Pokémon Diamond and Pearl/Characters/Anime

All of Them (Sinnoh Region):

 * Ambiguous Gender: Most of them remain unconfirmed, though - as with the Original Series - hinting is given. All the ones introduced here may actually be male, however, but the jury's still out on that.
 * Back for the Finale: In-season example during the Lily of the Valley Conference.
 * Badass Crew
 * Berserk Button: Pretty much goes for ANY of Ash's Pokémon. Attack Ash directly and his Pokémon will beat the crap out of you (unless you have more powerful Pokémon for protection, of course).
 * Five-Man Band:
 * Big Good - Pikachu
 * The Hero - Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape
 * The Lancer - Aipom -> Buizel
 * The Smart Guy - Starly/Staravia/Staraptor
 * The Big Guy - Turtwig/Grotle/Torterra
 * The Chick - Gligar/Gliscor
 * Sixth Ranger - Gible
 * Put on a Bus: At the end of Diamond and Pearl.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Any and all of his Pokémon that evolved. (Except for, whose track record only got worse as it evolved. See The Worf Effect below.)
 * True Companions

Starly-Staravia-Staraptor (Mukkuru-Mukubird-Mukuhawk)

 * Always Accurate Attack: Knows Aerial Ace.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Knows Close Combat.
 * Big Badass Bird of Prey
 * Blow You Away: Knows Whirlwind.
 * Call Back: The episode where Staravia evolves into Staraptor mirrors that of his Hoenn equivalent (Taillow to Swellow).
 * Cast from Hit Points: Knows Brave Bird.
 * Crash Into Hello: Ash and Brock met Starly when Aipom crashed into him.
 * Flight
 * Heroic BSOD: Has one when Ash doesn't choose him to fight Roark, complete with a Pokémon-Speak Big No.
 * Non-Elemental: Primary type.
 * Razor Wings: Knows Wing Attack.
 * She's a Man In Japan: Genderflipped: He's a woman in the Czech Republic, which made one scene with a decoy girl Staravia kinda weird.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Secondary type.

Turtwig-Grotle-Torterra (Naetle-Hayashigame-Dodaitose)

 * Big Brother Instinct: Similar to Bulbasaur in a way that he is protective of other Pokémon.
 * Casting a Shadow: Knows Bite.
 * Colossus Climb: Knows Rock Climb.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Torterra's secondary type (Ground).
 * Energy Ball
 * How Do I Shot Web?: and there were even a couple of episodes in Turtwig trying to perfect it.
 * Fragile Speedster: Turtwig
 * Gentle Giant: Grotle-Torterra.
 * Green Thumb
 * Healing Factor: Knows Synthesis.
 * Meido: Made to dress as one in an early episode (although all that could fit was an apron), and he's not exactly pleased about it.
 * Mighty Glacier: Grotle-Torterra.
 * Petal Power: Knows Leaf Storm.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: As Turtwing.
 * Running Gag: In early DP, he takes a page out of James' Pokémon's books by having a desire for Biting on Ash's head.
 * Super Speed: Only as a Turtwig.
 * Turtle Power
 * The Worf Effect: Except against Team Rocket, Torterra never actually won a single battle at all since evolving. Even as a Grotle, he had a fair number of losses under its belt.
 * Part of this did tie into him losing the speed he'd once had and needing to adjust to his new body weight, but only as Grotle. Once he became Torterra, Egregious things (like Volkner's Electivire taking him out with Ice Punch) started happening and the fanbase began to complain. For all the use Torterra was, he may as well have not evolved at all.

Chimchar-Monferno-Infernape (Hikozaru-Moukazaru-Goukazaru)

 * Bare Fisted Monkey: Monferno and Infernape's secondary type.
 * Beware the Nice Ones
 * Cast from Hit Points: Knows Flare Blitz.
 * Cooldown Hug: At least twice.
 * Dance Battler
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Knows Dig.
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Knows Flame Wheel.
 * Expy: To Charizard, with the origin story expanded.
 * He also has more than a passing resemblance to Son Gohan. Monkey connotations? Well, since the Chimchar line is based off a Journey to the West character (which Goku and Gohan are also based on), check. Training from Hell by Evil Mentor (of sorts)? Check. A devastating power within himself that he has no control over? Check. Growing bigger and stronger with time + Took a Level in Badass, and then mastering his great power to defeat his greatest foe? Check & check.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: The only primate to never steal Ash's hat.
 * Let's Get Dangerous: When Blaze activates.
 * Megaton Punch: Knows Mach Punch.
 * Nice Guy: Indeed - even under Paul he was sweet-natured. And when fighting Team Galactic, he took an attack meant for Pikachu from Saturn's Toxicroak, and when Ash felt guilty the next day for letting him get so badly hurt, Chimchar silently expressed that he didn't blame him at all.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: When using Blaze.
 * The Rival: Has one in Paul's Electabuzz/Electivire.
 * Worthy Opponent: After first evolving Electabuzz was much less of a Jerkass. His expression during the first 6-on-6 says it all - having seen Chimchar earlier in battle, he's sent out against Monferno. Cue a look of shock, followed by Monferno grinning, which Electabuzz returns. And after Monferno becomes Infernape, the two simple glance at each other and share a smirk.
 * Shoryuken: How he usually emerges from Dig.
 * Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Mainly after it evolved into Infernape.
 * It was pretty bad before then, as well - starting with Fantina, Chimchar didn't go a single Gym Battle without taking down two Pokémon per Gym. In a row. Especially when others - Gliscor and Grotle/Torterra most prominently - were losing screen time already. Thanks a bunch, writers - as if we needed this much time to get that Infernape is the main character. Unusually, thanks to the massive gap between Candice and Volkner, he didn't get to face a single Gym Leader while he was Monferno.
 * Troubled but Cute
 * Unstoppable Rage: How Infernape's Blaze manifests, particularly in the Sinnoh League. Infernape is Ash's last Pokémon, and nearly beaten by Paul's Electivire. Paul insults him while Electivire tries to to get him to stand up and continue the Pokémon battle, Infernape does before the ref can call the bout and activates Blaze, which looks more like going Super Saiyan this time.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Towards his ex-trainer, Paul.
 * And while it wasn't disapproval-tinted, he'd get upset if he let Ash down.
 * Why Did It Have To Be Zangoose

Buizel (Buoysel)

 * An Ice Pokémon: Knows Ice Punch.
 * Badass
 * Badass Arm-Fold
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Break the Haughty: Make no mistake, he's a great battler, but he needed to receive a Curb Stomp Battle from Lucian's Bronzong before he realised he still has quite a ways to improve.
 * Dance Battler
 * Everythings Wetter With Otters
 * Kamehame Hadoken: Knows Water Pulse.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Knows Sonicboom.
 * Making a Splash
 * Proud Warrior Race Mon
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Pikachu's blue, as seen in DP083.
 * Weasel Mascot
 * Worthy Opponent: Briefly, with Brock's Croagunk, but nothing ever came out of that.

Gligar-Gliscor (Gliger-Glion)

 * Acrophobic Bird: As a Gligar. It mostly has better luck flying after evolving into Gliscor. Mostly.
 * Adult Child
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Knows X-Scissor.
 * Butt Monkey: Mostly in "Doc Brock". In just one episode, he's been (in order): ignored, the wind's against him (again), couldn't Watch Out for That Tree, left behind (on purpose) and completely forgotten!
 * Call Back: Gligar's debut, as part of a delinquent gang of Pokémon that terrorizes a city (think Squirtle).
 * Character Tics: What sets it apart from other Gligar is its tendency to lick its lips in an exaggerated manner.
 * Cry Cute
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Primary type (Ground).
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Knows Steel Wing.
 * Flight
 * The Glomp: To the point that he once homed in on Brock when the latter was trying to evade him (and Gliscor still hits Brock).
 * The Load: Until it evolved into Gliscor, it was without a doubt the weakest link in Ash's Sinnoh team and never won any battles. Even after evolution it tended to have an unsteady pattern in battle (defeating Byron's Bastiodon, yet falling to Candice's Snover). It finally grew out of this completely after the training with McCann - during the battle with Paul, it put up a good battle against  and managed to defeat
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Knows Screech.
 * Playing with Fire: Knows Fire Fang.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Power-Up Letdown: Stone Edge can't seem to hit a thing. Averted by Giga Impact.
 * Puppy Dog Eyes
 * Scary Scorpions: NOT!
 * Spam Attack: How he defeats Byron's Bastiodon, continuously spamming Fire Fang like there's no tomorrow.
 * Took a Level in Badass: After receiving training from the Flight Master.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Never cleared up whether it returned to McCann, or was deposited on Professor Oak's lab like the rest of the Pokémon before it.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Secondary type.

