood friends had written for him, Pryce became happy again, and fell into the clouds of time to save Gold and his Pichu. He defeats Erika in the Gym Leaders competition.

Clair


Clair (イブキ) is in charge of the Rising Badge, and resides in Blackthorn City. She is an expert on Dragon types. Lance, the head of the Kanto Elite Four, is her cousin, and she once trained with him for the Elite Four. Her signature Pokémon in all series is a Kingdra. Her English name derives from lair as in the lair of a dragon.

In Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Crystal, Clair's title is "The Blessed User of Dragon Pokémon". Descending from a long line of Dragon-type trainers, Clair is very arrogant, speaking of herself as "the world's best dragon master". She claims she can hold her own even against the Elite Four. She owns three (In HeartGold and SoulSilver, she owns Gyarados and two Dragonair) Dragonair, but her powerhouse Pokémon is Kingdra. Her only known loss had been to her cousin, Lance. She also refuses to accept the player is better than her, unless he/she passes the "dragon user challenge. In the Gold and Silver versions, Clair gives out the Rising Badge after the player finds a Dragon Fang in the Dragon's Den. In the Crystal version, earning the badge instead involves navigating the Dragon's Den, entering the shrine at the center and successfully answering Clair's grandfather's, who lives inside the Dragon's Den, questions about Pokémon Raising. She hands over the badge when her grandfather threatens to tell Lance about her reluctance. In both games, in addition to the Rising Badge, she also gives TM24 (Dragonbreath) to the player. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, she will have a rematch party with Dragonair, Gyarados, Charizard, Aerodactyl, Kingdra, Dragonite.

In the first battle with her in Pokémon Stadium 2 Gym Leader Castle, Clair has an Arcanine, a Rhydon, a Lapras, a Dragonair, an Ampharos and her signature Kingdra. For the second battle, she discards her Dragonair, Arcanine and Lapras for Charizard, Nidoking and Gyarados.

After Ash Ketchum and his friends arrive at Blackthorn City, they discover a Dratini and a Gyarados in a river. Afterwards, they meet Clair and follow the Dratini for some time, and end up freeing it from Team Rocket. Later, Dratini evolves into a Dragonair, much to Jessie's dismay. Clair performs the Dragon Fang ritual at a ceremony, then faces Ash in a Gym Battle, which is interrupted when Team Rocket steals the Dragon Fang. Ash, Clair and Team Rocket all end up in the Dragon Holy Land, where Team Rocket tricks a Dragonite into helping them. Luckily, Liza and Ash's Charizard arrive to save the day. In Ash's Blackthorn Gym battle, Snorlax and Pikachu defeat Clair's Kingdra and Gyarados, respectively, while Ash's Charizard helps him to earn the Rising Badge by beating her Dragonair. Clair also appeared in the next episode, in which she helped Ash get his badges back as they were stolen by Team Rocket.

In Pokémon Adventures, Clair is one of the first to meet Suicune and she is outclassed quickly by its use of Mist to create a reflection of itself. Later, she challenges Blaine at the Gym Leaders' Challenge, in the hope that Blaine would know what became of her cousin Lance after Blaine and Lance's battle at Cerise Island the year before. Despite a Team Rocket attack which traps all the Gym Leaders on a bullet train, she forces Blaine into fighting their duel. However, Blaine quickly wins, relying on his Entei's powerful attacks. This victory is the tiebreaker in the Gym Leaders' Challenge, giving the win to the Kanto Gym Leaders with four wins, three loses and one draw.

Roxanne
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Roxanne (ツツジ) is in charge of the Stone Badge, and resides in Rustboro City. She is an expert on Rock-type Pokémon, as shown from her name, which may be derived from the word rocks. Her name in Japanese language versions means azalea, but is also an allusion to the Japanese word meaning "throwing stone"tsubute (礫).

In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, Roxanne and her Pokémon Gym serve much the same purpose as Brock's Gym in previous games. She is the first Gym Leader players encounter, and her team (a Geodude — two in Emerald — and a Nosepass), while durable, is weak against all three starting Pokémon (Torchic, when evolved, becomes Combusken, gaining the Fighting type, which is strong against Rock types) and is greatly lacking in offensive ability. Similarly, her Gym has few subordinate trainers (serving mostly to ward off any player who hasn't built up their team sufficiently) and no puzzles or complex mazes. Once you defeat her, she gives you TM39: Rock Tomb, which does average damage and cuts Speed.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Roxanne is both the Rustboro City Gym Leader and an instructor at the Rustboro Trainer's School. She has appeared in "VS. Nosepass" Parts 1 & 2 (Ch.190 & Ch.191), "VS. Shiftry" (Ch.222) and "VS. Kyogre & Groudon X" (Ch.248), appearing as either the Gym Leader of Rustboro (where she supplements the traditional head-to-head challenge with written tests), or fighting against Team Aqua and Team Magma with the other Gym Leaders from Hoenn.

In the Pokémon anime, Roxanne is not only a Gym Leader, but also a teacher at the Pokémon Trainer's School in Rustboro City, teaching skills she learned as Professor Oak's star pupil. She teaches an introductory course on Pokémon to young children not old enough to be trainers. She appears in episodes 291 and 292, "Gonna Rule The School!" and "Winner By A Nosepass". While "Gonna Rule The School!" introduces Roxanne in passing, it instead focuses on members of her class; in "Winner By A Nosepass", Pikachu and Ash use a previously learned (and unreliable in the early anime) attack, "Iron Tail", which Pikachu later uses to defeat Roxanne's Nosepass in a battle for the Stone Badge.She also looks up to Brock as the most powerful rock gym leader.

Brawly
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Brawly (トウキ Tōki) is in charge of the Knuckle Badge and resides in Dewford Town. Brawly's name contains the word brawl in it, referring to fighting; his Japanese name Tōki can be literally translated as "fighting spirit". Brawly specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon, and once trained alongside Kanto Elite Four member Bruno.

In the games, Brawly's gym is a pitch-black maze. As the player defeats more trainers inside the gym, more light around the character's sprite is revealed; when the player has defeated Brawly, the gym becomes completely lit up. In Ruby and Sapphire, Brawly uses a Machop and a Makuhita. In Emerald he uses a Meditite as well. After defeating him, he gives you TM08: Bulk Up, which raises both Attack and Defense by one stage.

In the Pokémon anime series, Brawly is a Gym Leader who likes to Surf and train his Pokémon at the same time. His Pokémon move like the waves, always changing and avoiding attacks through the course of battle. He also has a private island which has a training facility and a battle field that has many geysers on it. Ash loses to Brawly the first time, when he relies only on brute strength. However, in the rematch, his Corphish and Treecko use the forces of nature to defeat Brawly's Machop and Hariyama.

Wattson
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Wattson (テッセン) resides in Mauville City and is an expert on Electric-type Pokémon; defeating Wattson will earn the trainer the Dynamo Badge. His English name is derived from watt, while his Japanese name is likely a reference toward Nikola Tesla. An old man, Wattson is almost always seen smiling.

Inside his gym includes several electrical doors and trainers. Each door can be opened by stepping on a switch. His puzzle isn't very difficult, much less than the next Gym Leader, Flannery. His team in Ruby and Sapphire consists of a Voltorb, a Magnemite, and a Magneton. In Emerald, he drops his Magnemite and adds an Electrike and a Manetric. After his defeat, he hands you TM34: Shockwave, an electric attack that is sure to hit.

