History Characters / PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphireCast

* FireForgedFriends: Although he initially meets Ash on bad terms (with Max posing as the Gym Leader and thinking Ash bungled his League Match in Johto, both of which greatly annoyed Ash), he greatly grows to respect the Kanto native during their travels together, and Ash starts to see him almost like a little brother.

* RunningGag: Early in the series, he would take ''pleasure'' in being on the receiving end of attacks or abilities' effects.

* {{Bishounen}}: Definitely. Just look at the picture.

* EvilCounterpart: In hindsight, he can be considered one for Nando from the ''Diamond & Pearl'' anime. Both are male Contest rivals with effeminate mannerisms and green color schemes, but Harley is loud, flamboyant, LaughablyEvil, and cruel to people he dislikes, while Nando is quiet, composed, polite, and kind-hearted. Perhaps it's [[CastingGag not a coincidence]] that they share a voice actor in English.

* EvilCounterpart: Although they never meet, he can be considered one for Nando from the ''Diamond & Pearl'' anime. Both are male Contest rivals with effeminate mannerisms and green color schemes, but Harley is loud, flamboyant, LaughablyEvil, and cruel to people he dislikes, while Nando is quiet, composed, polite, and kind-hearted. Perhaps it's [[CastingGag not a coincidence]] that they share a voice actor in English.

* SeriousBusiness: 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.

* PuppyLove: In-universe example: one 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 ''[[{{Jerkass}} Corphish]]'' in his match against Vivi. [[ShipSinking The results weren't pretty...]]

'''Advanced Generation:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphireAshsPokemon Ash's Pokémon (Hoenn)]] | '''Supporting Cast''' | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphireGymLeadersAndFrontierBrains Gym Leaders and Frontier Brains]]\\

'''Horizons:''' [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesLeadCharacters Lead Characters]] | [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesPokemon Pokémon]] | [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesAntagonists Antagonists]]\\

'''Horizons:''' [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesLeadCharacters Lead Characters]] | [[Characters/PokemonHorizonsTheSeriesPokemon Pokemon]]\\

** In "''Do I hear a Ralts''" episode has them appear when he is ''absolutely pissed off'' at Team Rocket still doing their disguised charade after Ralts has recovered from its injuries.

* TagalongKid: The only reason he's there is because his dad (Norman) said that he should go travel along with his sister.

'''Movies:''' [[Characters/PokemonMovies Movies 1 to 19]] | [[Characters/PokemonIChooseYou I Choose You!]] | [[Characters/PokemonThePowerOfUs The Power of Us]]-]]]]]

'''Pokemon 2023:''' [[Characters/Pokemon2023LeadCharacters Lead Characters]] | [[Characters/Pokemon2023Pokemon Pokemon]]\\

* HeelFaceMole: Pretended to be friendlier with May in the Hoenn Grand Festival to get her to lower her guard. Drew ultimately outs his scheme to May, however.

* [[SignatureMove Signature Mon]]: His Meowth.

'''Major Characters:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesMisty Misty]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBrock Brock]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDawn Dawn]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesPaul Paul]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesIris Iris]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSerena Serena]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesGoh Goh]] \\

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/273px_may_ag.png]]
[[caption-width-right:200:[[labelnote:Click here to see May's DP outfit]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_dp_series.png[[/labelnote]]]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Kaori Suzuki
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/VeronicaTaylor (4Kids), Creator/MicheleKnotz (current)
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Ana Lobo (Season 6 and first episodes of season 7), Creator/LilianaBarba (temporary replacement in Season 6), Creator/MarianaOrtiz (rest of the series), Agustina Priscila (Movies 6 and 7)
-->'''Voiced in European French by:''' Creator/MaiaBaran, Isabelle Volpé (Movie ''Jirachi Wish Maker''), Laurence Sacquet (Movie ''Destiny Deoxys'')

Starting the ''Advanced'' series as a newbie trainer, May, the daughter of Petalberg City's renowned Gym Leader Norman, only wanted to travel the world at first, until a chance encounter (and one fried bicycle) with Ash Ketchum lead her on a journey she never forgot. She initially disliked Pokémon before experience around them changed her mind. She aspires to be a Pokémon Coordinator, leading towards a quest [[DistaffCounterpart similar to Ash's]].

