Bruno

Bruno in Pokémon: FireRed and LeafGreen Versions.
Bruno
Species	Human
Affiliation	Elite Four
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Black
Voiced by	Greg Chun (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Red/Green Versions

Bruno is a powerful Pokémon trainer and the a member of the Elite Four who must be battled in the first two generations of Pokémon games. He specializes in Fighting-type Pokémon.

Background

Bruno was a martial artist who believed in the potential of both people and Pokémon. He lived with his Pokémon, and he regularly submitted himself and his Pokémon to rigorous training. Bruno and his Pokémon also visited the Ember Spa sometimes to help rehab their injuries. He eventually became a member of the Elite Four shared between Kanto and Johto, out of a burning ambition to take on powerful trainers.

In Pokémon: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen Versions, Bruno was the second member of the Elite Four. Blue and later Red challenged and defeated Bruno in their challenges of the Elite Four. Bruno was impressed by the power of Red's Pokémon and in a Fame Checker message suggested that Red began training himself as well. Alternately, he was challenged by Trace and then Chase/Elaine in the Let's Go! remakes.

Bruno was the only one of the Elite Four members from the first generation to still be a member three years later in Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal. HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions. This time Bruno was the third member of the Elite Four. However, he was defeated by the newcomer Ethan/Lyra.

Pokémon Roster

Generation I

Bruno specializes in Rock-type Pokémon, but he also has some Rock-types in his roster as well. In the first generation games, his roster was:

• Onix (two)
• Hitmonchan
• Hitmonlee
• Machamp

In FireRed and LeafGreen, in all battles following the first one, Bruno replaced his two Onix with a pair of Steelix. In Let's Go!, his roster was similar, except that he had a Poliwrath instead of the second Onix, and he added an Alolan Golem for rematches.

Generation II

Bruno in HeartGold/SoulSilver.

His Gold/Silver/Crystal/HeartGold/SoulSilver line-up was the same as in the original games, except that one of the Onix was replaced with a Hitmontop. In HeartGold/SoulSilver, he uses the following roster in rematches:

• Hitmontop
• Hitmonchan
• Hitmonlee
• Hariyama
• Machamp
• Lucario

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Stadium, Bruno was an opponent in the Gym Leader Castle fought with the other members of the Elite Four. He used Onix, Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Machamp, Golem and Rhydon in Round 1. In Round 2 he used Clefable, Muk, Hitmonlee, Machamp, Slowbro and Rhydon. Bruno appears in the Gym Leader Castle of Pokémon Stadium 2, once more with the other Elite Four members, but this time based on Gold, Silver and Crystal. In the first round, he used Blastoise, Machamp, Golem, Onix, Kangaskhan and Heracross. In Round 2, his Pokémon are Primeape, Machamp, Golem, Exeggutor, Granbull and Ursaring. Bruno, as he appears in the anime, appears as the fourteenth opponent in Pokémon Puzzle League. He is also the last boss of Normal Mode. Bruno is the third member of the "Puzzle Elite Four" and uses Onix, Hitmonchan and Primeape in battle. Bruno also appears in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge as the third Elite Four member to be battled, as seen in Gold/Silver/Crystal. In this game Bruno uses a Hitmontop in battle.

