Relive your favorite regions in a new and engaging way! Currently re-exploring the Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh regions through the Memories of Kanto and Peaks of Sinnoh versions. (This blog is a fan concept for an alternative form of game remakes where time has passed since the original story.)
I absolutely live for post-canon AUs and I'm having a blast looking through everything! Does Carmilla happen to be Lucas' younger sister? I would be elated if this is the case!
Hi there! Thanks for writing in, I'm so glad people are still enjoying this blog.
Carmilla wasn't conceived of as Lucas' younger sister, but it's a great idea! Your headcanon (maybe a strange thing to call a thought about a very not-canon AU...) has my stamp of approval, though it doesn't need it.
The only reason I wouldn't make it 100% AU-canon is that I'm not sure the timelines quite match up; Carmilla is currently presented as being in the ballpark of 10-14, whereas it's been at least that long since the events of the original game in-universe. Not to talk you out of it! I love the idea!
To the user who sent a curious message, but who apparently cannot receive responses via the messaging function:
There’s only one person running this blog! Just lil’ old me! I put these things together for fun last year, and, somewhat regrettably, haven’t had any more to offer since.
Thanks for you interest! And to everyone that keeps liking/reblogging the posts here and following this blog! Maybe one day I’ll come back to it, if the inspiration strikes to adapt another region this way...
Congratulations! You’ve fought long and hard against Team Neo-Rocket and the Pokémon leagues of two regions. Now, you’ve reached your final challenge: the elite four and champion of Johto!
(If you want more information on this project, check out the Johto or Memories of Kanto tags on the blog!)
Though it doesn’t have as long and storied a history as the Indigo Plateau, The Silver Falls Highland has fully established itself in the international Pokémon league. Some years ago, the league building was constructed in the highlands on the far side of Mt. Silver, and this is now the final destination on your league challenge.
Are you ready to take on all five of Johto’s strongest trainers?
The first member of the elite four that you will face is...
Morty
Your reputation precedes you! Morty’s impressed that you’ve gone to such lengths to protect the region’s legendary Pokémon. However, he’s still determined to make sure you have what it takes to challenge the rest of the elite four, to say nothing of the champion. You’ll have to get through his team of Haunter, Mismagius, Sableye, Froslass, and Gengar if you want to advance.
Next, you’ll need to take on...
Clair
The legendary dragon tamer is a stubborn opponent. Clair continues a rigorous training schedule, and can often still be found in the Dragon’s Den caves. She joined the elite four to raise the caliber of trainers that she and her team of Kingdra, Dragonair, Charizard, Dragonair, and Dragonite will face. Are you up to the challenge?
A diverse team will be important when you then challenge...
Elric
Elric began his Pokémon journey as a dragon tamer, but changed his focus to the fairy type when he discovered their power. He has a friendly rivalry with Clair, and a deep appreciation for the power and uniqueness of fairy type. His team is made up of Clefable, Wigglytuff, Mr. Mime, Azumarill, and Granbull.
However, you still need to face the strongest member of the elite four...
Karen
Karen congratulates you for getting as far as you have. After all, you and your team have been through a lot, and you have gone on this journey with the Pokémon you love, whether or not they are objectively powerful. She has seen a lot of trainers come and go, and knows from experience that the best trainers use their favorite Pokémon. Her favorite Pokémon include Umbreon, Vileplume, Honchkrow, Weavile, and Houndoom.
But now you’ve reached the final trainer:
Champion Kris
Champion Kris has been waiting to face you. You may be able to take on Team Neo-Rocket, and that’s no small feat, but can you defeat her?
Kris’ team is made up of Espeon, (Red) Gyarados, Togekiss, Porygon-Z, Tyranitar, and Meganium. Once you have defeated her, you will have an honor that very few trainers have: being inducted into two halls of fame, both Kanto and Johto. One of the few other trainers who has managed such a thing is Kris herself.
Champion Red and Professor Orchid join Kris in inducting you into the hall of fame, wanting to honor you properly after your last success was interrupted.
Congratulations! Now your journey is complete, and you can explore Kanto and Johto however you like. Will you complete your collection of legendary Pokémon? Catch every Pokémon you can? Take on the gym leaders in rematches? Grow berries and apricorns? It’s all up to you.
I created DS/Generation 4-style sprite updates for some of the Pokémon from the Gold and Silver Spaceworld ‘97 demo!
This is part of a larger fan project expanding on the lore/story of Kanto and Johto. You can find more on the project here, and more about these Pokémon below the cut!
(All “english” names are entirely made up based on the original names’ etymologies and pre-existing Pokémon naming conventions)
Let’s learn more about the Pokémon you can find in the alternate past!
Kotora/Sirkitt
Type: Electric
This adorable electric tiger likes to snack on the electricity from generators. If it gets too excited it make shock you on accident! (If you anger it, it will shock you on purpose.) Its evolved form is believed to cause thunderstorms.
Kotora/Sirkitt evolves into Raitora/Raiger at level 35.
Rinrin/Purring
Type: Dark
This excitable, musical Pokémon wants to share it’s ringing bells and “singing” with as many people as they can, whether their audience likes it or not! They are a favorite pet because they are easy to keep track of.
Evolves into Berurun/Chimeow at level 28.
Beta Porygon2
Type: Normal
This upgraded version of Porygon has been redesigned to look more cuddly. Perhaps this went a bit too far?
A Porygon upgraded in the past using a Bata Floppy (which is only obtainable in the past) will evolve into Porygon2 (beta form). This is the only way to evolve Porygon without trading. The only non-aesthetic difference between Beta Porygon2 and Porygon2 is that the beta form can learn discharge, nuzzle, and explosion.
Beta Marill (plus Pink Azumarill)
Type: Water/Fairy
Beta Marill and the pink/beta form of Azumarill are essentially the same as their original counterparts. However, upon returning to the present, they change from simply being water type to being fairy/water type. They also have the primary ability of Cute Charm, instead of Thick Fat or Huge Power.
Beta Cleffa
Type: Normal/Fairy
It’s literally just cleffa. I just thought it’d be fun to edit it to match its beta closer. It’s simply an alternate form, and has no impact on evolutions.
This alternate form, along with all other beta baby Pokémon, are not exclusively found in the wild in the past. They also have a 50% of hatching from eggs if the mother/their evolved form was holding an “Ilex Incense.” In battle Ilex Incense will boost the power of any of the holder’s moves if the holder was caught in the past.
Honoguma/Cubustion
Type: Fire
This Pokémon is a favorite among children for its cuddly appearance and boundless energy!
