Roark

Roark ヒョウタ Hyouta
"Call me Roark the Rock!"
Art from Diamond/Pearl
Gender	Male
Eye color	Cordovan
Hair color	Cordovan
Hometown	Oreburgh City
Region	Sinnoh
Relatives	Byron (father), Underground Man (grandfather), Unnamed mother (anime)
Trainer class	Gym Leader
Generation	IV
Games	Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum
Leader of	Oreburgh Gym
Badge	Coal Badge
Specializes in	Template:Type2s
Anime debut	Shapes of Things to Come!
English voice actor	Craig Blair Zoe Martin (child)
Japanese voice actor	Masataka Azuma Satsuki Yukino (child)

Roark (Japanese: ヒョウタ Hyouta) is the Gym Leader of Oreburgh City's Gym, known officially as the Oreburgh Gym. He hands out the Coal Badge to Trainers who defeat him. He specializes in Template:Type2 Pokémon. He is Byron's son.

In the games

File:Oreburgh Gym Roark.png

Oreburgh City Gym

Roark's team is made up entirely of Template:Type2 Pokémon. After he is defeated, he will give the player the Coal Badge and TM76 (Stealth Rock); the badge gives the player the ability to use Rock Smash outside of battle. Roark, as the Oreburgh Mine's safety supervisor, lets the Trainers of Oreburgh train in the mines. Despite his young age, he keeps the mine running safely and efficiently. After losing, he feels embarrassed that his Cranidos lost to a trainer without any badges and cautions the protagonist that the following leaders are a lot tougher. Roark later appears in the Underground, welcoming the player on their first visit there, and explaining a handful of features of the area. Like the other Gym Leaders, he can be fought again at the Battleground in Platinum Version.

As a child, Roark spent a significant amount of time playing on Iron Island.

Apparently, Riley was considered for this position first, but he declined and Roark was instead instated as the Oreburgh Gym Leader.

Pokémon

This listing is of Roark's Pokémon in the games in which he has appeared.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

File:SpriteHyouta.png [[Leader (Trainer class)|Leader]] Roark [[Oreburgh Gym|Oreburgh Gym]] Diamond and Pearl [[Leader (Trainer class)|Leader]] and Professor Roark Oak [[Oreburgh Gym|Oreburgh Gym]] Diamond and Pearl Reward: $1680

Types: Rock Ground Ability: Rock Head Held item: None Geodude♂ Lv.12 Rock Throw Rock Physical   --       Stealth Rock Rock Status   --       Unknown Unknown   --       Unknown Unknown   --       Types: Rock Ground Ability: Rock Head Held item: None Onix♂ Lv.12 Rock Throw Rock Physical   --       Screech Normal Status   --       Stealth Rock Rock Status   --       Unknown Unknown   --       Types: Rock Unknown Ability: Mold Breaker Held item: None Cranidos♂ Lv.14 Headbutt Normal Physical   --       Pursuit Dark Physical   --       Leer Normal Status   --       Unknown Unknown   --

Pokémon Platinum

Gym match

File:RoarkPlatinum.gif [[Leader (Trainer class)|Leader]] Roark [[Oreburgh Gym|Oreburgh Gym]] Platinum [[Leader (Trainer class)|Leader]] and Professor Roark Oak [[Oreburgh Gym|Oreburgh Gym]] Platinum Reward: $1680

Types: Rock Ground Ability: Rock Head Held item: None Geodude♂ Lv.12 Rock Throw Rock Physical   --       Stealth Rock Rock Status   --       Unknown Unknown   --       Unknown Unknown   --       Types: Rock Ground Ability: Rock Head Held item: None Onix♂ Lv.12 Rock Throw Rock Physical   --       Screech Normal Status   --       Stealth Rock Rock Status   --       Unknown Unknown   --       Types: Rock Unknown Ability: Mold Breaker Held item: None Cranidos♂ Lv.14 Headbutt Normal Physical   --       Pursuit Dark Physical   --       Leer Normal Status   --       Unknown Unknown   --