* TheAce: Subverted during the Wallace Cup, when she returned in Diamond and Pearl. By then, she was pretty experienced and was known even in Sinnoh, where she had never been to until then, as "The Princess of Hoenn" and was implied to be the favorite of it (that is, most people predicted her to win), even being acknowledged by fellow Ace Zoey, and later defeating her, something Dawn never did. However, she did end up losing to Dawn at the Wallace Cup final round, and she admits when she first reunites with the gang that she was having some bumps in the road in the Johto contest circuit, showing that while she's pretty good, she has a long way to go to winning a grand festival and becoming a top coordinator, even if her fame is a bit elevated. ''Journeys'' suggests that she did eventually grow into this, as [[spoiler:Serena]] makes mention of May's title and implies it carries a lot of respect on the Contest Circuit.
* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: After going on a hot-streak with contest victories and garnering a fan club, May briefly lets her success go to her head. Naturally this immediately leads to a BreakTheHaughty moment when she's disqualified for pushing her newly-caught Bulbasaur too hard during a match.
* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: {{Zig Zagged}}. In the games, if she was selected as the main player, her family is indicated to have only recently moved to Hoenn, whereas picking Brendan makes her Birch's daughter, and therefore a native of the region off the bat. She mixes the two stories by being Norman's daughter, but having lived in Hoenn for a while.
* AdaptationalNationality: {{Zig Zagged}}. In the games, picking her as the main player makes her a recent arrival to the Hoenn Region, while picking Brendan makes her a Hoenn native. The anime chooses the latter option.
* AdaptationalSympathy: Her game counterpart was either Norman or Birch's daughter, depending on the player's choice of gender, allowing her to serve as the protagonist or rival. She's given the former option here, showcasing her as struggling to break out of her father's shadow, as well as being forced down the Pokémon path when she had no interest in them to begin with. It takes traveling with Ash to help her better appreciate these creatures, as well as developing a love for contests.
* AesopAmnesia: It takes her a few times before she realizes that Harley is not to be trusted, and is faking any apparent remorse he has for his past actions.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter:
** To Jessie. May was part of the main cast during [[VillainDecay Team Rocket's arguably most ineffectual tenure]], and Jessie was an UnknownRival to her in Pokémon contests, failing every time to outdo her. Even during the Sinnoh contests, [[TookALevelInBadass where Jessie proved far more competent]], she failed to challenge May in any capacity during her brief return (though that could be blamed on Jessie getting too overconfident in herself).
** And to Harley. He managed to defeat her only once. The Japanese version also implies he's insecure about her being cuter (and thus more popular) competition than him. These are among the more unecessary reasons he has for hating her.
** She was on the other side of the equation in regards to Drew, whom she only managed to beat once. While she grew into a skilled Coordinator in her own right, Drew proved to be a far superior trainer--even after she beat him in the Kanto Grand Festival, he managed to one-up her in a practice rematch (though it didn't help she was in a bad funk at the time). During her journey through Johto, she mentions that he was proving difficult to compete against.
** {{Zig Zagged}} with Dawn. She did lose to her successor in the Wallace Cup, and Dawn actually managed to get to the finals in the Sinnoh Grand Festival, but May notably was the only one to actually beat Zoey, whereas Dawn was never shown doing so.
* AsideGlance: Sometimes during her "expedition team" routine, she would act like she's reporting "progress" to the audience.
* AuthorityInNameOnly: While she's called "The Princess of Hoenn", it's more of a formality to her fame than an actual indicator of royalty.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: With Max. No matter how many times they argue, they still really care for each other; after all, they're still brother and sister.
* BackFromTheDead: She's eaten alive in ''Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew'' by The Tree of Life's protectorate cells, but is brought back when the Mew living there is able to convince the Tree that she and her friends aren't a threat to it.
* BadassAdorable: She isn't called "The Princess of Hoenn" for no reason; she's a well-regarded Coordinator who's got a gaggle of powerful Pokémon at her disposal.
* BareYourMidriff: Her outfit during the Wallace Cup and [[spoiler:[=JN132=]]].
* BedlahBabe: May wears a outfit that wouldn't look out of place on a real belly dancer for her return for the Wallace Cup.
* BerserkButton: She gets very mad [[LostFoodGrievance when food is stolen from her,]] sometimes to the point of violence. As shown when she returns for the Wallace Cup and finds out Team Rocket stole all of the food:
-->'''May:''' ''(as a fiery background appears behind her and she has glowing red eyes)'' I'll tell you NOBODY STEALS MY FOOD AND '''GETS AWAY WITH IT!!!'''[[note]]The Japanese version gave her a ''demonic voice'' just to drive it home![[/note]]
-->'''Dawn:''' [[BewareTheNiceOnes ''What happened to our princess?!'']]
* BetweenMyLegs: In "Ruin With a View", when she spots an Azurill (the shot framed by May's legs, not the Azurill's).
* BewareTheNiceOnes: She's TheCutie most of the time, and is even more easily duped or kidnapped by Team Rocket than Ash. Some of their [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge most vicious comeuppances]] throughout the entire series have been inflicted by her however, and usually more a result of [[BerserkButton pressing her buttons]] than actual self defence.
* BigEater: Worse than Ash in this regard. In fact, in one episode, Ash was actually astounded by how much she could eat. Taking her food in any way is a good way to get her mad (see above).
* BigSisterInstinct:
** Shows at times with Max. She and Liza once inflicted an ExtremeMeleeRevenge onto Team Rocket for kidnapping him. 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.
** Also helps pivot Ash's BigBrotherInstinct characterization, being the first main character trainer more novice than him and being protected by him several times over. Possibly inverted since both characters are ten.
* BirdsOfAFeather:
** When she arrives in Sinnoh, she and fellow Coordinator Dawn hit it off almost instantly. It helps that both trainers have a "bird" for their starter.
** [[spoiler:Later implied with Serena, a fellow Coordinator, Eeveelution owner, and former traveling companion of Ash, whom she's seen with watching Ash's battle again Leon. The two even hold hands when it seems like Ash is on the verge of losing.]]
* BoundAndGagged: She arguably holds the unflattering record of getting tied up, string shotted or otherwise restrained by Team Rocket or another antagonist most out of any of Ash's companions.
* BothSidesHaveAPoint:
** May let her two contests victory's [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism go to her head]] during her fourth contest in Rubello Town, and she gets upset with Ash for trying to offer advice to one of her competitors/friends, noting that what they do as Trainers is entirely different. However, May ended up losing when she pushed her freshly caught Bulbasaur too hard and she gets scolded by the judges when she tries to contest it, then is flat out told she's showing no care for the well being of the poor grass type, leaving her to run off in embarrassment. Seeing this, Ash, who was more than likely reminded of his younger days when he could have just as been haughty as she was, talks to May as he told that she was right that what they do as Trainers is different because he focuses on collecting Gym Badges while she focuses on getting contests ribbons. However, Ash also had a point as he told May that they may have different roles as Trainers, but what they do with Pokémon and bonding with them will always be the same.
** In the Hoenn Grand Festival, May bought [[EvilIsPetty Harley's]] feigned reformation in order to get her to mess up during the contest out of [[DisproportionateRetribution petty revenge for beating him in their last encounter]]. When Drew tells May of Harley's deceit, she rightfully chews him out for tricking her like that. He doesn't deny it, and in fact brags about it in front of everyone, but he retorts that she fell for it nonetheless, which she somberly realizes that it was true.
* BrattyHalfPint: Downplayed case. While usually sweet-natured, May can sometimes have a very huffy temperament, especially when she starts to get too confident in her abilities. Notably, the one time she acts like a brat towards Ash when he's just trying to offer genuine advice, her swelled head pops when she gets disqualified and chewed out by the judges for pushing her Bulbasaur too hard.
* BreakingOldTrends:
** May is the first main character besides Ash to obtain a starter, marking the first generation he didn't get all three of them (a trend of which would repeat throughout every generation except Unova).
** She's the first companion to obtain a Pokémon that Ash himself caught, staring with Bulbasaur and Squirtle. To this date, only Kiawe (who inherited a Charizard from his late grandfather) and Goh (who caught a Froakie in Kalos) would obtain similar feats.
** She's also the first main character who has ''both'' parents still around, something of which wouldn't be seen until Lana and Kiawe in ''Sun and Moon''.
* BreakTheCutie:
** When May loses her first and second contests, and later the Hoenn Grand Festival, she's utterly crushed and breaks down in tears.
** The Battle Frontier Arc eventually took its toll on May. After losing the Kanto Grand Festival (and having to say goodbye to Manaphy in ''Temple of the Sea''), she's become a StepfordSmiler by the time Ash defeats Brandon. She's able to bounce back somewhat by going on her own journey through Johto, but she's still struggling to keep up against Drew, Harley, and Solidad, and loses the Wallace Cup to Dawn during her guest appearance.
* BreakTheHaughty: One contest arc has her get a swelled head, causing her to dismiss Ash's advice. She winds up pushing her freshly-caught Bulbasaur too hard and is disqualified, causing her to get upset when she's scolded for it.
* ButtMonkey: Like Misty before her, May was prone to getting subject to a fair amount of slapstick, starting off with ramming her bike into a tree, getting soaked by a Mudkip when she neglects to tell it where to aim its Water Gun, having said bike fried by Pikachu, and getting decimated by the entire Azurill family on her first outing.
* TheCameo: While May hasn't physically appeared since ''Diamond and Pearl'', she does make flashback cameos during "The Dream Continues!" and [=JN105=]. [[spoiler:She would make a cameo in the flesh for [=JN132=] where she and Max join Serena and Lisia in watching Ash's match against Leon]].
* {{Catchphrase}}: When calling her Pokémon for a Contest, "Stage On!"/"Take The Stage!"
* CharacterDevelopment: At first, May didn't like Pokémon, only becoming a trainer because of Norman being her father. but Ash's Pikachu and her first two Pokémon (Torchic and Wurmple) change her opinion, and she has come to really love Pokémon. In "Cruisin' for a Losin", after pushing her newly caught Bulbasaur too hard and listening to a fellow competitor tell her that the ribbon she already has is a reminder of how hard her Pokémon worked for her, May realizes that the same is true for her Pokémon and the two ribbons they won, and vows to never take them for granted again.
* TheChick: She occupied this role in the ''Advanced Generation'' party, thanks to her NiceGirl status, though a lot of the focus on the series was on her finding her footing in the Pokémon world.
* CloudCuckooLander: Whenever she starts her "expedition team" narration and FingerFraming, it's a sure-sign that she's..."lost".
* ConflictingLoyalty: In the episodes leading up to the Petalburg gym battle, Max gets on her case several times about who May wants to win: their father Norman, or Ash. In the gym match itself, she clearly chose Ash's side.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: To Misty as the show's female lead. While Misty was Ash's coach, mainly followed him to support his goal, and was a Type A {{Tsundere}} toward him, May is Ash's mentee, has her own independent goal that [[RotatingArcs rotates with his]], and a Type B {{Tsundere}} toward Drew. Moreover, while Ash and Misty got into a lot of arguments due to the latter finding Ash to be a haughty and lazy trainer way in over his head, May and Ash very rarely got into a fight, and she looked up to him for guidance (albeit that Ash had mellowed out of his arrogant phase for the most part).
* ContrivedCoincidence: How she happens to meet Ash. The day she was going to get her starter was the day he came to Hoenn, rushing to save his wounded and exhausted Pikachu after Team Rocket ambushed him on the way over. With the [=TRio=] still in hot pursuit, things go south very quickly, Pikachu recovers and fries both his foes and May's bike, and she finds herself wanting to travel with him.
* CostumeEvolution: She goes from her ''Ruby and Sapphire'' outfit to her ''Emerald'' outfit by the time she rejoins the main group.
* CurbstompBattle: On her first contest battle, Drew smashed her into the ground ''hard''. And in her last battle in the Kanto Grand Festival, Solidad wiped the floor with her using her Slowbro.
* CutenessProximity: Although there was one time she squeed over Gulpin, a.k.a. the ''living stomach''.
* TheCutie: Probably the most dorky and childish of Ash's female companions. In keeping with the trope, she gets a lot of BigBrotherInstinct moments out of Ash and Brock.
* DaddysGirl: Although her father doesn't appear as much in the series, she's still driven a lot by the fact he's a gym leader. In fact, the only reason she became a trainer was because of how famous her father was, feeling she needed to follow in his footsteps. Nevertheless, he supports her decision to become a Coordinator, and when Ash finally challenges him, she's conflicted about whether or not to root for him or Ash.
* DamselInDistress: Ash has saved her life several times on the show, notably in ''Temple of the Sea'' when he put her and Pikachu in a torpedo tube to help them escape the sinking Sea Temple while he tried to undo the damage wrought by The Phantom.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Apart from the Contest arc, the [[Anime/PokemonRangerAndTheTempleOfTheSea ninth movie]] comes to mind.
* DeadpanSnarker: She can provide snark especially where her brother is concerned, but Ash and Brock tend to take the heat as well.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: She starts off the series not wanting to be a Pokémon trainer at all, but feeling like she only had to because her father is the famous Norman of Petalberg City, only using it as an excuse to travel. Once she learns about contests, she quickly finds that purpose.
* {{Determinator}}: Like with Ash, she isn't one to quit easily. She suffers from the occasional blow to her confidence, but she always manages to bounce back and find a way to compete in contests again.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: To Ash during "Advanced Generation" - even the final major battle (an unofficial contest they both enter) reflects this mindset. Like Ash, she (eventually) wants to be the very best at a major Pokémon competition (in her case, contests), but she winds up getting put through the wringer more than once, including when she got as swelled a head as Ash did during his early days. Nevertheless, she persists hard until she achieves her dreams. For added bonus points, she even obtains two of the starters (Bulbasaur and Squirtle) that Ash himself got during his travels (albeit they didn't evolve like hers did).
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Part of her loss during her second contest loss (besides [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism a swelled head]]) was that she decided to press her Bulbasaur into the competition despite the fact she only caught it a few days before, giving her little time to be properly trained in what to do. When May pushed her too hard, she was disqualified.
* DistressBall: Even after becoming one of the most active and capable female companions, she often couldn't catch a break with this. Usually inflicted BigBrotherInstinct moments from Ash.
* DoItYourselfThemeTune: KAORI, May's Japanese VA, sings AG's final ending theme, which is also May's ImageSong, herself.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: May was slightly taller than Ash in her debut, whereas later episodes make her more diminutive in both [[YourSizeMayVary height]] (and personality), likely so Ash can better take on a BigBrotherMentor role towards her.
* EasilyForgiven: {{Deconstructed}}. She gives Harley god-knows how many chances to redeem himself before she finally gets the hint and that he's only interested in destroying her.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When she's first introduced, May is shown riding her bike to get her starter, only to get frightened by a Duskull and [[WatchOutForThatTree slamming into a tree]] while the narration indicates she's not a big fan of Pokémon.
* FamedInStory: Because she's Norman's daughter, the entirety of Petalberg City worships the very ground she walks on, which didn't help the one time that Team Rocket [[PaperThinDisguise rather unconvincingly]] disguised themselves as Norman's family and sicced the whole town on the Twerps. By the time of ''Diamond and Pearl'', her reputation had grown in the Coordinator circuit enough to where she was called "The Princess of Hoenn", which ''Journeys'' indicated held some serious respect amongst her competitors.
* FatalFlaw: Her lack of confidence. She's never able to beat Drew aside from one time because she has little faith in herself. Even though she gets better, she's still very prone to self-doubt, causing her and her Pokémon to falter at inopportune moments. Notably, the one time she did beat Drew was because she cast her doubts aside and pushed to the end, but lost to him once more when losing the Kanto Grand Festival crushed her confidence ''hard''. Part of the reason she decides to journey out on her own is because she thinks it will help her find herself without being stuck in Ash's shadow.
* FigureItOutYourself: After losing the Kanto Grand Festival, May spends a lot of time down in the dumps, but realizes that she's borrowed far too much of Ash's own battling style for herself--something that isn't helping her improve in contests. Once she and Ash have their last battle, she decides to strike out on her own, hoping that she'll be able to find her own style. While ''Diamond and Pearl'' indicated she's still struggling in that aspect, mentions of her in ''Journeys'' indicates that she eventually grew to find it.
* {{Foil}}: To several of the previous characters in the series.
