List of Pokémon anime characters

• Lt. Surge (マチス, Machisu, Matis)

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (Japanese); Maddie Blaustein (English)

Lt. Surge is the Electric-type Gym Leader from Vermillion City. Rude, arrogant and loud, he views challengers as "babies" unless they defeat him and prefers to evolve his Pokémon as soon as possible. One of the most dangerous tactics is his reliance on brute strength and has defeated multiple trainers with that tactic. He looks down on anyone with non-fully evolved Pokémon. When Ash first fought him, Pikachu was easily overwhelmed by Raichu in terms of brute strength. When it was time for a rematch, Ash was able to exploit Lt. Surge's Raichu's fatal flaw. Because Lt. Surge evolved his Raichu as soon as it was caught as a Pikachu, it only learned brutal attack strategies and not speed tactics. Ash was able to use Pikachu's tail to ground the electricity and use his speed to knock out Raichu. Afterwards, Lt. Surge stops being rude to Ash and congratulates and respects him on the win. Lt. Surge also appears in flashback in a Diamond and Pearl episode, "Pika and Goliath!", which recycles a lot of elements from Surge's debut episode: Ash's Pikachu loses to a Raichu owned by an arrogant trainer named Sho (due to it knowing Hyper Beam, a move Pikachu cannot use unless it evolves into Raichu), Pikachu refusing the Thunder Stone, and Ash wiping the smirk off Sho's Raichu in a rematch, earning respect. In Journeys, Lt. Surge is away from his Gym for training and has one of his assistants, Visquez, run the Gym in his absence. It is mentioned by Visquez that Lt. Surge's Raichu taught her own Raichu how to battle and Ash's victory in his Gym is widely acknowledged.

• Sabrina (ナツメ, Natsume)

Voiced by: Kae Araki (Japanese); Lisa Ortiz (English)

The Psychic-type Gym Leader of Saffron City. It is revealed she came from a family of psychics, and she has psychic powers as well. Unfortunately, she grew way too obsessed with developing them, making her an emotionless Gym Leader while her eerie cheeriness is manifested in a form of a doll, resembling her younger self, creating a split personality. Although she hosts a school to train Psychics, she can also use her powers to turn any defeated challengers into dolls for her dollhouse. At first glance in her debut series, she appeared as a young girl who helped rescue Ash and company from Team Rocket, until she reveals her true identity. She almost succeeded in turning Ash into one when he forfeits her battle against her Abra/Kadabra but was saved by Sabrina's father. Her father told Ash to acquire a Ghost-type Pokémon to counter Psychic-types. After befriending a wild Haunter, he takes it back to the Gym. At first, things were looking bad for Ash as Haunter was nowhere in sight and he had to use Pikachu against Kadabra. Luckily, Haunter appears and starts cheering Sabrina up by making funny faces. Sabrina laughed which caused her and Kadabra to be incapacitated, and both personalities merged as one, and she loses her match with Ash. While Haunter stayed behind to stabilize Sabrina's mentality, she gives Ash her Gym badge for making her laugh and become friendly again.

• Erika (エリカ, Erika)

Voiced by: Kyoko Hikami (Japanese); Leah Applebaum (4kids era), Nathalie Gorham (TPCi, M20), Lauren Landa (TPCi, Journeys) (English)

The Grass-type Gym Leader of Celadon City, Erika also runs a perfume shop, which contains the essence of her Gloom as her main ingredient. As a child, she had a nasty run in with a wild Grimer. Fortunately, she was saved by a wild Gloom, which drove the Grimer off. Since then, the two became inseparable. In her debut, while everyone enjoyed the perfume scent, Ash insulted the perfume. A furious Erika and her employees kicked him out and banned him from the store. Ash tried to enter her gym, which is also a greenhouse, next, but her employees threw him out as well as they heard about him insulting the perfume. With no options left, Ash sought help from Team Rocket after they were caught and thrown out for attempting to steal the perfume. Posing as a girl named 'Ashley' (サトコ, Satoko), he was able to gain access and become a student and learned more about Erika's background. Unfortunately, his disguise was unveiled, and he challenges her to a Gym Battle. However, during the match, the Gym gets set on fire thanks to Team Rocket starting it in the Gym using bombs. Everyone had to evacuate and put out the fire. Although Ash felt guilty of being part of this retaliation, he immediately goes in and rescue Erika's Gloom who was trapped inside the burning building. Both Erika and Ash made peace with each other, and she gave Ash his Rainbow Badge for saving her Pokémon. Although Team Rocket also stole the secret ingredient to her perfume, Erika reveals that it contains the essence of Gloom, which smells horrible, much to Team Rocket's dismay. She is the fifth Gym Leader Ash encountered rather than the fourth like in the games. She also appears in Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You, which is an alternate timeline. In the film, Ash does defeat Erika and earn his Rainbow Badge. Erika returns in Ultimate Journeys. In her reappearance, she was hosting a Pokémon Flower Arranging class, where trainers decorate their Pokémon with flowers and have them perform to mirror their characteristics and designs. Her gym was also revealed to have been rebuilt since the last encounter. Erika also reunites with Ash while acknowledging his past heroics and is much friendlier than her debut appearance. It is implied that neither Ash nor Erika were proud of making a bad first impression to each other, given that the two did not mention this problem that caused the Celadon Gym to be caught on fire to Goh or Chloe.

• Koga (キョウ, Kyō)

Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese); Stan Hart (English)

Koga is the Poison-type Gym Leader from Fuchsia City and a ninja. Unlike in the games, he does not have a daughter named Janine. Rather, he has a younger sister and student named Aya. Aya challenged Ash to make his way through Koga's booby-trapped infested Gym and fight her first. After merging successful, Ash earned the right to face off against Koga. Although the battle was interrupted by Team Rocket, Ash and Koga resumed their battle where Ash emerged victorious. Koga is the sixth Gym Leader Ash encountered rather than the fifth like in the games. He reappeared in a flashback episode in the Black and White anime when Ash was reminiscing his days with his Charizard.

• Blaine (カツラ, Katsura)

Voiced by: Toshiya Ueda (Japanese); Roger Kay (English)

Blaine is the Fire-type Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island. He closed down his Gym prior to his debut appearance, as the island became a tourist attraction, due to the hot springs and runs an inn. He challenges people with riddles and tends to make puns even at inappropriate times. By providing riddles to Ash, Misty and Brock, Misty solves each one which led them straight towards to his gym, where Blaine revealed himself. Ash fought him on a three-on-three battle but forfeited due to Pikachu almost falling into the lava and Charizard's disobedience. Later, after stopping a volcanic eruption, Ash battles him in a rematch and emerges victorious.

• Cissy (アツミ, Atsumi)

Voiced by: Miki Nagasawa (Japanese); Tara Sands (English)

Cissy is the Gym Leader from the Mikan Island Gym of the Orange Islands and Senta's older sister. To obtain the Coral-Eye Badge, trainers must win in an accuracy test and a race against her by using Water type Pokémon. When facing Cissy as his first Orange League Gym Challenge, Ash had to participate in two contests against her. Using her Seadra against Ash's Squirtle in an accuracy test, both sides had an equal precision for hitting the cans and the result was a tie. Before the race, Team Rocket stole Cissy's Blastoise, but were blasted off. In the aquatic race, Ash was losing, but Ash's Lapras froze the water so that it could slide on it, making Ash win the race and the badge.

• Danny (ダン, Dan)

Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto (Japanese); Jim Malone (English)

Danny is the Gym Leader of the Navel Island Gym from the Orange Islands. Danny approached Ash, Misty and Tracey and complimented Misty, causing her to be flattered. He accompanied Ash when they climbed the mountain, then fought against Team Rocket for their attempt at stealing Pikachu. At the top, Misty and Tracey realized he was the Gym Leader. After this revelation, Ash and Danny had three challenges. He used Nidoqueen against Ash's Lapras to freeze the geyser and won. The next challenge was to shape the ice like a sledge, which Ash won as his Charizard burned him, melting the parts of the ice. The last challenge was a race, but it was temporarily stopped due to Team Rocket's attempt. Ash and Danny continued the race and while the odds were in Danny's favor, Ash's slide spun around, and he landed in the sea. But luckily, Ash managed to win the race and the badge.

• Rudy (ジギー, Jigī, Ziggy)

Voiced by: Ryō Horikawa (Japanese); Matt Mitler (English)

Rudy is the Gym Leader of Trovita Island, who gives trainers the Spike Shell Badge if they beat him. While the gang was on the way to the island they spotted a little girl, who happens to be Rudy's little sister. Misty saved the little girl and Rudy falls instantly in love with Misty. Ash and Tracey were confused about this but Misty was excited about it. Eventually, Rudy wanted Misty to stay with him for good. He had a battle with Ash, using the Pokémon's dancing moves to evade the attacks and counter them. He saw that Misty actually cared for Ash more than him. Knowing it was the right thing to do, he let her go and continue her journey.

• Luana (ルリコ, Ruriko)

Voiced by: Mami Koyama (Japanese); Kayzie Rogers[5] (English)

Luana is the Gym Leader of the Kumquat Island Gym from the Orange Islands. She mistook Ash to be her son, as Travis went on his own journey, dressed like Ash and having a Pikachu as well. After Team Rocket were defeated, Luana let him, Misty and Tracey into her hotel, as they saw the luxury. She had a tag battle against Ash, using her Alakazam and Marowak against his Charizard and Pikachu. Although she had the advantage, as Pikachu and Charizard did not get along with each other but was soon defeated when Pikachu and Charizard started working together. She gave Ash the Jade Star Badge, who promised to greet her son and tell him his mom misses him.

• Drake (ユウジ, Yūji)

Voiced by: Kōji Yusa (Japanese); Scott Rayow (English)

Drake is the strongest trainer of the Orange Islands and Champion (Supreme Gym Leader) who resides on Pummelo Island. Despite his skills as a trainer, he grew bored with being unbeatable and wondered if there was going to be a challenger to defeat him. Many trainers who challenged him lost either early in the game or when he uses his ace Pokémon, Dragonite.

Eventually, Ash arrived with his four Orange Island badges which earned him the right to face Drake. This is the first time in the series where we get to see a full 6 on 6 battles. At first, Ash was able to consecutively defeat four of Drake's Pokémon (one of the battles ended in a tie). Things took a turn for the worse, when Drake uses his Electabuzz and his Dragonite to wear down four of Ash's remaining Pokémon. Eventually, Ash was able to use Pikachu to defeat Dragonite. Ash was made Orange Island Champion as a result. The Orange Islands achievement gets referenced a couple times in the series and Ash's Orange Island trophy makes a cameo in the second episode of Journeys.

Ditto is the first Pokémon Drake uses and many trainers failed to defeat Ditto, which can mimic their Pokémon's moves. Drake always uses his Dragonite last in battles.

• Falkner (ハヤト, Hayato)

Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese); Matthew Mitler (English)

Falkner is the Flying-type Gym Leader from Violet City. He has a self-righteous attitude and does not like people assuming that every Flying-type Pokémon will always lose to Electric-types. Despite this, he does care about his Pokémon and has a nice personality. His Gym is located on the rooftop on one of the buildings and he also trains his students there. He bonds with his Pokémon by hang-gliding across the city.

He first appeared in the series helping Ash rescue his Pikachu from Team Rocket. After the ordeal was done, he and Ash decided to have a battle. Upon noticing Falkner using the same attack combos, Ash was able to overcome and defeat Falkner.

• Bugsy (ツクシ, Tsukushi)

Voiced by: Hiromi Ishikawa (Japanese); Tara Sands (English)

Bugsy is the Bug-type Gym Leader from Azalea Town. When Ash and co. first arrived in the Gym, he was nowhere to be found. However, after Misty gets startled by the Bug-types in the Gym, she unintentionally knocked down a ladder as Bugsy was viewing them from a tree. Bugsy criticized Misty for her ignorance towards them. Afterwards, Ash challenges Bugsy to a Gym battle which he accepts, and Ash also had to help Bugsy down from the tree.

Bugsy uses a variety of defense tactics against Ash's Pokémon to cover up type disadvantages. However, as he failed to cover all the weak spots, Ash found an opening and defeated all of Bugsy's Pokémon easily.

• Whitney (アカネ, Akane)

Voiced by: Yūko Miyamura (Japanese); Megan Hollingshead (English)

Whitney is the Normal-type Gym Leader from Goldenrod City. Her uncle, Milton, owns a Miltank dairy farm which produced delicious Moomoo milk. This is where Whitney was able to obtain her Miltank.

In her debut appearance, she and her Clefairy bumped into Ash and Pikachu. She kisses Pikachu's bruised forehead, much to his amusement. She took Ash and co. all around the city, where they ended up taking wrong routes. Team Rocket attempted to steal her Clefairy, but they sent Team Rocket blasting down the unfinished magnet train rail. When it was time for the Gym battle, Ash was able to defeat Whitney's Nidorina easily and her Clefairy forfeited due to using Splash (via Metronome). Unfortunately, Whitney turns the tables and flattens his Pikachu, Cyndaquil and Totodile using Miltank's Rollout.

The next day, Whitney invited Ash and co. to her uncle's farm where they enjoyed the milk and learn how to handle a Miltank. When Team Rocket used a barrel-shaped mech to attack the farm, Ash came up with a strategy to counter the Rollout tactic. Using it, he was able to defeat Whitney. Although the rematch took place outside her Gym, Whitney counted it as an official win and gives Ash his Gym badge. Unlike in the games, Whitney does not cry and throw a tantrum when she does lose. It is also revealed in the next episode that whenever someone merges victorious against Whitney, they get interviewed on DJ Mary's radio station. She later appears in a few flashbacks.

• Morty (マツバ, Matsuba)

Voiced by: Masaya Matsukaze (Japanese); Andrew Rannells (English)

Morty is the Ghost-type Gym Leader from Ecruteak City. His family had lived there for centuries, and he teaches his students about Ghost-types. He also allows them to watch official Gym battles.

Morty meets Ash and co. when the gang went to the Burned Tower, which they had mistaken for a Gym. It turns out the Burned Tower was inhabited by Ghost Pokémon, which Morty was able to befriend. Afterwards, he and Ash had a Gym battle where Ash emerged victorious.

While heading to Mahogany Town, Ash and friends arrived in Ectruteak City again and run into Morty and his friend, Eusine. This time, they along with Ash and co. prevented Team Rocket from stealing the silver bells of Tin Tower. While blasting Team Rocket off, the gang see Suicune in the process. He later appears in a few flashbacks.

• Chuck (シジマ, Shijima)

Voiced by: Nobuaki Kakuda (1st appearance); Takahiro Fujiwara (2nd appearance) (Japanese); Dan Green (English)

Chuck is the Fighting-type Gym Leader from Cianwood City. He once travelled to Galar where he studied karate and met a younger Bea. He was also revealed to have trained Brawly, the Fighting-type Gym Leader from Hoenn, and served as a role model for Frontier Brain Greta. He is happily married to his wife, and he runs a dojo, which also serves as his gym.

Owing to Jasmine's Ampharos being too sick and Jasmine had to take care of it, she tells Ash of a Gym in Cianwood City and recommends challenging there instead. In his debut, Ash and co. encountered him training with his Machoke. After meeting the gang, he brings them to his Gym, where his wife cooks up a delicious meal. Afterwards, it was time for the Gym match, where Ash emerged victorious. Upon learning that Jasmine's Ampharos still needs to rest and recover, Chuck tells Ash and co. to visit Whirl Islands.

He appears in a fantasy in the Ruby and Sapphire series. He returns in Journeys after a long absence where he trains with Bea, reunites with Ash, and later watches Bea battling Ash. Afterwards, he made desserts for Ash, Bea and their Pokémon.

• Jasmine (ミカン, Mikan)

Voiced by: Yumi Kakazu (Japanese); Tara Sands (4Kids era), Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld (TPCi, Diamond and Pearl) (English)

Jasmine is the Steel-type Gym Leader from Olivine City. When Ash went to battle, he fought Jasmine's apprentice, Janina, who was impersonating the Gym Leader. Jasmine called off the battle and berated her apprentice for her antics. Jasmine could not battle Ash at the moment as her Ampharos, she kept at the lighthouse, was sick. She had to send Janina on an errand to fetch the medicine from Cianwood City and informs Ash that there is a Gym there he should try out while waiting. Unfortunately, even though Ash won his gym battle there, Ampharos was still recovering so Ash and co. decided to visit the Whirl Islands instead. Afterwards, the heroes returned to Olivine City as Ampharos was fully recovered and now Jasmine was ready for battle. Despite putting up a good fight, Jasmine loses to Ash.

Sometime later, Jasmine went to visit Sunyshore City in Sinnoh. Ash and co. met her shortly after his victory against Volkner. Here, she was watching Kenny do a series of contest combinations. It is revealed that she was travelling around studying Contest battles to improve her tactics. Jasmine battled Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four where she loses.

Later, at the Pokémon Center, Dawn was feeling uncertain of what to do with her journey and was torn between cheering Ash at the Sinnoh League, or go with Kenny on a Contest journey. Jasmine advised Dawn to follow her own path and trust her instincts. While Dawn wrote a letter of goodbye to Kenny and went to cheer Ash on in the Sinnoh League, Jasmine leaves the next day, heading back home to Olivine City. Her appearance in this episode is a reference to her cameo in the Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Games.

• Pryce (ヤナギ, Yanagi)

Voiced by: Motomu Kiyokawa; Koichi Sakaguchi (young) (Japanese); James Carter Cathcart (English)

Pryce is the Ice-type Gym Leader from Mahogany Town. Pryce and his Piloswine were best friends in their early days as a Trainer and spent battling many other trainers. After losing to a Magmar, both Pryce and Piloswine suffered severe burns. While recovering, Piloswine left one night with no explanation and disappeared. Since then, Pryce grew bitter towards challengers and their Pokémon.

He refused to battle Ash due to the belief that Pokémon cannot be friends and he viewed Ash's strategies as weak. However, while battling Team Rocket, both Ash and Pryce came across a cave where his Piloswine was found frozen. It turns out that Piloswine tried to find herbs and berries to cure their burns but ended up frozen in the process. Pryce stopped being rude and helped Ash and co. defeat Team Rocket. Afterwards, Pryce accepts Ash's Gym Challenge. Although Ash and Pryce both put up a good fight, Pryce forfeited his match as his Piloswine was too exhausted and Ash knocked it down three times, which ruled as a T.K.O. This is the only time where Ash won his Gym Badge with the Gym Leader forfeiting the battle.

• Clair (イブキ, Ibuki)

Voiced by: Yuko Mita (Japanese); Megan Hollingshead (4Kids era), Eva Christensen (TPCi, Black and White) (English)

Clair is the Dragon-type Gym Leader from Blackthorn City. She was revealed to have mentored Lance of the Kanto Elite Four. Ash, Misty and Brock first encountered Clair when her Dratini had to shed its skin. While Team Rocket attempted to steal Dratini, Clair and Ash had to help protect it which caused Dratini to evolve into a Dragonair. Shortly after, she had to perform a ritual to purify a Dragon Fang at Riverhead Falls, before accepting Ash's challenge.

When Ash and Clair were battling, Team Rocket stole the Dragon Fang, causing the battle to be called off. Ash and co. chased after them and prevented a Dragonite from going on a rampage and put out the fire that was threatening the Dragon Holy Land. Once everything was cleared up, Ash and Clair resumed their Gym Battle where Ash emerged victorious and earned his final badge. Unlike in the games, Ash did not have to do a cave trial to earn the badge and Clair is not a sore loser.

She appeared in a flashback in a Diamond and Pearl episode. She officially reappears in the Decolore Islands arc, where she was searching for a Shiny Druddigon that lived in Cave Island. During this quest, she reunites with Ash and met his Unova companions, Iris and Cilan, as well as revealing that she caught the same Dragonite from the Dragon Holy Land. After calming down the Shiny Druddigon, Clair catches it and heads back home to Blackthorn City, but not before agreeing with Iris for a battle. In the undubbed post-Black and White series episodes, Iris went with Clair to the Dragon Holy Land where they encountered and calmed a wild Gible. Iris later battled Clair and lost. She only appears in a flashback again in Journeys when Drayden mentioned about how Iris became the Unova Champion.