Gible (Fukamaru)

 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Knows Rock Smash.
 * Big Eater: He ate through 2 of Team Rocket's mechas! And Barry's bicycle! And a Shadow Punch from Conway's Dusknoir!
 * Character Tics: Biting on people's heads.
 * Chekhov's Skill: His habit of biting and not letting go was instrumental in defeating Conway's Shuckle and Dusknoir.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Secondary type (Ground).
 * Eleventh-Hour Ranger: During the Sinnoh arc.
 * Extreme Omnivore
 * Genius Ditz: Looks and acts dull witted much of the time, but was apparently smart enough to use its Draco Meteor to find Piplup a few times. (See Running Gag below.)
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Primary type.
 * Our Dragons Are Different
 * Overly Long Gag: "Gotta get a Gible": his encounter with a Team Rocket mecha involves a drawn-out Beat Panel of an ellipsis five dots long + Sweat Drop (approximately a second each dot). TWICE IN A ROW!
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He is capable of taking on opponents 10 times his size.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Running Gag: Two words: Draco Meteor. As well as his tendency to bite onto anything that grabs his interest, and never let go.
 * Also invoked; in separate occasions when a Ditto was impersonating Piplup and was separated from the gang, Gible launches Draco Meteor (without even a command from Ash) just to find him!
 * The Stoic
 * Took a Level in Badass: Upon mastering Draco Meteor.

Dawn (Hikari)
May's replacement (a much less rabid changeover); yet another newbie trainer who aspires to be a Pokémon Coordinator. Seems to be an attempt by the writers to "do it right second time round".

Tropes involving her and her Pokémon include:
 * Action Girl: Out of all of Ash's traveling companions, she's the most likely to take immediate action against Team Rocket or other antagonists when they show up, frequently having Piplup dealing the finishing blow alongside Pikachu.
 * Age-Inappropriate Dress: But her mother forbade her from bringing it on her journey. Then again, her normal outfit...
 * Break the Cutie: Disturbingly often.
 * Brick Joke: The second DP episode continued the Running Gag of Pikachu frying a bike, but it took 36 episodes for Ash to know about it.
 * Butt Monkey: Out of all the (main) characters she is the most mistreated. Every character has made fun of her and dissed her. Ash and Brock laugh at her, as well as her own Piplup. People regard her as a bad coordinator.
 * Though this doesn't happen too often, and as the series goes on she gets better overall.
 * Catch Phrase: "Daijobu!", or "No need to worry!" in the dub. How ironic.
 * And like May, has a phrase to use when calling Pokémon out for a Contest -- "Charm Up!"/"Spotlight!"
 * The Chick: Of the Diamond and Pearl's Five-Man Band.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Dangerously-Short Skirt: Rather famous for it, but she leaves the fighting to her Pokémon.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Rarely in "Diamond and Pearl", but the tendencies strangely increased during her guest star period on "Best Wishes."
 * Deuteragonist: Of "Diamond and Pearl", to Ash's protagonist.
 * Disappeared Dad: Unlike Ash, no mention is ever made of her father.
 * Dub-Induced Plot Hole: Against all odds, averted when it came to explaining "Dee-Dee" (See Noodle Incident below)
 * Failed a Spot Check: If she would look around at the audience during contests more often, she would notice some VERY familar faces. (James, Meowth and Wobbuffet)
 * Failure Heroine: Poor girl lost two Contests in the Appeal Stage in a row!
 * Fan Girl: To Professor Oak's (and Gary's) poetry.
 * Fan Service: Similar to May but fans are now focused on what's under that hip-length skirt of hers. Remember, Dawn is also ten years old.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Sanguine.
 * French Maid Outfit: In DP062.
 * Generation Xerox: She inherited her mother's passion for Contests. And blue hair.
 * Hair Decorations: She wears three yellow barrettes (star-shaped ones in one of her Contests). When using her Buneary, she wears hair bands modeled after its fur.
 * Harmless Electrocution: A running gag by itself, Dawn needs to use Piplup's BubbleBeam to condition her hair back to normal after she gets zapped.
 * Lethal Chef: Subverted. Dawn tries making Poffins based on a recipe she got from her mother, and all her Pokémon think it's disgusting. She can't understand why they don't like it, and starts thinking that this trope applies to her. Later in the episode, Meowth eats one of Dawn's Poffins, and considers them absolutely delicious. As it turns out, Dawn followed her mom's recipe correctly...but she apparently didn't realize that the Poffins are designed for feline Pokémon like Meowth and the Glameow that her family keeps as a pet.
 * Magic Skirt: That must've been blessed by the Pokégods themselves.
 * The McCoy
 * Memento MacGuffin: A ribbon given to her by her mother, as a good luck charm. After her run in the Grand Festival, she gives it back.
 * Naive Everygirl
 * Nice Girl: Easily the most straightforwardly kind of all the leading females (to this point), and very empathetic (she never held Pikachu or Ash responsible for her bike's destruction given the circumstances, for instance).
 * Nice Hat
 * Noodle Incident: The origins of her nickname Pikari/Dee-Dee. In a subversion, it's later revealed she got shocked by a Plusle and Minun in kindergarten, making her hair all sparkly. In the dub, it's short for "Diamond Dandruff", which is indeed pretty embarrassing.
 * Opera Gloves: With her Grand Festival outfit.
 * Phrase Catcher: The reply to her own Catch Phrase is usually "That's when [we] worry the most."
 * Pink Means Feminine: Her usual Contest dress, as well as the brim of her skirt, part of her hat, her boots, and her scarf.
 * Plucky Girl: When in a good mood.
 * Princess Curls: Not an Ojou, but she used this hairstyle in an couple of contests as shown here and here.
 * Scarf of Asskicking
 * Shipper on Deck: While normally embarassed about Brock's antics like everyone else, when it was suggested to him that he, she gladly points out that it will help him get closer to all Nurse Joys.
 * Static Character: While she matures a good deal, the basic person she is never changes and has never even changed from childhood, right down to her Catch Phrase.
 * Stepford Smiler: Tries to put on a good face after her first losing streak. Doesn't work in the end.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Replaced May.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly Girl to Zoey's Tomboy.
 * She also acts as the Girly Girl to her predecessor May's Tomboy.
 * Why Did it Have to be Plusle and Minun?
 * "Well Done, Daughter" Girl: Her fantasy in the Lotus Eater Machine episode shows us that she possibly wants to surpass her mother.
 * Why Did it Have to be Plusle and Minun?
 * "Well Done, Daughter" Girl: Her fantasy in the Lotus Eater Machine episode shows us that she possibly wants to surpass her mother.

Dawn's Pokémon

 * Big Mon, Little Mon: Any time a combination of Mamoswine/Cyndaquil, Mamoswine/Pachirisu, or Togekiss/Piplup is used in a Contest.
 * Five-Man Band:
 * The Hero - Piplup
 * The Lancer - Buizel -> Aipom/Ambipom -> Cyndaquil/Quilava
 * The Smart Girl/The Chick - Bunneary
 * The Big Guy - Mamoswine
 * Tagalong Kid - Pachirisu
 * Sixth Ranger - Togekiss
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: She has several...subverted with Ambipom and Mamoswine.

Piplup (Pochama)
{{Infobox character | title = Piplup | subtitle = Pochama | image = Dawn_Piplup_5642.png | caption = | Central Archetype = | First Appearance = | Actor = Etsuko Kozakura (JP) Michele Knotz (EN)} }} Piplup is Dawn's first Pokémon. She befriended him after saving him from an Ariados's attack, when Piplup and Chimchar had fled from Professor Rowan's lab.


 * Balloon Belly: "If The Scarf Fits, Wear It!"
 * Big Eater
 * The Big Guy: Of the main "Diamond and Pearl" Five-Man Band.
 * Bubble Gun: Knows Bubble Beam.
 * Butt Monkey: To clarify it has been:
 * Attacked by Elekid and Electabuzz on two different occasions.
 * Zapped by Pikachu (yes That Pikachu) after bumping into it.
 * Knocked into a crater by Ash and Gible (using Draco Meteor) on purpose and having to fend off against a Magnezone and a Metagross.
 * Not to mention all those other times it got hit by Draco Meteor (except for that one time that Kenny got hit by it).
 * The Chew Toy: Is literally this for Ash's Gible.
 * Color Failure: Twice. Once in Battling a Cute Drama! when Marilyn said he wasn't cute, and once in Piplup, Up, And Away! when he overheard Dawn telling Gible it wasn't at fault for dropping Draco Meteors on him.
 * Determinator
 * Everything's Better with Penguins
 * Green-Eyed Monster: For Dawn, regarding Cyndaquil.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Pikachu during the DP series.
 * Interspecies Romance: "Piplup, Up, and Away" makes it pretty clear he has a huge crush on Dawn. The music is what puts it over the top.
 * Making a Splash
 * No Sense of Direction
 * Not Quite Flight: He's shown occasionally to be capable of flying a very short distance from the momentum of using BubbleBeam or being sent out from his Poké Ball.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Upon learning Hydro Pump.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: From Bide, to Whirlpool, to even Hydro Pump.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Real Male Piplup Wear Pink: On several occasions he has sported a pink female cheerleading outfit. Later on they opted for more masculine clothing though.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Cyndaquil's blue...or is it the other way around?
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Knows Peck.

Buneary (Mimirol)

 * Action Girl: Especially noteable in "Hold the Phione" - after the titular Pokémon challenges Pikachu for her, she's offended both because she's being treated like some prize and because Pikachu's in a tight spot. Then she demands Phione battle her instead, and wins.
 * An Ice Pokémon: Knows Ice Beam.
 * Establishing Character Moment: First she jumps to save Pikachu from an incoming motorcycle, then when he tries to thank her she hides her face and bounds away, crashing into a tree in the process. This sets her up as a graceful Action Girl who nonetheless crushes hard on Pikachu.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Part of her Grand Festival appeal and also in one of the battle rounds in the Wallace Cup.
 * The Fashionista: Not an extreme example, but she's occasionally seen sporting a vest that Dawn made for her, and the Sinnoh arc ends with.
 * Interspecies Romance/Unrequited Love: Has a massive crush on Ash's Pikachu.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Knows Bounce.