** First, to Ash himself. Ash was an overeager, immature, and sometimes JerkWithAHeartOfGold who wanted to be a Pokémon trainer right off the bat, while she was a shy, somewhat mature, and more reserved NiceGirl who only became a trainer because of her father, only picking up on a career choice when she got the hang of traveling around. Ash overslept and missed getting his pick of a starter, leaving him with a disobedient Pikachu that only started listening to him when he saved his life, and the two remained inseparable since, while May arrived early and got her choice of a fully obedient Torchic that she often overlooked until it evolved. Both trainers got enough qualifying badges/ribbons to make it into their prospective competitions, but got eliminated by their rivals in the Top 8, the difference being that Tyson had only become Ash's brief rival recently, while Drew was May's rival since the beginning. Both trainers also got a Bulbasaur and a Squirtle, but Ash never evolved his, while May did. Meanwhile, Ash would achieve his goal [[spoiler:after he bested Leon]] 25 years in real-time after his journey begin, while May managed to become world-famous far earlier in the Pokémon universe (though it's not clear how much she's accomplished her goal). Both also met [[spoiler:Serena, the former as a child before traveling through Kalos with her, the latter when Serena went to Hoenn and became a Coordinator.]]
** Likewise, with Misty as Ash's female traveling companion. Misty was a gym leader and the youngest of four siblings, May was the daughter of a gym leader and the eldest of two. Misty often butted heads with Ash and held the fact that he destroyed her bike over his head, but she did care for him deep down, and even developed feelings for him later on. May, on the other hand, rarely got into a spat with Ash, never made an issue with him destroying her bike, and any sense of a crush was far more subtle. Misty couldn't stand her sisters, May loved Max in spite of the fact they bickered often. Misty chose to specialize in water types only, while May acquired several different types of Pokémon.
** On her ''Diamond and Pearl'' guest appearance, she's presented as one to Dawn. Unlike May, Dawn wanted to be a Coordinator the moment she could, but struggled far worse than May due to getting too focused on the performance itself and not having fun, while May's problem largely stemmed from a lack of confidence in herself. Both also picked the bird-themed starter of their respective regions, but Piplup is a feisty water type who doesn't want to evolve, while Blaziken is a mighty Fire[=/=]Fighting type who did evolve all the way.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: She can serve in either role with Max depending on the situation. While she's the more experienced Pokémon Trainer on account of her reaching the age requirement to begin, he's far smarter than her on most things Pokémon in spite of not being able to become a trainer yet.
* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Harley claims that May stole his lunch as a child, long before the two met on the Contest Circuit. Given he's a known liar, it's very hard to say if he's telling the truth.
* FreudianExcuse: It's implied she doesn't like Pokémon that much because her mother mistook her for a Tentacool and tried to catch her while one was getting too close for comfort. She gets over it.
* FriendlyRivalry: Her relationship with Drew eventually grows into this, once she started heeding his advice and became a far more serious coordinator. Though the series does imply [[ShipTease something more on their part.]]
* GoodIsNotSoft: Despite her NiceGirl status, pissing her off is not a good idea, especially if you threaten to hurt her brother or you trick her.
* GoodLuckCharm: Describes her half of the Terracotta Ribbon, which she tied with Ash, as her lucky charm during her travels in Johto.
* GuestStarPartyMember: She briefly returns for the Wallace Cup arc in "Diamond and Pearl" for four episodes.
* HeroicBSOD: Losing the Kanto Grand Festival shook her confidence so badly, she could barely function. Seeing Ash overcome Pyramid King Brandon does help her recover, leading her to decide to strike out on her own.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: [[spoiler:She and Serena evidently crossed paths with one another during their travels, and perform contests together in Hoenn, as the two are seen watching Ash's final match against Leon.]]
* HiddenDepths: ''Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea'' puts her in the position of the surrogate mother to Manaphy, which she manages to catch on quickly with. She even demonstrates that she's a pretty good singer while giving it a lullaby.
* IconicOutfit: Her red bandanna, red shirt, white skirt, and black boots, which even her later outfits have drawn some inspiration from.
* IdenticalStranger: She (apparently) looks just like a girl that stole the last bit of Harley's lunch when he was in preschool. Given that Harley is an UnreliableNarrator, we can't tell if he's being serious.
* IdiotHero: At times, she demonstrated she could be just as bad as Ash in that regard. Not only did she keep falling for Team Rocket's disguises, but it took her a long time to stop falling for Harley's bad bits of advice.
* ImageSong: "Watashi, Makenai!", AG's final ending theme.
* InnocentBlueEyes: She's got big, bright blues, and has a far more innocent outlook on the world.
* InSeriesNickname: ''Diamond and Pearl'' establishes her as "The Princess of Hoenn".
* IronicEcho: Ash teaches May the basics of catching Pokémon, and May later returns it to him word-for-word when he forgets those basics.
* {{Irony}}:
** She starts out the series not liking Pokémon, but is the daughter of one of Hoenn's premier Gym Leaders.
** When she first begins, she refuses to take Mudkip due to a bad experience with one. Later, Brock gets a Mudkip, which she has no problem with hanging around.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: She really doesn't want to let Manaphy go, having grown very fond of it, but she accepts that it needs to fulfill its destiny, no matter how much it hurts to let her "child" go.
* JerkassRealization: When she's disqualified from a contest for pushing her Bulbasaur too hard, she runs off in tears. She soon realizes how unfair she was to her Pokémon, and how much she let the fame go to her head.
* KarmicJackpot: May is nearly unable to compete in the Kanto Contest Circuit because Harley tricked her as to how registration actually worked. However, she's still able to get in anyway when a Nurse Joy witnesses her help to rescue a group of stolen Pokémon from Team Rocket, allowing her to compete (much to Harley's chagrin).
* LethalChef: Pokéblocks are edible for humans and Pokémon (to be fair, they are made of berries, after all). May's Pokéblocks? Not so much.
** The first time she made a batch, only Beautifly liked them.
** On another, more [[http://serebii.net/anime/pictures/houen/394ps4.shtml infamous occasion]]. They were so bad that it knocked out almost everyone who ate them, with James noting that they tasted of ''jet fuel'' and ''burning tires''. The only two who liked them were Munchlax, which will eat almost anything, and Jessie, who was able to stomach [[ContinuityNod another female's nasty concoction]].
* LikeParentUnlikeChild: She starts off the series not really liking Pokémon, while her father is a dedicated Gym Leader specializing in Normal Types. She grows out of the disliking Pokémon part, but she notably declines to partake in Gym Battles and chooses to go into Contests instead.
* LivingLegend: By ''Diamond and Pearl'' and ''Journeys'', May is revered as "The Princess of Hoenn" for her various contest exploits.
* LongBusTrip: Between Misty, Dawn, Iris, Serena, Lana, Mallow, and Lillie, May has been absent from the series longest, having last shown up in "Strategy With A Smile!" back during the ''Diamond and Pearl'' era.[[note]]Though this is due to her Japanese voice actress, KAORI, having semi-retired due to spasmotic dysphonia, and a refusal to recast the role until she decides to return.[[/note]] It wouldn't be until [[spoiler:[=JN132=] that she would show up in the flesh alongside Max, and even then it's a silent cameo.]]
* LostFoodGrievance: May does ''NOT'' take it lightly when someone steals her food. See BerserkButton above.
* LovableCoward: A bit of a scaredy-cat at the beginning of the series. Whenever faced with threatening Pokémon, she would be seen cowering behind a male companion's (usually Ash) back. She eventually grows out of it, but an early Battle Frontier episode sees her as the only one of the twerps who cannot sleep peacefully inside a ghost town.
* MamaBear: She tends to be very protective of her Pokémon, and develops a mother-child bond with Manaphy in ''Anime/PokemonRangerAndTheTempleOfTheSea''.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** In "Cruisin For A Losin", after pushing her Bulbasaur too hard and getting scolded for her bad behavior, May realizes her actions were inappropriate and tearfully apologizes to her Bulbasaur, before running off the stage in shame.
** In "Take This House And Shuppet", May shows regret when she realizes that she's really hurt Max's feelings during her argument with him and said some things that she shouldn't have.
* MythologyGag: Both of her outfits in ''Diamond and Pearl'' and [[spoiler:[=JN132=]]] are taken from ''Emerald'' and ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'' respectively.
* NiceGirl: May is extremely sweet and friendly to almost everyone.
* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Between the three rivals, she's the Nice to Harley's Mean and Drew's In Between.
* NoodleIncident: 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!
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: [[spoiler:''Journeys'' revealed she eventually met Serena, another former traveling companion of Ash's and a fellow trainer with an Eeveelution, as the two joined Max and Lisa in watching Ash's battle against Leon.]]
* PalsWithJesus: She becomes a surrogate mother to a baby Manaphy in ''Anime/PokemonRangerAndTheTempleOfTheSea.'' She bonded very closely with it, but was heartbroken when it came time to say goodbye.
* ParentalNeglect: Related to the above - her parents couldn't be bothered to watch their ''toddler'' at the beach, and do nothing after hearing her cries for help. Norman goes back to sunbathing, and Caroline decides to try and catch some Pokémon!
* PluckyGirl: Brave, optimistic, kind, and at times, awkward, she definitely fits.
* PutOnABus: She leaves for her own journey at the end of ''Advanced Generation'', and, aside from a four-part guest appearance in ''Diamond and Pearl'', she hasn't been seen outside of flashbacks or Ash reminiscing about his companions [[spoiler:until [=JN132=]]]. This is even more glaring compared to Misty, Dawn, and Iris, as they've all come back, but May still has yet to reappear.[[labelnote:Explanation]]This is due to the fact that May's Japanese seiyū Kaori has been diagnosed with vocal cervical dystonia (spasmodic dysphonia) in 2012, which severely impairs her ability to speak. Due to the anime industry's reverence and respect to seiyū in general, replacing Kaori with another seiyū would be seen as disrespectful to her and thus [[RealLifeWritesThePlot May is simply relegated to non-speaking cameos until Kaori feels ready to reprise the role]].[[/labelnote]]
* RedBaron: "The Princess of Hoenn" when she appears for the Wallace Cup.
** [[spoiler: In Journeys, Serena tells Chloe the outfit she's suggesting Chloe to wear during her performance was formerly used by "The Princess of Hoenn" indicating May is still called that, and that the name still seems to carry some serious respect, though it isn't expanded upon]]
* RedIsHeroic: She's clad primarily in red, and she's one of the series main protagonists.
* RedOniBlueOni: The red to her rival Drew's blue. She's far more passionate in her everyday life compared to the more stoic and reserved Drew.
* RememberTheNewGuy: [[DubInducedPlothole 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 [[RunningGag way of saying]] [[AshFace hello to Ash]].)
-->'''Max''': Of course, that's the only way Charizard knows how to say hello.
* ReplacementFlatCharacter: Replacing Ash as the show's clueless newbie.
* RiddleForTheAges:
** How exactly she wound up time-traveling into the past (or got back to the present for that matter) is never given any explanation, as there's no hint of Celebi being involved, and Dialga had yet to be introduced at the time.
** [[spoiler:Exactly when she and Serena crossed paths, how they learned about their connection to Ash, and when they decided to start competing together has yet to be revealed.]]
* RotatingArcs: The focus of her seeking out Pokémon Contests alternates with Ash's own quest for the Hoenn League and later the Battle Frontier. Notably, in the latter ''she's'' the one who had to contend with a TournamentArc, since Ash's own quest at that time is more along the lines of a RunTheGauntlet.
* RunningGag: Early on, the group would frequently be slow to get going because May was adjusting her appearance in a mirror.
* ShaggyDogStory: May decides to travel to another region to register in the Wallace Cup and end her losing streak, but winds up losing in the finals to Dawn.
* ShipTease:
** She receives some with Ash, sprinkled liberally throughout ''Advanced Generation'' and especially in ''Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of The Sea''.
** Also gets quite a bit of this with Drew, especially once their rivalry starts to become more friendly; the most cited hint is Drew frequently giving her roses, although he insists it's for her Pokémon.
* SiblingYinYang: With Max. She's more of a NiceGirl with a naive streak, while he's a BrattyHalfPint DeadpanSnarker who veers into KnowNothingKnowItAll territory.
* SignatureHeadgear: Her bandanna, which she always wears a variation of. In ''Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea'', Manaphy actually goes out its way to get it back for its "mama" when she drops it in the ocean.
* SignificantWardrobeShift: Her entire outfit changes from her more familiar red, white, and black clothes to the outfit she wears in ''Pokémon Emerald'' to signify she's out on her own.
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Zigzagged. Like the other female companions, she suffers occasional AmusingInjuries (she's spooked by a Duskull into riding her bike face-first into a tree about a minute after her introduction). However most of her DamselInDistress moments seem to lampshade her lack of ToonPhysics. Her almost falling down the exact same cliff Team Rocket passively shot down Wile E Coyote-style was completely PlayedForDrama.
* SmallNameBigEgo: 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 [[BreakTheHaughty what happens next]].
* SociallyAwkwardHero: As skilled of a coordinator she grows to become, she still gets a few moments of fluster and shyness, even around her rival Drew.
* SuperGullible: One of May's flaws. She gets tricked by Team Rocket a lot and she even trusted Harley when the latter manipulated her with misleading advice in the Advanced Generation season. Harley was quick to point out that [[JerkassHasAPoint she was the one dumb enough to keep falling for it.]]
* SurpassedTheTeacher: [[DownplayedTrope A Downplayed example]]. Near the end of the ''Advanced Generation'' saga, May decides to follow her rivals to compete in the contests in Johto due to wanting to come up with her own unique style in contests after realizing that emulating Ash's more offensive-battling style isn't good for contests. As a result, she decides to stop traveling with Ash, realizing such a step is necessary for her to step out of his shadow, but she still expresses her gratitude to him for everything he has taught her.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Averted. While she takes Misty's place as Ash’s female companion, her personality is rather different. [[CollectionSidequest May's competing in Contests]] also mean she has a much more active role in the narrative than Misty did.
* SweetTooth: Prominent for her BigEater tendencies, she's shown numerous time munching down on various sweets.
* TenderTears: After her various contests losses, she breaks down crying. Luckily, Ash and co. are there to help comfort her.
* TimeTravel: Encountered a rather random case in "Time Warp Heals All Wounds", where she teams up with Meowth of all people to undo a stranger's death in the past. Said stranger being spared from his death results in her egg finally hatching into an Eevee.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: She fulfills both roles.
** Tomboy: To her successor Dawn's Girly Girl. May is much into the travel aspect of her Pokémon journey while also borrowing a lot of Ash's battling techniques, while Dawn places a lot more emphasis on her performance.
** Girly Girl: To her predecessor Misty's Tomboy. Misty is a Gym Leader who can wallop foes through sheer force, while May is a Coordinator much more interested in performances.
* TookALevelInBadass: 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.
** Not only that, but most of her Pokémon also got this change.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Noodles; specifically, Tonkotsu Ramen. It gets to the point in "Pasta la Vista" that she'd fight off against Ash in order to make sure she can ''enjoy'' those noodles, combined with a fiery aura to show how determined she was.
* TraumaCongaLine: A more benign example than most, but the ''Battle Frontier'' era really put May through the wringer. She nearly misses registration because Harley once again tricked her by feigning reformation. While she's able to breeze through most of her contests, and even gets two new Pokémon, she's subject to numerous attempts of humiliation (and one defeat) by Harley, sometimes with Team Rocket's help, and she actually ''dies'' in ''Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew'' (albeit temporarily). Things finally take her tole when loses the Kanto Grand Festival only ''after'' she manages to finally beat her rival Drew, leaving her a sobbing mess. And though she's able to find solace again when she becomes a surrogate mother to a baby Manaphy, she winds up having to bid farewell to it after nearly dying a few times trying to protect it. By the time she and Ash part ways, she's barely holding together, and even when she reunites with him, she admits she's still struggling to find herself in Johto. Even the Wallace Cup proves unfruitful, as she narrowly loses to Dawn. Poor girl doesn't catch a break until ''Journeys'', and even then it's all offscreen.
* {{Tsundere}}: A Type B, meaning she's mostly sweet and gentle...unless [[JerkWithaHeartOfGold Drew]] is around, or Ash and/or her brother Max pisses her off.
* TheUnfavorite: Downplayed. Her parents are generally a lot more interested in Max, though that's probably just because he's younger and needs more attention. They do a good job of cheering her on in Contests, though -- her mother traveled all the way from Petalburg to Slateport City to support her when the Hoenn Grand Festival came!
* VerbalTic: "-kamo", which even squeezed its way into her ImageSong!
** StealthPun: Her starter was Achamo, which could easily mimic this sound. The VerbalTic isn't present in the dub, and would have to be changed anyway as Achamo's English name is Torchic. However, "kamo" is used to suggest uncertainty and can be translated to "may," which makes her English name quite appropriate.
* WatchOutForThatTree: She slams her bike into one after getting scared by a Duskull--in her ''debut episode'' no less!
* WhatTheHellHero: Received an earful from Nurse Joy and the other judges for pressuring her Bulbasaur too hard in its first Contest.
* YankTheDogsChain: Her arc in the Wallace Cup amounts to her managing to make it to the finals, only for Dawn to narrowly edge her out.
* YourSizeMayVary: Was roughly Misty's height in her first episode. In all later episodes she's slightly shorter than Ash, though some OffModel moments occur, most commonly the actual difference in height between her and Ash.

