Falkner

Falkner ハヤト Hayato
"The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon"
Art from HeartGold and SoulSilver
Gender	Male
Eye color	Black*, Blue*
Hair color	Blue
Hometown	Violet City
Region	Johto
Relatives	Father (Predecessor as Gym Leader)
Class	Gym Leader
Generation	II, IV
Games	Gold, Silver, Crystal, Pokémon Stadium 2, HeartGold, SoulSilver
Gym	Violet Gym
Type	Flying
Badge	Zephyr Badge
First episode	Fighting Flyer with Fire
English voice actor	Matthew Mitler
Japanese voice actor	Akira Ishida

Falkner (Japanese: ハヤト Hayato) is the Gym Leader of Violet City's Gym, known officially as the Violet Gym. He hands out the Zephyr Badge to Trainers who defeat him. He specializes in Flying-type Pokémon.

In the games

Headshot of Falkner from Pokémon Gold and Silver

Falkner appears in Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, where he is the first Gym Leader players will encounter. A master of Flying-type Pokémon, Falkner runs the Violet Gym, which he inherited from his father; the Pokémon he uses in battle also formerly belonged to him. Falker's father is reported to be traveling, but is never seen in the game (unlike Janine's father).

Known as "The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon", Falkner is adored as a cool and handsome trainer. He is, however, overshadowed by his absent father, who is said to have been cooler and even more handsome. Perhaps because of this, Falkner aspires to be the greatest bird master. Falkner uses, notably, the lowest leveled Pokémon found in any Gym in any region. His Pidgeotto, in fact, is at an illegitimate level. Once defeated in battle, he will award winners with the Zephyr Badge and a Technical Machine: TM31 (Mud-Slap) in Generation II; TM51 (Roost) in Generation IV. In each generation, his Pokémon know the respective TM; Falkner uses this move as part of his battle strategy.

Like all Gym Leaders in HeartGold and SoulSilver, Falkner will venture out of his Gym occasionally. Once the player has defeated the Elite Four, Falkner will journey every Monday to Celadon City so he can visit the Department Store. He can be found talking with fellow Gym Leader Janine, of Fuschia City, on the fourth floor, and will exchange PokéGear phone numbers with the player. Once this task has been completed, Falkner will travel to the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City every Saturday morning to accept a rematch with a stronger team of Pokémon.

Falkner is also in Pokémon Stadium 2's Johto Gym Leader Castle. Unlike other Gym Leaders in this game, all of his Pokémon are of his specialist type.

Pokémon

This listing is of Falkner's Pokémon in the video games he has appeared in.

Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal

900 Leader Falkner Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal Violet Gym

Pidgey ♂ Lv.7  Normal  Flying  Held item: None Moves Tackle Normal Mud-Slap Ground -- -- -- -- Pidgeotto ♂ Lv.9  Normal  Flying  Held item: None Moves Tackle Normal Mud-Slap Ground Gust Flying -- --

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Gym match

1560 Leader Falkner HeartGold and SoulSilver Violet Gym

Pidgey ♂ Lv.9  Normal  Flying  Held item: None Ability: Keen Eye Moves Tackle Normal Physical Sand-Attack Ground Status -- -- -- -- -- -- Pidgeotto ♂ Lv.13  Normal  Flying  Held item: None Ability: Keen Eye Moves Tackle Normal Physical Roost Flying Status Gust Flying Special -- -- --

Second battle (Rematch)

