Gordie

Gordie
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Galar)
Hair color	Blonde/White
Eye color	Blue
Base	Circhester
Relatives	Melony (mother)
Voiced by	David Matranga (2022)
Debut	Pokémon Sword/Shield

Gordie is the sixth Gym Leader in the major division of Galar's Pokémon League who appears as an opponent in Pokémon Sword. He appears exclusively in Sword, with his mother Melony being the Gym Leader instead in Shield. He is the sixth Gym Leader of the game and specializes in Rock-type Pokémon.

Background

The son of Gym Leader Melony, Gordie was a prodigious Pokémon Trainer in his own right. Many considered that he would one day become the champion, and he had a big fan base that he tried hard to please. Gordie often hosted events where he signed autographs for his many fans, and in turn, they published three photo albums of Gordie. On the battlefield, he was known for being tough and unrelenting, but with a refined and graceful battle style. Gordie was also known to shut himself in his locker rooms after being defeated and rarely gave post-defeat interviews, but most of his fans saw this as endearing.

Shield

Within Melony's League Card description in Shield, it was said that Melony and Gordie once had a conflict between each other. Melony wanted Gordie to take over as Circhester's new Gym Leader, but Gordie wanted to focus on training his Rock-type Pokémon. This led to a battle that divided the entire town. After that fight, they rarely saw each other. It is unknown if any of those events happened in the Sword version of continuity, or if they were exclusive to the Shield version.

In Shield, Melony continued on as Gym Leader of Circhester. While Gordie's exact whereabouts were unknown, Melony imagined that he would probably challenge Victor/Gloria after they became champion.

Sword

In Sword, Gordie was acting as the Gym Leader of Circhester. Like Melony, he was placed as the sixth Gym Leader in the gym challenge, with only Piers and Raihan being considered to be stronger than him. His gym's gym challenge was similar to his mother's, except that his took place on a rocky field instead of a snowy one.

Within Sword, he was first seen with most of the other gym leaders attending the opening ceremony of the gym challenge at Motostoke Stadium. After the ceremony, Gordie returned to his gym. There, he defeated Hop and was then defeated by Victor/Gloria. He had wanted to put on a good battle for his fans, but he accepted his defeat gracefully and gave them the Rock Badge. Afterwards, he and most of the other gym leaders went to Wyndon Stadium and took part in the tournament that made up the Finals of the Pokémon League's Championship Cup. Gordie faced off against Bea in the first round and was defeated by her (despite her being placed two spots below him in the gym challenge).

Later on, an incident occurred in which forcibly Dynamaxed Wild Pokémon were appearing in Galar's stadiums. Gordie evacuated Circhester Stadium, and he was able to subdue the wild Pokémon with help from Victor/Gloria, Hop and Piers. Gordie proceeded to look after the injured Pokémon and thanked Victor/Gloria by giving them his rare League Card. Gordie could later appear and possibly be rematched in tournaments held by the player at Wyndon Stadium (either by invitation or at random). He could also be seen visiting the Isle of Armor and could appear as a competitor in the Galarian Star Tournament. In the Star Tournament, he could possibly team up with Nessa, Bea, Raihan or Klara, and he could be unlocked as a possible teammate for the player by winning the Star Tournament four times.

Pokémon Roster

• Barabarackle
• Shuckle
• Stonjourner
• Coalossal (Gigantamax)
• Tyranitar (tournament only)

In matches for the Star Tournament, Gordie used only Shuckle, Tyranitar and Coalossal.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Gordie and his Coalossal appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature after being added to the game in October 2022. As in Sword/Shield, his Coalossal could Gigantamax in battle. He and Melony appeared together in this game, with both being referred to as Gym Leaders. His Sync Pair Story acknowledges the backstory mentioned from Shield, in which he left home because he did not like Melony pushing her style on him. It was also revealed that he initially picked up Rock-type Pokémon in order to battle his mother, but he came to be genuinely fascinated by them and sought to challenge the image of Rock-type Pokémon as being boorish.

Gordie was featured in the Solo Event "Severely Strained Relations", where he and Raihan took part in a battle against Victor and Gloria, only for Melony and Nessa to show up wanting to join. Gordie and Raihan both feared Melony due to how harsh she could be, and they urgently asked Victor to team up with them. Melony subsequently recruited Gloria, and the two teams prepared for a battle. During the Neo Champion event "Fight for the Future", he formed a team with Raihan and Piers for the Neo Champion Stadium competition, but they were defeated by Leon's team. Gordie was also featured in the "Special Day with the Guys" Solo Event, in which he and Raihan schemed to take a picture with the elusive Red for their fans and succeeded after drawing him out by hosting a series of battles. He was seen in the Story Event "Galar's Poké Ball Enthusiast", in which Ball Guy tried battling him, Brock and Roark at one point, and Gordie thought he recognized Ball Guy in the aftermath. During the Galar chapter of the Main Story's Villain Arc, Gordie battled Piers as part of Leon's counter-campaign to draw attention from Rose's campaign on Pasio.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Within the Pokémon: Twilight Wings series, Gordie made a very brief appearance in the fifth episode, where he and his mother were seen taking part in a Pokémon battle using their respective Gigantamax Pokémon. He later made a brief speaking appearance during the final episode, as part of a montage of video testimonies by the Gym Leaders about Leon. Gordie talked about Leon's strength while eating food at a restaurant. In the bonus episode, he was shown receiving his invitation to the Galarian Star Tournament in his hotel room, and he was later seen with other trainers marching out for the tournament's opening ceremony.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Gordie appeared as a supporting character in the Sword/Shield arc. In this version of continuity, Gordie and Melony both acted as alternating Gym Leaders at Circhester.

Trivia

• His name is a simple play on "gourd". His Japanese name is Makuwa, in reference to a type of muskmelon that is commonly known as the oriental melon.
• His League Number is 188. When read in Japanese, it evokes the sound of a word meaning "rock wall".
• Although Melony is not alluded to at all within Sword, Gordie is mentioned within Shield and is seen with Melony in the picture used for her rare League Card.
• His Pokémon are kept in Ultra Balls.
• According to Melony's concept art, Gordie has four siblings: a level-headed sister and three kid brothers.