Bede

Bede
Species	Human
Hair color	Platinum Blonde
Eye color	Purple
Base	Ballonlea
Relatives	Rose (former guardian)
Voiced by	Unknown (2022)
Debut	Pokémon Sword/Shield

Bede is a rival trainer who appeared as recurring opponent in Pokémon: Sword and Shield. He later goes on to succeed Opal as the Gym Leader of Ballonlea. He initially specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon and switches over to Fairy-type after training under Opal.

Background

Bede's family ran into some unspecified trouble when he was young, which resulted in him being placed in an orphanage. It was unknown what happened to his family afterwards, as a tournament announcer would later state that he had no family. Bede was always known to have trouble getting along with others and constantly got into fights. He was eventually discovered by Chairman Rose, who saw potential in the boy. Bede apparently reminded Rose of himself when he was young. Rose gave Bede a Pokémon, took him in as a ward and sent him to learn at a Trainer's School. Bede became a skilled Pokémon trainer and was intent on proving himself to Rose. Despite this, Rose had trouble recognizing Bede on one occasion. Bede still seemed to be privy to Rose's plans, as he knew that Rose needed as many wishing stars as possible to enact it.

During the events of Sword and Shield, Bede received Rose's endorsement to compete in the gym challenge. He considered himself to be superior to the other trainers due to Rose's interest in him. He became intent on trying to defeat other trainers and to get them to give up wishing stars. It was implied that he was being manipulated by Oleanna, and it was unknown how much hand Rose had in Bede's actions. Bede was standoffish with another challenger, Victor/Gloria, from the beginning, as he saw the champion's endorsement as being inferior to that of the chairman. He battled the trainer several times, the first two being in the two Galar Mines. Each time, he downplayed his defeats. He also made his way through the first three gyms of the gym challenge. After the third gym, he taunted Hop and challenged him to a battle, as Hop was the other challenger who had been endorsed by the champion. Bede defeated Hop and felt that he had successfully crushed his spirit.

Apparently at Oleanna's urging, Bede borrowed Rose's Copperajah and used it to attack the mural at Stow-on-Side, in hopes of uncovering more wishing stars. Victor/Gloria arrived to challenge him yet again and defeated him. Afterwards, Rose and Oleanna arrived to publically reprimand him for his actions. Bede was stripped of his endorsement and disqualified from the gym challenge. Dishearted, Bede was sent back to Hammerlocke, where it would be decided what to do with him. There, Bede was suddenly confronted by Opal. Opal was instantly invested in Bede, because she thought that he was the "pink" person who she was looking for, and that he had depth due to being so "sincere and straightforward and yet so twisted and misguided". He was taken by surprise, but he was glad that someone recognized his potential and came with her to Ballonlea. There, he managed to impress her enough that he was appointed as the new gym leader of Ballonlea Stadium and the holder of the Fairy Badge.

He was initially frustrated by Opal's training and so crashed the Finals of the Championship Cup that were being held at Wyndon Stadium, where he challenged Victor/Gloria to one more battle. He blamed them for everything going wrong with them and claimed that he would retire from being a trainer if he lost. This was apparently supposed to be a way to get away from Opal. Bede lost once again, but the crowd cheered him and urged him to restart his career instead of retiring. With that, he returned to his training with Opal. It was said that her harsh training ultimately helped him to mellow out. She also continued to visit and gave him advice on a daily basis. Bede became a stronger Pokémon trainer and became popular for his intrusion at the Championship Cup. Afterwards, a crisis ensued in which forciby-Dynamaxed wild Pokémon were suddenly appearing in different stadiums. Victor/Gloria, Hop and Piers came to Ballonlea Stadium in hopes of helping Bede with his problem, only to find that Bede had already defeated the Dynamaxed Pokémon on his own. Bede took this opportunity to challenge Victor/Gloria to one last battle. After being defeated, he acknowledged them as the champion and gave them his rare League Card. Opal was glad that Bede was finally making decisions for himself, even though she pushed him into his current position.