Pachirisu

 * Berserk Button: This is what happens to Pachirisu if you steal a Poffin from it.
 * Or if you step on a Poffin that it wants
 * Death Glare: Gave one to Ursula's Gabite after it's Poffin was stepped on - an impressive one for normally happy-go-lucky Pachirisu.
 * Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels
 * Fragile Speedster
 * Genki Keet Pokémon
 * Kid Appeal Character
 * Mon Bites Mon: Knows Super Fang.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: It packs an electrifying Discharge attack.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Trademark Favourite Food: Dawn's Poffins. The first time it was denied them, it shocked everyone until Pikachu snapped it out of it. Then there's the Berserk Button above...

Buizel (Buoysel)
Traded to Ash for Aipom. For more info, see Ash's Pokemon (Diamond and Pearl Series}.

Aipom-Ambipom (Eipam-Eteboth)

 * Action Girl: While she preferred contests, she was used several times in battle when she was under the ownership of Ash and didn't seem to mind.
 * She beat Gardenia's strongest Pokémon, Roserade, so it's safe to say that although she prefers Contests, her battling skills are something to be proud of.
 * Always Accurate Attack: Knows Swift.
 * Bare Fisted Monkey: Knows Focus Punch.
 * Characterization Marches On: After being traded over to Dawn, her crush on Ash was all but completely forgotten. The last time she even acknowledged Ash as her former trainer was when she was getting ready to be Put on a Bus, and even then it wasn't much.
 * Doppelganger Spin: Knows Double Team.
 * Eleventh-Hour Ranger: She was caught by Ash ten episodes before the end of the Advanced Generation series.
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys
 * Foreshadowing: Ever since Ash captured her at such a late time (during the Battle Frontier saga) and the fact that Aipom followed Ash and Pikachu to Sinnoh, it was rather obvious that the writers were planning to evolve her.
 * Genki Girl: Of course; most of her species tend to be this.
 * Nice Hat: Has a fondness for them, famously Ash's hat, or, in one episode, a crown.
 * Clingy MacGuffin: Said crown was too small for Aipom, thus it being stuck to her head for most of the episode.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Put on a Bus: Literally!
 * Spam Attack: Knows Fury Swipes.

Swinub-Piloswine-Mamoswine (Urimoo-Inomoo-Mammoo)

 * An Ice Pokémon: Primary type.
 * Balloon Belly: In DP084.
 * The Berserker: This once cost Dawn a contest.
 * Big Eater: To the point where all the other Pokémon might actually be in danger of starving to death.
 * Black Bead Eyes/Blinding Bangs: Piloswine
 * Brilliant but Lazy: Acts this way towards Dawn for a while.
 * Cutting the Knot: Mamoswine has almost never won a contest by retaining the lead when the buzzer sounds. It tends to simply KO the competition. This is arguably missing the point of contests.
 * Death Glare: Mamoswine has an impressive one.
 * Defrosting Ice King: Mamoswine in the early stages
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Secondary type (Ground).
 * Elemental Armor: In dual contests, the strategy of choice often involves encasing the smaller partner in ice.
 * Expy: In many ways similar to Ash's Charizard. Three stage evolution caught in first stage, in which it has a sweet overall disposition and likes its new trainer? Check. Personality change upon evolving into second stage? Check. A surprisingly quick transition to its third stage? Check. Took a Level in Badass after evolving, becoming a large powerhouse who lazes around? Check. Has a lifechanging experience with the trainer and restores its loyalty, followed by gradual further character development? Check and check.
 * Eyes Always Shut: Swinub.
 * Full Boar Action
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: From his Piloswine form on he becomes frighteningly easy to set off, though he mellows out over time.
 * Heroism Incentive: Prior to becoming obedient to Dawn, this is the only way for the latter to motivate him to do anything.
 * Jerkass -> Jerk with a Heart of Gold -> Bruiser with a Soft Center: Gradually grows into this role, having shown a soft side as well as an (eventual) fascination to Contests. Noted in-series, once the other characters notice it.
 * Messy Pig
 * Obliviously Evil: He doesn't even realize that the other Pokémon initially have contempt for him because of his enormous appetite.
 * Real Men Hate Pink: He seemed... embarrassed at the fact that he was fascinated by Contests and tried to hide it even when Ash noticed it. He finally got over it in "Promoting Healthy Tangrowth".
 * Trademark Favourite Food: Dawn's Poffins, it seems. All her Pokémon enjoy them, but Mamoswine really can't get enough of them (though Pachirisu is worse).

Cyndaquil-Quilava (Hinoarashi-Magmarashi)

 * Always Accurate Attack: Knows Swift.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Knows Flame Wheel.
 * Keet: He did become pretty excitable when he first saw Dawn practicing for a Contest, and visibly slumped when she said she wouldn't be using him just yet.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Piplup's red...or is it the other way around?
 * The Rival: Piplup sees him as this for Dawn's affections.
 * Smoke Out: Knows Smokescreen.

Togekiss

 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Knows Aura Sphere.
 * Barrier Warrior: Knows Safeguard.
 * Blow You Away: Knows Air Slash.
 * Eleventh-Hour Ranger: Not only the first time Dawn had six Pokémon at once, but she obtained it after winning her fifth ribbon, and just two episodes before the Grand Festival. Bear in mind that Princess Salvia had been training it to be a Contest Pokémon for quite a while, so it's a Justified Trope.
 * Flight
 * Non-Elemental: Primary type.
 * Talking To Herself: During the final Grand Festival episode in Japan (Fantina is played by Bella Hudson in the dub of that episode).
 * Team Mom: In the episode after it was obtained, Togekiss is seen caring for the Butt Monkey penguin, to the point of scolding Ash's Gible for targeting Piplup with Draco Meteor.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko/Silk Hiding Steel: And even voiced by Kikuko Inoue.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings

Professor Rowan (Dr. Nanakamado)
The Pokémon professor living in the Sinnoh region. After Dawn unknowingly bumped into him while trying to find his lab, he helped her start her journey as a trainer by giving her the choice of Piplup, Chimchar, or Turtwig as a starter Pokémon.

Rowan exhibits the following tropes: "Dawn (after bumping into him): I'm - I'm so sorry! Rowan (turning to face her): Hello. You're looking lost. Dawn: Huh? Are you talking to me, sir? Rowan: Right. There's no one else here and you're looking very lost."
 * Badass Labcoat
 * Badass Moustache
 * The Comically Serious
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Deadpan Snarker: Very frequently. For instance, see his first appearance, in DP001:


 * A Day in the Limelight: The Summer School arc gave him some much-deserved extra screentime.
 * Looming Silhouette of Rage: In the Summer School arc.
 * The Mentor: To Gary, it seems.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * The Straight Man: To his old friend Professor Oak.

Johanna (Ayako)
Dawn's mom. It's quickly revealed that she was a world famous Pokémon coordinator contest champion when she was a trainer. She hasn't lost any of her touch as a mother either, as Dawn is quickly proven first-hand. Her favorite Pokémon is her Glameow.


 * Action Mom: She was a champion Coordinator in her days and hasn't missed a step since then. She still easily beats Dawn in battle.
 * Cool Crown
 * Cute Kitten: Glameow
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Casting a Shadow: Umbreon
 * Non-Elemental: Glameow
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Glameow and Umbreon's Iron Tail.
 * Soul Power: Glameow's Shadow Ball and Shadow Claw, and Umbreon's Shadow Ball.
 * Emotion Bomb: Umbreon's Attract.
 * Good Parents
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Sarah Natochenny, who also voices Ash and Delia in the PUSA dub.
 * Hot Mom: Par for the course by this point.
 * Opera Gloves: With one of her Contest outfits.
 * Retired Badass
 * Talking to Herself: See Hey, It's That Voice! above.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Paul (Shinji)
Ash's main rival in the Sinnoh region. Paul only cares about one thing: Becoming the best best through sheer technical discipline. He only goes after Pokémon who have the best moves, and abandons those who fail him, which is how Ash acquired Chimchar. In short, he doesn't care how his Pokémon feel, but only how they perform. Ash doesn't take too nicely to this.