When the player returns to Mauville City after defeating Norman, Wattson is standing outside. He will tell the player that there have been some problems at Mauville's electrical power station, New Mauville, and asks the player to enter the station to turn off the generator; if the player agrees, he or she receives the key to New Mauville. Completion of this subquest rewards the player with Wattson's TM24 Thunderbolt.

As shown in the Pokémon anime, Wattson always likes a good joke, as any visitors (gym challengers or not) take a roller coaster ride, ending up against a mechanical Raikou. Ash surprisingly defeats Wattson easily with just his Pikachu, which is unusual as Electric-type moves are not very effective against Electric-type Pokémon. Wattson then dejectedly plans to retire from his Gym Leader post but regains his fighting spirit after helping to defeat Team Rocket. It is revealed that Pikachu's electric attacks had been temporarily supercharged when he destroyed the mechanical Raikou, which allowed him to overwhelm Wattson's Pokémon. Ash, hoping to get a fair rematch, tries to return his Dynamo Badge and earn it back fairly, but Wattson asks him to keep it because Wattson realizes that he also needs to continue training. His training pays off, because he and Ash meet again later in the series and have a rematch, in which Wattson's Manectric defeats Ash's Torkoal.

Flannery
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Flannery (アスナ) is in charge of the Heat Badge and resides in Lavaridge Town. She is an expert on Fire-type Pokémon. Her name may be derived from the word flame or flammable.

When the player first faces her in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon Emerald, Flannery has recently inherited leadership of the gym from her grandfather (revealed to be a former Elite Four member), and she has a reputation to live up to. Flannery is a young, tall and slim girl with wild, fiery hair. At this point in her career, she seems uncertain and inexperienced. Her Gym has a maze similar to Sabrina's puzzle in Red and Blue. Hole in the ground launch you up/down. One must memorize the location of the holes in order to avoid getting stuck. Her team consists of two Slugma and a Torkoal. In Emerald she drops one Slugma and adds a Numel and Camerupt. After Flannery is defeated, she comments that the player battles like Norman, as well as handing you TM50: Overheat, an extremely powerful Fire-Type attack. However, after every use your Special Attack harshly falls.

In the anime, Ash arrives in Lavaridge Town to find that Flannery has been the Gym Leader for only three days. Her grandfather recently left on a journey to write better poetry, but he secretly spies on her to see how she is doing, as the older citizens of the town are not expecting him back for a long time. He comes in disguised as a Pokémon referee, helps Flannery out, and eventually drops his disguise. One of Flannery's Slugma evolves fighting off Team Rocket, who had attempted to steal Flannery's Torkoal. The battle between Flannery and Ash is intense. Eventually, a fired-up Torkoal faces Ash's sleeping Corphish. However, Corphish eventually wakes up in time to defeat Torkoal, and Ash wins his fourth badge.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Flannery tried to protect Mt. Chimney from having its flames doused by Team Aqua. However, even with the help of Sapphire, she was unable to prevent the water-worshiping team from causing the volcano to become dormant. During the battle, she was also assisted by Tabitha of Team Magma. The two seemed to be attracted to each other. Later, when all the Hoenn Gym Leaders chose sides, Flannery aligned herself with Team Magma. The destruction later caused by Kyogre and Groudon changed her mind. Flannery is also apparently close friends with Winona.

Norman
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Norman (センリ) resides in Petalburg City and awards the Balance Badge. He is an expert on Normal-type Pokémon, from which his name is derived.

His gym is composed of branching paths that eventually lead to Norman. Each room contains a door that says what's ahead: a trainer who uses an X Attack, a trainer that uses Potions, etc. Norman uses two Slaking and a Vigoroth in Sapphire and Ruby, but also uses a Spinda and drops one Slaking for a Linoone in Emerald. After defeating him he hands you TM42: Facade, an attack that does double damage if the user is affected by a status.

In the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald games, Norman is the protagonist's father. During the game, he appears on TV at the beginning of the player's adventure, and is mentioned by his good friend Professor Birch in conversation when the player first meets Birch. It is also Norman who lends Wally the Zigzagoon he uses to catch his first Pokémon, Ralts. Norman then wishes to battle the player, only that he/she must get the first four Hoenn badges first.

His role in Pokémon Adventures is similar to his video game role, as he is the father of Ruby. Norman is shown to be quite calm. He was originally going to be a gym leader in Hoenn five years prior to the start of the Ruby and Sapphire story arc. He and Professor Birch brought their families along.

There a wild Salamence attacked Professor Birch's daughter Sapphire, but Norman's son Ruby saved her, resulting in him receiving a scar on the forehead. This event caused Ruby to believe he needed to be more soft and Sapphire to toughen up to protect herself. The wild Salamence then went into the nearby research building resulting in Rayquaza escaping from the building. Norman is then banned from becoming a gym leader until he tracks down where Rayquaza is.

In the anime, Norman is May's and Max's father. He is a major celebrity in the area around Petalburg, and his skill is reputed to approach the level of an Elite Four member. He uses a high-level Slaking to accompany his powerful Vigoroth. His undefeated streak ends when he battles Ash, who wins his fifth gym battle. However, Max, depressed at seeing his father lose, snatches the badge just as Norman was giving it to Ash and runs away with it. Ash, May, and Norman manage to make him see that losing is as important as winning, and Max gives back the badge.

Winona
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Winona (ナギ) resides in Fortree City and awards the Feather Badge. She is an expert on Flying-type Pokémon. Winona's name is taken from the words wing and winnow. She is a very beuatiful gym leader with with a confident personality. Her purple hair reaches below her waist and her dress style seems to be that of a female pilot's.

In the games, the way to her gym is barred by an invisible Kecleon, which can only be revealed by using the Devon Scope. Inside the Gym are Trainers and rotating doors that require a lot of thinking to get around. She uses a Skarmory, Swellow, Pelipper and Altaria in Ruby and Sapphire. In Emerald she adds a Swablu and a Tropius to her roster while removing Swellow. Her defeat gives you the right to own TM40: Aerial Ace, a 100% accurate Flying attack.

Winona, depicted in the Pokémon anime, is a very experienced gym leader. She also owns a Shiny Swellow. She puts up a good fight against Ash, but thanks to Pikachu, Grovyle and Swellow, he manages to win his sixth badge having Grovyle beat Altaria, Pikachu tying with Pelipper and Swellow defeating Winona's Shiny Swellow. She also has a Skarmory which she didn't use against Ash.

Tate and Liza
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Tate and Liza (フウとラン) are the twin gym leaders in the Hoenn region and reside in Mossdeep City; when defeated, they award the Mind Badge to the victor. It turns out that Tate is the slightly younger brother of Liza and slightly less experienced, ending up in constant teasing. Tate and Liza are experts on Psychic types. Their strategy is to Double Battle. In the games, Tate and Liza communicate with their Pokémon and each other telepathically in order to perfectly coordinate their attacks. This ability is not evident in the anime. When combined, their names sound like the word levitate. Their Japanese names can be interpreted as the Chinese "Feng" and "Lùan" respectively, complementing their appearances; additionally, the former translates to "wind" and is the first character in the art of feng shui, while "lùan"'s character is used in a pair of characters used to refer to confusion, a common technique of Psychic Pokémon. In English, their names arranged Liza and Tate can resemble the word levitate.

