Viola

"The camerawoman who never lets a single smile escape her focus."
Viola
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Kalos)
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Green
Base	Santalune Gym
Relatives	Alexa (sister)
Voiced by	Brianna Knickerbocker (2019)
Debut	Pokémon X/Y

Viola is a Gym Leader of the Kalos region who appeared as an opponent in Pokémon X and Y. She was the first Gym Leader in the game who had to be battled and specialized in Bug-type Pokémon.

Background

Viola was the younger sister of Alexa, who worked as a journalist. As for Viola, she was an up-and-coming photographer with an excitable nature and a habit of describing things as 'fantastic'. She was also skilled as a Pokémon trainer, becoming both the Gym Leader of Santalune City's gym (holding the Bug Badge) and a Marchioness at the Battle Chateau. Part of the reason why she loved Pokémon battles was because she found her opponents to be great subjects for photographs, whether they had won or lost a battle. She also tended to use camera-related terminology as metaphors in her speech. The initial room of her gym contained a number of photographs on display, and a rope leading to an underground area where the battles took place. This area contained a number of platforms linked by a giant web.

In X and Y, Viola was challenged and defeated by Calem/Serena. She praised the young trainer and their Pokémon for their performance, and she gave them the Bug Badge as well as TM83: Infestation. She proceeded to give them directions on how to get out of the gym. Viola was later seen at the Battle Chateau when Calem/Serena first visited it. She was surprised to learn that the trainer did not have a title there yet, and he proceeded to give them her recommendation so that they could receive a beginning title. After Calem/Serena reached the title of Marquis/Marchioness, Viola had a chance of appearing at the chateau as a potential opponent.

Pokémon Roster

In battle, Viola uses a Surskit and Vivillon. The Surskit becomes a Masquerain for battles at the Battle Chateau.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters, Viola and her Surskit appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited after defeating them in Chapter 14 of the game's Main Story. In that chapter, she had formed a team with fellow Bug-type trainer Bugsy to compete in the Pokémon Masters League, and they ultimately lost to Scottie/Bettie. They took the defeat gracefully, with Bugsy wanting to take a picture to remember the moment by and Viola deciding to join Scottie/Bettie's team in hopes of finding more smiling faces to photograph. Viola's Surskit could also evolve into Masquerain through a Sync Pair Story in which she had to defeat Bugsy in a battle.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Viola was first referenced in the last episode of the Black/White-based series, when Alexa (who had made an early appearance) mentioned that her sister was a gym leader in Kalos. Viola soon made several appearances in the X/Y-based series. In her first appearance, Ash lost to her due to Viola's strategies of immobilizing his Pokémon. In the following episode, Ash defeated her in a rematch and earned the Bug Badge by countering her tactics. She made several more small appearances afterwards, including one episode where she was seen at the Battle Chateau and lost to Grant in a battle. She was also part of the effort to destroy the Giant Rock in the last arc of that series.
• She appeared in the Pokémon Adventures manga during the X/Y arc. She initially worked with Alex in a failed attempt to get an interview with Y, and she later offered the main characters refuge from Team Flare at her gym. There, X defeated her in a battle. She was briefly possessed by Celosia, a member of Team Flare, and she then helped to capture her afterwards. She also contacted Korrina so that she could help X to learn more about Mega Evolution.

Trivia

• Her Japanese and English names are the same. Her name matches both the name of a flower and of a butterfly.
• According to the Gym Freaks program, her camera and barrette were both received as birthday gifts, from her sister and Valerie, respectively.