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Sinnoh Gym Leaders

     Roark (Hyouta) 
Voiced in Japanese by: Masataka Azuma, Satsuki Yukino (child)
Voiced in English by: Craig Blair, Zoe Martin (child)
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Ricardo Mendoza (Season 10), Ignacio Casas (season 12)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/roark_anime.png

  • Adaptational Badass: Played with. His team in the anime is largely the same as in the games but after Ash loses to him, his Cranidos evolves into Rampardos to make him an even tougher threat until he's outsmarted in the rematch. On top of that, his Geodude easily beats an Azumarill, when in the games such a matchup would end in an easy loss for it, but then loses to a super-effective Brick Break, which is pretty in line with the games.
  • Adaptational Superpower Change: The anime drastically changes how his Rampardos' Mold Breaker ability works. In the games, Mold Breaker allows the user to ignore abilities that interfere with it's attacks, such as allowing a Ground-type move to hit a Pokémon with Levitate. In the anime, it instead allows Rampardos to shrug off being affected by the abilities of other Pokémon, as shown when it shook off the Static paralysis caused by both Paul's Elekid, and Ash's Pikachu.
  • The Bus Came Back: He came back later in the anime to deal with his father Byron's antics with fossils, just when Ash needs to face Bryon in a Gym Battle.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: He accuses his father of abandoning his family for nothing more than his love of fossils, and also preferring defense to offense.
  • Curtains Match the Window: He has red hair and red eyes.
  • Didn't Think This Through: In the rematch, when Ash has his Turtwig jump, Roark has his Rampardos do that too. Turtwig is then revealed to have been spinning around and under Rampardos and finishes the helpless Rock-type with a Razor Leaf to the chest.
  • Elemental Powers: Roark specializes in Rock type Pokémon.
  • Fiery Redhead: More of the "fiercely passionate" variety than "hot-headed", generally, except for when it comes to Byron...
  • Guest-Star Party Member: Sort of - four episodes straight in Oreburgh City, and then a significant role for another two at Canalave City.
  • Just a Kid: His father dismisses his arguments using this line. In Byron's words, "You wouldn't know a fossil if it hit you on the head!"
  • Missing Mom: His mother isn't seen, but Roark mentions asking his dad to come home for the anniversary of their marriage, implying that she's still around.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Actively involved in the mining duties of his city, and later stops Team Rocket when dealing with their theft of the Fossil Restoration machine.
  • Scissors Cuts Rock: His Geodude is able to take down Paul's Azumarill by blocking its Hydro Pump with Hidden Power.
  • Signature Mon: His Cranidos, which later evolves into Rampardos to deal with the fallout of Team Rocket's meddling of the Fossil Revival machines. Rampardos serves Roark's main Pokémon in battle, often as the final Pokémon, a fact that Roark exploits when dealing with new challengers as Ash finds out the hard way.
  • Tempting Fate: In the rematch, after having Onix trap Pikachu with Rock Tomb, Roark boasts he's been training with Onix harder than ever. Pikachu then blasts the Rock Tomb off of him and zaps Onix and then Iron Tails the Rock Snake Pokémon in the throat, meaning that evidentially, Roark was not training hard enough.
  • Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: He challenges his father to a battle to resolve this, and champions the force of Rampardos against Byron's immovable Bastiodon. No winner is clearly determined.
  • Use Your Head: Rampardos' Headbutt and Zen Headbutt.
  • Volumetric Mouth: When arguing with Byron in "Ancient Family Matters".
  • Wake-Up Call Boss: Ash loses his first battle with Roark despite his best efforts, showing him that he and his Pokemon must work that much harder to exceed the Sinnoh region's demanding battle standards.

