Pokémon/Characters/Advanced Generation

Ash's Pokémon (Advanced Generation Series)

All Of Them:

• Ambiguous Gender: Halfway averted this time around - Sceptile and Corphish are pretty implicitly male, and Aipom is confirmed as female. Swellow and Torkoal are debatable, and Glalie could go either way (the English dub refers to it as a "he", but only once).
• Back for the Finale: Mostly during "An Old Family Blend", where Ash calling upon all his reserves back in Oak's lab. Also, Torkoal was lucky enough to be called upon for Ash's second battle with Brandon.
• Badass Crew
• Berserk Button: Pretty much goes for ANY of Ash's Pokémon. Attack Ash directly and his Pokémon will beat the crap out of you (unless you have more powerful Pokémon for protection, of course).
• Five-Man Band: Two of them here. See below for details.
• Put on a Bus: All of them at the end of Advanced Generation, except for Aipom.
• Reset Button: The start of this series (or end of the last) being the first time Ash leaves his old team (barring Pikachu) behind.
• Took a Level in Badass: Almost all his Pokémon introduced during this evolved, becoming stronger along the way. Even Corphish, the only exception, could pack quite a punch when needed.
• True Companions

Hoenn Region

• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero - Pikachu
  • The Lancer - Treecko/Grovyle
  • The Smart Guy - Taillow/Swellow
  • The Big Guy - Corphish
  • The Chick - Torkoal
  • Tagalong Kid/Eleventh-Hour Ranger - Snorunt/Glalie

Tailow-Swellow (Subame-Ohsubame)

• Always Accurate Attack: Knows Aerial Ace.
  • How Do I Shot Web?: An episode was dedicated to Ash teaching Swellow this move after seeing Winona use it.
• Big Badass Bird of Prey: Worth mentioning that, after evolving into Swellow, it has been a major competitor on Ash's team for the rest of the Hoenn saga, as well as parts of the Battle Frontier. Try comparing the roles of the other birds of prey on the team that preceded it.
• Determinator
• Doppelganger Spin: Knows Double Team.
• Flight
• Lightning Bruiser
• Made of Iron: It had a surprisingly strong resistance to Electric Attacks, as shown in its debut as well as the Mossdeep gym battle.
  • Deconstructed in the former, where Ash was forced to capture Taillow or else it would suffer worse injury from electric attacks if its battle with Pikachu would go on any longer.
• Mirror Match: First claim to fame was a battle against gym leader Winona's own shiny, more powerful Swellow.
• Non-Elemental: Primary type.
• Razor Wings: Knows Wing Attack.
• Superpower Lottery: Seriously, a flying type that was most invulnerable to electric attacks and was a Lightning Bruiser.
• Wind from Beneath My Wings: Secondary type.

Treecko-Grovyle-Sceptile (Kimori-Juptile-Jukain)

