Palmer

Palmer as seen in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Versions
Palmer
Species	Human
Affiliation	Battle Frontier
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Orange
Base	Twinleaf Town
Relatives	Wife Barry (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 remembered 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, Palmer was an exuberant man who was always in a rush and possessed a strong competitive spirit. He believed that the best trainers showed respect to one another by battling as dedicated students of Pokémon.

Palmer eventually had 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 was first seen accidentally bumping into Lucas/Dawn while running to the tower when the player saw it for the first time, although Palmer did 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. He 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 he told them how much he looked forward to the day that when Barry 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 Lucas/Dawn's father from their youth (giving them a gold print as well in Platinum). He proceeded to further encourage Lucas/Dawn to 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 Ethan/Lyra was a different character who did not know Barry.

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 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.
• In the Pokémon Adventures arc, Palmer was featured in the Platinum arc after being mentioned in the Diamond/Pear arc. He had obtained a Cresselia and was investigating the Distortion Zone. After Platina defeated the other Frontier Brains, Palmer allowed her to join him and other trainers in their journey into the Distortion Zone, where they clashed with Darkrai and other legendary Pokémon. After the crisis was resolved, Palmer invited Platina to battle him at the Battle Tower in order to complete her Frontier challenge. He later appeared in the HeartGold/SoulSilver Pokémon, where he was shown to have captured Regigigas, but he released it because it was too powerful to control, leading to Diamond obtaining it.

Trivia

• Uniquely, Palmer is the only Frontier Brain so far who has appeared outside of and prior to the version featuring the Battle Frontier. His Battle Tower challenge in Diamond/Pearl could be considered a preview for the Battle Frontier in Platinum.
• Although their English titles are different, in Japanese he shares his Frontier Brain title of Tower Tycoon with Anabel of the Hoenn Battle Frontier.