     Gardenia (Natane) 
Voiced in Japanese by: Chieko Honda
Voiced in English by: Lara Star Rigores
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Isabel Romo (Season 10), Nallely Solís (Season 11)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gardenia_anime.png

  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Her love of grass type Pokémon can be eccentric and she actually pounces on James' Cacnea and Carnivine despite his attempts at an ambush. However there is no mistaking her skills as a gym leader.
  • The Bus Came Back: In DP055.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: If she sees any Grass-type Pokémon, she'll demand all sorts of strange things from them such as getting attacked by their Grass-types moves just to enjoy it, and be completely oblivious to the fact that the Grass-types in question happened to be owned by the villainous Team Rocket, more specifically James.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Orange hair (with black undersides) matching with orange eyes.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Though her Roserade temporarily blinded Aipom with Flash, Gardenia forgot that Pokémon can hear and Roserade gets its Fire-type Energy Ball Focus Punched back at it for major damage.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Appears briefly during Cheryl's three-part arc, in DP031 ("The Grass-type is Always Greener") before having a full introduction in Eterna City.
  • Elemental Powers: Gardenia specializes in Grass type Pokémon.
  • Glass Cannon: Her Cherubi's surprisingly fast and strong, but once Staravia lines himself up with the sun, it can't see and is easily eliminated in three blows.
  • Hypocritical Humor: "The crooks were using Grass-type Pokémon, huh? They've got some nerve! Those jerks!" By the end of her appearance, she's taking care of a Grass-type that one of the crooks in question gave to her.
  • Genki Girl: She's determined and confident Gym Leader... who is also full with an overabundance of childish energy whenever she sees Grass-type Pokémon, even if they belong to criminals like Team Rocket.
  • Glass Cannon: Her Cherubi's surprisingly fast and strong but when Staravia lines himself up with the sun when using Wing Attack, the little Grass-type can't see and gets taken down in three blows.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser: Upon seeing James' Cacnea again, she asks it to give her a massage with Pin Missile.
  • Luminescent Blush: This is her reaction when Dawn asks her if she's been with Nando.
  • No Sense of Personal Space: She just can't resist hugging every Grass-type she sees.
  • Odd Friendship: With James, whom she could never see as an enemy due to his use of grass types.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: During A Secret Sphere of Influence!
  • Signature Mon: Turtwig. Though Roserade is her strongest Pokémon on the team, Turtwig is frequently seen alongside Gardenia the most, appearing out of the Gym Battle in "A Secret Sphere of Influence!" (to serve as a preview for Ash's future Gym Battle) and in "Once There Were Greenfields" (where it tag-teamed with James' Cacnea in a Double Battle against Ash's Aipom and Dawn's Pachirisu).
  • Ship Tease: With Nando. She stands up for him when he's accused of stealing the Adamant Orb, and later quotes a bit of reflective poetry similar to his style that prompts Dawn to (correctly) deduce that they've spent time together.
    • She also has some arguable tease with James - or if not that, then borderline with Cacnea (though she's fairly goo-goo-eyed about Grass-types in general). Either way, she's inordinately nice to him in DP054 despite knowing full well of his and his friends' attempted theft of the Adamant Orb.
  • Too Kinky to Torture: She actually seems to enjoy getting attacked by grass-type Pokémon. James' Carnivine bites down on her head and she really likes it. She also has Cacnea use Pin Missile on her back like a massage.

     Maylene (Sumomo) 
Voiced in Japanese by: Aya Endo
Voiced in English by: Rachael Lillis
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Marianna Santiago