6720 Leader Falkner HeartGold and SoulSilver Fighting Dojo

Staraptor ♂ Lv.50  Normal  Flying  Held item: Sitrus Berry Ability: Intimidate Moves U-turn Bug Physical Close Combat Fighting Physical Brave Bird Flying Physical Attract Normal Status Noctowl ♂ Lv.52  Normal  Flying  Held item: None Ability: Insomnia Moves Air Slash Flying Special FeatherDance Flying Status Roost Flying Status Shadow Ball Ghost Special Swellow ♂ Lv.52  Normal  Flying  Held item: Flame Orb Ability: Guts Moves Protect Normal Status Double Team Normal Status Facade Normal Physical Endeavor Normal Physical Honchkrow ♂ Lv.54  Dark  Flying  Held item: None Ability: Insomnia Moves Dark Pulse Dark Special Thunder Wave Electric Status Sucker Punch Dark Physical Night Slash Dark Physical Pelipper ♂ Lv.48  Water  Flying  Held item: None Ability: Keen Eye Moves Surf Water Special Tailwind Flying Status Ice Beam Ice Special Hidden Power Normal Special Pidgeot ♂ Lv.56  Normal  Flying  Held item: Sitrus Berry Ability: Keen Eye Moves Double Team Normal Status Return Normal Physical Swagger Normal Status Roost Flying Status

Pokémon Stadium 2

Round 1

None Leader Falkner Round 1 Violet Gym

Pidgeot ♂ Lv.50  Normal  Flying  Held item: PRZCureBerry Moves Whirlwind Normal Quick Attack Normal Fly Flying Mud-Slap Ground Farfetch'd ♂ Lv.50  Normal  Flying  Held item: Stick Moves False Swipe Normal Slash Normal Fly Flying Mud-Slap Ground Noctowl ♂ Lv.50  Normal  Flying  Held item: Mint Berry Moves Take Down Normal Fly Flying Confusion Psychic Mud-Slap Ground Delibird ♀ Lv.50  Ice  Flying  Held item: Bitter Berry Moves Present Normal Headbutt Normal Blizzard Ice Mud-Slap Ground Fearow ♂ Lv.50  Normal  Flying  Held item: Sharp Beak Moves Drill Peck Flying Swift Normal Mirror Move Flying Mud-Slap Ground Togetic ♂ Lv.50  Normal  Flying  Held item: Burnt Berry Moves Double-Edge Normal Fly Flying Fire Blast Fire Psychic Psychic

Round 2

None Leader Falkner Round 2 Violet Gym

Pidgeot ♂ Lv.50  Normal  Flying  Held item: PRZCureBerry Moves Double-Edge Normal Sky Attack Flying Steel Wing Steel Mud-Slap Ground Charizard Lv.50  Fire  Flying  Held item: Scope Lens Moves Flamethrower Fire Fly Flying Earthquake Ground Mud-Slap Ground Dodrio Lv.50  Normal  Flying  Held item: Miracle Berry Moves Drill Peck Flying Tri Attack Normal Steel Wing Steel Mud-Slap Ground Zapdos Lv.50  Electric  Flying  Held item: Bright Powder Moves Thunderbolt Electric Drill Peck Flying Sky Attack Flying Mud-Slap Ground Gligar Lv.50  Ground  Flying  Held item: Focus Band Moves Metal Claw Steel Wing Attack Flying Quick Attack Normal Sludge Bomb Poison Skarmory ♀ Lv.50  Steel  Flying  Held item: Quick Claw Moves Steel Wing Steel Drill Peck Flying Sky Attack Flying Mud-Slap Ground

Quotes

Falkner's sprite from Generation II	Falkner's sprite from Generation IV	Falkner's VS sprite from Generation IV

"I'm Falkner, The Violet Pokémon Gym leader! People say you can clip flying-type Pokémon's wings with a jolt of electricity... I won't allow such insults to bird Pokémon! I'll show you the real power of the magnificent bird Pokémon!"

"Darn! My dad's cherished bird Pokémon... All right. Take this. It's the official Pokémon League Zephyr Badge."

In the anime

Falkner in the anime

Falkner's only anime appearance was in the episode Fighting Flyer with Fire.

When Ash's Pikachu was stolen by Team Rocket, Falkner arrived and rescued it with the help of his Pidgeot. He flew around on a glider, yearning to be as close to Flying Pokémon as he possibly could be. He is usually seen with his Hoothoot on his shoulder.