Rematch

File:RoarkPlatinum.gif [[Leader (Trainer class)|Leader]] Roark [[Battleground|Battleground]] Platinum [[Leader (Trainer class)|Leader]] and Professor Roark Oak [[Battleground|Battleground]] Platinum Reward: $7800

Types: Rock Flying Ability: Rock Head Held item: None Aerodactyl♂ Lv.62 Stone Edge Rock Physical   --       Earthquake Ground Physical   --       Dragon Claw Dragon Physical   --       Aerial Ace Flying Physical   --       Types: Rock Steel Ability: Sturdy Held item: None Probopass♂ Lv.61 Stone Edge Rock Physical   --       Earth Power Ground Special   --       Discharge Electric Special   --       Stealth Rock Rock Status   --       Types: Rock Unknown Ability: Mold Breaker Held item: None Rampardos♂ Lv.63 Head Smash Rock Physical   --       Earthquake Ground Physical   --       Zen Headbutt Psychic Physical   --       Avalanche Ice Physical   --       Types: Rock Ground Ability: Rock Head Held item: None Golem♂ Lv.61 Stone Edge Rock Physical   --       Earthquake Ground Physical   --       Brick Break Fighting Physical   --       Flamethrower Fire Special   --       Types: Rock Dark Ability: Sand Stream Held item: None Tyranitar♂ Lv.65 Stone Edge Rock Physical   --       Crunch Dark Physical   --       Fire Fang Fire Physical   --       Aerial Ace Flying Physical   --

File:SpriteHyouta.png	File:RoarkPlatinum.gif
Roark's sprite from Diamond and Pearl	Roark's sprite from Platinum	Roark's VS sprite from Platinum

Quotes

Oreburgh Mine

"OK, stand back and watch this. Using the hidden move Rock Smash, a boulder blocking your way... (boulder gets broken to pieces) Fallen boulders need to be smashed so they're out of the way. If you could get the Badge from the Gym in town, you'd be able to do this too. Of course, you'd have to beat the Gym Leader first. That'd be me!"

Oreburgh Gym

• Before battle

"Welcome! This is the Oreburgh Pokémon Gym! I'm Roark, the Gym Leader! I'm but one Trainer who decided to walk proudly with Rock-type Pokémon! As the Gym Leader, I need to see your potential as a trainer. And, I'll need to see the toughness of the Pokémon that battle with you!"

• After sending out last Pokémon

"Think you can take down the next Pokémon like you did earlier?"

• During battle

"No way! Not yet! Not giving up!"

• When defeated

"W-what? That can't be! My buffed-up Pokémon!"

• After being defeated

"This is embarrassing... I went and lost to a Trainer who didn't have a single Gym Badge... But that's tough. You were strong and I was weak. That's all there is. According to Pokémon League rules, I have to give you our Gym Badge since you've beaten me, the Leader. Here's your official Pokémon League Coal Badge."

"In this region of Sinnoh, there are seven other Gym Leaders. I should warn you — they're a lot tougher than I am!"

The Underground

"Hey! <player>! Is this maybe your first time here? Welcome to Sinnoh's Underground! Huh? Where is this, you ask? Doesn't the Radar make it obvious? This is a giant underground network of passages underneath Sinnoh. Huh? What I am doing down in this expanse of a place? That's kind of hard to answer. I mean, you can pretty much anything you want down here. For instance, you can dig up Treasure, Spheres, and make a Secret Base. You can play with your friends down here, too. You should talk to the Underground Man in Eterna City. I have to get going now. I'll see you around!"

Villa

"If it were me, I'd like to put a Fossil over there. You don't think so? No? I think a Fossil would match this decor."

"The Underground extends even underneath the Resort Area. I wonder... If I really tried, would I be able to extend it to even places like Kanto and Johto?"

"What I think about while digging underground...What did the Pokémon see before they became Fossils? I'd love to go back and see them as they were back then."

In the anime

Roark in the anime

A younger Roark with his first fossil

Roark appears in the episodes between Shapes of Things to Come! and O'er the Rampardos we Watched. He battled Paul in his debut episode. In this battle, he showed his strong abilities (even beating Paul's Azumarill with his Geodude). However, his powerhouse, Cranidos, wasn't powerful enough to defeat Elekid. With this win Paul earned the Coal Badge from Roark. Following his defeat, Roark battled and defeated Ash in the following episode.