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maylene_anime.png

  • Badass Adorable: She's the first Gym Leader from whom Ash wins a badge without outright defeating her (they tie, but she considers his performance worthy of the Cobble Badge). Not to mention her battle with Dawn. Reggie even notes the result of her battle with Paul might have been very different if she'd been at the top of her game when they faced off.
  • Badass Normal: When you're a human and you can deflect an Aura Sphere with your bare hands...
  • Break the Cutie: Losing to Paul, then being on the receiving end of his painful "The Reason You Suck" Speech. Ouch.
  • Brick Break: Machoke's attack.
  • Calling Your Attacks: She even motions whenever her commands Lucario to use Aura Sphere.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Her pink eyes and pink hair match in color.
  • Elemental Powers: Maylene specializes in fighting type Pokémon.
  • Guest-Star Party Member: Similarly to Roark, she has a decent four-episode arc of bonding with Ash and his friends (especially Dawn).
  • Heroic BSoD: Maylene has been in a severe depression since her crushing loss to Paul, along with his following "The Reason You Suck" Speech, which did not help her preexisting self-esteem issues as a new gym leader. It gets so bad that she has serious thoughts about quitting as the Veilstone Gym Leader, and her Lucario's harsh attempts to snap her out of the depression aren't doing much good either. Only when Dawn gently confides in Maylene her doubts concerning her career as a Coordinator, challenging her to a battle and watching Ash's battle with Reggie, does she start to believe in herself again.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: In her final appearance, she sensed the disturbance caused by Team Galactic stealing the Veilstone Meteorites and hurried over to stop them.
  • Scissors Cuts Rock: Her Lucario (A Fighting/Steel-type) beats Ash's part Flying-type Staravia and Fire-type Chimchar.
  • Signature Mon: Lucario is her main Pokémon and her humiliating defeat against Paul has strained her bond with her Aura Pokémon because Lucario doesn't want either of them to give up while Maylene considers it a serious possibility.
  • Ship Tease: With Reggie.
  • 10-Minute Retirement: Though she'd considered making it permanent, her Lucario (and everyone else for that matter) wouldn't hear of it.

     Crasher Wake (Maximum Mask) 
Voiced in Japanese by: Tetsu Inada
Voiced in English by: Michael Alston Baley
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Raúl Anaya
Voiced in European French by: Jean-Daniel Nicodème

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crasher_wake_anime.png

  • Acrofatic: Don't let that spare tire on his waist fool you. He's a wrestler with Stout Strength, after all.
    Ash: For a big guy, that Wake can move!
  • Boisterous Bruiser: He's a wrestler, hero, and a Gym leader rolled into one.
  • Curb Stomp Cushion: Regarding Ash's victory over him; while Wake doesn't just fall and puts up a good battle, this is the first proper time Ash has won a Gym Match without a single Pokémon fainting (discounting the double-battle with Tate and Liza in Hoenn).
  • Didn't Think This Through: Sends out a Gyarados (A Water/Flying-type) against Pikachu and the former is crushed in just two moves. Averted when he sends out the Water/Ground Quagsire against Turtwig due to Quagsire knowing Sludge Bomb and Ice Beam which are super effective against Grass-types.
  • Elemental Powers: Crasher Wake specializes in Water type Pokémon.
  • Hidden Depths: Like everyone else in his town, he is fond of Croagunk.
  • Large Ham: complete with introductions!
    I'M...Crasher Wake! (laughs)
  • No-Sell: Averted. After his Gyarados is fried by Thunderbolt, everyone acts like it didn't work but, after Gyarados was hit, he has his eyes and mouth closed and is slumped over, meaning that he was pretending he wasn't affected which is confirmed when Gyarados is knocked out by Volt Tackle.
  • Razor Wind: Floatzel's attack.
  • Signature Mon: Floatzel is his main Pokémon, both for the last Pokémon faced in Ash's Gym Battle and being a worthy rival for Buizel to overcome physically and mentally.
  • Worthy Opponent: His Floatzel quickly became this to Buizel - becoming even important to the latter's Character Development.

     Fantina (Melissa) 
Voiced in Japanese by: Kikuko Inoue
Voiced in English by: Bella Hudson
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Georgina "Gina" Sánchez