In Sapphire and Ruby, the gym is composed of several conveyor belts. You must use the belts wisely to get to your desired location. Occasionally, some red links in the belt throw you off, so you must flip a nearby switch to change the red link so you go in the desired direction. Tate and Liza use a Solrock and Lunatone. In Emerald, there are statues and Trainers positioned on a conveyor belt. The statues and Trainers block your way, so you must step on switches to rotate the statues and Trainers in your perfered formation. The twins use a Xatu and Claydol along with the Pokémon used in RS. After the battle you are awarded with TM04: Calm Mind, which raises Spec. Attack and Spec. Defense by one.

Many players of the Pokémon video games initially believed that Tate and Liza were both girls; this belief stemmed from the fact that they dress in similar clothing, and Tate is not a very common boys' name. This was cleared up in the anime, however. It was probably thought because in the video games, one of the things shown on their profile was "Papa has trouble telling us apart sometimes".

In the Pokémon anime, Tate and Liza first appear at the Mossdeep Space Center, preparing to watch the shuttle launch, with the rest of their family. Their father, the astronaut, is going into space to find more space Pokémon, such as Lunatone and Solrock, Tate and Liza's Pokémon. After Max and Tate are kidnapped while fooling around on the shuttle, Team Rocket launches the shuttle, in an attempt to steal it and give it to their boss. Ash's Corphish accidentally also boards the shuttle, and defeats Jessie, James and Meowth, allowing Max and Tate to land the shuttle safely in Mossdeep, with the help of the family's many Baltoy.

Ash finally gets to battle Tate and Liza in the following episode, using Pikachu and Swellow in a double-battle with Solrock and Lunatone. However, Ash's Pokémon can't get past Tate and Liza's defense strategies, including using Light Screen and Psychic. Then Pikachu uses Thunder, launching it to the sky. The thunder strikes back from the ionosphere's layer above the clouds, and hits both Swellow and Pikachu. Both of them absorb the electric energy from the thunder and it turned into a form of armor, as both Pokémon contained so much power that both Lunatone's Light Screen and Solrock's Solarbeam were cut through, leading Swellow and Pikachu to strike down the cosmic pairing.

Tate and Liza learn a lot from the battle, and Ash wins his seventh Hoenn badge, the Mind Badge.

Tate is younger than Liza, and she is quick to remind him of the fact. It is interesting to note that they are the first team of gym leaders instead of just one gym leader.

Juan
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Juan (アダン) is in charge of the eighth gym in Pokémon Emerald, and resides in Sootopolis City. His name comes from a common mispronunciation of Juan as Wan (water). Like his favorite student, Wallace, Juan is an expert on Water-type Pokémon. In Pokémon Emerald, Juan has become the gym leader, as Wallace became the Pokémon League Champion.

In the anime, Juan is the Sootopolis gym leader (and the last gym leader that Ash faces), but Wallace is not mentioned. Juan is also a former Pokémon Contest Champion. As a result, his gym is very stylish, especially compared to the swimming pool of the Cerulean City Gym. He uses five Pokémon in his gym battle with Ash, which lasts two episodes. In the first episode, the battle begins with a double battle. Juan chooses Sealeo and Seaking, and while they defeat Ash's Snorunt, they are beaten by Pikachu and Corphish. In the second episode, the field and positions are switched, and Ash starts with Grovyle, while Juan uses Luvdisc to defeat it. Ash sends out Corphish once more, who defeats Luvdisc, but the crab Pokémon is quickly defeated by Whiscash. Ash defeats Whiscash with his Swellow, and then continues against Juan's best Pokémon: Milotic. Milotic defeats Swellow, but is ultimately defeated by Pikachu, using a full power Thunder attack beneath the water. Juan awards Ash with the Rain Badge and directs the group to the next Pokémon Contest, in Pacifidlog Town.

Wallace
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Wallace (ミクリ) is a character in the Pokémon video game series. He was once the Gym Leader of Sootopolis City, in control of the Rain Badge, but was replaced by his mentor, Juan, when he became champion of Hoenn's Elite Four. He is an expert of Water types. In all games, Wallace is the guardian of the Cave of Origin, where deceased Pokémon are resurrected and where the player may catch Groudon and Kyogre in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, respectively. His demeanor is similar to that of his mentor's, possessing an affection for lavish beauty and extravagance. Both his names contain the first syllable of their language's words for water ("Wallace" and water, and "Mikuri" and mizu).

In Pokémon Emerald, Wallace plays a far more significant role in the plot line of the game. Wallace is first introduced after the release of Kyogre and Groudon by Team Aqua and Team Magma, respectively. Upon arriving at Sootopolis City, the player speaks with Steven who tells him that someone knows the secret to stopping the natural disasters wrought by the legendary Pokémon. This turns out to be Wallace, who tells him that there is a third legendary pokémon, Rayquaza, that can be found at the Pacifidlog Town. The player then meets Wallace at the Sky Pillar and sends him up to the top of the tower to wake Rayquaza. Rayquaza then comes to Sootopolis City and calms Groudon and Kyogre, and all three legendary Pokémon leave the city. Wallace is then beside the Sootopolis City gym and, unlike in Ruby and Sapphire, Wallace is no longer the gym leader and has turned his position over to his former mentor. His mentor, Juan, uses Water-type Pokémon, much like Wallace did.

Shockingly, Wallace is later found as the Champion of the Elite Four and is a very formidable opponent. He retains his usage of Water-type Pokémon and uses powerful Pokémon in battle: most notably his Milotic, which has astonishing Special Defense; his Tentacruel, which has learned powerful moves like Ice Beam and Hydro Pump; and his Gyarados.

In Pokémon Adventures, he loves Winona, the Fortree City Gym Leader.

Wallace has never appeared in the anime during the episodes that take place in Hoenn, but it seems that he was planned to judging by some early promo artwork for the anime until the changes in Pokémon Emerald. Instead, he made his debut in the anime as a Contest Master hosting his own Pokémon Contest in Sinnoh, The Wallace Cup. He appeared in the episodes DP075, and from DP077 - DP079.

Roark
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Roark (ヒョウタ) is the Gym Leader of Oreburgh City, and specializes in Rock-type Pokémon. He is the supervisor of the Oreburgh Mine, and Byron's son. His name is derived from the English word roark, an onomatopeia used to describe a dinosaur's growl.

Before being fought, he must be found in Oreburgh Mine. His Pokémon in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum are Geodude, Onix, and Cranidos. When defeated, he awards the Coal Badge to the victor, which gives the player the ability to use Rock Smash outside of battle. Roark greets the player when they first go into the Underground area. Roark, like the other gym leaders, can be fought later in the game in Pokémon Platinum at the Battleground in the Survival Area with much higher level Pokémon.

Roark first appeared in the Anime where he was battling with Paul for a gym badge and Paul won. Later in the next episode, Ash challenged Roark and lost. After both Roark and Ash fought off a Aerodactyl that was unleashed in Oreburgh City, which made Roark's Cranidos evolve into a Rampardos, Ash asked for a rematch in which he won with one of his Pokémon left, thus earning the Coal Badge.