• Norman (センリ, Senri)

Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi (Japanese); Dan Green (English)

Norman is the father of May and Max, the husband of Caroline, and the Petalburg Gym Leader, who specializes in Normal-types. Early on in the show, Ash went to Petalburg Gym to challenge the Gym Leader, with May. Here, he meets May's younger brother, Max, along with their parents, where Norman reveals himself as Gym Leader. Because Ash did not have three Pokémon on hand (he only had Pikachu), Norman could not accept Ash's Gym Challenge. However, Norman and Ash decided to have an exhibition match. Shortly after, he uses a Vigoroth to save May's Torchic from Team Rocket. After Ash defeated four Hoenn Gym Leaders, he and his friends went back to Petalburg City in time for Norman and Caroline's wedding anniversary. Later, Ash wins a Balance Badge from Norman in "Balance of Power".

• Roxanne (ツツジ, Tsutsuji)

Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori (Japanese); Karen Neill (English)

Roxanne is the Rustboro Gym Leader who specializes in Rock-type Pokémon. She was a top graduate at her Pokémon School in Rustboro City and now currently works as a teacher for the beginner's class. Because of her strong academic standings and excellent record, she was granted the role of a Gym Leader. Ash and pals encountered her during a school trip, where she invites them to visit the school. It is revealed that she knows Brock as he was a Rock-type Gym Leader as well as Professor Oak, as he gave remote lectures to this school.

The next day, Roxanne gets to battle Ash, while allowing some of the senior students to film the Gym battle. Roxanne reveals that by filming a Gym battle, students can learn how battles play out in real life. Before the battle starts, May admits to Roxanne that she wanted to pursue Pokémon contests, which Roxanne was fine with. Despite relying on various defense strategies, Roxanne loses to Ash.

• Brawly (トウキ, Tōki)

Voiced by: Kōhei Kiyasu (Japanese); Jason Griffith (English)

The Fighting-type Gym Leader from Dewford Town, Brawly is a professional surfer and owns a private island where he teaches people how to surf. It is revealed that he once trained under Chuck. Ash wanted to battle Brawly, but he spends most of the time surfing. Unbeknownst to Ash, the surfing tactic was Brawly's way of how to dodge attacks, while maintaining balance and focus. When Brawly battles Ash, he beats Ash and his Treecko easily with his newly evolved Hariyama. Ash was harshly berated by his friends for making his Treecko continuing to battle despite gaining numerous injuries against Hariyama as well as his arrogance. After learning his lesson, Ash learned how Brawly was able to use surfing as a strategy and taught his Pokémon that tactic. Ash decided to stay on Dewford Island for a while to train for his rematch.

When a storm arrived, he interrupted Ash's battle with one of his students, Shauna, forcing everyone to seek shelter in a cave. He refereed Ash's match with Shauna with Ash merging victorious. Shortly after, Ash was able to defeat Brawly in a rematch, while using the geysers to his advantage.

• Wattson (テッセン, Tessen)

Voiced by: Ken'ichi Ogata (Japanese); Dan Green (English)

Wattson is the Electric-type Gym Leader from Mauville City. He is usually portrayed as a jolly old man. In his debut appearance, Ash and pals entered his Gym through a roller coaster ride. Along the way, they came across a mechanical Raikou which attacked the heroes. Thinking it was the real Raikou, Ash ordered Pikachu to attack it which not only damages the robot, but also supercharges Pikachu's electric attacks. When it was time for the battle, Ash earned his victory (albeit lopsided) by having Pikachu one-hit knock out all three of Wattson's Pokémon. Although it was a legit win and Ash earned the badge, Wattson started to get upset and sat near the Mauville plant to think about what happened. Fortunately, a wild Electrike greeted him and cheered up Wattson. After Ash explained what had happened in the battle, Wattson allowed Ash to keep his badge.

Later as Ash and friends were heading back to Petalburg City for Ash's Gym battle against Norman, they ran into Wattson again. Ash and Wattson had a friendly battle with Wattson's Manectric defeating Ash's Torkoal.

• Flannery (アスナ, Asuna)

Voiced by: Rio Natsuki (Japanese); Lisa Ortiz (English)

Flannery is the new Fire-type Gym Leader of Lavaridge Town and owner of the local hot-springs. She inherited the gym from her grandfather, after he retired and became a poet. As a new Gym Leader, Flannery tends to make a lot of errors in her duties, and she sought Ash and his friend's help to clean up the battlefield for Ash's Gym Battle.

While battling Ash, she does have surprisingly good tactics such as using Smog and Sandstorm attacks to provide ambush tactics. However, due to her overusing Overheat (power level decreases after every use) and her stress temperament, Flannery ended up costing her Gym battle victory. However, her grandfather commended her for putting up a good battle.

• Winona (ナギ, Nagi)

Voiced by: Hyōsei (Japanese); Amy Birnbaum[4] (English)

Winona is the Flying-type Gym Leader from Fortree City. She has a habit of praying to the sky to grant her good luck before a battle starts. She first appears in the show giving children a ride on her large Skarmory at the Fortree City Feather Carnival. Before her battle with Ash could take place, she and the heroes had to stop Team Rocket from stealing the various Pokémon at the Carnival. Afterwards, she has her official Gym battle with Ash, where she loses.

In her battle, Winona uses flight paths and angles for accurate attacks with her Pokémon. She learns how to adapt to various weather conditions (e.g., windy days). The Fortree Gym battlefield is out in the open, allowing her and her opponent's Pokémon to fly and fight, which is her philosophy. Winona's Swellow in the anime is a Shiny to differentiate hers and Ash's Swellow during the final phase of the battle.

• Tate (フウ, Fū) and Liza (ラン, Ran, Lan)

Tate: Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima (Japanese); Jason Griffith (English)

Liza: Voiced by: Chisa Yokoyama (Japanese); Andi Whaley (English)

Tate and Liza are fraternal twins of the Psychic-type Gym in Mossdeep City. Their father, Jin, works as an astronaut and director of the Mossdeep Space Center, alongside their mother, Rachel, the mission control operator. Although twins, Liza is slightly older by a few minutes, and constantly teases Tate about it. Sometimes the twins tend to bicker too much, which causes them to lose focus in battles, allowing their opponents take a free hit. Despite this, the twins care for each other deep down.

In their first appearance, the twins give Ash and friends a tour of the Space Center and let them experience a zero-gravity room using only their Baltoy. They later help Ash and co. stop Team Rocket from stealing a space shuttle that was intended to be used for Jin's space exploration.

Following the space shuttle launch, Tate and Liza challenge Ash into a Double Battle, with Rachel refereeing the match. However, while trying to attack Ash's Pikachu and Swellow, both their Solrock and Lunatone's attacks keep cancelling each other out. As a result, the twins kept bickering more allowing Ash to score free hits. Eventually, they were able to patch up the mess, after stopping Team Rocket from stealing Solrock and Lunatone. As the battle resumes, both Tate and Liza countered most of Ash's tactics while in sync but lose due to Pikachu and Swellow's "Thunder Armor" tactic. Both of them realized that they still need to improve their attack combinations and remain in sync with each other.

• Juan (アダン, Adan)

Voiced by: Shō Hayami (Japanese); Sean Schemmel (English)

Since Wallace was Hoenn Champion at the time, his mentor, Juan, served as the Water-type Gym Leader of Sootopolis City. Juan was a Top Coordinator in his early life and loves Water-type Pokémon due to their streamlined characteristics and weakness to Electric Types. He is widely popular amongst women and puts on spectacular water shows.

During his battle with Ash, the Gym battle was broken into two parts. The first part was a double battle. If the challenger defeats the two Gym Leaders' Pokémon, then they move on to the second part, which is a three-on-three battle.

His battle tactic is using rapid attacks making the opponent having trouble hitting the targets. Despite this, Juan loses to Ash and congratulates him on earning his eighth and final badge for the Hoenn League. He appears in a flashback in a Diamond and Pearl episode. As of Ultimate Journeys, since Wallace is confirmed to be the new Sootopolis Gym Leader, it is implied that Juan retired from his position.

• Wallace (ミクリ, Mikuri)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese); Sean Reyes (English)

Wallace was the Hoenn Champion from Sootopolis City around the time Ash was competing in both the Hoenn and Sinnoh League. In addition, he was also a Top Coordinator and hosts the Wallace Cup. Anyone who wins the Wallace Cup, will not only earn the Aqua Ribbon, but the Aqua Ribbon can grant the coordinator access to any Grand Festival regardless of region. He is a friendly man and does get to hang out with people and provide advice whenever he is not working. Sometimes he can act narcissistic and gets slightly offended when Ash forgot who Wallace was despite meeting him in Sinnoh as well as acting too persistent in letting Ash battling him despite Wallace not competing in the World Coronation series. The outfit Wallace wore during the Wallace Cup was when he became Top Coordinator as well as it was designed by Lila, a friend of Dawn's mother, Johanna. In Journeys, his outfit is the same one he wore in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

He first appeared in the Sinnoh Wallace Cup arc, where Dawn and May were competing against each other. Both female trainers/friends of Ash battled each other out with Dawn merging victorious, putting an end to her losing streak. Wallace later appeared in flashbacks and has appeared in a fantasy.

In Mega Evolution Special II, it is revealed that Steven Stone is the new Champion of Hoenn, confirming that Wallace no longer holds the title. Wallace returns in Journeys, where it is revealed that he is the current Sootopolis Gym Leader and his niece, Lisia, had made her debut scouting potential coordinators while meeting Chloe. Wallace reunites with Ash, revealing that despite not competing in the World Coronation series, he was watching all of Ash's World Coronation series matches. Wallace then battles Ash only to lose easily. Wallace gives Ash a second Rain Badge and his scarf as proof of Ash's victory, much to Ash's bafflement, as this was done to remind fans that Ash is a Champion, thus he cannot do anymore Gym Challenges.

• Roark (ヒョウタ, Hyōta)

Voiced by: Masataka Azuma; Satsuki Yukino (young) (Japanese); Craig Blair, Zoe Martin (young) (English)

Roark is the Rock-type Gym Leader from Oreburgh City, foreman of the Oreburgh Mine and leader of the Ancient Pokémon Expedition Orienations. He inherited the Gym from his father, Byron, when Byron moved to Canaclave City, which would allowed Roark to further his own career. He first appeared in the show, where Paul was able to battle and defeat Roark easily, despite two of Paul's Pokémon were at a disadvantage. Ash later challenged Roark to a Gym battle, while Paul watched, but loses due to focusing too much on pleasing his rival and the fact that Roark's Cranidos wore out his team fast. Afterwards, Paul leaves disgusted with Ash's performance.

While training for a rematch, Roark provides Ash advice on using a strategy that Ash is familiar with, while reminding Ash that to win battles, concentrate on the current opponent and not the potential opponent. It is implied that Roark does not like Paul, as when Ash mentions about Paul's win, Roark felt uncomfortable stating that it "has been eating [him]". He helped Ash and his friends stop a rampagaing Aerodactyl and sent Team Rocket blasting off with his newly evolved Rampardos. The next day, Ash goes in for a rematch and violently defeats all of Roark's Pokémon, due to Roark being too slow in adapting to Ash's new tactics which included the improvised Spin Dodge and defense strategies.

Roark later appears during Ash's visit at Canalave City where Ash learns that Byron, the Canalave Gym Leader, was in fact, Roark's father. Both father and son defeated and stopped Team Rocket from stealing the fossils. Roark later refereed Ash's Gym Battle against Byron.

Roark's tactics are all about using fast and offense attacks. His signature Pokémon, Cranidos/ Rampardos, is capable of utilizing these tactics. However, he has poor defense tactics, which Byron always reminded Roark to use as well.

• Gardenia (ナタネ, Natane)

Voiced by: Chieko Honda (Japanese); Lara Starr Rigores (English)

The Eterna City Gym Leader and a Grass-type Specialist, Gardenia always gets overenthusiastic when coming across a Grass-type Pokémon, such as James' Cacnea and Carnivine and Ash's Turtwig, causing her to cuddle them a lot much to the Pokémon's displeasure. She first appeared in Eterna Forest arc, when Ash and friends help Cheryl reach the Combee hive. Ash had a practice battle with Gardenia, but forfeited as her skills were too overwhelming. She later appeared to help stop Team Rocket from stealing the Adamant Orb, while clearing Nando, who was framed for the crime. This is where Gardenia reveals herself as Gym Leader. Shortly after, Gardenia then got to battle Ash in an official Gym battle, where he emerged victorious.

Gardenia appeared one last time where she and James engaged in a Tag Battle against Ash and Dawn but lost. During the battle, Gardenia reveals that Cacnea can learn the move, Drain Punch, and offers to train Cacnea to make it stronger, to which James refused. However, because James did not properly train Cacnea and felt insecure, it constantly failed to execute Drain Punch correctly. After consideration, he tearfully gave away his Cacnea to Gardenia to master Drain Punch. It is later revealed by Barry that she was successful, much to James' joy.

Gardenia's tactics is to rely on sunlight to make her Pokémon's moves powerful. However, due to over relying on the sunlight, she ended up costing her Gym Battle victory to Ash.

• Maylene (スモモ, Sumomo)

Voiced by: Aya Endō (Japanese); Rachael Lillis (English)

Maylene is the Fighting Gym Leader from Veilstone City. Six months prior to her debut appearance, Maylene became a Gym Leader, due to being a formidable opponent alongside her Lucario. However, due to the stress and new responsibilities and duties she had to carry out, she ended up losing focus too often. When Paul defeated Maylene easily due to both type-advantage and her lack of concentration, Paul called her "the weakest Gym leader [he's] ever fought."

Maylene bonded with Dawn as the two were struggling throughout their careers, but they decided to battle to give each other confidence, while Ash went to train with Paul's older brother, Reggie. After Dawn loses to Maylene, Maylene battled Ash next. Although the battle ended in a draw, she gave Ash the win. This is the only time where Ash's Sinnoh Gym battle ended in a tie. She returns one last time to help Ash and the gang stop Team Galactic from stealing the Veilstone City Meteorites. It appears that she might have feelings for Reggie as he is nice to Maylene, unlike Paul.

• Crasher Wake (マキシマム仮面, Makishimamu Kamen, Maximum Mask)

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese); David Brimmer (English)

The Water-type Gym Leader from Pastoria City, Crasher Wake is also a professional wrestler. He first appeared in the anime where he brings Ash, Dawn and Brock to the Pastoria Crogaunk Festival, as he is serving as one of the judges there. Fortunately, he accepted Ash's challenge for the following day. When it was time for the Gym battle, Ash was able to use Pikachu and Buizel to take out all three of Crasher Wake's Pokémon easily.

Crasher Wake is the only Sinnoh Gym Leader Ash was able to defeat without losing his own Pokémon in battle. Crasher Wake's Pokémon have a large amount of stamina, such as his Floatzel being able to use his flotation sac to stop various oncoming moves including Giga Impact. Crasher Wake also uses the underwater portion of the battlefield for ambush tactics and sensing opponents above water.

• Fantina (メリッサ, Merissa, Melissa)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese); Erica Schroeder (English)

Fantina is the Ghost-type Gym Leader of Hearthrome City and a former Top Coordinator. Much like in the games, although Ash and his friends visit Heathrome City early on in the series, Fantina was not available to battle and was often away training. Ash does not properly meet Fantina until he sees her training with Zoey for an upcoming contest. When Ash had a practice battle with Fantina, he was easily overwhelmed by her reliance on her favorite move, Hypnosis, which her Pokémon Gengar and Drifblim can use.

Sometime later, Fantina returned to her Gym to make up for not doing Gym battles, as Paul revealed to have won his badge from her. She also battled Barry, who forfeited his match as he failed to knock out one of her Pokémon. When it was time for her showdown with Ash, it is revealed that Ash developed a "Counter Shield" tactic which was capable of both blocking and injuring opponents. He wipes the smirk off Fantina's face and defeats her by using "Counter Shield" along with close range attacks, much to Barry's amazement while watching the battle. Fantina later appears as a judge for the Sinnoh Grand Festival.

Her battle style is all about relying on moves that cause status conditions such as Hypnosis. However, because of her over reliance on her signature move, Hypnosis, as well as her poorly developed "Counter-Counter Shield", she loses to Ash.

• Byron (トウガン, Tōgan)

Voiced by: Kazuki Yao (Japanese); Dan Green (English)

Byron is the Canaclave Gym Leader, Steel-type specialist and father of Roark. Originally, Byron used to run the Oreburgh Gym, but moved to Canaclave City, as there were more fossils located there and a vacant spot in the Gym opened up. His reason for letting Roark inheriting the Oreburgh Gym was for Roark to develop his own career. Despite his tough demeanour, Byron does love his son and his unseen wife and even kept the Sunkern Fossil, which Roark discovered as a child.

In his debut, he was in the middle of a family feud with Roark, while Ash arrives in the Gym. Roark calls out his father on his absence, which resulted in a feud becoming an intense showdown (Roark's Rampardos vs Byron's Bastiodon) of which Fossil Pokémon is the best and which tactic was better (offense vs. defense). Fortunately, the battle stopped when Team Rocket stole all of his fossil collection. Both father and son teamed up and defeated them. Byron then got to battle Ash, while Roark refereed, only for Ash to merge victorious.

Byron's tactics are primarily defence tactics and his signature Pokémon, Bastiodon, is capable of blocking oncoming attacks. However, due to poor offense tactics, he loses to Ash. Byron has bad judgement of character as he compliments Team Rocket on digging holes well enough to not be villains. Fortunately, Roark tells his father that Team Rocket are bad as they stole Byron's fossil collection.

• Candice (スズナ, Suzuna)

Voiced by: Noriko Shitaya (Japanese); Kether Donohue (English)

Candice is the Ice-type Gym Leader of Snowpoint City. Despite her title, few challengers came to her hometown for a Gym battle. As a result, she works as a teacher at the Pokémon school for the most part. She is a childhood friend of Zoey and each had nicknames. Zoey calls Candice "Miss Senior" as they went to school together, while Candice calls Zoey "Zo-Zo" (ノゾチ, Nozotchi). She appears to be fond of the word, "kiai", and places it in sentences. When they were young, both Zoey and Candice both took care of a young homeless Glameow that would later become Zoey's main Pokémon partner. Candice greets Ash and friends when they arrived in Snowpoint City and asks Ash to help her class as Candice's assistant teacher.

She is excited about a challenger coming to her city and eagerly accepts Ash's Gym Challenge the next day, while Zoey and her friends watched. Candice's tactics consisted of a barrage of close-range physical attacks and defense strategies to overcome type disadvantages. Despite this, she loses to Ash. Shortly after Ash won, Paul showed up to challenge Candice. Unfortunately, as Ash had his Gym battle, Candice postponed it to a later day, which Paul accepts without question. She later watches Paul battle Brandon, where Paul loses due to letting his anger get the better of him. She has made a few cameo appearances watching Zoey and Dawn compete through various contests.

• Volkner (デンジ, Denji)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima; Daisuke Sakaguchi (young) (Japanese); Eli James (Diamond & Pearl), Griffin Puatu (Journeys) (English)

Volkner is the Electric-type Gym Leader from Sunyshore City. In his early life, he spent it on mostly battling poachers and gangs on the streets. At some point, he met his rival, Flint, where they battled and later became friends following a victory against a Proprietor. While Flint became the member of the Sinnoh Elite Four, Volkner took on the job as Gym Leader. He is also an electronic engineer as he designed automated walkways, multiple solar panels and Sunyshore Tower which is in fact the city's power plant. Although a skilled battler, he grew disinterested in his victories and just gave away his Beacon Badges for free.

Palmer mentioned that Volkner would give Ash "a shock" in battle, while Paul mentioned that the Gym was illegitimate, as Barry got his Beacon Badge without a proper battle. When Volkner refused to battle Ash, Ash decided to battle Flint in an exhibition battle. Because of Flint's victory, Volkner immediately decided to accept Ash's official Gym Challenge. However, the battle was interrupted, due to Team Rocket stealing the Sunyshore Tower. Both Ash and Volkner defeated Team Rocket with the help of Ash's newly evolved Torterra. Despite the success, the tower was badly damaged and Volkner had to repair it.

Sometime later, after the Grand Festival, the heroes returned to Sunyshore City for the final Sinnoh Gym match. Volkner showed off his defense strategies and close-range attack tactics in battle but finally loses to Ash when Ash's Infernape finally mastered its Blaze ability. With Ash's final win, Volkner and Flint congratulate Ash on his victory.

