Grimsley

Grimsley as seen in Black and White
Grimsley
Species	Human
Affiliation	Elite Four (Unova)
Hair color	Blue
Eye color	Blue
Voiced by	Greg Chun (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Black/White Versions

Grimsley is a member of the Elite Four of Unova who appears as an opponent in Pokémon: Black and White Versions and their sequels, as well as appearing in the seventh generation games. He specializes in Dark-type Pokémon.

Background

Grimsley was a member of the Elite Four who secluded himself in a chamber that had a spiraling conveyor belt lamp leading up to the area where he awaited challengers. He himself was adorned in dark, vampire-esque attire. He apparently hailed from a family that had fallen into disgrace, and he turned to gambling to make ends meet. Grimsley did not pay much mind to losing to other challengers, as he believed that a true warrior focused on pondering the next battle. He considered life to be a serious battle in which one had to use the tools they were given, and he believed that it was better for one to master what they had rather than complaining about what their opponents had. Grimsley also pondered the ambiguous distinction between good and bad ways to win. He considered Pokémon battles to be proof that one is really living.

In Pokémon: Black and White Versions, he was challenged and defeated by N and later Hilbert/Hilda, which led him to briefly remark about the trainers coming one after another. When he was beaten by Hilbert/Hilda, he told them that their Pokémon were shining brilliantly in the glow of victory and then apathetically resigned himself to being the guy who lost. He could later be challenged to rematches. Two years later, he was still part of the Elite Four in Black and White 2, and this time he was challenged and defeated by Nate/Rosa. While his room had a similar refined aesthetic, it was now changed into a platform suspended in midair by chains.

Grimsley also appeared in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. He was no longer a member of Unova's Elite Four and instead traveled to the Alola Islands, where he took a liking to Mantine Surfing and became one of the highest-scoring competitors in the sport. The player could meet him at Route 15 on Ula'ula Island, where he would add Sharpedo to Elio/Selene's Ride Pager after they won a coin toss, and he imparted some advice about riding Sharpedo. At one point in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, he mentioned that he had lost everything at one point and initially wandered Alola's shores in despair, before he found solace in what he saw as his new role: riding the waves with Mantine and Sharpedo and teaching others what it means to ride. Grimsley also took part in battles at the Battle Tree, where the Elio/Selene had a chance of battling him.

Pokémon Roster

In Black and White, he uses the following Pokémon for gym battles:

• Scrafty
• Krookodile
• Liepard
• Bisharp
• Sharpedo (rematches only)
• Drapion (rematches only)

In Black 2 and White 2, his roster is similar, except that Sharpedo and Drapion are replaced with Honchcrow and Houndoom. In Challenge Mode, he also uses an Absol in the first battle only, and for rematches the Liepard is replaced by Tyranitar.

In Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, the potential pool of Pokémon that he can use for fights at the Battle Tree include Houndoom, Tyranitar, Sharpedo, Absol, Honchcrow, Drapion, Liepard, Scrafty and Bisharp.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Grimsley (depicted with his original design from the fifth generation games) and his Liepard appeared as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature. Two variations were later made available through the Sync Pair Scout: a Sygna Suit variant paired with Sharpedo that was first available in October 2020 and a Kimono variant (wearing his kimono from the seventh generation games) paired with Bisharp that was first available in November 2021. When fought as an opponent, he has also sometimes synced with different Pokémon such as Tyranitar and Clefairy.

Within the PML Arc of the game's Main Story, Grimsley was initially featured as an opponent in Chapter 15, in which he and Nanu had formed a team for the Pokémon Masters League tournament. After they were defeated by the player within the chapter, their team came to an end when Nanu decided to join the player's team. Grimsley liked to analyzed Nanu's motives, due to the man's obfuscating nature, and he guessed that he joined Scottie/Bettie's team in order to protect them from Team Break. Nanu also invited Grimsley to visit him at Alola and have some Sushi High Roller together, alluding to Grimsley's appearance in Sun and Moon. Sygna Suit Grimsley then was featured as an opponent in Chapter 25. It was shown that after his new teammates left him, Grimsley joined Will and Karen's team. He started fighting with Sharpedo instead, which inspired a designer to make him a Sygna Suit matching the Pokémon. During fourth battle of the tournament's finals, their team was defeated by Scottie/Bettie's team, and Grimsley had a brief reunion with Nanu. He endeavored to keep on fighting in the PML afterwards, and so he put off his trip to Alola some more. Grimsley has also made appearances in some of the game's story events. In the Costume Event "Poké War Games", he showed up in his kimono and helped Jasmine to learn how to move around in a kimono. He was featured in the Solo Event "It's All Good", in which he made a bet that he ultimately won about improving the mood of a trio of unnamed trainers. He also appeared in the "Metronome Day" Special Event, where he liked the idea of Metronome Day due to the random nature of Metronome move making every move into a gamble. Grimsley would also appear as an opponent during an Unova Challenge in the game's Champion Stadium mode, which replicated the Elite Four line-up from the fifth generation.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, he appeared during the Black/White arc. He initially appeared at Route 4 in disguise and played games with the workers and Black, though he eventually revealed his true self when catching an undercover Team Plasma member. He offered to battle Black only if he bet something precious, which caused Black to faint at the idea of losing his badges. Grimsley later joined the other Elite Four members in observing the Pokémon League championship and helped in the ensuing fight with Team Plasma, taking on a mysterious hooded man by himself until the enemy escaped.

Trivia

• His name is a play on "grim", which reflects his affinity for Dark-types. It may also be referencing the word "sly". His Japanese name is Giima, named after the Japanese name for a type of shrub and also referencing Japanese words for a "devil" and "the Boogeyman".
• According to his character designer, his design was based on Count Dracula, and his red-and-blue colors also are a reference to the colors on roulette wheels.
• He is the only member of the fifth generation's Elite Four (including the champion) who never appears outside of his room in Black and White as well as their sequels.
• In the seventh generation games, he refers to himself as Uncle Grimsley when talking to Sun/Moon, and he participates in Mantine Surfing under the name Big G.