Pokémon Trainer (SSBU)

Pokémon Trainer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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Universe	Pokémon
Shares character slot with	Squirtle Ivysaur Charizard
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Triple Finish

“	Pokémon Trainer returns with Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard. You can choose to play as a male or female trainer!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Pokémon Trainer (ポケモントレーナー, Pokémon Trainer) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Pokémon Trainer can use three interchangeable Pokémon in battle: Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. Pokémon Trainer, unlike most characters, was not given a fighter number; instead, the Pokémon are given numbers. Squirtle is classified as fighter #33, Ivysaur is classified as fighter #34, and Charizard is classified as fighter #35.

In English, Billy Bob Thompson and Kate Bristol voice the male and female Pokémon Trainers, the former replacing Michele Knotz from Brawl. In Japanese, they are voiced by Tomoe Hanba and Wakana Minami, with the former reprising her role as the male Pokémon Trainer from Brawl.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with the Pokémon Trainer being the 26th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Donkey Kong or anyone in his unlock tree, being the 2nd character unlocked after Bowser.
• Have the Pokémon Trainer join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Pokémon Trainer must then be defeated on Pokémon Stadium.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The list below covers the general changes of the Pokémon Trainer and their party as a whole. For information about each individual Pokémon's moveset changes, see Squirtle (SSBU), Ivysaur (SSBU), and Charizard (SSBU).

Due to being a low-tier in Brawl, Pokémon Trainer has been significantly buffed in the transition from Brawl. Notably, both the Stamina mechanic and type effectiveness have been completely removed, and Pokémon Change has been granted high utility due to the addition of aerial switching and significantly faster Pokémon switches. As such, switches between the three Pokémon have now become a unique advantage for the Pokémon Trainer alone rather than being a major mandatory commitment, and the Pokémon are now free to fight indefinitely without being limited by Stamina during battle. In addition, Ivysaur, who was previously the worst Pokémon in the party, has been greatly buffed, and the general changes to Ultimate's mechanics greatly benefit Ivysaur and Squirtle. Each of the Trainer's Pokémon is usable as its own character, but as in Brawl, usage of all three for different situations is optimal.

Despite some noteworthy buffs, Pokémon Trainer has also received some nerfs. While the removal of type effectiveness slightly benefits Charizard and greatly benefits Ivysaur, it also greatly hinders Squirtle. Additionally, while Pokémon Change has been greatly improved, it has also received a few new disadvantages as there is now a timer which prevents switching for a couple of seconds (although there are ways to work around this) and it no longer resets stale move negation, effectively weakening the next Pokémon. Squirtle has also been considerably nerfed, and Ivysaur and Charizard have received some nerfs as well.

Nevertheless, Pokémon Trainer has become a significantly more effective character than in Brawl. Despite still having a high learning curve, Pokémon Trainer has a great playerbase, especially compared to Brawl. While initially overshadowed by widely-acknowledged top-tier characters such as Peach and Lucina, players such as Wishes, Tweek, Puppeh, Pandarian, and Leffen. have been able to take advantage of the Trainer's ability to use three different character archetypes in battle and Ivysaur's overall potency as a character in its own right to obtain significant results.

