Pokémon Trainer
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In the Pokémon franchise, a Pokémon Trainer (ポケモントレーナー?) is a person who captures wild Pokémon with Poké Balls, raises them, and trains them to battle other trainers' Pokémon. The main character in each incarnation of the Pokémon games is an aspiring young Trainer. A notable Pokémon Trainer is Ash Ketchum, the main character of the Pokémon TV series.
The term "Pokémon Trainer" can also be used in a broader context: any person with at least one Pokémon can be considered a Pokémon Trainer. In this sense, people in related Pokémon occupations, such as Pokémon coordinators or Pokémon breeders, can also be considered to be Pokémon Trainers.
Some Pokémon Trainers carry a Pokédex with them, which serves as identification as well as a tool for keeping track of the Pokémon a Trainer has seen or caught. The process of completing such a list is known as "filling" the Pokédex. A Trainer who has filled the Pokédex (with minor exceptions) is a Pokémon Master. In the animated series, the Pokédex is already loaded with much of the information that a Trainer needs in order to identify Pokémon, but in the video games, the data of a Pokédex starts empty and must be gradually filled as more Pokémon are seen or caught. Seeing a Pokémon will give a picture of its image, and the area in the region it lives in. Catching one will give a small bio, and reveal its weight and height in comparison with the trainer.
Many Pokémon Trainers compete in a regional Pokémon League. To qualify for league competition, a Trainer must win a number of Gym Badges from various Pokémon Gym Leaders throughout the region through Pokémon Battles.
A person usually becomes a Pokémon Trainer when they are over ten years old. Authorities chosen by the regional Pokémon League, usually a Pokémon expert such as Professor Oak, will allow a Trainer to choose their first Pokémon from three, which vary from region to region. Of course, those people who already have possession of a Pokémon, either as a pet or inherited through family, may eschew this process and start their journey with that Pokémon.
In the video games, a second Trainer, generally referred to as the "rival", will choose the Pokémon with the type advantage over the player's starter. However, with the new Diamond and Pearl games, there is a rival and another trainer who will help the player at various points, both characters taking one starter.
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[edit] Pokémon Battles
Pokémon Battles serve as a useful way of exercise for the Pokémon as well as the main source of income for a Pokémon Trainer. By weakening a wild Pokémon and capturing it in a Poké Ball, it is also the primary method for Trainers to acquire new Pokémon. A Pokémon Battle is essentially a match where two teams of Pokémon battle each other until all the members of one team are knocked out. In a normal Pokémon Battle, only one member of a team may be battling at the time, although there do exist "double battles," where two pairs of Pokémon may be fighting at the same time. Pokémon Trainers, as a rule, cannot have more than six Pokémon on their active roster at once, although they can have more than six Pokémon accompany them (as long as the trainer only asserts ownership of up to six of them).
In the video games, the winning Trainer is also entitled a cash prize from the losing Trainer, which can be used to buy items at a local Pokémart, a supermarket that sells Pokémon-related items.
In the end, the losing Trainer is likely to have his or her Pokémon either knocked out or in serious condition. In this case Trainers must proceed quickly to a local Pokémon Center, which heals Pokémon for no charge (in the video games, this is done automatically). In the animated series, a Pokémon Center also serves as an inn for Pokémon Trainers.
[edit] Pokémon games
In the video games, Pokémon Trainers behave differently than they do in the anime. Pokémon Trainers possess different types of Pokémon depending on their career and origin. They are themed differently, and have Pokémon that match their character, name and type of person. For example, in Pokémon Colosseum there exists a trainer named Botan who uses grass type Pokémon. His name provides a hint as to what the player might expect, as Botan is probably drawn from Botany.
Pokémon Trainers are all types of people, with given names. For example, a player may encounter a Trainer called Hiker Kent or a Trainer called Beauty Violet. Trainers like this are never assigned a particular strategy, just a group of Pokémon for its type. As the player travels through the game, Trainers will approach them and demand a battle, rather than simply asking. Pokémon Trainers will often be found on routes and in caves, and especially gyms, and give more experience to the player than wild Pokémon, as well as give money on their defeat.
Trainers are known to have a particular quality about them; for example, a "Rich Boy" will often give the player lots of money for being victorious. Their names can also be a clue as to how difficult it will be to defeat them (compare "Youngster" and "Expert").
