Ethan

Ethan as seen in Pokémon: HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions
Ethan
Species	Human
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Black
Height	4'11"
Weight	88.2 lbs.
Base	New Bark Town
Relatives	Mother (as protagonist) Daycare Couple (as NPC - grandparents)
Voiced by	Ted Sroka (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Gold/Silver Versions

Ethan (previously known as Gold in fan circles) is a character who was introduced as the main character of Pokémon: Gold and Silver Versions, the second generation games of the Pokémon series. In Pokémon: Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, the player can choose between playing as a male or female character. Ethan is present as the male protagonist, and if the female protagonist is selected instead in HeartGold/SoulSilver, then Ethan instead exists as a non-playable supporting character. He has two female counterparts: Kris in Crystal and Lyra in HeartGold/SoulSilver.

Background

As Player Character

Ethan originally lived in New Bark Town with his mother. He occasionally performed favors for his neighbor, Professor Elm, which eventually led to the beginning of his career as a Pokémon trainer when Professor Elm sent him to visit Mr. Pokémon and find out about his latest discovery. Professor Elm entrusted him with one of three newly discovered Pokémon (either Chikorita, Cyndaquil or Totodile) to serve as his partner. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Elm had Ethan let the Pokémon follow him around instead of putting it in a Pokéball to study the effect on the Pokémon. At Mr. Pokémon's house, Ethan received Mr. Pokémon's discovery, Pokémon Egg, and also met Professor Oak, who saw great potential in Ethan and gave him a Pokédex.

However, he then found out that someone had broken into Professor Elm's lab and stolen one of the Pokémon. He stumbled upon the culprit, Silver, and battled him. Silver had picked a Pokémon with a type advantage over Ethan's. Regardless of whether or not he won the battle, Silver then left, and Ethan learned his name in the process. Upon his return to Elm's lab, Elm was cheered from the robbery by the news of the Pokémon Egg and Professor Oak. Elm than suggested that Ethan set out to take the Pokémon Gym challenge. After saying goodbye to his mother (who offered to save part of the money he earned in battles for him), Ethan left New Bark Town to travel Johto.

Ethan traveled from town to town and defeated all eight of the gym leaders to earn their badges. Along the way, he also held onto the Pokémon egg until it hatched into a Togepi, met with his childhood friend Lyra several times in HeartGold/SoulSilver, had several rematches with Silver (who eventually learned the errors of his ways through his battles with Ethan) and also had several battles with Team Rocket, who were trying to reform themselves despite Giovanni's retirement and subsequent disappearance. In those battles with Team Rocket, Ethan was aided by the famed dragon trainer Lance. In order to earn his last gym badge, he became the first dragon trainer since Lance to win the dragon user's challenge of Blackthorn City (in the Crystal version as well as HeartGold and SoulSilver). Ethan then became the champion of Johto and the neighboring country of Kanto after defeating the Elite Four and Lance, who was the reigning champion.

This was not the end of Ethan's journey, as Professor Elm had another gift for him in the form of an S.S. ticket, which Ethan used to travel to Kanto on the S.S. Aqua, which sailed from the port of Olivine City in Johto to Vermilion City in Kanto. There, Ethan encountered many more Pokémon creatures and also battled through the eight gym leaders of Kanto. Professor Oak was astonished by this feat and arranged for Ethan to have permission to travel to Mt. Silver, which was filled with dangerous Pokémon. There, he found one final challenge in the heart of Mt. Silver, in the form of the former champion Red. Ethan was able to best Red in battle. His later exploits remain unknown, although in HeartGold/SoulSilver, there were still more Pokémon for him to pursue, as well as a Battle Frontier that he could challenge.

As Non-Playable Character

Ethan was the grandson of the Day-Care Couple who lived on Route 34, and he lived in New Bark Town with his parents. When Lyra began her Pokémon journey, he confronted her and showed her how to catch Pokémon, and he gave her several Pokéballs. He then showed up when she reached Route 34 and introduced her to his grandparents. Ethan gave his Pokégear number to Lyra, because he said that was what trainers did, denying his grandparents' assumptions that they were a couple.

He also met Lyra in Goldenrod City's underground tunnel, where he gave her a fashion case. Ethan was mostly found at New Bark Town during the game, where he would provide Lyra with a star for her trainer card after she completed a challenge of collecting five shining leaves. He also showed up at Celadon City to talk about the Gamefreak floor of the Pokémon Mansion and could possibly appear as a fan of Lyra's at the Battle Hall. He also played a part in the Celebi event, in which he was teleported back in time with Lyra.

His only known Pokémon are Marill and a Rattata that he catches during the tutorial, as well as several Pokémon that he mentions during Pokégear calls: Tauros, Bulbasaur, Porygon and Tangela.

In Other Pokémon Games

Ethan was featured in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge as the protagonist of the Challenge Mode, which covers his quest through the Johto League. In Pokémon Go, pieces of Ethan's HeartGold/SoulSilver outfit were made available as free Style options during the Johto Festival in August 2018.