[[folder:May's Pokémon]]
!!'''Torchic-Combusken-Blaziken (Achamo-Wakasyamo-Bursyamo)'''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_torchic.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_may_combusken.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_blaziken.png]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/ChinamiNishimura (Achama and Wakasyamo), Creator/KatsuyukiKonishi (Bursyamo)
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/RachaelLillis (Torchic), Darren Dunstan (Combusken, 4Kids), Bill Rogers (Combusken second voice and Blaziken)

* EleventhHourSuperpower: Evolved into Blaziken right as ''Advanced Generation'' was hitting its finale (handily beating Team Rocket in the process), and also just in time for use against Ash and Sceptile in the unofficial Contest at Terracotta Town.
* TheAce: It's not only May's first Pokémon, it's also her strongest, as demonstrated in her final battle against Ash.
* BadassAdorable[=/=]KillerRabbit: As cute as it was, Torchic could prove itself to be a capable fighter...[[DownplayedTrope at least while it wasn't getting its butt handed to it.]]
* BareFistedMonk: Combusken and Blaziken's secondary type is fighting, and it gains access to fighting moves upon evolving.
* BerserkButton: After May got Torchic and returned home to Petalberg City, Max made the mistake of insulting it. Torchic promptly pecked him.
* TheBigGuy: Once May left the main group, Blaziken was the strongest and biggest of her Pokémon she had (though her Venasaur took that slot when she rejoined the group in ''Diamond and Pearl''). At the very least, Blaziken is the tallest of her team.
* BigGuyLittleGuy: When May went to Sinnoh for the Wallace Cup, she teamed up with Dawn for a tag battle. Blaziken and Piplup fit together quite well with this trope.
* ButtMonkey: Prior to evolution, Torchic got walloped pretty much every time it came out of the Poké Ball. [[TookALevelInBadass After evolution though...]]
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: To Ash's Charizard and Quilava. Torchic winds up fully evolving into a powerhouse like the former, but like the latter, was a shy and timid Mon who couldn't quite get the hang of things at first. Where this chicken differs is that it's a LightningBruiser who relies on speed and power all at once, compared to Charizard being TheBigGuy and Quilava having a standard fighting prowess. Also he's a Fire-Fighting type, whereas Charizard is a Fire-Flying type, and Quilava is just a Fire type.
* TheDogBitesBack: Corphish goes right back to being a JerkAss to Torchic once the events of "A Shroomish Skirmish" are all over. Problem is, Torchic is now Combusken and isn't having it, type disadvantage be damned.
* OutOfFocus: An InUniverse case. When May started competing in contests and started using Beautifly and Skitty more often, Max pointed out that she barely paid any attention to Torchic. He wound up exploiting this when he and Ash were asked by the local Nurse Joy to watch over some starters she was preparing to give out for a new trainer, only for that Torchic to break loose, get into fights with wild Pokémon, and ''evolve''. Thinking May wouldn't notice her Torchic was missing, Max took it and tried to substitute it for the freshly evolved one while he and Ash tried guiding the new trainer into picking Treecko or Mudkip. Unfortunately for them, May ''did'' notice.
* PlayingWithFire: It knows Ember starting as a Torchic, but gains access to more powerful moves like Fire Spin as it evolves, Overheat and later Blaze Kick as well. Its ability is Blaze, which activates during May's final battle with Ash.
* {{Shoryuken}}: It knows Sky Uppercut, allowing it perform a shoryuken on its foes.
* SignatureMon: Being one of the Hoenn Starter and May's first Pokémon, it naturally is her Signature Mon. However, Torchic had to fight for this status, since Beautifly, Skitty and Bulbasaur got more attention from their trainer than it did. After evolving into Combusken, it rose to the rank of May's Ace Pokémon, to the point that most other versions of May have Torchic as her starter.
* SignatureMove: During its time as Torchic, it was Ember, but after evolving into Combusken, its Signature Moves became Fire Spin and Sky Uppercut.
* TookALevelInBadass: Torchic's evolution into Combusken...and to up the ante, it evolves into Blaziken at the end of AG.
* [[WellDoneSonGuy Well Done Chicken Mon]]: Torchic went through a personality change when evolving into Combusken. It went from timid and cutesy to a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race Mon]]. What triggered this personality change? May paying more attention and spending more time with her other Pokémon (who, it must be said, ''were'' getting more attention to prepare for Contests while Torchic was left behind).
* WhosLaughingNow: 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.
* WindFromBeneathMyWings: It knows Peck, a Flying Type move, [[{{Irony}} in spite of not being a flying type.]]

!!'''Wurmple-Silcoon-Beautifly (Kemusso-Karasalis-Agehunt)'''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_wurmple.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_silcoon.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_beautifly.png]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/RyokoShiraishi
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Tara Jayne (Wurmple), Creator/RachaelLillis (Silcoon and Beautifly 4Kids), Creator/MicheleKnotz (Beautifly, current)

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Jessie's Dustox, with Beautifly almost always besting Dustox in battles and contests, and being considered the prettier more impressive Pokémon by everyone but Team Rocket. Odd since this was subverted when they were both Wurmples, with Jessie's being the far more obedient and competent Pokémon.
* BigEater: 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!
* BrickJoke: During the gang's return to Petalburg for Ash's fifth gym battle, it's revealed that a 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 [[PutOnABus stayed in the Petalburg gym]].
* TheBusCameBack: 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}}: It's a Bug-Flying type, and has wings, giving it this ability.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: As a Wurmple, it was poorly trained and lazy, while Jessie's was diligent and loyal. May's still evolved into a competent Beautifly as she desired, and always outshone Jessie's Dustox.
* HeadPet: Beautifly's favorite roost. On one occasion, Ash as well.
* OnlyOneWhoLikesSpam: When May first tries making Pokéblocks, only Beautifly likes them.
* PrettyButterfly: It's the very reason May wanted to catch a Wurmple, thinking that Beautifly's looks would make it a shoe-in for winning Contests.
* PsychicPowers: Knows Psychic.
* SignatureMove: After evolving into Beautifly, Silver Wind immediately became its SignatureMove.
* WindFromBeneathMyWings: Beautifly's secondary type is flying, and it also knows Gust when it evolves.

!!'''Skitty (Eneco)'''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_skitty.png]]
-->'''Voiced by:''' Music/MegumiHayashibara

* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Often has trouble keeping her head in the game, and gets easily distracted by several things, including moving curtains, toys, other Pokémon, and her own twitchy tail.
* ConfusionFu: Her Assist allows her to draw a random attack from any one of her teammates' arsenal.
* CuteKitten: Way too cute for her own good.
* CutenessProximity: In ''I Feel Skitty'', everyone, including Team Rocket, thinks that Skitty is adorable.
* DividedWeFall: Skitty is ''terrible'' at teamwork, and this costs May in Battles and Contests more than once.
* FatalFlaw: As mentioned above, her inability to work as a team with May's other Pokémon.
* NonElemental: Skitty is a Normal Type, and thus lacks access to most of the fancier moves that her other party members have besides Ice Beam. At least when it doesn't use Assist.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: One of the smallest members of the Hoenn ensemble, but she packs a mean punch when she can summon a ''[[AnIcePerson Blizzard]]''.
* PokemonSpeak: Averted -- her cry consists of "nya!" instead of her own name, which is the Japanese equivalent to "meow" in English.
* PutOnABus: Left at May's house following the Ever Grande Conference.
* RunningGag: Chasing her own tail, then getting dizzy and falling over.
* SignatureMove: Two. Assist, with its random nature being Skitty's trademark, and Skitty's Blizzard.

