Tate and Liza run the Mossdeep City Gym. Both specialize in Psychic-type Pokémon and give out the Mind Badge once defeated. They also give TM04 (Calm Mind). The two of them engage in a Double Battle against the player when the player challenges them.
Tate and Liza first appeared in It's Still Rocket Roll to Me. Their father, Jin, owns the Mossdeep Space Center and often goes into space to search for space Pokémon. As a result, they often spend time at the Space Center, and even have battles in zero-gravity by using their Baltoy's Confusion technique to levitate them.
In the anime, Liza is depicted as being more experienced in battle, and it is implied in their debut episode that she always defeats Tate whenever the two have a battle. Liza loves to annoy Tate by teasingly reminding him of such things, but what angers Tate even more is Liza's habit of referring to him as her "little" brother even though they are twins. This is because Liza is actually the older twin. Nevertheless, Liza seems to care for Tate anyway.
When Ash Ketchum and his friends visited Mossdeep, Tate quickly befriended Max since they had quite a few things in common, including Max's issues with his own older sister, May. Said episode itself focuses primarily on Tate and Max, who spent nearly the entire time by themselves while having fun together. Likewise, Liza related with May, and took to showing her new friends around the facility.
Later, while Tate and Max were hanging out in the cockpit of the space shuttle, Team Rocket infiltrated the area with the intent of stealing the shuttle. Tate and Max were unaware of this until the trio reached the cockpit, whereupon Meowth tied the two boys up back-to-back with a rope. Fortunately, Ash's Corphish had been aboard the shuttle as well, and freed the duo, who promptly knocked the Rockets out. In the moments that followed, Tate and Max became the heroes of the day when they safely landed the shuttle. The Rockets then suffered the wrath of Liza and May, who attacked them with their Lunatone and Combusken, respectively, allowing Ash's Pikachu to send them flying.
In Solid as a Solrock, Tate and Liza finally faced of against Ash in a Double Battle, in which their Lunatone and Solrock, respectively, were up against Ash's Pikachu and Swellow. At first, they continuously argued with each other, which allowed their opponent to get hits in. However, after another attack by Team Rocket, the twins managed to work together. In the battle that followed, they showed an incredible ability to balance each other's Pokémon, becoming a seemingly unstoppable force that Ash had to resort to unorthodox tactics in order to defeat. Eventually, Pikachu and Swellow used Pikachu's Thunder attack as armor, and with this newly-founded power, they easily defeated Lunatone and Solrock, earning Ash the Mind Badge.
Pokémon
This listing is of Liza and Tate's Pokémon in the anime:
Liza's Lunatone is the Pokémon she uses in all Gym battles. When the twins battled each other in It's Still Rocket Roll to Me!, Lunatone won the battle for Liza. She later also used it against Team Rocket after they failed to steal a space shuttle from the Mossdeep Space Center.
Tate's Solrock is the Pokémon he uses in all Gym battles. Although it lost to Liza's Lunatone when they battled, it proved to be just as powerful in Ash's Gym battle.
Tate and Liza's four Baltoy live at the Mossdeep Gym where, when Tate and Liza want a battle, they use Confusion to make a battlefield with zero gravity. When Team Rocket wanted to steal the space shuttle for the Boss, the Baltoy stopped the shuttle with Confusion.
Liza and Tate are the guardians of Mt. Pyre. When they somehow sensed someone had intruded into Mt. Pyre, they went all the way to Lilycove from Mossdeep in order to protect the two Orbs. However, they fell into Mack's fire illusion until Juan rescued them. Afterwards, they become Ruby's and Sapphire's teachers in Double Battling on the Mirage Island. They stayed on the island to ensure Ruby and Sapphire can leave for Sootopolis safely, and were not seen since then.
Pokémon
This listing is for Tate and Liza's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.
Lunatone was seen with Liza while she and Tate were traveling through a forest of Ghost Pokémon. It was used to help them find their way out. Lunatone was used against Mack and his illusionist skills. However, Mack was able to get the best of Lunatone.
Solrock was seen with Tate while he and Liza were traveling through. Solrock was used against Mack and his illusionist skills. However, Mack was able to get the best of Solrock.
Both Tate and Liza own a Spoink while on Mirage Island. They were used to assist Ruby and Sapphire on their training and battled Plusle and Minun. The cheering Pokémon were able to defeat the two Psychic-types. As a result, Sapphire earned herself a Badge from Tate and Liza.
Tate and Liza are the first, and only pair of Gym Leaders that are battled through a Double Battle.
In Black 2 and White 2, instead of serving as a team, Tate and Liza are shown and battled separately.
They are the only Psychic-type specialists to never use Abra's evolution family.
Chuang Yi's translations of Pokémon Adventures manga mistakenly refer to Tate as a girl.
They are the only Gym Leaders to carry two Hyper Potions in their first battle. This is likely due to them being a duo, with each of them holding a Hyper Potion.
The game refers to them as "Leader Tate&Liza" due to the way their Trainer class is programmed.
In Emerald, Solrock is the only Pokémon from the original team to keep its moveset in the rematches.
Names
Language
Name
Origin
Japanese
フウとラン Fu & Lan
風蘭 fūran, the name for a type of orchid (Neofinetia falcata). 浮 fū means floating.
English
Tate & Liza
From levitate.
French
Lévy & Tatia
From lévitation, levitation.
German
Ben & Svenja
From Schweben, levitation.
Italian
Tell & Pat
From telepatia, telepathy.
Spanish
Vito & Leti
Possibly from levitación, levitation.
Korean
풍＆란 Pung & Ran
란 Ran is a transliteration of Japanese name, while 풍 Pung is from 楓, a spelling of Fū.
Chinese (Mandarin)
楓與南／枫与南 Fēng & Nán
楓 (maple) is an alternative spelling of Fū. 南 (south) is a rough transcription of Lan.
