Sonia (Pokemon)

Sonia
Species	Human
Hair color	Peach
Eye color	Blue
Base	Wedgehurst
Relatives	Professor Magnolia (grandmother)
Debut	Pokémon: Sword/Shield

Sonia is a supporting character appearing in Pokémon: Sword and Shield. She is the granddaughter of Professor Magnolia and becomes a Pokémon Professor herself over the course of the game.

Background

Sonia lived with her grandmother, Professor Magnolia, at her house at Route 2. When she was younger, she took part in Galar's Gym Challenge. She acted as a rival for Leon in those days. She and her Yamper also helped Leon to find his way when he was lost. Leon had a habit of teasing her, and the two of them tended to bicker. While Leon ended up becoming the champion of Galar, Sonia ended up returning home and helped her grandmother as an unofficial assistant. Magnolia pushed Sonia to do more with her life, but Sonia seemed to lack direction. At some point, she also befriended Nessa.

Within Sword/Shield, Sonia was first seen in Magnolia's Pokémon Lab at Wedgehurst. Sonia was minding the lab for her grandmother when Leon brought Victor/Gloria and Hop there. As Victor/Gloria and Hop were new trainers, Sonia installed the Galar Pokédex on their Rotom Phones and asked them to let her grandmother know that they received it. Sonia later met the young trainers again at Professor Magnolia's home, where she tried to ask them about the mysterious Pokémon that they had encountered in the Slumbering Weald. Afterwards, Professor Magnolia chastised her for staying at home while the young trainers were off on their journey. At the same time, Sonia wanted to look more into the mysterious Pokémon that they had encountered, and she hoped to impress her grandmother by showing that she had talent of her own. So she set off to travel as well and took the Power Spot Detector with her. She met with the trainers at the entrance to the Wild Area and gave them each a Pokémon Box Link, while explaining the Wild Area to them.

Sonia met with Victor/Gloria again at Motostoke, where she gave them a tour of the Pokémon Center and did some shopping. At the Budew Drop Inn, they saw a statue of Galar's legendary hero, and Sonia explained some of the legend associated with it, which was known as the Darkest Day. Afterwards, Sonia looked into more places associated with Galar's old legends, such as the geolyph at Turffield and the tapestries at Hammerlock's Vault. Along the way, she ran into Victor/Gloria several more times and usually gave them some sort of gift. This included TM 79: Retaliate, which Sonia gave them as a reward for defeating Nessa in the Gym Challenge, when Chairman Rose treated them to a dinner at Hulbury. At Stow-on-Side, Sonia examined a local mural. However, it was later attacked by Bede. When Sonia checked it with Victor/Gloria after Bede was defeated, it turned out that the mural had crumbled to reveal ruins which hinted at the truth behind Galar's legends: that the legendary heroes from the Darkest Day were actually Pokémon associated with a sword and shield. Sonia later tried to discuss these mysteries some more with Victor/Gloria at Hammerlocke, but they were interrupted by a commotion that occurred at Hammerlocke Stadium, and Sonia went off with Leon to look into it and to warn Chairman Rose.

At Circhester, Sonia treated Victor/Gloria and Hop to dinner at Bob's Your Uncle, where she happened upon another tapestry that contained more clues about Galar's legends. She then took them to examine the Hero's Bath and theorized that the two of them could become heroes of their own. She then set off to investigate the Slumbering Weald. Sonia next appeared at Hammerlocke after the player had earned seven badges, in the aftermath of an incident in which a mysterious red light forced a Pokémon to Dynamax, and Leon ended up defeating it. She and Leon talked about the incident with Victor/Gloria and Hop. Professor Magnolia then showed up and tasked her with looking into the connection between the red light and the Darkest Day. Sonia and the professor then went off to look into something, and they met with Victor/Gloria again right after they had earned their eighth badge from Raihan. There, Magnolia declared that she was ready to pass her lab coat onto Sonia. Sonia protested, because she had not yet completed her work, but Magnolia responded that she should see this as motivation to keep working on it. Thus, Sonia received her own lab coat.

Afterwards, Sonia spent some time performing research in the Slumbering Weald. She had just stepped out of the area when she met Victor/Gloria and Hop again. She found out that while she was in there, Chairman Rose had unleashed a Pokémon called Eternatus and set off a modern version of the Darkest Day. While Victor/Gloria and Hop went into the Slumbering Weald to search for the Legendary Pokémon, Sonia gave them some Max Revives and went to perform more research. She looked through some literature from other regions and through them managed to find the identities of the mysterious Pokémon: Zacian and Zamazenta. Sonia then reported her findings to Victor/Gloria and Hop. Afterwards, the two trainers were able to work with Zacian and Zamazenta to suppress Eternatus, and Victor/Gloria was able to defeat Leon to become Galar's new champion. As for Sonia, she officially became a professor and published a book about the truth that she had discovered: that Zacian and Zamazenta were the true heroes from Galar's past. She also had to look after all of the Wishing Stars that Rose had gathered at her lab, and she hired an assistant to help her with the extra work.

Sonia later crossed paths with Victor/Gloria again by the altar within the Slumbering Weald. She congratulated Victor/Gloria on their championship and reported how things had been going for her. She also encouraged the two of them to return the relics associated with the two Legendary Pokémon, the Rusted Sword and Shield, to their rightful place at the altar. However, they were then disrupted by two eccentric young men, Sordward and Shieldbert. They claimed to be descended from Galar's legendary heroes and dismissed Sonia's findings as lies. They stole one of the relics and used it to begin wreaking havoc across Galar by forcing Pokémon to Dynamax. Sonia was able to use the Power Spot Detector to track their movements, and she sent Victor/Gloria and Hop (who were joined by Piers) to different gyms in order to control the situations as they arose. Sordworth and Shieldbert eventually came to the lab to take the Wishing Stars. Although Victor/Gloria and Hop were able to defeat them, Sonia's assistant proceeded to betray her and handed the Wishing Stars over to them. Sonia was saddened by her betrayal, but she soon picked herself back up. She sent the trainers to look into some more Dynamax incidents, while she looked into the whereabouts of the two brothers.

She ultimately tracked Sordworth and Shieldbert to the Energy Plant at Hammerlocke, and her Yamper was able to help unlock the elevator door there. She then continued to defend her research and watched the final battles unfold. One of the Legendary Pokémon came to Victor/Gloria's aid and ultimately joined them, while the other was driven into a blind rage by the brothers, until quieted through battle with Victor/Gloria, and then it ended up joining Hop. Ultimately, the two brothers turned themselves in and withdrew their claims about Sonia, and Sonia also confronted her former assistant. Sonia then witnessed Victor/Gloria's final battle with Hop at the Slumbering Weald. In the aftermath of the battle, Hop declared that he had decided to become a Pokémon Professor, and Sonia decided to hire him as her new assistant.

Pokémon Roster

Sonia's only known Pokémon is her Yamper. She has owned it since her days of taking on the Gym Challenge.

Trivia

• Her name, which is the same in both Japanese and English, may be derived from the plant genus "Sandersonia". It is never made clear if she shares her grandmother's surname of "Magnolia".
• According to Opal's notes, Sonia answered all three of her questions correctly, but still failed her audition, and Opal felt that she gave up too easily, while being understanding of the pressure she must have faced as Magnolia's granddaughter.