Honoguma/Cubustion evolves into Borubea/Igneursa at level 16, and then into Dainabea/Bearnamite at level 36.
Kurusu/Kruse
Type: Water
This shy Pokémon likes to hide in caves or underwater, rarely interacting with humans. For many years, its highest evolution was believed to be a myth!
Kurusu/Kruse evolves into Akua at level 16, and then into Akueria at level 36.
Animon/Alike
Type: Normal
It can transform into anything, including strong metals.
If you give a Ditto a Metal Coat while in the past, it will evolved into Animon/Alike. Animon/Alike can also learn more moves than Ditto’s trademark “transform.” It can learn metal claw and iron tail by leveling up (metal claw is learned upon evolution), and it can be taught normal- and steel-type moves via machine.
Purroot are often kept indoors by their trainers so that they aren’t blown away in the wind!
The bloom on Kitbloom’s head collects energy while it naps in the sun. It can often be heard purring.
Dandylion rides along the wind to travel and spread spores across long distances.
This alternate version of the Hoppip line, which replace the Hoppip line in the wild when you are in the past, is essentially identical to Hoppip, Skiploom, and Jumpluff as we know them. The only difference is that they can now learn scratch and fury swipes, and their primary ability is now Own Tempo.
Koinya/Cointten
Type: Normal
This baby Pokémon has not yet opened its eyes, but it can find coins and other metal knick-knacks by smell alone. It likes to sleep on piles of coins.
Koinya/Cointten evolves into Meowth with maxed friendship. It has a 10% of holding an item, and within those odds it is a 20% chance of holding an amulet coin, and 80% of holding a pearl.
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Thanks for checking these out! I’m really proud of these sprites, all things considered. If you want to learn more about the beta Pokémon, these two Bulbapedia pages are quite informative, and you can check out these links if you are interested in the Pokemon Future and/or Memories of Kanto projects! You can also find out more about the time warp idea, specifically, here.
Team Neo-Rocket’s final goal is to get to the shrine in the Ilex forest, and summon the legendary Pokémon Celebi!
If you want more information on this project, check out the Johto or Memories of Kanto tags on the blog.
When you first encounter the Ilex Shine, as you travel from Azalea Town to Goldenrod City, it is being studied by Professor Leaf Orchid. Some of her Pokémon are enjoying the forest and helping her investigate. Her Venusaur, Pidgeot, and pink Azumarill are all puttering around the shrine.
Professor Orchid notes that locals have been reporting some strange occurrences by the shrine, and she has come to investigate. Could they have anything to do with Team Neo-Rocket? Still, it’s nothing for you to worry about right now. She will let you know if anything of import happens.
It isn’t until you’ve chased Team Neo-Rocket out of Mahogany Town that you will need to return to the shrine. Team Neo-Rocket swiped an important artifact from Mahogany Town: The GS Ball. A Pokéball made of gold and silver, with a center latch button made of sparkling crystal, there has been some debate as to the origins and use of the item. It has proven ill-suited for capturing Pokémon, but some legends connect it to Ilex Shrine. Associate Professor Gold confirms that those legends are likely why Team Neo-Rocket would have stolen the GS Ball, and you need to hunt them down before it’s too late!
Sure enough, you will find Dante at the Ilex Shrine. He assures you that you are too late to stop him; once he places the GS Ball in the shrine it will summon Celebi, and allow him to travel back to the past he’s been working so hard to replicate.
The legendary Pokémon Celebi does appear, and grants his wish: Dante is warped back into the past, and you are pulled along with him.
You have now been transported back in time by more than 20 years! The Johto region is a very different place, and Dante is nowhere to be found. Celebi is also entirely absent. Finding Dante may be your only way home!
As you work your way through Ilex forest, a bug catcher to the south will tell you that a strange man did rush past, heading for Azalea Town.
In Azalea town, Dante is arguing with some locals in the Slowpoke Well. The locals, along with Gym Leader Bugsy, are asking why Team Rocket can’t take a hint; Team Rocket’s already been run out of town by a powerful trainer, why would they try and come back? And why only send one member?
When you confront him, Dante flees the town, back toward the forest, but not before insisting that slowpoke tails were never a very lucrative venture, anyway.
When you return to the forest, you run into an unexpectedly familiar face: Indigo, who, according to his account, was the only one brave enough to try and follow you. He promises to keep an eye on Ilex forest while you investigate [whatever’s next].
However, Indigo will not be your only ally. At the northern edge of Ilex Forest you will also find a young trainer from Kanto.
She introduces herself as Leaf. She has recently completed the Kanto gym challenge, and has traveled to Johto to challenge herself. She is hoping to face the powerful trainer traveling Johto, battling the revived Team Rocket, but first she wants to help you defeat Dante, especially since he has threatened her and other trainers. Leaf also asks you questions about this “Team Neo-Rocket” thing that Dante was going on about, and mentions that by traveling back in time you and Dante may have created a new timeline, altering the Pokémon world, if only slightly.
With Leaf’s help you are able to trace Dante’s path through Goldenrod city, where he is attempting to take control of the broadcast tower. However, Team Rocket already has control of the tower. Two grunts are preventing Dante’s access to the tower, with one grunt insisting he can’t enter because he doesn’t have a proper ID number or any of the necessary information, where the other grunt thinks he should be let in, as he’s obviously a member of Team Rocket.
However, he abandons this argument to battle you. Once you defeat him, the grunts no longer have any qualms about removing him from the broadcast tower premises. After all, whether he’s Team Rocket or not, what use is a guy who can’t even defeat a kid in a Pokémon battle?
Outside the station, Leaf helps you force Dante back to the shrine, where Indigo is waiting. However, Dante refuses to use the GS Ball to summon Celebi again. Instead, he wants to help fix Team Rocket’s past failures and create a future where Team Rocket controls all of Kanto and Johto, if not all of the Pokémon world. Leaf informs him that what he wants doesn’t matter, because she has taken the GS Ball from him while he was distracted by your battle. Leaf places the GS Ball on the shrine, and wishes you good luck. She’s sure you’ll meet again. Celebi returns to the shrine, and transports you through time once more.
Standing at the shrine is an old man in a dark coat. The man comments that he recognizes the red “R” on Dante’s breast pocket. It’s a mark of failure, he explains. A mark of mistakes. He asks Celebi why it would show him this, an unfamiliar man making the same mistakes he fought his whole life for. Celebi has no answer, but the man has advice for Dante:
Greed will get you nowhere. It will only leave you isolated, with no company but cold coins or the shadows of hiding. Chasing greed makes you a target for defeat by those who know better. A child, filled with enthusiasm and supported by friends, will always be greater than a man chasing power for power’s sake.