"Original: "[Pokémon], battle standby." Dub: "[Pokémon], stand by for battle.""
 * Aloof Little Brother: In contrast to his caring older brother Reggie, who's more similar to Ash.
 * Always Someone Better
 * Anti-Hero: Type V
 * Arrogant Pokémon Trainer Guy
 * Awesome By Analysis: Paul was able to curb-stomp Ash in a full battle by building his team specifically to counter Ash's Sinnoh Pokémon.
 * Bad Boss: Towards his Pokémon.
 * Badass: He may mostly be an overconfident Jerkass, but there's no denying the moments where he 'is'' genuinely cool.
 * Barrier Warrior: Electivire's Protect.
 * Break the Haughty: His defeat against Brandon.
 * Bring It: In the battle between Ash and Paul in the Sinnoh League Tournament. Electivire uses this to get Infernape to stand up, Paul even calls Infernape pathetic.
 * In the Japanese version, he just tells Infernape to stop disappointing him again and again.
 * Catch Phrase:


 * And, of course, "Pathetic!"
 * Characterization Marches On: He was more visibly sinister and prone to psychotic smirks in his first appearance, but from his second and onward he was more stoic in his jerkassery.
 * Chekhov MIA: Remember that Ninjask Paul caught prior to obtaining Chimchar?
 * Curb Stomp Battle: He got on the receiving side of it when he challenged Cynthia, whose Garchomp single-handedly defeated four of his Pokémon without breaking a sweat.
 * And then he lost again, against Frontier Brain Brandon and the Regi Trio.
 * Most battles we've seen Paul to have been in are Curb Stomp Battles, as he's either the giver (80% of the time) or the receiver (20%). Exceptions include his two "Best of 3" battles with Ash (both were ties, although for the latter the last round was called off due to Chimchar's Blaze), his Gym Battle with Roark, and  Sadly we don't know how his match with Volkner would have gone because Volkner wasn't accepting challenges at the time.
 * Defeat By Irony: The same Chimchar he released for being weak ended up taking out half his team in his battle against Ash in the Lily of the Valley Conference (well, its evolved form did). Bonus points for it using the strategy Paul was working on before releasing Chimchar (activating Blaze and attacking) against him.
 * Although in Paul's case, it was more like
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Acts like a huge Jerkass to everyone just because
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Hariyama
 * Non-Elemental: Ursaring
 * Playing with Fire: Magmortar
 * Shock and Awe: Electivire
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * An Ice Pokémon/Soul Power: Froslass
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Ninjask
 * Casting a Shadow/An Ice Pokémon: Weavile
 * Casting a Shadow/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Honchkrow
 * Dishing Out Dirt (Ground)/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Gliscor
 * Extra Ore Dinary/Dishing Out Dirt (Rock): Aggron
 * Green Thumb/Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Torterra
 * Making a Splash/Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Gastrodon
 * Poisonous Pokémon/Casting a Shadow: Drapion
 * Poisonous Pokémon/Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Nidoking
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * An Ice Pokémon: Honchkrow's Haze, and Gastrodon's Ice Beam.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Electivire's Brick Break, and Ursaring's Focus Blast, Hammer Arm and Bulk Up
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Gliscor's X-Scissor, and Drapion's Pin Missile.
 * Casting a Shadow: Torterra's Crunch, and Gliscor's Knock Off.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Magmortar's Rock Tomb.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Weavile's Metal Claw.
 * Green Thumb: Ninjask's Giga Drain.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Magmortar's Smog.
 * Psychic Powers: Ninjask's Agility.
 * Shock and Awe: Nidoking's Thunderbolt.
 * Soul Power: Honchkrow's Shadow Ball.
 * Released Pokémon
 * Non-Elemental: Stantler
 * Playing with Fire: Chimchar
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Starly
 * Given away Pokémon
 * Making a Splash: Azumarill
 * Emo Teen
 * Enemy Mine: In the Tag Battle tournament.
 * Everything's Worse with Bears: Ursaring. Oh my god, Ursaring.
 * Expy: Of Silver from GSC/HGSS.
 * Freudian Excuse: A rather...flimsy one.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Torterra and Ursaring's Hyper Beam.
 * Hot Guys Are Bastards
 * Ignored Epiphany: Regardless of being on the receiving end of a Curb Stomp Battle against Cynthia, and specifically told that he must care more by his Pokémon he refuses to take it to heart.
 * Ineffectual Loner
 * Jerkass: Until he was defeated by Brandon, he was largely this.
 * And even after Paul stops insulting others for the most part, he'll still give you an earful and call someone pathetic at times.
 * Karma Houdini: Did not ever suffer sufficient comeuppance for his behavior.
 * Kick the Dog: Seriously, don't get us started.
 * Knight of Cerebus
 * Lack of Empathy
 * Loners Are Freaks
 * Mon Bites Mon: Drapion's Poison Fang.
 * Mega Manning: Uses  in the Sinnoh League.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Anytime Ursaring is summoned.
 * Not to mention Drapion who, by itself,
 * Don't forget the "training" regiment he once put Chimchar through. 4 vs. 1. Really?
 * One-Hit Kill: Gliscor's Guillotine.
 * The Perfectionist
 * Perpetual Frowner: Sometimes gets a smirk or two. A really frightening one.
 * Pet the Dog: Believe it or not, he (attempts to) help protect Ash and co. from the falling debris of Team Rocket's mecha in his last appearance before the Sinnoh League. The fact that he stood there and watched them get captured by Team Rocket isn't brought up though.
 * Psycho Electro: Electivire.
 * Psychotic Smirk: Sometimes.
 * Ravens and Crows: Honchkrow.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Ash's red of the "Diamond and Pearl" series.
 * Shadow Archetype
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: His older brother Reggie is kind and cheerful, and treats his Pokémon very well.
 * The Social Darwinist
 * The Stoic
 * Technician Versus Performer: The Technician to Ash's Performer.
 * Training from Hell: Expects nothing but the best from his Pokémon. Any lower and they are released back into the wild.
 * Turtle Power/Turtle Island: Torterra
 * Unsportsmanlike Gloating: As he tells Maylene right after beating her for a Cobble Badge, "You're the weakest. The weakest Leader I ever fought, and this lightweight Badge is just like you." Stay classy, Paul.
 * However, he was rather pissed when Volkner just gave him his Beacon Badge without any fight (or meeting for that matter).
 * Paul never took the Beacon Badge in the first place. For however much of a jerk he is, Paul won't ever take a fake victory over an earned one.
 * Unstoppable Rage: The reason Chimchar was in his team for as long as it did. Partially subverted as it didn't come out until his next appearance after he released it.
 * Ursaring whenever his "Guts" ability kicks in, complete with burning crimson eyes and a visible aura.
 * Vocal Dissonance: To a degree. His voice makes him sound way older than a 10-year-old.
 * Worthy Opponent: Not so much Paul (usually), but his Electivire developed into this to Pikachu and later Monferno/Infernape.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Releases Pokémon which he perceives as being weak or useless without a second thought.
 * Younger Than They Look
 * Vocal Dissonance: To a degree. His voice makes him sound way older than a 10-year-old.
 * Worthy Opponent: Not so much Paul (usually), but his Electivire developed into this to Pikachu and later Monferno/Infernape.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Releases Pokémon which he perceives as being weak or useless without a second thought.
 * Younger Than They Look

Reggie (Reiji)
Paul's older brother and a Pokémon breeder.


 * Chekhov's Gun: in "Lost Leader Strategy", Reggie's revealed to have completed the badges in each of the four regions. He also has the Symbols from the Battle Frontier, but there's one missing, which means a lot more when Paul's backstory is elaborated further.
 * Cool Big Bro
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Swalot
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Non-Elemental/Making a Splash: Bibarel
 * Non-Elemental/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Staraptor
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * An Ice Pokémon: Bibarel's Ice Beam.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Staraptor's Steel Wing.
 * Moral Dissonance: He's quite aware of Paul's...training methods, but doesn't even lift a finger to discipline his brother or teach him the error of his ways. Of course, no one thinks to call him out on this.
 * In Reggie's defense, when Maylene relates her ego-crushing encounter with Paul to Ash, he admits Paul's always had a cruel streak. It could be that he's tried to curb this side of him, but failed.
 * Morality Pet: Could be considered this for Paul.
 * Mr. Fanservice: That whole family is hot!
 * Nice Guy
 * One Reggie Limit: Subverted. A character of the day from Best Wishes has the same Japanese name as him (though it remains to be seen whether this will be true for the dub).
 * Real Men Wear Pink: He wears a pink shirt.
 * Retired Badass
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: He's the exact opposite of Paul. He's a nice guy who trains hard, values friendship, and succeeds in his goals and ambitions. Paul is a Jerkass of the highest calibur who thinks friendship is a load of Tauros. All because his older brother is the successful one.
 * Ship Tease: with Maylene
 * You Gotta Have Purple Hair: A darker shade than Paul's.

Barry (Jun)
Another of Ash's rivals in the Sinnoh Region, though neither one really considers the other to be a rival. Barry wants to go after Paul, and oftens encounters Ash during his travels. They share a competitive friendship as trainers, and Barry isn't too bad as one himself.


