Shelly

Shelly
Species	Human
Affiliation	Team Aqua
Hair color	Red (Gen III) Black with Blue streaks (Gen VI)
Eye color	Red (Gen III)
Debut	Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire Versions

Shelly is an Admin of Team Aqua who appeared as a recurring opponent in Pokémon: Sapphire and Emerald Versions, as well as in the Alpha Sapphire remake.

Background

Shelly was a loyal follower of Archie who acted as one of the Admins of Team Aqua, along with Matt. She was committed to Team Aqua's vision of a world in which the water was expanded through the revival of the Legendary Pokémon Kyogre. She had two different designs across the versions of the game. In the original third generation games, she was depicted as being pale-skinned with long red hair, while the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire remakes gave her a new design that was dark-skinned with black hair that had two blue streaks in it. Her outfit and headwear (a bandana in the original and goggles in the remakes) also differed depending on the version.

Sapphire/Emerald

Shelly's role was largely the same in both Sapphire and Emerald. In this version, she had a habit of breaking into laughter and tended to act flirtatious, describing Brendan/May as being "so cute" that they were "disgusting". She first appeared at the Weather Institute, where she commanded Team Aqua grunts in trying to steal Castform until she was defeated by Brendan/May. In Emerald, she departed from there to race Team Magma to Mt. Pyre.

After Archie retrieved the Red Orb, Shelly accompanied him to the Seafloor Cavern, where Brendan/May battled her a second time. This battle could potentially be a Multi Battle in Emerald in which she fought alongside an Aqua Grunt. After being defeated again, Shelly was impressed by Brendan/May's strength and expressed her regret that they were not a fellow Team Aqua member who could share in Archie's vision of the world.

Alpha Sapphire

In Alpha Sapphire, she was Archie's second-in-command in what was known as Project AZOTH and formerly worked for the Devon Corporation, using her knowledge for that position to construct that Aqua Suit that could be used for confronting Kyogre. She was portrayed more seriously, although she still tended to flirt here and there. In this version, she first appeared at Mt. Chimney in search of the Meteorite that Professor Cozmo had discovered. She was defeated by Brendan/May, but she was still able to retreat with the Meteorite after Team Magma arrived to fight them. She brought it to Archie at Mt. Chimney. There, Brendan/May defeated her again while making their way to Archie.

Afterwards, Shelly raided the Weather Institute for information on the extreme weather that was caused when Groudon and Kyogre underwent Primal Reversion thousands of years ago. This data shook Shelly's faith in Team Aqua's mission, as she realized this had the potential to wipe out people and Pokémon, rather than creating the utopia envisioned by Archie. She then met up with Brendan/May again and decided to battle them even though she was 'off the clock', as she considered it to be a possible distraction with how dispirited she felt at the moment. After being defeated, Shelly felt somewhat more relax and thanked the trainer by tipping them off that Archie's plan might ultimately revert the world back to its beginnings and that Team Aqua should be heading for Mt. Pyre next.

Despite her misgivings, Shelly accompanied Archie in stealing the Submarine Explorer 1 at Slateport Harbor, and they set off to the Seafloor Cavern together. There, she confronted Archie with her doubts about what this plan would accomplish, but Archie rebuffed her criticism and activated Kyogre's Primal Reversion. Archie quickly came to regret his actions, however, and Shelly helped Archie to escape from Primal Kyogre's path of destruction. Regrouping at Sootopolis City, Shelly decided that they would pass the Aqua Suit on to Brendan/May so that they could use it to face Primal Kyogre. After Kyogre was defeated, she scolded Archie for his actions and told him that no one could forgive his actions, but also that he did not need the world's forgiveness. Shelly then declared that she would stay with him forever to help him him as long as he stopped going out on his own and "acting crazy".

Shelly then appeared in the Delta Episode at the Aqua Hideout. She checked up on Archie after Zinnia attacked him and stole his Key Stone. At Archie's request, she let Brendan/May have his Sharpedonite. At the end of the Delta Episode, she watched as Archie and Matt reconciled. Afterwards, she would thank Brendan/May when visited and stated that Team Aqua was now taking steps in a new direction.

Omega Ruby

In Omega Ruby, she makes a cameo appearance in the postgame with Archie and Matt. When Brendan/May first arrived at the Battle Resort, they were shown as having freshly arrived as well. They bumped into Wally, and Shelly was offended at being called a 'ma'am' rather than a 'miss'. She expressed interest in the hypothetical world Archie discussed in which they would try to revive Kyogre instead of Maxie reviving Groudon, and she also admired the way Archie was excited to meet strong trainers like Brendan/May.

Pokémon Roster

In all versions of the game, Shelly uses Carvanha and Mightyena the first time she is battled. In Sapphire and Emerald, her Carvanha becomes a Sharpedo by the second time she is battled. In Alpha Sapphire, she uses Sharpedo the third time she is battled, and it is the only Pokémon she uses for that battle.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Shelly appeared during several episodes of the Hoenn-based series that featured Team Aqua. She was the only Aqua Admin depicted in the series and was shown to have a rivalry with Tabitha. She was prominently featured in one of the climactic Team Aqua/Team Magma episodes, in which she infiltrated Team Magma's hideout while disguised as one of their grunts and freed Kyogre from their clutches. The English dub erroneously named her Isabel during her first episode, but her name was correcting for her later appearances.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Shelly was originally featured during the Ruby/Sapphire arc. She worked with Matt and the manga-exclusive Admin Amber, and the three of them became known as the SSS: the Subleaders of the Sea Scheme. Shelly was able to render Mt. Chimney inert and became enemies with Flannery. She was able to defeat Flannery in the arc's climax, but Flannery was also able to render her Ludicolo unable to battle further, which forced her to retreat. In the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire arc, a new Shelly was introduced as an Admin of Neo Team Aqua. Based on Shelly's remake design, it was retconned that the name 'Shelly' (as well as most of the other Admin names for both teams) was actually a title passed between Aqua Admins. As in the games, she was shown as a former Devon employee.
• Shelly was featured in an episode of Pokémon Generations which used the designs and story elements from Alpha Sapphire. The episode depicted Shelly's unsuccessful attempt to change Archie's mind at the Seafloor Cavern. At the end of the episode, she is seen at the Seafloor Explorer 1 with Archie when Kyogre comes to attack them.

Trivia

• Her English name is a simple play on "shell", in reference to seashells. Her Japanese name is Izumi, from the Japanese word for a water spring.
• In Alpha Sapphire, there is a photo in her room that, according to the description, seems to be depicting Archie and Shelly as children with Jirachi. This indicates that they have known each other since childhood and had some encounter with Jirachi at that time.
• Her role in Sapphire acts as a parallel to Courtney's role in Ruby. In Alpha Sapphire, her role instead parallels Tabitha's. Shelly and Tabitha are even both said to be former Devon employees, although is unknown if they both worked there at the same time and in the same continuity.
• In Ruby, she only makes a cameo appearance among Team Aqua's members.