The man explains that no matter how many times he tried, greed always led him back to ruins, and to isolation. The more you follow greed and power, the more pointless it becomes. To repeat the same actions time and again and expect different results is a form of madness. You cannot recreate the past, and you cannot reach true success through greed. He has found no power more potent than the bond of genuine friendship he has managed to make with some of his Pokémon. His Persian and Nidoking leap out of their Pokéballs to confirm this point.
The old man turns to Celebi and asks if that’s the right thing to say. Is this how the Pokémon wanted him to face his past? Celebi still gives him no answer, but in a blink, you, Indigo, and Dante are transported through time once more.
Professor Orchid is waiting for you both when you return to Ilex Shrine in the present, as are Gold, Silver, and Kris.
Silver takes Dante to face justice for what he’s done, and Professor Leaf Orchid confirms that your trip to the past must have been causing ripple effects in the present. This clears up much of the confusion, and will also allow for more focused study going forward!
While in the past, there are a wide variety of new Pokémon and alternate forms of familiar species that you can discover! When you return to the present, Professor Orchid will even update your Pokédex to properly document them.
Now that you’ve made it back to the present, you’ll need to focus on completing your Johto League challenge! Team Neo-Rocket has been defeated for good, and there’s only one gym left before you challenge the Elite Four and Champion.
After you have been inducted into the Johto hall of fame, you can return to the Ilex Shrine to battle and capture Celebi. If you have Celebi in your team, you can travel back to the past once a day, and explore to your heart’s content! However, you will not be able to go any further than Goldenrod City or Azalea town in each direction, as people don’t believe your gym badges are genuine.
Team Neo-Rocket has traveled to Johto, searching for power and legendary Pokémon. Their first targets in the region are the Legendary Beasts: Raikou, Entei, and Suicune.
More information on the role this region’s legendaries play in Memories of Kanto below the cut! If you’re interested in learning more about this project, check out the Johto or Memories of Kanto tags.
You will encounter Team Neo-Rocket a few times throughout the region, hassling the locals and researching Johto’s legendary Pokémon. This path leads both you and Neo-Rocket to Ecruteak city, where Team Neo-Rocket, led by an increasingly desperate Dante, attempt to burn a building with three Pokémon inside, aiming to create their own set of legendary beasts.
Instead, the three legendary beasts appear to confront Neo-Rocket and protect the innocent Pokémon. Team Neo-Rocket attempt to catch the beasts, but Dante and his grunts must defeat you and your rival, Indigo, in battle to get the chance. With Neo-Rocket held up in battle, the three legendary Pokémon easily flee. From this point on, they can be found roaming the region, and if you’re lucky, you just might be able to catch them!
Pokémon Keeper Gold joins you, and you retrieve the three Pokémon that Team Neo-Rocket had attempted to burn. The Pokémon had been stolen from Gold in the first place, and they are a set of Johto’s starters: a Chikorita, a Cyndaquil, and a Totodile. Clearly, Gold reasons, these Pokémon need better homes after what they’ve been through. He has too many Pokémon under his care to give them what they need, not to mention they seem to be itching for revenge. You get your pick of the three, and Indigo takes whichever one has type advantage over yours. The third can be found in Professor Elm’s care.
Though the legendary beasts travel all across Johto, and sometimes so far as Kanto, you can also find Suicune in a house on Route 40, on the shore just past Olivine City.
This house is the home of Eusine, a skilled trainer and an expert on Johto’s folklore. You may have seen him once or twice in your travels, but this is where he lives, and though he has not captured Suicune, the Aurora Pokémon can often be found relaxing in Eusine’s home or garden. Suicune cannot be challenged here, but it can be talked to. If you talk to it enough, it will wait up to three turns in battle before fleeing when encountered in the wild.
When and if you catch Suicune, you can leave it temporarily at Eusine’s house, much like you would leave Pokémon at the daycare. This raises Suicune’s friendliness, and if it is left with Eusine without holding an item, it will have a held item when it returns to you. This is most often a comparatively rare berry (including those that increase friendship or weaken the effects of super effective attacks), but may also be an evolution stone or a pearl on rare occasions.
Though Team Neo-Rocket has failed in their attempt to create new legendary beasts, they have their sights set on Lugia and Ho-oh. While you are challenging Cianwood City’s gym, Dante steals the silver wing and rainbow wing from Ecruteak City, where they have been safeguarded.
You follow Dante’s trail to the Whirl Islands, where he tries and fails to capture Lugia. Lugia handily defeats the Neo-Rocket grunts present, while you take on Dante again.
Once you have defeated the Olivine Gym, you will need to take on Team Neo-Rocket again in Ecruteak city, where they have summoned Ho-oh to the bell tower. Here Indigo has returned to help, not wanting you to get all the glory, and Indigo defeats Dante while you tackle Neo-Rocket grunts.
Your next stop will be to go head-to-head with Team Neo-Rocket once more in Mahogany Town, where they are attempting to take control and sway Leader Silver to their cause. This is entirely ineffective, but when the dust settles and Team Neo-Rocket has been driven out of town, it’s discovered that they got away with an important artifact.
The leader of Team Neo-Rocket now holds the GS Ball, a unique, ancient Pokéball said to summon the legendary Pokémon Celebi.
Red, Blue, and the professor are not the only trainers with experience fighting off Team Rocket. Johto has their own powerful trainers, and they’re here to help how they can.
If you want more information on this project, check out the Johto or Memories of Kanto tags on the blog!
Associate Professor Gold is there to greet you when you arrive in Johto. He’s the one who alerted Professor Orchid to Team Neo-Rocket’s activities, and he’s glad to have your help. Associate Professor Gold serves as your guide at many points in your travels. He is well-versed in Johto’s legends, and is able to anticipate Team Neo-Rocket’s movements as they track down legendary Pokémon.
Gold works largely with Professor Elm in Newbark Town, and though he is an associate professor, Gold’s main focus is on caring for Pokémon. Along with his involvement in Elm’s studies of Pokémon evolution and breeding, Gold studies the wellbeing of Pokémon, including the unique needs of different species. However, do not mistake Gold’s caring attitude for weakness: he is a skilled trainer who is greatly respected by Johto’s Pokémon League, and particularly by Leader Silver and the champion.
