Pokémon Coordinator

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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. However, 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 just as many aliases, such as Jessibella or Jessalina, in hopes of becoming rich and famous. She has won three 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.

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, usually to impress girls, but he is mainly a Pokémon Breeder.

Dawn

Dawn, currently a main character in the anime, is 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 so far has won three ribbons, one of which was in the Wallace Cup at Valor Lakefront. It is still too early for her to enter the Grand Festival. She has several rivals already. Zoey, Kenny, Jessie and Nando are a few. All of them seem to be more skilled than her.

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, Yuri (former coordinator), Solidad, Kelly, Anthony, Robert, Drew, Harley, Zoey, Nando, Kenny, and Wallace.

Coordinators in Manga

Daisy Oak

In Pokémon Special Daisy Oak, Professor Oak's granddaughter and Green's older sister, is a skilled Pokémon Coordinator.

Ruby

Also in Pokémon Special, 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 Special.

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.

It should be noted that the term "Coodinator" has never been used in the games.

Notable Coordinators

Coordinator Region Canon Top achievement
Daisy Oak Kanto Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Spring Contest Champion
Pokémon Special
Dawn Sinnoh Anime Three ribbons
Drew Hoenn Anime Grand Festival Top 2 Hoenn Grand Festival
Grand Festival Top 8 Kanto Grand Festival
Kanto
Johto
Fantina Sinnoh Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Ribbon Syndicate membership*
Harley Hoenn Anime Grand Festival Top 16
Kanto
Johto
Haruka Pokémon Chamo-Chamo ☆ Pretty ♪
Jasmine Sinnoh Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Ribbon Syndicate membership*
Jessie Hoenn Anime Two ribbons
Kanto
Sinnoh
Johanna Sinnoh Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Ribbon Syndicate membership*
Anime Grand Festival winner
Juan Hoenn Anime Grand Festival winner
Kenny Sinnoh Anime Three ribbons
Marina Anime Top Coordinator
May Hoenn Anime Grand Festival Top 8 Hoenn Grand Festival
Grand Festival Top 4 Kanto Grand Festival
Three other ribbons
Kanto
Johto
Nando Sinnoh Anime Four ribbons
Robert Hoenn Anime Hoenn Grand Festival winner
Ruby Hoenn Pokémon Special Master Rank victory
Solidad Kanto Anime Kanto Grand Festival winner
Johto
Wallace Hoenn Pokémon Special
Anime Contest Champion
Zoey Sinnoh Anime Three ribbons
*Membership to the Ribbon Syndicate, an elite association of Coordinators in Sinnoh, requires
at least ten ribbons.

Trivia

  • For DP006, 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."
Contest Star Ribbon VIII.png Pokémon Contests Twinkling Star Ribbon VIII.png
Necessary Spoils
PokéblocksPoffins
Contest Categories
CoolBeautifulCuteCleverTough
Rounds
AppealBattleDanceVisual
Participation
ContestSuper ContestContest Show
CoordinatorContest HallContest Pass
The Grand Festival
KantoHoennSinnoh
Top CoordinatorRibbon Cup
Others
Combinations • Opponents (IIIIVVIVIII) • Double PerformanceJamming
Ribbons (list) • StickersBall CapsulesRanksJudgesAnnouncersWallace Cup