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fantina_anime.png
—-
  • Back for the Finale: Or rather, back for the Sinnoh Grand Festival.
  • Big "OMG!": In Coming Full Festival Circle!
  • Big "NO!": Comically does this whenever Ash KO's one of her Pokémon.
  • Blood Knight: Fantina is an ambitious and passionate Hearthome Gym Leader who not only desires to engage in great battles, herself but also wishes to provide her challengers with equally great battles. To achieve this, she often ventures on training trips away from the gym, where she hones her skills and devises new strategies to keep her opponents on their toes.
  • Curtains Match the Window: She has violet hair to match her violet eyes.
  • Elemental Powers: Fantina specializes in Ghost type Pokémon.
  • Genki Girl: The woman can barely stand still, she's always dancing.
  • Gratuitous Foreign Language: She speaks English and French in the Japanese and English versions, respectively.
  • Improbable Hairstyle: No one in the world has her overly pompous hairdo.
  • Japanese Spirit: Fantina believes in providing her challengers with an exceptional battle experience. Therefore, she embarks on a journey to develop a distinctive style that combines the raw power of regular battles with the stylish moves of Pokémon Contests. This is why she occasionally leaves her Gym to hone her skills.
  • Pimped-Out Dress: Her purple outfit that she uses for contests and gym battles.
  • Recurring Character: Fantina's appearances are the most sporadically spread out of all the Sinnoh Gym Leaders.
  • Running Gag: Never in her gym whenever she was needed.
  • Signature Mon: Her Drifblim is main Pokémon partner, which she raised since it was an Egg. Naturally, it's her final Pokémon and easily sweeps Pikachu and Buizel before falling to Chimchar.
  • Tempting Fate: After Fantina comes up with a Counter Counter Shield (Having her Drifblim use Psychic to spin Will-O-Wisp around itself), she brags she learned everything about the technique. Ash is able to have Chimchar use Flamethrower on the Counter Counter Shield and blow it up and then Ash points out that no, Fantina did not learn everything about his technique. Fantina admits she spoke too soon.
  • That One Attack: In-universe, after his first match with her, Ash would spend the next few episodes before their rematch contemplating how to get past her team's Hypnosis.

     Byron (Tougan) 
Voiced in Japanese by: Kazuki Yao
Voiced in English by: Dan Green
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Jorge Ornelas

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/byron_anime.png
I LOVE DEFENSE!

  • Adaptational Curves: Byron is drawn with large, manly, bulging arm muscles that his game counterpart doesn't have, and flexes them at the camera multiple times to emphasize this.
  • Adaptation Personality Change: He is a more serious character in the games. Here, he's as hammy as Crasher Wake and his obsession with fossils and digging holes is used for comic relief.
  • Curtains Match the Window: His eyes are as black as coal, the same color as his hair.
  • Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Though his demeanour suggests otherwise, this is actually true - he wanted Roark to become his own man rather than living under his father's shadow, hence why he left Oreburgh Gym in his hands.
  • Disappeared Dad: A major gripe Roark has with him is how Byron apparently ran off to Canalave City and left Roark to fend for himself.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: Bastiodon's primary type (Rock) and Steelix's secondary type (Ground).
  • Elemental Powers: Byron specializes in Steel type Pokémon.
  • Energy Ball: Bastiodon's Flash Cannon.
  • Failed a Spot Check: He's so enamored by the perfectly dug hole Team Rocket dug in the floor of his exhibition room that he doesn't even notice his entire fossil collection has been stolen until Roark points it out to him.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Played for laughs when he reasons that Team Rocket can't be bad because they dig holes beautifully.
  • Hot-Blooded: You don't get much more hot-blooded than having explosions go off behind you while yelling about how much you love things. Dan Green, ladies and gentlemen.
  • It's All About Me: Roark accuses him of this for dumping the position of Oreburgh Gym Leader on him so he could go hunt for fossils in Canalave City.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is sometimes harsh with his son, but he does genuinely care about him.
  • Large Ham: A running gag is explosions going off in the background when he yells about how much he loves something.
  • Ludd Was Right: Played for Laughs. When he finds out Team Rocket stole his fossils and escaped through a giant hole in the exhibition floor, he entreats them to stop using the machines and dig their holes by hand.
  • Mad Libs Catch Phrase: "I LOVE [something]!!!"
  • Making a Splash: Bronzor knows the Water-type move Rain Dance.
  • Memento Macguffin: His most treasured fossil - a fossilized Sunkern leaf which Roark found and gave him as a young boy.
  • No Indoor Voice: He's always shouting about how much he loves things.
  • Playing with Fire: Bastiodon can dish out Flamethrower from its mouth.
  • Signature Mon: Bastiodon is his main Pokémon and used to represent Byron's stubborn attitude towards his son, as exemplified by Bastiodon and Rampardos butting heads in their battle despite both being on equal footing.
  • Single-Issue Wonk: He loves fossils, digging holes, and nothing else. Well, except maybe his son.
  • Skewed Priorities: When confronting Team Rocket over his stolen fossils, his first order of business is to compliment them on the perfectly round hole they dug, and then tell them they should dig holes by hand instead of using machines. Even they're baffled, with Jessie commenting, "What's with him and holes?"
  • Stone Wall: His battle style primarily revolves around defense, and his main Pokémon, Bastiodon, has high defensive stats and a head shaped like a castle fortress. He demonstrates by having Bastiodon use Iron Defense to protect his son's Rampardos from a barrage of rocks hurled by Team Rocket's mech. Ash gets around this by having Chimchar and Gliscor attack as much as possible.
    Byron: Now see why I always talk about the value of a good defense?!
  • Super-Scream: Steelix knows Screech, used to repel Buziel's attack and lower his defenses.
  • Tunnel King: With nothing but the highest respect for others who share the same talent.
  • Use Your Head: Bastiodon's Iron Head.
  • Vocal Dissonance: His naturally deep voice sometimes gets comically high-pitched when he's excited about something.