!!'''Bulbasaur-Ivysaur-Venusaur (Fushigidane-Fushigisou-Fushigibana)'''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_bulbasaur.png]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_venusaur.png]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Miyako Ito (Fushigidane)
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Tara Jayne (Bulbasaur)

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: When May was about to be attacked by the other Grass Pokémon in the reserve, Bulbasaur defended her since she saved the Pokémon from falling off a cliff.
* BirdsOfAFeather: After May catches her Bulbasaur, Ash decides to call his over to help show it the ropes. Naturally, the two hit it off pretty well. She later leaves her Bulbasaur at Oak's so Ash's could teach her.
* TheBusCameBack: May adds her back to the party during her own journey through Johto, at which point it evolves into Venasaur.
* {{Foil}}: Straightest parallel between May and Ash: she was basically the innocent, gentler version to Ash's TroubledButCute Bulbasaur.
* GreenThumb: Granted given it's a Grass Type.
* InnocentFlowerGirl: Started out as one, first seen trying to pick a flower at the side of a cliff, and the only non-hostile inhabitant of the grass preserve (this was probably due to May saving her from a nasty fall).
* NaiveEverygirl: During her first time outside the preserve, she would get distracted over several things, almost unknowingly endangering herself even, because of her innocence. Ash had to temporarily call in his own Bulbasaur to set her straight and teach her the ropes.
* PetalPower: Knows Petal Dance.
* [[PoisonousPerson Poisonous Pokémon]]: It's secondary type is poison, although it's not shown with any poison moves.
* PutOnABus: May leaves her at Oak's lab under the mentorship of Ash's own Bulbsasaur.
* SignatureMove: Petal Blizzard, which serves as yet another contrast between May's Bulbasaur and Ash's Bulbasaur who knows Solarbeam.
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: 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 [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything seed in her flower/tree]].
* TookALevelInBadass: She evolves into Venasaur by the time of ''Diamond and Pearl''.
* WhipItGood: Knows Vine Whip.

!!'''Munchlax (Gonbe)'''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_munchlax.png]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Chie Sato
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Darren Dunstan (4Kids), [[Creator/JimmyZoppi Billy Beach]] (current)

* {{Acrofatic}}: Can move really, ''really'' fast if he's [[HeroismIncentive motivated enough]].
* BareFistedMonk: Knows Fighting-type Focus Punch. Unlike the games, Munchlax never needs to charge for the attack and can use it immediately. Other Pokémon would later follow his example.
* BigEater: Of course, even more so than May.
* BreathWeapon: Fires his Solarbeam out of his mouth.
* ClearMyName: 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.
* ConfusionFu: It kicked Combusken's ass by ''not'' paying attention. Later played straight for having access to the Metronome attack.
* EarlyBirdCameo: As Gen IV species began making their way to the anime, Munchlax was the first one to be owned by a main character.
* ExtremeOmnivore: ''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 Pokéball and it still got captured.
* GreenThumb: Knows the Grass-type move [[LightEmUp Solarbeam]].
* NonActionGuy: 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.
%%* NonElemental: Normal-type.
* SignatureMove: Solarbeam.
* SuperpowerLottery: Knows Metronome, which allows it to use pretty much any move a Pokémon can learn, but it's all at random. Some examples:
** It once joined a herd of Cleffa-line Pokémon in a mass use of Metronome that ultimately led to Team Rocket blasting off.
** Once, it used Metronome while confused, and did Splash.
** In a contest, May desperately called Munchlax to do Metronome. It picked up Rest, and got a ton of Cute points.
** When May used it to try to catch an Arcanine, it ''really'' hit the Lottery, picking up ''[[{{Acrofatic}} EXTREME SPEED]]!'' Just one problem: [[TheSnackIsMoreInteresting it abused the power to snatch and gorge on Pecha Berries instead]].

!!'''Squirtle-Wartortle (Zenigame-Kameil)'''
[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_squirtle.png]]
[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wartortle.png]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Tomoe Hanba (Zenigame), Creator/KatsuyukiKonishi (Kameil)
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/EricStuart (Squirtle, 4Kids), Creator/MicheleKnotz (Squirtle, second voice), Craig Blair (Wartortle)

* BubbleGun: Knows Bubble.
* {{Foil}}: To Ash's Squirtle: while Ash's Squirtle was a leader-type and had a frosty side due to being abandoned by trainers, this one is prepared to be given to trainers and is known to be a cry-baby when first introduced.
* GooGooGodlike: Did unbelievably well in most of the fights it was in.
* AnIcePerson: May's Squirtle knows Ice Beam, which serves as its Signature Move and sets it further apart from Ash's Squirtle who doesn't know Ice-type moves.
* MakingASplash: May's first Water-type Pokémon. It knows Bubble, Water Gun, Withdraw and later Aqua Tail.
* SignatureMove: Ice Beam, which also serves as another contrast to Ash's Squirtle who knows Hydro Pump.
* SpectacularSpinning: Knows Rapid Spin.
* TookALevelInBadass: A normal beginner Pokémon who was shown to cry when Max tried to say hello to it...soon learned Ice Beam to beat Harley's Ariados. In ''Diamond & Pearl,'' it's shown to have evolved into Wartortle, and pulls off a flawless Contest appeal with confidence and elegance, showing how much it's grown since its last appearance.
* UnskilledButStrong: When it first learns Ice Beam, it doesn't have much control over it, but the raw power of the move is enough to break it free from a Spider Web produced by Harley's Ariados.

!!'''Eevee-Glaceon (Eievui-Glacia)'''
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/may_eevee.png]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mays_glaceon.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Music/MegumiHayashibara
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' KayzieRogers (Eevee), Music/MegumiHayashibara (Glaceon)

* ClingyMacGuffin: One Battle Frontier episode had the egg's incubator briefly stuck to a rampaging Elekid's plug head. Even though Elekid removed it relatively early, it became the reason why Ash and company went after the Elekid, since they think the mon still has it.
* DishingOutDirt: Knows Dig.
* ExtraOreDinary: Knows Iron Tail.
* FastTunnelling: Again, knows Dig.
* [[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: After evolving into Glaceon, it changes its type from Normal to Ice. It knows Ice Beam and Ice Shard.
* NonElemental: It used to be a Normal-type when it was still an Eevee.
%%* PsychicPowers: Knows [[AttackReflector Mirror Coat]].
* SoulPower: Knows the Ghost-type move Shadow Ball, which is its SignatureMove.
* SignatureMove: For both, Eevee and Glaceon, it's Shadow Ball.
* TimeTravel: It winds up hatching thanks to May, Squirtle, and Team Rocket's Meowth going through one of this adventures, saving the life of the man who helps bring it into this world.
* TookALevelInBadass: Before reuniting with Ash, May took Eevee to Snowpoint City and evolved it to Glaceon with the Ice Rock.

[[folder:Max (Masato)]]
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/401px_maxag.png]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Fushigi Yamada
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/AmyBirnbaum (4Kids), Kayzie Rogers (current)
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Diego Armando Ángeles, Mara Campanelli (Movies 6 and 7)
-->'''Voiced in European French by:''' Guylaine Gibert, Isabelle Volpé (Movie ''Jirachi Wish Maker''), Creator/MaiaBaran (Movies 8-9, ''The Mirage of Mastermind Pokémon'')

May's younger brother who travels with his sister and friends, even though he has no Pokémon of his own.
----
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: To May he is. They take potshots at each other every chance they get, just like how real life siblings would "get along".
* AscendedExtra: Max is the young child who, in the Hoenn games, was stationed at the entrance to Littleroot Town; now he and May are RelatedInTheAdaptation and he accompanies her on her travels.
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: The youngest of the Advanced Generation team.
* BrattyHalfPint: As emphasised above, Max can sometimes be a very snarky, 'know it all' kid. He seems to be renowned for CrocodileTears before he met Ash as well.
* CanonForeigner: Downplayed. In the games the protagonist is an only child, and the rival only has a younger brother in ''Emerald''. He is, however, identical to the child who loiters at the entrance to Littleroot Town in ''Ruby'', ''Sapphire'', and ''Emerald''.
* ADayInTheLimelight:
** The episode ''Do I Hear a Ralts?'' focuses on him befriending an ill Ralts and having to take it to the Pokémon Center in order to be treated.
** Like his sister, a movie (''Anime/PokemonJirachiWishmaker'') focuses on him as a main character.
* DeadpanSnarker: Naturally, May gives him plenty of ammunition.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: He likes to think of himself as the responsible to May's foolish, but he has more than a few BrattyHalfPint tendencies that lead him to cause quite a few problems of his own.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The Melancholic of the quartet.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: You have to hand it to Max. He doesn't have any Pokémon of his own, but he nevertheless has a knack of making friends with a lot of wild ones over the course of the ''Advance'' series, most notably the Ralts who he promised to return for once he begins his journey.
* HeroWorshipper: 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.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Out of May's Pokémon, Max seems to be most attached to her Munchlax.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Max has a tendency to criticize May and Ash for their flaws as a coordinator & a trainer respectively, but when it was time for Max to battle one time, he knew almost nothing about battling. This may be justified, since he is too young to be a trainer, after all.
* InsufferableGenius:
** Max likes to behave as though he's the smartest one around, often poo-pooing Ash's strategies and accomplishments and often whining when he witnesses things that don't match how he's learned the world should work. In his EstablishingCharacterMoment, his meeting with Ash goes sour when he keeps mentioning that Ash ''lost'' in the second round of the Silver Conference, happily ignoring that this was the victory league of the conference.
** [[SubvertedTrope As it turns out]], he's actually something of a KnowNothingKnowItAll when it came to battling. When he gets his first taste of actual battling, he's so busy trying to keep up with his learning that he spent all of his time [[StatusBuff buffing]] and forgot the short-term game, which notably [[{{Foil}} contrasts him with]] Ash and his improvised style.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Strikes one up with President Stone, Steven's father and CEO of the Devon Corporation.
* MouthyKid: Acts like a know it all towards Ash and May. This is understandable, since he is very intelligent for his age and he does study more than Ash and May.
* MythologyGag: In "''Do I Hear a Ralts''", he befriends a sickly Ralts, a reference to the games in which Wally gets a Ralts as his first Pokémon.
* NoSenseOfDirection: Applies to the whole group as a whole, but, come on...he's got the [=PokéNav=], the franchise's equivalent to a GPS! He has the least excuse.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: During their first meeting he keeps bringing up how Ash lost in the second round in the Silver Conference's Victory Tournament, which, Ash quickly reminds him, is already an admirable feat in of itself.
* OneSteveLimit: In-universe, averted when another Max shows up in the episode ''Maxxed Out!''
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When Max imagines tricking May into believing her Torchic evolved (May's actual Torchic had to be used in an EmergencyImpersonation), he gets genuinely afraid of facing [[MamaBear her wrath]]. And yet, this example can still be PlayedForLaughs.
* PalsWithJesus: He befriends a Jirachi in ''Anime/PokemonJirachiWishmaker.''
* PlotDrivenBreakdown: Something always seems to happen to the [=PokéNav=] that results in the gang still getting lost. In no particular order: A magnetic field to disrupt the map feature, Max accidentally spilling his drink on it, or having no signal at all. And then there was one time Max admitted it was his own fault the twerps got lost.
* ThePromise: To a stray Ralts in "''Do I Hear a Ralts''", to meet up again once Max starts his own journey.
* PuppyLove: In-universe example: one 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 ''[[{{Jerkass}} Corphish]]'' in his match against Vivi. [[ShipSinking The results weren't pretty...]]
* RebuiltPedestal: Inverted; Max holds his father in such high regard that when Ash actually defeats Norman, Max freaks out and ''steals Ash's Balance Badge'' as if that would somehow undo the damage.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Max already recognizes Ash when he first meets him, having watched him compete in the Silver Conference on TV.
* ReusedCharacterDesign: Based on the male school kid trainer class' [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire RSE]] appearance. Amusingly, the design in [[UpdatedRerelease ORAS]] looks like it was based off of Max (the color palette is more similar to Max than to the original design).
* RunningGag: Early in the series, he would take ''pleasure'' in being on the receiving end of attacks or abilities' effects.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: They start shining usually when he's up to something or when his companions (usually Brock and his Romeo antics) start doing something snark-worthy.
** In "''Do I hear a Ralts''" episode has them appear when he is ''absolutely pissed off'' at Team Rocket still doing their disguised charade after Ralts has recovered from its injuries.
* SoreLoser: Not him, but he acts this way when ''his dad'' lost the gym battle with Ash. He got so upset with his father losing that he ''angrily takes Ash's badge away''.
* TagalongKid: The only reason he's there is because his dad (Norman) said that he should go travel along with his sister.
* TranquilFury: At the end of "''Do I Hear a Ralts''", he has both a combination of ScaryShinyGlasses and CrossPoppingVeins when he confronts Team Rocket in their disguises before he kicks their asses by having Ralts use Psychic on them.
* {{Tuckerization}}: The producers have suggested the anime character is based on one of Creator/SatoruIwata's sons.
* WithAFootOnTheBus: Happens to him in the episode "The Scheme Team", where both him & May leave Ash at the beginning of the episode, only for him to return (with Professor Birch) at the end of the episode. (May follows suit in the following episode.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Brock (Takeshi)]]
One of Ash's original companions, who continued to travel with him throughout ''Advanced Generation''. See [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBrock here]] for more about Brock and his Pokémon.
[[/folder]]