Aesthetics

• The male Pokémon Trainer's model is significantly more detailed than it was in Brawl, having stylized body proportions and sharper, slimmer eyes. Additionally, the Trainer's Poké Balls have been resized to fit in his palm. Both of these changes make his design similar to the style of recent Pokémon titles.
• The Pokémon Trainer has completely new alternate costumes based on protagonists in the Pokémon series. Half of them are based on the female Pokémon Trainer from FireRed and LeafGreen. In addition to distinct voice clips, the majority of her animations are unique.
• The Pokémon Trainer now turns in a battle to face the position of the Pokémon.
• The announcer no longer calls out Squirtle, Ivysaur, or Charizard on the character selection screen; instead, when selecting a Pokémon manually, a small portrait of Squirtle, Ivysaur, or Charizard appears in the upper right portion of Pokémon Trainer's portrait.
• Triple Finish has a different text box and animations; the text box is now identical to how they appear in the Generation VII games.
• The Pokémon Trainer now says "All right!" when performing an up taunt and "Yeah!" when performing a down taunt.
• On the results screen, the Pokémon Trainer is shown and announced as the winner of the fight rather than the Pokémon that was in battle.
• The Trainer's face is also used as the stock icon for all three Pokémon, although the Pokémon also have their own stock icons used for other modes.
• The Trainer now claps on the results screen, instead of looking down in disappointment like in Brawl.
• Pokémon Trainer's crowd cheer is now "I choose you!"
• Both genders of the Pokémon Trainer have unique reactions to the situation of their Pokémon, such as when it lands a hit, takes a hit, scores a KO or is KO'd.
• If the Trainer's Pokémon is moved horizontally when he is standing on the main platform of large stages (such as the Training stage), he will chase his Pokémon by dashing into them instead of a space jump.
• As with all previously cut veterans returning from Melee and Brawl, Pokémon Trainer now has a Boxing Ring title and a Palutena's Guidance conversation.
• Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, as well as both Trainers now each have an individual Sound Test section, rather than being grouped together.
• In matches with five or more players, the Pokémon Trainer will not appear on-screen - instead Poké Balls will be thrown and recalled from behind the screen.

Attributes

• The Stamina mechanic has been removed, eliminating the need to switch out Pokémon to restore their power.
• Type effectiveness has been removed, which affects the three Pokémon in different ways:
  • Loss of type effectiveness greatly nerfs Squirtle, who no longer takes less knockback from flame damage.
  • Loss of type effectiveness greatly benefits Ivysaur, who no longer takes extra knockback from flame damage.
  • Loss of type effectiveness also slightly buffs Charizard, who no longer takes extra knockback from water damage, which is more prevalent than in Brawl.
• Squirtle is now selected as the starting Pokémon by default when the player chooses Pokémon Trainer on the character select screen. This selection can still be changed before starting the match by pressing or , or highlighting the Pokémon. In Brawl, a random starting Pokémon would be chosen by default if the player did not choose a Pokémon on the character select. If an amiibo of the Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon is used, the default starting Pokémon will be locked into this Pokémon.

Special moves

• Pokémon Change:
  • Pokémon Change executes much faster, and no longer requires the game to load the next Pokémon with every switch. This significantly increases its safety, and allows it to potentially string into another Pokémon's moves.
  • It can now be used in the air. This allows the player to mix up their recovery between different Pokémon, and to utilize its intangibility frames as a pseudo-air dodge, with the notable advantage of coming out on frame 1. As a result, it poses much less of a risk than in Brawl as a defensive option.
  • It has a cooldown of around two seconds after the Pokémon switch is executed. However, it can be skipped by using another special move.
  • It no longer resets stale-move negation, effectively weakening the next Pokémon when the current Pokémon switches.
  • It can no longer skip the ending lag of the switch if performed near the edge of a moving platform, although it still grants Ivysaur an extra midair jump.
• Triple Finish:
  • Triple Finish deals less total damage (58% → 44.3%).

Update history

2.0.0

• Fixed a glitch where button mashing Pokémon Change canceled Monkey Flip's knockback.

3.0.0

• Fixed a glitch where Pokémon Change would not properly switch Pokémon during Special Smash.
• Fixed a Ditto-related glitch where Pokémon Trainer would enter on-stage in Training Mode.

4.0.0

• The duration of ledge invincibility is no longer shortened when using Pokémon Change in the air before grabbing the ledge.

5.0.0 Pokémon Trainer did not receive changes in this update.

6.0.0

• The Unlimited Rebellion Gauge glitch has been fixed.

Moveset

All three of Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon as shown by a Skill Preview in Ultimate

Pokémon Trainer is a three-in-one character who battles using three Pokémon: Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard. As the fourth and "main" entity of the character group, the Trainer stays in the background and does not participate in battle. Only one Pokémon is active at once, and all three of them have different movesets and abilities.