Volkner returns in the Journeys anime as he is participating in the World Coronation series and reunites with Ash. While he does put a good fight, he lost to Ash again when Pikachu used his Z-move against Volkner's Electivire, causing his rank to drop. He along with Flint later watched Cynthia's battle against Iris.

• Chili (ポッド, Poddo, Pod), Cress (コーン, Kōn, Corn)

Chili: Voiced by: Masakazu Morita (Japanese); Lucien Dodge (English)

Cress: Voiced by: Makoto Ishii (Japanese); Tom Wayland (English)

Chili and Cress are Cilan's brothers. Cilan, Chili and Cress are triplets, waiters and own a restaurant that doubles as a Gym in Striaton City. When Ash arrived for his Gym Battle challenge, he is given the option to battle one of the three brothers. Ash decided to face all three of them and their Pokémon, Pansage, Pansear and Panpour, with two victories for one side as winner. Although Ash lost to Cress, Ash defeated both Chili and Cilan, earning his first Unova Gym Badge. Inspired by the battle, Cilan decided to travel with Ash while Chili and Cress had to take care of their gym.

Sometime later, a C-class Connoisseuse named Burgundy attempted to challenge Cilan to a rematch, having lost to him. Upon learning that Cilan went travelling with Ash, Burgundy attempt to find Cilan for a rematch, only to lose again to him. It is revealed that Burgundy defeated Chili in a Gym Battle.

Later when Ash, Cilan and Iris were at Driftveil City, Chili and his Pansear ran away from the Striaton Gym and met with Cilan. It is revealed that Chili has been losing a lot, due to using too much offense tactics and not enough defense tactics and all four of Pansear's Fire-type moves are not capable of covering its weakness against Water, Ground or Rock. Cilan taught Chili's Pansear a new move, Solar Beam to counter the weakness.

After appearing in a few fantasy sequences and flashbacks, Chili and Cress appear one last time in the Decolore Islands arc. They had a nasty run in with Morana, an Ice-type trainer from Sinnoh and a dojo breaker. If the Gym Leader loses to her in a battle, then their Gym was hers. Although she defeated Chili and Cress, she had to face off against Cilan and tracked his whereabouts, with Cilan's brothers following as well. Cilan was able to defeat Morana and maintain the ownership of the Striaton Gym. Afterwards, Chili and Cress went home to Unova while Cilan, Iris and Ash head off to Kanto.

• Lenora (アロエ, Aroe, Aloe)

Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese); Norma Nongauza (English)

Lenora is a paleontologist and Normal-type Gym Leader from Nacrene City. She also works at the Nacrene Museum as a director, alongside her husband, Hawes, who is assistant director. Many trainers who attempted to challenge Lenora were required to search for a book that would help them out. Unknown to many challengers, she wanted them to find the book that will grant them access to the Gym battlefield. However, as many people wanted to find books they were interested in or can read through quickly, they failed her test before the battle could even begin.

She first appears in the series stopping a rampaging Yamask who was trying to reclaim its lost mask. Once the ordeal was done, she then gave Ash the challenge to find a book that would help him become a better trainer. He does so and he gets to earn the right to face Lenora. Unlike most Gym Leaders, Lenora is allowed to switch her Pokémon out. Her tactic is to disorient her opponents using a combination of Roar from Lillipup in the first battle and Herdier in the rematch (which causes the opponent's Pokémon to switch out) and Watchog's Mean Look (which prevents the trainer from switching out their Pokémon). Because of this tactic, Ash ended up losing his battle to her.

Sometime after training with Don George, Ash returns to the Gym for a rematch. This time, Ash was able to adapt to Lenora's disorientation tactic and successfully defeats her. Lenora also appeared in a couple of flashbacks.

• Burgh (アーティ, Āti, Arty)

Voiced by: Tōru Furuya (Japanese); Billy Bob Thompson (English)

Burgh is the Bug-type Gym Leader from Castelia City, a fashion designer and an artist. Even since he was child, he was fascinated with Bug-type Pokémon and was able to interact with them and learn about their behavior as a result. In his debut appearance, Ash and friends encountered Burgh in Pinwheel Forest. He shows Ash how to interact with Bug-types when Ash was attempting to bond with a Sewaddle, which later became Ash's.

Later, when the group met Burgh in his hometown, there was a Venipede infestation. Burgh was angry that the mayor of Castelia City planned to forcibly remove them. Burgh suggested to find the leader and heal the leader so that the Venipede could leave in peace. The Venipede were successfully driven out, with a help of Burgh's Bug Flute, and Ash and co.'s aid. Shortly after the ordeal, Professor Juniper arrived and Ash and friends decided to accompany her to the Desert Resort. This would have led to the Team Rocket vs. Team Plasma two-parter, but the two episodes were cancelled due to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. The dub removed the reference to the Desert Resort and the episode ended with Ash looking forward to his Gym battle.

Ash battled Burgh for the third Gym Badge. With the help of both his Pikachu and Sewaddle/Swadloon, Ash emerged victorious. Burgh appears in a few flashbacks since then.

• Elesa (カミツレ, Kamitsure)

Voiced by: Yumiko Kobayashi (Japanese); Eileen Stevens (English)

Elesa is the Electric-type Gym Leader from Nimbasa City and a famous fashion model. In her debut episode, Elesa was working at a fashion show displaying multiple outfits while walking down the runway, while Ash, Iris, Cilan and Bianca watched. Upon noticing Ash's Pikachu, she jumps off the runway and gets to meet the group up close, as she has never seen a Pikachu before. Bianca first challenges Elesa but loses easily when Elesa's Zebstrika stomped all three of Bianca's Pokémon. Elesa and Ash also convinced Bianca's father to allow her to continue becoming a Pokémon Trainer.

Later, Ash gets to battle Elesa next. Despite a series of mishaps, Ash ends up winning. Elesa does admit that she forgot that a strong bond between Pokémon and trainer is key to victories rather than dazzling and showing off to the crowd.

Her Gym has a built-in roller coaster that grants the challengers access to the battlefield. In addition, Elesa has multiple female fans watching her Gym battles, some of which cosplay as her. She also appears in a couple flashbacks and was mentioned by Dawn, who attended one of her fashion shows.

• Clay (ヤーコン, Yākon)

Voiced by: Tsuguo Mogami (Japanese); Sean Schemmel (English)

Clay is the Ground-type Gym Leader from Driftveil City and CEO of a mining industry. As a child, he and his Pokémon, Excadrill, made a living working in the mines digging for various resources. Many years later, the mine would later become the Driftveil City Gym and also earned him the title, "King of the Mines." Clay does not approve of people using "unfair strategies" such as Ash using his Snivy's Attract on Clay's Palpitoad, despite being a legit strategy, preferring full frontal assault. Clay also reminds challengers that reaching a goal in life is not easy and that hard work is the only way to achieve it.

Clay first met Ash and co. briefly but could not battle Ash, due to work and a discovery of a new tunnel. The second time Ash tried to challenge Clay, he was turned down, but Clay sent Ash to a nearby island to get several sacks of Revival Herbs to make the Pokémon work healthily in the mines. He does accept Ash's challenge when Ash fulfills the request and thus earned the right for a Gym Challenge. Despite his efforts and head-on tactics, Clay loses the battle, but encourages Ash to continue on with his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master.

• Skyla (フウロ, Fūro)

Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese); Sarah Natochenny (English)

The Flying-type Gym Leader from Mistralton City, Skyla inherited the Gym from her grandfather, Miles. While she was a skilled trainer, she had no time for other hobbies such as flying her plane, due to countless challengers coming to her gym. To resolve this problem, she created "Air Battles." The battles were more based on theory. If a challengers' Pokémon have positive type matchups, then they earn the badge without a proper battle. If not, then they do not earn the badge. She had been using it a lot, although it was highly disapproved of by Miles and Cilan. Cilan tried to challenge her into a battle to prove her air battle theories were wrong but loses, based on Skyla's predictions in terms of type matchup.

Ash then challenged Skyla into a battle, which she accepts as the other challengers wanted to watch how an actual battle plays out. Although Skyla predicted that Ash would lose easily, she ends up losing due to Ash's newly evolved Unfezant and her own overconfidence. Afterwards, Skyla decided to drop the Air Battle habit and not take the battles too lightly.

• Brycen (ハチク, Hachiku)

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese); Benjamin Becker (English)

Brycen is the Ice-type Gym Leader from Icirrus City. Originally, he was once a famous movie star who had many leading roles in movies. However, an accident on set forced Brycen to retire from acting during production of another movie and he later became a Gym-Leader. He trains in the mountains and sets up traps for any poachers. He first appears in the series helping Ash train in the mountains and stops a Pokémon poacher from capturing a Volcarona.

Brycen then battled Ash at the Gym. Although he had multiple counterstrategies for type disadvantages, he loses to Ash. Once Ash earned his seventh badge, Brycen suggested to head to Opelucid City for his final Gym badge, which does not sit too well with Iris. Unbeknownst to Brycen, the Opelucid Gym was closed which meant that Ash has to go somewhere else.

• Roxie (ホミカ, Homika)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese); Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld[15] (English)

Roxie is the Poison-type Gym Leader from Virbank City and the bass guitarist for her punk rock band, Koffing and the Toxics. Originally, Ash was going to go to Opelucid City for his eighth badge, but because the Gym was closed there, Ash went to Virbank City instead. Unlike in the games where she is the second Gym Leader, Roxie serves as Ash's final Unova Gym Leader to beat. Her Gym is a large concert hall where loud music plays affecting a trainer's concentration. One of the most dangerous tactics Roxie uses is to poison her opponents, regardless of type advantage, and had defeated multiple challengers with that tactic. Her Gym battles consist of Roxie using three Poison-types while the challenger is allowed to use all Pokémon on hand. Despite her poison tactics, she loses to Ash.

Her Koffing was revealed to have been caught by Roxie when she hosted a concert in the Kanto region. She is quite excited to meet Ash as he and his Pikachu were also revealed to be from the Kanto region as well. Roxie also likes to put on a solid performance and believes in fair play, when she gives Ash's Pignite a Pecha berry to cure him of his poisoning after defeating her Scolipede.

• Drayden (シャガ, Shaga)

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (Japanese); Mike Pollock (English)

Drayden is the Dragon-type Gym Leader of Opelucid City. In a flashback, Iris and her Excadrill first encountered Drayden when he visited her hometown, Village of Dragons. Iris attempted to battle him, only to suffer a bad loss, due to her arrogance. He is the reason why Excadrill disobeyed Iris, as Excadrill feared he failed her. Fortunately, Iris and Excadrill were able to make amends.

Ash originally planned on facing Drayden but because Drayden was away from his Gym, Ash went elsewhere for his final Gym badge. Drayden is one of the two Gym Leaders Ash never faces in battle (the other was Marlon).

It is revealed that he is also the head of Opelucid Academy, the same school where Iris attended. Iris had a tough time there as she did not know how to fit in the school and was reprimanded by Drayden for not realizing she wore out a rented Fraxure during a practice battle. However, Drayden had faith in Iris as he plans on having her inherit the Opelucid Gym but after she goes on a journey first. He has a battle with Iris and wins again.

He returns in Journeys, where he meets Ash again and watches his World Coronation Series battle against Iris. Later, Drayden watched Iris' match against Cynthia.

• Marlon (シズイ, Shizui)

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (Japanese); Ted Lewis (English)

Marlon is the Water-type Gym Leader from Humilau City. He only appeared in one episode, where Cameron had to earn his eighth and final Gym Badge. He first met Cameron and Ash when the two were lost in the city looking for the gym. Fortunately, he gave the two a ride on his Wailord to the Gym, where Iris and Cilan were waiting. Once they arrived, Marlon battled Cameron. Despite using his strong Water-type Pokémon, offense tactics and the water arena to his advantage, Marlon lost to Cameron. As a result, Cameron has earned his final badge for his entry in the Unova League. Marlon is one of the two Gym Leaders Ash never faces as Ash already earned his eight Unova Gym Badges.

• Cheren (チェレン, Cheren)

Voiced by: Takuya Eguchi (Japanese); Todd Haberkorn (English)

Cheren is the new Normal-type Gym Leader from Aspertia City. Unlike in the games, he is not a rival of Ash, and is already a teacher at the Pokémon school. He was first mentioned by Professor Juniper, who informed Ash and co. about the new Gym Leader, shortly after the Unova League.

In his actual appearance, he helped the heroes to round up the School's Pokémon that ran out of control and wild due to Pikachu and Axew messing with the intercoms. He was able to calm down a scared Shinx despite getting electrocuted. Afterwards, he and Ash had an unofficial Gym battle match where Cheren emerged victorious. He is the only Normal-type Gym Leader Ash never rematched, as Ash already earned his eight Unova badges and Cheren's badge is the Basic Badge, just like Lenora's.

• Viola (ビオラ, Biora, Viola)

Voiced by: Noriko Shitaya (Japanese); Lori Gardner (English)

Viola is the Bug-type Gym Leader of Santalune City, a professional photographer and the younger sister of Alexa, the Kalos journalist Ash met during the Decolore Islands arc. Viola was first mentioned by Alexa in the last episode of the Black and White anime and was mentioned in the first XY episode, where she was away from her gym. She did not make an official appearance until Ash's arrival at Santalune City, where she photographs Ash and Pikachu near a fountain. When Ash attempted to battle her, he loses easily due to Viola's trap tactics which counters both Pikachu and Fletchling's type advantage. Unbeknownst to Ash, Viola admitted to Alexa that she felt disappointed in Ash's performance. Alexa responds by warning Viola that there are no repeat performances in a rematch.

When Ash goes back for a rematch, he was able to adapt to most of her tactics, but Viola's Vivillon knew Sleep Powder (which was never used in the first battle) to defeat Ash's Fletchling. During the Gym Battle rematch, Viola acts dismissive towards Ash, feeling that he had no chance of winning. Fortunately, with a bit of encouragement from Serena, Ash emerged victorious, giving Viola a reality check. She reappeared in the Battle Chateau where she runs into Ash and pals and battles Grant, where she loses easily. She does make a few cameo appearances and teams up with Ash to help stop Team Flare. She seems to have feelings for Grant, which is reciprocated.

• Grant (ザクロ, Zakuro)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima (Japanese); Cory Willis (English)

Grant is a professional athlete, specifically in rock-climbing, as well as the Rock-type Gym Leader of Cyllage City. Ash first met him at the Battle Chateau, where he was able to defeat Viola and her Surskit. Afterwards, he heads back to his Gym, but not before telling Ash that he will wait for him at his Gym to battle. It appears that he has feelings for Viola, which is reciprocated.

Later on, when Ash arrives in the Gym, Grant accepts his challenge. Grant's philosophy is that climbing walls is a way of letting a person reach enlightenment, as long as they focus on reaching the goal. This was demonstrated when Ash had to climb up the walls inside his Gym to reach the battlefield on the top, while Ash's friends took the elevator. For the battle, Ash is allowed to use all of his Pokémon on hand, while Grant has to use two. Although a strong battler and his Tyrunt took out two of Ash's Pokémon (Froakie and Fletchling), he loses to Ash and Pikachu as Ash developed a counterstrategy against Grant's Rock Tomb and Draco Meteor attacks. Afterwards, before Ash heads off to Shalour City, Grant hoped to refight Ash at the Battle Chateau, which ended up never actually happening. He does make a few cameos and helps Ash defeat Team Flare.

• Korrina (コルニ, Koruni, Corni)

Voiced by: Yuka Terasaki (Japanese); Lisa Ortiz (English)

Korrina is the Shalour City Gym Leader, who specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon and rides around on roller skates. With the exception of Clemont, who is Ash's main Kalos companion, Korrina is also the only Kalos Gym Leader who briefly travelled with Ash and pals. Her main Pokémon is Lucario, who is capable of Mega-evolving. Within her debut series, she gets help from Ash and friends to search for a Lucarionite, a Mega-evolution stone for her Lucario, which they found successfully, and they were able to Mega-evolve her Lucario. However, due to arrogance and failing to understand her Lucario being too battle obsessed, her Mega-Lucario goes out of control and violently attacks his own allies. She had to go up to Pomace Mountain, where Mabel and her Mawile, capable of Mega-evolving, showed her how to be in sync through developing floral designs. Eventually, Korrina was able to master her Mega-evolution. Afterwards, she returned to Shalour City to prepare herself for the Gym Battle. Ash was able to defeat Korrina in a Gym battle with Pikachu defeating Mega-Lucario. She shows up in a few cameos and helped Ash defeat Team Flare.

In Pokémon Journeys, Korrina was revealed to be competing in the Battle Festival to take a shot at facing Leon and reunites with Ash and meeting his Riolu. Although she was able to defeat Ash's Gengar with her Mienshao and somewhat adapt to Ash's tactics, it was not enough for her, as Ash defeats her Mienshao and her Mega-Lucario again with Dragonite. She was later mentioned by Bea in a later episode, where Bea reveals that she defeated Korrina off screen. Korrina appears later on in the show as to provide Ash a Key Stone and helping him head to Mega Island to search for a Lucarionite for his Lucario as it was to apologize to fans for not giving Ash access to Mega-evolution in favour of Ash-Greninja and Generation VI only Pokémon in the XY series. She later came to Galar to watch Ash's battle against Bea. Korrina, alongside her grandfather Gurkinn and Bea, would then watch Ash's match against Leon.

• Ramos (フクジ, Fukuji)

Voiced by: Minoru Inaba (Japanese); Tony Salerno (English)

Ramos is the Grass-type Gym Leader of Coumarine City. He owns a Grass-type Pokémon ranch and is a gardener. Despite his old age, he is wise and provides Ash advice on how to deal with situations such as not to rush into problems and find the "side road" to solve the problems. His tactic is all about patience and uses a combination of defence tactics and sunlight to power up his Grass-types. He first met Ash and pals when they accidentally broke a fence in his ranch and helps them defeat Team Rocket when they abducted all three members of the Vanillite line. At the end of his debut episode, he reveals himself to be the Grass-type Gym Leader and was looking forward for his battle with Ash.

He got to battle Ash after they enjoy some tea and do some gardening. Remembering what Ramos said about not to rush things during the gardening, Ash took this advice and was able to defeat Ramos in a Gym Battle. Ramos also appeared in the following episode when the city was having its annual Coumarine City Festival. He later made a few cameos and aids Ash in stopping Team Flare.

• Valerie (マーシュ, Māshu, Mache)

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese); Kate Bristol[27] (English)

Valerie is the Fairy-type Gym Leader of Laverre City and a famous fashion designer who always wanted to be a Pokémon. Her Gym also operates as a fashion show and a fashion boutique which sells women's clothing with Pokémon patterns. The Furisode Girls serve as her employees not just for the fashion show but for gym battles. Serena is a huge fan of Valerie as she always wanted to meet her in person. In her debut appearance, Valerie was hosting a fashion show which meant that all Gym Battle requests were cancelled at the moment. When two of her models could not show up in time for the show, Valerie hired Serena and Bonnie as replacements. After the fashion show, she challenges Sawyer into a Gym battle and easily defeated him due to Sawyer's mistake of using a Dragon-type Bagon against her Fairy-type Spritzee. Unlike most Gym Leaders, Valerie does not meet Ash face to face until her second appearance, when Ash arrives to challenge her to a Gym battle. Although she puts up a good fight, she loses to Ash. She made a few cameo appearances since and shows up in the Team Flare arc where she helps Ash save Kalos.

Her tactics primarily consist of using unexpected attacks and twisting the battlefield into her advantage, which she describes as "hidden fangs". Many trainers, prior to Ash, lost because of this strategy. She is also capable of speaking the Fairy-type Pokémon language. Valerie admires Ash as he mentions that he can understand how a Pokémon can feel, when she asked if he could talk to them as well during the Gym battle.

• Olympia (ゴジカ, Gojika)

Voiced by: Masako Katsuki (Japanese); Catrin Lloyd Bollard (English)

Olympia is the Psychic-type Gym Leader from Anistar City, as well as a Psychic mentor for her students. She has psychic powers that allow her to see visions of the past as well as the future as well as levitation. Olympia was first mentioned in the series by Tierno, who tried to battle her but lost the match. In her debut appearance, she and one of her apprentices, Charlene, furiously stop and scold her other apprentice, Carrie, for attacking Professor Sycamore and his research crew, alongside Ash and pals due to Carrie misinterpreting the prophecy involving the main characters. Once everything was cleared up, Olympia reveals Ash's Frogadier past and what the future would hold for the two. She later engages in a Gym battle with Ash, using both her male and female Meowstic. Despite her tactics of using deadly move combinations, Ash realized that Olympia was reusing the same attack combinations and, with careful timing, successfully defeated her.