 * Anime Hair
 * Attack! Attack! Attack!: This is basically his strategy in battle. And it doesn't help that he's not particularly creative either.
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: His usual approach to events. Though he once waited long enough for a Heracross to be attracted by slathered honey.
 * Butt Monkey
 * Catch Phrase: Some variant of "I'm going to make you pay a fine for that!"
 * Character Tics: snapping his fingers.
 * Crash Into Hello: But he's the one not looking where he's going!
 * Curb Stomp Battle:
 * The Ditz
 * Dumb Blonde: While not at all unintelligent, he's seriously impatient and rushes into things without thinking.
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Hitmonlee
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies/Bare-Fisted Monk: Heracross
 * Extra Ore Dinary/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Skarmory
 * Green Thumb/Poisonous Pokémon: Roserade
 * Making a Splash/Extra Ore Dinary: Empoleon
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Staraptor's Close Combat.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Skarmory's Spikes.
 * Playing with Fire: Hitmonlee's Blaze Kick.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Empoleon's Drill Peck.
 * Everything's Better with Penguins: Empoleon
 * Failed a Spot Check: he was so absorbed in telling Dawn and Brock about  that it took him a while to even notice Ash's match.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Empoleon's Hyper Beam.
 * Gratuitous English: Most notably, "BEST FRIENDS!" and "DADDY!?"
 * Horn Attack: This and Megahorn are Heracross' attacks.
 * Hot-Blooded: He is the son of Palmer after all. He throws his Poké Ball so hard, he does a complete forward flip in the process.
 * Keet
 * The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: Currently the last recipient of the series-wide Running Gag of the fate of bicycles around Ash. Only in Barry's case, it was Gible's fault, not Pikachu.
 * No Indoor Voice
 * Noodle Incident: According to Dawn, he was once involved in a singing duet with an Exploud.
 * Razor Wings: Staraptor's Wing Attack.
 * Scarf of Asskicking
 * Screams Like a Little Girl
 * Small Name, Big Ego
 * Strong Family Resemblance: With Palmer, his father.
 * Technicolor Eyes: Orange.
 * Unknown Rival: Wants to be a Rival of Paul's. But if it was even possible, Paul treats him with more disdain than he does with Ash.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: In "To Thine Own Pokémon Be True!" he pretty much disappears after losing and is not heard from until his next appearance in "Historical Mystery Tour".

Zoey (Nozomi)
Dawn's main rival in the Sinnoh region as a Pokémon coordinator. Despite her tomboyish appearance, she gets along with everyone pretty well, though she does get angry at Ash when he first thought it would be a good idea to be both a Pokémon trainer and coordinator.


 * Action Girl
 * Always Someone Better: To date, Dawn has never beaten her directly in a contest.
 * Berserk Button: More of a peeve than her actually going berserk, but she initially did not like trainers wanting to do contests and gym battle quests at the same time. She warms up to the idea eventually, though Nando's unbalanced success rate arguably proves her initial point.
 * Bifauxnen: Her Contest outfits are tuxes or pantsuits, save for her Grand Festival one which looks more like a stylized kimono...thing.
 * Boyish Short Hair: She's easily the most tomboyish of Dawn's rivals. She also has short and spiky hair.
 * Butch Lesbian: How she often comes across.
 * Catch Phrase: "[Pokémon]! Ready? Go!"
 * At least in the first season of Diamond and Pearl: "[Pokémon]! Curtain!"
 * Cool Big Sis: What she's trying to come across as.
 * Cool Shades: She wears them on her head.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments as one.
 * Doppelganger Spin: Mismagius and Leafeon's Double Team.
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Green Thumb: Leafeon
 * Making a Splash: Lumineon
 * Non-Elemental: Glameow
 * Soul Power: Mismagius
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Making a Splash/Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Gastrodon
 * Psychic Powers/Bare-Fisted Monk: Gallade
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * An Ice Pokémon: Gastrodon's Blizzard.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Lumineon's Silver Wind and Gallade's Signal Beam.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Glameow's Iron Tail.
 * Green Thumb: Gallade's Magical Leaf.
 * Psychic Powers: Mismagius's Psywave.
 * Shock and Awe: Glameow's Shock Wave and Thunderbolt, and Mismagius's Shock Wave.
 * Soul Power: Glameow's Shadow Claw.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Leafeon's Aerial Ace.
 * Energy Ball: Leafeon's attack.
 * Cute Kitten: Glameow (who Zoey actually did find as a kitten!)
 * Fiery Redhead: She's got spiky scarlet hair and serious spunk.
 * Laser Blade: Leafeon's Leaf Blade.
 * Meaningful Name: The Nozomi is a Japanese bullet train service that goes in the opposite direction of the Hikari bullet train service. The Nozomi is faster than the Hikari.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Nando's blue.
 * The Rival: Dawn's most prominent Contest rival, and also a rival to Nando.
 * Sempai-Kohai: Kohai to Snowpoint Gym Leader Candice.
 * Straight Man: To the antics of Dawn, Brock, or Candice.
 * Technicolor Eyes: Red.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Dawn's Girly Girl.
 * Tsundere: Towards Nando in Dawn's Early Night!
 * Wise Beyond Her Years: She's a very knowledgable and insightful character, and a genius at being a coordinator.
 * Worthy Opponent: To Nando and Dawn.

Kenny (Kengo)
Dawn's childhood friend and another Pokémon Coordinator. He gave her the nickname of Dee-Dee/Pikari, and never lets her forget.. not that she has a hard time forgetting it.
 * Bubble Gun: Empoleon's, as a Prinplup, Bubble Beam.
 * Cross-Dressing Voices
 * Cute Shotaro Boy
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Machoke
 * Making a Splash: Floatzel
 * Psychic Powers: Alakazam
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Green Thumb/Bare-Fisted Monk: Breloom
 * Making a Splash/Extra Ore Dinary: Empoleon
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * An Ice Pokémon: Empoleon's Mist.
 * Soul Power: Alakazam's Shadow Ball.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Empoleon's Drill Peck.
 * Energy Ball: Breloom's attack. Also, Empoleon's Flash Cannon.
 * Everything's Better with Penguins: Empoleon.
 * Forgotten Childhood Friend: Dawn apparently didn't know he was going to be a coordinator.
 * Megaton Punch: Breloom's Mach Punch.
 * Mind Over Matter: Alakazam
 * The Nicknamer: Came up with Dee-Dee/Pikari.
 * Odd Friendship: With Barry.
 * Razor Wind: Floatzel's attack.
 * Shonen Hair

Ursula (Urara)
A fellow Pokémon Coordinator with a rather poisonous personality who Dawn met at the Chocovine Pokémon Contest. Believing that Dawn's victory was a fluke, she's determined to knock her down a peg or two.


 * Alpha Bitch
 * Bitchier Than Thou: She seems to find "Jesselina" to be worse than she is.
 * Anime Hair
 * Hair Decorations: Her purple ribbons.
 * Improbable Hairstyle: She has drills for hair.
 * Mega Twintails
 * Princess Curls: Kept in Girlish Pigtails.
 * You Gotta Have Pink Hair
 * Arrogant Pokémon Contest Girl: In her first appearance, she refuses to believe Dawn's win against May was based on skill.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Just like Harley before her.
 * Although to be fair, Harley was pretty sadistic towards May, took offense to the smallest things, and more or less tried to break her spirit in public.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Doppelganger Spin: Gabite's Double Team.
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Making a Splash: Vaporeon
 * Non-Elemental: Jigglypuff
 * Playing with Fire: Flareon
 * Shock and Awe: Plusle and Minun.
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies/Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Wormadam (Sandy Cloak)
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons/Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Gabite
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Jigglypuff's Rollout.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Gabite, Flareon and Vaporeon's Iron Tail, and Jigglypuff's Gyro Ball.
 * Psychic Powers: Wormadam's Confusion.
 * Soul Power: Flareon's Shadow Ball.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Gabite's Aerial Ace.
 * Evil Counterpart: To Dawn.
 * Expy: The resemblances with Urara Kasugano are...uncanny, to say the least.
 * Another uncanny resemblance: Amy from the Soul Series.
 * What about Kasane Teto, an UTAUloid who has the same hairstyle and hair color, and wears an outfit that resembles Ursula's contest dress?
 * Game Breaker: In one contest, where the goal is to battle while impressing the judges with varied and spectacular moves, she uses Encore, a move that forces the opponents to do the same move repeatedly and thus lose points with the judges.
 * Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Her hair ribbons.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Rival: She appears three times in the series. Each time she loses.
 * Mon Bites Mon: Flareon's Fire Fang.
 * Manipulative Bitch: Poor Dawn...
 * Shadow Archetype: To Dawn. They're both ambitious and talented at Contests, but Ursula taunts her opponents, boasts about her abilities, and has no qualms about humiliating her opponents in public (Playing the Performance Encore comes to mind), unlike Dawn.
 * Technicolor Eyes: A dark pink.
 * The Other Darrin: In the Latin American dub, she was voiced by Betzabe Jara from Another One Gabites the Dust! up until Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn! where Cristina Hernández took over.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Gabite
 * Pet the Dog: Despite her arrogance, Ursula cares for her Pokémon and treats them well.
 * Rolling Attack: Jigglypuff's Rollout, also Plusle and Minun's "twin attack formation" in Playing the Performance Encore!
 * Woman in Black: The bodice of her Contest outfit.
 * Woman in Black: The bodice of her Contest outfit.

Conway (Kōhei)
Dawn's partner in the Hearthome Tag Battle competition, who took a liking to her. He was only intended to appear for a few episodes, but unexpected popularity among the fanbase brought him back for more.