It is possible to change which Pokémon the Pokémon Trainer starts with at the beginning of a match. On the character select screen, Pokémon Trainer has the starting Pokémon's portrait to the upper-right of the portrait. If the Y button is pressed, or if the Pokémon's portrait is hovered over and selected, the starting Pokémon is toggled to the next one. The default starting Pokémon is Squirtle, which can be toggled to Ivysaur, then Charizard, then back to Squirtle.

The three Pokémon have separate movesets and attributes. The only moves shared by the Pokémon are their down special move, Pokémon Change, and their Final Smash, Triple Finish.

Pokémon Change involves the Pokémon Trainer recalling the currently active Pokémon and sending out the next one to replace it. The order that the Pokémon are changed in is the same as toggling on the character select screen: Squirtle changes to Ivysaur, Ivysaur to Charizard, and Charizard to Squirtle.

Triple Finish is a combination attack for which the Pokémon Trainer temporarily brings out all three Pokémon to attack simultaneously. The attack covers a large range and deals repeated damage to opponents caught in it. Once the move is over, the two inactive Pokémon are recalled.

While not directly controllable, the Pokémon Trainer can be seen standing in the background of the stage, commanding the Pokémon and reacting to the Pokémon's situation. There are various animations and voice lines which differ for the male and female Pokémon Trainers.

The Pokémon Trainer is able to move around somewhat on most stages, running toward the current Pokémon if it is far enough away, and will also turn to face the position of the Pokémon at most times. On some stages, the Pokémon Trainer stands on a special platform in the background rather than standing on a part of the stage's background. On these stages, the Pokémon Trainer can not move around but will still turn to face the Pokémon.

Pokémon Trainer does not appear in the background during battles with five or more players, in Squad Strike's Tag Team mode, or on Custom Stages but can still be heard shouting commands. The Poké Ball and its energy effects can be seen travelling towards the foreground, implying that the Pokémon Trainer is in the foreground, outside of the camera's view. This also happens in certain single-player and co-op modes.

The Pokémon Trainer reacts to various situations and inputs:

• When the active Pokémon performs a special move, the Pokémon Trainer gestures with one arm, pointing in a specific direction based on the input or direction the Pokémon is facing:
  • Neutral special move: Points left or right, based on the direction the Pokémon is facing.
  • Side special move: Points left or right, based on the direction the move was used in.
  • Up special move: Points towards the direction the Pokémon is facing, or upwards if the Pokémon is above.
• When using the Pokémon's down special move, Pokémon Change, the Pokémon Trainer throws the next Pokémon's Poké Ball toward the Pokémon's position, then holds up the previous Pokémon's Poké Ball as it is recalled in energy form. The Pokémon Trainer then puts the Poké Ball away in his backpack (male) or her purse (female) and pulls out the next Pokémon's Poké Ball. The Pokémon Trainer also says a voice line, either encouraging the next Pokémon or praising the previous Pokémon.
  • Pokémon Change cannot be used again until this animation completes or is interrupted by using another special move.
• When using the Final Smash, Triple Finish, the Pokémon Trainer throws the other two Pokémon's Poké Balls out and points toward the direction the move was used in for the duration of the attack, while saying a voice line including the name of the move. Once the attack is over, the Pokémon Trainer recalls the other two Pokémon and puts the Poké Ball away in his backpack or her purse.
  • Pokémon Change cannot be used until this animation completes or is interrupted by using another special move.
• When the active Pokémon lands a hit, the Pokémon Trainer does a small fist pump with a happy expression.
• When the active Pokémon scores a KO:
  • The male Trainer raises his left fist and fist pumps, while nodding and winking, with a happy expression.
  • The female Trainer jumps into the air with her right arm raised, doing a full spin mid-jump, and does a double fist pump as she lands.
• When the active Pokémon is hit:
  • The male Trainer throws his left fist downwards with a distressed expression.
  • The female Trainer winces with a distressed expression.
• When the active Pokémon is KO'd:
  • The male Trainer shakes his head while covering his face with his left hand. He may say "Agh!" or "Dang it!"
  • The female Trainer shakes her head while covering her face with her left hand. She may say "Ahh!" or "Dang it!"
• When the active Pokémon is stunned (including from a shield break) or buried:
  • The male Trainer puts his left hand on the back of his head and looks downward with a distressed expression. He will say one of three lines: the Pokémon's name in a distressed tone, "Wake up!" or "Get a hold of yourself!"
  • The female Trainer puts her left hand on the side of her head and looks downward with a distressed expression. She will say one of three lines: the Pokémon's name in a distressed tone, "Wake up!" or "You've got this!"