     Candice (Suzuna) 
Voiced in Japanese by: Noriko Shitaya
Voiced in English by: Kether Donohue
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Cristina Hernández (episode 126-128), Cynthia de Pando (episode 155)
Voiced in Italian by: Giuliana Atepi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/candice_anime.png

  • Affectionate Nickname: Zoey refers to her as "Miss Senior"
  • Badass Armfold: Her Abomasnow has this as her default pose. Her arm-fold looks more badass when she uses long-range attacks while doing it, and there is also a scene where Abomasnow and Candice do it side by side. However, once Abomasnow loses her cool, she quickly discards that habit for the rest of the fight.
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Her Medicham is a Fighting-type Pokémon, which is odd since she specializes in Ice-types.
  • Catchphrase: She is oddly fond of kiai. No, not the shouting. The word itself.
  • Curb Stomp Cushion: Ash's Gym battle against her starts out with Ash bulldozing her team up until Snover takes down Gliscor, before itself being easily dispatched by Chimchar. Then Abomasnow comes out and returns the favor, taking down two of Ash's remaining Pokémon in quick succession.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Sends out a Snover and Abomasnow (Ice/Grass-types) against Chimchar) and clearly expects an easy battle. Abomasnow does manage to make Chimchar retreat at first but then he takes advantage of Abomasnow's slow speed and takes her down.
  • Elemental Powers: Candice specializes in Ice type Pokémon.
  • Green Thumb: Her Abomasnow and Snover are Grass-type Pokémon and they also use Grass-type moves such as Bullet Seed and Wood Hammer.
  • Friendly Rivalry: This is actually how she thinks rivalry should function, and is therefore pleased by how Dawn and Zoey help and learn from each other. By extension, she finds herself both shocked and baffled by Paul and his hostility towards Ash.
  • Genki Girl: She's very friendly and excitable.
  • Hot-Blooded: If her always going on about Kiai is any indication.
  • Kill It with Fire: Snover and Abomasnow fall to the Fire-type Chimchar.
  • I Am Not Left-Handed: Despite specializing in Ice-type Pokémon, she packs the Psychic/Fighting-type Medicham.
  • Mighty Glacier: Candice's Abomasnow is very powerful, easily defeating half of Ash's team when they try to attack it head-on. She's also very slow, meaning that Chimchar was able to outmaneuver her and take her down.
  • Playing with Fire: Her Medicham can use Fire Punch, which is surprisingly fitting considering that Candice has a fiery personality.
  • Psychic Powers: Her Medicham is also a Psychic-type Pokémon and uses Confusion in battle.
  • Recurring Character: Her increased importance is enabled by her being Zoey's childhood friend.
  • Signature Mon: Abomasnow is her main Pokémon, often seen by her side at Pokémon Trainer School, and serves as the final formidable threat in Ash's Gym Battle.

