Ethan (game)

Ethan ヒビキ Hibiki
Art from HeartGold and SoulSilver
Gender	Male
Hometown	New Bark Town
Region	Johto
Relatives	Mom (as player) Daycare Couple (as NPC)
Trainer class	Pokémon Trainer, Player character
Generation	II, IV
Games	Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, SoulSilver
Anime counterpart	Jimmy
Counterpart debut	The Legend of Thunder!
Manga counterpart(s)	Gold

Ethan (Japanese: ヒビキ Hibiki) is the main playable character in Pokémon Gold and Silver and is the male choice in Pokémon Crystal and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. In Crystal, his female counterpart is Kris, while in HeartGold and SoulSilver his female counterpart is Lyra.

He is a caring young boy who lives with his mother in New Bark Town. In Generation II, he was known by fans as Gold (ゴールド Gold).

Storyline in the games

When selected as the player character

Ethan's journey as a Trainer begins when Professor Elm asks him to run an errand for Mr. Pokémon, who lives north of Cherrygrove City. Because he may encounter dangerous wild Pokémon along the way, Elm gives him a choice between three Pokémon to protect him: Cyndaquil, Totodile or Chikorita.

Ethan meets another boy his age watching Elm's Lab from outside. When he tries to talk to him, the boy abruptly shoves him away. The boy, Silver, will become Ethan's rival, analagous to Blue in Generation I.

Ethan continues onward and finally meets Mr. Pokémon and completes his errand. While there he meets Professor Oak who, upon realizing Ethan's bond with his new Pokémon, gives him a Pokédex. On his way back home, Ethan again meets Silver, who has stolen one of Elm's remaining Pokémon. After defeating the boy in battle, he learns his name due to a dropped Trainer card and relays it to the police in New Bark Town. Professor Elm allows Ethan to keep the Pokémon he chose earlier, and encourages him to compete in the Johto League.

From there Ethan begins on a Pokémon journey in the Johto region, facing off against its eight Gym Leaders, defeating and disbanding the revived Team Rocket, and becoming League Champion by defeating the Elite Four and its previous Champion, Lance at the Indigo Plateau. Along the way he also teaches Silver to respect Pokémon as living creatures and not just as tools for battle.

After being declared the League Champion, Ethan then takes a short trip on a ship, the S.S. Aqua, from Olivine City to Vermilion City in Kanto. Journeying across that region, he battles against its own set of eight Gym Leaders. Upon getting permission from Professor Oak in Pallet Town, Ethan heads for Mt. Silver via Route 28. His journey comes to a close when he faces the legendary trainer Red deep in Mt. Silver's cave, who had been training there since shortly after he became League Champion three years prior.

When not selected as the player character

In Pokémon Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, there is a choice between two player characters. If Kris, Ethan's female counterpart in Crystal is selected as the player, then Ethan will not appear in the game at all (although his sprite will be used in a link battle with another game from Generation II). In the fourth generation games, Ethan will appear in a number of cameo roles as a non-player character when the player opts to use Lyra. In this capacity he will teach the player how to catch Pokémon; it is later revealed that his grandparents are the Day Care couple who live on Route 34. Naturally, when the roles are reversed and Ethan is the player character, this role is given to Lyra.

Pokémon

Ethan uses this party to show the player how to catch Pokémon when Lyra is selected as the player character in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver.

File:HGSS Gold Back.png [[Pokémon Trainer (Trainer class)|Pokémon Trainer]] Ethan [[Route 29|Route 29]] HeartGold and SoulSilver [[Pokémon Trainer (Trainer class)|Pokémon Trainer]] and Professor Ethan Oak [[Route 29|Route 29]] HeartGold and SoulSilver Reward: None
Types: Water Unknown Ability: Unknown Held item: None Marill Lv.5 Tackle Normal Physical   --       Defense Curl Normal Status   --       Unknown Unknown   --       Unknown Unknown   --

Artwork

Artwork from the Pokémon Gold and Silver manual and player's guide:

• Gold1.png

  Ethan holds his backpack.

• Crystal Gold.png

  Artwork from Pokémon Crystal.

• Hiro2.png

  Ethan running.

• Gold3.png

  Ethan checks his PokéGear.

• Gold4.png

  Ethan approaches a Time Capsule.