• Badass
  • Badass Arm-Fold
  • Heartbroken Badass
• Brilliant but Lazy: Powerful in his own right, he just spends most of the time lazying around, apathetic to almost anything (i.e. whenever the other Pokémon would cause chaos, you can see him just sleeping in the background not doing anything). However, unlike Charizard, he's ready to get out of his nap to fight for his trainer.
• Bullet Seed: Notably, Treecko's first grass-type attack, over 35 episodes after his debut.
• Determinator: He will continue to battle regardless of disadvantage (condition, typing, evolutionary level, etc.). He even beat a Darkrai through Heroic Resolve.
• Delinquent: What Sceptile is apparently based on.
• Fastball Special: several times with Corphish, although who's the thrower and who's the ball depends on the situation.
• Green Thumb
• Heroic BSOD: Sceptile, after being rejected by a Meganium. He couldn't use all of his attacks for a few episodes!
  • He's Back: ...and instantly snaps out of it when he saw his trainer in mortal peril.
• In a Single Bound: Treecko and its evolutionary line have good jumping skills.
• Interspecies Romance: With a Meganium.
• Ineffectual Loner
• Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: When he was asked to take care of some younger starter Pokémon, the Treecko instantly crushed on him, causing her/it(?) to imitate Ash's Treecko by having a twig in its mouth. Either Treecko saw this as weird, or he was just taking after his trainer.
• Laser Blade Below The Shoulder: Knows Leaf Blade.
• Lightning Bruiser
• My Master, Right or Wrong: During the Pokélantis debacle, Sceptile was frequently ordered by the possessed Ash to resort to dirty tricks in order to win the battle against Brandon. While obviously appalled by this, Sceptile had no choice but to follow "Ash's" commands.
• Oral Fixation Fixation: With a twig.
• Pet the Dog: In his first appearance, as the only one in his herd that wants to keep his old (and dying) tree home alive.
• Petal Power: Knows Leaf Storm.
• The Power of the Sun: Knows Solarbeam.
• Power-Up Letdown: His newly-learned Leaf Storm doesn't do much in his battle against Darkrai. Good old Leaf Blade did the trick.
• Rebel Relaxation: his default position whenever the group stops on their journey.
• Ronin: Based off of his characteristics.
• Something Else Also Rises: a flower pops out of his twig when he became victim to Love At First Sight. From the other end of the spectrum, the flower wilts as soon as he gets rejected, a nod to the other visual metaphor used.
• Sugar and Ice Personality
• Super Speed
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Charizard, solely because he's Ash's Hoenn Brilliant but Lazy draconic Badass. Inverted however because Sceptile was never outright disobedient (at worse was his Ten-Minute Retirement), not did he have a drastic personality change after evolving - he's still Ash's AG powerhouse, functions The Lancer to Pikachu, and frequently gets involved in the major battles.
• The Worf Effect: Although he was a formidable battler in his own right and racked up a number of major wins, he could be and was flattened to establish some opponents' credentials.
• Worf Had the Flu: A mini-arc in the Battle Frontier season has him rendered useless because of a Heroic BSOD.

Corphish (Heigani)

• Annoying Laugh: Good thing it happened in only one episode.
• Ass Shove: On at least two occasions (one of them being Ash himself), someone's been on the receiving end of Corphish's horns. Once, the camera even bothered to make a split-second close-up of Corphish's contact with the victim's behind!
• Badly-Battered Babysitter: in his own accord, he doesn't seem thrilled about being in charge of a group of baby Pokémon. Three times!
• Blood Knight: He hated being made to do anything besides battle, whether it be performing for a crowd of humans or babysitting a group of baby Pokémon. However, he was always raring to go whenever Ash sent him out during a match.
• Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble Beam.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Knows Dig.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength
• Genius Ditz: Not really the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's pivotal in foiling Team Rocket during "It's still Rocket Roll to Me"; simply by telling Max and Tate to keep quiet before freeing them, giving them the element of surprise against Team Rocket.
• Heartbroken Badass
• Interspecies Romance: With a Mawile.
• Jerkass
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He does have a redeeming side, like his loyalty (and affection, somewhat) to Ash, as well as his Pet the Dog below.
• Keet
• Making a Splash
• Odd Friendship: Only in early Hoenn episodes, Corphish and Treecko.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Corphish thinks this is the case when he first meets a freshly evolved Grovyle.
• Pet the Dog: After being a bully for most of the episode "A Shroomish Skirmish", Corphish suffers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to protect May's Torchic.
• Plucky Comic Relief
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse
• Small Name, Big Ego
• Unknown Rival: He's giving Lombre the Death Glare in the Mawile episode, to which Lombre is completely oblivious to. Of course, it's hard to tell anything about Lombre...
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Treecko.

Torkoal (Cotoise)

• Death or Glory Attack: Knows Overheat, although Ash typically made him use the more reliable Flamethrower instead.
• Epic Fail: In one episode, he tries to go bipedal in order to kick a soccer ball. It went as well as you'd expect.
• Extra Ore Dinary: Knows Iron Defense.
• Ocular Gushers: Almost frequently. Then it's followed by its nostrils flaring out smoke.
• Playing with Fire
• Plucky Comic Relief
• Rump Roast: Upon returning for the Sinnoh League, Torkoal tries to defrost Ash (caused by Glalie) this way.
• Took a Level in Badass: Compare his performance in the early episodes - especially when Norman's Vigoroth gave him a One Hit KO - to his epic performance against Brandon's Registeel. Even if he lost despite a type advantage, he was fighting a Legendary.
• Turtle Power
• Worthy Opponent: His determination in his debut paid off, with the king of Steel Valley, Steelix, acknowledging his strength after Torkoal finally defeated him.