"Conway: (off screen) Well, how are you, Number 28? Dawn: (cheerfully) I'm fine! (the screen cuts to a close-up of Conway with Scary Shiny Glasses) Conway: That's good. Conway is the name. A pleasure."
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Battle Couple: Formed one with Dawn in the Tag Battle Tournament. Although the affection is one-sided...
 * Bishonen
 * Character Tics: Tweaking and/or shining his glasses.
 * Cross-Dressing Voices: In the Hebrew dub.
 * Death Glare: Dusknoir's Mean Look.
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Non-Elemental: Lickilicky
 * Soul Power: Dusknoir
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies/Bare-Fisted Monk: Heracross
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies/Dishing Out Dirt (Rock): Shuckle
 * Extra Ore Dinary/Dishing Out Dirt (Rock): Aggron
 * Making a Splash/Psychic Powers: Slowking
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Shuckle's Gyro Ball.
 * Green Thumb: Lickilicky's Power Whip.
 * Making a Splash: Shuckle's Withdraw.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Shuckle's Sludge Bomb.
 * Psychic Powers: Shuckle's Power Trick and Dusknoir's Trick Room.
 * Shock and Awe: Lickilicky's Thunderbolt and Dusknoir's Thunder Punch.
 * Soul Power: Lickilicky's Lick.
 * Establishing Character Moment


 * Expy: His design is based on the Super Nerd Trainer class in the main Pokémon games.
 * Guile Hero
 * Horn Attack: Heracross' Megahorn.
 * Megane
 * Mighty Glacier: Dusknoir
 * Lightning Bruiser: ...when using Trick Room.
 * Also, to an extent, his Shuckle. It's not fast, but its defenses are really good, and there's a special move that unlocks its offensive powers...
 * Mind Control Eyes: Gets these in Ghoul Daze!
 * Nerds Are Sexy
 * Non-Action Guy: He loses the Pokémon Triathlon, not because of Laser-Guided Karma, but because he's bad at long-distance running.
 * Overly Long Tongue: His Lickilicky!
 * Scary Shiny Glasses: The master of them.
 * Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness
 * Shirtless Scene: In Up Close and Personable!
 * Single-Target Sexuality: He's a Dawnsexual.
 * Smug Snake: Sometimes.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": His Japanese name can be spelled either "Kōhei" or "Kouhei".
 * Stalker with a Crush: Towards Dawn.
 * Stealth Hi Bye: One of his more creepy talents.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Fans have noted his strong physical resemblance to Max.
 * Take That: At geeky fanboys/"otakus".
 * Talking to Himself: Averted -- he shares his English voice actor with Nando but has never spoken to him, though he did watch his League battle against Ash.
 * Teen Genius
 * Third Person Person: "That was quite nice...but Conway never gives up!"
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair

Nando (Naoshi)
The first trainer Dawn met on her Sinnoh journey, a soft-spoken minstrel with a liking for music and Grass-type Pokémon. In his debut episode, Ash and Dawn helped him decide to participate in both Gym Battles and Contests, making him a rival for both of them.

"Officer Jenny: Excuse me. I've just captured Suspect #1. (she pulls Nando into the shot) Get this. He calls himself a Pokémon troubadour, but I don't buy it at all. Ash, Brock, Dawn: Nando?!"
 * Actor Allusion: In the English dub, he and Harley, who he's an Expy of, are both voiced by Billy Regan/Bill Timoney.
 * Aerith and Bob: Most definitely.
 * Agent Peacock
 * Ambiguously Gay: Among other things, close-up in a number of shots in Dawn's Early Night!, it looks like he's wearing mascara. Still more subtle about it than Harley, though.
 * Art Evolution: Very noticeable. Compare this (Dawn of a New Era) to this (League Unleashed).
 * Ascended Extra: Appeared in one of the the very first episodes and ultimately appears in both the Grand Festival and the Sinnoh Conference.
 * Badass: Say what you will about him, but consider this - while most other major characters were practically scrambling to get either eight badges or five ribbons in time for their event, Nando managed to attain both complete sets in time for each major competition. He also reached the Top 4 in the Sinnoh Grand Festival, and if he hadn't been matched up against Ash so early in the Lily of the Valley Conference, it's quite probably he'd have gotten further than just Top 64.
 * Badass Cape
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Badass Spaniard
 * Barrier Warrior: Armaldo's and Lopunny's Protect.
 * Big Damn Heroes: He had his Budew save Ash and friends from Team Rocket in his debut episode.
 * Bishie Sparkle: "Sunflora, GrassWhistle! Sing, Kricketune!"
 * Bishonen
 * Blue Eyes: It's not easy to tell, but he does have grayish-blue eyes as seen in a close-up in Coming Full Festival Circle!
 * Big No:
 * Camp Straight
 * Character Tics: He often says things in a sing-song voice.
 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappeared for 125 episodes after Dawn's Early Night!
 * Clear Their Name: In A Secret Sphere of Influence!, Officer Jenny arrests him because she thinks he stole the Adamant Orb.
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: He likes Grass-types and he's in tune with nature so his color motif is green.
 * Conflict Killer: His establishing character moment.
 * Cowardly Lion: Not Nando himself, but his Sunflora. It abandoned him when he was arrested by Officer Jenny, but hunted down Team Rocket for framing him and exposed their disguises, preventing them from successfully escaping the museum with the Adamant Orb.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite his polite and very feminine demeanor, he's no pushover when it comes to Pokémon battles.
 * Dance Battler: Lopunny, Roserade and Sunflora.
 * Dark Horse Victory: In the Hearthome Contest
 * A Day in the Limelight: Two words - Grand Festival.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: After he clobbered Zoey off-screen in Dawn's Early Night!, she changed her mind about not accepting Trainers who choose to participate in both Gyms and Contests.
 * Depending on the Artist: In Dawn of a New Era! and A Secret Sphere of Influence!, his bangs would be drawn facing the wrong direction, then change back in the next shot.
 * Dramatic Wind
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Kricketune and Kricketot.
 * Green Thumb: Sunflora
 * Non-Elemental: Lopunny
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Dishing Out Dirt (Rock)/Big Creepy-Crawlies: Armaldo
 * Green Thumb/Poisonous Pokémon: Roserade
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Altaria
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * An Ice Pokémon: Lopunny's Blizzard.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Lopunny's Focus Blast.
 * Playing with Fire: Roserade's Sunny Day.
 * Epic Fail: After making it to the semifinals of the Grand Festival and performing excellently, he gets knocked out of the league after an underwhelming battle with Ash in the first round. Somewhere, Zoey is laughing her butt off...
 * Even the Guys Want Him: A blink-and-you'll-miss-it example. When James and Meowth are selling Pokémon Coordinator merchandise during Opposites Interact, you can hear a male voice saying, "I'd like a photo of Nando."
 * Everything's Better With Bunnies: Lopunny.
 * Extreme Doormat: He let the Eterna City Officer Jenny tie him up in A Secret Sphere of Influence!. That should tell you something.
 * Expy: Of Robert.
 * Aesthetically, he also shares many traits with Harley: they're both feminine, long-haired Agent Peacocks, wear a lot of green, train at least one Grass-type Pokémon as their main partner, are voiced by Billy Regan in the English dub, and compete in Contests as rivals to main characters. Personality-wise, however...
 * Flat Character: Unlike the other Sinnoh rivals he's just a straight-up Nice Guy whose spirit never wavers at all.
 * Fluffy Fashion Feathers: There's one in his hat during the Grand Festival arc.
 * Friend to All Living Things
 * Gentleman and a Scholar
 * Gold Makes Everything Shiny: His harp and shoulderplate.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: In the Japanese version, Nando is Roronoa Zoro.
 * Long-Haired Pretty Boy
 * Iconic Item: His harp.
 * Intergenerational Friendship: With Zoey, Dawn, Brock, and Ash.
 * Just a Stupid Accent
 * Magic Music/Musical Assassin
 * Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine Boy to Zoey's Masculine Girl.
 * Meaningful Name: Probably a coincidence, but he shares his Japanese name with Naoshi Mizuta, another musician.
 * Motif: Music notes, fittingly.
 * Non-Standard Character Design: He has smaller and more realistically drawn eyes than other characters.
 * Never Bareheaded: To date, he has never been seen without his trademark Nice Hat.
 * Nice Guy: Very much so.
 * Nice Hat
 * Not So Stoic: In really intense battles.
 * Omnidisciplinary Trainer: Only character to regularly participate in both Contests and Gym Battles.
 * Out of Focus: To the point where the writers forgot about him for an entire year!
 * Peek-a-Bangs
 * Perpetual Smiler
 * Playing Against Type: He is far more quiet than many other characters Kazuya Nakai has played.
 * The Pollyanna
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Zoey's red.
 * Rhymes on a Dime: In the early episodes ("What is usually hidden, you now have the eyes with which to see/the forest song allows it to be/a gift for you and me"), although he stopped doing it by "Dawn's Early Night".
 * Say My Name:


 * Sharp-Dressed Man
 * Ship Tease: With Gardenia in A Secret Sphere of Influence!
 * The Southpaw: Plays his harp with his left hand.
 * Spock Speak
 * Talking to Himself: Averted. He has never spoken to Conway.
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome
 * Unexplained Accent: Spanish in the English dub. Or maybe it's something else.
 * The Unfought: Dawn never faced him directly in an actual Contest battle (though they did have a practice bout in DP004, which he won).
 * Vague Age: Appears to be in his early 20s, but his outfit and old-fashioned speech patterns give the impression of someone much older.
 * Vocal Evolution: His voice sounds noticeably different in Last Call, First Round! than in Dawn's Early Night!
 * Wandering Minstrel: Textbook example.
 * What the Hell Is That Accent?
 * The Worf Effect:
 * Worthy Opponent: To Zoey and Ash.

Tobias (Takuto)
A mysterious trainer who first appears during the Sinnoh League Tournament. Using only, he has curb-stomped through the Sinnoh Gym Leaders and the League Tournament.


