Wattson

"The Cheerfully Electrifying Man!"
Wattson
Species	Human
Hair color	Gray
Base	Mauville City
Relatives	Wife
Debut	Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire Versions

Wattson is a senior Pokémon trainer and one of the gym leaders of the Hoenn region who appears as an opponent in Pokémon: Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald Versions, as well as in the remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. He specializes in electric-type Pokémon.

Background

Wattson was apparently a trainer for a long time; one trainer in his gym claimed that he was a Pokémon trainer before "[the player's] daddy was born" (it is uncertain if the trainer was speaking generally or specifically referring to Norman, the player character's father). He was said to have founded Mauville City in addition to becoming its gym leader. Wattson had a jovial demeanor even into his old age, saying that laughter was the secret to health, and he had a habit of breaking out into over-the-top laughter. Wattson also had plans to convert the city into an expansion project, which took on the form of an underground city. However, some unspecified things happened which caused development of the area to be closed down and the area to become prohibited. Wattson focused on his gym and built a series of switch-activated dynamos there that would create electrical barriers, so that any challengers would have to navigate their way through them to reach him.

In Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Wattson was amused when Brendan/May managed to navigate through his door traps and was defeated by this challenger. He admitted defeat and said the fight had given him a thrill, before proceeding to give Brandan/May a Dynamo Badge as well as TM 34: Shock Wave (or TM 72: Volt Switch in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire). Apparently, seeing this young trainer gave Wattson a rush of optimism. In Emerald, he could later challenge the trainer to several more rematches through the Match Call feature, after taking some time to redo his challenge.

In all five games, Wattson could be found outside the gym later on (after the first five gym badges had been collected in the original three games or after resolving the Groudon/Kyogre crisis in the remakes), when he would ask the trainer to shut down a malfunctioning generator in New Mauville for him and give them a Basement Key so they could do so. Wattson's reward for this was TM 27: Thunderbolt.

Wattson returned in Black and White 2 as a competitor in the Pokémon World Tournament. He took part in the Hoenn Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert divisions.

Pokémon Roster

In Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Wattson has the following Pokémon:

• Magnemite (in all versions except Emerald)
• Voltorb
• Magneton
• Electrike (Emerald only)
• Manectric (Emerald only)

In Emerald, Wattson uses the following Pokémon for rematches:

• Mareep (first rematch)/Flaaffy (second rematch)/Ampharos (third rematch onwards)
• Electrode
• Magention
• Manectric
• Pikachu (second rematch)/Raichu (third rematch onwards)
• Electabuzz.

In Black 2 and White 2, his roster for tournament fights could potentially include some or all of the following Pokémon:

• Manectric
• Magnezone
• Electrode
• Plusle (Hoenn Leaders) or Rotom (World Leaders/Type Expert)
• Minun (Hoenn Leaders) or Ampharos (World Leaders/Type Expert)
• Raichu

A Plusle and Minun are also seen in his apartment in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. It is possible that they actually belong to his wife, although it is shown that Wattson does have those Pokémon in Black 2/White 2.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Wattson was featured in two episodes of the Pokémon anime, where his gym was rigged with various other prank devices that he found amusing. The first episode showed his gym battle with Ash, which Ash won easily due to Pikachu having been accidentally supercharged by Wattson's Raikou robot. The rest of the episode depicted Wattson's ensuing depression, which ended after he helped to defeat Team Rocket. In the second episode, he saved the group from Team Rocket during a return visit to Mauville and had a rematch with Ash, which Wattson won.
• Wattson appears in the Pokémon Adventures manga, where he has a tendency to say puns and is light-hearted about his duties, giving badges to children who challenge him in the field even if they lose, as long as they show spirit. Sapphire was enraged at him upon learning this, but she wouns up helping Wattson and his friend to rediscover the lost civilization of New Mauville, which would help Mauville City stop its space problem, and he gave her the badge as a reward. At the gym leader's conference, he sympathized with Team Magma, because their expansion of the land could help Mauville with its space problem, and he also had a chat with Norman, which revealed him as a confident of the other gym leader. After Groudon and Kyogre were awakened, Wattson was sent to battle Kyogre, but he ended up battling Team Aqua member Amber. He was nearly killed after being attacked by his Ninjask and falling into the water, but he was saved by Sapphire's Wailord. Despite his injuries, he reprogammed New Mauville's electric generator to fly to Sootopolis to help Ruby and Sapphire in their final battles. He returned with the other gym leaders in the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire arc, where they worked together to help stop the threat of Grand Meteor Delta.

Trivia

• His English name is a pun combining the name Watson with "watts", the unit used to measure electric current. His Japanese name is Tessen, named after the Japanese name for passion flower clematis.
• In Black 2/White 2, after winning in a tournament fight, he mentions that he wants to talk to Volkner about remodeling gyms.
• Wattson's apartment can be visited in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. He lives on the second floor of Mauville Hills. His wife also appears there.