!Supporting Cast

[[folder:Professor Birch (Dr. Odamaki)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/professor_birch_anime.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/FumihikoTachiki
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/DanGreen
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Creator/SalvadorDelgado

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.
----
* AdaptedOut: Going by the games, Birch should be the father of the RSE male lead Brendan, who so far has only appeared in cameos.
* DamselOutOfDistress: Male version: in a repetition of Birch's first appearance in the games, May has to come to his aid from a pack of Poochyena. However, May doesn't even know how to properly command Pokémon yet (the Mudkip she called out doused ''her'' instead) so Birch eventually had to get out of the situation by himself.
* DrivesLikeCrazy: 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.
* LargeHam: Being voiced by Mr. Green certainly helps.
* ScienceHero: Is not afraid of going into the field for his research, which often puts him in a few scrapes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Caroline (Mitsuko)]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caroline_4.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/YumiTouma
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/MeganHollingshead (4Kids, episode 3), Karen Niell (4Kids, episodes 69-132), Klara Leopold (current)
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Gabriela Gómez (episode 3) Creator/PatriciaAcevedo (episodes 69-70),Creator/LauraTorres (episodes 114-132), Creator/ElsaCovian (episode 180)

May and Max's mom and wife of gym leader Norman of the Petalburg City Gym.
----
* GoodParents: She is a very loving and supportive mother.
* ImprobableHairstyle: Just see the picture.
* MistakenForCheating: Thought this of Norman when she noticed that he's been spending time with Nurse Joy (they were actually planning an anniversary present for Caroline). She was in the middle of announcing her intent ''to leave him'' before the misunderstanding was cleared up.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: She's based on the player character's [[UnnamedParent unnamed mother]] from ''Ruby, Sapphire'' and ''Emerald''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Drew (Shū/Shuu)]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/drew_0.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/MitsukiSaiga
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Pete Zarustica (4Kids), Bill Rogers (current)
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Luis Fernando Orozco (episodes 33-35), Creator/IrwinDaayan (rest of the series)

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.
----
* {{Bishounen}}: Definitely. Just look at the picture.
* {{Bookends}}: In his first Contest facing off against May, Drew defeats her only to lose in the finals to Robert. The Hoenn Grand Festival netted him the same results. ''And'' both events occurred in Slateport City.
* BubbleGun: Masquerain's Bubble.
* TheCameo:
** Drew made a couple of brief appearances during May's ''Diamond and Pearl'' return arc, where his Roselia was revealed to have evolved into Roserade.
** He appears again in ''Journeys'' with Harley and Professor Birch, watching Ash's battle with Steven in the Masters Eight Tournament.
* ChickMagnet: He has many fangirls. And unlike Gary, he does ''not'' like the attention.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Green hair and green eyes. Fits in with his Grass-type Pokémon motif (his signature Pokémon is a Grass-type Roselia, and he frequently gives May flowers). Despite their initial vitriol, he ultimately proves in time to be a trustworthy friend to May.
* DarkIsNotEvil: He catches a Dark-type Absol for his team in Battle Frontier.
* {{Expy}}: Drew is more than vaguely reminiscent of both ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'' rivals, Brendan and Wally, [[CompositeCharacter having the distinctive green hair and eyes of the latter and the confidence and attitude of the former]]. He also uses Roselia, which was one of the Pokémon on Wally's team, as a signature.
* FriendlyRivalry: With May, eventually. It was significantly more vitriolic at first, with him acting very condescending towards her and May rising to the bait easily, but near the end of the Hoenn arc, they shifted closer to being friends as well as rivals, with Harley taking Drew's place as May's {{Jerkass}} rival.
* GuestStarPartyMember: In some of his later appearances, ends up getting joining May and co in their struggles against Team Rocket. The episode "Who, What, When, Where, Wynaut" is a particular example, where he gets pulled into Team Rocket's latest attack on the twerps at the beginning of the episode, gets stranded on an island together with them, and spends the rest of the episode hanging out with May and trying to escape. (Incidently, this is also when their rivalry starts to become a lot more friendly and less antagonistic.)
* ItAmusedMe: He toys with May, alternating jibes and backhanded compliments. May naturally [[{{Tsundere}} rises to the bait beautifully]].
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He spends his introductory episode railing mercilessly on May, then pulls a BigDamnHeroes when she's in trouble. Then insults her some more.
** He acts pretty aloof and cocky most of the time in contests, but he's actually generally respectful to his fellow competitors, except for Harley and (initially) May. He thanks Savannah (who greatly admires him) for a great battle after he defeats her in the Rubello contest, he praises Brianna (who has a crush on him) for her performance after she loses to May, and he obviously has a great deal of respect for [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Soledad]], his rival who defeated him in his first-ever contest.
** 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 [[HiddenHeartOfGold facade]], with Harley officially taking his place in that regard.
* ManlyTears: We don't see it happen, but he apparently cried after Solidad beat him at a Contest. May teases him about it.
* NiceMeanAndInBetween: He's the in between to Solidad's nice and Harley's mean. Solidad is friendly and outgoing, Harley's petty and holds grudges. While Drew constantly teases May (including giving a rose to ''her Pokémon and not her''), he later grows to respect her as a person.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Drew owns the part Dragon-type Flygon.
* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to May's red. He's much more calm in contests and thinks before he acts.
%%* RazorWind: Absol's attack.
* TheRival: He is this to May; she gains other significant rivals in Harley and Soledad, but Drew is the first introduced, as well as the most prominent.
* ShipTease: Gets quite a bit with May, especially later on once their rivalry has become more friendly. Not the least of which is him consistently giving her red roses when he sees her at contests. (Initially he states that the roses are for her Beautifly, but he stops bothering with the excuse eventually.) Soledad also tells May at the Kanto Grand Festival that Drew talks about her all the time.
* SignatureMon: Roselia. It's present in most of his appearances and matches his habit of handing out roses to May in many of their encounters.
* SomethingAboutARose: As has been mentioned a few times, Drew's favorite way to mess with May is handing her roses.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His Japanese name can be spelled either Shū or Shuu.
* StealthMentor: In his earlier appearances, he seemed to serve as one to May. Though he several times gave her and her friends some condescending lectures that came across like boasting, they actually contained good advice that May took to heart.
** He also listened in on her conversations with Harley from a distance during the Hoenn Grand Festival, and, when he found out that Harley was actually trying to sabotage May, quickly exposed his plot to her.
** Soledad later tells May that, when Drew met her, he was reminded him of how he himself used to be in his earliest contests, which may be the reason for this.
* StraightMan: Serves as this when he gets pulled into the adventures of Ash and Co, and is also this to the rival quartet of himself, May, Harley, and Soledad.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Both his personality and his relationship with May are quite similar to Gary and how he treated Ash. He even mirror's Gary's CharacterDevelopment, becoming less of a {{Troll}} by "Advanced Battle" and a lot more prone to [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold back May up]] when Team Rocket or Harley start going after her. Heck, his English dub voice actually sounds quite a bit like Gary's, especially in his introductory episode.
* ThemeNaming: Drew's Japanese name Shuu is a possible reading of 秋, the Japanese character for Autumn or Fall, which plays off of May's Japanese name Haruka (a reading for 春花, "spring flowers"). In short, Haruka and Shuu refer to opposite seasons of the year.
* WorthyOpponent: Eventually sees May as this. Most prominently shown when he tells May at the Hoenn Grand Festival that he specifically trained his new Flygon for his battle against her as its contest debut, and also when May finally defeats him for the first time in the Kanto Grand Festival.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Harley]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harley2.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/JunichiKanemaru
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/AndrewRannells (4Kids), Billy Regan (current)
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Gerardo García