She briefly appeared later on in the show, informing Diantha about the upcoming disaster. Olympia later assisted Ash in the battle against the Giant Rock, which was heading for the Anistar City sundial, which would destroy the world if the Giant Rock made contact with it.

• Wulfric (ウルップ, Uruppu, Urup)

Voiced by: Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (Japanese); David Brimmer (English)

Wulfric is the Ice-type gym leader from Snowbelle City. Ash first encounters him after Sawyer earned his final Gym badge for the Kalos League. While Ash puts up a good fight, he loses to Wulfric, as Ash was unable to master the Ash-Greninja technique. Wulfric explained that the loss was due to Ash having severe trust issues with his Greninja.

Sometime later, Ash returned for his rematch after mastering the Ash-Greninja tactic and learning how to stop doubting himself in his Pokémon. This time, Wulfric loses to Ash, despite Mega-evolving his Abomasnow. He later helped Ash defeat Team Flare.

Wulfric is impatient and eager to battle, despite the referee being needed to explain the rules. He does have some speaking problems, usually starting sentences with, "You know what...". Like many Gym Leaders, he wants to see full potential in the challengers.

• Bea (サイトウ, Saitō)

Voiced by: Yoko Hikasa (Japanese); Tiana Camacho (English)

Bea is an expert of Galar Karate and a fierce warrior of a Fighting Gym Leader; Bea is a determined fighter who rarely displays her emotions. She has an accurate sense of battle strategies and always remains calm even when facing a crisis. However, in spite of her calmness and tough looking exterior, Bea has a huge, sweet tooth. While she tried to keep her love of sweets a secret, her fans eventually found out, which resulted in her having more trouble trying to indulge herself.

Bea was considered as a prodigy in Galar Karate as mentioned by Chuck, the Cianwood Gym Leader, when he mentioned studying Galar Karate under her father when he visited Galar. Bea once had a battle against Korrina in which she came out victorious.

Ash challenged her to a battle, once. Bea used Grapploct and Hawlucha, while Ash used Riolu and Farfetch'd. However, both of her Pokémon were undefeated, and Bea came victorious. The coordination of their fighting stances, plus fast reflexes, and pure strength, makes her a devastating and brutal opponent.

Bea was last spotted in Cianwood City, her rank rose to 193. Ash then demanded a rematch, to which Bea accepted. Bea kept her Grapploct, and switched Hawlucha for Hitmontop. Ash kept his Riolu, and switched Farfetch'd for Pikachu. After a tough battle, the match ended in a draw, which meant that there were no changes in ranking. Following the battle, Bea and her Pokémon surprised Ash and Goh who were shocked to see her eat the desserts offered by Chuck, she later states to Ash the next time they face each other will be in the Ultra Class. Both Ash and Bea competed against each other in the Ultra Class where Ash wins by using his Mega Lucario to defeat her Gigantamax Machamp. Afterwards, Bea fully acknowledges and respects Ash's growth and finally refers to him by his real name instead of "Riolu Trainer" and later "Lucario Trainer." Bea returns when Ash is on his quest to find the Max Mushrooms to Gigantamax Gengar. It is also revealed that she is friends with Allister, as both are from Stow-on-Side. Bea, along with Korrina, would later watch Ash's match against Leon. She later has a practice battle with Hop, while Leon referees the match.

Although Bea has a stern exterior, she is actually a sweet person when she smiles, indicating that she can be outwardly nice to trusted ones. A speculation on why she rarely smiles is that her strict parents had posed an emotional burden on her during her childhood. It has also been stated that she lost her smile due to her parents' strict training. Additionally, it is implied that few people have seen Bea smile, one of which is the player character following their Gym Battle with her.

• Raihan (キバナ, Kibana)

Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki (JN027-45), Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (JN82-current) (Japanese); Danny Kramer (English)

Raihan is a Dragon-type Gym Leader from Hammerlocke. His main Pokémon is a Duraludon which is capable of Gigantamaxing. Much like fellow Gym Leader Bea, Raihan entered the World Coronation series to face Leon. He was the 7th strongest trainer in the Master Class. However, it is revealed that his rank had dropped to 8th place as Flint was ranked 7 in the Masters 8 but then dropped to 8th place but at some point dropped his rank even further. His battle style is mainly weather manipulation which he can use to give himself an advantage to power up his Pokémon.

He first appeared in the series to face off against Leon and his Charizard using Duraludon only to lose. Afterwards, Raihan vowed to train harder to face off against Leon once more. Later on the series, he later appeared in the Darkest Day arc to help Sonia to stop the rampaging Eternatus and the out-of-control Dynamaxed Pokémon. He later competes in a cake baking competition where he loses to Ash. Raihan served as Ash's final opponent in the Hyper Class before Ash enters the Masters 8 where Raihan lost the match. He later watched Ash's battle against Leon.

• Opal (ポプラ, Popura, Poplar)

Voiced by: Yoshino Otori (Japanese); Marin Miller (English)

Opal is the Fairy-type Gym Leader from Ballonlea. She is fond of the color pink, such as giving her challengers pink clothing to wear while enjoying giving quizzes to people. However, she does it as to teach challengers about patience and not go recklessly searching for something. Opal also has a sweet tooth as she hosted a cake decorating contest as well sampling each of the contestant's cakes. In her debut, she made Ash and Goh take part in a trivia contest and are forced to wear pink outfits every time they get a question wrong. However, Opal was making the two wait patiently, while waiting for Chloe to return to the gang with the help of Galarian Ponyta and Rapidash. She later returns to the show hosting a cake-decorating contest, where she serves as hostess and judge and declares Ash the winner for creative taste and unique decorations. Because of this, she challenges Ash into a battle only to call it off after Ash's Pikachu gets "Feastamaxed" from eating Gigantamax Alcremie's cream.

• Allister (オニオン, Onion)

Voiced by: Chiyuki Miura (Japanese); Ryan Bartley (English)

Allister is the Ghost-type Gym Leader from Stow-on-Side, the same city where Bea hails from. He is shy and wears a white ghost mask over his face. Despite his creepy appearance and soft voice, he does have a caring side.

Allister first appears in the series where he is riding on a ghost train, while helping Goh drive Spiritomb out of Ash's body. He appears again to help Ash Gigantamax his Gengar. When Ash was only able to Dynamax his Gengar the first time, Allister tells Ash that the only way to unlock the Gigantamax Gengar form was to look for Max Mushrooms and convert it into a soup. Ash was able to get all the Mushrooms required and is able to Gigantamax his Gengar for the first time. Allister is also revealed to be friends with Bea. He also makes a few cameo appearances, watching Ash's battles against Marnie and Leon and listening to Team Rocket's radio show.

• Piers (ネズ, Nezu)

Voiced by: Hiro Shimono (Japanese); Howard Wang (English)

Piers is the Dark-type Gym Leader from Spikemuth, leader of Team Yell and the older brother of Marnie. When Ash went to battle Marnie, he was tricked into going to Spikemuth by Team Yell, which is Marnie's fan club. Piers gets annoyed that Team Yell were causing this problem, hinting that they do that often. After everything gets cleared up, he was able to drive Ash to Wyndon Stadium for his official World Coronation series match on his motorcycle. Piers revealed that Spikemuth Gym cannot host World Coronation Series matches as there are no power spots to Dynamax or Gigantamax as well as Marnie's motivation of becoming Champion- to make Spikemuth be revitalized again as the city is completely empty. Piers watches the match where Marnie loses, but the siblings congratulate Ash on his win. He, alongside Marnie and Team Yell, later got to watch Ash's showdown with Leon.

While Piers may look thuggish in terms of appearance, he is actually friendly and supportive of Marnie. He has low tolerance of Team Yell causing problems just to make Marnie look good such as getting upset when Ash mentions Team Yell's antics and Marnie scolding them for harassing Ash right before the match began. Piers is the only Team leader that is not a villain, unlike previous antagonistic groups.

• Kabu (カブ, Kabu)

Voiced by: Hiroki Tōchi (Japanese); TBA (English)

Kabu is the Fire-type Gym Leader of Motostoke. Originally from Hoenn, Kabu moved to Galar and became a Gym Leader. Roy sought Kabu as a possibility of him knowing about the Shiny Rayquaza. Right after Murdock made amends with Mitchell, Kabu was revealed to have been watching the whole event and decides to test out Liko and Roy's skills. He has the two compete in two separate Gym Challenge missions where Liko had to extinguish Litwick's flames while Roy has to light them up. After Roy won his challenge, Kabu and one of his assistants challenge the two into a Double Battle and defeats Roy while Liko forfeits her match. He does inform Liko and Roy that the Shiny Rayquaza is located at the Galar Mine. Later, Kabu checks up on the group at the mine and is relieved when Liko and Roy revealed that they have saved a Galarian Moltres.

Kabu is an excellent mentor and helps trainers improve their skills such as helping Roy's Fuecoco learn Flamethrower. However, he does not approve of trainers giving up too easily or having no motivation such as scolding Liko for forfeiting her match just to let her opponents win as well as being too nice.

• Brassius (コルサ, Colza)

Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (Japanese); TBA (English)

Brassius is the Grass-type Gym Leader from Artazon, as well as an artist. He tends to suffer from artist block if he has trouble creating an inspirational sculpture. Because of this, he constantly turns down Gym Challenges, much to the displeasure of many trainers. Nemona often times has to motivate Brassius. He does get inspiration from Roy who mentioned about the Shiny Rayquaza Brassius saw earlier. This allowed Brassius to challenge and defeat Roy in battle, while also providing Roy advice on how to improve his battle style.

• Iono (ナンジャモ, Nanjamo)

Voiced by: Kaede Hondo (Japanese); TBA (English)

Iono is the Electric-type Gym Leader from Levincia and a famed streamer and influencer. Iono is friends with Dot, given that the two created a collaborative livestream together to find Liko. To make the search for Liko successful, Iono organized the search into a game of tag. She later congratulated Roy for finding Liko successfully.

• Larry (アオキ, Aoki)

Voiced by: TBA (Japanese); TBA (English)

Larry is the Normal-type Gym Leader from Medali. He only appeared in a non-speaking cameo flashback when Friede mentioned how he met his Pikachu.

• Bruno (シバ, Siba)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese); Maddie Blaustein (English)

Bruno is the Fighting-type user of the Kanto Elite Four. He may be a stoic individual and devoted to hard work, but it is revealed that he is a dedicated and wise advisor such as believing in catching strong Pokémon to better themselves or meditate to hone his skills and wisdom.

In his debut, Ash and friends ran into some trouble in the form of a giant Onix running around. Both Ash and Brock wanted to learn from Bruno, which Bruno accepts. He has the two start doing chores around his place. At first, Bruno felt like a phony given that he did not have any secret techniques in training Pokémon. However, Bruno revealed his athletic prowess stopping the giant Onix, as well as remove the Sandslash that was stuck in its body. After fixing the problem, Bruno catches the Onix. It is then revealed that one of the keys to training Pokémon is to show care for each other between Trainer and Pokémon.

• Lorelei (カンナ, Kanna)

Voiced by: Maria Kawamura (Japanese); Jayne Grand (English)

Lorelei is the Ice-type user of the Elite Four in Kanto, but often relaxes in the Orange Islands. In her debut, Ash and friends meet her at a cafe and Lorelei invites the group to her lecture and battle demonstration. Here, Ash was struggling with his disobedient Charizard, forcing Lorelei to use her Slowbro to make Ash recall it. Ash then got to face off against Lorelei and her Cloyster using Pikachu only to lose easily. Lorelei does see a lot of potential in Ash, but she advises Ash to find more of his inner strength and be more connected with his Pokémon.

• Agatha (キクコ, Kikuko)

Voiced by: Kazuko Sugiyama (Japanese); Allyson Johnson (4Kids), Lisa Ortiz (TPCi, M20) (English)

Agatha is the Ghost-type user of the Kanto Elite Four. Shortly after Ash came back home from his Hoenn Journey, Ash came across her at Viridian City where it is revealed that she is the temporary substitute Gym Leader, until a replacement can be found. At the same time, Ash also met Scott who provided Ash the Battle Frontier quest and introduced Ash to her. Ash attempted to battle her to prove his strength to Scott only to lose to her. However, both Agatha and Scott recommended Ash to challenge the Battle Frontier quest which Ash accepts. Agatha wishes Ash good luck on the quest.

In Movie 20: I Choose You!, Agatha only appeared in a nightmare sequence as a teacher in a world where no Pokémon existed, and Ash was attending a normal school.

• Drake (ゲンジ, Genji)

Voiced by: Shōzō Iizuka (Japanese); Brian Maillard (4Kids), Edward Bosco (TPCi) (English)

Besides being the Dragon-type user of the Hoenn Elite Four, Drake is also a sea captain as he uses his ship to travel around the world. He first appeared in the Ruby and Sapphire episode, "Vanity Affair." After watching Ash using his Torkoal to defeat a trainer's Scizor, Drake meets Ash and friends at a local restaurant. He decided to test Ash's strength by challenging him into a battle. Although Ash put up a good fight, he lost easily. Drake reveals that the reason for the loss was due to Ash acting overconfident in his strength, a similar mistake Drake made when he was young. To properly win battles and become stronger, Drake feels that trainers should concentrate on the match and remove all idle thoughts.

He returns in Journeys, helping Ash and Goh find a Kingdra for Goh's Project Mew mission as well as seeking Ash and Goh's help for finding treasure located in a sunken submarine.

• Lucian (ゴヨウ, Goyō)

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese); David Lapkin (English)

Lucian is the Psychic-type User of the Sinnoh Elite Four, whose tactic is to analyze and wear out the opponent's energy before striking. At the Pokémon Center, Lucian first appears in person informing the heroes of the Champion League. The Champion League reveals that once you win the region League, you get to face off against the Champions and Elite Four. He also battles Dawn's Buizel and wins while pointing out where Buizel went wrong in battle. After some improving, Lucian refights Buizel again and stops the battle, pointing out that Dawn and Buizel need more work and improve their battle style. This concept was disregarded when Dawn traded her Buizel for Ash's Aipom as Buizel was into battle while Aipom was into contests. Lucian attempted to battle Cynthia in the Champion League but lost the match to her.

• Aaron (リョウ, Ryō)

Voiced by: Kenshō Ono, Chinami Nishimura (young) (Japanese); Christopher C. Adams (English)

The Bug-type user of the Sinnoh Elite Four, Aaron is known to conduct training sessions in a town near Hearthrome City. It is revealed that his first Pokémon was a Wurmple and was his close friend. However, after losing a match, he angrily abandoned his Wurmple and ran off. Aaron regretted his decision and vowed to understand Bug-type Pokémon so that he would not repeat the same mistake again, hence why he chose to be a Bug-type user of the Elite Four. He reunited with his Wurmple which had evolved into a Beautifly while apologizing for his behavior. Like Ash, Aaron always places friendship as a high value.

He attempted to battle Cynthia in the Champion League only to lose to her.

• Flint (オーバ, Ōba)

Voiced by: Toru Nara (Japanese); Tom Wayland (Diamond & Pearl), Daman Mills (Journeys) (English)

Flint is the Fire-type user of the Sinnoh Elite Four and childhood friend of Volkner, the Sunyshore Gym Leader. Much like Volkner, Flint spent his childhood facing off against street hoodlums. He later met Volkner and became a rival to him, but they later became friends after teaming up against a Proprietor. At the age of 20, Flint moved out of Sunyshore City and became an Elite Four while Volkner became a Gym Leader.

He first encountered Ash and the crew when Ash was demanding a Gym Battle from Volkner, instead of just getting a Beacon Badge for free. Upon learning that Volkner refuses to fight, having grown tired of being undefeated, Flint decides to challenge Ash in an exhibition match and won with using his Infernape alone. This reinvigorated Volkner to accept Gym challenges again. He later helped Ash and friends stop Team Rocket from stealing the Sunyshore Tower and try to keep the power running at the Pokémon Center with Brock.

Flint later watched Ash's victory against Volkner and congratulates Ash on his win. The next day, Flint met Jasmine, the Gym Leader of Olivine City, and defeated her Steelix in an exhibition match. Eventually, he went to battle against Cynthia for the Champion title only to lose to her.

He returns in Journeys competing in the World Coronation series and is in the Master Class, only to lose to Leon easily. Flint was ranked 8th place in the Master Class. However, given that Raihan is currently ranked in 9th place after losing to Ash and Flint is later not seen amongst the Masters 8, it is revealed that Flint lost off camera too many times causing his rank to drop back into the Ultra Class. He and Volkner later watched Cynthia's match against Iris.

• Bertha (キクノ, Kikuno)

Voiced by: Yōko Matsuoka (Japanese); Mary O' Brady (English)

Bertha is the Ground-type user of the Sinnoh Elite Four. Although she was first mentioned by Lucian and later Officer Jenny in the early parts of Diamond and Pearl series, she would not make an appearance until towards the end of the series. She first appears in the show helping Ash and pals stop Team Rocket from stealing a trainer's Magby. Afterwards, Ash decides to challenge Bertha into a battle which she accepts. Despite a type-advantage, Ash's Torterra loses to her Hippowdon. Bertha advises Ash that to be a better trainer, always be observant in battle, though she commends Ash for working under pressure.

Bertha is the only member of the Sinnoh Elite Four who never got to face Cynthia on camera. She hates people using power-up armor as it is deemed cheating, as Team Rocket learned the hard way when they used it on their Carnivine and Seviper.

• Caitlin (カトレア, Katorea, Cattleya)

Voiced by: Miyu Matsuki (Japanese); Miriam Pultro (English)

Caitlin is the Psychic-type user of the Unova Elite Four. She only appeared in the Junior World Cup Tournament where she and her Gothitelle faced off against Cynthia and her Garchomp in an exhibition match. While struggling, Cynthia was able to help Caitlin to overcome her problems in battle.

• Siebold (ズミ, Zumi)

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese); Eli James (English)

Siebold is the Water-type user of the Kalos Elite Four, as well as a head chef of a luxury restaurant. He only appeared in the first Mega Evolutions Special where Alain challenged Siebold into a battle. Siebold accepted the challenge and easily defeated Alain's Mega Charizard X with his own Mega Blastoise. Siebold is the only Kalos Elite Four member in the anime that has not yet met Ash.

• Wikstrom (ガンピ, Ganpi, Gampi)

Voiced by: Eiji Hanawa (Japanese); Barrett Leddy (English)

Wikstrom is the Steel-type user of the Kalos Elite Four and is dressed as a knight. He made a cameo appearance in the 17th movie, Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction, where he was battling Diantha for the Champion title. Despite his Mega Scizor having a type advantage, Wikstrom easily lost to her.

He would not make a proper appearance in the anime until Journeys, where he meets Ash and Goh. In his official series debut, Ash and Goh head to Wikstrom's Castle of Chivalry, which is a castle themed obstacle course and maze, as well as a training camp. To accomplish the obstacle course, both trainer and their Pokémon must wear knight's armor while facing off against Wikstrom's Pokémon, as well as working together as a team. Both Ash and Goh accomplished his obstacle course and earned their medals and Wikstrom also helped Goh evolve his Scyther into Scizor. He is then shown training alongside and introducing his fellow Elite Four member, Drasna, to Ash as well as watching Ash's matches against Drasna and Leon. Rinto later mentioned that he participated in Wikstrom's Castle of Chivalry, but whether he cleared the obstacle course or not is unknown. Wikstrom admires Ash as he sees a lot potential in him and his Galarian Farfetch'd/Sirfetch'd, always crying tears of joy whenever participants have passion.

• Malva (パキラ, Pakira, Pachira)

Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (Japanese); Samara Naeymi (English)

Malva is the Fire-type user of the Kalos Elite Four as well as a Team Flare agent and journalist. While she first appeared in the show reporting Professor Sycamore and his assistants examining the Anistar Sundial, she first appeared in person in Mega Evolutions IV. Here, she is one of the ten Mega-evolved users Alain had to face to power up his Mega Charizard X, where Alain emerged victorious.

