Buck

Buck in Diamond and Pearl
Buck
Species	Human
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Blue
Base	Battle Zone
Relatives	Grandfather Flint (brother) Zisu (possible ancestor)
Debut	Pokémon: Diamond/Pearl Versions

Buck is a Pokémon trainer who appears as a temporary double battle partner in Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Versions, as well as the remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Background

Buck was a headstrong young trainer who lived with his grandfather in the Battle Zone. He was eager to prove himself and often acted condescending towards others, although this was largely due to his insecurities from pressure to be as good as his brother Flint, who was a member of the Elite Four.

Diamond/Pearl

In Diamond/Pearl and Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, he first appeared before Lucas/Dawn and Barry when they arrived at the Battle Zone, telling them that he was the best and immediately setting off to find the Magma Stone, which was the treasure of Stark Mountain. Buck had the lead on the others and arrived at the mountain first. Barry came to challenge him, but Buck defeated him with ease. However, Buck eventually reached a point where the trainers looked too tough for him and so asked Lucas/Dawn to accompany him through that part of the cave. They succeeded, at which point Buck claimed the Magma Stone.

However, removing the Magma Stone from the volcano had the side-effect of tossing nature into imbalance; Buck's grandfather forced him to return it to Stark Mountain. Afterwards, in Diamond/Pearl, Buck appeared as one of the partners Lucas/Dawn could choose to accompany them through the Battle Tower's double battles mode. In Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, Buck only appeared at the Battle Tower as a possible opponent for a double battle, in which he was partnered with Bertha of the Elite Four.

Platinum

His storyline was altered in Platinum, where he did not initiate a competition, nor was even shown to meet Barry. In this version, he first confronted Lucas/Dawn after they defeated Flint and Volkner in a double battle. Buck was impressed by their strength and suggested some areas where they could train. He then confronted Lucas/Dawn when they arrived at Stark Mountain and asked them to patrol the mountain for him due to rumors that Team Galactic was searching the mountain for a Magma Stone.

Buck still teamed up with the player character within the mountain and together they witnessed Looker's arrest of Charon. Instead of taking the Magma Stone, in this version he returned it to its proper place after Looker had confiscated it from Charon. Buck was further impressed by Lucas/Dawn and invited them to the Battleground, a club run by his grandfather. Buck then set off for the Battle Frontier, where he was once more available as a doubles partner in the Battle Tower challenge. In this version, he also appeared at the Battleground on random days, where he could be challenged to matches.

He was also available as a Battle Tower partner at Johto's Battle Frontier in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Pokémon Roster

At Stark Mountain, he only uses a Claydol during the double battles.

In the Battle Tower, Buck will use two out of the following Pokémon at random for double battles: Cloyster, Umbreon, Forretress, Steelix, Shuckle,Skarmory, Dusclops, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Bastiodon,Probopass, Dusknoir and Cresselia. In HeartGold/SoulSilver, he has also been known to use Articuno and Leafeon. When fought at the Battle Tower in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, he would use Claydol and either Cresselia or Regirock.

In Platinum, Buck uses the following roster for Battleground matches:

• Shuckle
• Umbreon
• Dusknoir
• Torkoal
• Claydol

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Buck was featured in an episode of the Pokémon anime where he was portrayed as a treasure hunter who used his Baltoy to detect rare treasures. He teamed up with Ash's group when they met on the ferry to Suzuran Island, and on the island they worked together to find the treasure. Not only did Buck find this treasure, he was able to capture the powerful Claydol that was guarding it.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Buck appeared in the Platinum arc, where he tried to protect Heatran from Team Galactic's attack on Stark Mountain and ended up awakening the Pokémon when he removed the Magma Stone. Buck was badly wounded and ended up in the hospital, though he was shown to be back on his feet at the end of the arc.
• He was featured in one episode of the Pokémon Generations manga that was based on the events at Stark Mountain from Platinum. In this appearance, he helped Looker to fight off Heatran and returned the Magma Stone to its rightful place.

Trivia

• His Japanese name is Baku. Both his English and Japanese names may be a reference to 'buckwheat', but they are also likely a reference to the Japanese word for 'explosion', which could refer to both the volcano and his relation to the Fire-type trainer Flint.
• Each of the five partner trainers in the fourth generation specialize in a different battle stat. Buck's specialty is Defense and Special Defense.
• In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the character of Zisu bears a physical resemblance to Flint and could possibly be an ancestor of Flint and Buck.

See Also

• Cheryl
• Riley
• Mira
• Marley