Marnie

Marnie
Species	Human
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Green
Base	Spikemuth
Voiced by	Cristina Vee (2021)
Debut	Pokémon Sword/Shield

Marnie is a Pokémon Trainer who acts as a rival character in Pokémon: Sword and Shield. She acts as a recurring opponent throughout the game and later succeeds her brother as the Gym Leader of Spikemuth. She specializes in Dark-type Pokémon.

Background

Marnie was a native of Spikemuth, a Galar town that had fallen into a dilapadated state, because it was overlooked for not having a power spot. She had an older brother named Piers who was always looking out for her. Piers caught her first Pokémon for her, a Morpeko, when she was five yeas old. Marnie was described as being timid and more of a "crybaby" when she was young, but she became more cheerful after gaining her Morpeko, even if she also had to deal with the Pokémon's mood swings. Marnie became a skilled trainer, to the point where Piers felt that she was better than him. Piers would later become the Gym Leader of Spikemuth, in an attempt to help put the town on the map. He felt that Marnie was more worthy of becoming the Gym Leader, but she was too young at the time. Marnie became somewhat of a local celebrity regardless. Her expression rarely changed, even when she got angry, although she was capable of staying angry for quite some time.

During the events of Sword and Shield, Marnie departed from Spikemuth to take on the major divison of Galar's gym challenge. Her goal was to become the champion and to give Spikemuth the attention that it needed. She ended up being followed by a devoted fanbase that wore costumes and called themselves Team Yell. She was unaware that they were actually Spikemuth Gym Trainers in disguise. Although she appreciated their support, she did not personally care about being famous, and she was also well aware of how overzealous they could get. She first met Victor/Gloria after the trainer got into a battle with Team Yell at the Budew Drop Inn. She shooed away Team Yell and introduced herself to the fellow challenger. After taking on the first two gyms, they met again at the Budew Drop Inn when staying there the night before challenging Kabu. Marnie battled Victor/Gloria for fhe first time to gauge if she was ready for the next leg of the gym challenge. She was defeated and proceeded to turn in for the night. The next day, she gave the trainer Kabu's League Card and a pair of Burn Heals.

Marnie continued her gym challenge and confronted Victor/Gloria right after she had gained her fifth gym badge at Ballonlea. Seeing that the trainer had collected four badges, she declared that they were someone who she would have to look out for, but she then expressed surprise that Morpeko was fond of the trainer despite having had a "serious battle" with them. Marnie proceeded to give Victor/Gloria her League Card, declared them rivals and hoped that they would meet in the Finals of the Championship Cup. The gym battle continued until only two gyms were left tor the challengers to complete, one of which was Spikemuth. Marnie came to Spikemuth, only to find that the main entrance to the city had been shuttered by Team Yell, in an attempt to sabotage Marnie's competitors. Marnie knew of a secret entrance and clued Victor/Gloria in on it. Because of their rivalry, she only agreed to let them through if they could beat her in a battle. They managed to beat her again, so she showed them into the city and declared that she would get her revenge at the Championship Cup. Marnie later told off members of Team Yell for shutting down the city and for their misguided attempts at helping her to become champion. After Victor/Gloria defeated Piers, Marnie showed up to challenge her brother next. Piers announced that he would be retiring as gym leader and wanted Marnie to take over as gym leader. Marnie was aware of this, but she refused due to being intent on becoming the champion instead.

She ultimately collected all eight of the gym badges and went to compete in the Championship Cup at Wyndon. Marnie battled Victor/Gloria in the first round of the Semifinals and was defeated. Despite her loss, she was glad that their battle had excited the audience. She went to join Piers in the stands to watch the rest of the battles. She was later called upon by Piers to help Victor/Gloria and Hop to find their way to Rose Tower. Although she claimed to be tired from her battle with the trainer, she still worked with Piers and Team Yell to help them, and she gave Victor/Gloria's Pokémon a boost by cheering the on in one battle. With Victor/Gloria ultimately winning the cup and becoming the new champion, Marnie finally accepted her brother's offer and became the new gym leader of Spikemuth. Afterwards, she could be found by the Pokémon Center at Spikemuth, where she could be challenged to an exhibition match. After being defeated, she would give the trainer her rare League Card. Marnie could also appear at other tournaments held by Victor/Gloria (either by invitation or at random) and at the Star Tournament, both of which came with a possibility of a rematch. The player could also fight with her as a partner in the Star Tournament. She could also be seen visiting areas of the Isle of Armor.

Pokémon Roster

• Croagunk/Toxicroak: Croagunk evolves between the first two battles with Marnie.
• Scraggy/Scrafty: Scraggy evolves between the first two battles with Marnie.
• Morpeko: Morpeko is usually out of its PokéBall and standing by Marnie's side outside of battle.
• Liepard: Liepard is present from the second battle onwards.
• Grimmsnarl (Gigantamax): It is present for the third battle onwards.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Marnie and her Morpeko were made available as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature, and they were only available during limited time periods starting in February 2021. She was featured in the "Champion Time" Story Event, where she, Leon and Piers had just recently arrived in Pasio, and a set of exhibition matches were arranged. Marnie lost her battle against Karen, but she received encouragement from the others. There were also several extra scenes in which she bonded with characters from other regions such as Rosa, Gladion, Hau and Lisia.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In Pokémon: Twilight Wings, Marnie made several cameo appearances. She was seen eating at a cafe with her Morpeko in the fourth episode and watching Leon's match on her phone in the the seventh episode. She then made a speaking appearance during the eighth episode, where she encouraged her brother after they were invited to the Galarian Star Tournament and was later seen in the tournament's opening ceremony.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is "Mary", derived from "rosemary". Her English name of Marnie may have been chosen to sound similar to Mary and may also be referencing "Rosemarinus", the name of the genus that contains rosemary.
• Marnie's League Number is 960, which can be read in Japanese as a word meaning "hardship" or "black".
• Her Pokémon are kept in Dusk Balls.
• After the championship cup, there is an extra scene where she can be found in a room at the Budew Drop Inn, where she practices smiling in front of Morpeko for the sake of her fans. She is embarrassed when she realizes that Victor/Gloria saw this and runs away.
• She is the only gym challenger whose endorser is never revealed, although it could have possibly been Piers.
• After becoming a gym leader, she is still referred to during battles with the title of "Pokémon Trainer", even though Bede's title changed to "Gym Leader" after his own promotion.