Palmer

Palmer as seen in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Versions
Palmer
Species	Human
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Orange
Base	Twinleaf Town
Relatives	Wife Pearl (son)
Debut	Pokémon: Diamond Version/Pokemon: Pearl Version

Palmer is a Pokémon trainer who appears as the Tower Tycoon in charge of the Battle Tower in Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Versions, as well as Pokémon: HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions. In Platinum, he is also one of the five Frontier Brains for Sinnoh's Battle Frontier, and he similarly is a Frontier Brain for Kanto/Johto's Battle Frontier in HeartGold/SoulSilver. Additionally, he is the father of the games' rival character.

Background

In his youth, Palmer was best friends with the father of Lucas/Dawn. Palmer's recollection was hazy but it is known that they were involved in a wild Pokémon attack at a lake, fending the Pokémon off with methods that Palmer does not recall, and he also remembers a professor being involved. Palmer recalled the incident as his first step as a Pokémon trainer (the incident likely intentionally being described to resemble Lucas/Dawn and Pearl's first battles earlier in the games). Like his son would eventually be, Palmer was an exuberant man who was always in a rush and had a strong competitive spirit. He believed that the best trainers showed respect to one another by battling as dedicated students of Pokémon.

Palmer eventually formed a family at Twinleaf Town with a wife and a son who quickly took after him, although Palmer spent most of his time at the Battle Tower within Sinnoh's Battle Zone. In Platinum, he conducted his duties as a Frontier Brain. In Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, Palmer is first seen accidentally bumping into Lucas/Dawn while running to the tower when the player sees it for the first time, although Palmer does not initially recognize them.

Within the Battle Tower, Palmer could be battled after 21 and then 49 consecutive battles. During the first challenge he recognized Lucas/Dawn as his son's friend and was impressed at how they had grown, and then requested they show him the bond they built with their Pokémon and the skill that they had built as a trainer. After being defeated, he encouraged Lucas/Dawn to keep training and becoming stronger like their father did, and told them how much he looked forward to the day that Pearl would emerge to challenge him. In Platinum, he also awarded them with a silver print. After being defeated a second time, he felt inspired and recalled memories of the trainer's father from their youth (giving them a gold print as well in Platinum). He then further encourages Lucas/Dawn in becoming stronger, telling them that they had no limits.

In HeartGold/SoulSilver, he ran the same Battle Tower operation for Johto's Battle Frontier. The primary difference, of course, was that Palmer's dialogue was different to acknowledge that Gold was a different character who did not know Pearl.

Pokémon Roster

During the first challenge, he uses the following three Pokémon in all three versions:

• Dragonite
• Milotic
• Rhyperior

During the second challenge, he uses the following three Pokémon in all three versions:

• Heatran
• Regigigas
• Cresselia

Other Appearances

• In the Pokémon anime, Palmer was first seen in a cameo appearance fighting Cynthia in the intro to the twelfth movie. Within the series he first showed up in two subsequent episodes where he was revealed as the father of Barry (Pearl's anime counterpart) and held a tournament at the Twinleaf Festival. Ash won the tournament, but lost to Palmer. although Palmer still gave him a trophy for winning the tournament.
• Palmer has been mentioned but not yet appeared in the Diamond/Pearl arc of Pokémon Adventures, being set to have left Twinleaf Town at some point after imparting some of his skills to Pearl, with his current location being unknown.

Trivia

• Uniquely, Palmer is the only Frontier Brain so far who has appeared outside of and prior to the version featuring the Battle Frontier. In a way, his Battle Tower challenge in Diamond/Pearl could be considered a preview for the Battle Frontier in Platinum.