Leader Silver has become a fierce protector of Mahogany Town. Though many people find him cold or intimidating in his demeanor, he does everything he can to take care of Mahogany Town’s residents, as well as keep an eye on the Johto region as a whole. Though he hesitates to leave his gym often, Silver is infuriated by Team Neo-Rocket. Having learned the value of bonding with and caring for your Pokémon partners, he is disgusted by Neo-Rocket’s blatant and unapologetic exploitation of Pokémon. This boils over when Dante, Neo-Rocket’s leader, attempts to convert Silver to his cause. Leader Silver refuses to even honor Dante with a battle, and, with your help, drives Team Neo-Rocket out of Mahogany Town as quickly as possible.
Champion Kris spends most of her time at the Silver Falls Highland, where the conclusion of the Pokémon league is built. She is the last member of this trio that you meet, but she’s not about to stand by and let Team Neo-Rocket undermine the safety of her home. Kris can be found near both the Whirl Islands and the Bell Tower when Team Neo-Rocket is working to summon Lugia and Ho-oh, respectively, but opts to return to her duties as Champion once she confirms that the situations are in your capable hands. Otherwise, she is most often seen alongside either Associate Professor Gold or Leader Silver, as they are some of the only people who could pull her away from her responsibilities to the league.
You’ve defeated the Kanto elite four, but Team Neo-Rocket is moving into Johto! It’s time to expand your horizons, and to keep your skills sharp you should take on the Johto League.
If you want more information on this project, check out the Johto or Memories of Kanto tags on the blog!
A number of things have changed in Johto over the last decade, but the gym leader lineup has remained fairly similar.
Gym Leader 1: Fulton
Fulton hasn’t made many changes to the Violet City gym since taking it over from his mentor, Falkner. You will challenge a pair of bird keepers, stationed along the gym’s wooden aerial pathway, before facing Fulton himself.
Fulton’s team consists of Farfetch’d, Noctowl, Fearow, Skarmory, and Pidgeot, and he will award you with the Zephyr badge.
Gym Leader 2: Bugsy
Bugsy’s gym is the best place to master bug type Pokémon. The Spinarak-web inspired pathways lead you across the gym and past a variety of bug catchers who are training under Bugsy.
He’s proud of his work, and is glad to see a powerful trainer like yourself is interested in bug types. When you defeat his Butterfree, Aridos, Scyther, Heracross, and Shuckle, he will give you the hive badge.
Gym Leader 3: Whitney
This gym is a multi-level, candy-colored maze, where you will battle beauties and lasses on your way to facing Whitney. Whitney is very impressed by how far you’ve come as a trainer, and is excited to battle you. She also warns you not to underestimate the normal type!
If you can successfully defeat her team of Persian, Porygon-Z, Wigglytuff, Girafarig, and Miltank, you’ll receive the plain badge.
Gym Leader 4: Sakura
After Morty joined Johto’s Elite Four, the Ecruteak gym was moved into the city’s dance theater. Unlike most gyms, the dance theater’s theme is not a type, but an evolutionary line. To reach Sakura, the gym leader, you first must cross a variety of stages and battle her sisters. First, you must defeat Satsuki’s Jolteon, Sumomo’s Vaporeon, and Koume’s Flareon in single battles, before facing the remaining four sisters in double battles: first Rea’s Glaceon and Linnea’s Leafeon, then Kira’s Sylveon and Tamao’s Umbreon.
Once you have defeated all of her sisters, you will face Sakura. Her team all have friendship-based evolutions: Pikachu, Clefairy, Togetic, Blissey, and Espeon. For completing this gym, you are granted the spirit badge.
Gym Leader 5: Chuck
Not much has changed around Cianwood gym. Chuck still trains under a raging waterfall, and he’s happy to take you on if you climb to the top of the gym and shut off the water. On the way you’ll be able to challenge black belts and battle girls.
Once you defeat his Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Machamp, Poliwrath, and Primeape you’ll be rewarded with the storm badge.
Gym Leader 6: Jasmine
Jasmine’s gym challenge is all about taking a contemplative pause. Firstly, you will need to go meet Jasmine in the glitter lighthouse before she will be around for a challenge. She explains, when you find her, that this is to encourage trainers to take in the scenery and enjoy their journey, not to simply roar through each city, defeating gym after gym. The lighthouse houses a few different trainers, including sailors, bird keepers, and gentlemen, but all of the battles are optional.
In a similar vein, her gym is now styled after a zen rock garden. The room around the garden is made of industrial steel, as is Jasmine’s platform, but the majority of the floor space is sand, along with some stones. You can only walk through the garden with a rake in hand, and draw through the sand however you like. You can also move the rocks using strength. Along the edges, on the steel flooring, stand lasses and beauties who will challenge you when you cross their line of sight (which is unavoidable).
When you reach Jasmine, you are faced with her Magnezone, Steelix, Scizor, Skarmory, and Ampharos. Upon defeating her, she gives you the mineral badge.
Gym Leader 7: Silver
Upon first glance, there is no longer a gym in Mahogany town. However, if you talk to the woman who runs the Special Souvenir Shop and mention that you are taking part in the gym challenge, or ask what she knows about Team Neo-Rocket, she’ll explain to you that the gym is below the store in Team Rocket’s old Johto HQ.
Below the store, the gym features three levels of maze-like hallways, where you can battle bikers, burglars, and PI/gamblers, all of whom prefer facing gym challengers to any less savory activities they once got up to, and have at least one Pokémon each which has a friendship-based evolution.
The Mahogany gym, and Silver’s team in particular, have no particular type association, making it a comparative challenge. However, if you can defeat Silver’s Umbreon, Tyranitar, Weavile, Crobat, and Typhlosion you’ll receive the revolution badge.
Gym Leader 8: Andrea
Andrea is working hard to live up to her mentor, Clair’s reputation. She’s deeply dedicated to dragon type, as well as the ideas of tradition and discipline. In fact, when you first arrive in Blackthorn city, Andrea is not at the gym. Instead, she is training in the dragon’s den cave under the city.
On your way to find her, you will need to battle some ace trainers. When you first meet Andrea in the depths of the den, she quizzes you about what matters in Pokémon training (the same questions as the “Master’s Quiz” in the original dragon’s den). However you answer, you will then be able to challenge her in the gym, but if you give all the correct answers (all of which paint a picture of a kind, enthusiastic trainer) she will give you a level 15 dratini.
The gym itself has changed from being a landscape of lava, the lava has been replaced with deep, cold water. Using surf is forbidden, and you must pilot floating platforms across the lake. The gym includes dragon tamers and ace trainers that you will need to defeat before reaching Andrea.
Andrea’s team is made up of Kingdra, Gyarados, Zweilous, and Dragonite, and once you defeat her you will receive your final badge: the rising badge.
