Kofu

"The Surging Chef"
Kofu
Species	Human
Hair color	White/Blue
Eye color	Black
Base	Cascarrafa Gym
Debut	Pokémon Scarlet/Violet

Kofu was one of the Gym Leaders of the Paldea region who was featured as an opponent in the ninth generation games of the Pokémon series, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. He specializes in Water-type Pokémon.

Background

Kofu was a bombastic and friendly man, though he was known to have a childlike side, including a tendency to rush around and forget things. He also had a tendency to shout out "Vaultin' Veluza!" as a catch-all exclamation for both positive and negative situations, as well as making various references to the sea and fishing. While his head was bald, he sported eyebrows and a beard that were a mix of white and blue. Kofu acted as the gym leader of Cascarrafa and owned a restaurant in the same town, which was known as the Kofu Lounge. He often traveled to Porto Marinada to take part in the auctions there, usually to obtain valuable ingredients to use at his restaurant. Katy, a fellow gym leader and baker, considered him to be her culinary teacher, and he advised her to put more of herself into her baking. As a gym leader, his Gym Test was considered to be difficult, but his standard Gym Test was not shown in the game, as he spontaneously used a different one during the games.

In Scarlet/Violet, Florian/Juliana arrived at Kofu's gym just as he was rushing out on a trip to Porto Marinada. In his trip, he was accompanied by an apprentice of his, a Gym Trainer named Hugo. Neither realized that in Kofu's hurry, he had left behind his wallet. One of his staffers entrusted Florian/Juliana with Kofu's wallet and told them to bring it to him as their Gym Test. Along the way to Porto Marinada, Kofu briefly stopped at the town's outskirts to admire flowers before rushing into town. It wasn't until Kofu reached the marketplace that he realized that his wallet was missing. Florian/Juliana stepped up to deliver the wallet, but Hugo cut them off and refused to hear them out, thinking that they were just wasting their time. After Hugo was beaten, Kofu stepped up to talk to the young trainer and finally realized that they had his wallet. With his wallet, Kofu was ready to bid for the item that had brought him to the marketplace: the legendary wakame seaweed of the Hoenn region. Kofu decided to have Julian/Floriana bid for them on the seaweed in order to determine if they had the smarts to take him on in a Gym Battle, essentially acting as their Gym Test. He gave them 50,000 Pokémon Dollars for use in the auction. Julian/Floriana successfully won the seaweed for Kofu, he let them keep whatever money they had left and then returned to Cascarrafa to prepare for the gym battle.

Julian/Floriana proceeded to defeat Kofu in the gym battle. He congratulated them enthusiastically for their win, remarking that he had been reduced to a flopping Magikarp. He gave them his Gym Badge and TM022: Chilling Water. He also took a picture with the trainer in a pose he always wanted to do: one in which he stood far enough in the background that, due to the perspective, it looked like he was tiny and standing on Julian/Floriana's hand, and struggling to stay balanced. With that taken care of, Kofu rushed back to the Kofu Lounge to prepare for the next wave. Kofu could be battled again in the post-game, when Geeta tasked the newly champion-ranked Florian/Juliana with carrying out evaluations of all the Gym Leaders in her place. Kofu was ready for the evaluation, as he said that his restaurant job prepared him for dealing with harsh reviewers. He also revealed that all of his dishes made with the legendary seaweed were hits. Before the rematch, Kofu mused on the different natures of people, between those who went full speed like a raging river and those who settled down like a calm lake. While many older people preferred the latter, Kofu found that to be dull and preferred to be ever-changing like water, referring to himself as Kofu the Torrent. After being defeated again, Kofu accepted it graciously and felt energized by Florian/Juliana's youthful energy. He told them to tell Geeta that he was flowing and crashing more than ever, and he invited them to return sometime.

Pokémon Roster

• Veluza
• Wugtrio
• Pelipper: Rematch only.
• Clawitzer: Rematch only.
• Crabominable: He Terastallizes this Pokémon into a Water Tera Type.

Trivia

• His Japanese name is Haidai, named after a Chinese word for kelp. His English name of Kofu may be based on kombu, the Japanese name for the same kelp.
• While the gym leaders of Scarlet/Violet can be fought in any order, Kofu's team is the fourth in terms of his team's levels and the implied order for taking on the gyms.
• His wallet sports the image of a Venonat.