Candice

"The Diamond Dust Girl!"
Candice
Species	Human
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Brown
Base	Snowpoint City
Relatives	Clover (possible ancestor)
Voiced by	Ryan Bartley (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Diamond/Pearl Versions

Candice is the seventh gym leader of the Sinnoh region who appears as an opponent in the fourth generation games of the Pokémon series: Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum versions, as well as the remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. She specializes in Ice-Type Pokémon.

Background

The gym leader of Snowpoint Gym, Candice was known for her studious nature. She believed that focus was the key to everything from Pokémon to fashion to romance, and that her mastery of focus was what made her tough. In Platinum, Maylene was shown to admire Candice for her studiousness and traveled to Snowpoint to challenge Candice at her request, as Candice wanted to study Fighting-type Pokémon.

In fourth generation games, she was challenged and defeated by Lucas/Dawn. She developed a respect for the player trainer for their victory, saying that their focus and will bowled her over completely. Candice rewarded the trainer with the Icicle Badge and TM72: Avalanche. Afterwards, she would muse about acting more cool and distant like other Ice-type trainers, but she believed that she was incapable of that behavior because of her spirit burning hot and bright. Candice would later appear after Lucas/Dawn defeated the Elite Four to grant them permission to enter the Snowpoint Temple at Cynthia's request.

In Platinum, she would also occasionally appear at the Battleground, where she could be challenged to a rematch, and she would also visit the player's villa, sometimes with Maylene. She offered to let Maylene have some of her favorite accessories, and when asked about what made a good gym leader, she thought that Gardenia would know. They also shared an awkwardly silent conversation. In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, she could be challenged to rematches at her gym during the postgame instead, and she could also appear as an opponent at the Battle Tower during both single and double battles. For double battles, she teamed up with Maylene.

Candice reappeared in Black and White 2 as one of the competitors in the Pokémon World Tournament held at Unova. She took part in the Sinnoh Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

Pokémon Roster

Candice uses the following Pokémon for the Gym Challenge in Diamond, Pearl, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl:

• Snover (Diamond/Pearl only)/Piloswine (Platinum only)
• Sneasel
• Medicham (Diamond/Pearl only)/Froslass (Platinum only)
• Abomasnow

In Platinum, her roster is similar except that Snover and Medicham have been swapped for Piloswine and Froslass. In Platinum, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, she uses the following Pokémon for rematches:

• Weavile
• Mamoswine
• Abomasnow
• Froslass
• Glaceon
• Jynx (Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl)

For battles at the Battle Tower in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, the Pokémon she could use includes Abomasnow, Weavile, Froslass, Glaceon, Venusaur, Cloyster, Lapras, Articuno, Regice and Heatran.

In Black 2 and White 2, her roster of potential Pokémon used for tournament matches is identical to the line-up she uses for Platinum rematches, with the addition of Glalie.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Candice and her Abomasnow appeared together as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature. Froslass could also be unlocked as an alternate sync partner for her with Battle Points starting in August 2022. When fought as an opponent, she has also used Glaceon as a sync partner. Within the game's story events, she has been featured as a teammate in the "Heart of Elegance" Story Event. In that event, Caitlin had declared that grace and elegance were the most important parts of battle, while Candice felt that focus was the most important. The two of them fought alongside the player to determine which was true, and they ended up battling against Roxie, who argued that the beat of the battle was the most important. In the end, they accepted that the most important part of battle was something different for individual trainers. Candice also appeared as the opponent who Maylene had to defeat in a one-on-one battle in order to evolve her Meditite in a Sync Pair Story.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Candice appeared in several episodes of the Pokémon anime, where she was shown to be a teacher in Snowpoint City's Trainer's School and eventually was defeated by Ash Ketchum in a gym challenge. She was shown to be a childhood friend of Zoey, a rising Coordinator who acted as Dawn's rival, and so she made several other appearances watching Zoey competing in Pokémon Contests.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Candice was eventually introduced in the Diamond/Pearl arc after she saved Platinum from a blizzard with her Abomansnow, and they were later joined by Maylene. Platinum defeated her in a gym battle to earn her Icicle Badge. There were various references to the light clothing they wore in the frigid environment, which Candice did because she believed in guts. The three of them trained and bonded together as well as with Volkner (after they lost a battle with Mars of Team Galactic) and referred to themselves as the "scantily clad trio". They parted ways from Platinum for a while, but eventually all the gym leaders ambushed Team Galactic's commanders at the Spear Pillar during the arc's climax. Candice and Maylene wound up being the last gym leaders standing and took out the last Galactic admin, Jupiter, although it seems they were later beaten by the mysterious Sird. She then gave Platinum her Froslass.

Trivia

• Her English name is likely a combination of 'candida' (which is Latin for 'shining white') and 'ice'. Her Japanese name is Suzuna, which is an old word for the 'turnip' and may also be a play on the Japanese word for cool.
• Pokémon Legends: Arceus features a character named Clover who acts as one of the antagonistic Miss Fortune Sisters. Her design is nearly identical to Candice's, and the only Pokémon she uses is an Abomasnow, implying that she may be Candice's ancestor.