She would not appear until the Lumiose Conference, where she is often seen reporting the Kalos League. When Team Flare attacked Kalos, Malva immediately turned against Team Flare and aided Ash and Alain in stopping Team Flare's plot. Once the ordeal was done, Malva vowed to chase after the remaining Team Flare agents and then turn herself in for her affiliation, though it is possible she will get a lighter sentence due to her part in sabotaging the crime syndicate.

• Drasna (ドラセナ, Dorasena, Dracaena)

Voiced by: Fumi Hirano (Japanese); Laila Berzins (English)

Drasna is the Dragon-type user of the Kalos Elite Four. While a polite person outside of battle, Drasna is also a skilled battler and can Mega-evolve her Altaria. She can also be intimidating towards her opponents such as giving Ash a crushing handshake while declaring that she will take him down easily. Bonnie mentioned that Drasna once fought Clemont and emerged victorious. Drasna first appears on a television show displaying her Dragon-type Pokémon as well as promoting an upcoming World Coronation series match against Ash. Seeing that she will be a tough opponent to overcome, as she is Ash's next Ultra Class opponent, Ash decides to train with his Sirfetch'd and Dracovish alongside Clemont and Bonnie, where Sirfetch'd succeeds in learning Meteor Assault and Dracovish learned Dragon Rush. Meanwhile, it is revealed that she is training with Wikstrom for her upcoming match.

The next day she gets to meet Ash before battling him in the World Coronation series at the Lumiose Conference, the same place where Ash had his Kalos League matches. Although she puts up a good fight, she loses the match to Ash but congratulates him on his win. Her appearance in Journeys is to serve as an apology to fans for not having Drasna debut in the XY series, unlike the other three members of the Kalos Elite Four. Drasna is the first Elite Four member to have officially been defeated by Ash.

• Lance (ワタル, Wataru)

Voiced by: Susumu Chiba (Japanese); Wayne Grayson (English)

Lance is the Dragon-type User of the Kanto Elite Four and Champion of both Kanto and Johto, as well as a member of the Pokémon G-men detective organization. He first appeared in the Johto series, posing as a Team Rocket grunt, to infiltrate the forced evolution of a Red Gyarados near Lake Rage. With the help of Ash and friends, Lance was able to free the Red Gyarados acquiring it for his team, as well as defeat most of the Grunts and have them arrested. He returns in the Ruby and Sapphire series where he infiltrates the Team Magma base, freed Ash and pals again, as well as calming both Groudon and Kyogre.

After a long absence, Lance returns in Journeys where it is revealed that he is competing in the World Coronation series as well as being able to Dynamax. He battled Leon for the title of Monarch, only to fall short and finished as a runner-up. However, he maintained his place in the Masters 8 by the time Ash ascended to it, now placing in fourth position. He faces off against Diantha only to lose to her. Lance is the only member of the Masters Eight that has not fought Ash.

• Steven Stone (ツワブキ・ダイゴ, Tsuwabuki Daigo, Daigo Tsuwabuki)

Voiced by: Rintarō Nishi (season 6); Ken'ichi Suzumura (Mega Evolution Specials; seasons 18–present) (Japanese); Andrew Paull (English)

A Steel-type Trainer and the Champion of the Hoenn region by season 18, Steven's appeared in person in "A Hole Lotta Trouble". Steven has had his own Aron use Roar to calm the agitated Aron horde that was terrorizing Ash, his friends, and Team Rocket in Granite Cave. He then tells the horde that the group are good people and they turn around and leave. Steven finds a Fire Stone with the help of Aron. He decides to lead Ash and his friends out of Granite Cave and took them to a deserted inlet, an ideal place for Ash to train for his rematch with Brawly at the Dewford Gym. Steven reappears in "Mega Evolution Special II", where he battles Alain using his Shiny Mega Metagross, but the battle is interrupted by Lysandre. Deciding to cooperate with Alain and company, Steven travels to an ancient ruin, discovering a mechanism where two Key Stones summon a glowing Giant Rock from underneath the ruin. After Lysandre and his research team begins analyzing the giant stone, a Rayquaza appears from the sky, Mega Evolves into Mega Rayquaza, and overwhelms Alain and Steven's Mega Evolved Pokémon. In "Mega Evolution Special III", Alain and Steven head for the ocean, where Primal Reversion Groudon and Kyogre clash with one another. In "Mega Evolution Special IV", Steven returns Mairin and Mairin's Chespin, Chespin to Kalos. Steven watches the battle between Alain and Malva. After the battle, Steven arrived to where Chespie is lying in a bed, unconscious from absorbing too much energy from an experiment. Steven meets with Sawyer in a flashback in "Rivals: Today and Tomorrow!" He reappears in "The Right Hero for the Right Job!", "Rocking Kalos Defenses!", and "Forming a More Perfect Union!", where he joins the battle against Team Flare. He eventually battled alongside Ash, Alain, Diantha, and all of the Kalos Gym Leaders to stop the Giant Rock. It is revealed in "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life!" that Steven is the one who gave Sawyer a Key Stone. Later, in "Till We Compete Again!", Steven and Sawyer study the Giant Rock. He proceeds to give Sawyer some information, which Sawyer then writes down in his notebook. He is seen as a sort of mentor figure by Sawyer, whom Steven gave a Key Stone and Sceptilite, which enables him to Mega Evolve his Sceptile. Steven also appears in Journeys in a flashback and is confirmed to be a member of the Masters 8 in the World Coronation Series, being in third position. Steven faced off against Ash only to lose.

• Cynthia (シロナ, Shirona)

Voiced by: Tomo Sakurai (Japanese); Emily Bauer[7] (English)

Cynthia is the reigning Champion of the Sinnoh League. Her signature Pokémon, Garchomp is not only capable of Mega Evolution, but it was also revealed that it was hatched from an egg that Cynthia took care of when she was a little girl. Garchomp is also confirmed to be Cynthia's starter Pokémon instead of one of the three Sinnoh starters (Piplup, Turtwig, and Chimchar). Cynthia also used to solely focus on getting stronger, but she abandoned that goal upon learning about the legends of Dialga and Palkia and that she was only hurting her Pokémon more by being too reckless. Her side interests are in studying the archaeology and legends of the Sinnoh Region. She appears many times throughout the Diamond & Pearl series where helps Ash and his friends try to stop Team Galactic from reaching their ultimate goal. Successful, she later appears at the Sinnoh League tournament where she observes the battles as the league's Champion. She reappears in Best Wishes! Season 2 and reunites with Ash, as she has arranged to enter Unova's Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup for a demonstration match against Caitlin, a member of Unova's Elite Four. For the first few episodes of the Season, Ash and his friends stay at her villa in Undella Town. In Journeys, she is seen watching Ash's battle against Volkner on a large television screen. Volkner also mentions and warns Ash that Cynthia is in the Masters Eight rankings. She later meets with Ash again in Johto to find out why a town is plunged in eternal night, while helping a girl cope with the death of her Cleffa. Cynthia later aids Ash and Chloe by providing information on Dialga and Palkia, while investigating the disappearing Pokémon across Sinnoh. Cynthia would also team up with Ash, Goh, Dawn and Brock to stop Team Galactic from opening the portal to retrieve Cyrus in the Arceus Chronicles. She is ranked second in the Masters Eight, behind Leon. Cynthia battled Iris and won using her Mega-Garchomp and entered the semi-finals facing Ash for the first time. Despite her Spiritomb defeating half of Ash's team and using a Dynamax Togekiss, Cynthia loses the match to Ash. Cynthia also planned on retiring after the Masters Eight matches, but after her loss against Ash, she decided not to as she felt there is still room for her to improve.

• Alder (アデク, Adeku)

Voiced by: Unshō Ishizuka (Japanese); Scottie Ray (English)

Alder was the Unova Champion when Ash was doing the Unova League quest. While laidback and reckless, he does provide advice and acts as a role model to many trainers. Trip was a fan of Alder and strived to be a Champion like him.

In his debut, Ash meets Alder in person and requests a battle with him, while running into Trip. Although Ash put up a fight, the battle was called off when it was revealed that Alder was sleeping. This angered his Bouffalant which caused it to headbutt him. As a result, Alder forfeited his match. Trip stared in disappointment at his former idol and stormed off in disgust upon learning that Alder stated that becoming the strongest was not the key to battle, contradicting the advice Alder gave to Trip earlier. Shortly after, he was able to stop a rampaging Gigalith by removing the nail that was stuck on one of its feet.

Alder would not reappear until the Junior Cup where he was hosting the tournament. When Trip won the tournament, he got the right to face off against Alder only to lose against him easily, due to the fact that Trip was inexperienced in battle. Trip hoped to beat Alder someday, which Alder accepted, while learning his lesson about how strength is not everything.

In the Journeys series, it is revealed that Iris became the new Unova Champion, confirming that Alder no longer holds the title. Because of this reveal, it is implied that Trip failed on his goal of defeating Alder. Alder later cameoed in Journeys watching Iris' match against Cynthia.

• Diantha (カルネ, Karune, Carnet)

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese); Vanessa Gardner (English)

Diantha is the Kalos Champion and a famous actress. In the episode, "Battling in the Hall of Fame!", it is revealed that she attended Professor Sycamore's summer camps when she was a little girl, as seen on a picture next to Ash and co.'s picture. Her main Pokémon partner is a Gardevoir that can Mega-evolve, which Diantha had ever since it was a young Ralts. Calm and collected, Diantha can command her Gardevoir without verbal communication by using her eyes.

In her debut appearance, Diantha was in an exhibition battle in Brackish Town against a trainer named Magnus and his Absol, which she won through fast evasion and knocking Absol out with Moonblast easily. Afterwards, she was taking a break from battles and meets Ash and co. while in disguise, while enjoying some delicious chocolate cake. Wanting to prove his worth to Diantha, Ash challenges her to a friendly battle which Diantha accepted. While battling, Team Rocket intervened and tried to steal Diantha's Mega Gardevoir only to fail miserably. The battle was shortly called off as her manager came to pick up Diantha. Later on, Diantha was informed by Olympia about the upcoming Team Flare disaster that was about to happen and tracks down Ash and co. who were practicing on handling Greninja's transformation. This is where Ash almost defeats Diantha only to collapse from exhaustion when trying to handle the Ash-Greninja form. Diantha later hosted the Kalos League and teamed up with Ash and pals to stop Team Flare. She makes a cameo appearance in Journeys on a magazine cover that Jessie was reading as well as being on a television advertisement that is promoting Ash's battle against Drasna. Diantha is also revealed to be a member of the Masters Eight in the World Coronation series, in fifth position. Diantha faced off against Lance and was able to win. She faced off against Leon in the semi-finals only to lose the match easily.

Diantha always remains calm in battle unless someone can put up a huge fight against her. She also has a sweet tooth as she enjoys sampling desserts when visiting new towns. Like many Champions, Elite Fours and Gym Leaders, Diantha does see a lot of potential in Ash.

• Leon (ダンデ, Dande)

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono (Japanese); Alejandro Saab (English)

Leon is the Galar Champion as well as the former Supreme Monarch in the World Coronation series. He is a childhood friend of Sonia back when both became trainers. When Leon was a little boy, he had to take care of his family which meant Sonia was his only friend. After meeting a Charmander, Leon decided to travel together with Sonia. However, Chairman Rose took Leon under his wing, as he saw potential and caused a rift between the two childhood friends. Despite this, Leon does care about Galar, is still friends with Sonia, and would not let people use dangerous Pokémon such as Eternatus for personal gains. He also has poor sense of direction such as trying to find his way back to the Ballonlea Gym. While unstoppable, Leon does feel powerless at times if there were greater threats that he could possibly not handle or if there were challengers that may be powerful than him as he mentioned his insecurities to Ash. Many trainers, especially Ash, wanted to face off against Leon, which is why the World Coronation Series was established for the opportunity to do so. Leon is introduced in the series where he battles against Lance and wins the World Coronation Series match and becomes World champion. Shortly after, a Gigantamax Drednaw was causing problems outside Wyndon Stadium. Leon aids Ash and a Gigantamax Pikachu by providing Ash a Dynamax Band and gives him an overview on how to utilize Gigantamax. He does battle other trainers such as Raihan, Lance and Flint as well as helping Ash and Goh stop the Darkest Day from happening. While Leon does use his Gigantamax Charizard in battles, he changes up the move set to throw his opponents off. He also watched Ash's World Coronation Series battle against Bea and Raihan as a special guest in the commentary box and helped Ash train in the Wild Area. Leon is also given the responsibility to tame the Eternatus Goh caught during the Darkest Day, since Goh felt Leon could do a better job. He faces off against Ash in the World Coronation Series finals, shortly after Ash defeated Cynthia. Next to Charizard and Dragapult, Leon is also revealed to own a Mr. Rime and all three fully evolved Galar starters (Rillaboom, Cinderace and Inteleon). After a lengthy battle, Leon finally loses the match to Ash, relinquishing his title of Monarch to the latter. He is later seen refereeing Hop's battle against Bea.

• Nemona (ネモ, Nemo)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese); TBA (English)

Besides a student of the Naranja Academy, Nemona is also Paldea's Champion. With an energetic personality, she tends to enjoy battles a lot. She is very smart as she mentions how the Terastal Phenomenon works to both Liko and Roy.

• Noland (ダツラ, Datsura)

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese); David Wills (English)

Factory Head Noland is the owner of the Battle Factory. His battle is for the challenger to choose their own opponent they want Noland to use for the fight. He is also an inventor as he flies around on his airplane he built. In his debut appearance, Ash and the gang encounter him after one of his inventions goes out of control. He owns multiple Pokémon to randomize the battle types. He is also revealed to have befriended an Articuno, having mended its broken wing, but never caught it. After some consideration, Ash decided to face off against Articuno. Knowing that Articuno was going to be a difficult opponent, Ash summoned his Charizard from Charicific Valley to fight this Legendary Pokémon. Noland and Ash battled and after a long fight, Ash wins his first Frontier symbol. Noland also gave Ash a Frontier Pass called a "Frontier folio" to hold his symbols.

• Greta (コゴミ, Kogomi)

Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese); Sonny Dey (English)

Arena Tycoon Greta is the owner of the Battle Arena, which is a large karate dojo. She also is an instructor there and has multiple students training under her. She uses Fighting-type Pokémon for her battles in the anime. It is revealed that her two role models were Chuck and Brawly, the two Fighting-type Gym Leaders. Before the battle commences, the challenger has to spin a wheel to determine how many Pokémon both trainer and Frontier Brain get to use. As Ash landed on two, this meant it is a two-on-two battle. There are a couple of wedges which allowed both sides to use three Pokémon. However, as Ash only landed on the two wedges, nobody knows what Greta's third Pokémon is. Although Greta's Hariyama took out Ash's Grovyle, Ash used his Snorlax to take out her Hariyama and Medicham, despite a type of disadvantage. Speed-based strategies are a terrible choice of tactic against Greta's team as she can use speed and physical moves to stop her opponents. However, attacks from behind or above her Pokémon are her weaknesses and they can also suffer damage if their moves missed.

• Tucker (ヒース, Hīsu, Heath)

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Japanese); Bill Rogers (English)

Dome Ace Tucker is the head of the Battle Dome and a famous actor. He loves to put on spectacular performances and has a large crowd watching his battles. His debut episode is where, for once, most of Ash's achievements are finally acknowledged. A challenger always has a press conference before the battle commences. His battle functions as a Double Battle where he uses Arcanine and Swampert against Ash's Swellow and Corphish. Tucker is shown to be a deadly battler where he uses a variety of move combinations, forcing Ash to create new attack combos. After a lengthy fight, Ash wins his third Frontier Symbol.

• Lucy (アザミ, Azami)

Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese); Emlyn Morinelli McFarland (English)

Pike Queen Lucy is the head of the Battle Pike. Unlike in the games where she is cold and distant, she is quite a nice friendly woman, although she gets irritated if her assistants were rude to her guests. She is one of the few female characters to have romantic feelings for Brock. In her debut appearance, when her assistant, Barbara, was furious when Ash went to the Pike without greeting her and fellow associates (he was lured into a Team Rocket trap), Lucy comes in and tells Barbara off for her rude attitude. Lucy later helped Ash rescue Pikachu from Team Rocket and sent them flying using her own Seviper, which is way stronger than Jessie's. At first, the Pike was closed which meant Ash could not battle, but Lucy decides to accept the Frontier challenge. While she put up a good fight against Ash, she loses. Nevertheless, she does compliment on Ash for having good friends and having a great battle. Her tactic is all about offense and head on attacks, but she never uses defense tactics as she never taught her Pokémon that tactic. This was what led to her loss against Ash. She loves serpentine Pokémon, using them for battle, and those with squinty eyes she kept at home, just like Brock.

• Spenser (ウコン, Ukon)

Voiced by: Nachi Nozawa (Japanese); Eric Schussler (English)

Palace Maven Spenser is the head of the Battle Palace, a large temple in Metallica Island. Despite his old age, he is athletic which enables him to run around in the jungle. The entire island serves as a battlefield where both opponents need to maintain their pace and use the environments to their advantage. He also provides a snack break in the middle of the battle if everyone is getting exhausted. In his debut, he helped cured Ash's Pikachu with a natural remedy and later stopped Team Rocket from stealing Ash's Pikachu and Sceptile. The next day, both Spenser and Ash battled each other using the environments and weather conditions to their advantage. Ash was able to win with his Sceptile.

• Anabel (リラ, Rira, Lila)

Voiced by: Akiko Kimura (Japanese); Hilary Thomas (English)

Salon Maiden Anabel is the head of the Battle Tower. Unlike in the games, she is the sixth Frontier Brain instead of the seventh (she switched positions with Brandon). She also uses Psychic-Type Pokémon in battles. She does not appear in the Sun and Moon anime which resulted in her role as an International Police Officer, like in the games, being completely omitted. Ever since she was a child, she had an empathetic ability which allowed her to communicate and understand a Pokémon's feelings. In her debut, Anabel comes across Ash, who was training for his match. After calming a wild Gyarados and some Beedrill, Anabel also stopped Team Rocket from stealing their Pokémon. While drying off at her place, everyone found out that Anabel was a girl. When Ash and friends arrived at the Battle Tower Salon, it turns out that Anabel was also a Frontier Brain. She defeats Ash easily in the match, putting an end to Ash's Frontier Brain winning streak. Later on, after training for a rematch, with a bit of help from Anabel, Ash merges victorious. With his six Frontier symbols, the Battle Pyramid is now available for Ash to fight. Unbeknownst to Ash, Anabel was revealed to have romantic feelings for him. She can telepathically give command by using only her mind. However, dark rooms are troublesome as she cannot see where her opponents are.

• Brandon (ジンダイ, Jindai)

Voiced by: Masayuki Omoro (Japanese); Craig Blair (English)

Pyramid King Brandon is the head of the Battle Pyramid. In the games, he is the sixth Frontier Brain with Anabel as the final. In the anime, he is the seventh and final Frontier Brain who will not be able to challenge the trainers, until they defeated the first six Frontier Brains. His Pyramid flies around, which is why the location changes frequently and is initially unavailable. He works as an archaeologist, exploring various ruins and learning about their history. In his debut, the heroes encountered him while exploring a ruin. When Ash gets possessed by the evil spirit of King of Pokélantis, Brandon was forced to battle him using Regirock against Ash's Sceptile to free Ash. Afterwards, Brandon harshly explains that Ash was possessed due to his immaturity. Later on, Ash does battle Brandon, who acquired a Registeel during his ruin exploration. While Ash did lose the battle, Brandon knew Ash was on the right track and advised Ash to fight as one with his Pokémon before returning for a rematch. Taking Brandon's advice to heart, Ash calls in Squirtle, Charizard and Bulbasaur, for training and camping out for the final showdown. This time in the final battle, Brandon goes easy on Ash, using only Regice along with Solrock, Dusclops and Ninjask. After a hard fight, Ash finally wins the Battle Frontier Quest. Although accepted into the Hall of Fame, Ash turned down the position of Frontier Brain as he needs to explore more regions and develop his own skills. Brandon bids Ash farewell, hoping to see each other again. Brandon returns in Diamond and Pearl. Shortly after Ash won his gym battle against Candice, Paul arrived to battle her as well. Although his gym battle was scheduled for a later day, Paul encounters the Battle Pyramid which arrived in Snowpoint City as Brandon was going to explore the ruins there. Paul shows up and challenges Brandon into a full battle with both sides switching Pokémon. It is revealed in the past, Paul's older brother, Reggie, did try to battle Brandon while Paul watched when he began his own journey. Despite Reggie's efforts, he lost easily to Brandon due to having a lackluster strategy. As Reggie gets questioned with what his inner strength was, Paul wondered what his inner strength was as well and became a power-hungry jerk as a result. It was also due to the failure in winning at the Battle Pyramid was what caused Reggie to quit his career as a trainer and become a breeder. Paul's reason for battling Brandon was to avenge Reggie's loss while Paul believed that his true inner strength was his will. Brandon disagrees with this statement while questioning Paul's motives as a trainer. Despite his team having a type-advantage, Paul lost easily due to letting his anger get the better of him. Brandon harshly berates Paul for his attitude and tells him to fix it before coming back for a rematch. Shortly after, Brandon helps Ash and pals stop Pokémon Hunter J from stealing Regigigas from a temple. Although successful, Brandon stays behind to rebuild the temple and protect Regigigas. He is last mentioned when Paul reveals he is heading back to Snowpoint City for a rematch, while finally making peace with Ash. Whether Paul succeeded in defeating Brandon or not is unknown. Brandon does not approve of foolishness such as calling out Ash for his arrogance, when the King of Pokélantis possessed Ash. Brandon believes that inner strength can be achieved through strong bonds between Trainer and Pokémon. He does not believe in brute force strategies as this was one of the reasons why Reggie and Paul lost to him.