Snorunt-Glalie (Yukiwarashi-Onigohri)

• An Ice Pokémon
• Demoted to Extra: Just like Kingler, Glalie was only used in one regional League, in Hoenn. He was never used in the Battle Frontier or even the Sinnoh League unlike the rest of the Hoenn team.
  • Though unlike Kingler, Ash at least considered using him.
• Doppelganger Spin: Knows Double Team.
• Eleventh-Hour Ranger: During the Hoenn arc.
• Harmless Freezing
• Plucky Comic Relief
• Power Floats: Glalie
• Running Gag: It constantly had trouble firing off its Ice Beam correctly. Once it was mastered, it helped it become Glalie.
• Sixth Ranger: Again, for the Hoenn arc.
• The Trickster
• Took a Level in Badass: When he was a Snorunt, he lost his only on-screen battle (a Gym Battle, but still). Evolving into a Glalie did him a world of good. He took down a Quilava and a Charizard, two Pokémon that had a type advantage over him, all by himself after Grovyle was knocked out during a double battle.
• Use Your Head: Knows Headbutt.

Kanto Battle Frontier

• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero - Pikachu
  • The Lancer - Grovyle/Sceptile
  • The Smart Guy - Swellow
  • The Big Guy - Corphish
  • The Chick - Phanpy/Donphan
  • Sixth Ranger - Aipom

Aipom (Eipam)

Traded to Dawn for Buizel. Aipom later evolves into Ambipom. For more info, see Diamond and Pearl Character Sheet.

May (Haruka)

Voiced by: Kaori Suzuki (JP), Veronica Taylor (EN, 4Kids), Michele Knotz (EN, current)

An initially newbie trainer, May started out disliking Pokémon before experience around them changed her feelings regarding them. She aspires to be a Pokémon Coordinator, leading towards a quest similar to Ash's. Tropes involving her and her Pokémon include:

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• Action Girl: After she Took a Level in Badass.
• Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: With Max. No matter how many times they argue, they still really care for each other; after all, they're still brother and sister.
• Belly Dancer: The contest outfit she wore in the Wallace Cup.
• Between My Legs: In 'Ruin With a View', when she spots an Azurill (the shot framed by May's legs, not the Azurill's).
• Big Eater: Worse than Ash in this regard.
  • Berserk Button: And Arceus help you if you try to take her share.
• Big Sister Instinct: Deconstructed in one episode where a promise May made to her mother about keeping an eye out for Max nearly cost her a chance for getting into her first Grand Festival. It's a long story.
• Catch Phrase: When calling her Pokémon for a Contest, "Stage On!"/"Take The Stage!"
• The Chick: For the "Advanced Generation" series.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Whenever she holds her fingers together to imitate a camera, it's a sure-sign that she's..."lost".
• Cuteness Proximity: Although there was one time she squeed over Gulpin, a.k.a. the living stomach.
• A Day in the Limelight: Apart from the Contest arc, the ninth movie comes to mind.
• Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments.
• Deuteragonist: To Ash during "Advanced Generation" - even the final major battle (an unofficial contest they both enter) reflects this mindset.
• The Ditz: In the early stages of her journey.
• Dojikko: See The Ditz.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish to Max's responsible. Unless the roles are reversed.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Sanguine.
• Genki Girl: A little bit in the beginning.
• Girl on Fire: these pictures should show it.
• Guest Star Party Member: For the Wallace Cup arc in "Diamond and Pearl"
• Identical Stranger: She apparently looks just like a girl that stole the last bit of Harley's lunch when he was in preschool.
• Image Song: "Watashi, Makenai!", AG's final ending theme.
  • Do-It-Yourself Theme Tune
• Ironic Echo: Ash teaches May the basics of catching Pokémon, and May later returns it to him word-for-word when he forgets those basics.
• Lethal Chef: On one infamous occasion.
  • That's the second time she did it. The first time she made Pokéblocks ^[1] only Beautifly liked them.
• The McCoy
• Ms. Fanservice
• Naive Everygirl and Naive Newcomer
• Noodle Incident: According to Max, she once had a bad encounter with a Tentacool, which explains her slight fear of Pokémon at the start of her journey.
  • It's revealed (by Max accidentally giving information to Harley and broadcasted through the speakers) that when she was little she had a blue swimcap and was swimming in the water...and Tentacool were there. She called for help but instead her mom mistook her for one of the Tentacool and tried to capture her instead!
• Plucky Girl
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Drew's blue.
• Remember the New Guy?: dub-only, where it's implied that May and Max had already met Ash's Charizard prior to the latter's actual debut in AG.