Falkner has a self-righteous attitude when it comes to Pokémon training, which angered Ash. Falkner also expressed an intense dislike for the assumption many trainers make that Flying-type Pokémon will always lose to Electric-types, but proved to be slightly hypocritical as he criticized Ash's poor choice of using Chikorita (a Grass-type that is weak to Flying-types) in their match.

The Violet Gym itself is a very tall, spiral-shaped building. Falkner conducts his matches on the roof of the Gym, accompanied by many students who chant in unison during his battles.

Ash was able to win the Zephyr Badge, despite his Charizard's wing being severely injured during the match.

Pokémon

		Hoothoot
		Hoothoot was the first Pokémon Falkner used in his battle with Ash. Hoothoot defeated Chikorita rather easily with a few Fly, Peck, and Tackle attacks, but couldn't hit Pikachu due to its Agility. Eventually it lost to Pikachu's Thunderbolt and Quick Attack.
Debuts in	Fighting Flyer with Fire
Voice actors
Japanese	Yuji Ueda
English	Yuji Ueda

		Dodrio
		Dodrio was the second Pokémon Falkner sent out to battle Ash's Pikachu. At first Dodrio seemed to have the upper hand, with its Agility, Fury Attack, and Drill Peck. When Pikachu tried to attack, Falkner ordered Dodrio to Fly, much to Ash's surprise - and Dodrio jumped high in the air. Ash then decided to use that method himself, and ordered Pikachu to dodge Dodrio's Tri Attack by jumping to the air. From above, Pikachu used Thunder, winning the round.
Debuts in	Fighting Flyer with Fire

		Pidgeot
		Main article: Falkner's Pidgeot Ash first saw Pidgeot before the battle, when Falkner used it to get rid of Team Rocket. In their battle, Pidgeot defeated Pikachu with a single Whirlwind attack, but then lost to Charizard after a long battle.
Debuts in	Fighting Flyer with Fire
Voice actors
Japanese	Megumi Hayashibara
English	Megumi Hayashibara

Voice actors

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Falkner in Pokémon Adventures

In Pokémon Adventures, Falkner is a part-time police officer, first seen in VS. Elekid in uniform. Falkner is the arresting officer at the scene after Silver stole Totodile from Professor Elm's laboratory, pinning the burnt yard on Gold. Gold, however, cooperates with Falkner (under threat of interrogation and being arrested) when it is revealed he is the only one to have seen Silver's face, although Gold totally blows it on purpose so he could go after Silver himself. Falkner offers Gold and Grant a place to stay for the night at the police station in Cherrygrove City, but Gold turns it down and runs off with Grant in tow.

Falkner properly introduces himself in VS. Sunkern when they meet once again. He is revealed not yet to be the Violet Gym Leader, but is training his team in attempt to acquire the position his father (the previous Gym Leader) left behind mysteriously; this is Falkner's dream. Skarmory, a foe Falkner says he's encountered before, then attacks the duo, having been said to be terrorizing the area and is currently attacking herds of Sunkern. Falkner sends Noctowl and Pidgeotto to attack it, but notes they aren't delivering much damage. Gold helps Falkner by sending out his freshly caught Sintaro to bounce Explotaro into range of the Skarmory, dealing a heavy blow using Ember. Falkner then catches it, adding it to his team, and invites Gold to train with him. Gold declines the offer, as he has Silver to catch, but they makes plans to meet later once their objectives are met. In this chapter, Bill is also on his way to find Falkner, to tell him a date for his Gym Leader qualification exam has been set.

In VS. Ariados, it is revealed Falkner passed the Gym Leader exam. Unlike in the English games, Falkner's badge is referred to as the "Wing Badge," its Japanese name, instead of the Zephyr Badge (this may be a translation error).