• Palmer (クロツグ, Kurotsugu)

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese); Carmen Borgia (English)

Tower Tycoon Palmer is the head of the Battle Tower. He is also revealed to Barry's father. He made a cameo appearance in Arceus and the Jewel of Life where his Milotic lost to Cynthia's Garchomp. He only appeared in the Twinleaf Festival Arc, where he helps Barry to look into the past and its connection to the future. He later hosted the Twinleaf battle Tournament, which not only meant that the Trainer would win the competition, but they will also get to battle Palmer. Although Ash won the tournament, he lost to Palmer. Afterwards, Palmer suggests to Ash to challenge the final Gym Leader, Volkner, at Sunyshore City.

• Ingo (ノボリ, Nobori)

Voiced by: Kensuke Satō (Japanese); Marc Diraison (Black and White), Edward Bosco (Journeys) (English)

• Emmet (クダリ, Kudari)

Voiced by: Kiyotaka Furushima (Japanese); Wayne Grayson (English)

Ingo and Emmet are brothers and train conductors. While twins, Ingo is confirmed to be the older twin. In battles, Ingo always takes the lead allowing for an opening for Emmet to attack. Within their debut appearance, they started to notice that the track switches were being tampered and later investigated the problem. Unbeknownst to them at the time, Team Rocket was revealed to be responsible for their actions. It is later revealed that Team Rocket was planning on stealing all the Pokémon from the Pokémon Center. The Unova Subway Bosses teamed up with Ash and co. and successfully retrieved all the stolen Pokémon forcing Team Rocket to retreat. Later, after Ash won his Gym Battle against Elesa, Ingo and Emmet helped a girl locate her lost Axew while doing a stamp rally. While Ash and pals were successful in returning the female Axew to her owner, Ingo and Emmet challenge Ash and Cilan to battle and defeated them easily.

Team Rocket (ロケット団, Roketto-dan, Rocket Gang) is the criminal organization of the Kanto, Johto and Sevii Islands regions. Their goal is to catch all the Pokémons including Legendary Pokémon in the world so that their leader, Giovanni, can make an army of Pokémon and rule over the world. The most frequently appearing members of this organisation are the "Team Rocket trio" of Jessie, James and Meowth. They have been described "as vital to the anime as Ash himself."[29]

• Giovanni (サカキ, Sakaki)

Voiced by: Hirotaka Suzuoki (Seasons 1–8); Kenta Miyake (Season 10+) (Japanese); Ed Paul (4Kids/TPCI); Craig Blair (Season 10; TPCI) (English)

Giovanni is the crime lord and leader of Team Rocket—having inherited his position from his mother—and the former Viridian City Gym Leader. He is constantly frustrated by Ash's continuous interference along with his friends in his plans which they destroyed everything. Aside from the operations of Team Rocket, he also funded the creation of Mewtwo in Mewtwo Strikes Back. Mewtwo eventually escapes from him and he attempted to recapture the Pokémon in Mewtwo Returns—resulting in Mewtwo erasing all memories of himself from Giovanni's mind. He has a secretary named Matori, who runs an elite Team Rocket group: the Matori Matrix.

• Jessie (ムサシ, Musashi)

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese); Rachael Lillis (4Kids); Michele Knotz (TPCI)[3] (English)

Jessie is a member of Team Rocket, more specifically part of a trio with James and Meowth, that follows Ash and his friends, usually trying to steal Ash's Pikachu. Jessie owns a Wobbuffet, who is the source of a running gag where he pops out of his Poké Ball at the strangest times.

• James (コジロウ, Kojirō)

Voiced by: Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese); Ted Lewis (up to and including episode 8; 4Kids); Eric Stuart (4Kids);[30] Jimmy Zoppi (TPCI)[19] (English), Edward Bosco

James is a member of Team Rocket, more specifically part of a trio with James and Meowth, that follows Ash and his friends, usually trying to steal Ash's Pikachu. Before joining Team Rocket, James[31][32][33] was part of a noble, rich family, but it was a life he desperately wanted to escape from.

• Meowth (ニャース, Nyāsu, Nyarth)

Voiced by: Inuko Inuyama (Japanese); Matthew Sussman (up to and including episode 31; 4Kids); Maddie Blaustein (starting at episode 18, then episode 32 to episode 419; 4Kids); Jimmy Zoppi (TPCI) (English)

Meowth fits in perfectly with his human comrades of Team Rocket as he is conniving, prideful, greedy and mischievous. His ability to speak like a normal human only makes him equally outspoken. He thinks highly of their boss Giovanni, and dwells on becoming his "top cat". As often as he likes to consider himself a dastardly villain, he is also often shown to be rather jaded and even philosophical at times. His pursuits for Meowzie in particular chained off his ambitions to learn to speak and act human-like and ultimately his employment within Team Rocket. Meowth acts as a translator for Team Rocket and sometimes Ash and his friends, translating what another Pokémon is saying. In the Darkest Day crisis, it is revealed that he can Gigantamax, and he can also use his signature G-Max Move G-Max Gold Rush.

• Wobbuffet (Jessie's) (ムサシのソーナンス, Sōnansu (Musashi's))

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (Japanese); Kayzie Rogers (EP146-XY140)[34]Erica Schroeder (Current) (English)

Wobbuffet is used occasionally for battles. He used to be owned by a trainer named Benny only to join Team Rocket after Jessie accidentally traded her Lickitung away, causing her Lickitung to reform under Benny's care while Wobbuffet becomes Jessie's new Pokémon partner. Wobbuffet's knowledge of moves like Counter and Mirror Coat comes in handy, since Team Rocket often find themselves on the receiving end of powerful attacks. Wobbuffet usually serves as a comic relief character due to his goofy, energetic, and looney character. He emerges from his Poké Ball frequently as a running gag, and often at inappropriate times which frustrated Jessie at times. Team Rocket has also had various vehicles and robots based on him.

• Butch (コサブロウ, Kosaburō)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese); Eric Stuart (4Kids),[30] James Carter Cathcart (Current) (English)

Partner of Cassidy and rival of James, more successful than him at first. He is looked upon favorably by Giovanni. The only problem with him is that nobody can get his name right at times, like calling him Biff, Bob, Bill, Buffy, Hutch, Futch etc. Kosanji (コサンジ), which infuriates him. Both Butch and Cassidy return later on in the Journeys anime in response to fans being aware that the duo were replaced by Matori at the end of the Diamond and Pearl series. It turns out that he and Cassidy had officially left Team Rocket following the events of the Diamond and Pearl episode, "Sleight of Sand!", and went their separate ways. Butch has reformed and is now currently running a small bakery at a coastal village.

• Cassidy (ヤマト, Yamato)

Voiced by: Masako Katsuki (Japanese); Megan Hollingshead (Original series, 4Kids), Andi Whaley (Ruby and Sapphire, 4Kids), Emlyn Morinelli McFarland (Current) (English)

Partner of Butch and rival of Jessie, more successful than her at first. She is looked upon favorably by Giovanni. She and Butch return in Journeys in response to fans knowing the fact the duo were replaced by Matori at the end of the Diamond and Pearl series. It turns out that Cassidy and Butch had left Team Rocket sometime after the Diamond and Pearl episode, "Sleight of Sand!" and parted ways. Cassidy has reformed and now currently works as an owner of a café in a snowy village and taken up wood carving as a hobby.

• Dr. Namba (ナンバ博士, Nanba-hakase, Dr. Namba)

Voiced by: Ichiro Nagai (Japanese); James Carter Cathcart (English)

A scientist who works for Team Rocket. A running gag with Dr. Namba was that others kept pronouncing his name incorrectly, which he greatly disliked, resulting in him calling the offender (despite that he could not possibly have heard them) and yelling that his name is Namba. Like Butch he dislikes people getting his name wrong.

• Professor Sebastian (シラヌイ博士, Shiranui-hakase, Dr. Shiranui)

Voiced by: Hidetoshi Nakamura (Japanese); Eric Stuart (English)

A scientist and the leader of Team Rocket's Johto operations, personally overseeing both Tyson and the duo of Atilla and Hun.

• Dr. Zager (ゼーゲル博士, Zēgeru-hakase, Dr. Seger)

Voiced by: Masayuki Omoro (Japanese); Marc Thompson (English)

Dr. Zager is a Team Rocket scientist assigned to help with Jessie and James throughout the Black and White series. He takes his job as a scientist seriously but that does not stop him from getting excited at times of coming across a great discovery. Dr. Zager is known when to abort missions if plans go wrong and cannot be salvaged. Following the Operation Tempest arc, Dr. Zager retreated back to the Team Rocket Headquarters in Kanto. He is not seen since, despite Jessie, James and Meowth returning back to Unova.

• Matori (マトリ, Matori)

Voiced by: Kiyomi Asai (Japanese); Emily Jenness (English)

Matori is Giovanni's secretary and the leader of Matori Matrix. She first appeared in the last Diamond and Pearl episode where she orders the Team Rocket trio to head back to their headquarters for a new mission, which would lead to the events of the Black and White series. Throughout the Black and White series, Matori kept in touch with the Team Rocket group such as telling them to catch Unova Pokémon as to avoid attracting unwanted attention but stays in the headquarters by Giovanni's side. Her role would eventually be expanded in the Sun and Moon series where she actively monitors the group making sure they acquired new Alolan Pokémon and a Z-ring. She even visited Alola a few times such as leading her gang to abduct Necrozma only to retreat and trying to steal a Stufful only for Bewear to attack Matori making her develop a phobia of Bewear. Eventually, after growing sick and tired of Team Rocket's lack of results, she orders them to return to their headquarters. In Journeys, she would play an active role alongside her Matori Matrix such as stealing all the Pokémon in the Sinnoh resort while tricking the Rocket gang into taking a vacation as to get them out of their way, only to fail when Team Rocket teamed up with Ash and Goh into sabotaging her schemes and having Matori get harshly berated by Giovanni off camera for botching the mission. The Matori Matrix would later try to abduct Darkrai and Cresselia only to be trapped in their own nightmares.

• Annie (ザンナー, Zannā, Zanner)

Voiced by: Uno Kanda (Japanese); Megan Hollingshead[35] (English)

Partner and older sister of Oakley and the secondary antagonist of "Pokémon Heroes". In the dub, they are confirmed to be working for Team Rocket, but in the original Japanese version, they are freelance criminals.

• Oakley (リオン, Rion, Lion)

Voiced by: Yumiko Shaku (Japanese); Lisa Ortiz (English)

Partner and younger sister of Annie and the main antagonist of "Pokémon Heroes". In the dub, they are confirmed to be working for Team Rocket, but in the original Japanese version, they are freelance criminals.

• Attila (ブソン, Buson)

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese); Marc Thompson (English)

Partner of Hun and one of the main antagonists of "The Legend of Thunder!". He acts as the muscle in his partnership.

• Hun (バショウ, Bashō)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese); Veronica Taylor (English)

Partner of Attila and one of the main antagonists of "The Legend of Thunder!". He acts as the brains in his partnership.

Team Aqua and Team Magma (アクア団・マグマ団, Akua-dan Maguma-dan, Aqua Gang and Magma Gang) are the two criminal organizations of the Hoenn Region.

Team Aqua (アクア団, Akua-dan, Aqua Gang) are the rivals of Team Magma. They specialize in Water and Dark type Pokémon. Their goal is to catch and control the Legendary Pokémon Kyogre so that their leader, Archie, can raise the level of all the world's oceans.

• Archie (アオギリ, Aogiri)

Voiced by: Masaki Aizawa (Japanese); Sean Schemmel (English)

Archie is the leader of Team Aqua. His goal is to wipe out the land to create more sea by using Kyogre. He is more misguided than truly evil, as he believes that his actions will benefit others. He becomes possessed by the power of the Red Orb, much like Pikachu and the Blue Orb. His only concern from that point is to raise the sea, even if it meant drowning all of his Team Aqua members.

• Shelly (イズミ, Izumi)

Voiced by: Shōko Tsuda (Japanese); Erica Schroeder (English)

A member of Team Aqua, Shelly first appeared in "A Three Team Scheme!", where she leads a group of Aqua grunts on a mission to intercept Team Magma, who are exploring some ancient ruins on Dewford Island in search of the Cave of Origin. In "Fight for the Meteorite!", Shelly leads a squad of Aqua grunts on a mission to Mt. Chimney, to try to steal a meteorite from Professor Cozmo before Team Magma could do so. Though they do not obtain the meteorite, Shelly still considers the mission a success, since the meteorite is destroyed and therefore Team Magma could not use it either. She appears again in "Unfair Weather Friends", where she and a group of Aqua grunts take the staff of the Weather Institute hostage to obtain their data on Groudon and Kyogre. However, their plans are thwarted by Magma agent Brodie, who makes off with the data himself. Shelly's final appearance is in "Gaining Groudon" and "The Scuffle of Legends". She sneaks onto Team Magma's base disguised as a Magma grunt and frees Kyogre from the cargo container, allowing Team Aqua to control it with the Red Orb. She is present during the battle between Kyogre and Groudon.

Team Magma (マグマ団, Maguma-dan, Magma Gang) are the rivals of Team Aqua. They are a group of experts in the fields of geology and plate tectonics. Like Team Rocket, some rebels are Pokémon thieves, but Team Magma specializes in the field of Fire and Ground type Pokémon. Their goal is to catch and control the Legendary Pokémon Groudon so that their leader, Maxie, can raise the level of all the world's landmasses.

• Maxie (マツブサ, Matsubusa)

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese); Marc Thompson (English)

Maxie is the leader of Team Magma. His goal is to wipe out the sea to create more land by using a volcano and Groudon. He is more misguided than truly evil, as he believes that his actions will benefit others. Maxie meets Ash in the episode "Gaining Groudon" and tells him of his plans. He also tells Ash about the Blue Orb, which could control Groudon, and with it in his hands, he could make life better for himself. Suddenly, Pikachu gets possessed by the Blue Orb. It controls Groudon, and a cataclysmic battle begins, resulting in Groudon's victory. Afterwards, Maxie thanks Ash, realizing that the land of Hoenn was perfect the way it is.

• Tabitha (ホムラ, Homura)

Voiced by: Yūto Kazama (Japanese); Greg Abbey (English)

A member of Team Magma, Tabitha first appeared in "A Three Team Scheme!", where he leads a group of Magma Grunts in an exploration of some ancient ruins on Dewford Island in search of the Cave of Origin. They also have a confrontation with Team Aqua. Owing to a dubbing error, he is mistakenly referred to as "Field Commander Harlan" during this episode, though his name is corrected in all subsequent appearances. Tabitha appears again in "The Spheal of Approval", where he and two Magma Grunts break into the Oceanic Museum to steal a rock sample owned by Captain Stern. Although Ash and his friends attempt to stop them, Team Magma successfully makes off with most of the sample. In "Fight for the Meteorite!", Tabitha leads a squad of Magma Grunts on a mission to Mt. Chimney, first stealing a meteorite from Professor Cozmo and then using it to power an experimental machine affecting the volcano. However, their plans were ultimately thwarted by Ash and Cozmo. His final appearances are in "Gaining Groudon" and "The Scuffle of Legends". His submarine accidentally picks up Ash and his friends while out on patrol, bringing them to Team Magma's base. He is present for the battle between Kyogre and Groudon.

• Brodie (バンナイ, Bannai)

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese); Andrew Paull (English)

A spy with Team Magma, known as The Man of a Thousand Faces or Brodie The Phantom Thief, Brodie debuts in the episode "Unfair Weather Friends", disguised as Millie, a scientist at the Weather Institute who is supposed to be collecting data on Groudon. Team Aqua tries to steal the data directly, unaware "Millie" is really Brodie. When Shelly threatens to harm Bart and the other scientists at the Institute, Brodie reveals himself as a Team Magma agent and escapes with the information the Institute had gathered on the Legendary Pokémon. Brodie also appears in "The Ribbon Cup Caper". He disguises himself as various people, including Officer Jenny, to steal the Ribbon Cup for the Hoenn Grand Festival. When confronted by the real Officer Jenny, Brodie willingly gives up the Ribbon Cup because upon closer inspection "it wasn't valuable enough," and flies away once again.

Team Galactic (ギンガ団, Ginga-dan, Galaxy Gang), is the criminal organization of the Sinnoh region. Their goal is to catch and control the Legendary Pokémons that created the universe: Dialga of time and Palkia of space, so that their leader, Cyrus, can destroy the universe and create a new universe that will only be his own as an absolute god.

• Cyrus (アカギ, Akagi)

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Japanese); Sean Schemmel (English)

Cyrus is the leader of Team Galactic. His goal is to "create a new universe" in his own image, with himself as the God of that world. In his first appearance in "Losing it's Lustrous!", it is shown that he is a rich businessman who has made most of the buildings and libraries throughout Sinnoh. However, Ash, Cynthia and the others do not know that he is also the member of Team Galactic. In this episode, commander mars, saturn and their grunts raid the Celestic Town Museum and he gestures to saturn to steal the lustrous orb but Team Rocket interference in between their plan and they steal that orb. He also reappeared in "Double Team Turnover!", where Cynthia's grandmother Carelina and Cyrus (he enacted that he was with him) has come in the celestic ruins to stop the Team Rocket to run out with the orb, but Commander Jupiter and Mars steal the orb successfully with the help of spear key and they ran out with the orb. In the end of this episode, it is revealed that Cyrus is not only the member of the team, but he is also the leader of the Team Galactic. He again appeared in "Saving the World from Ruins!", where he was monitoring the analysing process of Mt.Coronet in their headquarter and later he got angry when he learn from his commander Saturn via from commander Mars that Ash and his team are trying to stop their Mission in iron island and after their mission has been failed by Ash and his team, he gave ordered Mars to retreat from iron island. He reappears in "Unlocking the Red Chain of Event!", where he sat at his headquarter and saw that Saturn finally find the Gateway of Spear Pillar in the Mt.Coronet and in the end of the episode, he told Hunter J to start the capturing process of lake trio Pokémon Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie with the help of their galactic bomb. Following the episode "The Needs of the Three!", when Ash, Dawn and Brock had come to their headquarter through the power of lake trio, he revealed to them that Team Galactic is her creation, and he is now going to create a new order of the universe, and no-one can stop him. He appeared in "The Battle Finale of Legend!", where he ordered his commanders to capture Ash and his team. Later he went to the gateway of Spear Pillar along with his team and also with the Adamant orb and Lustrous orb and also the Lake Trio and when he finally reaches to the Spear Pillar, he finally summons the Dialga and Palkia with the help of Adamant orb and Lustrous orb and also the Lake Trio. He then control them with power of red chain and told them to create a universe for him, so they create the universe for him and in between these Ash and his friends and Cynthia are able to free the Dialga and Palkia from his control with the help of lake trio and when the newly universe get sinking, he enters it and he says it is only him and after that Dialga and Palkia destroyed it.

