Pokémon Coordinator
A Pokémon Coordinator is someone who raises Pokémon to compete in Pokémon Contests.
They raise their Pokémon much like Pokémon Trainers do, although with much more emphasis on beauty and appearances since they are major factors when it comes to points in Contests. They need to train their Pokémon to have beautiful moves, and be able to do well in battles, as a battle tournament is the second round of a Contest.
Coordinators need a Contest Pass from a particular region to enter Contests there. Like Trainers, Coordinators travel throughout their region to catch and raise their Pokémon. However, unlike Trainers, their goal is to collect Ribbons instead of Badges. But unlike Badges, Coordinators only get a single shot of winning a particular Ribbon from a particular Contest. They also must compete with other Coordinators for that Ribbon. They need to collect five Ribbons by winning various Contests in the region in order to be able to participate in that region's Grand Festival. If they win the Grand Festival, they will be awarded the Ribbon Cup.
Coordinators in the anime
May
May, a main character in Advanced Generation series of the anime, is a Pokémon Coordinator. She starts out her journey trying to become a Trainer, but after seeing a Contest, she decides to become a Coordinator. She has competed against numerous other Coordinators, including her main rivals, Drew and Harley. She has also competed against Solidad, Kelly, Anthony, and Robert. May has grown in ability since she was first introduced to Contests, and has entered both the Hoenn and Kanto Grand Festivals. After the Kanto Grand Festival, she decided to leave Ash and Brock to travel to the Johto region to enter Contests there.
Jessie
Jessie, from Team Rocket, has entered many Contests under many aliases, such as Jessibella, Jesselana, or Jessilina, in hopes of becoming rich and famous. She has won four Contests, all of them in the Sinnoh region. One was an unofficial Contest in which she used Ash's Aipom. The other two were official Contests that she won using her Dustox and Yanmega, respectively. Her fifth Ribbon was given to her by Princess Salvia (disguised as Dawn), so she was able to enter the Sinnoh Grand Festival. After competing in the Sinnoh Grand Festival, Jessie gave up Contests.
Ash
Ash, although mainly a Pokémon Trainer, has entered three Contests for fun. One was an unofficial Contest in Terracotta Town in Kanto that ended in a tie with May, the second time was in Jubilife City which he entered with Dawn but they both ended up losing to Zoey, and the last time was the Wallace Cup (at Wallace's request) in which he lost during the second battle round to Kyle.
Brock
Brock has also entered a couple of Pokémon Contests. His only official Contest was in What I Did For Love! in which he competed against May but lost in the finals. He usually only enters to impress girls, as he is mainly a Pokémon Breeder.
Dawn
Dawn was a Pokémon Coordinator much like May was before her. She is the daughter of Johanna, a famous Pokémon Coordinator in Sinnoh who won a past Sinnoh Grand Festival. Dawn has entered a few Contests and has won five Ribbons, one of which was in the Wallace Cup at Valor Lakefront. She has had several rivals, including Zoey, Kenny, Jessie, Ursula and Nando. She won second place in the Sinnoh Grand Festival. As a Coordinator, Dawn was able to come up with various combinations, most notably Flame Ice, with her Mamoswine's Ice Shard and her Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel, and Ice Chandelier, with her Pachirisu's Discharge and her Buneary's Ice Beam or Mamoswine's Ice Shard. She is currently in the Hoenn region with all her Pokémon.
Others
Other Coordinators featured in the anime are Dr. Abby, who also runs a Pokémon Clinic and was a Grand Festival winner, Yuma, who is also a Pokémon Breeder, Juan, also the Sootopolis City Gym Leader, and Marina, Lila, Solidad, Kelly, Grace, Timmy Grimm, Anthony, Robert, Drew, Harley, Zoey, Nando, Kenny, Fantina, Mario, Rebecca, and Wallace.
Coordinators in Manga
Daisy Oak
In Pokémon Adventures Daisy Oak, Professor Oak's granddaughter and Blue's older sister, is a skilled Pokémon Coordinator.
Ruby
Also in Pokémon Adventures, Ruby is a Pokémon Coordinator. He ran away from his home in Littleroot Town to be able to participate in Contests away from his father’s oppression. He was challenged by Sapphire to win all the Contests in Hoenn in 80 days, but was interrupted when he was needed to stop the rampaging Groudon and Kyogre.
Wallace
Wallace is another great Coordinator featured in Pokémon Adventures.
Haruka
Pokémon Chamo-Chamo ☆ Pretty ♪'s main protagonist, Haruka, is a Coordinator with a Torchic.
Coordinators in the video games
In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, as well as Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, the player has a chance to enter Pokémon Contests, making them a part-time Coordinator. They win Ribbons after each victory. The Contests in the video games are much different from those in the anime. There is no Grand Festival, and there are different categories and ranks. In Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, the player's mother, Johanna; the Hearthome Gym Leader, Fantina; and Johto's Olivine Gym Leader, Jasmine are all famous Coordinators and the player's opponents in the higher ranks.
The first, and so far only, time the term "Coordinator" was used in the games was in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, by a girl in an apartment in Hearthome City.
Notable Coordinators
Trivia
- For Different Strokes for Different Blokes, Professor Oak's lecture is about Coordinators. He writes this Pokémon senryū about them: ポケモンと うつくしくあれ コーディネーター Pokémon to utsukushiku are, Kōdinētā. "Being beautiful with Pokémon, that is a Coordinator."
In other languages
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Pokémon Contests | 
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| Necessary Spoils Pokéblocks • Poffins Contest Categories Cool • Beautiful • Cute • Clever • Tough Rounds Appeal • Battle • Dance • Visual |
Participation Contest • Super Contest • Contest Show Coordinator • Contest Hall • Contest Pass The Grand Festival Kanto • Hoenn • Sinnoh Top Coordinator • Ribbon Cup | ||
| Others Combinations • Opponents (III • IV • VI • VIII) • Double Performance • Jamming Ribbons (list) • Stickers • Ball Capsules • Ranks • Judges • Announcers • Wallace Cup | |||