In the Pokémon Adventures Diamond and Pearl saga, Roark returns to Oreburgh City from Eterna City just in time to meet Platinum. He was exploring the underground with the Underground Man and Byron. He owns an Onix and a Cranidos which he uses in his battle against Platinum. In Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! Roark first appeared in Oreburgh City after Hareta had been kidnapped by Galactic Grunts, defeating them with his Cranidos. Afterwards Hareta challenged him to a Gym Battle. Using a combination of the moves Bide, BubbleBeam and the Oran Berry Roark had given him, Hareta managed to defeat Roark and earn the Coal Badge.

Gardenia
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Gardenia (ナタネ), is the Gym Leader of Eterna City, and specializes in Grass-type Pokémon. Her English name is derived from the word, garden.

In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl the player has to find the four girls hidden around the gym and battle them before Gardenia shows herself. Her Pokémon in Diamond and Pearl are Cherubi, Turtwig, and Roserade. In Pokémon Platinum the entire gym has been redesigned. The gym now contains four areas with a giant clock in the middle, separating these areas. For every trainer the player defeats, the hands of the clock move in a certain direction for you to walk on. You must defeat all the trainers for the clock to face torwards Gardenia. In Pokémon Platinum she has all of the same Pokémon from the previous games, but her Cherubi has evolved into a Cherrim. When defeated, she awards the Forest Badge to the victor, which gives the player the ability to use Cut outside of battle. She later appears after the game's end in front of the Old Chateau, inspecting odd activity there but is too scared to go inside and leaves it up to the player. Gardenia, like the other gym leaders, can be fought later in the game in Pokémon Platinum at the Battleground in the Survival Area with much higher level Pokémon.

When Gardenia first appeared in the Anime she wants to trade a Vileplume, Victreebel or Bellossom in exchange for James' Carnivine, which he declines, however, these three Pokémon were not shown in any of the anime episodes. Gardenia had a Gym Battle with Ash, in which she used her Cherubi, Turtwig, and Roserade. Ash's used his Turtwig, Staravia, and Aipom. Ash succeeded in defeating Gardenia and earning a Forest Badge. She later returned and took part in a double battle alongside James. She noticed that James' Cacnea wasn't being trained to its full potential, and he agreed to let her care for it and train it to become stronger and teach it Drainpunch. She appeared later in a flashback by Barry where she was revealed to have taught Cacnea Drain Punch.

In the Pokémon Adventures Diamond and Pearl saga, Gardenia meets the trio (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum) for the first time at Old Chateau. She sent out a Roserade against Platinum's Prinplup. In Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! Hareta first met Gardenia in Eterna Forest, both mistaking the other to be part of Team Galactic. After resolving their misunderstanding and learning that Gardenia was Eterna City's Gym Leader, Hareta asked Gardenia for a Gym Battle but was promptly turned down, as Gardenia hadn't been impressed by Hareta's abilities so far. However after being attacked by Piplup she changed her mind and agreed to battle.

Maylene
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Maylene (スモモ) is the young Gym Leader of Veilstone City, and specializes in Fighting-types. Her name is derived from the word melee. In the game the player is required to solve a puzzle to clear the path to her, battling gym trainers, which focus on Fighting-type Pokémon along the way. Maylene's Pokémon in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl are Meditite, Machoke, and Lucario. In Pokémon Platinum, the player must push around punching bags, in order to knock over obstacles in the player's path. The Black Belts await the player in roped-off boxing arenas. She awards the Cobble Badge to trainers who defeat her, which gives the player the ability to use Fly outside of battle. In the game, her father is seen playing at the Casino in Veilstone City. When the player talks to him he will tell them about his daughter who he describes as a tough one. Later in Platinum, the player encounters her upon entering Route 217 where she is apparently training by walking to Snowpoint City. Maylene, like the other gym leaders, can be fought later in the game in Pokémon Platinum at the Battleground in the Survival Area with much higher level Pokémon.

Maylene's first appearance is when Ash and friends reached Veilstone City, they see a girl there, training with a Lucario. Later, it was introduced that she was Maylene, the Veilstone City Gym Leader. Ash asked immediately for a battle, but Maylene refused the request because of Paul as when he defeated her so easily he called her the Weakest Gym Leader he had ever fought. She appeared in the next episode, where she battled Dawn using her Lucario, Meditite and Machoke and regained her confidence. In the next episode Ash battled Maylene and despite the battle ending in a draw, she awarded him the Cobble badge for his great battle.

In the Pokémon Adventures Diamond and Pearl saga, Maylene is seen training with her two Pokémon. She almost gets hit by Pearl's Monferno's Ember (when the trio was testing Platinum's newly-earned Zoom Lens) while she was jogging around the city. She challenges Platinum to a match, adding that Berlitz must use Monferno against her. Later, following the events of Pokémon Platinum, she met again with Platinum when she was traveling alone before the battle with Candice in Snowpoint City.

Crasher Wake
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Crasher Wake (マキシマム仮面), or simply Wake (マキシ), is the Gym Leader of Pastoria City and specializes in Water-types. His name Wake is apparently based on the word wake, the wave patterns created on the water as a result of a torrent. He is mostly known for his title of "Crashers Wake: The Torrential Masked Master", not only for his role as a water-type Gym leader but also for his profession as a professional wrestler due to his appearance closely resembling to a masked wrestler. His Japanese name is literally Maximum Mask.

The puzzle of the gym is water-based, requiring the player to alter the water levels of the gym by pressing buttons so that they are able to fight the leader. The player is also required to face the gym apprentices along the way. His Pokémon in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl are Gyarados, Quagsire, and Floatzel. In Platinum, he switches gym possitions in the game with Fantina, so his Pokémon are now higher leveled then they were in Diamond and Pearl. When defeated, Wake awards the Fen Badge to the victor, which gives the player the ability to use Defog outside of battle. He appears again later at Stark Mountain with your rival to warn the player of the high-leveled Pokémon ahead. In Platinum, he is first met when players try to enter Veilstone Gym. In Pastoria City, he sings his own theme song, and the rival wants him to be his mentor. Wake also acts when a Galactic Bomb goes off at the Great Marsh. Crasher Wake, like the other gym leaders, can be fought later in the game in Pokémon Platinum at the Battleground in the Survival Area with much higher level Pokémon.

He first appears in the anime as one of the judges at the Croagunk Festival. Afterward, Ash challenges him to a gym battle in which Wake uses his Gyarados, Quagsire, and Floatzel. Ash beats Floatzel with his Buizel, earning the Fen Badge.

In Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Adventure! Hareta beats Crasher Wake, along with two other gym leaders. Later, Hareta arrives at Lake Valor after a bomb went off, draining the lake. Crasher Wake, among other gym leaders, appear at the lake and tell Hereta that they will take care of things there and that he should worry about protecting the legendary Pokémon. As Byron comes to, he asks Wake what's going on to find that Hareta is battling Saturn. Then, in the next chapter Wake is amazed by the size of the wave made by Hareta's Piplup.