• Charon (プルート, Purūto, Pluto)

Voiced by: Ken'ichi Ogata (Japanese); Mike Pollock (English)

Charon is the scientist of Team Galactic, who debuted in "Saving the World From Ruins!", he is not in a speaking role but he is watching the entire process of analysis of Mt. coronet. He is seen briefly in Team Galactic's base. Charon makes his first full appearance in "Gateway to Ruin!" along with Saturn where they try to find the gateway of Spear Pillar in Mt. Coronet. They find a gateway but not that gateway they are looking for. In the end, he told Saturn that gateway of Spear Pillar is somewhere in the Mt.Coronet. Charon appears along with Jupiter in "Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!", where he finally made the Red Chain and then set a trap for Looker to placing a wrong red chain for him and for this, he destroys all the details of Team Galactic from the international police database. He again appeared in "The Needs of the Three!", where he managed to control the lake trio Pokémon with the help of the red chain. In "The Battle Finale of Legend!", where he also went to the Spear Pillar along with Cyrus and other team members. Later he order the grunts to fire the red chain on that position where Dialga and Palkia will be appeared and with the help of red chain they finally control them. He is not arrested, unlike the other three Commanders at the end of the arc. He appears briefly in "Memories are Made of Bliss!" in Team Rocket's fantasy with all the other members of Team Galactic and in a flashback of the Arceus Chronicles, however he makes no physical appearance in the Arceus side story. He is often seen with a laptop computer and does much of the technical work for Team Galactic's plans, such as monitoring energy levels and other statistics. Compared to the other Galactic members, he is the most laid back and upbeat, which often causes one-sided squabbles between him and Saturn.

• Saturn (サターン, Satān, Saturn)

Voiced by: Akemi Okamura (Japanese); Marc Thompson (English)

Saturn is the Commander of Team Galactic. He makes his first appearance at the end of "A Secret Sphere of Influence!" He, along with the other Team Galactic Grunts, comment that Jessie, James and Meowth did a lousy job at stealing the Adamant Orb for them, and framing Nando for the crime. Saturn's first speaking appearance is in "Journey to the Unown!" He manages to steal a cube that under the guard of the Unown of the Solaceon Ruins and brings it with him back to the Team Galactic HQ. Saturn appears again in "Enter Galactic!". He exposes the cube to the meteorites in Veilstone City, transforming it into the Spear Key. Later, he and a few Galactic Grunts go to steal the meteorites but fails after battling with Brock in a match ending with a draw. He appears in "Losing Its Lustrous!" and "Double Team Turnover!", along with Cyrus, Jupiter and Mars. They steal the Lustrous Orb and Adamant Orb from the Celestic Town Historical Research Center. He reappears with Cyrus, Jupiter and Charon in "Saving the World From Ruins!" where he is put in charge of excavation of the Spear Pillar from Mt. Coronet. Saturn appears again in "Gateway to Ruin!", along with Charon, where they attempt to locate the ruins of Mt. Coronet. Saturn also appears "Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!", "The Needs of the Three!" and "The Battle Finale of Legend!", where he loses to Brock during the final battle. After Cyrus passes through the portal created by Dialga and Palkia he realizes that Cyrus is just using him and the other commanders to reach his own goals and cares little for those who serve him. Afterwards he is arrested along with Mars and Jupiter by Looker and states that Team Galactic was finished, miserable to the fact that they devoted themselves to a false cause. However, he and his fellow commanders were able to escape prison in the Arceus Chronicles side story as to bring Cyrus back from his dimension, completely ignoring the fact that Cyrus betrayed them. He along with the commanders' plans failed and were sent back to prison for good.

• Mars (マーズ, Māzu, Mars)

Voiced by: Rie Tanaka (Japanese); Lisa Ortiz (English)

Mars is the Commander of Team Galactic. She makes her debut appearance in the anime in "Losing Its Lustrous!" She, along with Saturn, attempts to steal the Lustrous Orb from the Celestic Town museum. She also appears in "Double Team Turnover!", in which she informs Cyrus that the Red Chain project is nearing completion. Mars appears again in "Steeling Peace of Mind!" She brings the Spear Key to Iron Island, where she activates the ruins in the island to find the exact location of the Spear Pillar in Mt. Coronet. After failing to complete the task in "Saving the World From Ruins!", she attempts to blow up the island on Cyrus's orders, but she fails due to Riley and his Lucario. She later appears in "The Needs of the Three!" and "The Battle Finale of Legend!" After the disappearance of Cyrus, she becomes distraught and even tries following him, but is stopped by Saturn. The duo, along with Jupiter, are later arrested. They escaped prison again through unknown means in the Arceus Chronicles side story as to bring Cyrus back, forgetting that Cyrus betrayed his commanders. They failed and get sent back to prison for good.

• Jupiter (ジュピター, Jupitā, Jupiter)

Voiced by: Chinami Nishimura (Japanese); Eileen Stevens (Diamond and Pearl), Kira Buckland (Arceus Chronicles) (English)

Jupiter is the Commander of Team Galactic. She makes her debut appearance in the anime in "Double Team Turnover!", where she is the one to get the Lustrous Orb back from Team Rocket after they steal it from the Celestic Town Historical Research Center. She is later assigned by Cyrus to lead the capture squad for the Lake guardians, along with some assistance from Pokémon hunters. She also has a cameo appearance in "Saving the World From Ruins!" Jupiter's first major appearance is in "Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!", where she protects Charon at the Fuego Ironworks while he works on the Red Chain. She successfully captures Looker, Jessie and James and later encounters Ash and his friends for the first time. During their encounter, she notes her disgust that Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie had chosen Dawn, Ash and Brock as their protectors rather than herself, Saturn and Mars. She and Charon escape. Jupiter is present when Team Galactic's plans come to a head in "The Needs of the Three!" where she battles Ash and his friends again. In "The Battle Finale of Legend!", she guards the outside of the Spear Pillar. She is quickly captured by Cynthia and later arrested, along with Mars and Saturn. The three commanders were able to escape prison through unknown means during the Arceus Chronicles arc as to bring back Cyrus, while ignoring the fact that Cyrus used them for his own purposes and abandoned them. The commanders get sent back to prison following their defeat.

Team Plasma (プラズマ団, Purazuma-dan, Plasma Gang) is the criminal organization of the Unova region. Their goal is to catch and control the Legendary Pokémon Reshiram so that their leader, Ghetsis, can rule all over the world.

• Ghetsis (ゲーチス・ハルモニア, Gēchisu Harumonia, G-Cis Harmonia)

Voiced by: Masaki Aizawa (Japanese); Bill Rogers (English)

Ghetsis is the leader of Team Plasma. His goal is to take control of the Legendary Pokémon Reshiram so that he can rule over the world. His team members and his grunts called him as "Lord Ghetsis" except Colress, who called him as "Mr. Ghetsis". He has a scepter in his hand where the Team Plasma logo is engraved (unlike the games, it does not interfere with the usage of Poké Balls). He debuted in "Team Plasma's Pokémon Power Plot!", where he was seen briefly contacting Colress via a hologram communicator. He and Colress discussed the current status of the Pokémon control experiment, and when Ash, his friends, and Looker approached Team Plasma's laboratory, Ghetsis ordered Colress to turn the experimental Pokémon loose on them. He appeared again, this time in person, in "Team Plasma's Pokémon Manipulation!". He was seen contacting Colress for an update on his Pokémon control experiment and after that he ordered Aldith to go with Colress for further testing. Later, Ghetsis spoke to several Team Plasma Grunts, who were spying on the excavations made at the White Ruins as well as looking for N and conducting the mysterious "Project G" and "Project F". Ghetsis reappeared in "Secrets From Out of the Fog!", where he was seen as angry to Aldith to learn that he failed to capture N and later he discussed with Colress about their device. Following the episode, he was also seen in flashbacks to N's past, in which he raised N alongside Anthea and Concordia and wild Pokémon. In a later flashback, a ceremony held in N's Castle involving N and the Seven Sages was interrupted by Reshiram, infuriating him. In "Meowth, Colress and Team Rivalry!", he again appeared through a hologram communicator, where he was seen as angry to his team members to learn that they again fail to secure N but he also seen happy because they found the whereabouts of Light Stone, the stone that directly linked to Reshiram and then he order his team members along Colress to go to the white ruins and secure the stone. In "Team Plasma and the Awakening Ceremony!", he appeared with his grunts in the White Ruins, so that he can start the ceremony for awakening Reshiram. N also warned him about the Reshiram and his anger but he did not listen and told N that now he had a Pokémon controlling device so there is nothing to worry about. In "What Lies Beyond Truth and Ideals!", Ghetsis successfully summoned Reshiram and, with the help of Colress's machine, he took control of it. Despite turning it on his enemies, however, he lost control of Reshiram when Colress's machine was destroyed by Pikachu's Electro Ball and Reshiram's Fusion Flare. Ultimately, he was arrested by Looker along with the Colress and other team members.

• Colress (アクロマ, Akuroma, Achroma)

Voiced by: Hiroki Tōchi (Japanese); Eli James (English)

Colress is a scientist of Team Plasma. His goal is to discover the true way to draw out the strength of Pokémon. Colress debuts in "Team Plasma's Pokémon Power Plot!", conducting experiments with wild Pokémon with electromagnetic waves in an attempt to bring out their true strength. He plants one of his controlling devices on Ash's Pikachu, forcing him to fight his Trainer. However, Ash's encouragement allows Pikachu to fight against the EM waves, eventually causing the device to break and freeing Pikachu. Before he can gather further data, Team Rocket shows up, using one of their miniature robots to steal Colress's research data from his computer. Colress appears again in "Team Plasma's Pokémon Manipulation!", where it was revealed that he had upgraded his Pokémon-controlling machine with his remaining research data. The machine now fires a narrow energy beam which instantly brings any Pokémon it hits under Team Plasma's control. Using this machine, Colress takes control of a Haxorus and Iris's Dragonite. A Shadow Ball from Aldith's Liepard accidentally hits the machine, breaking it and freeing Haxorus and Dragonite from his control. Colress and the Plasma Grunts retreat. Colress appears briefly in "Secrets From Out of the Fog!" with Aldith, discussing Team Plasma's plans with Ghetsis on a videophone call. Colress appears again in "Meowth, Colress and Team Rivalry!", where he refuses Meowth's attempt to recruit him to Team Rocket. However, he offers to allow Meowth to participate in an experiment to increase his strength. Colress controls Meowth's mind with the experiment, but Jessie and James snap him out of it before escaping. Later, Colress is seen with his Grunts reporting to Ghetsis, who revealed information about the Light Stone to them. In "Ash and N: A Clash of Ideals!", Colress appears with the rest of Team Plasma to commence their operation at the White Ruins. While Aldith, Barret and many other Grunts ambush the workers at the site, Colress uses his perfected machine to seize control of the workers' Pokémon and turn them on their Trainers. In "Team Plasma and the Awakening Ceremony!", he also takes control of Pikachu again, forcing N to surrender the Light Stone to Team Plasma in exchange for Ash's safety. He appears again in "What Lies Beyond Truth and Ideals!", aiding Ghetsis in taking control of the awakened Reshiram. When Ash and Pikachu try to stop him, he uses his machine on Pikachu yet again. However, this time Pikachu fights against its control, and together with Reshiram destroy Colress's machine once and for all, thus freeing the controlled Pokémon. Colress along with Ghetsis and the other Team Plasma members are later arrested by Looker, thus bringing the team down.

• Aldith (アンジー, Anjī, Angie)

Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (Japanese); Lori Gardner (English)

Aldith is the member of Team Plasma, She first appears in "Team Plasma's Pokémon Power Plot!", observing Colress's work with controlling wild Pokémon with radio waves. During the tests, she experiences some friction with the scientist in terms of their ultimate goals; while Aldith expected the results of the experiment to help Team Plasma's takeover of Unova, Colress was merely interested in unlocking the true strength of Pokémon. When Looker, Ash and his friends arrive, she orders her fellow grunts to hold them off until Colress's test subjects are battle-ready, at which point she leads a retreat to lure her foes into their observatory base. Aldith commands Colress's brainwashed wild Pokémon against the intruders, as well as Pikachu when Colress attaches a transmitter to its head. When Pikachu manages to overcome the brainwashing, Aldith reminds Colress about the situation. After Team Rocket's interference destroys Colress's machine, freeing the mind-controlled Pokémon, Aldith joins her teammates in retreat, using a self-destruct mechanism to destroy the observatory and get rid of the remaining evidence of their activity. She reappears in "Team Plasma's Pokémon Manipulation!", where once again monitors a mind-controlling experiment of Colress, this time on a Haxorus. When Team Rocket shows up in an attempt to steal Colress's mind-controlling device, a battle starts, where a Shadow Ball from Aldith's Liepard misses its target and accidentally hits the machine, freeing the controlled Pokémon and forcing Team Plasma to retreat. Aldith has a short appearance in "Secrets From Out of the Fog!", communicating with Ghetsis alongside Colress and later she get the news from Barret about the location of N's hideout and then she order Barret to capture N. She appears in "Meowth, Colress and Team Rivalry!" as part of Colress's security force at his latest lab. When Team Rocket appears, she, along with Barret and several other Grunts, chase the trio out into the woods. There, they are drawn into a trap and did not escape for some time. Later she along with Barret got a order from Ghetsis to go to the white ruins and to secure the light stone. In "Ash and N: A Clash of Ideals!", When she learn that the light stone was fallen into the deep of the ruins, she order Barret to get the light stone from ruins. She also battle with cedric's assistant's pokémon. She appears in "Team Plasma and the Awakening Ceremony!", When she saw light stone in N's hand, she order Barret to secure both the light stone and N. In "What Lies Beyond Truth and Ideals!" She battle with Ash and his friends but due to their Pokémon control device get destroyed, she was defeated by them and later she along with their leader Ghetsis, Colress, and Barret is arrested by looker.

• Barret (ブラッド, Buraddo, Brad)

Voiced by: Kensuke Satō (Japanese); Darren Dunstan (English)

Barret is the member of Team Plasma, He first appears in "Secrets From Out Of The Fog!" with two other grunts looking for N under Ghetsis's orders. He finds N when he uses a locator inside his briefcase and deduces the hidden location. With N found, he force N to come along with him but thanks to Ash and his friends, he failed to capture N. After that he becomes upset about not being able to capture N and leaves the forest. In "Meowth, Colress and Team Rivalry!", He was imprisoned along with Aldith and the grunts by Team Rocket. However, he breaks them free. Later he along with Aldith got a order from Ghetsis to go to the white ruins and to secure the light stone. In "Ash and N: A Clash of Ideals!", he battles with Cedric Juniper's assistants' Pokémon and he nearly get to lost in the battle but using Colress Pokémon control device he manage to get control cedric's assistant's all pokémon and he use their pokémon against them. In "Team Plasma and the Awakening Ceremony!", When Ash and his Pikachu trying to stop in their plan he order Colress to take control Ash's Pikachu and eventually they succeeded it but when N give them a threat that he will destroy the light stone if they will not free Pikachu, he then accepted his word and free Pikachu from their control. After that he secure the light stone along with N. In "What Lies Beyond Truth and Ideals!", he battle with Ash and friends again but he was defeated by them due to their pokémon control device was destroyed by Pikachu and Reshiram and later he is arrested along with Aldith, Colress and their leader Ghetsis by Looker.

Team Flare (フレア団, Furea-dan, Flare Gang), is the criminal organization of the Kalos region. Their goal is to catch and control the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde so that their leader, Lysandre, can destroy the world and recreate it with peace and beauty.

• Lysandre (フラダリ, Furadari, Fleur-de-lis)

Voiced by: Hideaki Tezuka (Japanese); H.D. Quinn (English)

Lysandre is the leader of Team Flare, and the creator of Lysandre Labs. Lysandre is a calm, respected man, who works together with the scientists of his own laboratory, the Lysandre Lab. His goal is to create a beautiful and peaceful world as he think that the world is full of ugliness because in his opinion the humanity is out of control and the discipline is lost from the world. Despite his somewhat friendly behavior, deep down lies a dark and selfish man working with the criminal organisation he created that is Team Flare, to capture the two Zygarde cores. The Team Flare members are working in his Lysandre Lab. He debuted in "From A to Z!", where he was seen at his residence to receive information from Mable that she failed to capture the zygarde. At the end of the episode, he and Xerosic watch the footage Bryony had sent of her encounter with Zygarde, and he becomes shocked over discovering that Zygarde possesses a power that he and his Team Flare had previously been unaware of and he told xerosic to retrieve the Zygarde. He reappears in "Meeting at Terminus Cave!", where he and Xerosic watch the clear footage of Zygarde/Z1/Squishy 10% forme and his power when it merged with his cells and then he asked Xerosic where is Z2. He reappeared in "A Meeting of Two Journeys!" for a short time, where he was seen in talking with Alain about the current status of Mega Evolution energy. Following capturing of Z2 in "An Explosive Operation!" he saw the capturing process of Z2 along with Xerosic but when Aliana and Mable had failed to capture Z2 because the interference of Team Rocket, he ordered Alain with the help of Xerosic to help them to capture the Z2 and with the help of Alain, Aliana and Mable capture the Z2 successfully. He appeared in "Championing a Research Battle!", where he and Xerosic are talking among themselves that they can now move forward to the final stage of their mission. In "A Full Strength Battle Surprise!", he again appeared for a short time, where he received information from Xerosic that their experiment has got great success from their expectation, then he told Xerosic to continue their experiment and make sure that it will be fully operational. He again reappears in "Kalos League Passion with a Certain Flare!", where he was seen interested in Ash and his Greninja and then he is gone to meet Ash and there he learns about the special power that only Ash and his Greninja have and that is called "Bond Phenomenon". After he learnt about that power, he asks Ash to make a promise to him that they will meet again. In "Finals not for the Faint-Hearted", he is watching the Kalos league final battle between Ash and Alain and he is seen happy when he saw that Ash has some flying Pokémon. In "Down to Fiery Finish", He smiles when he saw Ash's Greninja change because of that special power which is called "Bond Phenomenon" and later Team Flare is able to take control of blue-core Zygarde referred to as "Z2" with the use of their Mega Evolution energy control system created by Xerosic. After that Z2 becomes Red Zygarde 50%Forme and then he ordered Red Zygarde to attack the Lumiose City with his red vines and destroy everything in the city. In "A Towering Takeover", he ordered Celosia to capture Ash and bring him to her. After capturing Ash with his Greninja and his other Pokémon, he told Ash that he was the one of the chosen one of the new world which he is going to make. In "Coming Apart at the Dreams!", he wanted to take control Ash and his Greninja with the same energy that they used to control Zygarde so that he can use their bond phenomenon for his service but they fought back because of their strong bond and after he realized that Ash and Alain (when he realized that Lysandre fooled him) would not listen to them anymore and they are trying to stop him, he start the Pokémon battle against Ash and Alain. In "The Right Hero for the Right Job!", he continues his battle with Ash and Alain but Ash's Pokémon are defeated one by one by his Mega Gyarados and when he almost defeat them, his former companion Malva has come in between their battle to support Ash & Alain and also to stop him because he realized that Lysandre's ambition is dangerous for the entire world and meanwhile, Bonnie and Clemont are able to free both the Zygarde from their control and he is shocked as well as entertained to see it. In "Rocking Kalos Defenses!", his Mega Gyarados are defeated by Ash's Pikachu & Greninja and Alain's Mega Charizard, but he is still told them that he will recreate the world and then he jumped out from the prism tower. He appeared in "Forming a More Perfect Union!" where he came and gave the power back to the giant rock which was almost destroyed by Ash and his friends and now he want to stop them so that no one can stop him from going to the sundial in Anistar city for the finishing part of his plan but blue-core Zygarde referred to as "Z2" and the red-core Zygarde referred to as "Squishy" both of them fuse into Zygarde Complete Forme and defeat Lysandre, and he perishes after the giant rock is destroyed.