On-screen appearance

Pokémon Trainer sends out the starting Pokémon from its Poké Ball while saying "Go!" and the Pokémon's name.

Taunts

Male

• Up taunt: Triumphantly raises his right hand into the air, saying "All right!"
• Side taunt: Fist pumps with his left hand.
• Down taunt: Fist pumps with his left hand while posing triumphantly, saying "Yeah!"

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  Male Pokémon Trainer's up taunt.

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  Male Pokémon Trainer's side taunt.

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  Male Pokémon Trainer's down taunt.

Female

• Up taunt: Fist pumps with her left hand while triumphantly raising her right hand into the air, saying "All right!"
• Side taunt: Fist pumps with her left hand.
• Down taunt: Jumps slightly off the ground while doing a double fist pump, saying "Yeah!"

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  Female Pokémon Trainer's up taunt.

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  Female Pokémon Trainer's side taunt.

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  Female Pokémon Trainer's down taunt.

Idle poses

Male

• Rubs his left leg with his left hand.
• Jumps gently on the spot twice.

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  Male Pokémon Trainer's first idle pose

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  Male Pokémon Trainer's second idle pose

Female

• Wipes her brow with her left hand.
• Stretches her right arm, holding her elbow with her left hand.

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  Female Pokémon Trainer's first idle pose

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  Female Pokémon Trainer's second idle pose

Victory poses

During all of Pokémon Trainer's victory poses, the Trainer will either say a non-specific line, or a line specific to the active Pokémon. The male Trainer can say "You all did great!" (みんな、よくがんばったな！, Everyone, you did great!), while the female Trainer can say "Everyone did great!" (みんな、最高だね！, Everyone, you're the best!). Regardless of the Pokémon that was out, the Trainer will perform the same general action for each Pokémon's victory pose. Like Inkling and Byleth, the victory animations are different between the male and female variants.

• Left: While the Pokémon is doing something else, the Trainer throws a Poké Ball up, catches it, and holds it out in front of them.
• Up: The Pokémon does one of its moves, and the Trainer cheers it on before raising an arm in the air.
• Right: The Trainer pets the Pokémon.

A small excerpt of the title theme of Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green Versions, a track which would go on to become the Pokémon main theme and the title theme for the entire series.

Squirtle

During Squirtle's victory poses, the male Trainer might say "Good job, Squirtle!" (よくやったな、ゼニガメ！), while the female Trainer can say "We did it, Squirtle!" (やったね、ゼニガメ！).

• Left: Jumps and spins around on its shell in a breakdance move, and then lands and poses.
• Up: Spits water quickly in three directions, does a backflip, then poses with its arm in the air.
• Right: Pokémon Trainer holds Squirtle in his arms, then kneels down and puts it on the ground, and rubs its chin and head.

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Ivysaur

During Ivysaur's victory poses, both Trainers can say "Way to go, Ivysaur!" In Japanese, the male Trainer says がんばったな、フシギソウ！, while the female Trainer says がんばったね、フシギソウ！, both of which translate to "You did great, Ivysaur!"

• Left: Runs forward, does a backflip, then strikes a pose.
• Up: Whips two vines forward, then poses with its vines extended.
• Right: Pokémon Trainer pets Ivysaur, and it jumps on him, but Pokémon Trainer puts it back down and continues to pet it.