 * Aerith and Bob
 * Anime Hair
 * Curtains Match the Window: Grayish-blue hair, light blue eyes.
 * Peek-a-Bangs
 * You Gotta Have Grayish-Blue Hair
 * Badass Cape
 * Curb Stomp Battle:
 * Dark Is Not Evil: No, the creepy guy with the is not evil. He actually congratulates Ash on a good battle after he wins.
 * Elemental Powers
 * Single type Pokémon
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * An Ice Pokémon: 's Ice Beam.
 * Psychic Powers: 's Dream Eater.
 * The Faceless: For about a couple episodes. Although pay attention and you can see his face relatively clearly in the tournament standings. He's the only one with hair like that.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: More notable in the dub -- the first of five cross-region voice actor cameos during 2011. Tatum would later voice Damon in Pokémon the Movie: Black And White.
 * The Juggernaut
 * Law of Chromatic Superiority: He easily defeats every Trainer he comes up against, . He also wears a red cape.
 * One Steve Limit: Averted in the Japanese version. Tommy from the Pokémon Trainer's School (a Hoenn character of the day) shares the same Japanese name as him.
 * The Reveal:
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Peek-a-Bangs hairstyle, mysterious air, Badass Cape, unusual name...Nando, is that you?
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome
 * The Un-Reveal: Only two of his Pokémon were shown in his fight against Ash.
 * The Reveal:
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Peek-a-Bangs hairstyle, mysterious air, Badass Cape, unusual name...Nando, is that you?
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome
 * The Un-Reveal: Only two of his Pokémon were shown in his fight against Ash.
 * The Un-Reveal: Only two of his Pokémon were shown in his fight against Ash.

Pokémon Hunter J
A ruthless, cold-hearted bounty hunter who specializes in stealing Pokémon. She has an entire crew of operatives working under her, not least of which is her loyal Salamence, and travels in a flying fortress. J has no concern for human or Pokémon life, not even the lives of her own henchmen.


 * All Webbed Up: Ariados' String Shot.
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Badass Normal
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: She not only, but also makes a nearly successful attempt on
 * Elemental Powers
 * Dual type Pokémon
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies/Poisonous Pokémon: Ariados
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons/Wind from Beneath My Wings: Salamence
 * Poisonous Pokémon/Casting a Shadow: Drapion
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type
 * Playing with Fire: Salamence's Flamethrower.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Salamence's Hyper Beam.
 * Hero-Killer: Though nobody dies by her hand, she's so dangerous that even Ash and Co. take her very seriously. Most notably when
 * Knight of Cerebus: Every episode she appears in is dark and serious, guaranteed. Of course, when your repetoire includes being an abhorrent piece of work (even among Pokémon hunters & poachers), this is to be expected.
 * Lack of Empathy: Even worse than Paul!
 * One-Letter Name
 * Only in It For the Money: She abandons her battle on more than one occasion when her client reneges on the payment.
 * Psycho for Hire
 * Salamence Rider
 * Sinister Shades
 * The Sociopath
 * The Stoic: Unless she's wearing a Slasher Smile.
 * Taken for Granite: What happens to the Pokémon she captures. It can be reversed, but only if you pull the dial on the case it's in or revive the Pokémon in question by using Hidden Power on it.
 * Vile Villain Saccharine Show
 * Villain Team-Up: Hired by Team Galactic during the Galactic arc's finale.
 * Wave Motion Gun: Her Salamence knows Hyper Beam.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl: It's actually gray, but it still counts.
 * Would Hurt A Baby Pokémon: Defied, and not because Even Evil Has Standards. In a flashback by an Officer Jenny in Mutiny in the Bounty, she is seen saying to a Teddiursa as it frantically claws at its glass cage, "I won't hurt you. You're much too valuable for that."
 * Wave Motion Gun: Her Salamence knows Hyper Beam.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl: It's actually gray, but it still counts.
 * Would Hurt A Baby Pokémon: Defied, and not because Even Evil Has Standards. In a flashback by an Officer Jenny in Mutiny in the Bounty, she is seen saying to a Teddiursa as it frantically claws at its glass cage, "I won't hurt you. You're much too valuable for that."

Roark (Hyouta)
A description of the character goes here.
 * Bishonen
 * Calling the Old Man Out: He accuses his father of abandoning his family for nothing more than his love of fossils, and also preferring defense to offense.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: In a flashback.
 * Elemental Powers: Roark specializes in Rock type Pokémon.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Geodude's Seismic Toss.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Onix's Screech.
 * Playing with Fire: Rampardos's Flamethrower.
 * Psychic Powers: Rampardos's Zen Headbutt.
 * Fiery Redhead: More of the "fiercely passionate" variety than "hot-headed", generally, except for when it comes to Byron...
 * Guest Star Party Member: Sort of - four episodes straight in Oreburgh City, and then a significant role for another two at Canalave City.
 * The Bus Came Back
 * Nice Guy
 * Reasonable Authority Figure/Gym Leaders Who Actually Do Something: Actively involved in the mining duties of his city, and later stops Team Rocket when dealing with their theft of the Fossil Restoration machine.
 * Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: He challenges his father to a battle to resolve this, and champions the force of Rampardos against Byron's immovable Bastiodon. No winner is clearly determined.
 * Use Your Head: Rampardos's Headbutt and Zen Headbutt.

Gardenia (Natane)
A description of the character goes here.
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Appears briefly during Cheryl's three-part arc, in DP031 ("The Grass-type is Always Greener") before having a full introduction in Eterna City.
 * The Bus Came Back: In DP055.
 * Elemental Powers: Gardenia specializes in Grass type Pokémon.
 * Casting a Shadow: Turtwig's Bite.
 * Light'Em Up: Roserade's Flash.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Roserade's secondary type.
 * Genki Girl
 * Go-Karting with Bowser: Upon seeing James' Cacnea again, she asks it to give her a massage with Pin Missile.
 * Luminescent Blush: This is her reaction when Dawn asks her if she's been with Nando.
 * Odd Friendship: With James, whom she could never see as an enemy due to his Cacnea.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: During A Secret Sphere of Influence!
 * Ship Tease: With Nando.
 * She also has some arguable tease with James - or if not that, then borderline with Cacnea (though she's fairly goo-goo-eyed about Grass-types in general). Either way, she's inordinately nice to him in DP054 despite knowing full well of his and his friends' attempted theft of the Adamant Orb.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: "The crooks were using Grass-type Pokémon, huh? They've got some nerve! Those jerks!"
 * Hypocritical Humor: By the end of her appearance, she's taking care of a Grass-type that one of the crooks in question gave to her.

Maylene (Sumomo)
A description of the character goes here.
 * Action Girl
 * Badass:
 * Badass Adorable: She's the first Gym Leader from whom Ash wins a badge without outright defeating her (they tie, but she considers his performance worthy of the Cobble Badge). Not to mention her battle with Dawn. Reggie even notes the result of her battle with Paul might have been very different if she'd been at the top of her game when they faced off.
 * Badass Normal: When you're a human and you can deflect an Aura Sphere with your bare hands...
 * Break the Cutie: Losing to Paul, then being on the receiving end of his painful "The Reason You Suck" Speech. Ow.
 * Brick Break: Machoke's attack.
 * Calling Your Attacks: She even motions whenever her commands Lucario to use Aura Sphere.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Elemental Powers: Maylene specializes in fighting type Pokémon.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Lucario's Bone Rush.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Lucario's secondary type.
 * Psychic Powers: Meditite's secondary type.
 * Guest Star Party Member: Similarly to Roark, she has a decent four-episode arc of bonding with Ash and his friends (especially Dawn).
 * Reasonable Authority Figure/Gym Leaders Who Actually Do Something: In her final appearance, she sensed the disturbance caused by Team Galactic stealing the Veilstone Meteorites and hurried over to stop them.
 * Ship Tease: With Reggie.
 * To a lesser extent, with Dawn.
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: Though she'd considered making it permanent, her Lucario (and everyone else for that matter) wouldn't hear of it.
 * You Gotta Have Pink Hair

Crasher Wake (Maximum Mask)
A description of the character goes here. "Ash: For a big guy, that Wake can move!"
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Inverted regarding Ash's victory over him; while Wake doesn't just fall and puts up a good battle, this is the first proper time Ash has won a Gym Match without a single Pokémon fainting (discounting the double-battle with Tate and Liza in Hoenn).
 * Elemental Powers: Crasher Wake specializes in Water type Pokémon.
 * An Ice Pokémon: Floatzel's Ice Fang, and Quagsire's Ice Beam.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Floatzel's Bulk Up.
 * Casting a Shadow: Gyarados's Bite.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Quagsire's secondary type (Ground).
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Gyarados's Dragon Rage.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Quagsire's Sludge Bomb.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Gyarados' secondary type.
 * Fatter Than a Speeding Bullet

"I'M...Crasher Wake! (laughs)"
 * Hidden Depths: Like everyone else in his town, he is fond of Croagunk.
 * Large Ham: complete with introductions!


 * Razor Wind: Floatzel's attack.
 * Worthy Opponent: His Floatzel quickly became this to Buizel - becoming even important to the latter's Character Development.