     Volkner (Denzi) 
Voiced in Japanese by: Hirofumi Nojima, Daisuke Sakaguchi (child)
Voiced in English by: Eli James (Diamond & Pearl), Griffin Puatu (Journeys)
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Javier Olguín

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/volkner_anime.png

  • The Ace: Like in the games, he's not only the strongest Gym Leader in Sinnoh, but also implied to be stronger than the strongest Gym Leaders of most regions.
    • His status as the strongest in Sinnoh is supported further in the anime, where Sinnoh has more than 8 Gyms, since all the competitors who arrived at the Sinnoh League were implied to have either avoided his Gym outright because he was too strong, or just taken a badge once he started just handing them out. Because he had been doing this for while, this also suggests that Volkner was not among the Gym Leaders Tobias' Darkrai single-handedly defeated, and potentially could have stood a chance against it.
    • His personal rival and childhood friend is Flint, the second-strongest Elite Four member in Sinnoh. This suggests Volkner's actually closer to the upper ranks of the Elite Four in terms of strength, which is still believable even after his loss to Ash since he never used his Raichu, which as his first Pokemon might also be his strongest.
    • Palmer, a Frontier Brain strong enough to at least match some attacks from Cynthia, the regional Champion of the region, thought Ash might be able to reinvigorate Volkner's desire to battle in response Ash doing decently well against his own Rhyperior. This means Volkner is strong enough that the strongest Sinnoh Frontier Brain laments him not actively battling because he's just that good.
    • Reinforced tremendously upon his return in Journeys - Volkner's rank in the Pokemon World Championships Ultra Class is shown to be 27. Since the Masters Eight occupies the top 8 positions, this means Volkner actually made it to be ranked the 19th strongest trainer out of all of the Ultra Class trainers, and is the 2nd-highest ranked Gym Leader in the world thus far as a result. Even after Bea, who was actively training the entire time and suffered no such loss returns as Ash's next opponent, her rank is shown to be 30 - still below Volkner's. He also fought Ash and was largely winning for most of the battle, and heavily implied his Electivire could have absorbed a Thunderbolt Havoc without issue and kept fighting - he mainly lost because Ash used a Z-Move that even Tapu Koko, one of the strongest Electric-type Pokemon in the entire anime, couldn't outdamage. And to top it all off, Volkner achieved this rank and was so proficient in these battles without having access to Mega Evolution, Z-Moves or Gigantamax.
    • Despite being Ash's first opponent in the Hyper Class, he actually ends up being higher ranked than the next two people Ash battles (Bea at Rank 30 and Marnie at Rank 29). Their ranks also heavily imply that they actually moved up to those ranks because Volkner lost, meaning even with him losing they still couldn't quite reach his rank. It takes Ash battling an Elite Four member - Drasna - for him to encounter a Hyper Class trainer with a higher rank.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair is a dirtier shade of blond. This doesn't carry over into Journeys, where his hair color is the same as the games.
  • Adapted Out: His Fan Rotom doesn't appear in the manga version of his and Ash's World Coronation Battle.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: Matching his engineering expertise, Volkner is an extremely analytical person and has a highly intelligent, flexible battling style with many layers. During a casual chat with Ash right before their rematch, he noticed his Z-Ring and what looked like an Electric-type Z-Crystal and immediately formulated a plan to force Ash to use it on his Electivire, who is immune to Electric-type moves, all on the way to the arena. He also chose his Pokemon based on strategic value: he chose Luxray to start so he could set up Electric Terrain, used Rotom next to neutralize Gengar's mobility advantage (which already gave Visquez's Raichu trouble) and brought out Electivire to shut down Pikachu's electric attacks. He also pressured Ash so heavily that it he didn't have a unique Z-Crystal it would have been impossible for him to win against his Electivire, meaning in terms of actual battle tactics he was superior to Ash despite losing.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: He has a long-running win streak; by the time Ash shows up, he's grown so bored that he's giving away badges for free. Journeys shows what happens when he gets his passion back - he quickly becomes the second-highest ranked Gym Leader in the Pokemon World Championships, and ends up being the strongest trainer in the world who doesn't use any special battle power-ups.
