Cress

"Triple Trouble!"
Cress
Species	Human
Hair color	Blue
Eye color	Blue
Base	Striaton City
Relatives	Cilan, Chili (brothers)
Voiced by	Kory Getman (2022)
Debut	Pokémon: Black/White Versions

Cress is one of the three gym leaders of Striaton City's Pokémon gym who collectively count as the first gym leader who must be battled within the Unova Region, appearing as a potential opponent in Pokémon: Black and White Versions. Cress specializes in water-type Pokémon.

Background

Cress, along with his brothers Cilan and Chili, became the gym leaders of the Striaton Gym. They were also chefs, and the gym doubled as a restaurant. Cress was an intellectual fellow who considered challengers to be lucky if they had the opportunity to face him, but he also thought they were lucky not to have to face him. The three of them each specialized in a different type that formed a triangle which matched the traditional starter Pokémon types. Rather than forcing challengers to battle all three of them, the brothers would see which starter Pokémon that their challenger had, and then the challenger would face the brother who had the type advantage over them. Victorious challengers would earn the Trio Badge.

In Pokémon: Black and White Versions, Hilbert/Hilda faced Cress if they had chosen Tepig as their starter Pokémon. After Hilbert/Hilda defeated him or one of his brothers to win the Trio Badge and TM 23: Work Up, Cress realized that if there were seventeen brothers, they would truly be able to cover all of the types. They were later beaten by Cheren and Bianca.

The three brothers were presumably present when the gym leaders had a meeting about Team Plasma. Bianca later went around gathering all of the gym leaders when N's Castle arose at the Pokémon league, but she went to Striaton last, and the brothers wound up being the only gym leaders who did not make it in time. If Hilbert/Hilda revisited the gym later, Cress would express regret about not receiving the message about Team Plasma in time.

In a Memory Link flashback featured in Black and White 2, it was shown that the brothers were still troubled by their failure to help against Team Plasma one year later. They also dealt with criticisms from others that it took the three of them to make up one full-fledged trainer. Coincidentally, they were suddenly attacked by the Shadow Triad, members of Team Plasma, and they were defeated easily by them. In the wake of this, they decided to resign as gym leaders and restart their training from the beginning in hopes of becoming better individual trainers. The gym was converted into Striaton Restaurant, where they trained together. Cress also mentioned looking for a replacement gym leader, but there is no indication of that coming to pass.

One year after the resignation, during Black 2/White 2, the player could team up with one of the brothers at the restaurant to battle against the other two in a Multi Battle on a daily basis. Cress also competed in the Pokémon World Tournament, taking part in the Unova Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert divisions.

Pokémon Roster

In Black and White, Cress uses Lillipup and Panpour for gym battles. In Black 2 and White 2, he uses Basculin, Slowking and Simipour for Multi Battles.

In tournament battles, his roster can include Simipour, Azumarill and Slowking as well as either Golduck, Floatzel and Basculin in the Unova Leaders Tournament, or Crawdaunt, Samurott and Seismitoad in the World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Cress and his brothers have made appearances in some of the games' events, with Pansoak being shown as Cress's sync partner. Cress initially appeared with his brothers in the "Curious Tea Party" Costume Event, in which they had recently arrived at Pasio and were excited about the tea party being held by Sonia. They presented a challenge as part of the tea party. Cress was also curious about Lillie's Polteageist and wondered if it was an Antique Form. The brothers also appeared in "Trainer Files: Akala Passion", in which they worked together to prepare specialty tea for Lana, Mallow and Kiawe, which inspired Mallow to work with her friends on a dish.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, the brothers first appeared in a two-part episode where they served Ash food until he demanded to meet the gym leader. Ash actually had to fight all three of them, and Cress was the second of the three to battle him. Cress's Panpour actually defeated Ash's Pikachu, although Ash still earned the Trio Badge by winning his battles with the other two. He appeared in a later episode where he was concerned after his attempt at constructively criticizing Chili's fighting style wound up driving him away and called Cilan. Cilan was able to help Chili regain his confidence and return to the gym. Cress and Chili reappeared in a later episode, where Cilan had to defeat a trainer named Morana who had beaten both of the other brothers in order to prevent the gym from being lost in an bet.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, the Striation gym leaders appeared early in the Black/White arc. Black, Bianca and Cheren engaged the three of them in a three-on-three battle. Cress was able to hold his own, but Chili was beaten, and Cilan's Pansage inadvertently wound up reviving the opponents' fallen Pokémon, so they ultimately lost. The brothers later battled the Shadow Triad and were overwhelmed until Keldeo suddenly saved them. The Shadow Triad turned their sights on Keldeo, but this attracted the attention of Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion, who sent both the brothers and the Shadow Triad flying. The brothers later had a minor appearance in the Black 2/White 2 arc helping with damage control.

Trivia

• He is named in English after an aquatic herb known as watercress. His Japanese name is Corn, which matches the naming theme of his siblings, who have names related to types of corn.