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Charizard

During Charizard's victory poses, the Pokémon Trainer might say "You did it, Charizard!" (やったぞ、リザードン！, You did it, Charizard!), while the female Trainer can say "You're amazing, Charizard!" (すごいね、リザードン！, Amazing, Charizard!).

• Left: Stomps and rears its head back to roar upward, then strikes a pose.
• Up: Uses Flare Blitz downwards to descend from the sky and crash into the ground, bounces out of it and lands on its feet, then strikes a pose.
• Right: Pokémon Trainer pets its head and neck.

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In competitive play

Pokémon Trainer has been a popular character in Ultimate's competitive scene. Leffen was one of the earliest players to pick up the character and achieved decent successes with the character; even after Leffen temporarily dropped him, Pokémon Trainer continued to achieve great results in the hands of players such as Puppeh, Wishes, and—most notably—Tweek, who was able to consistently place in top 8 at national tournaments. The combination of Squirtle's great throw combos, Ivysaur's high damaging and largely disjointed attacks, and Charizard's extra kill power and weight to survive at higher percents have made the Pokémon Trainer see much more success in Ultimate than in previous installments.

The struggle to adapt to three different playstyles, however, has caused some of Pokémon Trainer's best players to eventually drop the character in favor of other fighters, resulting in lower representation over time. Despite this, players still regard Pokémon Trainer as a top tier character, and Puppeh and Pandarian continue to place well at national-level tournaments.

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.

Active

•  Alphicans - Placed 1st at Salt Flats 2019, 5th at Canada Cup 2019, 9th at The Pinnacle 2019, and 13th at Play With Heart. Has wins over Duwang and 2ManyCooks.
•  HIKARU (#41) - Considered the best Pokémon Trainer player in Japan and one of the best Pokémon Trainer players in the world. Placed 17th at EVO 2019, 13th at Umebura SP 6, 9th at Umebura SP 7, and 1st at Sumabato SP 7. Garnered wins over Kome and Lea.
•  Jayy - The best Pokémon Trainer player in Canada. Co-mains Pokémon Trainer with Meta Knight and placed 2nd at Press Less 2019, 5th at Polybash 2019, 7th at DreamHack Montreal 2019, 17th at Super Smash Con 2019, 33rd at both Get On My Level 2019 and 2GG: Nightmare on Smashville, and 65th at The Big House 9. Wins over Myran, Sonido, and LingLing.
•  Ned (#37) - One of the best Pokémon Trainer players in the world. Placed 1st at NEW GAME PLUS: The ULTIMATE Overnight Experience, 3rd at Retro Arena 64, 9th at Midwest Mayhem Ultimate, DreamHack Atlanta 2019, and Combo Breaker 2019, 13th at The Big House 9, and 17th at Frostbite 2019 with Pokémon Trainer as one of his characters. Has wins over Marss, Nairo, ESAM, kameme, Wishes, Salem, Stroder, Kola, and Daybreak.
•  Pandarian (#33) - One of the best Pokémon Trainer players in the world. Placed 1st at Ascension VI, 3rd at Play With Heart, 5th at Battle of BC 3, 7th at Ultimate Nimbus and Low Tier City 7, 13th at Port Priority 5 and Mainstage, 17th at both EVO 2019 and 2GG: Nightmare on Smashville, and 25th at both Super Smash Con 2019 and The Big House 9. Has wins over ESAM, MVD, Sinji, MuteAce, Stroder, Dark Wizzy, Mr E, Goblin, Suarez, Captain L, Maister, and BestNess.
•  Puppeh - Widely known for his Wolf secondary. Placed 5th at CEO 2019, 13th at Just Roll With It! 11, 33rd at Pound 2019, and 49th at Smash 'N' Splash 5. Ranked 1st on the MD/VA Ultimate Rankings. Has wins over Nairo, Samsora, ESAM, and Abadango. He is well known for Charizard being his best Pokémon of the three.
•  SweetT - Placed 9th at both Heart of Battle and The Kid, the Goat, and the Mang0, 17th at Ultimate Nimbus, and 33rd at SoCal Chronicles.
•  XIFL - The best Pokémon Trainer player in Hong Kong. Placed 2nd at both Triple Showdown and REV Major 2019, 4th at Pearl One as well as 13th at Uprising 2019.

