While the first few Pokémon generations took place on the same continent, Generation V was the first to take place in a region far away. The Unova region is bustling, energetic, and full of different habitats, each with unique Pokémon. Working with these Pokémon, naturally, are the many determined Trainers of Unova, each with their own stories and ambitions.
Unova has many young Trainers who are considered prodigies in their own right, from the Flying-type Gym Leader Skyla to the Dragon-type Champion Iris. However, there are also powerful Trainers hoping to use their strength for evil, such as the higher-ups of Team Plasma. Thankfully, Unova is also a region of heroes, as well as a place where those wanting to turn over a new leaf can find their second chance.
7
Trip Is a Prodigy From Nuvema Town
Ash’s Main Rival in the Unova Arc
Like the player character in Pokémon Black and Pokémon White, Trip is a Pokémon Trainer from Nuvema Town. After selecting a Snivy as his starter Pokemon, Trip set out on his journey, where he would later meet Ash. Unlike many other rookie Trainers, Trip was already quite calculated in how he analyzed each battle. This, alongside Pikachu’s unwell state at the start of Ash’s Unova journey, would allow Trip to win his first-ever battle, with Snivy defeating the seasoned Mouse Pokémon.
As battling apparently came naturally to him, Trip’s arrogant attitude only grew worse. By the time he entered the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, Trip had gained a repudiation for being a talented yet distant Trainer. His main goal was to become the next Unova Champion after meeting his hero, the former Champion Alder, and often treated Ash unkindly, mainly due to the fact that he was from Kanto, a place Trip had little respect for. Trip’s roster would only grow stronger over time, as his Snivy would soon become a Serperior while he added newer team members such as Conkeldurr and Tranquill. However, Trip would have a change of heart after losing a match against his former idol, and began to try and treat others with respect.
6
Skyla Is Never Seen Without Her Swanna
Skyla Learns How To Remain Passionate While Gaining Humility
The granddaughter of a famous pilot, the popular Gym Leader Skyla grew up to become a well-known pilot in her own right. In the games and the Pokémon Generations miniseries, Skyla is shown to be a bubbly, hardworking Trainer who adores Flying-type Pokémon. In the Pokémon Generations episode “The Uprising”, Skyla assists her fellow Gym Leaders in battling Team Plasma. Her Swanna remains by her side, using its powerful and swift attacks to stop the grunts in their tracks.
Skyla’s character is similar in the original anime, though she is much more egotistical. In fact, by the time Ash arrives at her Gym, she is only giving out Gym Badges to Trainers who have teams Skyla believes her Pokémon would be weak against. Annoyed, both Ash and Cilan challenge her to a battle, with Ash’s Tranquill evolving into an Unfezant in the process, giving him the victory. After this loss, Skyla agreed to go back to her original battling style, and became a better sport.
5
Brycen Is a Master at Hand-To-Hand Combat
The Ice-Type Trainer Started Out as a Famous Actor
In the past, the Ice-type Trainer Brycen was a famous movie star, so well-known that he wears a mask to conceal his identity to this day. However, Brycen’s acting career was temporarily suspended after injuring himself during an action sequence. After this event, Brycen instead decided to focus on his career as a Trainer instead, becoming the Gym Leader of the Icirrus City Gym, well-known for his fierce methods of battling. Following the events of Pokémon Black and Pokémon White, Brycen has begun resuming his acting career, though he is still a powerful Trainer.
Brycen appeared in the original Pokémon anime as a Gym Leader, where his powerful team, including Beartic and Cryogonal, went up against Ash’s team. Though Brycen’s Pokémon were just as intensely focused as their Trainer, Ash was able to secure the victory. Brycen’s role in the Pokémon Generations episode “The Uprising”, though minor, is one that many fans still talk about to this day. Aside from leading his Beartic in a match against Team Plasma’s members, Brycen also engaged in hand-to-hand combat against the Team Plasma Grunts themselves, knocking several off of a flight of stairs with sheer power.
4
Drayden Is a Mayor as Well as a Gym Leader
The Dragon-type Trainer Is Fiercely Protective of His Home
Opelucid City is always changing, and never the same each time one visits it. After all, depending on which game someone plays, the city will be different. Aside from whether the city looks more futuristic or classic, the Gym Leader will also change. For instance, in Pokémon Black, Drayden, the Opelucid City mayor, is also the resident Gym Leader while Iris is away. He retains this role in Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2, as Iris is now the Champion of Unova. In The Indigo Disk DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, it is revealed that he has a grandson, Drayton, who also specializes in the Dragon-type.
Drayden is renowned throughout the Unova region not just for his sheer power (it is rumored that he trains by wrestling with his powerful Dragon-type Pokémon) but for his loyalty to the people and Pokémon of Unova. In the original series, he is a sort of mentor figure to Iris as he is a fellow Dragon-type specialist, and encourages her to embark on a region-wide journey. Drayden also appears twice in Pokémon Generations, in “The Uprising” as part of the Gym Leaders’ stand against Team Plasma and “The Frozen World” when Opelucid City is frozen over by Colress and his followers. Though Drayden and his formidable Haxorus are sadly unable to prevent Team Plasma from firing the Kyurem Cannon, the duo still stand their ground against their foes’ Ice-type Pokémon, despite the type disadvantage.
