Character guide
Characters — faces of the Pokémon world
An unofficial guide to major characters from the anime and games. Open anyone for who they are, where they come from, and when they first appeared.
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A boy from Pallet Town who left home to travel with Pikachu. He is the viewpoint of the anime from 1997 through Pokémon Journeys.
He missed the morning when starters were handed out and was given Pikachu, who would not stay in a Poké Ball. Gym badges, leagues, and friends from each region are the shape of his story. Horizons begins a new anime without him as the lead.
- Age
- The anime presents him as 10.
- Origin
- Pallet Town, Kanto.
- Goals
- To become a Pokémon Master, which the show treats as a life of meeting Pokémon rather than a single trophy.
- Debut
- Anime, “Pokémon - I Choose You!”, first broadcast in Japan on 1 April 1997.
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The Water-type Gym Leader of Cerulean City. She joins Ash after he wrecks her bicycle and stays for the Kanto, Orange Islands, and much of the Johto anime.
She grew up in the shadow of her older sisters at the Gym and wanted to be taken seriously as a trainer. After Johto she returns to run the Cerulean Gym. A specific age is not stated in the show.
- Origin
- Cerulean City, Kanto.
- Goals
- To be a great Water-type trainer, not only the girl who was left with the Gym.
- Debut
- Anime, the first episode, 1997, with a larger role from the Cerulean Gym episodes.
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The Rock-type Gym Leader of Pewter City. He travels as the party’s cook and the person who knows how to care for Pokémon.
He left the Gym in his siblings’ care to study Pokémon breeding on the road. He is with Ash through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. The anime presents him as 15 when that journey starts.
- Age
- The anime presents him as 15 at the start of his travels.
- Origin
- Pewter City, Kanto.
- Goals
- To become a Pokémon breeder, and, more loosely, to meet every kind of life on the road.
- Debut
- Anime, the Pewter City episodes of the original series, 1997.
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A new trainer from Petalburg City who starts out unsure she even wants a journey, then finds Pokémon Contests.
She is Professor Birch’s neighbor and the daughter of the Petalburg Gym Leader. She travels Hoenn and Kanto contests with Ash, her brother Max, and Brock. The anime presents her as 10 when she starts.
- Age
- The anime presents her as 10 at the start.
- Origin
- Petalburg City, Hoenn.
- Goals
- To become a top coordinator. Battling is something she learns, not the only point.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, Japan, 21 November 2002.
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A coordinator from Twinleaf Town who chooses Piplup and travels Sinnoh with Ash and Brock.
Her mother was a coordinator, and Dawn spends the series learning to perform under that shadow without copying it. The anime presents her as 10.
- Age
- The anime presents her as 10.
- Origin
- Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh.
- Goals
- To win the Grand Festival and to have a style of her own.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, Japan, 28 September 2006.
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A girl from Vaniville Town who met Ash as a child at Professor Oak’s camp and later travels Kalos with him, Clemont, and Bonnie.
She leaves a Rhyhorn-racing path her mother wanted and finds Pokémon Showcases instead. The anime presents her as 10.
- Age
- The anime presents her as 10.
- Origin
- Vaniville Town, Kalos.
- Goals
- To decide what she is good at, and to perform.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon the Series: XY, Japan, 17 October 2013.
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A wild-trained girl from the Village of Dragons who travels Unova with Ash and Cilan. She later appears as Unova’s Champion.
She was afraid of a Dragon of her own at first and learned to face it on the road. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Village of Dragons, Unova.
- Goals
- To become a Dragon Master.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon the Series: Black & White, Japan, 23 September 2010.
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The Electric-type Gym Leader of Lumiose City. He travels with his little sister Bonnie and a backpack of inventions that sometimes work.
He left the Gym in a friend’s hands because he wanted to see the region and improve his machines. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Lumiose City, Kalos.
- Goals
- To invent things that help people and Pokémon, and to be a Gym Leader who earned the title.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon the Series: XY, 2013.
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A student at the Pokémon School in Alola who, at the start, cannot touch Pokémon. She travels the school story with Ash and the class.
She is Gladion’s sister and Lusamine’s daughter. Her fear and the Aether Foundation are the personal side of the Alola anime. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Alola. Her family is tied to the Aether Foundation rather than a single small town.
