Morty

The Mystic Seer of the Future
Morty
Species	Human
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Brown (Gen II) Purple (Gen IV)
Base	Ecruteak City
Voiced by	Brian Hanford (2020)
Debut	Pokémon: Gold/Silver Versions

Morty is the third gym leader of the Johto region who is featured as an opponent in Pokémon: Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions. He is a Ghost-type trainer.

Background

Morty was the gym leader of the Ecruteak City gym. He was motivated in his quest to train Pokémon by to the town's belief in a legendary Pokémon that would appear to a truly powerful trainer. He seemed particularly interested in meeting Ho-Oh. He claimed that because of this, he spent all his life secretly training in the gym. HeartGold/SoulSilver elaborated that Morty's secret training helped him to see a "shadow of the person" who would see Ho-Oh, and he believed that it was him, which is implied to be connected to something the Kimono Girls told him.

In the Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver versions, he was first seen in the Burned Tower, where he was helping Eusine to investigate it as part of Eusine's quest to find Suicune. Afterwards, he could be battled in the gym. In all five versions, he was challenged and defeated by Ethan/Lyra. He proceeded to surrender the Fogbadge and TM30: Shadow Ball to the trainer. He remarked that he was not yet good enough to meet a legendary Pokémon and said that he envied Ethan/Lyra because they seemed to travel a lot and thus experienced more, as opposed to Morty's own isolated lifestyle. In HeartGold/SoulSilver, he alternately remarked that he did not realize that their potentials were so different, and he began to think it was Ethan/Lura that the Kimono Girls were talking about.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he could be found outside the Bell Tower on Mondays and Tuesdays during the day, where he lamented that the legendary Pokémon did not choose him, but felt determined to continue training and find a new future for himself. The player could exchange Pokégear numbers with him there, and calling him on Tuesday nights (between the hours of 8PM and 4AM) would cause him to travel to Saffron City's Fighting Dojo for a rematch. He also appeared by the Bell Tower on Fridays, when he offered to take a picture with Ethan/Lyra as a memento.

In Black and White 2, Morty appeared 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, as well as the special download tournament "Challenge the Champion Lance!". His dream of meeting Ho-Oh persisted.

Pokémon Roster

In Gold, Silver and Crystal as well as HeartGold and SoulSilver, Morty has the following Pokémon.

• Gastly
• Haunter (2)
• Gengar

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

• Drifblim
• Dusknoir
• Sableye
• Mismagius
• Gengar (2)

In Black 2 and White 2, his roster could include Gengar, Mismagius, Banette, Dusknoir, Froslass and either Sableye (in the Johto Leaders Tournament) or Chandelure (in the World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments). For "Challenge the Champion Lance!", he uses a Cofagrigus, Jellicent and Gengar.

In Other Pokémon Games

Morty appeared as an opponent in the Gym Leader's Castle of Pokémon Stadium 2. In this game, his line-up consisted of a Gengar, Ariados, Sudowoodo, Marowak, Girafarig and Noctowl in R1, or a Gengar, Exeggutor, Lapras, Misdreavus, Granbull and Mantine in R2. Morty also appeared in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge as the fourth opponent, using a Gastly as his Pokémon.

Pokémon Masters

In Pokémon Masters EX, Morty and his Drifblim appeared 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 July 2020. A variation of him with Mismagius could also be unlocked with Battle Points starting in May 2021, and he also had two variants that were made available through the Sync Pair Scout feature during limited time periods: the Fall 2021 variant of him wearing Halloween attire (including a cape and obscuring one of his eyes) that was partnered with Banette (capable of Mega Evolving) which was first available in October 2021, and a Sygna Suit variant paired with a Shiny Ho-Oh that was first made available in May 2022. Gastly could also be unlocked as an alternate Pokémon for Morty in his default state by reaching Friendship Level 100 with him at the Trainer Lodge, after he was added to the mode at the end of January 2023. He was also shown to have his Gengar with him in some scenes.

Morty made an appearance in the "Fight or Fright" Story Event, where he was among a group of Ghost-type trainers who marched their Pokémon through town while spooky decorations were on display, which they called the Midnight Parade. Morty (in his fall attire) was also featured in the "Midnight Spookfest" Story Event, where he and Caitlin worked with Scottie/Bettie and Hilbert when taking part in the Midnight Spookfest event. Morty later starred in the Story Event "A Golden Future", which depicted how he met the Shiny Ho-Oh. The event opened with a flashback to Morty telling Ethan about Ho-Oh from the second generation games. He was shown to feel let down that Ho-Oh had chosen to partner with Silver instead of him and felt that he needed more training. His Pokémon convinced him not to push himself too hard. He then came across a Ho-Oh Feather, which he initially assumed to have come from Silver's Pokémon. It turned out that was not the case, so Morty began to wonder if a second Ho-Oh came to Pasio. However, it turned out the multiple trainers seemed to have found Ho-Oh Feathers, and ultimately it was revealed that Team Rocket was selling fake fathers. Angered that Team Rocket would mess with the dreams of trainers like that, Morty battled them and drove them away with help from Silver. Morty decided to hold onto the feather he found as a memento. Several days later, the Shiny Ho-Oh suddenly appeared to Morty while he was training, and Morty realized that his 'new future' had arrived. After partnering with the Pokémon, Morty donned his Sygna Suit. Morty later helped Kris to find her missing Suicune in the Solo Event "Kris's Worries" and helped Eusine to pursue a Shiny Suicune in the Story Event "Chase the Northern Wind". In the former event, Falkner admired and expressed jealousy of Morty's Ho-Oh, to which Morty assured Falkner that he would have his own special encounter someday. Morty also helped in the battles against Team Rocket in the Johto chapter of the Villain Arc with his Ho-Oh.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Morty has appeared in three episodes of the Pokémon anime. He first appeared in a two-part episode where he met Ash in the Burned Tower and then was defeated by him in a gym battle. Morty's other appearance is in a Pokémon Crystal-inspired episode focusing on Eusine and Suicune, where it was said that he and Eusine shared a close relationship due to their studies of legendary Pokémon. He was later referenced in an episode of the fourth generation series, where it was said that Lyra would be challenging either him or Whitney next.
• Morty appears in several chapters of the Pokémon Adventures manga, where he is "the man who can see for a thousand miles" and uses his psychic powers to track down missing people or Pokémon. Lieutenant Surge enlists his aid in finding the missing Gold and Silver, and they are later paired against each other in the gym leader competition, in a battle that ends in a draw. Morty's friendship with Eusine is also alluded to. Morty dreams of seeing Ho-Oh but winds up having to help the gym leaders in their efforts against Ho-Oh and Lugia after Pryce captures them for his own purposes. He reappears in the HeartGold/SoulSilver chapter, where Gold and Silver make use of his psychic abilities to locate Lance and multiple Plates, respectively, which leaves him exhausted. Most of his gym is also destroyed in Arceus's attack.
• In Pokémon Evolutions, Morty makes a cameo appearance in the seventh episode. He and his Gengar are seen in the audience watching the performance of the Kimono Girls.

Trivia

• His English name is derived from "mortis", the Latin word for death. His Japanese name is Matsuba, referring to the Japanese words for pine needles (associated with charms that could ward off evil spirits), "the end" and evil spirits.
• His wardrobe changes for HeartGold/SoulSilver, from a large blue-and-yellow shirt with a matching headband to a smaller black sweater with a purple scarf and headband.