Tabitha (Pokemon)

Tabitha
Species	Human
Affiliation	Team Magma
Hair color	Black
Age	27
Debut	Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire Versions

Tabitha is an Admin of Team Magma who appears as a recurring opponent in Pokémon: Ruby and Emerald Versions, as well as in the remake Omega Ruby.

Background

Tabitha was a loyal follower of Maxie and his vision for Team Magma, which involved redefining or remaking the world through an expansion of the land masses. In Omega Ruby, this project was known as Project Azoth, and Tabitha was specifically known as being Maxie's number two. Omega Ruby was also the only game to give an insight into Tabitha's background, as it was said that he previously worked for Devon and used that experience to create the Magma Suit.

Throughout Ruby, Emerald and Omega Ruby, some of his appearances were the same. Tabitha initially appeared at Meteor Falls. He and his Magma Grunts had brought Professor Cozmo there to take his Meteorite from him. Brendan/May and Team Aqua attempted to intervene, but Tabitha was able to escape with the Meteorite. In Omega Ruby, the trainer and their friend (May/Brendan) defeated Tabitha and a Magma Grunt in a double battle before he escaped. Tabitha brought the Meteorite to Maxie at Mt. Chimney and then stood guard when Brendan/May arrived. Brendan/May defeated him there (their first battle in Ruby/Emerald and second in Omega Ruby), but Tabitha was confident that they would stand no chance against Maxie.

From there, his paths split among the different versions. In Ruby, Tabitha stayed behind at the Magma Hideout to stall Brendan/May while Maxie went to the Seafloor Cavern to awaken Groudon. After being defeated by Brendan/May, he taunted the trainer about Maxie's impending victory, while accidentally giving a hint about how to search for him. In Emerald, he was battled at the Magma Hideout, which in this version was where Groudon was sleeping, and he stalled Brendan/May while Maxie worked to revive Groudon. Afterwards, he helped Maxie to attack the Mossdeep Space Center in search of rocket fuel to use for forcing an eruption at Mt. Chimney, but Brendan/May and Steven Stone worked together to defeat Maxie and Tabitha in a double battle.

Omega Ruby

In Omega Ruby, Tabitha's third appearance was at the Weather Institute. There, he commanded Team Magma in stealing data about the extreme weather that was caused when Groudon and Kyogre underwent Primal Reversion thousands of years ago. This was when he started to realize that awakening Primal Groudon could doom the world, and he started to doubt the mission. Regardless, the battled Brendan/May when they arrived. After being defeated, he warned the trainer that Maxie's plan would turn the "Primordial Sea" into the "Desolate Land" and tipped them off that Maxie was heading to Mt. Pyre next. Despite his doubts, Tabitha still aided Maxie in stealing the Submarine Explorer 1 from Slateport Harbor and accompanied him to the Seafloor Cavern.

At the Seafloor Cavern, Tabitha made a desperate attempt to talk Maxie out of reviving Primal Groudon and tried to warn him about the devastation that he would cause. Maxie ignored his pleas and accused Tabitha of trying to usurp him. Primal Groudon was successfully revived, and Maxie soon began to feel regret when it became apparent that it would destroy all life on the planet. Tabitha then did his part to help with the effort in bringing down Primal Groudon, which was ultimately subdued. In the aftermath of the crisis, Tabitha attempted to convince Maxie that he should try to atone for his sins, and he offered to act as his counsel forever if he set himself on that path.

During the game's Delta Episode, Tabitha was at the Magma Hideout with Maxie when it was attacked by Zinnia, who stole Maxie's Key Stone. At Maxie's urging, Tabitha passed Maxie's Mega Stone (Cameruptite) on to Brendan/May. In the epilogue of the Delta Episode, Tabitha watched Courtney as she made up with Maxie, and Maxie decided to truly work on building a better future for Team Magma. When visited at the Magma Hideout afterwards, Tabitha claimed that his new title in "the newly reborn Team Magma" was Chief Admin.

Alpha Sapphire

In Alpha Sapphire, Tabitha and Courtney made a minor appearance accompanying Maxie when arriving at the Battle Resort. An eager Wally ran into them, and Tabitha was irritated at being called 'sir', because it made him feel like he was old. Tabitha was intrigued to meet Brendan/May, the trainer who saved the world from Team Aqua.

Pokémon Roster

• Numel/Camerupt - In Ruby and Emerald, Tabitha has two Numel during the first battle with him, and one evolves into Camerupt by the second battle while the other stays as a Numel. In Emerald, he uses only the Camerupt for the double battle. In Omega Ruby, he has only one Numel for the first two battles. It becomes a Camerupt by the Weather Institute battle, where it is the only Pokémon that he uses.
• Poochyena/Mightyena - In Ruby and Emerald, he uses a Poochyena for the first battle, and it becomes a Mightyena afterwards. In Omega Ruby, he only uses a Mightyena during the first battle.
• Zubat/Golbat - In Emerald only, Tabitha uses a Zubat from the first battle onwards, and it becomes a Golbat by the double battle.
• Koffing - He uses one during the second battle in Omega Ruby only.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Tabitha appeared in several episodes of the Pokémon anime during the Hoenn-based series, where he pulled off schemes with other Team Magma members. For his debut episode, the dub erroneously named him 'Harlan', but this was corrected in his following appearances.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Tabitha originally appeared during the Ruby/Sapphire arc as one of the Three Flames of Team Magma, along with Courtney and a new character named Blaise. The manga interpreted Tabitha as a tall, muscular and imposing man. He was known to make opponents drowsy with the smoke from his Torkoal. He acted as an antagonist with the other members of Team Magma, but he also worked with Flannery in an attempt to revive Mt. Chimney's volcano after Team Aqua had stopped its activity. During the climax of the arc, he entered a berserk rage after touching the Blue Orb, until he was defeated by Steven Stone. After Celebi reversed time, Tabitha was restored to normal and was last seen visiting the Lavaridge Hot Springs. During the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire arc, a new Tabitha appeared as part of Neo Team Magma. This version used his design from the remakes, and it was retconned that Tabitha was a codename that was given to Team Magma Admins.
• He made an appearance in an episode of the Pokémon Generations episode, which was based on his appearance from Omega Ruby. He was seen alerting Maxie that Brendan had broken into his base and later escaped with Maxie on the Submarine Explorer 1.

Trivia

• His name may be a play on "Tabiti", the name of a Scythian goddess of fire. it could also be a play on "habitat", in reference to a type of land. His Japanese name was Homura, after the Japanese word for "flame".
• According to one of Team Magma's scientists in Omega Ruby, his nickname is "Tabitabi".
• Matt acts as his counterpart in Team Aqua in the original versions of the third generation games. In the remakes, Shelly's role parallels his instead.
• Tabitha and Courtney's roles were switched in the remakes, as Tabitha was originally left behind to hold off Brendan/May at the Magma Hideout while Courtney accompanied Maxie in Ruby, while Tabitha ended up being the one to join Maxie in Omega Ruby.
• He has a habit of laughing a lot. In the original games, it was a "Hehehe" chuckle, while the remakes change it into a more energetic sounding "Ahyahya!"
• For the remakes, Tabitha's design was changed to give him a huskier appearance. He is often smiling and always depicted with his eyes seeming to be closed.
• In Alpha Sapphire, he claims that he has just turned 27.