Fantina
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Fantina (メリッサ) is the Gym Leader of Hearthome City and specializes in Ghost-types. Her English name is likely derived from the word phantom and fantasia, a form of an Argentinian tango, which both ties with her elegant appearance as a dancer and a user of Ghost-type Pokémons. Her Japanese name is derived from the word malice, which means showing an intent to harm.

The player first has to find her by the Hearthome City Contest Hall. Her Gym on Pokémon Diamond and Pearl is on various levels, and on each level, the player has to solve a mathematic equation to enter the correct door. Trainers stand behind doors for incorrect answers, while the correct door leads to a room that lifts the challenging trainer into the next level. Fantina's room is located on the fifth level. She uses Drifblim, Gengar, and Mismagius. After Fantina is defeated by the player, she occasionally appears in Master Rank Super Contests, using her Drifblim to compete.

In Platinum, she can be challenged by the player earlier in the game so her Pokémon are lower leveled than in Diamond and Pearl. The Pokémon that she has in the Platinum version are Duskull, Haunter, and Mismagius. When defeated, Fantina awards the Relic Badge. Fantina, like the other gym leaders, can be fought later in the game in Pokémon Platinum at the Battleground in the Survival Area with much higher level Pokémon.

In the anime, Ash met with Fantina upon returning to Hearthome City in Barry's Busting Out All Over! and battled her again in Shield with a Twist!, where he defeated her and earned the Relic Badge. She also spoke in a French accent.

Byron
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Byron (トウガン), Gym Leader of Canalave City, is Roark's father and specializes in Steel-types. His name is derived from the English word iron, which ties to the Steel-type Pokémons that he uses.

In Byron's gym, the player has to explore the gym by using lift-platforms to reveal the level or go up another level, battling the gym trainers along the way. Byron emphasizes Pokémon with high Defense and his team consists of Bronzor, Steelix, and Bastiodon, while in Platinum he swiches his Bronzor for a Magneton. He gives the Mine Badge to the player when defeated. He and the gym trainers train and work out at Iron Island. He can later be found after the player receives the national Pokédex in a house on Iron Island and will give the player a Metal Coat before departing back to the gym. Byron, like the other gym leaders, can be fought later in the game in Pokémon Platinum at the Battleground in the Survival Area with much higher level Pokémon.

Candice
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Candice (スズナ) is Gym Leader of Snowpoint City and specializes in Ice-types which her name derives from. Candice's gym puzzle requires the player to make their way to her by sliding down the ice, taking snowballs out of their way, until they are able to get through in a straight line to Candice. Her Pokémon in Diamond and Pearl are Snover, Sneasel, Medicham, and Abomasnow. In Pokémon Platinum, she swiches out her Snover and Medicham with a Piloswine and Froslass. When defeated, she awards the Icicle Badge to the victor. After the Elite Four is conquered, Candice will appear to allow the player passage into the Snowpoint Temple. Candice, like the other gym leaders, can be fought later in the game in Pokemon Platinum at the Battleground in the Survival Area with much higher level Pokémon.

Volkner
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Volkner (デンジ) is the Gym Leader of Sunyshore City the last the player will face, and specializes in Electric-types. Prior to the player's arrival and subsequent challenge, he has apparently become so bored with being a Gym Leader he is considering taking on the Pokémon League, although, with Flint's encouragement, the player rekindles his love for battling. His gym requires the player to create a path to him by pressing buttons on gears that rotate the bridges secured on them. This creates a clear path leading to the end. Volkner's Pokémon are Raichu, Octillery, Ambipom, and Luxray. In Pokémon Platinum, he undergoes a massive team change, dropping Ambipom and Octillery for Jolteon and Electivire. When defeated, he awards the Beacon Badge to the victor. Volkner, like the other gym leaders, can be fought later in the game in Pokémon Platinum at the Battleground in the Survival Area with much higher level Pokémon.

=Elite Four= The Elite Four (四天王) are fictional characters in the Pokémon video game series, anime, and manga. In the video games, the player must defeat these powerful Pokémon Trainers to complete the game.

Within the video games, the Elite Four acts as an order of exceptionally skilled Pokémon trainers consisting of four member trainers of ascending rank led by a more powerful trainer known as the 'Pokémon Champion'. The position of 'Pokémon Champion' is constantly open to challenge as any Pokémon trainer who defeats the Champion in a Pokémon battle automatically earns the title for him/herself. Whenever the title of champion is passed on it is honored by an inauguration into the Hall Of Fame. In order to earn the right to challenge the Champion, one must first defeat the four member trainers in order of ascending rank in a series of consecutive battles. However, before battling the Elite Four, the trainer must first gather the eight Pokémon Gym Badges of his/her respective region.

With the exception of the Orre region in the games Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness each region appears to possess its own Elite Four with its own individual members. However, the structuring and operation of each Elite Four organization remains identical regardless of the difference in members and location. In the Gold, Silver and Crystal set of games the Johto region appears to share joint custody of a single Elite Four organisation with the Kanto region.

Kanto members
The Kanto Elite Four act as the Elite Four in the original series of Pokémon games consisting of Pokémon Red, Blue, Green and Yellow versions as well as in Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green versions which act as remakes of the original games. Within the timeline of the games series they are eventually also given the status as the 'Johto Elite Four'.

Lorelei
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Lorelei (カンナ), known as Prima in the English anime, is a specialist on Ice-type Pokémon. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen it's revealed that she grew up on Four Island. Lorelei returns to her home to protect the Icefall Cave from Team Rocket at one point in the game. She also collects stuffed Pokémon dolls that she keeps in her house on Floe Island.

Lorelei appeared in the anime in the Orange Islands series, though she was called Prima. As in the games, she is a member of the Elite Four, and is one of the few characters specifically referred to as a Pokémon Master. Misty is shown to idolize her. Lorelei battled Ash in a one-on-one match between his Pikachu and her Cloyster, and won. When Team Rocket attempted to take her powerful Pokémon, Lorelei took out her Jynx, who quickly sent them flying with its Ice Punch.

Lorelei is a villain in the Pokémon Adventures manga. She is one of the Elite Four, and along with Bruno, Agatha, and Lance - she tried to take over the world and kill all humans who weren't nice to Pokémon. She freezes Red and Sabrina in ice, causing them severe injuries that continue to harm them for several years. She has the ability to make voodoo dolls out of ice. Blue and Sabrina defeated her at Cerise Island. Lorelei vanished for several years, and reappeared in the FireRed and LeafGreen saga, when she saved Red and Blue from Team Rocket's Beast Warrior Trio. She decided to ally herself with Red and Blue, because Team Rocket invaded her home, the Sevii Islands.

Bruno
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Bruno (シバ) is an expert on Fighting-types.

In the video games, Bruno raises fighting-type Pokémon, living with them and training with them. He joins the Elite Four out of a desire to challenge the best trainers. Throughout the series, he has a tendency to start a battle with the phrase "hoo-hah!" He battles with two Onix, a Hitmonlee, a Hitmonchan, and a Machamp in both the original versions and the remakes. However, like Lorelei's team the levels of his Pokémon vary slightly between originals and remakes. After completing the events on Four Island in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, all of his Pokémon receive an increase in levels and his pair of Onix will have both evolved into Steelix. Bruno regularly visits the Sevii Islands. He and his Pokémon use the spa on One Island, and he visits Two Island to buy Rage Candybars. Bruno also serves as a member of the 'Johto Elite Four' in Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, and he once trained with Brawly, a Gym Leader of Hoenn. Bruno continues to be a member of the Elite Four in the Silver and Gold versions, adding Hitmontop to his team while dropping one of his two Onix. The rest of his team remains unchanged except in Level and Moveset. While Bruno served as the second member of the 'Kanto Elite Four' he acts as the third member of the 'Johto Elite Four'.

