May (anime)
| May ハルカ Haruka | |
| [[File:File:May Anime Artwork.jpg|{{{size}}}]] Art from Advanced anime | |
| Age | 10 (as of debut) |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Hometown | Petalburg City |
| Region | Hoenn |
| Relatives | Max (brother), Norman (father), Caroline (mother) |
| Trainer class | Coordinator |
| Anime debut | Get the Show on the Road |
| English voice actor | Veronica Taylor (4Kids) Michelle Knotz (PUSA) |
| Japanese voice actor | KAORI |
May (Japanese: ハルカ Haruka) is a ten-year-old Pokémon Coordinator from the anime and a traveling companion of Ash. Her goal is to compete in Pokémon Contests and win ribbons, win the Grand Festival, and become a top Coordinator. She traveled through Hoenn with Ash, Brock, and her little brother Max. She is the daughter of Norman and Caroline, and her starter Pokémon was a Torchic given to her by Professor Birch. She is voiced by KAORI in the original, by Veronica Taylor (4Kids dub) and Michelle Knotz (PUSA/TAJ dub) in the English-language dub, by Leyla Rangel in the Latin American Spanish dub, and by Tatiane Keplemaier in the Brazilian dub.
In the anime
Character
May is a materialistic young girl who loves shopping and eating treats. She is generally very sweet and optimistic, though she shows a tougher side sometimes, such as when she argues with her little brother, Max. She loves cute Pokémon and flashy techniques, and sometimes takes an interest in helping other people with romantic problems. She makes Pokéblocks, including ones called "May's Purple Surprise" and "May's Pink Surprise" (Japanese: Haruka's Delicious and Haruka's Delicious 2).
When May debuted in the anime, she did not like Pokémon at all and was only interested in becoming a Pokémon Trainer so she could travel. She did not know much about battling and gave wrong attack names, and did not like the idea of taking on Trainers as skilled as Gym Leaders. However, she found a niche for herself in the Pokémon world when she learned about Pokémon Contests, and began focusing on Pokémon coordinating. She has three main rivals in contests: Drew, Jessie and Harley. At the end of the Advanced Generation series, she leaves to compete with Drew and Harley in Johto.
May will reappear in DP076 and DP077 to participate in Wallace's Pokémon Contest alongside Ash, Dawn and Zoey.
May has Contest Passes to compete in Hoenn, Kanto and Johto.
May has a personal ending theme song, I won't lose! ~May's theme~, performed by KAORI. It was first used as the background music in the episode Curbing the Crimson Tide and again in next episode, What I Did for Love.
Pokémon
This listing is of May's Pokémon as of Home is Where the Start Is:
On hand
 →  →  | ||
 Munchlax |
 →  Wartortle |
File:DPEgg.png →  Egg → Eevee |
At home
 →  →  Wurmple → Silcoon → Beautifly |
 Skitty |
With Professor Oak
| File:May's Bulbasaur.PNG Bulbasaur |
Ribbons
These are May's ribbons:
Hoenn ribbons
- Fallarbor Town Ribbon
- Verdanturf Town Ribbon
- Lilycove City Ribbon
- Izabe Island Ribbon
- Pacifidlog Island Ribbon
Kanto ribbons
- Saffron City Ribbon
- Silver Town Ribbon
- Chrysanthemum Island Ribbon
- Gardenia Town Ribbon
- Mulberry Town Ribbon
Grand Festival ranking
May placed in the following Grand Festival competitions:
Other achievements
- PokéRinger - Runner-up
- Pokémon Orienteering - Runner-up
- Unofficial Terracota Contest - Winner (Tied with Ash)
Trivia
- May was the first female video game protagonist to travel with Ash.
- May is the only main character who has two of the same Pokémon as Ash.
- She is the only one of Ash's friends to catch more than one starter Pokémon.
- She is the only one of Ash's friends who started off not liking Pokémon.
- She is the only beginner trainer that was not given an introduction by the Narrator in their first episode. Instead, she gave her own first person introduction.
- May was the second of Ash's friends to have a lead role in a Pokémon movie. Her brother Max was the first.
- May and Max are the only friends of Ash not to meet Ash's rival, Gary Oak, at one time or another.
- May and Max are two of three of Ash's friends who has had their father make an appearance in the anime. The other is Brock.
- All of Ash's female friends have a native Korean word as their name in Korean version (dew, spring and shine respectively). Such names were trendy in late 70s, now they are rare.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ハルカ Haruka | Contains haru, which means "spring." Haruka also means "far away," which may relate it to Norman's Japanese name, Senri ("1000 li"). |
| English | May | Could be a reference to the Japanese name, as May is a month in spring. |
| French | Flora | Means "flower". |
| German | Maike | From Mai, May. |
| Italian | Vera | From primavera, spring. |
| Spanish | Aura | Means "dawn". |
| Korean | 봄이 Bom'i | 봄 means "Spring" |
| Chinese (all versions) | 小遥 Xiǎo Yáo | From 遥 haruka, far away. |
Related articles
External links
- Cherry Girl, the fanlisting for May at The Anime Fanlistings Network
- Haruka's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
- Haruka's Pokémon on Pokeani (Japanese)
On Bulbagarden forums
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