Caitlin

The younger Caitlin in Platinum.
Caitlin
Species	Human
Affiliation	Elite Four (Unova)
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Voiced by	Sarah Miller-Crews (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Platinum Version

Caitlin is a powerful Psychic-type trainer who initially appeared as part of the Battle Frontier in Pokémon: Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions and was later shown as a member of the Elite Four of Unova in Pokémon: Black and White Versions and their sequels.

Background

Caitlin was born to a wealthy family of prestigious trainers. From a young age, she had psychic powers that were apparently potent enough that she had trouble controlling them. This was said to be because of her "untrained heart" and bad temper, which led to her nearly destroying everything around her during Pokémon battles. She was initially forbidden from battling because of this. Caitlin was still appointed part of the Battle Frontier that was stationed at both Sinnoh and Johto. She was at the Battle Castle and was referred to as its princess. Caitlin was not an actual Frontier Brain due to being unable to battle. She had a young butler, Darach, who was appointed to fight the battles against challenging trainers for her. Darach also spoke for her, and Caitlin's only words in the presence of others were a demand that the victorious trainer receive some CP.

Caitlin grew older and underwent several changes. She became more tranquil, which allowed her to control her powers and eventually start training her own Pokémon. She became skilled enough that she became part of Unova's Elite Four in order to encounter other strong trainers. Her room at the Pokémon League contained a luxurious bed atop a platform that appeared to be in the middle of space, and a mysterious light would carry challengers up to the platform. Caitlin spent most of her time resting in bed and was awoken when challengers arrived, usually annoyed at her sleep being disrupted. In Black and White, she was defeated by N and then was met by Hilbert/Hilda. She told the trainer off for waking her up, but she also sensed a combination of strength and kindness in the trainer, so she only asked them not to give her a boring battle. She was defeated, but she was pleased to have battled Hilbert/Hilda because of the class their Pokémon had. Caitlin could later be disturbed for more rematches. Despite her initial grumpiness, Caitlin referred to Hilbert/Hilda as the type of trainer she joined the Elite Four to compete against, and she was glad that she was finally experiencing the pure excitement of battling that she had craved during her time at the Battle Castle.

She also owned a variety of villas throughout the world, including one that was located at Undula Town within Unova. At some point, Caitlin forged a strong friendship with Cynthia and offered to let her use any of her villas during her travels. Caitlin was disappointed that she always lost to Cynthia in battles, but she realized that she had matured in how she handled her defeats in that she accepted them calmly rather than exploding with anger as in her younger days. During Black and White (and again two years later), Cynthia stayed at Caitlin's villa in Undula while she examined the underwater Abyssion Ruins. Caitlin stopped by the villa sometimes, welcoming Hilbert/Hilda's presence there and also endorsing Johto and Sinnoh's Battle Castles.

Two years later in Black and White 2, Caitlin was still a member of the Elite Four and could be challenged by Nate/Rosa. Her room in the Pokémon League no longer contained a bed. Instead, it was designed with a celestial theme and featured a large flower bud that she appeared from. She no longer showed any frustration towards her challenger, and upon being defeated, she quickly praised the opponent for being both excellent and elegant. She considered self-improvement to be more important than winning and felt that she had learned from her defeats, as she wanted to surpass herself and become closer to ideals. As in the first games, she could be challenged to rematches, and also appeared at the villa with Cynthia.

Pokémon Roster

In Black/White, she uses the following Pokémon in the Elite Four battles:

• Reuniclus
• Musharna
• Sigilyph
• Gothitelle
• Bronzong (rematches only)
• Metagross (rematches only)

In Black 2/White 2, her roster is the same as in the first games aside from her Bronzong being replaced with Gallade. In Challenge Mode, she also uses Metagross in the initial battle, and for rematches she uses Alakazam instead of Bronzong or Gallade.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Caitlin and Reunculus have appeared together as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the Sync Pair Scout feature. There was also a Halloween-themed Fall 2021 variant of Caitlin paired with a Sableye that could be recruited during limited time periods, starting in October 2021. Her Sableye was capable of Mega Evolving during battle. When fought as an opponent, she would sometimes sync with different Pokémon such as Sigilyph and Musharna. Within the Main Story's PML Arc, she was featured as an opponent in Chapter 27. She had made it to the quarterfinals of the Pokémon Masters League with Darach and Cynthia as her teammates. It was shown that Caitlin was bored by their battles so far, but Cynthia managed to motivate her for the quarterfinals by acknowledging her as a rival and taking her on in a practice battle. In the quarterfinals match, their team was ultimately defeated by Scottie/Bettie. Caitlin accepted the defeat gracefully, while looking back on how she had changed from her younger days.