Inactive

•  Leffen (#51) - The best Pokémon Trainer player in Europe and one of the best Pokémon Trainer players in the world. Placed 1st at DreamHack Winter 2019, 7th at Valhalla II, and 17th at both GENESIS 6 and Super Smash Con 2019 with wins over WaDi, Maister, Salem, Mr.R, and Tweek. He temporarily shifted his focus to Roy, Joker, and Pichu before picking back up the character as a full main.
•  MiSaiki - Used Pokémon Trainer to place 3rd at Ascension II, 4th at Ascension III, and 9th at Ascension. Formerly ranked 2nd on the Arizona Ultimate Power Rankings. He has since switched to Joker and is on a semi-hiatus status.
•  Tweek (#3) - The best Pokémon Trainer player in the world before switching to Joker. Placed 1st at Low Tier City 7, 2nd at EVO 2019, 3rd at Super Smash Con 2019, and 5th at both Glitch 7 and The Big House 9. He has defeated Dabuz, Marss, Samsora, Abadango, and Sandstorm. Tweek is known for his exceptional play with Squirtle.
•  Wishes - Formerly one of the best Pokémon Trainer players in the world before dropping them for Joker. Placed 3rd at Suplex City Smash, 9th at both Frostbite 2019 and Collision 2019, and 17th at Smash 'N' Splash 5 with wins over Light, Samsora, Tea, yeti, Dark Wizzy, and Fatality.
•  Zackray (#7) - Uses Pokémon Trainer as one of his many secondaries. Placed 1st at KVOxTSB 2019, 3rd at Sumabato SP 5, and 7th at Umebura Japan Major 2019 using Pokémon Trainer as one of his characters.

Classic Mode: The Future Champion

Pokémon Trainer's congratulations screen.

Pokémon Trainer's route refers to the player's goal of becoming the Pokémon Champion in the Pokémon games. Like in Pikachu's route, the opponents are all Pokémon and all rounds are on Pokémon stages. Each round will start with the Pokémon chosen on the character select screen regardless of which one was active at the end of the previous round.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music
1	Pikachu	Pokémon Stadium	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Melee)
2	Jigglypuff	Pokémon Stadium	Battle! (Trainer Battle) - Pokémon X / Pokémon Y
3	Lucario	Unova Pokémon League	Battle! (Trainer) - Pokémon Sun / Pokémon Moon
4	Incineroar	Kalos Pokémon League	Battle! (Elite Four) / Battle! (Solgaleo/Lunala)
5	Greninja	Pokémon Stadium 2	Battle! (Champion) - Pokémon X / Pokémon Y
6	Opposite-gender Pokémon Trainer()	Pokémon Stadium 2	The Battle at the Summit!
Bonus Stage
Final	Mewtwo, then Master Hand	Final Destination	Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue Medley (Mewtwo) Master Hand (Master Hand)

Note: All items are disabled in every rounds.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Pokémon Trainer has Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Brawl) accompany the credits, with the selected Pokémon playable during the credits minigame rather than the actual Trainer.

Role in World of Light

Finding Pokémon Trainer in World of Light

The male Pokémon Trainer was among the fighters summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, the Pokémon Trainer was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed its beams of light. Working together with Bowser and his Fire Breath, he sent out Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard in an attempt to fight back against the beams with Triple Finish, to no avail. All four were vaporized and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the rest of the fighters (excluding Kirby).

The male Pokémon Trainer can be found at the southeast near the maze that resembles Pac-Maze. Defeating him also allows access to all of his Pokémon.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
33-35		Pokémon Trainer	Attack	7,500	Battlefield (Ω form)	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Brawl)

Spirits

While Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard's Fighter Spirits are obtained by completing Classic Mode as Pokémon Trainer, the Spirits for the Trainers themselves are only available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Pokémon Trainer in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As Fighter Spirits, they cannot be used in Spirit Battles and are purely aesthetic. Unlike most fighters, the Spirits for Pokémon Trainer only use their artwork from Ultimate, rather than also having alternative artwork from a previous appearance.