• Xerosic (クセロシキ, Kuseroshiki, Xerosicy)

Voiced by: Tsuguo Mogami (Japanese); Abe Goldfarb (English)

Xerosic is a scientist of Team Flare who debuted in "From A to Z!". He is first seen at Lysandre Lab, receiving information that both Mable and Celosia had failed in their missions to capture Zygarde Cores (Z1 & Z2) respectively. He then informs them that Aliana and Bryony would now take on the capturing missions as well. At the end of the episode, he and Lysandre watch the footage Bryony had sent of her encounter with Zygarde, and he becomes excited over discovering that Zygarde possesses a power that he and Team Flare previously been unaware of. He reappears in "Meeting at Terminus Cave!", when he track the location of Zygarde/Z2 with the help of their tracking device he ordered Aliana and Mable to capture the Z2. At the end of the episode when he and Lysandre seen the clear footage of Zygarde/Z1/Squishy 10% form when it merged with cells, he told the Lysandre that the study of Zygarde's powers is still needed and when Lysandre ask him about Z2 he told him that they are searching the Z2 but it will take just a matter of time. In "A Meeting of Two Journeys!", Xerosic travels to a remote island to test a prototype weapon with the use of Zygarde Cells and Mega Evolution energy, that causes the trees on the island to bloom red flowers and unleash vines throughout the island. Later he informed Lysandre that their experiment has been successful. Following Z2's capture in "An Explosive Operation!", Xerosic is often seen monitoring Z2 and his capturing process, but when it fails by Aliana and Mable because the interference of Team Rocket, he became angry and at the moment, when Lysandre asked him who could help us, then he summons Alain with the help of Lysandre order, Alain, Aliana and Mable successfully capturing Z2. In "Unlocking Some Respect!", he appeared for a short time, where he is conducting an experiment on Legendary Giant Rock (which Lysandre came up with from Hoenn Region), with the use of Z2's power. He again appeared in "Championing a Research Battle!", where he and Lysandre are talking among themselves that they can now move forward to the final stage of their mission. In "A Full Strength Battle Surprise!", he continues that prototype weapon experiment in forest that somewhere located in the Kalos and this time their result of their experiment has much better than before and also far from their expectation because this time the vines has spread faster and the numbers of vines has much higher than before and also their strength is now become incredible and after that he inform Lysandre about all of this. He again reappear in "Kalos League Passion with a Certain Flare!", where he came with his grunts in the Lumiose Gym, and he reported Lysandre that he is now taking control of centre Lumiose because the gym is off for the duration of league so it was easy to take control it and later, he gave the order to his grunts to set-up the machine that he was created for their plan. In "Down to the Fiery Finish!", he ordered his team members to Start the process of controlling Z2 with the use of his creation called Team Flare's Mega Evolution energy control system, and finally they control Z2. After that Z2 turns as Red Zygarde 50% Forme and he unleashes his red vines throughout the Lumiose City. In "Coming Apart at the Dream", Xerosic remains in the Lumiose Gym, overseeing Team Flare's operation, and when Z2 captured the Z1 with his red vines, he then fired the Mega Evolution Energy with which they have also control Z2 and then Z1 have also come under their control, and he also turned as Red Zygarde and immediately he told Lysandre about it. In "The Right Hero for the Right Job", when Clemont and Clembot are enter the Gym to stop the functioning of their control system, he starts the Pokémon battle against Clemont in the gym, but he lost the battle and then he was ejected from the gym after Clembot infiltrate their control system. In the universally hated episode, "Facing the Needs of the Many", he came back after he ejected from the gym by Clermont and Clembot and now he is in the process of creating Team Neo Flare so that he can Find every Zygarde cells around the world and provide Zygarde complete form because he wanted to make Lysandre's ambition become true and when Ash and Greninja wanted to stop him, he suddenly attack them and kidnap Clemont so that he can use his scientific knowledge in his plan but when Clemont refuse to work with him, he use his Mega Evolution energy control system that he previously used in Zygarde to control him. Once Ash, Serena and Bonnie arrive in his helicopter, he orders Clemont to capture them but however, Clemont had placed a microchip on the side of his head beforehand to prevent himself from being controlled. When he saw his plan failed, he became angry and start battle against Ash and Clemont but loses. He then attempts to escape by jumping out of his helicopter, but is grabbed by Clemont's Aipom Arm. After the helicopter lands, he is arrested by Officer Jenny.

• Celosia (コレア, Korea, Correa)

Voiced by: Karin Nanami (Japanese); Jessica Paquet (English)

Celosia is a member of Team Flare who debuted in "From A to Z!". She is first seen leading a group of Team Flare Grunts to recapture Z1/Squishy. She manages to find the Zygarde Core, but thanks to Ash, his friends, and Sawyer's interference, she is unable to retrieve it. When she later informs Xerosic of what had happened, he tells her that Bryony has been tasked with capturing the Core as well. The following night, Celosia leads yet another group of Grunts in an attempt to capture the Core, but with Ash and Sawyer covering Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie's retreat, she is once again unsuccessful. She reappeared in "Meeting at Terminus Cave!", teaming up with Bryony to retrieve the Core in Terminus Cave. After a prolonged struggle in the cave with Ash, His friends and Zygarde 10% form, during which Team Rocket interferes as well, Team Flare is forced to retreat, as they are unable to defeat Ash's Greninja. In "A Cellular Connection!", she, along with Bryony and several Grunts, monitor sensors to find Z1/Squishy, and order two Grunts to watch Ash and his friends. Later, the sensors catch energy waves coming from Z1/Squishy and Z2 and manage to determine Squishy's location. However, they are unable to came in time and lose sight of Squishy. Celosia appears again in "A Towering Takeover!", during Team Flare's attack on Lumiose City, where she allows his grunts to capture Ash and Pikachu by the order of their leader Lysandre. In "Coming Apart at the Dream!", she is seen at the Lysandre Lab Control Room with Mable, where the two see the helicopter containing Serena, Mairin, Professor Sycamore, and Team Rocket, nearing their hideout through their security cameras. In "The Right Hero for the Right Job!", She goes to stop Serena, Professor Sycamore and Mairin so that they cannot enter in their lab but thanks to Team Rocket, she cannot stop them and start the battle with Team Rocket. She continues battling with Mable in "Rocking Kalos Defenses!". However, the two members are quickly defeated and subdued in Team Rocket's net trap.

• Mable (モミジ, Momiji)

Voiced by: Sayuri Hara (Japanese); Laurie Hymes (English)

Mable is a member of Team Flare who debuted in "From A to Z!" She is first seen leading a group of Team Flare Grunts in Terminus Cave, where they fail to capture 50% Zygarde. Mable is later seen informing Lysandre and Xerosic of the failure of her mission. Mable briefly appears in "Meeting at Terminus Cave!" in a video call with Xerosic, where she and Aliana are ordered to head to Z2 after Team Flare discovers its location thanks to their sensors. She reappears in "An Explosive Operation!", where she, Aliana, and several Team Flare Grunts try to capture Z2. Despite having his camouflage abilities disabled, Z2 transforms into its 10% Forme and used its powerful attacks to defeat Team Flare. Mable takes part in a battle between Team Flare and Team Rocket, who also wants Z2. After a prolonged struggle with Team Rocket and Zygarde 50% form, Team Flare finally capture Z2 with the help of Alain. In "Coming Apart at the Dream", during Team Flare's attack on Lumiose City, she had been ordered to stay at the Lysandre Lab Control Room and later she and Celosia see a helicopter containing Serena, Mairin, Professor Sycamore, and Team Rocket nearing Lysandre Labs through their security cameras. In "The Right Hero for the Right Job", she tries taking down the helicopter, but is attacked by Hoenn champion Steven. She and several Team Flare Grunts then face Steven in battle. She appears again in "Rocking Kalos Defenses!", where she joins Celosia in her battle against Team Rocket. However, the two members are quickly defeated and subdued in Team Rocket trap.

• Aliana (アケビ, Akebi)

Voiced by: Rinko Natsuhi (Japanese); Theresa Buchheister (English)

Aliana is a member of Team Flare who debuted in "From A to Z!" She is seen at Lysandre Labs with Bryony when Xerosic informs her that she would be tasked with capturing 50% Zygarde, which Mable had recently failed to accomplish. Aliana briefly appears in "Meeting at Terminus Cave!" in a video call with Xerosic, where she and Mable are ordered to head to Z2 after Team Flare finds its location thanks to their sensors. She reappears in "An Explosive Operation!", where she, Mable, and several Team Flare Grunts try to capture Z2. Despite having his camouflage abilities disabled, Z2 transforms into its 10% Forme and used its powerful attacks to defeat Team Flare, escaping them again. Aliana takes part in a battle between Team Flare and Team Rocket, who also wants Z2. After a prolonged struggle with Team Rocket and Zygarde 50% form, Team Flare emerges victorious and capture Z2 with the help of Alain. She appears again in "A Towering Takeover!", during Team Flare's attack on Lumiose City, where she guards the Prism Tower with Bryony and prevents Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Clembot, and Blaziken Mask from entering. In "Coming Apart at the Dream!", she and Bryony battle against Clemont, Clembot, and Blaziken Mask, but both ended up getting defeated and are captured by Clembot, allowing Clemont and Clembot to enter Prism Tower.

• Bryony (バラ, Bara)

Voiced by: Akane Fujita (Japanese); Emily Woo Zeller (English)

Bryony is a member of Team Flare who debuted in "From A to Z!", where Xerosic sends her to retrieve Squishy/Z1. She is later seen cornering Squishy, who transforms into its 10% Forme and force Bryony and her assistant Grunts to retreat. She reappears in "Meeting at Terminus Cave!", teaming up with Celosia to retrieve Squishy in Terminus Cave. After a prolonged struggle with Ash, His friends and Squishy/Zygarde 10% form, during which Team Rocket interferes as well, Team Flare is forced to retreat, as they are unable to defeat Ash's Greninja. In "A Cellular Connection!", she, along with Celosia and several Grunts, monitor sensors to find Squishy. Bryony and Celosia also order two Grunts to watch Ash and his friends. Later, the sensors catch energy waves coming from Squishy and Z2 and manage to determine Squishy's location. However, they are unable to came in time and lose sight of Squishy. She appears again in "A Towering Takeover!", during Team Flare's attack on Lumiose City, where she guards the Prism Tower with Aliana. In "Coming Apart at the Dream!", she and Bryony battle against Clemont and Blaziken Mask, but both are defeated and are captured by Clembot, allowing Clemont and Clembot to enter Prism Tower.

Team Skull (スカル団, Skaru-dan, Skull Gang) is the criminal organization in the Alola region. Their goal is to steal Pokémon. They travel on Harley-Davidson bikes. They also made a cameo appearance in Ultimate Journeys watching Ash's homecoming Battle Royale match without any attempt to cause problems.

• Guzma (グズマ, Guzuma, Guzma)

Voiced by: Yasuyuki Kase (Japanese); Evan Maltby (English)

Guzma is the leader of Team Skull. He is known for his violent behavior and his lack of sportsmanship, which is why he does unsportsmanlike conduct. Some fans consider him as a sore loser and he is only able to win against weak opponents but backs out if the opponent is too strong. Before he founded Team Skull, he was one of Melemele Kahuna Hala's students. At one point, he lost to Hala's Hariyama and Kukui's Braviary. Since then, he vowed to be unbeatable without the use of Z-Moves. When Professor Kukui founded the Alola Pokémon League, he vowed to destroy it and defeat every single contestant. During the Manalo Conference, when he defeated Lana and her Primarina with his Golisopod, he called her a dud, to which Akala Kahuna and referee Olivia intervened and told him to show respect, but he ignored her and left. During his match against Ash, his Golisopod told him to never give up until the end. He was ultimately defeated. Afterwards, Guzma appears to have a change of heart, having finally realised that he cannot run away from his problems and finish a battle that he started even if he has no chance of winning.

• Plumeria (プルメリ, Purumeri, Plumeri)

Voiced by: Saki Endō (Japanese); Jo Armeniox (English)

Plumeria is the admin of Team Skull. She has low tolerance for members being too reckless or disobedient. Plumeria is wise enough to back off if the odds of winning are not in the gang's favor. Plumeria is well aware of Guzma's past and his motivations of not being seen as a weak Trainer. She does assure Guzma that he tried his best even if he lost.

• Tupp (タッパ, Tappa, Tupper)

Voiced by: Takaaki Uchino (SM001-SM011); Toru Sakurai (SM024–present) (Japanese); Billy Bob Thompson (English)

Tupp is a member of Team Skull. He harbors a grudge against Illima, as Illima is more popular than Tupp, and was made an outcast in the process. Because of this, he joined Team Skull to regain his recognition. Despite being a member of Team Skull, Tupp is selfish as he abandons his teammates in favor of getting a Z-Crystal, while telling his Salandit to focus on the job, only to fail the trial. He is also not bright as he thought that a male Salandit can become a Salazzle (unaware that only female Salandit can evolve into Salazzle).

• Rapp (ラップ, Rappu, Wrap)

Voiced by: Madoka Asahina (Japanese); Lori Phillips (English)

Rapp is a member of Team Skull. She seems to look up to Tupp as a leader, if Guzma is not around and is a yes-lady to Tupp. Rapp is also interested in cute Pokémon such as Team Rocket's Meowth.

• Zipp (ジップ, Jippu, Zip)

Voiced by: Soshiro Hori (Japanese); Jake Paque (English)

Zipp is a member of Team Skull. Much like Rapp, he also agrees with Tupp and looks up to him as a leader when Guzma is not around. He appears to be the least evil of the group as he agreed to take his ill Garbodor to the Pokémon Center upon Ash's suggestion.

• Chairman Rose (ローズ, Rōzu, Rose)

Voiced by: Kenichirou Matsuda (Japanese); Barron Bass (English)

Chairman Rose is the chairman of the Macro Cosmos conglomerate. He first appears in Wyndon Stadium, congratulating Leon after defeating Raihan in battle. His true colours are later revealed, when he summons Eternatus in an attempt to restore Galar's Dynamax energy, which is set to run out in a millennium from the present. Rose also stated that he himself coined the name Eternatus. He later challenges Ash, and he initially has the upper hand, but after Ash's Riolu evolved into Lucario, he was defeated. He was last seen on a helicopter with his secretary Oleana, but it gets hit by an Eternabeam from Eternatus (in its Eternamax form). After these events, his whereabouts are unknown, although Leon is tracking him down.

• Oleana (オリーヴ, Orīvu, Olive)

Voiced by: Atsuko Yuya (Japanese); Jennifer Losi (English)

Oleana is Rose's secretary and the vice president of his company (she is also in charge of its day-to-day operations). She takes her job seriously, and is 100% devoted to Rose, even to the point that she accompanies him when he goes out. Her true colours are revealed when she tries to block Goh from reaching Ash with a battle, using her Milotic against his Raboot. Milotic initially has the upper hand (given the fact that Water types can easily defeat Fire types), but Goh developed a strategy to defeat it whereupon Raboot would use Ember from multiple angles in the ceiling. In doing so, it evolves into Cinderace, and Goh commands it to use its new move: Pyro Ball. The attack successfully KOs Milotic, thus defeating Oleana. She is later seen with Chairman Rose on a helicopter, observing the Darkest Day in fear. Like Rose, her whereabouts are unknown after the helicopter gets hit by Eternabeam.

The Explorers (エクスプローラーズ, Explorers) are a mysterious organization after Liko, Roy, and their pendant and ancient Poké Ball, and the Rising Volt Tacklers' archenemies. They are the main antagonists of the Horizons series.

• Gibeon (Gibeon)

Voiced by: Show Hayami

The leader of the Explorers and the overarching primary antagonist of Horizons.

• Hamber (ハンベル, Hamber)

Voiced by: Hironori Kondo

The second-in-command of the Explorers and Gibeon's advisor and assistant, whom the adimins contacts throughout missions. He appears to be concerned for subordinates' safety. His partner Pokémon is a Dusknoir. Hamber used to be friends with Liko's grandmother, Diana, but the two drifted apart and are now enemies as Diana is aware of Hamber's evil intentions with the pendant.

• Amethio (アメジオ, Amethio)

Voiced by: Shun Horie (Japanese); Daman Mills (English)

An admin of the Explorers who is sent to retrieve the pendant along with his two subordinates. His partner Pokémon is a Ceruledge. After failing too many times to retrieve the pendant, he gets reassigned and his mission was given to Spinel. However, he does get his mission back after reporting to Hamber about Terapagos.

• Spinel (スピネル, Spinel)

Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa

A psychotic and intelligent admin of the Explorers who was given the mission by Gibeon to retrieve the pendant after Amethio, Onia and Zirc failed to do so too many times. Spinel appears to be a rival of Amethio as he mocks and doubts him for seeing a Shiny Rayquaza, even though Amethio did actually see it. Spinel has no problem hurting children to achieve his goals such as using his Beheeyem to brainwash Liko into giving the pendant to him.

• Onyx (オニキス, Onyx)

Voiced by: Yuki Onodera

A stoic and serious admin of the Explorers, he first appeared as a silhouette before appearing in person after Spinel loses the pendant. His partner Pokémon is a Garganacl.

• Agate (アゲート, Agate)

Voiced by: Mimi Maihane

One of the admins of the Explorers, she first appeared as a silhouette before appearing in person after Spinel loses the pendant.

• Sango (サンゴ, Sango)

Voiced by: Ikui Ohtani

A reckless and cheerful admin of the Explorers, she first appeared as a silhouette before appearing in person after Spinel loses the pendant. She has a Glalie as her main partner Pokémon. Sango has a sassy attitude given that she taunted Spinel for failing to retrieve the pendant and often acts reckless such as ordering her Glalie to use Self-Destruct despite Onyx's warnings not to.

• Zirc (ジル, Zir)

Voiced by: Kohsuke Tanabe

A grunt of the Explorers and one of Amethio's subordinates. His partner Pokémon is a Rhydon.

• Onia (コニア, Conia)

Voiced by: Arisa Shida

A grunt of the Explorers and one of Amethio's subordinates. Her partner Pokémon is a Golduck.

• Pokémon Hunter J (ポケモン ハンター J, Pokemon Hantā J, Pokémon Hunter J)

Voiced by: Takako Honda (Japanese); Shannon Conley[36] (English)

J was a ruthless and cruel Pokémon hunter around Sinnoh who captured and stole Pokémon to sell them on the black market to her clients for money. She is extremely ruthless and does not care about the well-being of others, even her henchman and her clients. She became angry when her clients decided to end their deal and decided to never work for those who she considered "Contract Breakers". After capturing the Lake Trio for Team Galactic, her airship was struck by Future Sight causing it to crash and to sink into Lake Valor, leaving the fate of J, her crew, or any of the Pokémon on board her ship unknown.

• Faba (ザオボー, Zaobō, Sauboh)

Voiced by: Mitsuaki Madono (Japanese); Daniel J. Edwards (Sun and Moon, episodes 43-132), Ryan Nicolls (137 until the end of Sun and Moon series), Kaiji Tang (Journeys) (English)

Faba is a skeptical person, who has his doubts in others. In addition, Faba is also grouchy, and slightly pessimistic on progress of others and showing hostility when he angrily throws Ash's Rowlet after he mistakenly takes it instead of Nebby who manages to Teleport. Faba is also sneaky to convince the Team Rocket trio to serve as bodyguards in Aether Paradise, but strictly orders them whenever their leader has visitors such as Ash and the group. Like the other recurring villains aside from the Team Rocket trio, Faba has a sinister side similar to Giovanni's who has his own evil ambitions and his plans to capture Nebby and other Ultra Beasts for his experiments identical to Xerosic's before being freed by Ash and the group and leading its evolution to Cosmoem. After being rejected by a Nihilego, which ends up possessing his boss instead, Faba regrets his actions. After Nihilego is defeated, he becomes much nicer, apologizing to Ash and his friends for his sinister ambitions. However, he still retains his pride of the inventions he makes. He can also sometimes fall for his own traps – once, he made a trap with adhesive to capture a Pheromosa and got stuck in it. Another scientist suggested he take his clothes off, he gets out then walks away in his underwear in embarrassment.

• Viren (ブルガン, Burugan, Bourgain)

Voiced by: Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi (Japanese); H.D. Quinn (English)

Viren is the selfish and greedy owner of Rainbow Happy Resorts, building the resorts throughout Alola by illegal means and avoiding any punishments from the crimes he committed (most notably damaging private property). He tried to build a resort by buying Kiawe's family farm, but failed and him and his underlings were sent to jail for blocking the streams and other illegal things just to buy the family farm. He had an Electivire when he went up against Kiawe's Marowak. Kiawe battled Viren twice, the first time he was defeated, but he defeated Viren in the second attempt. He reappeared twice, and his most recent appearance, he was trying to build a resort, with no illegal means, but the work was interrupted by an Ultra Beast, Stakataka. After the Stakataka had been dealt with, he gave up on building a resort and went to build his own stadium.