There’s no shortage of great characters in the Pokemon games. From the brilliant outfits and personalities of the gym leaders, to your clever rivals, and even the cartoonishly evil villain teams, there’s always a steady stream of unique faces to encounter. Many have returned through multiple games, but others are great one-time faces.
This is even more true for the Pokemon anime, where nearly every episode has a rare recurring character or a unique opponent for Ash and his friends. Several of these characters are unlike anything in the Pokemon games, and it’d be wonderful to see at least a few of them show up in some form in a future game.
10 Visquez
For those who haven’t given the new Pokemon Journeys series a watch, it’s strongly recommended. Not only do Ash and Goh’s adventures bounce between several regions, but the new episodic characters are far more memorable thanks to the diversity of Pokemon and locations that come with each new episode.
This is especially the case with Visquez, a substitute Gym Leader for Vermillion City taking the place of Lt. Surge in Kanto. Substitutes are a great way to spice up Gyms, and having alternate Gym Leaders or shifting Gym Leaders could easily help make new games feel much more like a full and active world.
9 Matori
Villain teams have been a staple of Pokemon ever since Team Rocket, but hardly any of them are as fleshed out as the original Kanto criminal squad. We’ve gotten Rocket Executives and many scientists in later games using this classic team, but it’s incredibly rare that we get characters who fill less common and more memorable roles.
Enter Matori, a minor character who first appeared regularly in the Unova seasons of the anime and as a rival to Jessie in Alola. Rather than another random criminal, Matori actually acts as Giovani’s secretary, and while she gets more responsibilities and a chance to run her own squad, she gets to show more personality from her role than nearly any other villain character in series history.
8 Harley
Pokemon Contests are a great addition to the series, but even greater for the anime where beauty and style of trainers and Pokemon can flourish in animated fashion. In the games, the usual characters we see represent this mode are glamorous women and pop stars, such as Sinnoh’s Fantina and Hoenn’s idol star Lisia.
There’s a severe lack in iconic or memorable male characters when it comes to contests in the game, making the skeevy Harley a worthwhile addition. This Cacturne cosplayer still shows off an entirely unique battle style that’s unique to Contests, but isn’t just the shining female pop star that we usually get, making for a potentially more interesting side rival if Pokemon Contests make another return.
7 Remo
Remo is hardly an interesting character in terms of story or team, but he’s especially worth an inclusion in the games for his aesthetic alone. We don’t often see absurd and detail-filled costumes like this often, but these can easily make for some of the most memorable characters thanks to the color and expression that come with it.
There’s also something to be said for his team, which includes very powerful Pokemon like Rhyperior and the menacing Garchomp that we’ve only really seen with top champions like Tower Tycoon Palmer and Sinnoh Champion Cynthia. These are great Pokemon that rarely appear, and it would be lovely to see more NPCs with their own take on these intimidating teams.
6 Goh
Alongside episodic characters, it’s important to mention that Goh is another great inclusion to the Pokemon formula in Pokemon Journeys. After many mediocre companions like Cilan, and overly large casts like Ash’s Alolan classmates, it’s really refreshing to see a single character with an interest that’s separate to Ash’s battle dreams, while still being a great supporter of the Catch ‘Em All tradition.
As a result, Goh is a key anime character who could absolutely serve a purpose in the games. Rather than a rival you have to face in battle, Goh could easily be a character you compete with to fill your Pokedex, or in other side adventures like the Bug Catching Contest in Johto. He’s a charming character who absolutely supports the core ideals of the Pokemon series.
5 Professor Serena
There are tons of characters that show up for one episode and never again, and Serena is hardly a memorable one for her design. She’s a fairly typical blue-haired woman, but her uniqueness lies in her job as a teacher of Battle Judges, who are supposed to referee matches in the Pokemon world.
This is a topic that’s never been introduced in the games, but has become both automated and complicated throughout the Pokemon series itself. Having someone to referee major and official matches involves using the rules of Pokemon on a fundamentally different level, and a head honcho of Battle Judges could absolutely lead to Professor Serena being a great addition to the tutorial elements of the Pokemon series.
4 Tracey
For most Pokemon fans, Tracey is considered a dark spot in Ash’s early adventures. Taking the place of the lovable oaf Brock, this sketch artist and research student is hardly memorable for his appearance, but still is notable for being unlike any companions and being an oddly realistic character in the fantastical Pokemon world.
Tracey’s inclusion in the game could easily be comparable to Galar’s researcher-to-be Sonia, who aims to be a professor but is exploring the land and working on her own quest unrelated to becoming a regional champion. Giving Tracey a role like this would be a fascinating throwback for fans, and perhaps expand him to being something more than Brock’s temporary replacement.
3 Brock’s Family
Speaking of Brock, his appearance in the show is very likely the most separate from any character who appears in the games. Rather than the lovesick fool with a large and loving family, he’s simply a stone-faced authority figure when he appears as a Gym Leader.
Nearly every Gym Leader is more interesting when expanded and followed, and even minor ones like Jasmine and Korrina are immediately remembered just for having their own quests and private lives besides the gym. If we ever wanted to see Brock get expanded, this would easily be the most memorable and adorable way to do it.
2 Professor Ivy
One of the largest territories and anime adventures to never appear in the games is the Orange League, a series of islands that Ash, Brock, and Misty travel to in order to collect more badges after their Kanto journeys. We came somewhat close with the Sevii Islands in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, but no unique scientific figure really exists besides Brock’s friend.
If we somehow return to this bit of post-game content, seeing Professor Ivy as a recurring character could easily make this time in the anime worthwhile. Much like Professor Kukui, she’s a massively atypical professor in her style and movement, and it’d round out Kanto to see more scientific experts besides good old Professor Oak.
1 Tobias
Hardly any opponent you’ll meet in the Pokemon games have Legendary Pokemon in their team. This is quite true in the anime as well, but one prime exception is Tobias from Ash’s adventures in Sinnoh, where he defeated him in the quarter-finals of the Lily of the Valley conference using a Darkrai and Latios.
The only other characters to feature legendaries in their team are Frontier Brains, so Tobias is a huge standout in the entire series. He’d be perfect to see as an elusive trainer who hunts legendaries and periodically appears in the main story, or as a master of a future Battle Tower.
