Pryce

The Teacher of Winter's Harshness
Pryce
Species	Human
Hair color	White
Eye color	Brown
Base	Mahogany Town
Voiced by	Kyle Hebert (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Gold/Silver Versions

Pryce is the seventh gym leader of the Johto region to appearing as an opponent in Pokémon: Gold Version, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions. His specialty is Ice-type Pokémon.

Background

Pryce was a veteran Pokémon trainer who served as the gym leader of the Mahogany Town gym. He had trained Pokémon for about fifty years as of time that the games take place in. He was very in touch with Pokémon, saying that he had seen and suffered much in his lifetime, and that Pokémon similarly have many experiences in their own lifetimes. He also was known to make metaphorical comparisons to winter and the cold in general, going as far as to call himself the Winter Trainer. The secret to his strength was apparently daily meditation under a waterfall to strengthen both his mind and body (although HeartGold/SoulSilver retconned this into training on cold ice).

In Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver, he was challenged and defeated by Ethan/Lyra. Pryce assured the trainer that their strong will would allow them to overcome all of life's obstacles, and he awarded them with the Glacierbadge as well as TM16: Icy Wind (or TM 07: Hail in HeartGold/SoulSilver). He also told Ethan/Lyra that they and their Pokémon would be together for many years, so they should cherish their time together. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he would later appear by the Lake of Rage on Saturday mornings, where he would exchange Pokégear numbers with the player. Calling him on Monday mornings (between the hours of 4AM and 10AM) would cause him to travel to Saffron City's Fighting Dojo for a rematch.

Pryce returned in Black and White 2 as one of the competitors in the Pokémon World Tournament held in Unova. He took part in the Johto Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

Pokémon Roster

In Gold, Silver and Crystal as well as HeartGold and SoulSilver, he has the following Pokémon:

• Seel
• Dewgong
• Piloswine

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he uses the following Pokémon for rematches:

• Abomasnow
• Dewgong
• Glalie
• Froslass
• Walrein
• Mamoswine

In Black 2 and White 2, his tournament line-up could include Mamoswine, Jynx, Dewgong, Cloyster, Lapras and Weavile.

In Other Pokémon Games

Pryce appeared in Pokémon Stadium 2 as the seventh opponent in the Gym Leader Castle. His roster consisted of a Piloswine, Dewgong, Cloyster, Ursaring, Donphan and Jynx in the R1 battles, and Tentacruel, Articuno, Quagsire, Girafarig, Piloswine and Hitmontop in R2. In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, he was the seventh opponent and used a Seel in battle.

In Pokémon Masters EX, Pryce and his Seel appeared as a potentially playable sync pair that could be recruited through the main story. His Seel could evolve into a Dewgoing through a Sync Pair Story in which he had to win a one-on-one battle against Wulfric and his Avalugg. During the Main Story's PML Arc, Pryce had become one of the Pokémon Masters League Leaders and guarded the Harmony Badge. He was featured in the arc's eighth chapter, where the player's team found him at a glacier. Pryce had to be battled twice, as during the first battle, he was apparently holding back due to Barry and Flannery arguing and being out of sync (regardless of whether or not the player was using either of those characters for the battles). Once he was defeated after the two had made up, Pryce gave up the Harmony Badge and decided to join the player's team so that he could learn from the younger generation. Pryce also made an appearance during the Johto chapter of the Villain Arc, in which it was shown that Silver was training with him, and he encouraged Silver to work with the others.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Pryce appeared in three subsequent episodes of the Pokémon anime, which gave him a tragic past. It was shown that he was a champion trainer in his youth, until he was badly burned in battle, after which his Piloswine left while he was bedridden and never returned. Feeling abandoned, he became cold-hearted and bitter, believing that Pokémon were only good for battling. Although Pryce defeated Ash in their first battle, his disposition softened after they found his Piloswine frozen in ice, where it had been looking for medicine for Pryce all along, and revived it. Pryce proceeded to forfeit his next match with Ash.
• Within the Pokémon Adventures manga, Pryce was depicted as the main villain of the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc. He was wheelchair-bound and possessed powers over ice (and some over time itself) which he used to pose as the Mask of Ice and become the new leader of Team Rocket in Giovanni's absence. It was eventually revealed that years ago, he was friends with Professor Oak, Agatha, Kurt and the couple who ran the Pokémon daycare center until an incident resulting in the loss of his two favorite Lapras. This caused him to become sullen and withdraw from his friends into isolation. As the Mask of Ice, he captured and brainwashed children to becoming his loyal servants, such as Green and Silver (who escaped), and Will and Karen (who joined him willingly). His ultimate goal was to create a GS Ball with the feathers from Ho-Oh and Lugia for use of capturing Celebi for use in traveling back in time to save his Pokémon. Battling Gold and the other trainers in the meantime, his identity was not revealed until the final chapters of the arc, when he succeeded in capturing Celebi and began traveling back in time. However, Gold was able to follow him and destroy the GS Ball, which freed Celebi and left Pryce trapped within the time vortex with seemingly no way to escape. At the same time he heard a song that Oak and the others had written for him a long time ago, and the song finally achieved its intended purpose of warming Pryce's heart. Pryce later returned in the HeartGold/SoulSilver arc, where it was shown that while he was trapped in the time vortex, he witnessed the creation of the world and its possible end. After being freed by Celebi, he teamed up with Lance and Giovanni to fight against the legendary Pokémon serving Arceus. Pryce battled Dialga, and after the battled was concluded, Pryce returned to his gym, and Silver forgave him.

Trivia

• His English name seems to be a play on 'ice'. His Japanese name is Yanagi, named after the Japanese word for 'willow'.
• In HeartGold/SoulSilver, he claims during battle that his middle name is Willow, and that like the willow tree, he is flexible and not easily broken. It is unsure whether or not this was intended to be taken literally, although it does match his Japanese name.
• His preferred training method was changed in HeartGold/SoulSilver. This may have to avoid repetition with Chuck, whose training method in the same remakes was changed to meditating under a waterfall.