Falkner

The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon
Falkner
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Johto)
Hair color	Blue
Eye color	Black (G/S/C) Blue (HG/SS)
Base	Violet City
Relatives	Father
Voiced by	Howard Wang (2021)
Debut	Pokémon: Gold/Silver Versions

Falkner is a Pokémon trainer who appears as the first gym leader to be faced in Pokémon: Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions. He specializes in Flying-type Pokémon.

Background

Falkner was the gym leader of the Violet City Pokémon gym. He inherited the gym and his Flying-type Pokémon from his father, who left to travel on the road. He was sensitive about the bird Pokémon he raised and did not like insults involving how easily they could be defeated by electric attacks, so he strove to prove their worth. The Violet Gym had a plain design in the original games, but in HeartGold/SoulSilver, Falkner and his trainers were instead located in the roof's rafters, which also contained transparent walkways.

In Gold, Silver and Crystal (as well as HeartGold and SoulSilver), he was eventually challenged and defeated by Ethan/Lyra. Upon his defeat, he surrendered the Zephyrbadge as well as TM31: Mud-Slap (or TM 51: Roost in HeartGold and SoulSilver). He vowed to continue training to become the greatest bird master. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he would appear on the fourth floor of Celadon City's department store on Mondays, where he would argue with Janine about which of their fathers was the better trainer. If Ethan/Lyra agreed with him that his father was better than Koga, he would exchange numbers with them in order to talk more about his dad. He also appeared there alone on Wednesdays, at which point a picture could be taken with him. Calling him on Saturday mornings (between the hours of 4AM and 10AM) would cause him to appear at the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City, where he could be challenged to a rematch. He also took part in competitions at the Pokéthlon, being one of the competitors in the Supreme Cup of the Jump Course.

Falkner reappeared in Black and White 2 as one of the competitors in the World Pokémon Tournament held at Unova. He took part in the Johto Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments, as well as the special download tournament "The Battle Between Legendary Pokémon".

Pokémon Roster

In the original games his only Pokémon are a Pidgey and a Pidgeotto.

For the rematches in HeartGold and SoulSilver, he has the following roster:

• Staraptor
• Noctowl
• Swellow
• Honchkrow
• Pelipper
• Pidgeot

Falker uses Swellow, Pidgeot and Staraptor for Pokéthlon competitions.

In Black 2 and White 2, his roster for tournament fights can include Pidgeot, Honchcrow and Xatu, as well as Fearow, Dodrio and Noctowl in the Johto Leaders Tournament, or Crobat, Aerodactyl and Swellow in the World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments. In "The Battle Between Legendary Pokémon", he has Lugia as well as Pidgeot and Noctowl.

In Other Pokémon Games

Falkner appeared as the first opponent in the Gym Leader's Castle of Pokémon Stadium 2. In this game, his line-up consisted of a Pidgeot, Farfetch'd, Noctowl, Delibird, Fearow and Togetic in R1, or a Charizard, Pidgeot, Dodrio, Zapdos, Gligar and Skarmory in R2. He also appeared in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge as the first opponent, in which he used a Pidgey.

In Pokémon Masters EX, Falkner and his Swellow were made available 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 August 2021.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• He appeared in one episode of the Pokémon anime, which depicted Ash Ketchum's battle with him. He was shown as yearning to be as close to bird Pokémon as he could, to the point of riding around on a glider. His roster shown was a Hoothoot, Dodrio and Pidgeot.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Falker initially made several appearances throughout the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc. He was initially shown to be a police officer who was unfamiliar with Pokémon, but he began training with them to succeed his missing father as Violet City's gym leader. Gold was able to give him helpful advice when they met, and later chapters showed him to have passed the test to become a gym leader. During the competition between Kanto and Johto gym leaders, Falkner was paired against Janine, who was similarly a new gym leader seeking a missing father, and Falkner won by default after Janine retreated due to spotting her father among the audience. His own father, named Walker, also eventually appeared. Falkner reappeared during the HeartGold/SoulSilver chapter, where he, Bugsy and Chuck end up battling Silver after a misunderstanding.

Trivia

• Falkner's name can mean "falconer", as in a trainer of falcons. His Japanese name is Hayato, which means "peregrine falcon man".
• When fighting him in Black 2/White 2, he says that he hopes that his father is watching from above, implying that he has died.