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, 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. [[SeriousBusiness Harley never let that go]].
----
* AffablyEvil: He's exuberantly ''chummy'' towards his rivals outside of competition, even May despite his extreme unecessary grudge against her.
* AllWebbedUp: His Ariados knows String Shot and Spider Web.
* AlphaBastard: He’s snobby, petty, childish, and goes out his way to bully and humiliate May any chance he gets.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Not so much "ambiguous" as "as gay as the writers could possibly make him without setting the [[MoralGuardians censors]] off".
* BadassFingerSnap: He uses it to signal the timing of his Cacturne's Needle Arm in "A Hurdle for Squirtle".
* TheBadGuyWins: Beats May in a Contest for the first and only time in "Harley Rides Again".
* BerserkButton: If you don't like his cookies (or he doesn't think you do), he will go out of his way to make your life miserable at every possible turn.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: LaughablyEvil, campy and seemingly friendly, but extremely nasty towards people he hates. Poor May.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He behaves in a silly manner to cover up his ruthless and underhanded nature.
* {{Bokukko}}: Inverted. In Japanese, he refers to himself using ''atashi,'' the feminine form of ''I,'' as opposed to using the masculine forms ''boku'' or ''ore,'' or even the gender-neutral ''watashi.''
* BreakoutVillain: 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.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Acts EXTREMELY flamboyant and obsesses over anyone who messes with his food, but you'd be wise to take him seriously as a competitor when it comes to the Contest circuit, especially since he's fond of pulling out dirty tactics to win.
* TheCameo: He makes an appearance in ''Journeys'' with Drew and Professor Birch, watching Ash's battle with Steven in the Masters Eight Tournament.
* CampGay: And how! Note {{Bokukko}} above, fan-boying over Norman, and also him cosplaying as May and flirting with Drew during the Kanto Grand Festival.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In the Latin American dub of his debut episode, he doesn't use his normal flamboyant manner of speech and talks in a very straightforward way. He is also [[ShesAManInJapan referred to as a woman.]]
* CheatersNeverProsper: His dirty tactics against May always end in failure. The one time he ever beat May was when he played completely fair, no manipulation or cheating of any kind.
* CombatPragmatist: He won't think twice about using dirty tactics to pull out a win.
* {{Cosplay}}[=/=]UncattyResemblance: His outfit is based on Cacturne, his signature Pokémon.
** At one point in the Kanto Grand Festival he even cosplays '''May''', who gets [[{{Squick}} squicked]] out by his mimicry.
* DarkIsEvil: His main Pokémon is Cacturne, a half-Dark type, and his team also includes a Banette.
* DeadpanSnarker: His default personality when he's being serious.
* DeathGlare: Ariados' Scary Face.
* DisproportionateRetribution: His entire feud with May is based around ''very'' petty reasons he has to hate her.
* DubNameChange: One of the very few aversions in the ''Pokémon'' franchise. His Japanese and English names are the same.
* EffeminateVoice: The American dub gives him an appropriately campy voice and mannerisms.
* EnemiesList: Harley doesn't have a simple list: he has a photo album of people he bears grudges against. He sneaks pictures of his "enemies" and draws "nasty" symbols next to them on the album (which is what he does with May after their first interaction).
* EvilCounterpart: Although they never meet, he can be considered one for Nando from the ''Diamond & Pearl'' anime. Both are male Contest rivals with effeminate mannerisms and green color schemes, but Harley is loud, flamboyant, LaughablyEvil, and cruel to people he dislikes, while Nando is quiet, composed, polite, and kind-hearted. Perhaps it's [[CastingGag not a coincidence]] that they share a voice actor in English.
* EvilIsPetty: Initiating a blood feud with a 10-year-old girl over a plate of cookies? Yeah, he qualifies. Doesn't help that her commenting that his Cacturne was creepy only deepened his hatred towards her.
* EvilerThanThou: Inducted Team Rocket into his plots to ruin May later on, and quickly became a BadBoss as they proved ineffective. He also cowed them from using independent schemes on May, [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou putting dibs on making her suffer]]. When it was made apparent they wouldn't be joining his efforts in Johto, he blasted them off in anger before Jessie could even get out a Pokémon to fight.
* {{Foil}}: To Drew, as May's other main rival. Both them are arrogant, campy Coordinators who get a kick out of riling May up, but while Drew is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold that delivers a lot of BrutalHonesty to May in the hopes of seeing her improve, Harley is a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk that deliberately gives her bad advice in the hopes of seeing her fail. Coincidentally, they also have inversed color schemes; whereas Drew wears a purple outfit and has green hair, Harley wears a green outfit and has purple hair.
* FriendlyEnemy: He can be quite affable toward his competitors outside of the Contest arena. [[BitchInSheepsClothing Of course, it's all an act.]]
* GenderBlenderName: His name can be either a male or female name, appropriately for someone with CampGay mannerisms.
* GratuitousEnglish: Quite a bit in the original Japanese version, such as saying "my cool bud" when he calls out his Pokémon. Comes with being voiced by Creator/JunichiKanemaru.
* GreenAndMean: He always wears a green Cacturne outfit, and is May's most antagonistic rival.
* HeelFaceMole: Pretended to be friendlier with May in the Hoenn Grand Festival to get her to lower her guard. Drew ultimately outs his scheme to May, however.
* InsufferableGenius: Not ''genius'' per se, but smart and annoying, to the point of being a smart ass. He uses this to his advantage.
** In Harley's debut episode, he lied to May about Surskit being slow. May believed him, but since Surskit were well known for their quick speed, she soon learned her lesson. May confronted Harley, only for him to tell her she should have done research and that she was only participating in the Contest as if it were a game.
** During the Hoenn Grand Festival, Harley told May to use Skitty's Assist move over and over during the Appeals Round. May followed this, and one of the judges was dissapointed that her appeal was lacking variety. Luckily, her Skitty confused itself while using Bulbasaur's Petal Dance, and thus May told it to use Double Hit, its own move, on itself, and break the confusion. May at last commanded Skitty to use Blizzard. May again confronted Harley about this, with Drew. Harley told May not to trust anyone, and that again, she should have known better.
* {{Irony}}: In their last meeting, he claimed Jessie would never get anywhere as a Coordinator without him. Afterward, Jessie competed in the Sinnoh contests and [[TookALevelInBadass became competent enough to reach the final 4 of the Grand Festival]] while Harley traveled to Johto and is implied to still be May's ButtMonkey.
* {{Jerkass}}: His relationship with May is a good example of this. In their first meeting, he takes basically everything she says (all of which she meant in a perfectly friendly way) in the worst possible fashion, and [[DisproportionateRetribution holds a permanent grudge against her for it]], sparking a bitter rivalry in which he actively tries to sabotage her contest chances every opportunity he gets. He's also pretty ruthless and pragmatic in his contest battling.
* JerkassHasAPoint: When Harley is called out by May for manipulating her by giving her misleading advice, he tells the latter that she shouldn't have trusted him in the first place. Even Drew admits that Harley is correct when he attempts to comfort May about her feeling bad for being tricked.
* KarmaHoudini: While most of his plans to defeat May ended up in failure, he was sparsely disciplined for sabotaging or borderline cheating in contests, and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity didn't even seem to lose much popularity from his bullying disposition]] aside from her and her teammates (who he hated in the first place anyway).
* LargeHam: Is VERY flamboyant in basically everything he does, from his speech to his wardrobe to his battle style.
* LawOfDisproportionateResponse: 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 when she actually liked his cookies, she didn't like them ''enough'' and because she referred to his Cacturne as "scary".
* LostFoodGrievance: He tells Team Rocket a story from when he was little, about a girl (who looks exactly like May, for some reason) who ate the last piece of his lunch and said it was gross.
* LostInTranslation: In the Japanese version, another of Harley's many reasons for hating May is her VerbalTic of "kamo" which can represent uncertainty. It contributed to him believing May was [[DeliberatelyCuteChild deliberately playing herself off as the cute and innocent competitor of the contest]].
* {{Manchild}}: Despite being much older than May, he bears a serious grudge against her simply because she had never heard about Cacturne, said it was scary (when it is indeed a creepy-looking Dark-type Pokémon), and said his cookies were not half bad. He sneaks pictures of people he doesn't like (such as May) and collects them in a notebook. Another reason he hates May is because he never let go of his childhood "trauma" of a schoolmate who looked like her eating his last Octillery-shaped "snackie".
* ManipulativeBastard: Proven by his first three appearances alone:
** In their first contest together, after he develops a petty grudge against May, he gives her a "tip" that is the exact opposite of the truth, hoping she'll lose in the semi-finals. When that fails, he plays a recording (to the ''entire'' audience) of Max telling an embarrassing story about May in order to throw her off her game.
** In the Hoenn Grand Festival, he convinces May that he's sorry for what he did before, but then actively gives her bad advice more than once, hoping to knock her out of the Festival during the Appeals stage.
** In her first Kanto contest, he gains her trust again by helping her defeat Team Rocket when she's in trouble, but then lies about the contest entry rules to try to keep her from entering.
* MeaningfulName: His Japanese name is a corruption of 針 ''hari,'' meaning "needle". His signature Pokémon is based on a cactus.
* MisplacedRetribution: One of the reasons Harley hates May so much is simply because she happens to look like a schoolmate who once ate Harley's last "snackie" when he was a child.
* MultipleChoicePast: 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.
* NavelWindow: His usual outfit, following its Cacturne-themed design, has a diamond-shaped cut near the bottom of his shirt that shows his navel.
* NiceMeanAndInBetween: He's the mean to Solidad's nice and Drew's in between. Harley is incredibly petty, he holds a grudge against May over ''food'', and embarrasses his opponents to get an advantage in Contests.
* NightmareFetishist: Harley's specialty in Contests is showing off the creepy qualities of his Pokémon -- while the audience doesn't always take to his appeals, Harley himself genuinely loves them. In fact, one of the things that first fueled his hatred for May is her referring to his Cacturne as scary.
* OddFriendship: Solidad somehow regards Harley to be a good buddy of hers without a drop of malice, despite the fact Harley has proven to have a nasty streak while Solidad herself is a good spirited competitor.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Harley goes from teaming up with Team Rocket to defeat May, to actually interrupting one of Team Rocket's schemes and proclaiming that 'the only one allowed to make [May] cry is me' by the end of the Advanced Generation series. He cordially adds they are welcome to watch ''him'' challenge May as a learning experience however.
* PetTheDog: He treats his Pokémon well, referring to them affectionately ("my buddies", "cool bud", attaching "-chan" to their names in Japanese).
* PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize: Harley [[VagueAge appears]] to be in his late teens, but for some reason he becomes ''obsessed'' with tormenting May and winning against her at all costs... and she's only ''ten''. This becomes literal and especially ridiculous when you see him confronting her, as it's clear that not only is he older, he's at least a full head taller, and yet is fixated on picking on her.
* PsychoticSmirk: His default expression. Especially prominent when he's sabotaging May. See {{DeadpanSnarker}} above.
* SeriousBusiness: 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.
* ShesAManInJapan: In the Latin American dub, Harley is referred to as female.
* ShipperOnDeck: While it's partly to catch them off guard or annoy them, Harley certainly loves pointing out the subtext between May and Drew.
* SignatureMon: Cacturne, to the point where Harley's outfit is modeled after it.
* SissyVillain: He's definitely one the most villainous of May's contest rivals (the other being Jessie), and as mentioned above, he's very flamboyant.
* SmugSnake: Acts like this a lot in his many attempts to sabotage May's contests.
* TermsOfEndangerment: "Yoo-hoo, May! My cute little gingerbread-cookie!". For a guy who does everything in his power to antagonize May, he has a ton of pet names for her.
** Also calling May, himself, and everone else "Hun" in the Japanese Dub, and in the Battle Frontier Series.
* {{Tsundere}}: Shows shades of this non-romantically towards May overtime. Despite his insistent antagonization of May, he eventually defends her from Team Rocket while basically prefacing it with 'don't get the wrong idea'. In the next season, he's shown alongside Drew and Solidad watching the Wallace cup on tv, and is at first hanging off to the side looking like he thinks watching the broadcast is beneath him - but when the shot pans to them again later while May is performing, [[FunnyBackgroundEvent he's right in front of the tv watching intently]] with the other two, showing he's interested after all.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Brock actually thought he was a girl before the crowd around Harley cleared...oops.
* VagueAge: Harley looks like he could be anywhere from his late teens to his early 20s, but that doesn't stop him from having a mutually intense rivalry [[PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize with a 10-year-old girl.]]
* VerbalTic: He tends to refer to people as "hun", including himself.
* VillainTeamup: He once conspired with Team Rocket so May wouldn't get her last Kanto Ribbon.
* VillainousCrossdresser: On one occasion, he dresses up as May. He even blows a kiss to Drew while doing so...
* VillainDecay: Mildly. Harley never completely loses his hostile attitude towards May, nor does he lose his competence, but he actually eventually ''defends'' May and her friends from a Team Rocket plot (because ''he'' wants to be the one to mess with May, no one else), appears to be genuinely happy about the idea of competing with May, Drew and Solidad in Johto, (but that should not be mistaken for TrueCompanions), and by the Wallace cup he's seen alongside Drew and Solidad watching May compete on tv, seemingly in support of her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Morrison (Masamune)]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morrison_1.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/MasakoNozawa
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/SeanSchemmel
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Noé Velásquez