He used Cranidos to battle the prehistoric Pokémon, Aerodactyl unleashed in Oreburgh City. During the conflict, his Cranidos evolved into Rampardos.

Roark then faced Ash again in a rematch. Onix and Geodude were defeated by Pikachu and Aipom. His powerhouse Rampardos battled against Ash's whole team and was defeated by Turtwig. Being the victor, Ash earned the Coal Badge.

Roark appeared again in Ancient Family Matters!, visiting his father, Byron in Canalave City. He argued with Byron over which of them loves fossils more and has a short battle with him. He reveals that Byron suddenly left Oreburgh Gym to him when he was requested to take over the Canalave Gym. Roark was shocked and saddened by his father's sudden departure, thinking that he didn't care what happened to him or his mother. Later, Byron reveals that he had always treasured a fossil of a Sunkern's leaf that Roark had given to him as a child ten years earlier, and Roark accepts that his father did care about him all along.

Along with being the foreman of the Oreburgh Mine, Roark is also the chief of Ancient Pokémon Expedition Operations.

In Dealing With Defensive Types!, he was the referee for Ash's gym battle against Byron.

Pokémon

This listing is of Roark's known Pokémon in the anime:

Geodude

Roark's Geodude

Debut	Shapes of Things to Come!
Voice actors
Japanese	Shin'ichirō Miki
English	Michael Haigney

Geodude was the first Pokémon Roark used against Paul. It was first sent up against Paul's Azumarill but despite the type-disadvantage was able to defeat the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon. Geodude then went up against Elekid and this time had a type-advantage but was defeated by Elekid's Brick Break. It was also used as the second Pokémon in Ash's rematch and went up against his Aipom and despite putting up a good fight was defeated thanks to Aipom's speed.

Geodude's known attacks are Rollout, Hidden Power, and Seismic Toss.

Onix

Roark's Onix

Debut	Shapes of Things to Come!
Voice actors
Japanese	Unshō Ishizuka
English	Unshō Ishizuka

The powerhouse of Roark's team, Onix was used second during the match against Paul. It first went up against Elekid and while it was able to weaken it Onix was struck by Elekid's Static and was paralyzed, allowing it to be defeated by Chimchar. Onix was used second during Roark's first match against Ash and easily won the battle for its trainer, knocking out an already exhausted Turtwig and Pikachu, although during the rematch Pikachu made up for its loss and defeated Onix with Iron Tail.

Onix's known attacks are Slam, Double-Edge, Screech, and Stealth Rock and its ability is Rock Head.

Rampardos

Debut	Shapes of Things to Come!
Voice actors
Japanese	Kenta Miyake
English	Kenta Miyake

Main article: Roark's Rampardos

It first appeared as a Cranidos. It was used to battle Paul, but loses. Then, against Ash, but won. It knew many powerful attacks such as Zen Headbutt and Flamethrower. While battling Team Rocket, it evolved into Rampardos. In the rematch, Rampardos defeat Ash's Aipom and Pikachu and almost defeated Turtwig, but Turtwig managed to win.

Many episodes later, it reappeared with Roark, where it battled against Byron's Bastiodon.

Voice actors

Language Voice actor Japanese 我妻正崇 Masataka Azuma 雪野五月 Satsuki Yukino (child) English Craig Blair Zoe Martin (child) European French David Macaluso Spanish Latin America Ricardo Mendoza (DP015-DP018) (Unknown voice) (DP107-DP108) Spain Cholo Moratalla Mar Bordallo (child)

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

File:Roark and Gardenia Adventures.png

Roark and his Cranidos with Gardenia and her Roserade

In Pokémon Adventures's Diamond and Pearl saga, Roark returned to Oreburgh City just in time to meet Platinum. After exploring the underground with the Underground Man at Eterna City, he had visited his father Byron at Canalave City, who had something to discuss. After exchanging greeting with Platinum, Roark told her to come to his gym for a match the day after tomorrow.

