Archer

Archer
Species	Human
Affiliation	Team Rocket
Hair color	Teal
Eye color	Teal
Voiced by	Christian La Monte (2022)
Debut	Pokémon: HeartGold/SoulSilver Versions

Archer is one of the four Team Rocket Executives who was featured as an antagonist in Pokémon: HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, all of whom were based on unnamed executives from the original Gold, Silver and Crystal.

Background

Archer was a high-ranking member of Team Rocket during Giovanni's reign. He made an unofficial appearance in FireRed/LeafGreen as one of two Rocket Admins (the other likely being Ariana) in control of the Rocket Warehouse on Chrono Isle. These Rockets were unaware that Giovanni had been defeated by Red and disbanded Team Rocket until Red arrived at the warehouse to challenge him. The admin refused to believe Red's claims about Giovanni until Red defeated him, at which point he saw that Red had an Earthbadge from Giovanni. This was enough to confirm the story for him, and he departed, but not before swearing to find Giovanni and resurrect Team Rocket. It was also shown on a nearby computer screen that they were researching radio waves that could force Pokémon evolution.

Team Rocket operated underground for the next three years, with Archer and Ariana being the highest-ranking members. They orchestrated a series of schemes three years later in Gold/Silver/Crystal/HeartGold/SoulSilver. After experimenting with using radio waves to force the Magikarp of the Lake of Rage to evolve into Gyarados, they took control of Goldenrod City's Radio Tower to send out a message calling Giovanni back to regain control of Team Rocket. Ethan/Lyra eventually confronted Archer at the top floor of the Radio Tower and battled him. The young trainer was able to defeat him, leaving Archer disappointed that they were unable to reach Giovanni and that their dreams were in vain. Archer proceeded to officially disband Team Rocket like Giovanni before him and disappeared.

Let's Go!

Archer made an early appearance in the Let's Go! games, which were an alternate version of the first generation games. Archer first appeared at the Rocket Hideout in Celadon City, where he presented the Silph Scope to Giovanni as an example of the technology that they could gain from Silph Co. Giovanni was unimpressed with the Scope itself, but he still considered the company to be valuable and ordered Archer to continue his plans to conquer the company building for Team Rocket. As Archer was leaving the meeting, he came across Chase/Elaine and engaged them in a Pokémon battle after realizing that they had listened in on his conversation with Giovanni. Archer was defeated and felt ashamed at having lost to a child.

Regardless, Team Rocket managed to invade Silph Co. and took over its building in Saffron City. There, Archer was confronted by the same trainer again, as well as their friend Trace. Archer and a grunt took them on a in a double battle, only to lose again. Archer reappeared later in an attempt to keep the trainers from getting to Giovanni, and Trace stayed behind to battle him while Chase/Elaine went ahead. Ultimately, Giovanni was defeated and disbanded Team Rocket.

After the main storyline was completed, Archer could be found at the Team Rocket Hideout. Seeing Chase/Elaine again, he claimed that he did not feel emotional, but he wanted to make the trainer feel the way he did about Team Rocket's disbandment and tried to battle them again. After being defeated, he admitted that he wanted the trainer to arrive, because he had written a letter to them and proceeded to read it aloud. In it, he announced that he did not bear any ill will towards the trainer for what they had done and announced his intentions of creating a stronger Team Rocket after being inspired by his defeat. He said that he would be leaving the Kanto region and wished for Chase/Elaine's continued success in that region. He immediately became confused about what he wanted the trainer to think of him as a result of that letter. With that and a gruff farewell, Archer departed.

Pokémon Roster

In Gold/Silver/Crystal as well as HeartGold/SoulSilver, the Pokémon he has are Houndour, Koffing and Houndoom. In FireRed/LeafGreen, he has Golbat, Weezing and Houndoom.

In the Let's Go!, games, he has a Weezing and Golbat in all battles. He gains an Electrode for the second battle and a Magmar in the third one.

In Other Pokémon Games

The Excecutive who Archer was based on appeared as a boss in the Johto Gym Leader Castle in Pokémon Stadium 2. In Round 1, his Pokémon consisted of Houndoom, Golbat, Persian, Misdreavus, Victreebel and Wobbuffet, while in Round 2 he had Houndoom, Octillery, Wobbuffet, Hypno, Parasect and Tyranitar.

In Pokémon Masters EX, Archer and Houndoom appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the Sync Pair Scout starting in September 2023. Prior to becoming playable, he made a number of appearances in the game's story. He was introduced in the Main Story's Villain Arc chapter "Johto: Team Rocket Returns", in which he joined Giovanni on Pasio with the other HeartGold/SoulSilver executives to help him carry out his plans. Over the course of the chapter's events, he and Ariana teamed up in a battle against Lance, Morty and Karen, and he was later defeated by Ethan during the chapter's climactic battle. Afterwards, he was seen listening to Giovanni confide about his plans to manipulate the other organization leaders on the island for Team Rocket's own ends. Archer later made smaller appearances in "Hoenn: Delta of Land, Sea and Sky" and "Unova: Team Plasma & Two Heroes". In the former, he and Ariana reported the results of their survey of Pasio, and in the latter, he reported Team Plasma's failure to Giovanni while also expressing caution about the team's strength. In "Kalos: Team Flare Flares Up", Archer and Ariana showed up to back up Petrel in a battle against Looker and Emma, but they retreated after Anabel, Diantha and Paulo showed up to help Looker. Archer also played a role in "Final Chapter: Where Ideals Cross Paths". Archer and Ariana initially fought alongside Giovanni against Paulo, but he and Ariana were beaten while Giovanni swayed Paulo's Hoopa over to their side. With Hoopa's power, Team Rocket obtained numerous Legendary Pokémon to use, with Archer and Ariana seen using Dialga and Palkia against Lear, Sawyer and Rachel. During the final act of the event, Archer showed up to try to impede the progress of Paulo's group, but Ghetsis appeared to battle him instead.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, the character of Carl was initially introduced based on the second generation's nameless Rocket Executives. He and the female executive, Sham, were shown to be among those who were abducted by the Mask of Ice as children and raised as his brainwashed slaves. They were used to take control of Team Rocket during the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc, but they were defeated in battle with Gold and Crys near the arc's end after they achieved their goal of hacking the magnet train. The actual Archer was later included as part of the HeartGold/SoulSilver arc, which opened with Archer (with the other four Executives) taking control of Team Rocket from the ineffectual manga-exclusive character Carr. They sought out Arceus, and Archer used its power to create a Dialga, Palkia and Giratina to serve them. Archer was obsessed with fulfilling what he saw as Giovanni's will, only to break down when Giovanni actually chose to attack them and challenge their plans. He was ultimately knocked out while trying to control Arceus, and Giovanni took him away to be punished.

Trivia

• His English name comes the A-11 Archer, a Soviet missile, while his Japanese name is Apollo after the Apollo program that was named after the Greek sun god Apollo. Both names follow the HeartGold/SoulSilver scheme of naming Rocket Executives after real-life rockets and missiles.
• His first official appearance as a character is in HeartGold/SoulSilver. In the original Game Boy games, all Executives were nameless and represented by the same sprite (with only the female executive who would become Ariana having a unique sprite). FireRed/LeafGreen similarly does not name him and also shows him in a Rocket Grunt uniform, although the foreshadowing of the second generation's story as well as the similar rosters indicate that they are intended to be the same character.