Pryce

The Teacher of Winter's Harshness
Pryce
Species	Human
Hair color	Gray
Base	Mahogany Town
Debut	Pokémon: Gold Version/Pokémon: Silver Version

Pryce is the seventh gym leader faced in Pokémon: Gold Version, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions. His specialty is Ice-type Pokémon.

Background

Pryce was a veteran Pokémon trainer who served as the gym leader of the Mahogany Town gym. He had trained Pokémon for about fifty years as of Gold, Silver, Crystal and HeartGold/SoulSilver. He was very in touch with Pokémon, saying that he had seen and suffered much in his lifetime, and that Pokémon similarly have many experiences in their own lifetimes. He also was known to make metaphorical comparisons to winter and the cold in general, going as far as to call himself the Winter Trainer. The secret to his strength was apparently daily meditation under a waterfall to strengthen both his mind and body (although HeartGold/SoulSilver retconned this into training on cold ice).

In Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver, he was challenged and defeated by Ethan/Lyra. Pryce assured the trainer that their strong will would allow them to overcome all of life's obstacles, and he awarded them with the Glacierbadge as well as TM16: Icy Wind (or TM 07: Hail in HeartGold/SoulSilver). He also told Ethan/Lyra that they and their Pokémon would be together for many years, so they should cherish their time together. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he would later appear by the Lake of Rage on Saturday mornings, where he would exchange Pokégear numbers with the player. Calling him on Monday mornings (between the hours of 4AM and 10AM) would cause him to travel to Saffron City's Fighting Dojo for a rematch.

Pryce returned in Black and White 2 as one of the competitors in the Pokémon World Tournament held in Unova. He took part in the Johto Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

Pokémon Roster

In Gold, Silver and Crystal as well as HeartGold and SoulSilver, he has the following Pokémon:

• Seel
• Dewgong
• Piloswine

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he uses the following Pokémon for rematches:

• Abomasnow
• Dewgong
• Glalie
• Froslass
• Walrein
• Mamoswine

In Black 2 and White 2, his tournament line-up could include Mamoswine, Jynx, Dewgong, Cloyster, Lapras and Weavile.

Other Games

Pryce appears in Pokémon Stadium 2 as the seventh opponent in the Gym Leader's Castle. In this game his roster consists of a Piloswine, Dewgong, Cloyster, Ursaring, Donphan and Jynx in the R1 battles, and Tentacruel, Articuno, Quagsire, Girafarig, Piloswine and Hitmontop in R2.

In Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, he is the seventh opponent and uses a Seel in battle.

Other Appearances

• Pryce appeared in three subsequent episodes of the Pokémon anime, which gave him a tragic past. It was shown that he was a champion trainer in his youth until he was badly burned in battle, after which his Piloswine left while he was bedridden and never returned. Feeling abandoned, he became cold-hearted and bitter, believing that Pokémon were only good for battling. Although Pryce defeated Ash in their first battle, his disposition softened after they found his Piloswine frozen in ice, where it had been looking for medicine for Pryce all along, and revived it. Pryce proceeded to forfeit his next match with Ash.
• Within the Pokémon Adventures manga, Pryce was depicted as the main villain of the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc. He was wheelchair-bound and possessed powers over ice (and some over time itself) which he used to pose as the Mask of Ice and become the new leader of Team Rocket in Giovanni's absence. It is eventually revealed that years ago, he was friends with Professor Oak, Agatha, Kurt and the couple who ran the Pokémon daycare center until an incident resulting in the loss of his two favorite Lapras. This caused him to become sullen and withdraw from his friends into isolation. As the Mask of Ice, he captured and brainwashed children to becoming his loyal servants, such as Green and Silver (who escaped), and Will and Karen (who joined him willingly). His ultimate goal was to create a GS Ball with the feathers from Ho-Oh and Lugia for use of capturing Celebi for use in traveling back in time to save his Pokémon. Battling Gold and the other trainers in the meantime, his identity was not revealed until the final chapters of the arc, when he succeeded in capturing Celebi and began traveling back in time. However, Gold was able to follow him and destroy the GS Ball, which freed Celebi and left Pryce trapped within the time vortex with seemingly no way to escape. However, at the same time he heard a song that Oak and the others had written for him a long time ago, and the song finally achieved its intended purpose of warming Pryce's heart. Pryce later returned in the HeartGold/SoulSilver arc, where it was shown that as he was trapped in the time vortex, he witnessed the creation of the world and its possible end. After being freed by Celebi, he teamed up with Lance and Giovanni to fight against the legendary Pokémon serving Arceus. Pryce battled Dialga, and after the battled was concluded, Pryce returned to his gym, and Silver forgave him.

Trivia

• His name seems to be a play on 'ice'.
• In HeartGold/SoulSilver, he claims during battle that his middle name is Willow, and like the willow tree he is flexible and not easily broken. It is unsure whether or not he intended for this to be taken literally, although his Japanese name is Yanagi, which is the Japanese word for 'willow'.