The final step on your Pokémon league journey is to face the Johto elite four and champion, who are newly instated since the original games took place. It’s time to head across Mt. Silver to the Silver Falls highland, where the league has been built. Good luck!
But also, I have a few Vs. Sprites that I created for this badge case as well, for Fulton, Sakura, Silver, and Andrea, that I’m gonna show off here because they took too much time not to:
Once you’ve battled your way through all eight gyms and the caves of Victory Road, you can finally face the elite four and the champion.
As always, you have to fight all of them in a row, so stock up on potions and other items and take on the challenge!
(To learn more about this project, you can check out the Peaks of Sinnoh tag!)
The first member of the elite four you’ll face is...
Aaron
Aaron is still at the front of Sinnoh’s elite four challenge, and is as enthusiastic as ever about the awesomeness of bug types. His team consists of Yanmega, trash cloak Wormadam, Heracross, Vespiquen, and Drapion.
Next up:
Diana
Inspired by her older sister Cynthia, Diana has become a powerful trainer and the Sinnoh region’s first master of fairy type Pokémon. She’s the youngest member of the elite four, and is always excited to take on new trainers. To move on, you’ll have to best her team of Clefable, Azumarill, Gardevoir, Sylveon, and Togekiss.
After you’ve defeated Diana, you’ll challenge...
Volkner
At the insistence of his friend Flint, Volkner left gym life behind to challenge stronger trainers as a member of the elite four. He’s more engaged by the challengers he receives in his new role, but he’s still skeptical of your ability to show him an impressive battle. But once you defeat his Lanturn, Raichu, Electivire, Luxray, and Magnezone he’s definitely impressed.
You’re nearly there! The last member of the elite four is...
Fantina
Fantina retired from being a gym leader to travel the world, but was unable to stay away from the battle arena for long. Upon her return to Sinnoh she became the most powerful member of the elite four, taking on each new challenger with Mismagius, Gengar, Gourgeist, Froslass, and Drifblim.
Now, brace yourself. This is the last challenge between you and the hall of fame. It’s time for you to face...
Champion Dawn
The champion is thrilled to see you! She knew she saw the spark of a master trainer in you.
If you can defeat Dawn and her partners--Luxray, Glaceon, Lucario, Garchomp, Blissey (holding a Chople Berry), and Empoleon--you will be the new strongest trainer in Sinnoh. Congratulations!
Associate Professor Larch joins Dawn to induct you into Sinnoh’s hall of fame. They congratulate you, and now you have completed the Sinnoh League.
The next morning you will wake up back home in Twinleaf Town, where Matilda and Cato will be waiting to congratulate you. Now you’re free to travel the region however you like! Will you master Pokémon contests? Cook the perfect poffin? Challenge the battle frontier? Challenge the trainers of the league to rematches? It’s all up to you!
Congratulations! You’ve earned eight gym badges, not to mention foiled Team Neo-Rocket’s plans for the region. Now it’s time for you to face the final challenge of the Indigo League: the elite four and the champion!
(If you want to know more about this project and story, check out the Memories of Kanto tag!)
Make sure you’re fully prepared to battle all five trainers in a row! Once you’re sure you’re ready, you’ll start by facing a brand new member of the elite four:
Jayce
Jayce is a cool dude who’s excited to take you on! He trained under former Elite Four member Lorelei, and he’s the first step in this battle marathon. His super rad team is made up of Dewgong, Delibird, Alolan Ninetails, Mamoswine, and Weavile.
If you’re able to defeat them, you’ll move on to...
Misty
After spending many years facing brand-new trainers as Cerulean City’s gym leader, Misty revels in facing off against stronger opponents. As much as she’s rooting for you, she had not intention of holding back. Misty’s built up a tough team of Starmie, Lapras, Quagsire, Lanturn, and Golduck.
Once you pass the test, the next trainer is...
Lt. Surge
Lt. Surge has always been a tough guy, and it was no surprise to anyone that he would move into a position in the elite four. He’s gonna whip you into shape and make absolutely certain that you’re up to the challenge of facing the champion. His team includes Electrode, Jolteon, Magnezone, Electivire, and Raichu, so you’re really in for a shock!
The only member of the elite four left to challenge is...
Sabrina
Sabrina and her team pride themselves on intelligence, diligence, and skill. This is the last test you’ll need to face before the champion, and Sabrina is a stern taskmaster. Though she cannot see the outcome of the battle, her clairvoyance tells her it will be hard-fought on both sides. She and her team of Espeon, Wobbuffet, Jynx, Xatu, and Alakazam are deeply connected, making them difficult to beat.
But now, it’s finally time to take on...
Champion Red
You may not be able to tell, but Red is impressed that you’ve made it this far. He is the trainer who most understands the position you’re in, and a battle with him will surely be one for the record books.
His legendary team is made up of Snorlax, Lapras, Vileplume, Machamp, Raichu, and Charizard. If you can defeat him, you will have mastered the Indigo League!
He and Professor Orchid will then induct you into Kanto’s hall of fame. They’re both quite proud of you, but it looks like your journey is not over yet: both Red and the Professor receive word that Team Neo-Rocket have set up shop in the neighboring region of Johto! The villainous team is broadcasting across both regions, warning that they fully intend to steal and capture the most powerful Pokémon they can and take both regions, if not the world, by force. Someone needs to stop them.
In your journey across the Sinnoh region you will face a variety of legendary Pokémon, each of which present unique challenges.
To see more about this project, you can check out the Peaks of Sinnoh tag!
Team Dimensional’s goal is to reunite the old Gods of the Sinnoh region with our world, and to that end they are seeking to capture nearly every legendary in the region. First and foremost, they need to capture the Lake Trio, Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit.
You will have encountered Team Dimensional at many steps along your journey, as they can be found in nearly every town, either proselytizing to the masses or researching ancient legends. However, it is not until you pass by the entrance to Lake Valor, where Dimensional grunts will block your way, that it becomes clear that Team Dimensional are up to something. This is made even clearer by talking to Aroma Specialist Mars, Lady Jupiter, and Ace Trainer Saturn, but it does the details of Team Dimensional’s operation do not come to light until after you have defeated Keira at the Hearthome city gym.
You will once again meet Dawn as you are leaving Hearthome, and she will congratulate you on your progress. However, she will receive a call from Assistant Professor Larch demanding she come to Lake Verity immediately.
You and Dawn speed to the Verity Lakefront, where Acolyte Spacia is attempting to capture the lake’s legendary Pokémon, Mesprit. However, Spacia is unable to successfully catch the Pokémon, and orders some grunts to capture it by means other than a Pokéball. Upon hearing this, Mesprit flees. Specifically, the emotion Pokémon flees to you, the player, and unless there is an open space in your party you will be prompted to send a member of your team to a box. Mesprit will join your team, whether you like it or not.
