Matt

Matt
Species	Human
Affiliation	Team Aqua
Hair color	Brown (Gen III) Black (Gen VI)
Debut	Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire Versions

Matt is one of the Admins of Team Aqua who is featured as a recurring opponent in Pokémon: Sapphire and Emerald Versions, as well as the remake Alpha Sapphire.

Background

Matt was one of the Admins of Team Aqua who loyally followed Archie, along with Shelly. He was dedicated to Archie's dream of expanding the world's oceans by reviving the Legendary Pokémon Kyogre. His phyiscal appearance differed between the versions. In the original third generation games, he was depicted as a pale-skinned man wearing a bandana over brownish-colored hair and an open blue jacket over his bare chest. For the remakes, he was made into a dark-skinned man who was larger and much more muscular. He was depicted with facial hair and Team Aqua's logo tattooed onto his chest. He wore no shirt whatsoever, and his suit appeared to be a wetsuit that was lacking its top half, as he still wore part of it as his gloves.

Sapphire/Emerald

In Sapphire, Matt originally appeared at Meteor Falls, where he stole Professor Cozmo's Meteorite and retreated as Brendan/May and Team Magma arrived. He brought the Meteorite to Mt. Chimney and delivered it to Archie. Brendan/May eventually came along looking to retrieve the Meteorite and came across Matt, whom they battled and defeated. He took his loss in stride, as he doubted that Archie could ever be defeated. Afterwards, he stayed at the Aqua Hideout while Archie went ahead to the Seafloor Cavern. There, Brendan/May eventually confronted and battled him. Matt claimed to be "a cut above" the grunts they had defeated, but he too lost. Regardless, he taunted them with the information that Archie had gotten away and that it would be hard to find him in the ocean.

In Emerald, Matt's appearance at Aqua Hideout was his only appearance in the game.

Alpha Sapphire

In Alpha Sapphire Matt had a more boisterous personality. He had a love for battle and expressed love for any strong opponent he met. This included Archie, who he referred to as his 'bro'. The origin of his loyalty was that Archie had saved his life at some point in the past. So Matt was devoted to Project AZOTH, regardless of the toll that it would take on the planet.

He was initially mentioned when Zinnia reported to him while carrying out an investigation in the Petalburg Woods. He made his first physical appearance at Southern Island, where he was trying to steal Latias and its Latisite for Team Aqua's use, but Brendan/May stood up to him and defeated him in battle. He was impressed by the trainer's strength and declared he would love them like he did Archie. He looked forward to possibly beating them in battle someday. Matt later contacted Archie (following the battle at Mt. Chimney) to inform him about the Blue Orb's location at Mt. Pyre. Once there, he battled Brendan/May again to hold them off while Archie escaped with the Blue Orb. Afterwards, Matt was left at the Aqua Hideout while Archie and Shelly went ahead to awaken Kyogre with the Submarine Explorer 1. Matt fired himself up for his next battle with Brendan/May, which he lost. He thanked them by giving them an idea of where Archie was heading and what his plan would do the world.

Afterwards, Matt reappeared in the postgame storyline known as the Delta Episode. He was in denial about Archie having changed and sought revenge for the failure of his plan. He initially went to Petalburg City and sought to steal Wally's Key Stone, but he was defeated by Brendan/May again and discovered that Wally's stone had already been stolen by someone else. After getting his own Key Stone from Meteor Falls, Matt led an attack on the Mossdeep Space Center and sought a new way to set off Project AZOTH: by using the power of Mega Evolution to set off all of the Infinity Energy stored within a rocket there (for the purpose of attacking an incoming meteor). This plan never came to fruition, as Matt was defeated by Brendan/May one more time, and his Key Stone was then stolen by Zinnia.

In the aftermath of the Delta Episode, he returned to Archie and apologized. In turn, Archie apologize for failing him as a leader and helped him to understand that Team Aqua had to change, take a step into the unknown and cooperate with people different from them. Matt ultimately accepted this and came to see it as a way for Team Aqua to power up even more. When visited afterwards, he would express the overwhelming gratitude that he felt to Brendan/May for their help.

Omega Ruby

In Omega Ruby, he made an appearance with Shelly and Archie in the postgame when visiting the Battle Zone for the first time. At Archie's request, he passed along his Sharpedonite as a gift and felt that the trainer would make for a great opponent for him and his bro.

Pokémon Roster

Matt's Pokémon line-up is different in each version he appears in:

• In Ruby, he uses two Carvanha and Poochyena the first time he's fought. For the second battle, the Poochyena and one Carvanha have evolved into a Mightyena and Sharpedo, respectively, alongside the remaining Carvanha.
• In Emerald, he uses Mightyena and Golbat the only time he is fought.
• In Alpha Sapphire, he uses only Sharpedo every time he is battled. For the last battle during the Delta Episode, it can Mega Evolve.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, the original version of Matt appeared during the Ruby/Sapphire arc. He, Shelly and the manga-original character Amber started off as grunts before being promoted with the special title of SSS: Subleaders of the Sea Scheme. He tried to take Flannery and Sapphire captive when Team Aqua attacked Mt. Chimney, but he was defeated by Sapphire. Archie later cast him away from the Seafloor Cavern expedition for his failure, but he still fought (and lost) against Winona during the arc's final battles. He was left struggling in the water when Shelly left him to save himself. In the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire arc, a new Matt appeared based on Matt's design from the remakes and acted as an Admin of Neo Team Aqua, with the retcon that "Matt" was a codename given to the team's Admins.
• In Pokémon Generations, Matt appeared in an episode based on Alpha Sapphire. He was shown reporting the destruction that was being caused by Kyogre's Primal Reversion.

Trivia

• His English name may have been chosen to sound similar to 'mast', a part of a ship. His Japanese name is Ushio, which is the Japanese word for 'tide'.
• Within the original third generation games, Tabitha acted as the Team Magma parallel for his role in Ruby and also took some of his appearances (at Meteor Falls and Mt. Chimney) in Emerald, while Courtney's role paralleled his in Omega Ruby.
• In Ruby, he only makes a cameo appearance with members of Team Aqua.