In Pokémon Masters EX, he and his Machamp appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the Sync Pair Scout feature. He was also made available paired with Onix during limited time periods starting in April 2023. He has also been shown using Hitmonchan as an opponent in battle. Within the PML Arc of the Main Story, he was featured as an opponent in Chapter 21, where he had formed a team with fellow Fighting-type trainers Brawly and Marshal for the Pokémon Masters League tournament. That team was pitted against Scottie/Bettie's team in the first round of the finals, and they were defeated in that battle. Bruno went on to make appearances in the Villain Arc, helping to calm down berserk Pokémon alongside Agatha in the Kanto chapter and working with Chuck to cut Giovanni off from calling for reinforcements in the Johto chapter. He also appeared as an opponent faced at the end of the Story Event "Reach for the Sky", where he defeated Misty and won a team-on-team elimination battle for a chance at a rematch with Blue, and he was ultimately defeated. In the Solo Event "A Sweet Secret", a group of trainers brought sweets to Bruno, Brawly and Bea as thanks for mentoring them. Bruno was shown to be open about his love of sweets, in contrast to Bea. He also appeared in the Solo Event "Strongest Fighters", in which Gloria, Korrina and Bea came across Bruno and Chuck while they were training together in preparation for a tournament for Fighting-type sync pairs. Bruno, Chuck and Brawly also presented a trial together during the "Super Tour Guide Rosa" Costume Event. Bruno was also featured in Part 1 of "Trainer Files: Kanto Elite Four" in which he battled Lorelei after they had an argument about which of them was stronger, and they ended up battling Misty and Brock instead after the two of them interrupted their battle with their own argument about whether Onix or Cloyster was harder. In the second part of the event, they ended up battling against Agatha and Lance instead. Bruno also acted as the opponent who Brawly had to face in order to evolve his Makuhita in a Sync Pair Story, in which the two of them mentioned their training. In the game's Champion Stadium mode, he was also featured as an opponent for both the Kanto Challenge and the Johto Challenge, as each challenge replicated the Elite Four line-up from the corresponding generation.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the beginning of the first episode of the Pokémon anime, a silhouetted trainer resembling Bruno was seen using Nidorino and Onix in battle, in a scene evocative of the introduction to the first generation games. Bruno was only openly featured in a later episode of the anime's Kanto series, in which Ash was preparing to travel to Indigo Plateau (but to compete in a tournament instead of challenging the Elite Four). In the episode, Ash and his group met Bruno on a mountain, where he gave Ash some training that mostly consisted of making him do chores. Bruno was the first Elite Four member to appear on the show.
• Bruno appears in the Yellow arc of the Pokémon Adventures manga, where the Elite Four are depicted as villains. However, Bruno is shown to be more reluctant and is victim to Agatha's brain-washing. He challenges Red to a battle and offers him a position among the Elite Four, but Lorelei freezes him after he declines. On Cerise Island he battles Bill and Lieutenant Surge until Red returns, and Red is able to defeat him again. He briefly appears in the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc where he travels with Koga, who also felt used by his respective evil organization, and helps Red and Blue to travel to Johto. Afterwards they recruit Will and Karen as well, forming their own version of the Elite Four. He is also alluded to by Brawly in the Ruby/Sapphire arc, who briefly utilizes Bruno's fighting style against a Team Magma member. In the HeartGold/SoulSilver arc, it is shown that Bruno's Elite Four was officially recognized by the Pokémon Association, and at one point they compete with Gold at the Pokéthlon.
• Bruno made a brief appearance in an episode of Pokémon Origins, depicting Red's battle with him during his Pokémon League challenge.
• One episode of the Pokémon Generations anime featured the Elite Four during the time when they were challenged by Blue. This included the battle between Blue and Bruno which Blue ultimately won.

Trivia

• Bruno's name may have been chosen to sound evocative of words such as "brawn" and "bruiser". His Japanese name is Shiba, which is named after a Japanese word for zoysia grass and also references a Japanese word meaning "to strike".
• In Ruby and Sapphire, as well as in FireRed and LeafGreen, it is mentioned that he once trained with Brawly, a gym leader from the former games who also specialized in Fighting-type Pokémon. They have since been shown working together in Pokémon Masters EX.
• Bruno has a liking for Rage Candybars and is said to have been upset when they are sold out.
• He is the only character to appear as an Elite Four member in more than one generation.
• In Red/Green/Blue/Yellow, his room at the Pokémon League is a large room filled with rocks. FireRed/LeafGreen changes it into a more standard-looking room surrounded by rocky pillars. In Gold/Silver/Crystal/HeartGold/SoulSilver, his new room contains pools of lava.