In the anime, Bruno was first seen in the very first episode, being one of the combatants Ash was watching on TV. While Ash was training for the Indigo League Championships, Ash and company learned of a guy named Bruno training deep in the mountains. Bruno said he had a great secret to becoming a great pokémon trainer after meeting them. Desperate to have him reveal his secret, Ash and Brock did various "chores" for him in which their Pokémon helped out too. In the middle of the episode, a giant Onix attacked the group, and Brock tried to use his own Onix to defeat it, but failed. Bruno tried to calm the Onix, but was unsuccessful at first. He told Onix to calm down and that he wasn't going to harm it, and that did the trick. It turned out that the Onix was in pain due to a Sandslash that was lodged deep inside Onix's rocky body. Bruno eventually caught the Onix and added it to his team. At the end of the episode, Ash asked him what the secret to becoming a great trainer was, and Bruno answered that he had no secret, and that true success comes from the feelings, trust, and bonds you have and share with your Pokémon.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Bruno was primarily a villain. He challenged Red to a Pokémon battle in a remote area. He then offered a position on the Elite Four to Red, but Red refused so Lorelei froze him. Later, the Elite Four tried to wipe out most of humanity from Cerise Island. Bill, Lt. Surge, and Red teamed up to defeat Bruno. It was later revealed that Bruno was an unwilling member. Agatha used the mind controlling abilities of her Ghost-type Pokémon to force Bruno to join. Without any place to go, Bruno formed a new version of the Elite Four in Johto, with three other ex-members of criminal organizations: Will, Karen, and Koga. Bruno attaches his Poké Balls to the ends of a set of nunchaku. The force of him using the weapon causes his Pokémon to be released at high speeds, giving him the advantage in battles. Brawly is a former training partner of Bruno's.

Agatha
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Agatha (キクコ) is the oldest member of Kanto's Elite Four and the third member players will face. Her English name probably comes from its similarity to hag; the word aghast, meaning struck with terror; or Agatha Christie, the mystery writer. Agatha is an expert on Ghost-type Pokémon; however, most of her Pokémon share the Poison type as well (note that all Ghost-types available in Generation I were dual Poison-types). She battles with a pair of Gengar, a Golbat, a Haunter, and an Arbok in both the original versions and the remakes, once again with a slight variation in levels. Like the rest of the 'Kanto Elite Four' after the events on Four Island in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen her Pokémon roster also gains several levels and the Haunter in her team is replaced with a Misdreavus.

In the anime, Agatha appears in Advanced Generation episode 132 - The Scheme Team as a temporary leader for the Viridian City Gym. Her anime appearance is loosely based on her appearance in Fire Red and Leaf Green. As in the games, she is a member of the Elite Four. As Ash returns from Hoenn, he passes through Viridian City, and finds the Pokémon Gym completely rebuilt. While in Viridian City, he meets Scott, an agent for the Battle Frontier, and Agatha, the temporary Leader of the reformed Gym. Agatha asks Ash if he has come for a Gym Badge, but since Ash already has the badge for this gym, they just fight for fun. The battle is a one on one battle between Ash's Pikachu and Agatha's Gengar in which, after a fierce fight, Gengar wins the battle. Agatha also has a Golbat which she uses while fighting Team Rocket.

In the manga, after Lance, Agatha is the main villain in the Pokémon Adventures Yellow manga. Agatha was one of the Elite Four who tried to destroy most of humanity from their base on Cerise Island. She fought against Green and Koga, and seemingly vanished after her defeat. Agatha used the mind-controlling powers of her Ghost-type Pokémon to control Bruno against his will. It is shown that Agatha and Professor Oak were once friendly rivals in their youth, and it appears that Agatha may have once had a crush on Oak. However, their relationship has grown bitter and strained over the years because Agatha believes he was too weak to continue competing. A Pokémon Journal entry states that she and Oak were once fierce rivals. Oak retired to his Pokédex, while Agatha moved up and into ranks of the Elite Four.

Lance
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Lance (ワタル) specializes in dragon Pokémon. He is Claire's cousin, having previously trained with her in Blackthorn City. He is said to be one of the best Pokémon trainers in their world.

In the video games, Lance is the leader of both the Kanto and Johto Elite Four with his signature Pokémon being Dragonite. In the 'Kanto Elite Four' Lance acts as both the fourth and final member as well as the Champion until Blue defeats him and claims the title. He battles solely with Dragon-types. In the 'Johto Elite Four' Lance acts solely in the capacity of champion. The position of fourth and final member is taken by Karen. His Pokémon Gold and Silver lineup closely resembles that of his original line up. In all of the video games, he is best known to be an expert on Dragon-types.

In Pokémon Gold and Silver, the player encounters Lance near the Lake of Rage after Gold had defeated (or caught) the red Gyarados, which was in a rage from Team Rocket's schemes. Lance compliments him on his skills, and the two of them go to where Lance believed the signal which sent the Gyarados into the rage originated. This area turned out to be a shop inside of Mahogany Town, which was actually a front for Team Rocket's hideout. The Gym Leader of Blackthorn City, Claire, is his cousin. Claire seems to fear him, as he is the only one who has defeated her. He was also the first person in many years to pass the Dragon User's challenge, a rite of passage into the Dragon Clan, which Claire has not yet been able to pass herself. Some assume that the leader of the clan is his grandfather.

Lance appears in seasons five and eight of the Pokémon anime. He is described as a Pokémon G-Man, and it is his job to go undercover and learn of the plans of the evil teams. In Johto, he helps Ash and crew defeat Team Rocket and catches the red Gyarados used in their experiments. In Hoenn, he turns up to stop the battle between Groudon and Kyogre.

In the manga, Lance is the leader of the Elite Four, and has a large army of Dragonites, Aerodactyls and Dragonairs. He desired to destroy humanity due to all of the pollution and their hurting of Pokémon. The ultimate end result would be a world for Pokémon and the Elite Four alone. He planned to utilize the Pokémon Badge Amplifier and use the energy of the badges to create a Lugia and use it to control all of the Pokémon; using them to destroy the humans. He was stopped by Yellow when she used the Megavolt and deflected the energy of the badges to the world and filled it with plants and trees. Lance had wanted to destroy humanity ever since he was a child when he witnessed a Dratini and Magikarp hurt by the pollution of a factory. Lance reappears in the GSC arc in Olivine City. He was confronted by Silver, and told him that his Pokémon were hurt because of Silver's lack of love (apparently, Lance once had this problem, but resolved it). For a year after that, Lance sends Silver on various missions and lends him a Tyranitar. Lance was the person who first grasped the idea that Pryce, the Mask of Ice, wanted to control time.

Will
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Will (イツキ) is a trainer of Psychic-type Pokémon who is noted for his peculiar appearance—formal clothes and a mask that covers most of his face. He uses an Alakazam to beat challengers. Will's hair falls over the left side of his face, leading to his left eye being whited out in some depictions.