Spacia and the grunts challenge you in an attempt to steal Mesprit from you, but Dawn and Lucas easily defeat the grunts while you take on Spacia. Once defeated, Spacia has no choice but to retreat.
This development sends you to Canalave town, where, once Roark’s Gym is defeated, your rivals and Assistant Professor Larch study up on the guardians of the lakes. It’s clear that Team Dimensional want to get their hands on these Pokémon, likely as a means to summon Dialga Palkia, and perhaps Giratina.
In hopes of preventing Team Dimensional from capturing any other lake Pokémon, you meet one of your rivals, Matilda at Lake Valor. There you will find Acolyte Tempus and three grunts restraining Azelf, the willpower Pokémon. Tempus is determined to succeed where Spacia failed. However, when two of the grunts challenge the player and Matilda to a double battle in hopes of driving you off, Azelf is able to break free, and becomes a part of Matilda’s Pokémon team. You and Matilda continue to battle as a team against Tempus and the remaining grunt, and once again emerge victorious.
The last lake, Lake Acuity, is reached after you have made it to Snowpoint city. You have time to reach the Pokémon center there before Cato appears, telling you something is wrong at the lakefront. At lake Acuity, you and Cato battle a group of grunts guarding the lakefront before surfing to the cave in the center of the lake. There you must face Pravita, who plans to defeat you and capture Uxie for herself. Cato isn’t confident enough to face her alone, and you battle as a team against her, which she insists is unfair. Even after being defeated, she throws one last Pokéball at the knowledge Pokémon, but it escapes from the ball and situates itself in Cato’s party.
After you defeat Candice at Snowpoint gym, Dawn meets up with you again, and is encouraged by the possibility that Team Dimensional will be stopped in their tracks now that they can no longer bring together the Lake Trio and get a hold of the red chain.
However, just before you reach Sunyshore city to challenge the final gym, an earthquake rattles the region. Barry, Sunyshore’s gym leader, runs headlong into you, and hurriedly explains what’s going on:
Something big is happening in turnback cave, off of route 214, and you’re that kid Dawn’s been talking to, right? He tells you to go ahead and check it out while he goes to find Dawn.
When you reach sendoff spring, where the cave’s entrance is located (and the path to which you could SWEAR wasn’t there yesterday...), Matilda is already there. She explains that she was on route 214 when the ground shook, and decided to head towards where the shake might’ve come from. She also called Cato and told him what was going on. The pair of you climb down to the cave entrance, and just before you head in Cato rushes down into the spring to join you.
The path into the heart of the cave, which is labyrinthine at the best of times, is lined by Team Dimensional grunts. You, Matilda, and Cato fight your way through them until you reach Giratina’s chamber, where the renegade Pokémon is looming over Acolyte Pravita and Themis, Team Dimensional’s leader.
Themis reveals to you that he has summoned Giratina, and will use this newfound power to bring forward Dialga and Palkia as well. And, all the better, the three of you are now here, so Team Dimensional has been able to bring the lake trio together after all!
In an attempt to stop Themis, you challenge him to a battle. Pravita takes on both Cato and Matilda while you face Themis, and his team: Rampardos, Bastiodon, Dustox, Clefable, and Toxicroak. Though he is upset that you defeat him, he is not swayed, and turns his attention Giratina instead.
Finally, Barry has returned with Dawn and Lucas, but it may already be too late. Themis calls upon Giratina’s power, and a dark portal opens in the center of the room. Themis, Pravita, the player, Matilda, and Cato are all pulled briefly through the distortion world only to be spat out onto the peak of Mt. Coronet at the spear pillars.
Tempus and Spatia are waiting at the pillars, and are glad to see that their leader has succeeded. With Giratina’s power, Themis calls forth Dialga and Palkia, and the whole region, perhaps the whole of reality, shakes under the strain.
Themis asks the great legendaries how Team Dimensional can serve them, but Sinnoh’s creators have only rage. Another portal to the distortion world opens in an attempt to balance all of this power, but Giratina is weakened from being restrained and controlled by Themis. Even as the mountain and the ruins begin to crumble under the pressure, Themis persists. This, he is convinced, is the will of these gods. They will reshape Sinnoh to their liking! Even if it means the destruction of everything we know and hold dear. Time and space are being torn asunder by Dialga and Palkia, and Giratina is exerting more and more power in a vain attempt to compensate. Everything is threatening to shake apart at an atomic level! It would hardly be possible to contain all three of these powerful, legendary Pokémon at all, and truly impossible to contain them quickly enough to end this destruction. They cannot return to a state of balance now that they have been summoned; their anger will not allow them, and with time, space, and distortion all in one place, to remove one would surely tip the scales into utter, world ending chaos!
The shuddering cacophony of inter-dimensional distress reaches an overwhelming fever-pitch, before being abruptly stilled.
Arceus stands before you, looking down upon the scene. All is silent. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina turn toward it. In a flash, each of the other legendaries is returned to their rightful places.
Arceus turns its attention to Themis.
Themis bows down before Arceus, and his acolytes follow suit. He swears devotion to Arceus, and offers the Pokémon anything it could want. He asks that it remold Sinnoh to its liking, and take Team Dimensional as its servants. After a moment of hesitation [... ... ...], Arceus gives its answer:
No.
In a blink, Themis is gone, teleported elsewhere just like Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. The acolytes recoil in horror, and everyone is unsure what to do. No one among you would be brave or idiotic enough to face the Alpha Pokémon.
...Right?
Wrong. You’re a player character, likely armed with a master ball, and you’ve been looking forward to just such an opportunity like this. It’s time to save your game, and face the legendary Arceus. Ideally, you will catch Arceus here, but if you defeat it instead you can return to the spear pillar after defeating the champion and obtaining all of the different type plates available in the Sinnoh region, at which point Arceus will re-spawn and you can try again.
With Arceus caught, reality has returned to a stable state, and the former acolytes of Team Dimensional are absolutely terrified of you. Tempus offers you the role of the team’s leader, but even if you don’t refuse, Pravita rejects the idea. Though none of them have given up their ideals and goals of a better, more advanced world, Spatia reasons that without their determined, charismatic leader, Team Dimensional will surely disband.
Now that Team Dimensional and their tampering with the legendary Pokémon has been stopped, you can finish your gym challenge in peace, and face the elite four and champion.