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  412. Pokémon Trainer (Male)

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  413. Pokémon Trainer (Female)

Alternate costumes

Only the starting Pokémon is shown on the character selection screen; it can be changed by pressing Y or by hovering the cursor over it and selecting it. Each of Pokémon Trainer's alternate costumes references a protagonist from each generation of the Pokémon games.

Gallery

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  Artwork of all playable Pokémon characters and Poké Ball Pokémon, as posted by the official Pokémon Twitter account.

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  Pokémon Trainer's fighter card.

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  Pokémon Trainer's amiibo.

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  Charizard using Flare Blitz on Prism Tower.

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  Squirtle taunting on Battlefield.

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  Ivysaur taunting on Gaur Plain.

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  The Pokémon trio running from a Burrowing Snagret on The Great Cave Offensive.

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  Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard on Skyworld.

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  The female Trainer throwing a Poké Ball on Prism Tower.

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  Squirtle attacking Inkling with Water Gun on Pokémon Stadium 2.

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  Squirtle getting splashed by Isabelle on Delfino Plaza.

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  Squirtle struck by Lucario on the Bridge of Eldin.

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  Charizard with Lucina on Skyworld.

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  Ivysaur attacking a Leaf Shielding Mega Man with its dash attack on Tortimer Island.

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  Female Pokémon Trainer with a taunting female Pikachu on Battlefield.

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  Squirtle, Ivysaur and a giant golden Pikachu on Pokémon Stadium 2.

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  Ivysaur taunting with Sheik on Tomodachi Life.

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  Ivysaur taunting with Villager on 3D Land.

Trivia

This trivia section is excessively long. Relevant facts should be integrated into the body of the article and unnecessary ones should be removed. You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

