Kabu

Kabu カブ Kabu
"The ever-burning man of fire!"
Art from Pokémon Sword and Shield
Gender	Male
Eye color	Black
Hair color	Salt and pepper
Hometown	Motostoke
Region	Galar (originally Hoenn)
Trainer class	Gym Leader
Generation	VIII
Games	Sword and Shield
Leader of	Motostoke Stadium
Badge	Fire Badge
Specializes in	Fire types

Kabu (Japanese: カブ Kabu) is the Gym Leader of Motostoke's Gym, known officially as Motostoke Stadium. He specializes in Fire-type Pokémon. He gives the Fire Badge to Trainers who defeat him.

In the games

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

Kabu was originally a Trainer from Hoenn who was invited to the Galar League. He is the current Leader of the Motostoke Gym. He lost the Gym position at one point but regained back several years later in glorious fashion. He made several attempts to becoming Champion but could never reach it. He attempted a no-holds-barred approach to winning his fights, but was not satisfied with the results. He even dropped from the minor division of Galar League. However after facing off against Leon, he regained faith in his potential. He also develops a more unrelentingly positive outlook on life as a result, battling to win with every intention with his Fire-type Pokémon.

League Cards

This is a transcript of the back of Kabu's League Cards in Pokémon Sword and Shield.

Normal League Card

"Kabu is a Pokémon Trainer who was invited from the Hoenn region. There were a few times where he was very close to becoming Champion, but victory always seemed to elude him at the last moment. Because of this, he adopted a no-holds-barred approach to battling for a time, but even that did not bring the results he wanted. He even dropped to the minor division at one point, but after a fantastic battle with Leon, he regained faith in his own potential. His motto is to keep learning and training as long as he is alive."

Rare League Card

"Interview with Challenger Kabu
Q: How do you see your own battle style?
Kabu: Just, straightforward, direct. I'm still young, so I try to keep things simple. Just burn as hot as I can, you know? Still, I've hit a bit of a losing streak, so I've tried incorporating Will-O-Wisp into my Pokémon's move set. That's one thing I want to tell everyone—experiment with every possibility of your Pokémon. Moves, Abilities, items... Try everything, and there's sure to be a path forward!"

Pokémon

Kabu keeps his Pokémon in Ultra Balls.

Pokémon Sword and Shield

Gym battle

Gym Leader Kabu Motostoke Stadium Sword and Shield Reward: $3,200

Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Flash Fire Held item: None Ninetales♀ Lv.25 Will-O-Wisp Fire Status   --       Fire Spin Fire Special   --       Quick Attack Normal Physical   --       Ember Fire Special   --       Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Intimidate Held item: None Arcanine♂ Lv.25 Will-O-Wisp Fire Status   --       Flame Wheel Fire Physical   --       Bite Dark Physical   --       Agility Psychic Status   --       Types: Fire Bug Ability: Flash Fire Held item: None Centiskorch♂ Lv.27 Flame Wheel Fire Physical   --       Coil Poison Status   --       Bug Bite Bug Physical   --       Smokescreen Normal Status   --

Max Raid Battle partner

Kabu teams up with the player, Hop, and Piers to face a Dynamax Torkoal in a Max Raid Battle.

Gym Leader Kabu Motostoke Stadium Sword and Shield Reward: N/A
Types: Fire Bug Ability: Flash Fire Held item: None Centiskorch♂ Lv.62 Fire Spin Fire Special   --       Crunch Dark Physical   --       X-Scissor Bug Physical   --       Curse Unknown Status   --

Champion tournament

Gym Leader Kabu Wyndon Stadium Sword and Shield Reward: $9,920

Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Drought Held item: None Torkoal♂ Lv.60 Heat Crash Fire Physical   --       Stealth Rock Rock Status   --       Body Press Fighting Physical   --       Earthquake Ground Physical   --       Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Flash Fire Held item: None Ninetales♀ Lv.60 Extrasensory Psychic Special   --       Fire Blast Fire Special   --       Solar Beam Grass Special   --       Quick Attack Normal Physical   --       Type: Fire Unknown Ability: Intimidate Held item: None Arcanine♂ Lv.61 Extreme Speed Normal Physical   --       Flare Blitz Fire Physical   --       Play Rough Fairy Physical   --       Iron Head Steel Physical   --       Types: Poison Fire Ability: Corrosion Held item: None Salazzle♀ Lv.61 Flamethrower Fire Special   --       Dragon Pulse Dragon Special   --       Sludge Wave Poison Special   --       Foul Play Dark Physical   --       Types: Fire Bug Ability: Flash Fire Held item: None Centiskorch♂ Lv.62 Fire Lash Fire Physical   --       Lunge Bug Physical   --       Crunch Dark Physical   --       Power Whip Grass Physical   --

Artwork

Kabu's League Card in Sword and Shield	Kabu's rare League Card in Sword and Shield

In the anime

Kabu in Pokémon: Twilight Wings

In Pokémon: Twilight Wings

In Assistant, Kabu was jogging at Wyndon Stadium.

In the manga

Kabu in Pokémon Adventures

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Kabu debuted in PASS03. He, along with various other Gym Leaders, was first seen reacting to the news that Leon had endorsed two Trainers for the Gym Challenge.

Trivia

• Kabu's uniform number is "187", which can be read in Japanese as goroawase for 火花 hibana, meaning "sparks".
• Kabu is the only Gym leader in Galar to originally be from another region.

Names

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	カブ Kabu	From 蕪 kabu (turnip), 兜 kabuto (a type of helmet), and 火 ka (fire)
English, German, French, Italian	Kabu	From his Japanese name
Spanish	Naboru	From nabo (turnip)
Korean	순무 Sunmu	From 순무 sunmu (turnip)
Chinese (Mandarin)	卡蕪 / 卡芜 Kǎwú	From the transcription of his Japanese name and 蕪菁 / 芜菁 wújīng / mòuhjīng
Chinese (Cantonese)	卡蕪 Kāmòuh

Related articles

Gym Leaders of the Galar region
Turffield Stadium Milo	Hulbury Stadium Nessa	Motostoke Stadium Kabu	Stow-on-Side Stadium Bea Allister
Ballonlea Stadium Opal Bede	Circhester Stadium Gordie Melony	Spikemuth Gym Piers Marnie	Hammerlocke Stadium Raihan

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.