Fantina

Fantina メリッサ Melissa
"The Alluring, Soulful Dancer"
[[File:File:Fantina.jpg|{{{size}}}]] Artwork from Diamond/Pearl
Gender	Female
Hometown	Hearthome City
Region	Sinnoh
Trainer class	Gym Leader, Coordinator
Generation	IV
Games	Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum
Leader of	Hearthome Gym
Badge	Relic Badge
Anime debut	Playing the Leveling Field!
English voice actor	Bella Hudson
Japanese voice actor	Kikuko Inoue

Fantina (Japanese: メリッサ Melissa) is the Gym Leader of Hearthome City's Gym, known officially as the Hearthome Gym. She hands out the Relic Badge to trainers who defeat her. She specializes in Template:Type2 Pokémon. She is apparently not from the country the games are set in, and often peppers her speech with phrases of French.

Her dress shares many elements as the design of the first Pokémon on her party, Drifblim: it has a yellow "X" over a puffed out skirt of purple fabric.

In the anime

Fantina in the anime

Despite the group having traveled through Hearthome City twice, once in Dawn's Early Night and a second time in Arriving in Style!, the Hearthome Gym remained closed with the Gym Leader nowhere in sight. Fantina had left a note saying that she was going on a journey for a while, and to not look for her. Apparently she was developing a whole new battle style.

She finally appeared in Playing the Leveling Field! where she battled Ash and Zoey. She had a tendency to break into dance regularly, occasionally interspersing French phrases in as well, such as "s'il vous plaît". It was also revealed that she battled Alan twice with him winning the second time. It was revealed in Aiding the Enemy that Paul also managed to defeat her.

Ash met with Fantina upon returning to Hearthome City in Barry's Busting Out All Over! and challenged her again in A Shield with a Twist, where he defeated her and earned the Relic Badge.

Pokémon

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

Gengar	→ Misdreavus → Mismagius
File:DPEgg.png→→ Egg → Drifloon → Drifblim

Voice actors

• Japanese
  • Kikuko Inoue
• English
  • Bella Hudson

In the games

Fantina uses Template:Type2 Pokémon in her battles. For defeating her, trainers receive the Relic Badge, TM65 (Shadow Claw) and are able to use Surf outside of battle. She considers herself to be a Contest Expert and refuses to let the hero challenge her until they deliver the Old Charm to the Celestic Town elder at the request of the elder's granddaughter, Cynthia. Fantina speaks a mix of French and broken English and is an immigrant from another country. Upon arriving in Sinnoh, she decided to become a performer, so she dresses up in fancy outfits for Pokémon Contests. She also studied Pokémon and eventually attained the title of Gym Leader.

Fantina can occasionally be competed against in Super Contests, in which she uses her Drifblim, nicknamed Loony (Japanese: ばるん Balloon). She can also be fought, in Platinum only, at the Battleground.

Quotes

In front of the Contest Hall at player's first visit to Hearthome City
Oh, I'm so sorry! Please excuse me. Are you entering a Contest? Tehehe... Enjoy yourself, please! Incidentally, Fantina, the Hearthome Gym Leader, also happens to be a Contest expert. And you may ask yourself, how do I know this? Well, I am Fantina! You may challenge me, but not yet! You must become much stronger. Then, you may challenge me!

Before battle
"Ohohoho!! Finally, you have arrived! Since I came to this country, always I try to learn new things. They hold Contests in this city? I say to myself, enfin, I will excel. That's why I dress this way. C'est une performance! Also I study Pokémon very much. I have come to be Gym Leader. And, uh, so it shall be that you challenge me. But I shall win. That's what a Gym Leader does, non?"

After sending out last Pokémon
"Oh, heavens. What is this? Is this my final Pokémon?"

During battle
"Never give up, never surrender!"

When defeated
"You are so fantastically strong. I know now why I have lost."

After being defeated
"I am dumbfounded! So very, very strong! You, your Pokémon, so strong! Your power is admirable! I shall honor it with this Gym Badge!"

"Five Gym Badges... But you must not forget this. There are many other trainers. Strong Trainers, too. There are many more in Sinnoh. Have patience! You must become stronger, one at a time."

In the manga

Pokémon Special

Fantina first appeared at the Super Contest Hall. When two women were making rude comments about rookie contestants, she sent out her Drifblim to carry them out and throw them into a garbage can. Then, when Diamond, Pearl and Platina came back to Hearthome City for the Gym Challenge, they discovered that she was the Gym Leader.

Pokémon

She has these Pokémon:

Mismagius

Drifblim

Duskull

Pokémon DP

She makes a brief cameo in chapter 7 handing a badge to Hareta. She is subsequently offended when he calls her "Grandma".

Pokémon

Drifblim

Trivia

• During the Gym battle in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Fantina exclaims "Never give up, never surrender!", the catchphrase from the 1999 science fiction comedy Galaxy Quest.
• In the French version she speaks English, while in the Japanese and German versions she has a noticeable accent.
• The proper French form of her name should be Fantine.
• Apparently, Fantina has two Drifblim, one for battles, and one for Contests. The Drifblim she uses in contests has a noticeably different moveset from the Drifblim she uses in battle.
• Although Fantina's design is based off of a Drifblim, she doesn't use one in the original gym match with her in Platinum. In Diamond and Pearl as well as the rematch in Platinum, however, she does use a Drifblim.
• Despite the fact that she gives the TM for Shadow Claw, only one of her Pokémon, Gengar in Diamond and Pearl, and Haunter in Platinum, actually knows it and can learn it.
• In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Fantina is the fifth gym leader; but as of Pokémon Platinum, Fantina could be challenged the first time the player arrives at Hearthome, therefore making her the third gym leader. Had Ash fought Fantina previous to Maylene, he would have inadvertently gone out of order compared to the D&P line-up, but in order for the Platinum line-up. Ash battled the three shifted Gym Leaders in the order designated by D&P, as Platinum was not released until after Ash fought Crasher Wake, but before Fantina.

Names

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	メリッサ (Melissa)	Resembles the word "malice" (intending to do harm), as in violent spirits; also an obviously non-Japanese name, obviating her status as an immigrant.
English, Spanish	Fantina	Derived from fantôme, the French word for phantom, in reference to the fact that she speaks French and she uses Template:Type2 Pokémon.
French	Kiméra	Similar to chimera.
German	Lamina	From Lamia, a Greek mythological spirit.
Italian	Fannie	French name, similar to fantasma, phantom
Korean	멜리사 Melissa	Same as Japanese name.

External links

• Serebii.net Sinnoh Leaders Page

Template:Fantina's Pokémon

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

Top Coordinators
Abby • Fantina • Johanna • Juan • Marina • Robert • Solidad • Wallace • Yuma • Zoey

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.