In the manga, his appearance is slightly different; he always wears a peculiar smile, both his eyes can be seen, and he wears a clown's ruff around his neck. Will, along with Karen, Blue, Silver, Shum, and Cart, are some of the children kidnapped by the Mask of Ice and raised to be his servants. Will was one of the leaders of the Neo Team Rocket formed in Johto. After the defeat of the Mask of Ice, he and Karen met Koga and Bruno. Together, the four formed a new Elite Four, and have not been heard of since.

Koga
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Koga (キョウ) is a Poison-type trainer. His name is a reference to the Koga-ryu school of ninjutsu. In Pokémon Red and Blue, Koga operates the Fuchsia City gym, which is also a training ground for the ninja arts. He is also part of the guard that protects the border of the Safari Zone. Later, in Pokémon Gold and Silver, he was promoted to the Elite Four, relieving the duties of Fuchsia City gym leader to his daughter Janine. He is the second member of Johto's Elite Four that the player must face and is an expert on Poison types. He is generally thought of as a ninja-like character.

In the Pokémon anime, Koga is true to his ninja-like character in that his gym is full of trap doors, booby-traps, invisible walls, and other such hidden items. After Ash, Misty, and Brock make their way around these, and finally locate Koga, Ash Challenges him to a match. Team Rocket interrupts the match, but are defeated with the help of Misty's Psyduck. A rematch occurs outside, with Ash winning. As an elite four member, he uses his Venomoth

In the GSC saga of Pokémon Adventures, Koga, is an ex-Team Rocket executive, and part of the former Team Rocket Triad (composed of Lt. Surge, Sabrina, and himself). During the Silph Co. battle, he uses Articuno, along with his poison Pokémon, in order to battle Red and Blue. After the fall of Team Rocket, he vanished along with the rest of Team Rocket. In this time his gym had been taken over by his daughter, Janine. His Arbok is able to regrow any part of its body so long as the head is still intact (its tail was once cut off once by Agatha's Arbok and lost half of its body to Blue's Charmeleon). He is last seen at the end of the GSC saga, when he joins Will, Karen, and Bruno to help form an Elite Four.

Bruno
Bruno (シバ) is an expert on Fighting-types.

Bruno continues to be a member of the Elite Four in the Silver and Gold versions, adding Hitmontop to his team while dropping one of his two Onix. The rest of his team remains unchanged except in Level and Moveset. While Bruno served as the second member of the 'Kanto Elite Four' he acts as the third member of the 'Johto Elite Four'.

Karen
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Karen (カリン) is a powerful trainer of Dark-type Pokémon. Her names in various other localizations refer to darkness or the night, most likely due to her outfit in each version of the franchise: an elegant short-skirted black dress with matching high heels, making her something of a femme fatale. In the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Karen appears in the Pokémon VS cards. She also appears on two Technical Machines: Karen's TM01 and Karen's TM02.

In Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, Karen is the fourth and final member of the Elite Four. She must be defeated before facing Lance, the League Champion.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Karen, along with Will, Green, Silver, Shum, and Cart, is one of the children kidnapped by the Mask of Ice and raised to be his servants. Karen was one of the leaders of the new Team Rocket formed in Johto. After the Mask of Ice was defeated, Karen formed an alliance with Bruno, Will, and Koga; the four of them all ex-members of various criminal organizations. In this manga, she uses an Eevee (which evolves into an Umbreon) and two separate Murkrow.

Sidney
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Sidney (カゲツ) is the first member of Hoenn's Elite Four that the player faces. He is an expert on Dark-types. His Japanese name contains "kage" (?), "shadow," referring to his Dark-type Pokémon. Sidney is an upbeat character who enjoys his work, even when he loses (congratulating the player on defeating him and saying that it was "fun"). He believes the Dark-side is beautiful, and that might is right. His strategy is all-out offensive.

Sidney appeared in Pokémon Adventures, with a Zangoose and a Metang, as well as a Regirock, controlled alongside Drake.

Phoebe
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Phoebe (フヨウ) is a member of Hoenn's Elite Four and the second member the protagonist faces. Her name is derived from the word phobia meaning fear. She is an expert on Ghost-type Pokémon, drawing obvious parallels to Agatha in Pokémon Red and Blue and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. She wears two flowers in her hair and a blue tube top that exposes her belly and a blue sarong patterned with Pokéballs, similar to the outfit worn by hula girls. She is also barefoot with red anklets around her ankles. She is also the granddaughter of an elderly couple who live on Mt. Pyre.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Phoebe took control of Regice, together with Glacia. In the video games, her party is composed of two Banette, two Dusclops, and a Sableye.

Glacia
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Glacia (プリム) is the third member of Hoenn's Elite Four. Her name means glacier which explains why she is an expert on Ice-types. She is believed to come from the Sinnoh region, because of its exclusive snowcapped lands that circle the northern area of the region. In addition, the games state that Glacia was looking for hot lands, which was Hoenn, after traveling from a cold region, such as Sinnoh.

Drake
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Drake (ゲンジ) is a member of Hoenn's Elite Four and the fourth (and last, before the Champion) the player will face. He is an expert on Dragon-types. He looks vaguely like a pirate, which is from a sort of occupation as a seafarer.

Drake has appeared in the anime, in the episode "Vanity Affairs," where he battled Ash Ketchum. Ash and co. soon meet Drake, whom Brock says is a member of the Elite Four. Drake likes Ash's style and requests to have a two on two (single) battle. Ash becomes overconfident and loses the battle. Drake goes on to tell Ash how proud he was to see how at the very end of the match, he starts focusing on the battle like he should. He also said that if Ash had been focused on the battle and not so overconfident, he would've fared a better chance. He goes on to mention how, when he was sailing, he too became overconfident and started losing battle after battle. As he became more focused on the match rather than other thoughts, he began winning again. Near the end of the episode, Team Rocket attacked, and stole several Pokémon. Drake used his Salamence to help rescue them.

Steven Stone
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Steven Stone (ツワブキ　ダイゴ) is also the son of Mr. Stone of the Devon Corporation, and has a passion for rare stones. He frequently appears during the protagonist's journey to give the player advice. His home is in Mossdeep City. In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Steven is the incumbent champion of the Pokémon league for the region of Hoenn, as well as the leader of its Elite Four. In Emerald, he disappears and is succeeded by Wallace, although he fights a double battle with the player against the Magma Leader Maxie and Admin Tabitha and can be fought later at Meteor Falls after beating the Elite Four and Wallace. He is an expert on Steel types. Steven's signature Pokémon is Metagross which is a Steel/Psychic type. It is rumored that he visited the Sinnoh region in Pokemon Platinum; before the player obtains the villa in the Resort Area, the owner says that the former owner was a person from Hoenn who came to Sinnoh to collect rare stones. After doing so, he goes back to Hoenn.

Steven made an appearance in the anime episode "A Hole Lotta Trouble." The only Pokémon of his revealed in the episode were Aron and Aggron. Despite having a much bigger role in the games, he was only seen once in the anime, with his plotline in the Kyogre-Groudon saga being taken over by Lance.