In Pokémon Masters EX, Ethan appeared with a Cyndaquil as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature. His Cyndaquil could be evolved into Quilava and Typhlosion through Sync Pair Stories in which he battled Kahili and Blaine, respectively. A Sygna Suit variant of Ethann paired with Lugia was also made available during limited time periods starting at the end of May 2022. He was depicted as the protagonist of the second generation games in this appearances.

Ethan also played a role in the Legendary Event "Pure Hearts and Golden Wings", where he and Silver searched for Ho-oh together, with the Legendary Pokémon ultimately choosing Silver as its partner. He was later featured in the Johto Chapter of the Villain Arc, in which he joined in the efforts against Team Rocket. Ethan, Kris and Lyra each obtained a Legendary Pokémon and a matching sygna suit for the occasion. Once they took on Team Rocket, Kris and Lyra stayed behind to battle Ariana, while Ethan and Silver went on ahead. Ethan defeated Archer and then joined in on Silver's battle against Giovanni. Although Silver had warned Ethan not to get involved, he ultimately accepted Ethan's help, and together the two of them were able to drive Giovanni back. Afterwards, Silver acknowledged Ethan as his rival, and Kris and Lyra assured Ethan that this was their way of becoming closer.

Other Appearances

Other Media

Ethan as he appeared in the original games

• In the Pokémon anime, Ethan's counterpart was named Jimmy. His starter Pokémon was Cyndaquil, and he was featured in a Pokémon Chronicles episode with two other trainers. One of the other trainers is an anime version of Kris (the original female counterpart to Ethan), known as Marina, whose starter was a Totodile. Jimmy, Marina and Vincent later made a cameo appearance in the Pokémon Journeys series, where they were seen watching Lance and Diantha's battle during the Masters 8 tournament on television. A character using Ethan's HeartGold/SoulSilver design also made a cameo appearance fighting Ash during the opening of the thirteenth Pokémon movie.
• Gold was featured in the Pokémon Adventures manga, starting in the Gold/Silver/Crystal arcs. He is shown to come from a family which already has a group of Pokémon as pets, although he only takes one Pokémon from his family home with him (not counting his Poliwag which he loses, but returns to him in time to evolve into a Politoed). He sets out with a Cyndaquil as his starter Pokémon initially to hunt down Silver after catching him steal Professor Elm's Totodile, but as he progresses he sees that Silver is not so bad and winds up entangled in the plans of the newly revived Team Rocket. They go missing after a battle with the Mask of Ice in which they are believed dead, but they are rescued and kept safe by Entei. Gold later plays a vital role in the final battle against the Mask of Ice, being trapped in the time portal with him and using a newly-hatched Pichu to free Celebi, trapping Pryce in time while Gold is able to escape safely. He later appeared in the Emerald arc, complete with armor that is an imitation of Archie's Guile armor, to fool him as part of Crystal's plan to use Jirachi's wish to revive the trainers whom had been petrified in stone. After they are revived, the ten Pokédex trainers unite to defeat Archie and the imitation Kyogre. He later starred in the HeartGold/SoulSilver arc. Among the Pokédex trainers, Gold's specialty is described as Pokémon breeding, as shown in his hatching of Togepi and Pichu (which was born to Pikachu owned by Red and Yellow). He is shown as being more immature then Red and with quirks such as wearing goggles, riding a scooter instead of the standard bicycle and using billiard cues to launch Pokéballs.
• In the Pokémon Generations anime, he made small appearances in one episode about his and Lance's battle with Team Rocket by the Lake of Rage.
• Ethan made a cameo appearance in the Pokémon Evolutions anime, in which he was seen from behind walking through Ecruteak City.

Trivia

• Like all of the playable protagonists in the main Pokémon games, his name is selected by the player. 'Gold' was originally assumed to be his name by fans, following the precedent of Red's canon name, but HeartGold/SoulSilver later introduced 'Ethan' as a canon name for the character, as it was used as the set name for his his non-playable incarnation. Ethan has since been used as his name outside of those games, such as in his Pokémon Masters EX appearance.
  • He is called 'Hibiki' in Japanese, which matches a Japanese word that can mean "echo" or "sound". This matches Lyra, whose English and Japanese names both reference musical instruments.
• Ethan is the only male player character of the series to have two different female counterparts: Kris was the original counterpart featured in Crystal Version. HeartGold/SoulSilver instead featured Lyra, who had a different design.
• In Pokémon Crystal, Ethan does not appear when playing as the female player character, but his sprite is used to represent other players who the player links up with and trainers at the Trainer House in Viridian City.
• According to an early pamphlet for Gold/Silver, Ethan was intended to have an older brother at some point in development.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, several alternate costumes seem to reference Ethan. Starting in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, one of Pikachu's alternate costumes has it wearing hat resembling Ethan's. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, one of the Pokémon Trainer's alternate costumes uses a color scheme that seems to be based on the color scheme of Ethan's clothing from the original versions of the second generation games.