Brycen

"Ice Mask"
Brycen
Species	Human
Hair color	Light Blue
Eye color	Gray
Base	Icirrus City
Voiced by	Christopher Bevins (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Black/White Versions

Brycen is the gym leader of Icirrus City's Pokémon gym and is the seventh gym leader who appears as an opponent in Pokémon: Black and White Versions. He specializes in ice-type Pokémon.

Background

Brycen used to be a famous movie star years ago. He used to think that he could do any action scene and put himself in unnecessary danger, until he suffered some sort of unspecified injury that was implied to have lead to the end of his career. He would later look back at his acting days with regret, as he felt that he sought amazing action instead of trying to communicate through his acting.

He became depressed after the end of his film career, until Alder gave him some advice relating to the bonds between people and Pokémon, and how this support makes one stronger. He proceeded to spend some time secluded in an ice cave, where he trained and became skilled enough to become Icirrus City's gym leader. He wore a costume with a mask, because he felt a need to conceal his identity, even though the locals all seemed to be aware of his past. Brycen became known for his calm approach to all things, which some confused with a lack of emotion. His gym was a conventional ice maze with moving gears activated by switches. Victorious challengers of his gym would earn the Freeze Badge.

Black/White

In Pokémon: Black and White Versions, he presumably was among the gym leaders when they met together to discuss the problem of Team Plasma. He was later challenged by Hilbert/Hilda and went directly into the battle. Brycen was defeated and surrendered the Frost Badge to the player as well as TM 79: Frost Breath. He told the player that he was unsure what strength was no matter how many times he got into battles, but he believed that Hilbert/Hilda could find an answer. Brycen then stepped outside of his gym while Hilbert/Hilda was still there with friends Cheren and Bianca. Brycen was able to tell that Team Plasma's Shadow Triad were hiding nearby, and he called them out of hiding. The Shadow Triad delivered their message to Hilbert/Hilda telling them that N was waiting at Dragonspiral Tower. Brycen told Cheren that he would have to put off a gym match for the time being and went to the tower to try to stop Team Plasma, and Cheren decided to come with him. Within the tower, Brycen and Cheren wound up holding off the brunt of the Plasma grunts so that Hilbert/Hilda could advance to meet N. They arrived at the tower's roof too late, as N had already awakened either Zekrom or Reshiram and flown off atop it. Cheren tried to go over what happened, but Brycen urged him to calm down as it was more important to decide what they would do next.

The trainers regrouped with Professor Cedric Juniper by Icirrus and were joined by Alder. They put their heads together to decide that it would be best for Hilbert/Hilda to travel to the Relic Castle in search of the stone opposing N's Pokémon. While most of the group went to the Relic Castle, Brycen decided to stay behind to help Cedric to investigate the tower, wondering if the legendary Pokémon saw anything in N. He eventually returned to his gym, where Cheren and Bianca were both able to defeat him. Bianca later called for him when she gathered up all of the gym leaders after N's Castle arose at the Pokémon League. The gym leaders arrived in time to hold off six of Team Plasma's Seven Sages while Hilbert/Hilda proceeded onwards to battle N.

Black/White 2

At some point over the following two years, as elaborated upon in a Memory Link flashback, Brycen resigned from being a gym leader and decided to restart his film career instead. This was because he saw that people were concerned about how to interact with Pokémon in the wake of the Team Plasma crisis, and he felt that the best way to communicate his bond with his Pokémon and ease the public's worries was through movies. Within the Memory Link flashback, he discussed this with Alder and Marshal, with the former also deciding to step down from his position in the Pokémon League.

Within Black and White 2, Brycen appeared at Pokéstar Studios, where he starred as antagonists in two different film series: Brycen-Man (playing the titular role) and Full Metal Cop (as Mecha Cop). Additionally, even though the Iccirus Gym was closed down, it could still be entered, with the ice puzzle still intact. Brycen could be found in the back of the gym, and instead of battling Nate/Rosa, he mused about his past, Alder's advice and his current path as an actor before leaving. Brycen would also compete in the Pokémon World Tournament, taking part in the Unova Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert divisions.

Pokémon Roster

In Black and White uses the following Pokémon in gym battles:

• Vanillish
• Cryogonal
• Beartic

In Black 2 and White 2, his potential roster for tournament battles could include the following Pokémon:

• Cryogonal
• Beartic
• Vanilluxe
• Weavile
• Dewgong
• Walrein

His character in the Brycen-Man film series used different Pokémon in battles; Pawniard and Vullaby in the first one; Honchcrow and Scrafty in the second one; Zoroark and Mandibuzz in the third one, in addition to Brycen-Man himself being part of the battle; and for Bryce-Man Strikes Back Harder, he had a full team consisting of Weavile, Houndoom, Hydreigon, Bisharp, Sharpedo and Zoroark.

For his appearances in the Full Metal Cop series, his character has only one Pokémon which is different in each of his appearances: Heraross, Sawk and finally Escavalier.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters, Brycen and his Cryogonal appeared together as a playable sync pair that could be unlocked at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature. He could alternately use Walrein in some instances when battled as an opponent. Brycen also appeared as an opponent for Rosa in the sync pair story for Snivy's evolution. He claimed to be Brycen-Man (while wearing his normal clothing), referred to Rosa as "Snivy-Girl" and used a Zoroark for the battle. Rosa ultimately saw this as his way of supporting her. Within the Main Story, he made an appearance during the Unova chapter of the Villain Arc, where he and Burgh talked about Genesect after it was brought to the Pokémon Center. Brycen was also featured in the "Shining Heart of Dragons" Story Event, in which he accompanied and supported Iris when she took part in the Festival of Champions. He and Diantha were shown to be fans of each other's acting careers, and he also played pretend with children while posing as Brycen-Man. He was also shown teaming up with The Masked Royal in "New Year and New Friends", and he was mentioned in "Galar's Poké Ball Enthusiast" where Ball Guy took inspiration in acting like a villain from seeing Brycan performing in a play. During his own Sync Pair Story, he talked about his intentions to produce a film based around the theme of sync strength and following all of his adventures with his Cryogonal.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Brycen was featured in two episodes of the Pokémon anime. In the first episode, Ash's group met him in the mountains and helped him to foil poachers, and Ash also trained with him. Cilan recognized him as a movie star, and he discussed his background as an actor, which was similar to that in the games. It was not until they returned to Iccirus City afterwards that the group was surprised to find out that he was also a gym leader, and Ash was able to defeat him in a gym battle.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, he appeared during the Black/White arc, with a similar background as in the games. He joined the other gym leaders in attempting to protect the Dark Stone, and although they failed, Brycen was able to escape and find the Light Stone. Brycen spent some time training Black, and they had a gym battle as his final test, giving him the Light Stone as a reward. Brycen was later captured while trying to investigate Team Plasma, but he was freed by the other trainers and helped to fight the evil organization afterwards. He also appeared in the Black 2/White 2 arc, which he had gone back into acting just as in the games. He also talked with Cheren and suggested to him that he take up the vacant gym leader spot.
• In the Pokémon Generations anime, one episode adapted the gym leaders' battle against Team Plasma from the climax of Black/White, with Brycen appearing among the gym leaders' ranks.

Trivia

• His English name is derived from "ice". His Japanese name is Hachiku, named after the Japanese name for a type of bamboo.
• In Pokémon: X and Y, it was possible to find a Brycen-Man action figure in the lost and found at Hotel Richissime. One of the Gym Freaks reports also mentions that a Brycen-Man film brought Wulfric to tears.