Summary
ThePokemonfranchise is filled with memorable characters - both the now 1000+ Pokemon available to catch and the humans who train, battle with, and care for them. Some Pokemon and Trainers get plenty of love from the fandom, like series mascot Pikachu, powerful Champions such as Cynthia and Blue, or memorable villains like Team Rocket.
However, there are somePokemoncharacters who are absolutely iconic and necessary to keep the franchise running, but don’t get nearly enough appreciation from the fans. These arePokemon’sunsung heroes, and just a few of them are highlighted here.
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The First Gym Leaders
These guys exist for one reason: to introduce players to the concept of Gym Battles. They’re encountered early in the journey, usually in the first or second town players visit outside their hometown. ThesePokemon Gym Leadersoften have as few as two or three Pokemon, despite definitely being accomplished enough Trainers to field a full team of six. They rarely get to win a battle, as they exist entirely to be easy obstacles for new Pokemon Trainers to overcome.
The most iconic and memorable of these Gym Leaders is definitelyBrock, the Rock-type Gym Leaderfrom the originalPokemongames. Unlike other quickly-forgotten early Gym Leaders, Brock got to travel with TV series protagonist Ash for several seasons, meaning that he got to participate in many battles and even win his fair share. Other first Gym Leaders were not so lucky. These include Kalos' Viola, Johto’s Falkner, Galar’s Milo, and many others.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetdealt with the “weak first Gym Leader” issue by creating an open-world format in which players could challenge Gym Leaders in any order they chose. While some are definitely easier than others, such as the Bug-type Leader Katy or theGrass-type Leader Brassius, all of Paldea’s Gym Leaders are allowed to field larger teams and present more of a challenge. Plus, players can re-fight them with much higher-level teams in the post game, allowing each Gym Leader to truly shine and making sure nobody has to occupy the “Brock spot” for the game.
The Nurses Joy
Nurse Joy - or rather, the network of Nurses Joy - occupies a crucial role in thePokemonuniverse. These near-identical women run the Pokemon Centers in each region, providing free healing to players' Pokemon in each generation of the games. This allows players to save tons of money that they can spend on evolution items,high-tier Pokeballs, and cool clothing and hairstyles for themselves.
Although theNurses Joyappear in nearly every game in the series, they are very rarely allowed to do anything besides stand behind a desk and constantly heal Pokemon. Most Joys are not even given any dialogue beyond reassuring the player that they will take good care of their Pokemon. ThePokemonanime series reveals that Nurses Joy have to train for their role, and some Nurses Joy in the show are given a chance to pursue alternate careers or battle with Pokemon, but these are few and far between. Most members of the family are forced to spend their entire lives standing behind desks healing other peoples' Pokemon.
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The Technology Fans
Starting with theLink Cablein the very first generation ofPokemongames, there have been tons of items, technology, and features that enhance the Pokemon catching and battling experience for players. However, in order to include all these features, they need to be explained in-game – and that lot typically falls to some NPCs encountered early in the game, usually in the player’s hometown. These characters have no purpose or function other than explaining their assigned feature, often accompanied by some sort of generic statement like “Technology is incredible!”
It’s a unique way to handle passing on important information, but a less-than-glamorous job for the NPCs who are nothing but living tutorials for thePokemonplayers. These characters aren’t even particularly memorable. Some NPCs, like the Youngster who declares his love for shorts, have earned their place and become memes in the fandom, but the poor technology fans are relegated to constantly talking about how awesome Link Cables orScarlet and Violet’smultiplayer adventuringare. Most of them don’t even seem to have noticeable Pokemon of their own; their entire purpose in life is to stand around and marvel at the wonders of technology.
Jack, Galar’s Pokemon Center Staffer
In earlyPokemongames, there was a virtual army of NPCs that fulfilled minor but necessary functions. These included the Move Reminder, the Move Deleter, the Memory Girl who let players view their Pokemons' experiences, and the fairly self-explanatory Name Rater. However,Pokemon Sword and Shieldcombined all of these NPCs into a single individual: the impossibly hard-working Jack.
Jack can be found at every Pokemon Center in the Galar region. Unlike Nurse Joy, it is not confirmed whether all of these Jacks are a single individual or whether they are a family of identical men. His name likely originates from the phrase “Jack of all trades,” and it is an accurate one. Jack performs all the above-mentioned services, and does not charge for any of them. This is an especially big step up from previousMove Reminders, who generally required players to trade Heart Scale items each time they wanted a Pokemon to re-learn a previously forgotten move.
Unfortunately,Pokemon Scarlet and Violettook things a step further by letting players do things like relearn moves directly from the in-game menu. This makes it unlikely that Jack (or his predecessors) will reappear in future games. This makes him one of the most unsung heroes in the entirety of thePokemonfranchise, as he appears in only a single generation of games but fulfills so many necessary functions all at once.