An exuberant trainer who dresses much like a samurai, he meets Ash during the three-months leading up to the Ever Grande Conference, and they strike up a highly competitive friendly rivalry, which only builds up as the tournament itself does. While Ash did not have a rival for the majority of the Hoenn Saga, Morrison is essentially the closest to TheRival that he has for the Ever Grande Conference arc.
----
* BigEater: Most of his scenes involve him chasing after a rice ball (or sandwich in the dub).
* CrashIntoHello: Though it's based purely in friendship.
* ElementalPowers
** BareFistedMonk: Swampert's Focus Punch.
** DishingOutDirt: Gligar's primary type; Swampert & Steelix's secondary type.
** ExtraOredinary: Metang & Steelix's primary type; Girafarig's Iron Tail; Gligar's Steel Wing & Iron Tail.
** NonElemental: Girafarig's
** PlayingWithFire: Growlithe
** PsychicPowers: Girafarig's secondary type; Metang's Confusion.
** WindFromBeneathMyWings: Gligar's secondary type.
* {{Foil}}: Until perhaps Cameron of ''Best Wishes'', no other rival of Ash's was as much like him as Morrison. In fact, his personality is very similar to Ash's Indigo League self, such that Ash (despite appearing younger) comes off as more experienced than he does.
* FriendlyRivalry: In contrast to many of Ash's other rivals, Morrison is immediately friendly towards Ash from the get-go, while still maintaining his SpiritedCompetitor attitude. This actually gets {{deconstructed}} when he ends up facing Ash in the Ever Grande Conference. His unease towards battling a friend causes him to have a temporary HeroicBSOD that Ash has to snap him out of.
* GracefulLoser: For all his competitiveness, he took his defeat as extra incentive to get stronger.
* HeroicBSOD: He was highly depressed at first about needing to actually ''battle'' Ash during their 6-on-6 match, to the point that he couldn't command his Pokémon properly and gave Ash an easy lead in the battle. Eventually, Ash snapped him out of it by convincing him to fight his best no matter what or else disgrace his Pokémon's efforts, and it worked.
* HotBlooded: Similar to Ash.
* IdiotHero: Again, similar to Ash.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Girafarig's Light Screen, although useless.
* MeaningfulName: His Japanese name, Masamune, is the name of a famed swordsmith, fitting for his ronin-like appearance and vagrant lifestyle.
* OneHitKO: Gligar's Guillotine.
* TheRival: Effectively serves as Ash's primary rival for the Ever Grande Conference arc.
* RunningGag: Chasing his runaway rice balls (sandwiches in the dub), which would lead to a CrashIntoHello with Ash.
* SpiritedCompetitor: Is just as excited and pumped about battling others as Ash is.
* TookALevelInBadass: Nobody was more surprised than he when his Beldum spontaneously evolved during his preliminary match, expanding its moveset from simply Take Down and enabling his defeat of his opponent.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He loves giant onigiri, which is echanged to large sandwiches by 4Kids.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tyson (Tetsuya)]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tyson_6.png]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/KenjiNojima
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/MarcDiraison
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Gabriel Ortiz

Ash's second rival, appearing in the lead-up episode to the Ever Grande Conference. He became the first rival of Ash's to win a tournament by winning the Conference.
----
* AlmightyJanitor: Tyson's Meowth is so experienced and powerful, it could easily evolve into a Persian, but refuses to do so out of loathing for the species.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He wins the Ever Grande Conference, his Meowth is much tougher than Team Rocket's (and defeats ''Pikachu''), and his entire team besides Meowth is fully evolved. And just to further the last point, half of his Pokémon are full evolutions of Pokémon Ash and Morrison have which ''haven't'' yet evolved - Sceptile and Donphan to Ash's Grovyle and Phanpy, respectively; and Metagross to Morrison's Metang. One wouldn't necessarily ''need'' to know the show's history to realise Ash was going to lose this one.
* BigEater: In a manner reminiscent more to May than Ash (that is, he's more even-tempered and CloserToEarth).
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Tyson's Meowth was abandoned by its pack after losing to the pack leader, a Persian, whose arrogance (a common species trait) and disregard for Meowth's well-being led to a lasting hatred of the species. It was thankfully found by Tyson who nursed it to health again, even giving it a pair of boots to support its wounded hindlegs until it could walk properly again
* ElementalPowers
** BareFistedMonk: Hariyama. Shiftry's Mega Kick.
** CastingAShadow: Shiftry's secondary type.
** DishingOutDirt: Donphan
** ExtraOredinary: Metagross' primary type.
** GreenThumb: Sceptile. Also Shiftry's primary type.
** NonElemental: Meowth
** PsychicPowers: Metagross' secondary type.
** ShockAndAwe: Meowth's Thunderbolt
* EnergyWeapon: Metagross' Hyper Beam.
* IrrationalHatred: His Meowth expresses towards all Persian - he had to return it to its Pokéball to prevent it from ''killing'' its Persian opponent after it's already fainted. It doesn't help that the species' [[CatsAreMean natural predisposition towards condescension and arrogance]] are the very traits which led to this deep-seated loathing.
* MeaningfulName: "Tetsu" from his Japanese name means "iron", likely in a reference to his determination and will and also to that of his Meowth, who became strong as iron through hard work and dedication.
* MesACrowd: Meowth's Double Team.
* [[SignatureMove Signature Mon]]: His Meowth.
* UnknownRival[=/=]WorthyOpponent: His Meowth for Team Rocket's - the latter initially hates him, but comes to empathise with and respect him after learning his backstory, and expecially after his defeat of Pikachu.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Solidad (Saori)]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/solidad.jpg]]
-->'''Voiced in Japanese by:''' Creator/RieTanaka
-->'''Voiced in English by:''' Creator/SarahNatochenny
-->'''Voiced in Latin American Spanish by:''' Creator/CristinaHernandez

One of Drew's friends and an extremely skilled coordinator. She knows Brock from when she was at Pewter City and seems to know Harley as well. She serves as both a rival and a mentor to Drew and May.
----
* TheAce: A highly skilled coordinator who defeated Drew in his first contest, and also defeats May with relative ease in the semi-finals of the Kanto Grand Festival.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: For both Drew and May.
* CoolBigSis: Also this for both Drew and May.
* DoppelgangerSpin: Pidgeot's Double Team.
* ElementalPowers
** Dual type Pokémon
*** BigCreepyCrawlies[=/=]WindFromBeneathMyWings: Butterfree
*** MakingASplash[=/=][[AnIcePerson An Ice Pokémon]]: Lapras
*** MakingASplash[=/=]PsychicPowers: Slowbro
*** NonElemental[=/=]WindFromBeneathMyWings: Pidgeot
* EnergyWeapon: Slowbro's Hyper Beam.
* FlatCharacter: 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.
* MagicSkirt: She wears a tight miniskirt and it never rides up.
* NiceMeanAndInBetween: She's the nice to Harley's mean and Drew's in between. Solidad is easygoing and respectful towards other Coordinators.
* OddFriendship: She calls Harley a friend of hers with fondness, and even finds his outlandish stunts (like dressing up like May) to be 'cute', despite his bizarre, petty personality. In turn, Solidad seems to be the only one of Harley's rivals he regards with a decent level of respect.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Supposedly an old friend of Brock, Drew, and Harley, but we never heard anything about her until her anime debut.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Her name is officially spelled Solidad, but some sources call her Soledad.
[[/folder]]

** {{Zig-Zagged}} with Dawn. She did lose to her successor in the Wallace Cup, and Dawn actually managed to get to the finals in the Sinnoh Grand Festival, but May notably was the only one to actually beat Zoey, whereas Dawn was never shown doing so.

* SiblingYingYang: With Max. She's more of a NiceGirl with a naive streak, while he's a BrattyHalfPint DeadpanSnarker who veers into KnowNothingKnowItAll territory.

* BirdsOfAFeather: When she arrives in Sinnoh, she and fellow Coordinator Dawn hit it off almost instantly. It helps that both trainers have a "bird" for their starter.

* FriendlyRivalry: Her relationship with Drew eventually grows into this.

* RiddleForTheAges: [[spoiler:Exactly when she and Serena crossed paths, how they learned about their connection to Ash, and when they decided to start competing together has yet to be revealed.]]

** To Jessie. May was part of the main cast during [[VillainDecay Team Rocket's arguably most ineffectual tenure]], and Jessie was an UnknownRival to her in Pokémon contests, failing every time to outdo her. Even during the Sinnoh contests, [[TookALevelInBadass where Jessie proved far more competent]], she failed to challenge May in any capacity during her brief return.

* {{Irony}}: She starts out the series not liking Pokémon, but is the daughter of one of Hoenn's premier Gym Leaders.

** Tomboy: To her successor Dawn's Girly Girl.
** Girly Girl: To her predecessor Misty's Tomboy.

Starting the ''Advanced'' series as a newbie trainer, May only wanted to travel the world at first. She initially disliked Pokémon before experience around them changed her mind. She aspires to be a Pokémon Coordinator, leading towards a quest [[DistaffCounterpart similar to Ash's]].

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: {{ZigZagged}}. In the games, if she was selected as the main player, her family is indicated to have only recently moved to Hoenn, whereas picking Brendan makes her Birch's daughter, and therefore a native of the region off the bat. She mixes the two stories by being Norman's daughter, but having lived in Hoenn for a while.

** May let her two contests victory's [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism go to her head]] during her fourth contest in Rubello Town, and she gets upset with Ash for trying to offer advice to one of her competitors/friends, noting that what they do as Trainers is entirely different. However, May ended up losing when she pushed her freshly caught Bulbasaur too hard and she gets scolded by the judges when she tries to contest it, then is flat out told she's showing no care for the well being of the poor grass type, leaving her to run off in embarrassment. Seeing this, Ash, who was more than likely reminded of his younger days when he could have just as been haughty as she was, talks to May as he told that she was right that what they do as Trainers is different because he focus on collecting Gym Badges while she focus on getting contests ribbons. However, Ash also had a point as he told May that they may have different roles as Trainers but what they do with Pokémon and bonding with them will always be the same.

* BreakTheCutie: The Battle Frontier Arc eventually took its toll on May. After losing the Kanto Grand Festival (and having to say goodbye to Manaphy in ''Temple of the Sea''), she's become a StepfordSmiler by the time Ash defeats Brandon. She's able to bounce back somewhat by going on her own journey through Johto, but she's still struggling to keep up against Drew, Harley, and Solidad, and loses the Wallace Cup to Dawn during her guest appearance.

* CharacterDevelopment: At first, May didn't like Pokémon, but Ash's Pikachu and her first two Pokémon (Torchic and Wurmple) change her opinion, and she has come to really love Pokémon. In "Cruisin' for a Losin", after pushing her newly caught Bulbasaur too hard and listening to a fellow competitor tell her that the ribbon she already has is a reminder of how hard her Pokémon worked for her, May realizes that the same is true for her Pokémon and the two ribbons they won, and vows to never take them for granted again.

* SuperGullible: One of May's flaws. She gets tricked by Team Rocket a lot and she even trusted Harley when the latter manipulated her with misleading advice in the Advanced Generation season.

* BadassAdorable[=/=]KillerRabbit: Torchic.

* SignatureMon: Being one of the Hoenn Starter and May's first Pokémon, it naturally is her Signature Mon. However, Torchic had to fight for this status, since Beautifly, Skitty and Bulbasaur got more attention from their trainer than it did. After evolving into Combusken, it rose to the rank of May's Ace Pokémon.

%%* WindFromBeneathMyWings: Knows Peck.