During VS. Raikou and Entei (Part 1) and (Part 2), Falkner is out training Skarmory and Noctowl when he comes across a Bird Keeper poaching. A rainstorm suddenly begins, caused by Raikou's presence. Entei is also there, and Falkner is forced to save the Bird Keeper from being attacked by the duo, escaping on Skarmory. As they fly, the pair of Beasts give chase, and Falkner considers Suicune's recent activity challenging Gym Leaders, and deduces the other two are doing the same. He issues a challenge to them, using Skarmory. Raikou and Entei attack two-on-one, pinning them between fire and electricity. Once they attack at the same time, however, Skarmory uses Agility to dodge as Spark and Fire Blast collide and cancels each other out. Falkner attempts capturing both, but Suicune appears to prevent the Poké Balls from operating with BubbleBeam.

The Bird Keeper suggests escaping, but Falkner isn't interested, instead turning to attack Suicune, who shatters Skarmory's wing. In one last attempt, Falkner tries to capture Suicune, but Raikou and Entei return the previous favor by destroying the Poké Balls. Skarmory begins to plummet to earth. However, Suicune saves the three of them, before the Beast trio flee. With their escape, Falkner laments on how he wouldn't have defeated Raikou and Entei even without Suicune's interference, and formally arrests the Bird Keeper under suspicion of poaching.

Falkner's father is speculated to be Wayne. He also uses Poké Balls that have been turned into boomerangs by attaching Skarmory's shed feathers to their sides.

Pokémon

This listing is of Falkner's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Pidgeotto

Noctowl

Skarmory

In the TCG

This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Falkner or his Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Name	Type	Level	Rarity	Set	Set no.
Falkner's Pidgeot		-		Pokémon VS (no English release)	1/141
Falkner's Fearow		-		Pokémon VS (no English release)	2/141
Falkner's Farfetch'd		-		Pokémon VS (no English release)	3/141
Falkner's Dodrio		-		Pokémon VS (no English release)	4/141
Falkner's Togetic		-		Pokémon VS (no English release)	5/141
Falkner's Delibird		-		Pokémon VS (no English release)	6/141
Falkner's Skarmory		-	H	Pokémon VS (no English release)	7/141
Falkner's TM 01	-	-		Pokémon VS (no English release)	103/141
Falkner's TM 02	-	-		Pokémon VS (no English release)	104/141

Trivia

• His Japanese Leader title is 華麗なる飛行ポケモン使い.
• Falkner is the only Gym Leader yet that is encountered first by players that does not use Rock-type Pokémon. Ironically, one of the Flying-type's weaknesses is Rock-type moves.
  • This is likely due to the fact that Kanto and its Gym Leaders were included in the Generation II games, where a Rock-specialist Gym Leader lives, as well as the fact that 16 Gyms could cover 16 of the 17 elemental types.
• Falkner is the only Gym Leader, besides Brock in Generation I, who gives out a TM that contains a move that is not of his Gym's specialty type.
  • In Generation IV, however, he gives the player TM51, Roost.
• Falkner's Pokémon are the lowest level of any Gym Leader. His level 7 and 9 (9 and 13 in Generation IV) Pokémon include an underleveled Pidgeotto that is unobtainable in games other than Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon HeartGold, and Pokémon SoulSilver.
• Falkner is the only Gym Leader from either Kanto or Johto to only use Pokémon of his Gym's specialty type, even in the Pokémon Stadium series.
• Falkner's updated Sugimori artwork depicts him in a pose very similar to that of his Generation II sprite.
• Falkner appears as an opponent in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge. He uses a Pidgey to battle.
• Falkner, in Generation IV, became the first Gym Leader that the player encounters first to give out a TM that is incapable of inflicting any damage.

Names

External links

• Hayato's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
• Master of the Sky, the fanlisting for Falkner

Gym Leaders of the Johto region
Falkner of Violet City	Bugsy of Azalea Town	Whitney of Goldenrod City	Morty of Ecruteak City	Chuck of Cianwood City	Jasmine of Olivine City	Pryce of Mahogany Town	Clair of Blackthorn City

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.