  • Broken Ace: He is the strongest gym leader in Sinnoh and had an unbreakable winning streak...which caused him depression and resorting to having an interest in other things and nearly abandoning his duty as a gym leader.
  • The Bus Came Back: He reappears in JN077 of Journeys as Ash's first Hyper Rank challenger.
  • Damage-Sponge Boss: It's implied his Electivire's command over its Motor Drive ability is so strong that it can be this even in response to Electric-type Z-moves. Upon seeing Ash had a Z-Ring and what looked like an Electrium-Z (being told after it is instead a unique crystal for Ash and Pikachu), he deliberately orchestrated the entire battle so that one way or another his Electivire would end up facing Pikachu to absorb the Z-move, even saying he was waiting for it. His confidence suggests that his Electivire would have no problem at all absorbing any Electric-type move up to and including all Z-moves. The fact Pikachu overpowered it just shows its personal Z-move is the sole exception - in all other scenarios, it seems that Volkner would have been impossible to defeat using Electric-type moves or Z-moves. Since some Z-Moves have shown comparable strength to the attacks of Mega-Evolved Pokemon, Electivire's electricity threshold might exceed their output as well
  • Doppelgänger Spin: Luxray's Double Team.
  • Elemental Absorption: His Electivire can absorb Electric-type moves with Motor Drive to boost its attack. In Journeys, 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt overloads the ability and knocks out Electivire.
  • Elemental Powers: Volkner specializes in Electric type Pokémon.
  • Extra-ore-dinary: Raichu and Luxray can both use Iron Tail, a Steel-type attack.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Became more interested in technology to make up for being unable to enjoy Pokémon battles.
  • Glass Cannon: His Jolteon's good enough to give Infernape a hard time, but is taken out of the match after one Mach punch. Likewise, his Fan Rotom is able to take down Gengar in the World Coronation match and hits Lucario with a Electric Terrain-Hex combo but is also eliminated after one Reversal (which to be fair, does more damage the more the user is hurt)
  • An Ice Person: Electivire can use Ice Punch, an Ice-type attack, to counter Grass-Types and Ground-Types who usually have an advantage over Electric-Types.
  • Jacob Marley Warning: He is the representation of what would have happened to Ash if Paul had kept Chimchar in the season 10 episode "Glory Blaze", and had not snapped out of his funk in the season 12 episode "Uncrushing Defeat".
  • Man Bites Man: Luxray's Thunder Fang.
  • Playing with Fire: Electivire's Fire Punch, a Fire-type attack to counter Grass-Type Pokémon who usually resist Electric-type moves.
  • Phlebotinum Overload: In JN077, Electivire's Motor Drive ability is ineffective against 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt; Electivire attempts to absorb the Z-Move, but is overloaded and knocked out.
  • Signature Mon: Raichu serves as Volkner's main Pokémon partner, often seen outside of his Poké Ball, and has a long history with Volkner, being the first Pokémon Volkner ever got (as a Pikachu) and partaking in many life-changing battles such as against Flint and Proprietor. However, despite being Volkner's first Pokémon and a strong battler used against many challengers, Raichu is never used against Ash in either of the two battles.
  • Soul Power: Jolteon knows Shadow Ball, a Ghost-type attack. His Rotom also uses Hex in combination with Thunder Wave.
  • 10-Minute Retirement: A very justified one - just as his Gym Battle with Ash got underway, Team Rocket attempt to steal Sunnyshore Tower, in the process damaging the Gym as well. Because of this, Ash doesn't get to challenge him again until after the Sinnoh Grand Festival.