May: Oh no, not again. (referring to Charizard's way of saying hello to Ash.)

Max: Of course, that's the only way Charizard knows how to say hello.

• Replacement Flat Character: Replacing Ash as the show's clueless newbie.
• Rotating Arcs: Her contest arc, in acccompaniment with Ash's gym arc.
• Small Name, Big Ego: In one episode she develops a group of admirers and develops an over-inflated ego as a result. Then she enters a contest. You can imagine what happens next.
• Talking To Herself: See Ash. Veronica Taylor also did Ash's mother, Delia -- not only that, but she used the exact same voice for Delia Ketchum and May!
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Misty and Tomboy to Dawn.
• Took a Level in Badass: May took a noticeable level in badass somewhere around the time of Combusken's evolution. The first half of the season had her freezing up a lot and relying on blind luck -- shortly post-Combusken she was holding her own against villains of the day. By Battle Frontier, she entered every contest with confidence and was one of the biggest Action Girls in the history the anime.
  • Not only that, but most of her Pokémon also got this change.
• Tsundere: A Type B, meaning she's mostly sweet and gentle...unless Drew is around, or Ash and/or her brother Max pisses her off.
• Verbal Tic: "-kamo"
  • Stealth Pun: Her starter was Achamo, which could easily mimic this sound. (The Verbal Tic isn't present in the dub, and would have to be changed anyway as Achamo's English name is Torchic.)
• What the Hell, Hero?: Received an earful from Nurse Joy and the other judges for pressuring her Bulbasaur in its first Contest.

May's Pokémon

• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Torchic/Combusken/Blakizen
  • The Lancer:
    • Wurmple/Silcoon/Beautifly (Hoenn)
    • Squirtle/Wartortle (Kanto)
  • The Smart Girl: Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur
  • The Big Girl: Skitty
  • Non-Action Guy: Munchlax
  • Sixth Ranger: Eevee/Glaceon

Torchic-Combusken-Blaziken (Achamo-Wakasyamo-Bursyamo)

• Artistic License Martial Arts: Combusken and Blaziken.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Combusken and Blaziken's secondary type.
• Butt Monkey: Prior to evolution, Torchic got walloped pretty much every time it came out of the Poké Ball. After evolution though...
• Death or Glory Attack: Knows Overheat.
• The Ditz: As a Torchic
• Everything's Better with Chickens
• Playing with Fire
• Shoryuken: Knows Sky Uppercut.
• Took a Level in Badass: Torchic's evolution into Combusken...and to up the ante, it evolves into Blaziken at the end of AG.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: For a short time after it evolved.
• Well Done Chicken Mon: Torchic went through a personality change when evolving into Combusken. It went from timid and cutesy to a Proud Warrior Race Mon. What triggered this personality change? May paying more attention and spending more time with her other Pokémon.
• Who's Laughing Now?: Literally happens in "A Shroomish Skirmish". Torchic settles its differences with Corphish after Corphish protected Torchic from a herd of angry Breloom, and Torchic returned the favor by evolving into Combusken to save him. At the end of the episode, Corphish attempts to steal Combusken's food again (which started their squabble in the first place) but was now intimidated by the more powerful Combusken, and Combusken simply laughs it off.
• Wind from Beneath My Wings: Knows Peck.