[edit] Types of Pokémon Trainers
Although many Pokémon trainers have no further distinctions, some are also further classified:
A Gym Leader is a Trainer who runs a training facility for a specific type of Pokémon (or, in rare cases, a mixed team of Pokémon). Some gyms are authorized by a regional Pokémon League, and these Gym Leaders offer a Gym Badge upon their defeat in a special Pokémon Gym Battle. In the Pokémon animated series, this is often a Pokémon Battle in which Gym Leaders are not permitted to switch Pokémon, but the nature of a Pokémon Gym Battle is entirely up to the Gym Leader to decide. In the video games, Gym Leaders will also give a Technical Machine to any Trainer able to defeat them in a Gym Battle. In the animated series, many Gym Leaders have a signature Pokémon that Ash (the main character) must battle over or around.
An Elite Four Trainer is one of the four Trainers that a trainer must beat in succession before facing the regional Pokémon League Champion.
A "Pokémon Master" has been said to be a Trainer that has, with few exceptions, filled their Pokédex. In the Pokémon animated series, many Pokémon Trainers set out to achieve the dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, but most give up trying either because of the lure of another career or an insurmountable obstacle. Alternatively, some Trainers will instead choose to specialize in a particular type of Pokémon and choose to obtain a mastery over that particular type. In the anime, Misty is one such Trainer, choosing to try to become a Water Pokémon Master. In the video games, this is an impossible task with one game alone - the trading of Pokémon between players with different versions of the game is necessary to become a Pokémon Master, unless a cheating device such as a GameShark is used. In the anime, where the Pokédex already contains the data of all Pokémon, it is never stated what is necessary to become a Pokémon Master, but several Elite Four trainers are referred to as being Masters.
[edit] Gym Badges
The goal of many Trainers is not only to raise powerful Pokémon (or help Pokémon to become stronger battlers), but to compete in league competitions. To do so, one must collect all eight Gym Badges.
In the video games, a Gym Badge serves both as a symbolic marker of the player's progress in the game, and as an enhancement of the player's Pokémon-handling abilities. Depending on the badge, it can allow Trainers to use Hidden Machines (HMs) that allow them to use certain attacks outside of a Pokémon Battle, letting them move certain obstacles, light up dark areas, or travel on water. Possession of certain Gym Badges also reduces the likelihood of stronger Pokémon disobeying their Trainers, and thus serves as a token of respect between Pokémon and their Trainers. Some badges also increase certain stats in the Trainer's Pokémon, such as their Attack power or Speed. Eight gym badges are required to face the Elite Four in each of the Pokémon regions containing a Pokémon League (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh).
In the anime, although the only Gyms featured are the ones from the video games, there appear to be more than eight Gyms in each region, as Trainers have been seen with Badges never before seen in the video games (some of Gary Oak's Kanto badges are unheard of, for example). It appears that collecting the badges of any eight officially recognized Gyms in a given region grants a trainer access to its annual Pokémon League event.
Gym Badges often resemble the type of Pokémon the Gym Leader had when defeated, such as the "Knuckle Badge" received from Brawly, a Fighting-type Gym Leader, in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald.
[edit] Appearance in other games
A Pokémon Trainer who appears as the male lead character from the earlier Pokémon video games is a selectable character in Nintendo's fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. His default outfit is that of the male FireRed/LeafGreen Pokémon Trainer and when the player changes his color his clothes change to look similar to other trainers like that of Ruby or Sapphire (although the Trainer himself never changes). Referred to simply as "Pokémon Trainer", instead of fighting directly, he uses one of his three Pokémon to fight: Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. Using his down special move, he can switch between each Pokémon. They share the same damage meter, but must be changed out during the course of the battle to prevent loss of stamina, which is a status that only they have in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. "Pokémon Trainer" stands in the background, issuing battle commands. Each of the Pokémon has its own individual special moves. Their Final Smash is called the Triple Finish, and is a combination attack of Hydro Pump, Solarbeam and Fire Blast, which fire in different line patterns to ensure hits on the enemy. He teams up with Lucas in the adventure mode. Lucas runs into the Trainer shortly after Ness is captured by Wario, and using Squirtle, the two fight off the Subspace Army. The pair manage to defeat Wario later, and the Trainer later catches an Ivysaur and Charizard. While exploring an underground cavern, they are attacked by the same robot which attacked Marth, Ike and Meta knight. They take the machine down, but are nearly caught in the resulting explosion, saved at the last minute by Meta Knight. After safe on ground, they both shake hands and team up with Marth, Ike, then later Mario, Link, Kirby, Pit, and Yoshi. He is voiced by Yumiko Kobayashi in the Japanese release and Michele Knotz in the English. At first, it was mistakened that he is voiced by Sarah Natochenny who had voiced Ash Ketchum from 2006.
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