Platinum reached Roark after battling through trainers in his gym. Roark first sent out his Cranidos. Being aware of his Rock Pokémon's weaknesses, he had taught Cranidos the move Shock Wave. The electric attacks weakened Platinum's Piplup, so she switched to Ponyta. At the same time, Roark switched to his Onix. After using Stealth Rock, Onix easily defeated Ponyta.

Platinum had no choice but to send out her Piplup again. Despite receiving damage from Stealth Rock, Piplup defeated Onix. Roark sent out his Cranidos again. It evaded Piplup's attacks by using Double Team. But it was defeated by Piplup's Water Pulse, by which it became confused and eventually knocking itself out.

Roark admitted he had became careless in the end when he thought the battle was over. He gave Platinum the Coal Badge.

Pokémon

This listing is of Roark's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Onix	→ → Egg → Cranidos → Rampardos

Pokémon DP

Roark first appeared in Oreburgh City after Hareta had been kidnapped by Galactic Grunts, defeating them with his Cranidos. Afterwards Hareta challenged him to a Gym Battle. Using a combination of Bide, BubbleBeam and the Oran Berry Roark had given him, Hareta managed to defeat Roark and earn the Coal Badge.

Pokémon

Cranidos

In the TCG

This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Roark or his Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Name	Type	Level	Rarity	Set	Set no.
Rampardos GL		63		Rising Rivals	11/111
Aerodactyl GL		62		Rising Rivals	55/111

Trivia

• Roark is the third Gym Leader encountered first in the region that uses Template:Type2 Pokémon, the other two being Brock and Roxanne.
• Excluding Roxanne's Pokémon Emerald team, Roark is the first Gym Leader encountered first in the region to use three Pokémon instead of two.
• Both of Roark's and Byron's Pokémon in the Onix family know the move Screech in the Pokémon anime.
• He is the second gym leader in the Pokémon anime and in the games to wear eyeglasses. The first is Blaine, who wears sunglasses in the games and in his disguise in the anime.
• He and his father's badges are references to the term Coal Mine. Plus, they both have mines in or near their respective town (Oreburgh Mine and Iron Island, which was once a mine).
• He is the only Sinnoh Gym Leader not to use any fully evolved Pokémon in his Gym battle in the games.
  • He is also the only Sinnoh Gym Leader whose Pokémon do not change in the slightest between Diamond and Pearl and Platinum.
• In the anime, Roark is the first Gym Leader to take the role of a referee in a match if Brock isn't counted.
• Aside from Brock, Misty, and Giovanni, who are major anime characters, Roark has appeared in six episodes in total in the anime: the most number of appearances a Gym Leader has ever had. The second position is shared by Clair and Candice who have both appeared in five episodes.
• Roark, Gardenia, and Candice are the only Gym Leaders who are not voiced by actors affiliated with 4Kids Entertainment in the English dub of the anime so far.

Names

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	ヒョウタ (Hyouta)	From hyōtan, the Japanese name for the calabash gourd. His father, Tougan, is also named after a gourd.
English	Roark	Similar to rock, but could also allude to Ayn Rand character Howard Roark who possessed red hair and worked as a miner.
French	Pierrick	From pierre, stone.
German	Veit	German form of Vitus or Wido. Meaning 'life,' or 'wood/wide,' respectively.
Italian	Pedro	From pietra, stone.
Spanish	Roco	From roca, rock.
Korean	강석 (Gangseok)	May be a combination of 'strong' (强, gang) and 'rock' (石, seok). Also, ore is called 광석 (Gwangseok) in Korean.
Chinese (Taiwan)	瓢太 (Piáotaì)	From 瓢太 Hyouta.

References

• Pokémon.com Shapes of Things to Come!
• Pokémon.com A Gruff Act to Follow!
• Pokémon.com Wild in the Streets!
• Pokémon.com O'er The Rampardos We Watched!

External links

• Hyouta's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)

Gym Leaders of the Sinnoh region
Oreburgh Gym Roark	Eterna Gym Gardenia	Veilstone Gym Maylene	Pastoria Gym Crasher Wake
Hearthome Gym Fantina	Canalave Gym Byron	Snowpoint Gym Candice	Sunyshore Gym Volkner

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.