Roark

Roark ヒョウタ Hyouta
""Call me Roark the Rock!""
[[File:File:ArtHyouta.jpg|{{{size}}}]] Art from Diamond/Pearl
Age	20 (est. by Pokeani)
Gender	Male
Hometown	Canalave City
Region	Sinnoh
Relatives	Byron (father), Underground Man (grandfather)
Trainer class	Gym Leader
Generation	IV
Games	Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum
Leader of	Oreburgh Gym
Badge	Coal Badge
Anime debut	Shapes of Things to Come
English voice actor	Craig Blair
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 anime

File:Roark in the anime.jpg

Roark in the anime

Roark appears in the episodes between Shapes of Things to Come and O'er the Rampardos we Watched. Roark's Japanese voice actors are 我妻正崇 Masataka Azuma as an adult and 雪野五月 Satsuki Yukino when he was a child, and his English voice actor is Craig Blair. Internationally, he is played by Ricardo Mendoza in the Latin-American dub.

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.

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

A younger Roark with his first fossil.

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 DP107, visiting his father in Canalave City. He argued with Byron over which of them loves fossils more, and admires his father's fossil collection, but maintains that his Rampardos is the best revived fossil Pokémon there is. He reveals to Ash, Brock and Dawn that his father suddenly left Oreburgh Gym to him when the Pokémon League requested he take over Canalave Gym. Roark was shocked, saddened, and disappointed by his father's sudden departure, thinking he didn't care what happened to Roark. 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.

In DP108, he was the referee for Ash's gym battle against Byron.

Pokémon

Geodude

Onix

→ Cranidos → Rampardos

In the games

File:Oreburgh City Gym -- Hyouta.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.

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

Apparently, Riley was considered for his 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.

Quotes

At 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!"

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!"

In 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!"

In the manga

Pokémon Special

In Pokémon Special's Diamond and Pearl saga, Roark returns to Oreburgh City from Eterna City just in time to meet Berlitz. He was exploring the underground with the Underground Man and Byron (who was there to discuss something with him). He owns an Onix and a Cranidos (that knows the move Shock Wave) which he uses in his battle against Berlitz.

Pokémon

This listing is of Roark's Pokémon in the Pokémon Special 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 Roark had given him, Hareta managed to defeat Roark and earn the Coal Badge.

Pokémon

Cranidos

Trivia

• His Japanese Leader title is ザ・ロックと言われる男.
• 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 is supposed to have a mine).
• He is the only Sinnoh Gym Leader not to use any fully evolved Pokémon in his first battle at the gym in the games.
• In the anime, Roark is the first Gym Leader to take the role of a referee in a match if Brock isn't counted.

Names

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	ヒョウタ (Hyouta)	Hyōtan is a type of gourd. His father, Tougan, is also named after a gourd.
English	Roark	Similar to rock.
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 (Piáo Taì)	From 瓢太 Hyouta.

External links

• Serebii.net Sinnoh Leaders Page
• 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.