It isn’t until the post-game that you will find out that Themis has been discovered, alive and well, in Floaroma town. You can go meet him there and discover that his memory is hazy at best, losing focus soon after he became a Team Galactic grunt. Aroma specialist Mars is working to get him re-situated. He’s considering becoming a rancher!
There are a lot of legendary Pokémon you’ll encounter in your travels through the Kanto and Johto regions, and Team Neo-Rocket wants ALL of them.
(Want to learn more? Check out the Memories of Kanto tag!)
The first legendary Pokémon you’ll encounter after leaving Lavender Town is Mew, who will appear before you at Mt. Moon, on your way from Cerulean City to Pewter City. This is also the first time you’ll run into Dante, the leader of Team Neo-Rocket, who’s trying to capture Mew with little luck. After this encounter, Mew will become a roaming Pokémon.
It will become steadily more likely to find Mew in tall grass each time you receive a gym badge, and you will gain the ability to track roaming Pokémon via your Pokédex after receiving your fourth badge. The likelihood of encountering Mew will top out at a 50% chance upon stepping into tall grass in the same area as Mew, after you have defeated the final gym in Johto. Mew maintains a consistent level of 50, which will also make it exceedingly difficult to catch, even if you do encounter it early in your journey, to say nothing of the trouble you might have training it without enough gym badges.
The next legendary Pokémon you’ll encounter are the legendary birds.
Articuno and Zapdos have maintained their posts in the Seafoam Islands and the power plant, respectively. Moltres, however, is now found on Mt. Moon. The unusual qualities that attracts Pokémon like Clefairy appears to also draw legendary Pokémon! When you encounter each legendary bird you will also face Neo-Rocket grunts, aiming to tame these powerful, elemental birds. Once you have thwarted Team Neo-Rocket’s exploitative plans you’ll have the opportunity to battle and catch the birds yourself.
However, Team Neo-Rocket has more than just the legendary birds on their agenda. You will encounter them again after you have defeated Erika (the penultimate trainer on your Indigo League gym challenge), when they cause problems on the newly-settled Cinnabar Island.
Team Neo-Rocket are on the island searching for the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo, who they have reason to believe is hidden away in the island’s now-dormant volcano. To this end they have defeated every trainer in the Cinnabar gym, including Fina’s strongest team, and used explosives to damage the gym building. Behind the gym--an area usually blocked off and inaccessible to anyone but gym/lab personnel--is a cave entrance in the side of the volcano.
In enlisting your help to defeat Team Neo-Rocket, Fina explains the situation to you: Mewtwo was created from Mew, and mistreated by the scientists that cloned it from Mew/mutated its DNA. This project was partly funded by Team Rocket, and the goal was to create the absolute most powerful Pokémon. They arguably succeeded, but in doing so they created an angry, cold-hearted being, filled with rage for the control and abuse it suffered at the hands of humans.
In the decades since Mewtwo’s creation, however, it has become more comfortable with humans. Champion Red and Professor Orchid have both worked with Mewtwo to communicate that humans are not exclusively exploitative and evil, and that Pokémon training is a cooperation between trainer and Pokémon, not the absolute control of a Pokémon by its trainer. Leader Fina herself has been working closely with Mewtwo, after her mentor, Blaine, made amends with the legendary Pokémon.
Mewtwo now lives on Cinnabar Island, taking refuge in the caverns and caves of the dormant volcano, which is further maintained through Mewtwo’s power, assuring that the humans and Pokémon on the island will be protected from the natural dangers of the volcano. But now, Team Neo-Rocket are barging into Mewtwo’s refuge, with the full intent of destroying it, capturing the Pokémon that have found protection here and forcing Mewtwo back into servitude for the benefit of Team Neo-Rocket.
In the caves and the heart of the volcano, you’ll find many lush, grassy spaces amongst the rocks, and a wide variety of Pokémon. Most notably, this island hideaway is home to Growlithes/Archenines, Dratinis/Dragonairs, Magbys/Magmars, and is one of the few places where you can encounter Crobat in the wild.
Throughout the caves, Neo-Rocket grunts will work to stop you in your tracks, and when you finally reach the deepest cavern in the heart of the volcano, the leader of Team Neo-Rocket, Dante, challenging Mewtwo. You’ll need to battle Dante to protect Mewtwo’s new home, and all of the Pokémon who live here!
Once you have defeated Dante, Mewtwo will comment that they were impressed by your skill in battle and your closeness with your Pokémon. Because of this, Mewtwo makes an offer to you that, once you have obtained your final gym badge, if you can defeat this legendary Pokémon in battle, Mewtwo will join your party. As such, you can return to Cinnabar island any time after defeating gym leader Blue, and take on Mewtwo.
Their defeat on Cinnabar Island will have weakened Team Neo-Rocket, so your next step will be to take them on in their own headquarters, back in Vermillion City. Once defeated on their own turf, Team Neo-Rocket will retreat deeper into the shadows.
However, they aren’t truly defeated yet. Upon entering the Kanto hall of fame, you’ll discover that Team Neo-Rocket has reappeared in the neighboring region of Johto, and they are still dead-set on securing power through legendary Pokémon...
Three trainers are honored in your hometown, and well known across the region, not only for their role in defeating Team Galactic, but for the work they continue to do in Sinnoh.
To learn even more, you can check out the Peaks of Sinnoh tag!
Lucas has now largely taken over Professor Rowan’s work. He can often be found in the lab in Sandgem Town, where he primarily studies the history of Pokémon species and their relationships with humans. He’s the one who gives you and your rivals your first Pokémon and a Pokédex. Lucas will also meet you a few times on your journey to check in on your progress or help investigate the actions of Team Dimensional. He will also introduce players who choose the “male” player character to Super Contests, and can appear as a coordinator in the highest-rank contests.
Barry is going strong as the gym leader of Sunyshore City. High-speed life in a port city is a great fit for him, though he still finds it too slow at times. He’s always rushing, and is likely to run into you or other NPCs in his haste. He has little time for Team Dimensional’s ideas and spirituality, but he does sometimes join Dawn or Lucas to investigate the team’s actions.
You first encounter Dawn in Eterna Forest, where Team Dimensional is holding up trainers. Upon discovering that you have received a Pokémon and Pokédex from Lucas, she encourages you to take on Acolyte Spatia. She can handle the grunts. She continues to monitor Team Dimensional’s actions, and you’ll meet her again many times. First she Dawn is also there to introduce the player to Super Contests if they have chosen the “female” player character, and can appear as one of the coordinators in the highest-rank contests. She is seen again when she looks into Team Dimensional’s Veilstone HQ with Barry, when she faces Team Dimensional with you and Lucas at the Verity Lakefront, and she attempts to stop Team Dimensional from summoning the Pokémon that created Sinnoh.