Wurmple-Silcoon-Beautifly (Kemusso-Karasalis-Agehunt)

• All Webbed Up: Knows String Shot.
• Always Accurate Attack: Knows Aerial Ace.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies
• Big Eater: Wurmple. When he had his first lunch with the other Pokémon, he ate not only all the Pokémon food...but also the lunch Brock made for everyone else!
• Brick Joke: During the gang's return to Petalburg for Ash's fifth gym battle, it's revealed that Beautifly was something of a soft spot for Caroline because it symbolizes her marriage with Norman. At the beginning of the Battle Frontier saga, May cites that very reason as to why her Beautifly stayed in the Petalburg gym.
• The Bus Came Back: Returned with May during the Wallace Cup arc (in fact, it was the first to greet Ash & Brock, while May's ship was entering the docks.
• Flight: Beautifly
• Head Pet: Beautifly's favorite roost. On one occasion, Ash as well.
• Pretty Butterfly
• Psychic Powers: Knows Psychic.
• Wind from Beneath My Wings: Beautifly's secondary type.

Skitty (Eneco)

• Action Girl
• An Ice Pokémon: Knows Blizzard.
• Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny
• Confusion Fu: Knows Assist.
• The Ditz
• Cute Kitten: Way too cute for her own good.
• Eyes Always Shut
• Non-Elemental

Bulbasaur-Ivysaur-Venusaur (Fushigidane-Fushigisou-Fushigibana)

• Action Girl
• Foil: Straightest parallel between May and Ash: she was basically the innocent, gentler version to Ash's Troubled but Cute Bulbasaur.
• Green Thumb: Primary type.
• Innocent Flower Girl: Started out as this.
• Petal Power: Knows Petal Dance.
• Poisonous Pokémon: Secondary type.
• Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Has a pair of heart-shaped spots on its forehead to indicate that it's female. As a Venusaur, it follows the games by having a seed in her flower/tree.
• Whip It Good: Knows Vine Whip.

Munchlax (Gonbe)

• Acrofatic: Can move really, really fast if he's motivated enough.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Knows Focus Punch.
• Big Eater: Of course.
• Breath Weapon: His Solarbeam.
• Clear My Name: Taking a liking to Munchlax after it devoured all her Pokéblocks, May set out to prove its innocence when Team Rocket framed it for stealing other trainers' Pokéblocks.
• Confusion Fu: It kicked Combusken's ass by not paying attention. Later played straight for having access to the Metronome attack.
• Early-Bird Cameo
• Extreme Omnivore: Only Munchlax was able to eat May's first original Pokéblock recipe. He has limits, however, as he didn't take with her second original Pokéblock.
  • And of course, it swallowed a Pokeball and it still got captured.
• Green Thumb: Knows Solarbeam.
• Non-Action Guy: May only captured him to save his skin. For the rest of Hoenn, he never competed in a single Contest, only getting a chance in the spotlight during Battle Frontier.
• Non-Elemental

Squirtle-Wartortle (Zenigame-Kameil)

• An Ice Pokémon: Knows Ice Beam.
• Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble.
• Everything's Better with Spinning: Knows Rapid Spin.
• Making a Splash
• Took a Level in Badass: A normal beginner Pokémon who was shown to cry when Max tried to say hello to it...soon learned Ice Beam to beat an Ariados, and eventually evolved to Wartortle.
• Weather Control Pokémon: Though not in the series' traditional manner.

Eevee-Glaceon (Eievui-Glacia)

• An Ice Pokémon: Glaceon
• Dishing Out Dirt: Knows Dig.
• Extra Ore Dinary: Knows Iron Tail.
• Non-Elemental: Eevee
• Psychic Powers: Knows Mirror Coat.
• Soul Power: Knows Shadow Ball.

Max (Masato)

Voiced by: Fushigi Yamada (JP), Amy Birnbaum (EN, 4Kids), Kayzie Rogers (EN, current)

May's younger brother who travels along with his sister and friends, even though he has no Pokémon of his own. Tropes involving him include:

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• Ascended Fanboy: He's supposed to be on his way to be one, but, thanks to Comic Book Time...
• Annoying Younger Sibling: To May he is.
• Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: See the section for May, above.
• Cross-Dressing Voices
• Cute Shotaro Boy: This is a given since he's about 7.
• A Day in the Limelight: Like his sister, a movie (Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker) focuses on him as a main character.
• Deadpan Snarker: Naturally, May gives him plenty of ammunition.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to May's foolish.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Melancholic.
• Hero Worshipper: While it's not overly blatant, and his first appearance has him quickly criticizing Ash's accomplishments (alongside not getting the name right), he does look up to the latter to a certain degree. Likewise towards his father Norman, only it's a lot more pronounced.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: Out of May's Pokémon, Max seems to be most attached to her Munchlax.
• Insufferable Genius
  • Subverted that one episode actually portrayed him somewhat as a Ted Baxter when it came to battling.
  • Well, for his first time at least. He spent so much time buffing that he forgot the short-term game. He thinks like a polar opposite to Ash and his improvised style, but that was when he learned he needs to get the ball rolling quicker.
• No Sense of Direction: Applies to the whole group as a whole, but, come on...he's got the universe's equivalent to a GPS!
• One Steve Limit: In-universe, averted when another Max shows up in the episode Maxxed Out!
• The Promise: To a stray Ralts in "Do I Hear a Ralts".
• Puppy Love: In-universe example: one Advance Generation episode has him develop a mutual crush with Vivi Winstrate, the youngest member of a family of trainers. However, when the family challenged Ash and co. to a friendly 4-on-4 match, Max just had to borrow Corphish in his match against Vivi. The results weren't pretty...
• Running Gag: Early in the series, he would take pleasure in being on the receiving end of attacks or abilities' effects.
• Scary Shiny Glasses
• Shout-Out: The sickly Ralts in "Do I Hear a Ralts" to Wally.
• The Smart Guy: Well, he at least makes an effort to be this during "Advanced Generation", somewhat sharing the role with Brock. However, he's really more...
• Tagalong Kid: The only reason he's there is because his dad (Norman) said that he should go travel along with his sister.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Supporting Cast

Professor Birch (Dr. Odamaki)

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (JP), Dan Green (EN)

The professor of the Hoenn region. He helped May get her start as a trainer by giving her a choice between Torchic, Mudkip, or Treecko. Birch exhibits the following Tropes:

• Drives Like Crazy: Steep cliffs are as minor as speedbumps, and chances are he'll be on a maximum of two of his wheels at any given time.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: I am detecting copious amounts of Dan Green in the area...

Caroline (Mitsuko)

Voiced by: Yumi Touma (JP)

May and Max's mom and wife of gym leader Norman of the Petalburg City Gym.

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• Hot Mom
• Improbable Hairstyle
• Mistaken for Cheating: Thought this of Norman.

Drew (Shuu)

Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (JP), Oliver Wyman (EN, 4Kids), Bill Rogers (EN, current)

May's main rival as a Pokémon coordinator. He enjoys pushing her buttons, but gradually drops the Jerkass facade and becomes much more respectful over time. He never lets anyone forget that they are rivals first and friends second.

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• Bishounen
• Bubble Gun: Masquerain's Bubble.
• Chick Magnet: He has many fangirls. And unlike Gary, he does not like the attention.
• Curtains Match the Window
• Dark Is Not Evil: Absol
• Elemental Powers
  • Single type Pokémon
    • Casting a Shadow: Absol
  • Dual type Pokémon
    • Big Creepy-Crawlies/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Masquerain and Butterfree.
    • Dishing Out Dirt (Ground)/Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Flygon
    • Green Thumb/Poisonous Pokémon: Roserade
  • Pokémon who know moves of a different type
    • An Ice Pokémon: Masquerain's Ice Beam.
    • Extra Ore Dinary: Flygon's Steel Wing, and Absol's Iron Tail.
    • Making a Splash: Masquerain's Bubble, and Absol's Water Pulse.
    • Playing with Fire: Flygon's Flamethrower.
    • Psychic Powers: Butterfree's Confusion and Psybeam.
• Friendly Enemy: Becomes this to May later.
• It Amused Me: He toys with May, alternating jibes and backhanded compliments. May naturally rises to the bait beautifully.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He spends his introductory episode railing mercilessly on May, then pulls a Big Damn Heroes when she's in trouble. Then insults her some more.
  • His heart of gold really begins to shine when he tosses May a rose as congratulations for her contest victory...and then tells her it's not for her, it's for her Beautifly. He messes with her like this for a long time. Really, it's only by the Hoenn Grand Festival that he loses much of his Jerkass Facade, with Harley officially taking his place in that regard.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Flygon
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to May's red.
• Razor Wind: Absol's attack.
• Something About a Rose: His signature Pokémon is even Roselia!
• Spell My Name with an "S": His Japanese name can be spelled either "Shū" or "Shuu".
• Straight Man
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Both his personality and his relationship with May are quite similar to Gary and how he treated Ash. He even mirror's Gary's Character Development, becoming less of a Troll by "Advanced Battle" and a lot more prone to back May up when Team Rocket or Harley start going after her.
• Worthy Opponent: Eventually sees May as this.
• You Gotta Have Green Hair