Sprites:

File:GS Gold.png	File:Gold crystal.png	File:GS Gold Back.png		File:HibikiChallenge.png	File:HGSS Gold Back.png	File:HGSS Hibiki Pokéthlon Jersey.png
Ethan's sprite from Gold and Silver	Ethan's sprite from Crystal	Ethan's backsprite from Generation II	Ethan's sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver	Ethan's Challenge sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver	Ethan's backsprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver	Ethan's Pokéathlon sprite from HeartGold and SoulSilver

Optional names for Ethan

Language	Gold	Silver	Crystal	HeartGold/SoulSilver
English	Gold Hiro Taylor Karl	Silver Kamon Oscar Max	Chris Mat Allan Jon
Japanese	ゴールド Gold ヒロキ Hiroki テツオ Tetsuo タカシ Takashi	シルバー Silver カモン Kamon トオル Tōru マサオ Masao	クリス Chris ヨウスケ Yōsuke タケヒロ Takehiro タカオ Takao	ハート Heart ソウル Soul サトシ Satoshi ケン Ken カケル Kakeru ジャック Jack ジャン Jean ジョン John カモン Kamon タカシ Takashi テツオ Tetsuo トオル Tōru ヒロキ Hiroki マサオ Masao タカオ Takao タケヒロ Takehiro トウゴ Tōgo ヒトシ Hitoshi ヨシナオ Yoshinao
French	Gold Julien Jean Jacques	Silver Daniel Pierre Paul	Chris Benji Nicolas Jean
German	Gold Daniel Fritz Karl	Silber Thomas Oscar Hans	Chris Arnold Gert Jon
Italian	Oro Paolo Diego Carlo	Argento Luca Paolo Max	Chris Sergio Giacomo Manuele
Spanish	Oro Hiro Tomás Carlos	Plata Kamon Óscar Max	Cris Antonio Álex Emilio
Korean	골드 Gold 수호 Suho 인철 Incheol 강산 Gangsan	실버 Silver 청운 Cheong'un 지겸 Jigyeom 찬호 Chanho	UNAVAILABLE

Counterparts

Jimmy from the special episode The Legend of Thunder, seems to be based off of Ethan in the most basic sense, much more than Ash was based off his counterpart, Red. However, like Ash and Red aren't interchangeable, neither are Jimmy and Ethan, nor Marina and Kris or anime Lyra and game Lyra.

Other counterparts of Ethan include Gold from Pokémon Adventures manga, Gold from Golden Boys manga and Kinnosuke from Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga.

Names

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	ヒビキ Hibiki	From 響き hibiki, "echo".
English	Ethan	Possibly derived from "echo".
Italian	Armonio	Derived from "armonia", Italian for "harmony".
Spanish	Eco	Derived from "eco" Spanish for echo.
Korean	심향 Simhyang

Trivia

• Ethan is the only male player character who does not wear long pants, instead opting for shorts.
• Ethan is the only male player character to have two different female counterparts.
• Ethan is the main protagonist in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge's Challenge Mode.
• The majority of his Japanese default names from HeartGold and SoulSilver are shared with Red and Lucas. The same holds true for their respective female counterparts.
• Ethan and Lyra are the only pseudo-rivals, along with the only rival characters in any game apart from Wally, to not appear to have a starter Pokémon from the professor in that region.
• Ethan's sprite in HeartGold and SoulSilver is positioned the same as Lucas's in Platinum.

Player characters
Core series Red • Leaf • Ethan • Kris • Lyra • Brendan • May • Lucas • Dawn Hilbert • Hilda • Nate • Rosa • Calem • Serena • Elio • Selene Chase • Elaine • Victor • Gloria • Rei • Akari • Florian • Juliana Side series Wes • Michael • Nate • Cyndy Spin-off games Mark • Mint • Todd Snap • Lucy Fleetfoot Lunick • Solana • Kellyn • Kate • Ben • Summer Hero • Heroine • Tim Goodman • Scottie • Bettie

Professor Elm • Professor Oak • Mom • Ethan • Lyra • Silver • Mr. Pokémon • Eusine • Lance • Red • Kiyo • Baoba • Magnus • Earl • Kurt • Carrie • Dude
Mary • Buena • Radio Director • Haircut brothers • Webster • Master • Li • Wilma • Primo • Maximo • Jet • Caitlin • Cynthia • Cameron • Mr. Game • Felicity • Teala
Team Rocket • Gym guide • Gym Leaders • Frontier Brains • Kimono Girls • Week Siblings • Name Rater • Poké Seer • Day-Care Couple • Professor's aides

This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.