Bede could also appear at further tournaments held by Victor/Gloria at Wyndon Stadium, either through invitation or at random, and then could possibly be battled in rematches. He could also be seen visiting the Isle of Armor. Whenever a Galarian Star Tournament was held, Bede could appear as a competitor there as well, either as a possible teammate who the player could choose or teamed up with any of the other Galar trainers as an opponent.

Pokémon Roster

• Solosis/Duosion: Solosis evolves prior to the third battle with Bede. It is removed from his roster after he switches types.
• Gothita/Gothorita: As with Solosis, Gothia evolves prior to the third battle and is removed from his roster after he switches types.
• Hatenna/Hattrem/Hatterene: The Pokémon to be a constant in Bede's team in every battle. Hattena evolves into Hattrem prior to the third battle and into Hatterene before the fourth Pokémon. His Hatterene is also the Pokémon that he Gigantamaxes. In a potential bit of Isle of Armor dialogue, Bede claims that this Pokémon was originally a gift from Rose, and that the two of them have been through thick and thin together.
• Ponyta/Rapidash: Ponyta is added part of his roster starting in the second battle. It evolves prior to the fourth battle.
• Mawile: Mawile is part of his team from the fourth battle onwards, as a result of his switching types.
• Gardevoir: Gardevoir is part of his team from the fourth battle onwards, as a result of his switching types.
• Sylveon: Sylveon is only part of his roster in post-game tournament rematches.

Bede also borrowed Rose's Copperajah for his attack on the mural. However, he did not use it in battle. For battles in the Galarian Star Tournament, he would use Mawile, Rapidash and Hatterene.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Bede and Hatterene appear as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature after being added to the game in June 2022. As in his original appearance, Bede's Hatterene was capable of Gigantamaxing. The in-game description called him a 'Gym Leader candidate', he was depicted in his original outfit, and he mentioned training with Opal, implying that his timeline was sometime during his training under Opal, but before he officially became a Gym Leader.

After being added to the game, Bede was featured in the "Revel in Rivalry" Story Event. The event started with Bede losing a battle against Blue and Silver, which frustrated him as he insisted to claim that he was perfect. Blue convinced him to take part in the New Stars of Pasio tournament, in which he would work on a team with two other trainers. Bede was ultimately paired with Hugh and Wally. He attempted to command his teammates rather than acting as a team player, which caused him to butt heads with Hugh. The team soon split up after they lost a battle to Hop's team, but Marnie helped Bede to realize that working with teammates could make him stronger. He also seemed to be inspired by Marnie's goal of promoting Spikemuth and realized that he could use a grander ambition as well. Bede then reconciled with his team, now willing to work alongside them as equals, and they proceeded to help fight off a group of Team Break members who were targeting the tournament's participants.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Bede appeared during the Sword/Shield arc. His arc mirrored the events of the games for the most part, as he started collecting Wishing Stars for Rose, got disqualified after attacking the mural at Stow-on-Side and ultimately became Ballonlea's new Gym Leader with Opal's tutelage. He was also shown to be jealous of Henry when Rose started paying attention to him.
• In the Pokémon: Twilight Wings series of anime shorts, Bede made a cameo appearance in the final episode. He was seen sitting in the stands with his Hatenna while watching Leon's battle with Raihan. He later made another appearance in the bonus episode, where he was shown in his Gym Leader outfit performing on stage for Opal alongside Gardevoir and Rapidash, when he was told about the Galarian Star Tournament. He agreed to go to prove the power of pink, and he was later seen among the competitors arriving for the battle.
• In the Pokémon Evolutions series of anime shorts, Bede made a cameo appearance in the first episode. He was seen near Marnie spectating Leon's battle against Victor.

Trivia

• His Japanese name is "Beet", named after the plant. His English name seems to have been chosen due to sounding similarly, and "bede" is also the Danish word for "beet".
• Bede's League Number is "908". This can be read in Japanese as a word meaning "clever".
• In addition to having two League Cards, Bede appears in the image used for Opal's rare League Card.
• He is left-handed.
• His Pokémon are kept in Great Balls.
• Bede is a rare example of a trainer who changed the type that he specializes in. The only other example is Jasmine, who changed types as part of her backstory.