- Goals
- To be able to stand beside a Pokémon without fear, and to understand her family.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, Japan, 17 November 2016. She is also a major character in the Sun and Moon games.
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A boy from Vermilion City who wants to catch every Pokémon, traveling with Ash during Pokémon Journeys.
He saw Mew as a child and never let go of that. Research under Professor Cerise gives the show a reason to visit many regions. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Vermilion City, Kanto.
- Goals
- To catch Mew, and, along the way, to understand Pokémon he only wanted as a checklist.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon Journeys, Japan, 17 November 2019.
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A student who leaves home with Sprigatito and a pendant she does not understand, and joins the Rising Volt Tacklers.
She is shy at the start of Horizons and learns to take the first step anyway. Roy and Dot travel with her. The series does not use Ash as the lead. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- The show begins with her at a school; her family’s deeper ties are part of the story and are better met there than spoiled here.
- Goals
- To find out what her pendant means, and to keep traveling once she has started.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon Horizons, Japan, 14 April 2023.
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A boy who grew up with an ancient Poké Ball and a love of adventure songs. He travels with Liko and Fuecoco.
He wants to be the kind of trainer the old heroes were. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- An island community outside the school where Liko starts.
- Goals
- To meet legendary Pokémon and to live up to the adventurers he admires.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon Horizons, 2023.
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Professor Oak’s grandson and Ash’s neighbor. He starts the same day, with a crowd, and treats the journey as a race he expects to win.
He is the anime’s echo of Blue from the games: talented, rude at first, and eventually a researcher rather than only a rival. A specific age is not stated beyond being Ash’s peer.
- Origin
- Pallet Town, Kanto.
- Goals
- To be the best, and later to study Pokémon in the field.
- Debut
- Anime, the first episode, 1997. The character also corresponds to Blue in the Kanto games.
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A Sinnoh trainer who keeps only Pokémon he judges strong enough and releases the rest. He is Ash’s sharpest rival in that series.
His brother Reggie was a trainer who stopped competing. Paul answers that by becoming stricter. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Veilstone City, Sinnoh.
- Goals
- To win by strength alone, without sentiment.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, 2006.
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Lillie’s older brother, a trainer who works alone with Silvally and keeps his distance from the Aether Foundation.
In the games and the anime he is protecting his family from the Foundation’s secrets by leaving home. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Alola, Aether Foundation family.
- Goals
- To become strong enough to face what his mother set in motion.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Sun and Moon, 2016. Anime, Sun & Moon, the same era.
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The researcher in Pallet Town who gives new trainers a starter and a Pokédex. Gary is his grandson.
He is the kindly authority of the early games and the anime: the person who says the journey is about completing a Pokédex, then lets you leave. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Pallet Town, Kanto.
- Goals
- To understand every Pokémon, mostly by sending young trainers out to meet them.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Red and Green, Japan, 27 February 1996. Anime, 1997.
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The researcher in New Bark Town who studies Pokémon eggs and gives the Johto starter.
He is distracted and kind, and the egg plot of Gold and Silver runs through his lab. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- New Bark Town, Johto.
- Goals
- To learn how Pokémon are born and raised.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Gold and Silver, Japan, 21 November 1999.
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The professor of Alola and the homeroom energy of the Pokémon School in the anime. He studies Pokémon moves.
He is also a masked wrestler in the games’ battle culture, which fits Alola’s mix of research and festival. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Alola.
- Goals
- To understand how Pokémon battle, and to welcome kids into that world.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Sun and Moon, 2016. Anime, Sun & Moon, 2016.
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A pilot and researcher who leads the airship crew Liko and Roy join. His partner is Captain Pikachu.
He left a conventional lab life to chase Pokémon mysteries in the field. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Introduced with the airship rather than a hometown episode.
- Goals
- To solve mysteries about Pokémon and the world, and to keep his crew flying.
- Debut
- Anime, Pokémon Horizons, 2023.
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A Dragon-type master and the Champion associated with the Indigo Plateau. He also appears as a member of the Elite Four depending on the game.
