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
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
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Pokémon Platinum
Gym match
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Rematch
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| File:SpriteHyouta.png | File:RoarkPlatinum.gif | 
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| Roark's sprite from Diamond and Pearl |
Roark's sprite from Platinum |
Roark's VS sprite from Platinum |
Quotes
- "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!"
- "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!"
- "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 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:
| 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.
| 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.
| 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
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In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
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)
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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. |