3
Iris’ Narrative Differs Between Each Animated Series
Iris Rises up To Become the Unova Champion
Throughout Generation V, Iris proves to her fellow Trainers that, despite her young age, she is already an expert at working with the fearsome Dragon-type. Aside from being the acting Gym Leader of the Opelucid City Gym in Pokémon White, she is revealed to have defeated Champion Alder and taken his place as the newest Unova Champion in Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2. Her narrative in Pokémon Generations is about the same as her story in the video games, as she is seen alongside the hardy Druddigon in both her battles and in “The Uprising” episode. However, Iris’ narrative is quite different in the original anime series.
Instead of already being a Dragon Master, Iris is still just starting out, having recently left her village behind on a journey with her partner Axew. Though she is nervous and a bit aloof around other people, including her former traveling partner Ash, at first, she soon warms up to her new friends and truly gains confidence over the course of her travels throughout Unova. In Pokémon Journeys: The Series, Iris was revealed to have become Unova’s newest Champion, just like her video game counterpart, as she partook in the Masters Eight Tournament. Her Axew had since evolved into a tough Haxorus, with longtime friends Emolga, Dragonite and Excadrill also helping her advance through the finals.
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2
Ghetsis Is a Master Manipulator
The Games Showcase That His Own Pokémon Despise Him
Though it is a franchise for all ages, the world of Pokémon does not shy away from addressing themes such as death, corruption, and greed. One of the darkest storylines in history remains the narrative within Pokémon Black and Pokémon White, particularly in regard to Team Plasma. At the start of the games, Team Plasma goes around the region with their leader, Ghetsis, on the importance of “liberating” Pokémon from their Trainers, as they state that Pokémon should be free to live in the wild. Though it was revealed that Ghetsis only wished for this to occur so that he would be the most powerful man in Unova, the philosophy relating to the statement, even if built on greed, has remained with many players to this day.
Ghetsis, though he initially appears to be a person concerned with the wellbeing of Pokémon, could not care less about anyone other than himself. In fact, his ace Pokémon, Hydreigon, uses the move Frustration in the Generation V sequels, which grows stronger the more a Pokémon dislikes its Trainer. As the move is very powerful, it is for certain that, despite battling for him, the Dark/Dragon-type absolutely loathes Ghetsis. In both the original anime and Pokémon Generations, Ghetsis’ character gains the power to control the Legendary Pokémon of Unova, though, as fate would have it, this was a power this brutal Trainer could not hope to achieve.
1
N Was Raised To Be the “King” of Team Plasma
The very core of the Generation V narrative, Natural Harmonia Gropius, otherwise known as “N”, is one of the most nuanced characters in the franchise’s history. As a child, N lived in the wild alongside Pokémon, who took care of him as his parents were not around. As he had the unique ability to communicate with Pokémon, Ghetsis soon crafted a plan involving N, who he adopted in hopes of making him Team Plasma’s king. In order to warp his perception of the world and of humans outside of Team Plasma, Ghetsis only allowed N to meet with Pokémon that had been abused by people. Because of this method, N grew to believe that all Pokémon were suffering because of humanity, and vowed to help them in any way he could. In the original anime, N is not necessarily what one would refer to as a Trainer, as he does not have any permanent party members. However, he has the extraordinary ability to instantly become friends with any Pokémon, so if N needs help, there will be a Pokémon ready to assist him if the need to battle arises.
Because of his empathetic personality and his supernatural abilities, N rose to become an incredible Pokémon Trainer, even defeating the Champion Alder. However, he would finally learn of Ghetsis’ true aspirations and how he had been deceived all of his life, deciding to turn over a new leaf after the fall of the original Team Plasma. In Pokémon Generations, N’s actions in the sequels are showcased as he teams up with Hilbert in order to save the Legendary Pokémon. Meanwhile, in the original anime, N initially does not trust Ash due to his belief that Trainers are not good for Pokémon, but after teaming up with the duo several times, N comes to respect the compassionate Trainer.
Pokémon
- Release Date
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1997 – 2023
- Network
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TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TVh, TVQ, TSC
- Directors
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Shigeru Omachi, Koji Ogawa, Fumihiro Ueno, Hideki Hiroshima, Maki Kodaira, Makoto Ooga, Ayumi Moriyama, Keitaro Motonaga, Shigeru Ueda, Fumihiro Yoshimura, Minoru Ohara, Yoshitaka Makino, Kiyoshi Egami, Makoto Sokuza, Bjarne Heuser, Naoki Murata, Kenichi Nishida, Tomoe Makino, Masahiko Watanabe, Hiroaki Takagi, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Ryohei Horiuchi, Yoshihiro Oda, Hiromichi Matano
- Writers
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Junki Takegami, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hideki Sonoda, Yukiyoshi Ôhashi, Yuka Miyata, Takeshi Shudo, Shouji Yonemura, Shinzo Fujita, Michihiro Tsuchiya, Deko Akao, Reiko Yoshida, Aya Matsui, Junichi Fujisaku
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Rica Matsumoto
Satoshi (voice)
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Ikue Otani
Pikachu (voice)