He is the face of the first games’ final challenge and returns whenever the story needs an authority who still fights. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Associated with the Indigo Plateau and Blackthorn City’s Dragon clan in Johto stories.
- Goals
- To test trainers, and to answer crises that Gym Leaders cannot.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Red and Green, 1996.
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Hoenn’s Champion, a Steel-type trainer and collector of rare stones. His family runs Devon Corporation.
He wanders the region more than he sits in a castle. The Championship is something he accepts, not a throne he guards every day. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Mossdeep City, Hoenn, and the Devon family.
- Goals
- To understand rare stones and the legendaries they are tied to.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Japan, 21 November 2002.
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Sinnoh’s Champion and a historian of myth. Her partner Garchomp is the battle people remember.
She treats the Championship as one part of a life spent reading ruins. She returns in later games and in the anime as the standard of a region. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Celestic Town, Sinnoh, is her grandparents’ home and the myth library of the region.
- Goals
- To understand Sinnoh’s creation stories, and to battle anyone who has walked far enough to meet her.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Japan, 28 September 2006.
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Galar’s undefeated Champion and Hop’s older brother. Charizard is his signature Pokémon. He is endlessly lost in his own region.
The Gym Challenge in Sword and Shield is a sport built toward a match with him. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Postwick, Galar.
- Goals
- To keep having the strongest battle available, and to cheer the next trainer who might reach him.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Sword and Shield, 15 November 2019.
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One of the anime’s recurring trio, with James and Meowth. They steal Pokémon badly and recite a motto before they fail.
She came from a hard childhood and a failed acting career into Team Rocket. Across decades of the show the trio becomes comic, then strangely loyal to each other. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- The show does not give her a single hometown. Team Rocket’s base of operations is associated with Giovanni.
- Goals
- To please Giovanni by capturing rare Pokémon, especially Ash’s Pikachu, and to be noticed.
- Debut
- Anime, early Kanto episodes, 1997. A version of the trio also appears in Pokémon Yellow.
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Jessie’s partner. He left a wealthy, miserable engagement and prefers the road, even when the plan is a bad one.
His family wanted a heir, not a trainer who talks to his Pokémon. Team Rocket is the life he chose. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- A wealthy household. The show treats the road as his real home.
- Goals
- To stay with Jessie and Meowth, and to succeed just often enough to keep going.
- Debut
- Anime, with Jessie, 1997.
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A Meowth who learned human speech to impress another Meowth and stayed with Jessie and James when that failed.
He is not kept in a Poké Ball. He plans the schemes, translates, and is the trio’s conscience when they have one. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Hollywood, in the anime’s telling: a street Meowth who taught himself.
- Goals
- To be respected, and to keep the trio together.
- Debut
- Anime, with Jessie and James, 1997.
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The leader of Team Rocket and, in the Kanto games, the final Gym Leader, who uses Ground-type Pokémon.
He wants rare and powerful Pokémon as tools. The anime keeps him mostly offscreen, a voice the trio fails to impress. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Viridian City, Kanto.
- Goals
- To control powerful Pokémon and the criminal network that collects them.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Red and Green, 1996.
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A Pokémon created from Mew’s genes in a laboratory. The 1998 film is about what that creation asks of the people who made it.
In the games, Mewtwo is a powerful Pokémon found after a long post-game cave. In the film, it is a person with a grievance. Later movies and the anime revisit it. A specific age is not meaningful; it is artificial.
- Origin
- A laboratory on an island, in the film. The games place the related cave in Kanto.
- Goals
- To decide whether it is only a copy, and what it owes the world that made it.
- Debut
- Games, Pokémon Red and Green, 1996, as a hidden encounter. Film, Mewtwo Strikes Back, Japan, 18 July 1998.
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The silent trainer of Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, and their remakes. He leaves Pallet Town with a starter and a Pokédex from Professor Oak.
Later games show him as a near-mythic trainer on a mountain, the standard other protagonists are measured against. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- Pallet Town, Kanto.
- Goals
- To complete the Pokédex and the Gym challenge. The games leave his feelings unspoken.
- Debut
- Pokémon Red and Green, Japan, 27 February 1996.
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Professor Oak’s grandson and Red’s rival. He is always one step ahead until the Championship, and in Yellow he echoes Gary.