Harley

Voiced by: Junichi Kanemaru (JP), Andrew Rannells (EN, 4Kids), Bill Timoney (EN, current)

May's other rival, though she doesn't consider him to be one at first. Harley decided to go after May simply because during his introduction: she had never heard about Cacturne before and called Cacturne "scary" (May was simply stating that even just standing still Cacturne was so impressive it was kinda scary: to say it was so impressive it evoked a sense of awe). He offered May one of his home made cookies. May was in a rather indifferent mood that day, and she thought they were OK. They weren't bad, just OK. Harley never let that go.

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• All Webbed Up: His Ariados knows String Shot and Spider Web.
• The Bad Guy Wins: "Harley Rides Again"
• Bare Your Midriff: Downplayed.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Laughably Evil, campy and seemingly friendly, but not someone you want to cross, no sir.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
• Blue Eyes
• Bokukko: Inverted - in the Japanese original version, he refers to himself using atashi, the Japanese feminine form of I.
• Breakout Villain: Was apparently supposed to be done with after the Hoenn Grand Festival, but was made a recurring rival for Battle Frontier due to his popularity.
• The Bully: Acts such towards anyone who offends him even in the slightest. Humiliating and mocking his opponents during and between battle showing sadistic pleasure.(This is shown with his interactions with May.) Even mocking bystanders who are not even doing anything to him at the time. (As shown during his third encounter with Team Rocket during "Harley Rides Again".)
• Camp Gay: And how!
• Combat Pragmatist
• Cosplay: His outfit is based on Cacturne, his signature Pokémon.
• Cute Shotaro Boy: In a flashback in New Plot, Old Lot!
• Death Glare: Ariados' Scary Face.
• Dirty Coward: His cowardly and dirty attempts to undermine May on the first three occasions they encountered each other. Though to his credit, he did not attempt to cheat during the Wisteria Town contest (fourth occasion). In "New Plot, Od Lot!" and "Going for Choke", his attempts to sabotage May were all to prevent her from getting her 5th ribbon thus preventing her from being able to enter the Grand Festival (Harley himself having already gained five by this point). That arguably suggests he was threatened by May enough to undermine her even during a time when he would not be competing against her in a contest or a festival.
• Disproportionate Retribution: His entire feud with May is based around very petty reasons he has to hate her.
• Dropped a Bridget On Him: Brock actually thought he was a girl before the crowd cleared once...oops.
• Dub Name Change: One of the very few aversions in the Pokémon franchise. His Japanese and English names are the same.
• Elemental Powers
  • Single type Pokémon
    • Making a Splash: Octillery
    • Non-Elemental: Wigglytuff
    • Soul Power: Banette
  • Dual type Pokémon
    • Big Creepy-Crawlies/Poisonous Pokémon: Ariados
    • Green Thumb/Casting a Shadow: Cacturne
  • Pokémon who know moves of a different type
    • Big Creepy-Crawlies: Cacturne's Pin Missile.
    • Casting a Shadow: Banette's Torment.
    • Playing with Fire: Banette's Will-O-Wisp, and Octillery's Fire Blast.
    • Poisonous Pokémon: Cacturne's Poison Sting, and Octillery's Sludge Bomb.
    • Psychic Powers: Octillery's Rest.
    • Shock and Awe: Banette's Thunder.
    • Soul Power: Ariados' Shadow Ball.
• Gender Blender Name: In both languages, even!
• Gratuitous English: Well, he is voiced by Junichi Kanemaru.
• Heel Face Mole: Tricked May using this ploy in the Hoenn Grand Festival.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: His Japanese voice is Sonic.
• It's All About Me: He is highly self centered and selfish. In his debut episode, he openly states he expects the audience to quietly pay attention when he is performing an appeal during a contest. After countering his opponent's first move during his first contest battle during his debut episode, he acts as though the battle is for him and Cacturne to showcase themselves.
• Jerkass
• Large Ham
• Law of Disproportionate Response: He took May's picture, pasted it in a stalker notebook, drew a frowny face/skull and crossbones next to it, and obsessed himself with defeating her for the rest of the season. Why? Because she knew nothing about Cacturne before, called Cacturne "scary" and when she actually liked his cookies, she didn't like them enough.
• Manipulative Bastard
• Meaningful Name: His Japanese name is a corruption of 針 hari, meaning "needle," which makes one think of his Cacturne.
• Multiple Choice Past: Claims that May (or at least a May lookalike) once stole his food in grade school. Granted, he was almost certainly BS'ing it, but...well, you never know.
  • Harley may not have be making it up, due to the fact that May lived two cities west of him, and that one episode showed her, Norman and Caroline, not sure if Max was with them or not cause the scene doesn't show him, so it's possible that May could have stolen Harley's food.
    • No - May's still much too young to have been in Harley's preschool class. He never claimed it was May...only that the cookie thief "...looked just like May."
• Narcissist: Extremely so. Even in his initial appearance he acts somewhat conceited even before his negative traits surface. Anyone who does not give him the highest praise, he relentlessly persecutes. During his first contest battle in his debut episode, he openly states that if one wants to use the term adorable then it better be used to describe him.
• Nice Hat:
  • The one he usually wears is shaped like the top of a Cacturne's head.
  • On another occasion, he wore May's bandanna while dressing up as her.
• The Other Darrin: Andrew Rannells, followed by Bill Timoney.
• Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Sort of -- Harley himself seems to be in his late teens as of his debut, although he became obsessed with defeating the ten year old May.
• Pride: He is extremely arrogant, haughty and hubristic.
• Serious Business: Food in general, apparently. He hated May's guts because she said his cookies were only okay, and got really pissed over a girl eating the last of his lunch when he was little.
• Shipper on Deck: Has asked Drew and May if they're dating. Naturally, their reply is "No Way!" He doesn't seem to buy it, though.
• Sissy Villain
• Smug Snake
• Terms of Endangerment: Calls May his "cute little gingerbread-cookie".
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied in a flashback in New Plot, Old Lot!.
• Vain: Somewhat vain about his appearance.
• Vague Age
• Villainous Crossdresser: On one occasion, he dresses up as May. He even blows a kiss to Drew while doing so...
• You Gotta Have Purple Hair