However, you will also meet Dawn one more time before your journey is over...
You are far from the first person to take on the Kanto league, or even to fight against Team (Neo)Rocket. This is all very familiar to a few people you will meet along your journey: Red, Blue, and Professor Leaf Orchid.
Want to learn more? Check out the Memories of Kanto tag.
Gym Leader Blue is the golden boy of Viridian City. His very brief stint as champion of the Indigo League made him an easy pick for the position, and he’s practically become the city’s protector and spokesperson in the following years. Blue revels in the variety of trainers that he faces as a part of the gym challenge, and brings trainers with many different specialties into his gym to strengthen his gym challenge. His reputation and persistence have also allowed him the privilege of only facing trainers who have earned all seven other gym badges, where most other gyms have designated teams for trainers at different stages. He’s determined to keep Team Neo-Rocket away from his city and his gym, even though they continue to seek out any connections to Giovanni, Team Rocket’s former leader, that they can find.
Professor Leaf Orchid has been studying Pokémon for almost two decades, and took over as the resident Professor of the Kanto region when Professor Samuel Oak retired. Leaf’s focus is on the sheer variety of Pokémon, especially variations in form or differences found between regions. She approaches her work with one mantra in mind: Gotta’ catch ‘em all! She is also dedicated to making sure any young people who want to can go on Pokémon journeys, and to this end travels the region, handing out starter Pokémon. You meet her for the first time in Lavender Town, when she gives you your starter.
Red is a man of few words. Perhaps that’s part of what’s made him so legendary. After spending some years traveling, as well as training on Mt. Silver, Red has taken up the mantle of Indigo League Champion that he earned so many years ago. He takes his role seriously. At least, as far as anyone can tell. Not many are able to read his inscrutable expressions, or make much sense of his continual silence. Blue is his best translator, though Leaf and a few other residents of Pallet Town are also fairly adept at understanding him. He has been keeping an eye on Team Neo-Rocket’s activities, and will appear at times to scare them off or investigate them, like at their HQ.
There’s one thing you can always count on in your travels across Kanto and Johto: Indigo will always be there to challenge you.
(Want to learn more? Check out the Memories of Kanto tag!)
You and Indigo grew up together in Lavender Town, and he’s always had something to prove. He’s been waiting years to have a Pokémon of his very own, and is now determined to take on the Indigo League!
Indigo is intensely focused on battle strategy, and will sometimes share tips and tricks with you, though always with a bit of a snide edge. After all, if you were a great trainer, like him, you’d already know this stuff!
However, not everyone is inclined to point out his attitude problem, since he does have the badges to back himself up! He’s always one step ahead of you in your gym challenge, and is a valuable ally on the occasions when you team up against Team Neo-Rocket.
The one challenge he struggles to master is defeating Champion Red. In fact, you meet Indigo out front of the indigo plateau. He defeated the elite four, but was unprepared to face the champion. He challenges you to a battle, and you can’t challenge the league for yourself until you have bested his fully-evolved starter (whichever one has type advantage over yours), Marowak, Haunter, Raichu, Fearow, and Dragonair.
Indigo does not take this defeat lightly, and insists on following you into Johto, where he can continue training and getting stronger. You will encounter Indigo a few times as you travel the Johto region, but the two of you will challenge each other less often. It will be more common to fight as a duo against Team Neo-Rocket in your efforts to keep them away from Johto’s legendaries. However, you will face Indigo again before taking on Johto’s Elite Four and Champion. This time, his team will consist of his starter, the highest evolution of the starter Pokémon that Associate Professor Gold entrusted him with (which, once again, has type advantage over yours), Dragonite, Gengar, Xatu, and Marowak.
Once you have defeated Johto’s champion, you will be able to find Indigo back in Lavender Town on weekends, where you can challenge him to a battle.
Your childhood friends and rivals in your journey across the Sinnoh region!
To see more about this project, you can check out the Peaks of Sinnoh tag.
Matilda
Matilda is the driving force behind your group of friends. She has the get-up-and-go attitude to turn any plan into a reality. She loves Pokémon battles, and faces every challenge along her path with gusto! She is chosen by the legendary Pokémon Azelf to protect it from Team Dimensional.
Her starter, “Buddy,” has type advantage over your starter. When you face Matilda for the last time on Victory Road (and any other times you battle with her in the post-game) her team is made up of her starter (Buddy), Luxray (Sparky), Floatzel (Bubbles), Drifblim (Puff), Weavile (Scritchy), and Gabite (Chompers).
Matilda may appear as a competitor in the highest rank of contests in the Toughness and Coolness categories. In Toughness contests she will use Buddy, and in Coolness contests she will use Sparky. Matilda will also be at the Battle Frontier on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, where she can be teamed up with for double battles, or may appear as a challenger in higher-level single battles.
Cato
Cato is a methodical and studious young man. He takes it upon himself to learn all he can, and think through his actions (not to mention yours and Matilda’s!) as best as he can before moving forward. Throughout your journey he seems to be one step behind you and Matilda, but he is still a formidable trainer. He is a great asset to you in double battles against Team Dimensional, and he successfully collects all eight badges, making all three of you impressively powerful trainers and the pride of Twinleaf Town. However, Cato is more focused on his Pokédex, working to document and (if possible) catch every Pokémon he can. He is chosen by Uxie to protect it from Team Dimensional.
Cato starts his team with the starter that is weak to yours. By the time you battle him for the last time in Sunyshore City (and in any battles thereafter) his team is made up of his starter, Staraptor, Lopunny, Alakazam, Lumineon, and Hipowdown.
Cato may appear as a competitor in the highest level of contests in the Cleverness and Beauty categories. In cleverness contests he will use his starter, and in Beauty contests he will use Lumineon. Cato can be found in the battle frontier on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, at which time he can join you for double battles, or may be a challenger in higher-level single battles.
On Saturdays both Cato and Matilda can be found in the town square in Twinleaf town. There you can talk to them, battle them individually, or take them both on in a double battle.
Matilda and Cato balance each other well, but that doesn’t mean you’re not an important part of this dynamic. As much as Cato’s intelligence needs Matilda’s energy to motivate him to act, and Matilda needs Cato’s level head to balance her recklessness, they both need your heart to better inform their thoughts and actions. The same way that their knowledge and enthusiasm improve your journey, your empathy makes a great fulcrum to keep things from swinging too far toward thoughts or actions.
Together, you three can take on any challenge the Sinnoh region can throw at you!
