Flint (Pokemon)

Flint in Diamond and Pearl
Flint
Species	Human
Affiliation	Elite Four (Sinnoh)
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Brown
Relatives	Grandfather Buck (brother) Zisu (possible ancestor)
Voiced by	Landon McDonald (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Diamond/Pearl Versions

Flint is the third member of Sinnoh's Elite Four to be featured as an oppoent in Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Versions, as well as the remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. He specializes in Fire-type Pokémon.

Background

Flint was an easygoing member of the Elite Four with a love for battling. However, he did not take losing easily and was often left speechless after losing a battle, to the point where Volkner once referred to a post-loss Flint as a "husk". According to his close friend Volkner, he started specializing in Fire-type Pokémon after someone told him what his name meant.

In the fourth generation games, he was first seen in Sunyshore City, where he was exhibiting concern for Volkner, who had lost his passion for battling due to facing a series of weak challengers. Once he met Lucas/Dawn, he felt that he could sense the trainer's "aura of toughness" and encouraged them to challenge Volkner, believing the trainer would be tough enough to re-ignite his passion for battling. As the challenge was issued, Flint noted Volkner's excitement towards the challenge and, having confidence that Lucas/Dawn could restore Volkner's battling passion, he returned to the Pokémon League.

Lucas/Dawn later battled Flint during their Elite Four challenge. He had anticipated the trainer's arrival ever since learning how impressive they were from Volkner. Lucas/Dawn surpassed his expectations by defeating him. Flint told them they were fantastic and inspiring, but then remained speechless afterwards, only able to work in saying that he had been "burned to cinders" and simply telling them to keep going.

In Platinum, he would later appear by the Battle Tower upon the player's arrival at the Battle Frontier. He dragged Volkner with him, and they challenged Lucas/Dawn and Barryl to a double battle to see if they were worthy of taking on the Battle Frontier. Flint and Volkner were defeated, and Flint was unable to speak afterwards, which led Volkner to escort "the husk" back home. Flint and Volkner would also visit the player's Villa on random days, with Flint feeling that he had a right to lounge around there due to his belief that the Villa was purchased with Lucas/Dawn's Elite Four prize money. While there, he would banter with Volkner about the Pokémon League needing more decorations and his beliefs about Fire-types being the future and superior to Electric-types.

While Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl did not include the Platinum content, Flint and Volkner could still appear together as double battle opponents at the Battle Tower.

Pokémon Roster

Flint uses the following Pokémon for the Elite Four challenge in Diamond, Pearl, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl:

• Rapidash
• Drifblim
• Steelix
• Lopunny
• Infernape

His Platinum line-up was altered to include more Fire-type Pokémon:

• Rapidash
• Houndoom
• Flareon
• Magmortar
• Infernape

Out of the above, he uses Houndoom, Flareon and Magmortar during the tag battle with Volkner in Platinum. In Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, he uses the Diamond/Pearl version of his roster when first battled and the Platinum version of his team for initial rematches. For rematches after the player completed the Stark Mountain storyline, he uses a version of his Platinum team that adds Ninetales and Arcanine while omitting Flareon.

During Battle Tower battles in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, the Pokémon he uses could include Magmortar, Infernape, Blaziken, Heat Rotom and Entei.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Flint and his Infernape appeared as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked by Chapter 12 of the PML Arc's Main Story. Flint has also sometimes partnered with Arcanine, Magmortar and Flareon when battled as an opponent. In Chapter 12 of the PML Arc, Flint had just been left without teammates for the Pokémon Masters League due to Blaine having thrown out his back, so he convinced Shauntal to battle alongside him. After they were defeated by the player, Flint was briefly left speechless, and Shauntal convinced him to join Scottie/Bettie's team, while she took a step back to observe the action. Flint also appeared in the "The Eccentric Electrician" Story Event, where Volkner took part in battles with Scottie/Bettie and Clemont in order to revitalized Flint after he was burned out. After Flint regained his energy, he helped Volkner to easily dispatch members of Team Break. It turned out that Flint had burned himself out by battling too many trainers in preparation for his battle with Volkner, and he went on to scold Volkner for the renovations that he had made to the local machines. Flint also appeared in the Solo Event "Sinnoh Elite Four Assemble", in which he gathered with the other members of Sinnoh's Elite Four once they had all arrived on Sinnoh, and Lucian confirmed that they all intended to surpass Cynthia.

Flint also appeared as an opponent in the Champion Stadium's Sinnoh Challenge, which replicated the line-up of Sinnoh's Elite Four and champion.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Flint first appeared in two subsequent episodes of the Pokémon anime concerning his friendship with Volkner. It was revealed that he and Volkner started out as rivals when they were children and eventually became friends, with Flint eventually leaving to join the Elite Four around the age of 20. As in the games, Flint tries to help Volkner regain his fighting spirit. He winds up battling Ash in Volkner's place and easily defeats him, although seeing Ash fight is still enough to inspire Volkner to accept his challenge personally. Flint later watched Ash's gym battle with Volkner in another episode. Flint reappeared later on in an episode where he wound up battling and defeating Jasmine, and he was shown planning to battle Cynthia for the title of Pokémon League Champion. Their battle was seen on a television in the last episode of the Diamond & Pearl series and ended with Cynthia's victory. Flint later reappeared in several episodes of the Pokémon Journeys series, in which he participated in the World Coronation Series and made it to the Master Class at one point. He was shown at the rank of 7, but he lost a battle against Leon which caused his rank to drop down to 8, and it was later shown that he had fallen out of the Master Class entirely. Flint later made a cameo appearance with Volkner watching a feed of Cynthia and Iris's battle during the Masters Eight Tournament.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Flint appeared during the Platinum' arc, where he was called upon by Volkner to investigate a mysterious hole at Sendoff Spring. They ended up in the Distortion Zone, where they helped in the battle against Giratina. Although the legendary Pokémon initially overwhelmed them, they were able to finish it off in the end.

Trivia

• As mentioned in-game in Platinum, a flint is something that is used to start a fire. His Japanese name is Ohba, which is named after a type of green-leaved shiso and may also be derived from the Japanese spelling of Overheat.
• He is alluded to in Black and White 2, in the form of an excerpt from one of Shauntal's unfinished novels that she recites aloud. She refers to his hair style as being potentially great with the move Head Charge.
• In Diamond and Pearl, his room at the Pokémon League is an ordinary-looking room with a fighting ring in the center, but in Platinum is is changed to have several pits of fire off to the side.
• He is notable for only having two actual Fire-type Pokémon in his team in Diamond/Pearl, one of which is a starter Pokémon's evolution, due to the lack of Fire-type Pokémon in the game. This was rectified in later remakes, which gave him rosters that were fully Fire-type, although Brilliant Diamond/Sparkling Pearl uses his original team for the first battle against him.
• In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Zisu shares some physical similarities with Flint, such as her hair and eye color, and the ends of her hair being evocative of Flint's afro. Additionally, her Japanese name is named after the genus of the plant that Flint's Japanese name is derived from. This implies that Zisu may be an ancestor of Flint and Buck. Unlike most other potential ancestor characters, Zisu does not share any Pokémon in common with Flint or Buck.