Solidad (Saori)

Voiced by: Rie Tanaka (JP)

One of Drew's friends and an extremely skilled coordinator. She knows Brock from when she was at Pewter City and seems to have known Harley as well.

---

• Always Someone Better: For both Drew and May
• Cool Big Sis: Also this for both Drew and May.
• Doppelganger Spin: Pidgeot's Double Team.
• Elemental Powers
  • Dual type Pokémon
    • Big Creepy-Crawlies/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Butterfree
    • Making a Splash/An Ice Pokémon: Lapras
    • Making a Splash/Psychic Powers: Slowbro
    • Non-Elemental/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Pidgeot
• Fingerless Gloves: Wears them in May, We Harley Drew'd Ya!
• Flat Character: Since she only appeared in Kanto's Grand Festival and then has not been seen again aside from a two-second cameo in the DP series, she's quite obviously one.
• Frickin' Laser Beams: Slowbro's Hyper Beam.
• Magic Skirt
• Morality Pet: May be this to Harley since she's the only person we know to be friends with him.
• Remember the New Guy?: Supposedly an old friend of Brock and Harley, but we never heard anything about her until her anime debut.
• Rose-Haired Girl: See Actor Allusion for Solidad's other connection with Lacus.
• Shipper on Deck: She sure seemed very delighted to tell May how often Drew talked about her....
• Spell My Name with an "S": Is it Solidad or Soledad?

1. ↑ which were light blue