She was also featured in the "Heat of Elegance" Story Event. In that Event, Caitlin tried to teach that being elegant and graceful was the most important aspect in a battle, but Candice felt that being focused was more important. The two of them fought alongside the player to determine who was right, and they ended up battling against Roxie, who felt that the beat of a battle was the most important part. Afterwards, Caitlin realized that the answer was different for individual trainers, and she felt that the player's own battling style was one of kindness and strength. She made an appearance in an extra scene of the "Family Ties" Story Event, in which Lillie tried training alongside her and Erika, only for the two of them to doze off. She was also featured in her fall attire in the "Midnight Battle Ball" Story Event, where she worked with Scottie/Bettie, Morty and Hilbert during the eponymous event and helped Allister by returning his lost mask to him. It was shown that Caitlin had a desire to learn more about Ghost-type Pokémon, and it was implied that this was why she was working with a Sableye. In the Solo Event "A Sweet Secret", she agreed to help a trio of trainers get sweets for their mentors in exchange for interesting battles. Caitlin was also featured as an opponent in the Champion Stadium mode during the Unova Challenge, which imitated the Elite Four line-up from the fifth generation.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, she appeared during the Unova-based series, in an episode where she battled Cynthia as an exhibition match for the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup. The battle ended in a draw when the time limit ended, and she was later seen during the tournament's closing ceremony. She is the only member of Unova's Elite Four to appear in the anime.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Caitlin initially appeared during the Platinum arc where she acted mostly as an observer during Platina's battle with Darach. After Darach lost, Caitlin was able to piece together most of Platina's superior strategy which allowed her to win, as well as why Darach failed, and she had him reflect on his mistakes. Her condition was not initially elaborated upon beyond Darach mentioning that he was only the Frontier Brain because Caitlin was prohibited from battling. Caitlin's reappearance later in the arc foreshadowed her Black/White appearance by showing that the battle with Platina had inspired her to try battling by herself, and she then briefly lost control of her psychic powers. She later resurfaced in the Black/White arc as part of Unova's Elite Four, and she used a combination of her and her Gothitelle's psychic abilities to attempt to telepathically contact the gym leaders. She and the rest of the Elite Four observed the Pokémon League Tournament and also helped to fight Team Plasma. She also helped Black to reunite with his lost Munna and understand the real reason that it left. She gave him a Moon Stone so that he could evolve the Munna.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is Cattleya, named after an orchid genus. Her English name may be intended to sound similar to her Japanese name and/or the word "castle".
• Although her status as a Frontier Brain is disputable, she is the only character associated with the Battle Frontier who is also directly involved with the Pokémon League of any region, as well as being the the first Frontier-related character to appear in more than one generation.
• Aside from appearing older, her hair color was also changed between appearances from a light brown color in Platinum/HeartGold/SoulSilver to blonde in Black/White.
• Despite Caitlin not really participating in the Battle Frontier fight, she has a battle sprite in the games, which is displayed next to Darach's during his fights with the player.
• According to one character in the Battle Castle's lobby, Darach secretly has feelings for Caitlin.
• Her designer for Black and White has stated that she was around 14 during her time at the Battle Frontier (and that Black/White takes place several years later), that she uses the ribbons in her hair to psychically keep her hair up, and that Darach is apparently keeping a close eye on her.
• She believes that having no psychic powers at all would be better than having psychic powers that one can't control.
• When talking to her at the villa in Black 2 and White 2, she mentions that Darach visited recently and returned home after cleaning her villa.
• In Black 2 and White 2, when discussing her past roles, she teases the possibility of becoming a region's champion someday.