He becomes Champion and then, in some games, a Gym Leader in Viridian. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- Pallet Town, Kanto.
- Goals
- To beat Red and to prove he is the best trainer Oak’s lab produced.
- Debut
- Pokémon Red and Green, 1996.
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The boy who starts in New Bark Town in Gold, Silver, and Crystal. Kris and Lyra are the girl protagonists of Crystal and the remakes.
His journey covers Johto and then Kanto, which is the series’ first time the map is two regions. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- New Bark Town, Johto.
- Goals
- To finish Professor Elm’s errand, which becomes a Championship, and to follow the legendary beasts.
- Debut
- Pokémon Gold and Silver, Japan, 21 November 1999.
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One of the two Hoenn leads. He moves to Littleroot Town. May is the other playable trainer, and also the name of Ash’s Hoenn companion in the anime, though they are not the same story.
The story is a feud between teams who want to expand the land or the sea. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- Littleroot Town, Hoenn, after a move from Johto.
- Goals
- To help Professor Birch and to stop the region being torn apart.
- Debut
- Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Japan, 21 November 2002.
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One of the Sinnoh leads, from Twinleaf Town. Dawn is the other, and the anime’s Dawn shares the name and the town without being this save file.
He is pulled into the myth of Dialga and Palkia, and of a team that wants to remake the universe. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh.
- Goals
- To find a missing person at the lake, which becomes the region’s myth.
- Debut
- Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Japan, 28 September 2006.
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One of the Unova leads in Black and White, from Nuvema Town. Hilda is the other. Their rival N asks whether trainers have the right to keep Pokémon.
The journey is an argument, not only a badge hunt. Black 2 and White 2 star different trainers two years later. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- Nuvema Town, Unova.
- Goals
- To see the region and to answer N.
- Debut
- Pokémon Black and White, Japan, 18 September 2010.
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One of the Kalos leads, friends with Serena, Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna in Vaniville Town. Serena is also the anime companion’s name; the game and the show are parallel, not the same biography.
Mega Evolution and Team Flare’s plan for a beautiful, empty world are the region’s crisis. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- Vaniville Town, Kalos.
- Goals
- To travel with friends and to stop a plan that would throw most lives away.
- Debut
- Pokémon X and Y, Japan, 12 October 2013.
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One of the Alola leads. Selene is the other. They move to the region and take the island challenge instead of a Gym circuit.
The story involves the island guardian deities and the Aether Foundation. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- A move to Alola. The games begin in Hau’oli City’s outskirts.
- Goals
- To finish the island challenge and to understand the legend that comes with it.
- Debut
- Pokémon Sun and Moon, 18 November 2016.
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One of the Galar leads, from Postwick, with Gloria as the other and Hop as the neighbor and rival.
The Gym Challenge is a broadcast sport, and an old king’s legend sits under the stadium lights. The games do not state an age.
- Origin
- Postwick, Galar.
- Goals
- To endorse into the Gym Challenge and to reach Leon.
- Debut
- Pokémon Sword and Shield, 15 November 2019.
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One of the two survey corps members in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Akari is the other. They fall into Hisui, the past of Sinnoh, and build the region’s first Pokédex.
People in Jubilife Village are still afraid of Pokémon. The work is research under that fear. The game does not state an age.
- Origin
- Arrives in Jubilife Village, Hisui, from somewhere the game treats as another sky.
- Goals
- To complete the Pokédex and to calm the nobles of Hisui.
- Debut
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus, 28 January 2022.
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A student at Naranja or Uva Academy who is already among the strongest trainers in Paldea and still wants a rival.
She sponsors the player’s treasure hunt because she is lonely at the top. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Paldea. The academy is the home the game gives her.
- Goals
- To have a battle with someone who can push her.
- Debut
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, 18 November 2022.
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Leon’s younger brother and the player’s friend in Postwick. He starts the Gym Challenge expecting to follow his brother’s path.
The story lets him fail and change what he wants, which is rarer than a rival who only blocks the road. A specific age is not stated.
- Origin
- Postwick, Galar.
- Goals
- At first, to be Leon. Then, to find a role that is his.
- Debut
- Pokémon Sword and Shield, 2019.