  • Tempting Fate: During his initial battle with Ash, after Volkner's Luxray is hit by a Blaze-powered Flamethrower, Volkner calls it impressive, but says there's no way he's losing. He proceeds to lose. Then, in Journeys, he claims he was ready for Pikachu to use his Z-Move and applied pressure to force Ash to use it. 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt proceeds to overload Electivire's Motor Drive and knock it out.
  • The Unfought: Despite being consistently on Volkner's game team and being Volker's first Pokémon in the anime, Raichu is never used by Volkner in his two battles against Ash, let alone against Pikachu.
  • Victory Is Boring: He got very disillusioned with Pokémon battling due to his constant streak of being undefeated.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Zigzagged. He and his team are actually so oppressively strong that no challenger in Sinnoh could beat him at all, so they avoided his Gym outright until he got so bored he just started handing out badges for nothing. He's also heavily implied to be around as strong as Flint, the second-strongest Elite Four member in Sinnoh who managed to take out two of Cynthia's Pokemon with just his Infernape. That said, he's "weak" in the sense that despite his team's base capabilities outshining most others, he doesn't use enhancing techniques like Mega Evolution, Z-Moves or Dynamax in battle. Despite this, he made his way to the 27th strongest trainer in the Pokemon World Championships, which is shown during his battle with Ash to be in part due to heavily strategic style of battling. He ends up combining the most strategies out of any trainer Ash has faced (including Terrain Effects, status ailments, combination moves, super-effective moves and abilities along with applying precise switching pressure). In just the one battle he:
    • Started with Luxray and had it set up Electric Terrain to power up all his Pokemon, then combined it with Rising Voltage for crazy damage, then brought Luxray out again later to set the move back up.
    • Switched in Rotom to nullify Gengar's mobility advantage, then used Thunder Wave to slow it down, and combined the status ailment with Rotom using Hex, which is super-effective AND deals double damage because of Gengar's Paralysis.
    • Switched Rotom for Electivire when it was held in place by Electroweb to undo the speed drop, and got to intercept Pikachu's Thunderbolt with no damage AND sped up his Electivire in the process to match Pikachu's speed.
    • Had Electivire spin to nullify Lucario's Aura Sphere barrage not unlike how Ash's Counter Shield originally worked. Also countered Pikachu's Iron Tail with Electivire's, using two tails instead of one, while using his large size and Motor Drive-enhanced speed to put Pikachu on the ropes.
    • Switched his Pokemon around during the match and applied pressure to force Pikachu to use its Z-Move on Electivire to be absorbed as well, which Volkner succeeds in forcing Ash to do. The only reason Volkner didn't win the battle after absorbing the Z-Move is because it was the one Z-Move that was too powerful to be absorbed. The fact he was confident his Electivire could absorb even a Gigavolt Havoc still shows off how strong Volkner's Pokemon also are, though.
  • Worthy Opponent: While Ash lost the exhibition match he had against Flint, Volkner was inspired to take up battling seriously again, and accepts Ash as his first challenger out of his retirement. Thanks to Team Rocket's shenanigans, Ash and Volkner wouldn't have their gym battle for more than a dozen episodes. Volkner explicitly stated that, once he's done repairing the damage Team Rocket has done to his gym, he refuses to accept any other challengers until he and Ash face off again. This comes into play again in Journeys when Ash makes it into Hyper class, he becomes his first Hyper Class challenger. Volkner himself even says Ash is likely to be the one that stirs up the Master Class, which says a lot considering Volkner himself is implied to be as capable as some of the stronger Elite Four members, and had just said Cynthia was in the Masters 8 without offering such praise to her.


Alternative Title(s): Pokemon Diamond And Pearl Anime Gym Leaders

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