• Pokémon Trainer is the first composite character:
  • To have been separated in a sequel and later reformed back into a composite character.
  • To become unlockable in the entire series.
  • To have male and female variants.
  • To have a Smash Taunt (Palutena's Guidance) for each of the interchangeable characters, as well as the unplayable Trainer.
• As previous "dual character" pairings have been removed (Zelda and Sheik in Melee and Brawl, and Samus and Zero Suit Samus in Brawl), Pokémon Trainer's ability to switch characters has now become a unique character attribute.
  • This makes Pokémon Trainer the only transformation-based character to be represented via amiibo, specifically four; one for the male Pokémon Trainer, and one for each of his three Pokémon (with Charizard carrying over from SSB4), although the female Trainer lacks an amiibo of her own. This also makes the Pokémon Trainer the only character in the Smash series to be summonable via multiple Smash series amiibo depicting different characters.
• Each of the three Pokémon appear as solo CPU characters during Classic Mode, World of Light, and Spirit battles without the presence of Pokémon Trainer. They also use individual stock icons. In World of Light, if the player selects Pokémon Trainer as well as the individual Pokémon to start with, its stock icon is used on the battle preview screen as well.
  • This makes Pokémon Trainer one of two characters that is only fought as their original fighter in World of Light (the other being Cloud).
  • This also makes the Pokémon Trainer the least recurring character in the World of Light, only ever being encountered once; since neither gender has a false counterpart whatsoever, unlike Cloud with Dharkon.
    • Oddly enough, the Army of Puppets cutscene has a visible false version of the male Pokémon Trainer among a crowd of other puppet fighters, making his lack of presence during Spirit battles more unclear.
• Pokémon Trainer is the only playable character to not have a fighter number. Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard are each numbered from 33 to 35 instead.
• The male Pokémon Trainer shares his English voice actor, Billy Thompson, with another playable Pokémon character, Greninja. Thompson has confirmed this in a Tweet where he jokingly asserted that the Pokémon Trainer's name is Momo, and later joked about Pokémon Trainer being his "most hated role yet" due to fan mockery.
• The official render of the female Pokémon Trainer uses her Pokémon's default colors; however, in the game, they use an alternate color scheme.
  • Ironically, her Pokémon use a red color scheme (albeit on parts of the Pokémon that already appear reddish), whereas Green in the Pokémon series is associated with the colors green and blue (depending on the region).
• The Trainer's Pokémon do not appear on the victory screen if there are three or more players on the winning team.
  • Despite this, Ivysaur can still be heard whenever it's the fighter with the highest score/stock count at the end of a match.
  • Additionally, if Pokémon Trainer loses all stocks but still wins in a Team Battle, the next Pokémon will be shown on the victory screen rather the the last one KO'd.
  • They also do not appear in the "No Contest" screen.
• When freeing Pokémon Trainer from Galeem, the male Trainer's eyes will be normal in-battle despite his pre-battle render having the red eye glow that other World of Light spirit fights have. His Pokémon will have possessed red eyes, however.
• Prior to launch, there was a glitch where Pokémon Trainer could win a time match regardless of the score. This would only occur when Sudden Death was supposed to happen. It is not clear whether this has since been patched out or not.
• On the character selection screen, the icon in the Japanese version shows Pokémon Trainer's name within only one row, while in the English version it is shown with two rows. This trait is shared with Captain Falcon, Mr. Game & Watch, Zero Suit Samus, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, the Mii Fighters, Piranha Plant and Banjo & Kazooie.
• Pokémon Trainer, like Ike, Wii Fit Trainer, Inkling, and Byleth, is one of the few characters to have alternate costumes with different animations: Nearly all of their animations differ between the male and female Pokémon Trainers, though their gender-unique animations apply only to the Trainers themselves, not their Pokémon.
• Pokémon Trainer can be directly controlled by the player, in a sense; in World of Light, the Trainer can be moved around the world map, in a coincidental parallel to the Pokémon games where the Trainer is used to navigate the world while the Pokémon are controlled in battle. However, during the Classic Mode credits minigame as well as when freeing a spirit from the Spirit Board, the selected default Pokémon is used with the Trainer being absent; this is likely due to both Trainers having no animations for using items like their Pokémon.
• In Spanish, German, French, and Italian, the voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (respectively, "el Entrenador Pokémon"/"la Entrenadora Pokémon", "der Pokémon-Trainer"/"die Pokémon-Trainerin", "le Dresseur de Pokémon"/"la Dresseuse de Pokémon", and "l'Allenatore di Pokémon"/"la Allenatrice di Pokémon"). The fighter shares this trait with Wii Fit Trainer, Inkling, Villager, Hero, the Ice Climbers, and the Mii Fighters.
• There is a glitch with the Pokémon Trainer involving the Final Smash Meter. If an enemy uses their metered Final Smash shortly before or after Pokémon Trainer gets his (if it's before then the meter must fill during the Final Smash), whichever Pokémon is currently in play will no longer have the glow indicating that it has its Final Smash, though its eyes will still be yellow. This appears to have been fixed as of the Version 3.0.0 update.
• Pokémon Trainer is the first character whose slot contains multiple fighters, but to not have an announcer clip for all of them. In Brawl, this was the case, with the announcer clip changing depending on the selected Pokémon (with the default Pokémon Trainer selection resulting in a random Pokémon being sent out), but this was changed in Ultimate.
  • Curiously, the pronunciation of the Pokémon Trainer's clip was different in the Japanese version of Brawl, but remains the same in Japanese and English in Ultimate. This is likely because the pronunciation of "Pokémon" has been standardized between languages since Brawl.
• On Mementos and King of Fighters Stadium, the Pokémon Trainer appears in front of the non-playable characters that populate the stage, rather than being in the same plane as them.
• The Pokémon Trainer is one of 4 characters whose Fighter Spirit uses their Ultimate's artwork as opposed to in their home series. The others are Wii Fit Trainer, Robin, and Cloud.
• If Pokémon Trainer is present in an 8-Player Smash, the sound effects for transitioning to the results screen will be out of sync, with the sound playing before the animation.