Fantina (Melissa)
A description of the character goes here.
 * Back for the Finale: Or rather, back for the Sinnoh Grand Festival.
 * Big OMG: In Coming Full Festival Circle!
 * Big No: Comically does this whenever Ash KO's one of her Pokémon.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Elemental Powers: Fantina specializes in Ghost type Pokémon.
 * Casting a Shadow: Mismagius' Dark Pulse.
 * Green Thumb: Mismagius' Magical Leaf.
 * Playing with Fire: Drifblim's Will-O-Wisp.
 * Poisonous Pokémon: Gengar's secondary type.
 * Psychic Powers: Mismagius' Psybeam and Psywave, Drifblim's Hypnosis and Psychic, and Gengar's Hypnosis.
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Drifblim's secondary type.
 * Genki Girl: The woman can barely stand still, she's always dancing.
 * Gratuitous English/Gratuitous French: In the Japanese and English versions, respectively.
 * Surprisingly Good French: In the dub, her accent and pronunciations are actually quite good, as a skilled French speaker can attest to.
 * Improbable Hairstyle
 * Pimped-Out Dress
 * Recurring Character: Fantina's appearances are the most sporadically spread out of all the Sinnoh Gym Leaders.
 * Running Gag: She always never seems to be in her gym whenever she was needed.
 * Talking To Herself: See Togekiss
 * You Gotta Have Purple Hair

Byron (Tougan)
A description of the character goes here.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Disappeared Dad
 * Daddy Had a Good Reason For Abandoning You: Though his demeanour suggests otherwise, this is actually true - he wanted Roark to become his own man rather than living under his father's shadow, hence why he left Oreburgh Gym in his hands.
 * Elemental Powers: Byron specializes in Steel type Pokémon.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Bastiodon's primary type (Rock) and Steelix's secondary type (Ground).
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Steelix's Screech.
 * Making a Splash: Bronzor's Rain Dance.
 * Playing with Fire: Bastiodon's Flamethrower.
 * Psychic Powers: Bronzor's secondary type
 * Energy Ball: Bastiodon's Flash Cannon.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Large Ham: "I LOVE BASTIODON/STEELIX/FOSSILS/DEFENSE/THIS HOLE!!!"
 * Memento MacGuffin: His most treasured fossil - a fossilized Sunkern leaf which Roark found and gave him.
 * No Indoor Voice
 * Tunnel King: With nothing but the highest respect for others who share the same talent.
 * Use Your Head: Bastiodon's Iron Head.

Candice (Suzuna)
A description of the character goes here.
 * Action Girl
 * Brown Eyes
 * Catch Phrase: She is oddly fond of Kiai. No, not the shouting. The word itself.
 * Elemental Powers: Candice specializes in Ice type Pokémon.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Medicham's primary type.
 * Casting a Shadow: Sneasel's primary type
 * Green Thumb: Abomasnow and Snover's primary type.
 * Playing with Fire: Medicham's Fire Punch.
 * Psychic Powers: Medicham's secondary type.
 * Friendly Rival: In-universe, this is actually how she thinks rivalry should function, and is therefore pleased by how Dawn and Zoey help and learn from each other. By extension, she finds herself both shocked and baffled by Paul and his hostility towards Ash.
 * Genki Girl: This girl has much Kiai, it cannot be denied!
 * Recurring Character: Her increased importance is enabled by her being Zoey's childhood friend.
 * Sempai-Kohai: She is Zoey's sempai. It's easy to read even more into it.

Volkner (Denzi)
A description of the character goes here.
 * Adaptation Dye Job: His hair is a dirtier shade of blond.
 * Blue Eyes
 * Brilliant but Lazy: He has a long-running win streak, but by the time Ash shows up, he's giving away badges for free.
 * Doppelganger Spin: Luxray's Double Team.
 * Elemental Powers: Volkner specializes in Electric type Pokémon.
 * An Ice Pokémon: Electivire's Ice Punch.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Raichu and Luxray's Iron Tail.
 * Playing with Fire: Electivire's Fire Punch.
 * Soul Power: Jolteon's Shadow Ball.
 * Hair of Gold
 * Jacob Marley Warning: He is the representation of what would have happened to Ash if Paul had kept Chimchar in the season 10 episode "Glory Blaze", and had not snapped out of his funk in the season 12 episode "Uncrushing Defeat".
 * Mon Bites Mon: Luxray's Thunder Fang.
 * Ten-Minute Retirement: A very justified on - just as his Gym Battle with Ash got underway, Team Rocket attempt to steal Sunnyshore Tower, in the process damaging the Gym as well. Because of this, Ash doesn't get to challenge him again until after the Sinnoh Grand Festival.

Sinnoh Elite Four & Champion
Tropes that apply to all of them:
 * Asskicking Equals Authority
 * Badass
 * Five-Man Band:
 * Big Good: Cynthia
 * The Hero: Flint
 * The Lancer: Aaron
 * The Smart Guy: Lucian
 * The Big Gal: Bertha
 * Reasonable Authority Figure

Cynthia (Shirona)

 * Action Girl
 * Badass Longcoat
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Curb Stomp Battle: People who try to face her in battle usually receive one of these, most notably Paul. The known exceptions are Flint (who took down three of her Pokémon before losing to her Garchomp) and Aaron (who took down five of her team, including Garchomp, before finally losing to Gastrodon).
 * Elemental Powers:
 * Dual type Pokémon:
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons/Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Garchomp
 * Making a Splash/Dishing Out Dirt (Ground): Gastrodon
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type:
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Garchomp's Brick Break
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Garchomp's Stone Edge.
 * Playing with Fire: Garchomp's Flamethrower
 * Gray Eyes
 * Hair Decorations
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hot Chick in a Badass Suit
 * Lady of War: Cynthia herself, though her female Garchomp also qualifies by merit of being both powerful and graceful.
 * The Mentor: Her main role during the plot of the DP series, though she does get actively involved in the effort to stop Team Galactic, doing her duty as Champion very well.
 * Peek-a-Bangs
 * Recurring Character
 * Woman in Black: Though she's less of a scary or menacing figure, it definitely gives her an air of authority.
 * Woman in Black: Though she's less of a scary or menacing figure, it definitely gives her an air of authority.

Lucian (Goyō)

 * Badass Bookworm: Like his game counterpart, he can be frequently seen with a book in his hands.
 * Bishonen
 * Early-Bird Cameo: If you count that he's the sole Sinnoh Elite Four member who appeared prior to Cynthia.
 * Elemental Powers: He uses Psychic types:
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Bronzong's primary type.
 * Megane
 * Sharp-Dressed Man
 * Worthy Opponent: Perceived as such by Buizel, who thus became highly depressed at losing so badly to him the first time.
 * You Gotta Have Light Purple Hair

Aaron (Ryou)

 * Badass: Though it was cut from the dub, the original Japanese of DP100 has announcer state Cynthia was down to her last Pokémon when she sent out Gastrodon against Aaron's Beautifly. This means that Aaron must have actually defeated her Garchomp, something even Flint (see below) didn't quite manage!
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies
 * Mr. Fanservice: In-universe. Even the local Officer Jenny Fangirls him.
 * Rare case of both Bishounen and Rated "M" for Manly, judging by his appearance.
 * My Greatest Failure: Abandoning his Wurmple for being a weak Pokémon when he was younger (which prompted him to better understand Bug-types, so it wouldn't happen again). It eventually comes back to him as a Beautifly.
 * Offscreen Moment of Awesome: See Badass.
 * One Aaron Limit: Averted in the dub, which also has Sir Aaron.
 * Speaks Fluent Pokémon: He is apparently able to understand insects.
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair

Flint (Ōba)

 * Afro Asskicker
 * Badass: His Infernape. It was able to go head to head with Cynthia's Garchomp and deal some brutal blows in. It's the second-closest anyone has come to take her down (Aaron, above, got closer). Not to mention it swatted Ash's Pokémon like flies!
 * Big Brother Mentor: Has this vibe with Ash and they share a similar philosophy in the way they battle with their Pokémon and he shares some advice with the younger boy. Not to mention that he is obviously fond of Ash...
 * Big Damn Heroes: in his first appearance, using Infernape to save Ash from the Sunyshore gym's security system, and again to rescue Kenny's Floatzel from Team Rocket.
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys: Infernape
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Volkner.
 * Leitmotif: Everytime he shows up you can hear a subtle jungle beat with drums. It's actually quite awesome.
 * One Flint Limit: Averted in the dub. The other Flint is Brock's father.
 * Playing with Fire/Bare Fisted Monkey: Infernape
 * The Rival: Volkner's old friend and adversary.

Bertha (Kikuno)

 * Berserk Button: When Team Rocket decided to enhance their Pokémon's performance using Powered Armor, she didn't take it too kindly.
 * Brown Eyes
 * Cool Old Lady
 * Elemental Powers: She specialises in Ground type Pokémon:
 * Single type Pokémon:
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Hippowdon (Ground)
 * Dual type Pokémon:
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Gliscor (Ground) & Golem (Rock/Ground)
 * Wind from Beneath My Wings: Gliscor
 * Pokémon who know moves of a different type:
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Hippowdon's Iron Head.
 * Playing with Fire: Hippowdon's Fire Fang.
 * Drives Like Crazy
 * Mon Bites Mon: Hippowdon's Fire Fang.
 * Never Mess with Granny
 * One Hit KO: Gliscor's Guillotine
 * One-Scene Wonder: She only appeared in a single episode, barring her cameo in Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions.
 * Stealth Mentor