Lenora

"An Archeologist with Backbone"
Lenora
Species	Human
Hair color	Teal
Eye color	Teal
Base	Nacrene City
Relatives	Hawes (husband)
Voiced by	Unknown (2023)
Debut	Pokémon: Black/White Versions

Lenora is the Gym Leader of the Nacrene City Pokémon gym and is the second gym leader of the Unova region appearing as an opponent in the fourth generation Pokémon games, Pokémon: Black and White Versions. She specializes in Normal-type Pokémon.

Background

Lenora was known as a strong and kind Pokémon trainer who worked as an archeologist. She studied various fossils and ancient artifacts due to the innate curiosity that drove her due to her desire for truth and the need for adventure. She was originally inspired down this path by her father, who was a miner, as he would always bring home bones which would captivate her. Lenora combined both aspects of her life by becoming the director of Nacrene City's Pokémon Museum and also acted as the gym leader of the Nacrene Gym, which was attached to the back of the museum and doubled as a library. She married Hawes, who shared her interest in archeology and acted as the museum's assistant director.

Within her gym, Lenora required challengers to solve mental puzzles using slips hidden within certain books. Lenora herself resided in a room hidden beneath the gym that challengers could only unlock by completing the gym's puzzle, which would move the bookcase that blocked the path to her domain. Lenora was interested in seeing if challengers had motivation rather than just talent. In Pokémon: Black and White Versions, Lenora was defeated by Hilbert/Hilda. She gave them the Basic Badge as well as TM 67: Retaliate. However, this ceremony was cut short when Hawes warned them that Team Plasma was attacking the museum.

They raced back to the museum, where Team Plasma made the bold decision to steal the skull of a dragon-type Pokémon's fossil right in front of Lenora under the cover of a smokecreen. Lenora tried to chase them, but she quickly lost them. Lenora's friend, fellow gym leader and Nacrene native Burgh then arrived, as well as Hilbert/Hilda's friends Cheren and Bianca. Lenora split them up by sending Cheren and Bianca to watch over the museum while Hilbert/Hilda and Burgh would check the Pinwheel Forest. Lenora checked the town's other entrance, but with no sign of them, she went to the forest to see the others. She arrived just after Team Plasma had retreated and Hilbert/Hilda had retrieved the skull. Lenora's treasured skull was returned to her, and she thanked Hilbert/Hilda by giving them a Moon Stone, guessing that their Pokémon must be happy. She then returned to her gym.

A meeting of the gym leaders was later called regarding Team Plasma. They wanted to take action against Team Plasma, but due to the group being in hiding, they decided to wait for them to make a move. Lenora was later called for when the Professor Junipers (Professor Juniper and her father Cedric) realized that one of the unidentified stones in the museum was actually the Light Stone (in Black) or Dark Stone (in White) which actually contained a legendary Dragon-type Pokémon (Reshiram for the Light Stone and Zekrom for the Dark Stone). Lenora had some trouble believing this, but she willingly passed the stone on to Hilbert/Hilda, impressed that they had taken on the responsibility of taking on N for the future of the Pokémon world. Bianca later went around gathering the gym leaders when N's Castle rose at the Pokémon League. Lenora was among the gym leaders who showed up to challenge six of Team Plasma's Seven Sages so that Hilbert/Hilda could go on in search of N.

At her gym afterwards, she was glad that Hilbert/Hilda was still raising their Pokémon with care and passed on a message from Clay about Pokémon fossils in Twist Mountain. Lenora would later visit Cynthia at a villa in Undella Town during the summer. As Cynthia also worked in archeology, they have had many academic conversations in the course of their research. She also mentioned that Bianca had come to ask her about Pokémon.

Black 2/White 2

Two years later in Black and White 2, Lenora had stepped down from being a gym leader, with Cheren replacing her as holder of the Basic Badge while based in a gym in Aspertia City. Lenora remained in Nacrene City and focused on running the museum. When visited by Nate/Rosa, she allowed the trainer to have their choice of a Cover Fossil or a Plume Fossil. She also participated in the Pokémon World Tournament, taking part in the Unova Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

A Memory Link flashback could also be unlocked featuring her. In it, Burgh and Clay both visited her at the museum. Burgh came in search of inspiration for his art, while Clay came to deliver a fossil and have it appraised. They ended up discussing what fossils meant to them.

Pokémon Roster

When battling her in Black and White, Lenora uses Herdier and Watchog.

For tournament fights in Black 2 and White 2, her roster could include Watchog, Kangaskhan and Sawsbuck as well as either Audino, Clefable and Dunsparce in the Unova Leaders Tournament or Braviary, Cinccino and Lickilicky in the World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Lenora and Watchog appeared as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature after being added to the game in October 2023. She was featured in the Story Event "The Haunted Museum", in which Lear had enlisted her and Roxanne to maintain exhibits in his museum. The two of them sought the help of Phoebe in seeking the mystery behind an apparent haunting in the museum, which turned out to be connected to a pair of ghost Pokémon.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Lenora was featured in three subsequent episodes of the Pokémon anime series. In the first episode, Ash's group visited the museum, and Lenora helped to save Cilan after he was possessed by a Yamask and eventually set it free. Ash then battled her over the course of the next two episodes, with Ash losing the first time but winning the second round.
• She appeared in the Black/White arc of the Pokémon Adventures manga. She was challenged and defeated by Black as the took on the Pokémon gyms and was later involved in the plot to protect the Dark Stone. She and the other gym leaders were defeated and captured by Team Plasma, but they were later freed and then helped to take the organization down.
• In the Pokémon Generations anime, which was based directly on scenarios from the games, one episode was about Lenora and the other gym leaders' battle against Team Plasma at N's Castle from the climax of Black and White.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is Aloe, named after the plant genus. Her English name may be intended to sound somewhat like "aloe" and/or "normal".
• Lenora was initially depicted wearing a pink apron, which caused controversy due to making her resemble the racial stereotype known as "Mammy". Her original official artwork was replaced with a new image in which she her apron was instead slung over her back like a cape, although her sprite remained the same within Black/White and its sequels. She was depicted without the apron in Pokémon Masters EX.