Anabel

Salon Maiden
Anabel
Species	Human
Affiliation	International Police (Gen 7) Hoenn Battle Frontier (Emerald)
Hair color	Lilac
Eye color	Lilac
Height	165 cm./5'5" (Gen 7)
Base	Battle Tower (Hoenn - Emerald)
Voiced by	Alexis Tipton (2023)
Debut	Pokémon: Emerald Version

Anabel is a recurring character from the Pokémon series who initially appeared as one of the seven Frontier Brains of Hoenn's Battle Frontier in Pokémon: Emerald Version. She was the Salon Maiden in charge of the Battle Tower. Years later, she has resurfaced in the seventh generation games as a supporting character who is a member of the International Police.

Background

Emerald

Anabel was a skilled trainer who was placed in charge of Hoenn's Battle Tower within the region's Battle Frontier. In Emerald, she heard rumors about Brendan/May prior to meeting them, but she was initially unimpressed with the trainer. She would challenge them after their 35 and then 70th subsequent victory. In the first challenge, she sought to see Brendan/May's talent in its entirety, and upon her defeat she gave them the Ability Symbol.

When challenged a second time, she decided not to hold back, having looked forward to the rematch, as it had been a long time since she was able to battle without thinking about anything else. After being defeated, she gave them a gold symbol, saying that she had never had a more enjoyable battle and wished that they could battle again.

International Police

While the circumstances are unknown, at some point Anabel fell through an Ultra Wormhole and ended up landing on Poni Island in the Alola Islands. She was discovered by members of the International Police named Looker and Nanu in an amnesiac state. The only things she could remember were her name, the name of her home region, the fact that she was a powerful trainer and that she protected some type of tower. She was placed under the International Police's protective custody.

They were able to detect large amounts of Ultra Wormhole energy within her, meaning that she was a Faller who could attract the attention of Ultra Beasts. Looker and Nanu decided to keep this information secret from her. Over the course of the next ten years, Anabel joined the International Police and eventually became Looker's superior in a secret division of the police known as the UB Task Force. Nanu would later speculate that she might have been given that role so that she could act as bait for Ultra Beasts due to her role as a Faller, which Anabel remained oblivious about.

Sun/Moon

In Pokémon: Sun and Moon, ten years after she was initially discovered, Anabel and Looker were sent to the Alola Islands due to the rash of Ultra Beast appearances in the region. They met with the region's new champion, Elio/Selene and they explained the situation to them. Their duties were to investigate the presence of the Ultra Beasts in the area, protect the locals from being harmed by them and to either protect or destroy the Ultra Beasts themselves. Anabel did not want to destroy any living creatures, so she asked Elio/Selene to join their task force in order to help save them. She also battled the trainer as a test of their strength, and Elio/Selene was able to win.

They then launched a series of investigations, in which they looked into leads on Ultra Beasts with the help of locals who acted as informants. During the Ultra Beast battles, Anabel would use her Pokémon to protect the local populace, and she also arranged for Elio/Selene to keep the captured Ultra Beasts so that they would not become research subjects for the International Police. Over the course of their missions, Anabel grew increasingly tired and kept on pushing herself, which made Looker concerned. His attempts to get them to relax with plans to feast at restaurants also kept on getting delayed by sudden Ultra Beast-related developments. Finally, during the last Ultra Beast mission, Looker sent her to the wrong location in order to force her to relax rather than pushing herself further past her limits.

After all of the Ultra Beasts were captured, Anabel reported their success to Wicke, and she and Looker received vacation time from the International Police. Anabel decided to take this chance to speak to Nanu and also go sightseeing around the islands. Afterwards, she competed at the Battle Tree, where she could be battled by the player or act as a partner for Double Battles. She said that fighting in the Battle Tree made her feel nostalgic, and it seemed to stir up memories of the Battle Frontier.

Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon

In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, an alternate storyline is followed which lacks the entire UB Task Force subplot. Anabel and Looker still traveled to the Alola Islands, but in these versions, she was merely visiting on vacation, with Looker acting as her bodyguard. They could be encountered on Poni Island, and Anabel then went on to compete at the Battle Tree (just as in Sun/Moon) in order to train and increase her efficiency as an International Police member.