Wallace
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Wallace (ミクリ) is an expert on Water-types. In Emerald, he was once the Gym Leader of Sootopolis City, but was replaced by his mentor, Juan when he became champion of Hoenn's Elite Four and the region's league. In all games, Wallace is the guardian of the Cave of Origin, where deceased Pokémon are resurrected and where the player may catch Groudon and Kyogre in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, respectively. Wallace's signature Pokémon is Milotic.

Although Juan was the Sootopolis Gym Leader in the anime, early Japanese artwork shows that Wallace was intended to be in this position before Emerald's release. Although he never appeared in Hoenn, he appeared in DP075 as a Contest Master in Sinnoh.

In Pokémon Adventures, he is the Sootopolis Gym Leader, in addition to being a contest master as well as the protector of the Cave of Origin. Wallace also takes Ruby under his wing, much like how Winona did for Sapphire. Despite having aligned himself with Team Aqua, he has a strong sense of justice, and is the first of the aligned Gym Leaders to renounce his loyalty, convincing Winona of the Magmas to do the same. It was revealed in Volume 21 that Wallace was the Hoenn League Champion who had entered the Hall of Fame. However, he renounced the title as he expressed his wish of following his mentor, Juan's, footstep of becoming a Gym Leader of his city. According to Steven, what Wallace did not mention to the director of the Pokémon Association is that there is a second reason for his renouncement: He was trying to stay with Winona, the Fortree Gym Leader.

Wallace usually travels on an "Air Car", which can travel on both the land and the air. He is also the only Hoenn Gym Leader who nicknamed his Pokémon.

Aaron
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Aaron (リョウ) (Korean:충호-Cheungho) is the first member of Elite Four in Sinnoh, a Bug-type expert. Also, he is the first male character in Pokémon games to have an ahoge. Aaron also wears a vest or undershirt that is based on Combee. He takes great pride in his Bug Pokémon, calling them beautiful and perfect. Despite these arrogant sounding claims, he is a good sport and accepts his defeat gracefully. He has a variety of Bug-Type Pokémon. His Diamond/Pearl team consists of Beautifly, Dustox, Heracross, Vespiqueen, and Drapion. In Pokemon Platinum, Beautifly and Dustox are replaced with Yanmega and Scizor.

In the Anime, Aaron was briefly mentioned by Lucian in An Elite Meet and Greet However, Aaron made his actual debut appearance in A Trainer and Child Reunion! where he was shown to be preparing for his championship battle against Cynthia. Finding out that Ash and his friends know Cynthia personally, he took them to his training center. He also reveals that a Wurmple was his first ever Pokémon and friend when he was young but due to his anger at it for losing a match, he abandoned it. He regretted it later and from then on tried his best to train hard and to understand Bug-type Pokémon so that the same incident would not happen again. He eventually encounters it again as a Beautifly at the end of the episode, following a battle against Team Rocket. He was seen again on television, one episode later, having lost a battle with Cynthia.

Bertha
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Bertha (キクノ) (Korean:들국화-Deulgukghwa) is the second member of the Sinnoh Elite Four and is the oldest of all the Sinnoh Gym Leaders and Elite Four. Bertha is a Ground-type master, although she has quite a few strong Water-Ground mixes thrown into her arsenal. In Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, She bears a solid team of Quagsire, Hippowdon, Sudowoodo, Whiscash, and Golem, though Pokemon Platinum replaces her Quagsire and Sudowoodo with Rhyperior and Gliscor. Her name seems to be derived from the word "earth". She bears a close resemblance to Kanto Elite Four member, Agatha.

She, along with Cynthia, the champion of the Elite Four, was mentioned in An Elite Meet and Greet! by Lucian and by Officer Jenny in A Trainer and Child Reunion!.

Flint
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Flint (オーバ) (Korean:대엽-Daeyeop) is the third member of the Elite Four in Sinnoh and a Fire-type enthusiast. His Diamond/Pearl team consists of Rapidash, Infernape, Steelix, Lopunny, and Drifblim (though only two of his Pokémon are actual Fire-types). In Pokemon Platinum, the revised Sinnoh Pokédex gives Flint far more Fire-types to use. His Lopunny, Steelix, and Drifblim are all removed, and replaced with Houndoom, Flareon, and Magmortar. Flint meets the player before battling him or her in Sunyshore City. When there, he will be right at the city's entrance and ask the player to bring Volkner back to his gym. Later, when you arrive at the Battle Park, you meet his little brother, Buck. In Pokémon Platinum, he also pairs up with Volkner for a two-on-two battle against the player and their rival.

Flint is yet to appear in the anime, but he was mentioned in An Elite Meet and Greet! by Lucian and in A Trainer and Child Reunion! by Officer Jenny.

Lucian
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Lucian (ゴヨウ) (Korean-오엽=Oyeop), the final member of the Elite Four in Sinnoh, is a Psychic-type trainer. His team consists of Mr. Mime, Medicham, Girafarig, Alakazam, and Bronzong. In Pokemon Platinum, his Medicham and Girafarig are replaced with Espeon and Gallade. He's an avid reader, even visiting the Library after the player becomes the champion.

Lucian made his debut in An Elite Meet and Greet, where he was seen battling using his Girafarig on television, but then met Ash and his friends in a Pokémon Center and had a battle against Dawn's Buizel. Lucian sent out his Bronzong against Buizel and it defeated its opponent. He also made a brief cameo on television in Top-Down Training battling Cynthia and her Garchomp.

Cynthia
<pre style="overflow:auto"> Cynthia (シロナ) (Korean:난천-Nancheon) is the league champion of the Sinnoh Region, as well as the first female League Champion in the Pokémon video game series (other than the female protagonists). All of her Pokémon are female, except for her Lucario. Her team consists of Milotic, Roserade, Garchomp, Spiritomb, Gastrodon, and Lucario. In Pokemon Platinum, the only change in her team is her Gastrodon, which is replaced with a Togekiss. Her family lives in Celestic Town, although her own hometown is a secret. She is very interested in mythology and history, and spends her time researching and exploring various sites associated with Legendary Pokémon of the Sinnoh region.

Cynthia helps the main character against Team Galactic in a point in the game. In Platinum, when encountered in Eterna City, she will give the player an egg from which Togepi will hatch. She is also found on Route 214 after the player has defeated Crasher Wake and received the Fen Badge. She gives the player the SecretPotion to get past the Psyduck group on Route 210. In Platinum, once Giratina appears in Spear Pillar and takes Cyrus down with it, Cynthia rushes onto the scene and assists the player during their mission in the Distortion World. She then expresses that everything that happened was destined, even though she wished that she was the one who battled Giratina.

In the Anime, Cynthia was first mentioned in Lucian's flashback in An Elite Meet and Greet along with the others members of the Sinnoh Elite Four. She made her first appearance in Top-Down Training!. She was first seen battling against Lucian with her Garchomp on television. She then arrived in Amity Square where she was studying ancient tablets. Paul then challenged her to a battle. She defeated four of Paul's Pokémon using only her Garchomp. She reappeared in Losing Its Lustrous and Double Team Turnover! where she tried to stop Team Galactic from stealing the Lustrous Orb. She has been seen battling and defeating Aaron on television in Aiding the Enemy.

Reception
An IGN editor criticized Gym Leaders for having poor stategy, only using one type of Pokémon per gym.