Pokémon Roster

In Emerald, Anabel uses the following Pokémon for the first challenge:

• Alakazam
• Entei
• Snorlax

Anabel instead uses the following Pokémon in the second challenge:

• Raikou
• Latias
• Snorlax

In Sun and Moon, she uses the following Pokémon in battle:

• Akazam
• Weavile
• Mismagius
• Salamence
• Snorlax

For fights at the Battle Tree, the pool of Pokémon that Anabel could potentially use two or three of in battles included Alakazam, Snorlax, Raikou, Entei, Latios and Lucario.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Anabel (as seen in the seventh generation) and her Snorlax (now with a Gigantamax factor) appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the Sync Pair Scout during limited time periods, starting in February 2023. She has also used Weavile in some battles. She retained her amnesia from the games, although she did show awareness that she attracted Ultra Beasts, if not fully aware of being a Faller. While she has not yet been shown interacting with other Hoenn Frontier Brains, she would remark that something felt familiar if placed on a team with Palmer, who led the Battle Tower of Sinnoh and Johto's Battle Frontier.

Within the game's Main Story, she appeared in several later chapters of the Villain Arc to help deal with the rise in activity by villainous organizations on Pasio. She first showed up late in the Kalos chapter, where she arrived in time to help Looker and Emma to fend of Ariana, Proton and Petrel of Team Rocket. She was introduced to Emma at this point, although she already knew who she was. In the aftermath of the battle, she passed along what she knew about information that Team Rocket had stolen from the Aether Foundation. This led into the Alola chapter, in which she again tired herself while trying to hold off Ultra Beasts that were appearing in Pasio. Anabel and Looker were later joined by Nanu in these efforts, and she felt reassured to work alongside the two of them. She also made an appearance in the final chapter of the Villain Arc, where she tried to contain the chaos from Team Break battling Team Rocket alongside Looker and Nanu, and she witnessed that Team Rocket had indeed obtained some Ultra Beasts in the process. Outside of the Main Story, she was shown working with a Togepi in the "Metronome Day" Special Event and also played a role in the "Twin Stars Far Apart" Story Event. In the latter event, she and Nanu were acting as bodyguards for Tate and Liza while they prepared for a performance at a star festival. Liza was sucked into an Ultra Wormhole that suddenly appeared, and Anabel followed her into it. This temporarily trapped them in an empty version of Pasio. Anabel tried to provide Liza with guidance, and ultimately they were returned to their version of Pasio thanks to the bond between the twins as well as help from Jirachi and a Celesteela.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Anabel appeared in two subsequent episodes of the Pokémon anime during the series based on Emerald and the Battle Frontier. This version of Anabel possessed the ability to sense Pokémon's emotions and give them telepathic commands. She attempted to teach this ability to Ash and May but failed. Ash battled her for the Ability Symbol, being defeated the first time and then defeating her in the rematch. In this version, the Battle Tower is located near Tohjo Falls in the Kanto region.
• Anabel appears throughout the Emerald arc of the Pokémon Adventures manga, where she is described as the most powerful of the Frontier Brains and has a Raikou. Near the end of the arc, she is brainwashed by Guile Hideout so he could make a wish to Jirachi atop the Battle Tower, and he has Anabel activate the tower's challenges to stall or prevent the other trainers from stopping him. Emerald makes his way to the top of the tower adhering to its battle rules and battles with Anabel until her resistance to the mind control knocks her out. After the crisis is resolved, Anabel gives him the Ability Symbol as a reward for all of his hard work and for technically completing the Battle Tower challenge during the battle with Guile. In the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire arc, the Frontier Brains reappeared to fight the leaders of Neo Team Magma and Neo Team Aqua, and they also helped with the effort to stop Grand Meteor Delta. She has since appeared as a member of the International Police in the Sun/Moon arc, in which she is shown to be aware that she was a Faller.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is Lila in reference to lilacs, with her hair also being lilac-colored.
• In the Japanese version, her title is "Tower Tycoon", a title shared with Palmer, the Frontier Brain of Sinnoh and Johto's Battle Frontier. The only other Frontier Brains to share titles are Noland and Thorton.
• Her team in Sun and Moon includes some Pokémon from her Emerald team, and her potential Battle Tree Pokémon include the rest. It is unknown if they are her original Pokémon, or if she was separated from them by her wormhole trip, in which case she may be either consciously or subconsciously recreating her old team.
• Her circumstances are later paralleled by Ingo in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, as both start off as leaders of battle facilities before being pulled through some type of wormhole to another place and/or time while retaining only faint memories of their past.