Kimono Girl

Ken Sugimori's artwork of Kimono Girl

A Kimono Girl (Japanese: まいこはん Dancing Girl Group) is a type of Pokémon Trainer that first debuted in the Generation II games. They appear as young women dressed in kimonos.

In the games

Generation II

In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, five Kimono Girls live in Ecruteak City, and can be battled at the Ecruteak Dancing Hall. Each holds one Pokémon, which, when combined, contain all of Eevee's known evolutions at the time.

Trainer	Pokémon
Kimono Girl Naoko コウメ Koume Reward: 1224	Flareon♂ Lv.17 No item
Kimono Girl Sayo サクラ Sakura Reward: 1224	Espeon♂ Lv.17 No item
Kimono Girl Zuki タマオ Tamao Reward: 1224	Umbreon♂ Lv.17 No item
Kimono Girl Kuni スモモ Sumomo Reward: 1224	Vaporeon♂ Lv.17 No item
Kimono Girl Miki サツキ Satsuki Reward: 1224	Jolteon♂ Lv.17 No item
Trainers with a telephone symbol by their names will give their PokéGear number to the player, and may call or be called for a rematch with higher-level Pokémon.

Bill's mother was once a Kimono Girl.

Kimono Girls have been seen in the Battle Tower.

Quotes

Naoko

"You have lovely Pokémon. May I see them in battle?"

"Oh, you are very strong."

Sayo

"I always dance with my Pokémon. Of course, I also train them."

"Oh, so close! I almost had you."

Zuki

"Isn’t my barrette pretty? Oh. A Pokémon Battle?"

"I don’t have any Pokémon left…"

Kuni

"Oh, you’re a cute trainer. Would you like to battle?"

"You’re stronger than you look."

Miki

"Do you like my dancing? I’m good at Pokémon too."

"Ooh, you’re good at Pokémon too."

Generation IV

On the Tin Tower

Much like other Generation II characters, the Kimono Girls made an appearance in their Generation IV remakes, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Instead of being restricted to their dance hall in Ecruteak City, however, they will appear elsewhere, such as in Ilex Forest, Violet City and the Ice Path. A Team Rocket grunt also appears in their hall in Ecruteak, where he commented on one of their dancing routines, so the player has to battle him. In order to encounter Ho-Oh in HeartGold and Lugia in SoulSilver, which is a requirement before battling the Elite Four, players must earn all 8 badges and talk to Professor Elm, then the player must go to the dance hall and battle all 5 Kimono Girls consecutively.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver the Girls' respective Eeveelutions were noticeably swapped. Also, Sumomo's (Kuni's) Japanese name got retconned to Komomo, probably to avoid confusion with Maylene, whose Japanese name is also Sumomo. Tamao is the only Kimono Girl to get completely unchanged.

Trainer	Pokémon
Kimono Girl タマオ Tamao Reward: 4560	Umbreon♂ Lv.38 No item
Kimono Girl コウメ Koume Reward: 4560	Espeon♂ Lv.38 No item
Kimono Girl サツキ Satsuki Reward: 4560	Flareon♂ Lv.38 No item
Kimono Girl サクラ Sakura Reward: 4560	Jolteon♂ Lv.38 No item
Kimono Girl コモモ Komomo Reward: 4560	Vaporeon♂ Lv.38 No item
Trainers with a telephone symbol by their names will give their PokéGear number to the player, and may call or be called for a rematch with higher-level Pokémon.

In the anime

The Kimono Sisters in the anime
Left to right: Sumomo (in green), Tamao, Satsuki, Koume.

The Kimono Sisters in street clothes. Left to right: Koume, Satsuki, Sumomo, Tamao

The Kimono Girls (called the Kimono Sisters in the anime) were featured in two episodes, Trouble's Brewing and Espeon, Not Included.

In Trouble's Brewing, right after Ash's win at the Ecruteak Gym, the gang bump into Sakura, who takes them to the tea ceremony her sisters are running when they ask where it was being held. Sumomo is the first sister they meet, greeting them formally. Tamao is seen next, demonstrating flower arranging to a small audience. Later, they pass by the lone Koume playing her shamisen. Finally, they are treated to a quiet display of the art of tea making and drinking by Satsuki. Needless to say, Brock is entranced by them all, and grows frightened when they're all together and call him out on his praise (this also happens early on in Espeon, Not Included).

The sisters are skilled trainers as well as tradition keepers. Upon proposing a challenge to the trio to battle for Sakura to join them, Sumomo and Satsuki both display their Vaporeon's and Jolteon's abilities against Misty's Poliwhirl and Ash's Pikachu respectively. Vaporeon defeats Poliwhirl and Pikachu defeats Jolteon, but the latter only after Team Rocket's interruption.

When Sakura changes her mind about leaving at that time, Satsuki admits that she and the other three aren't against Sakura leaving to begin her journey, only that they want her to not be dependent on others when she finally does.

In Espeon, Not Included, the four elder sisters aren't focused on much, however they were tricked by Team Rocket into handing over their Pokémon for dancing lessons. With the help of Sakura's Eevee, now an Espeon, the other four evolutions are rescued, and the episode ends with the sisters wishing Sakura well on her journey.

Satsuki and her Jolteon

Sumomo and her Vaporeon

Tamao and her Umbreon

Koume and her Flareon

Sakura and her Espeon

Pokémon

Jolteon (Satsuki's)

Vaporeon (Sumomo's)

Umbreon (Tamao's)

Flareon (Koume's)

→ Eevee → Espeon (Sakura's)

Voice actors

Names

Trivia

• For some reason, in the English, French, and Italian localizations, they were given different, but still Japanese, names.
• Kuni's Japanese name in Generation II is the same as that of the Veilstone City Gym Leader Maylene in Sinnoh. This is probably what led to it being changed in Generation IV (Maylene appears in Celadon City).
• In two languages (French and the German version of the game), the name Keiko was used for different Kimono Girls.
• Both of the anime episodes all of the Kimono Girls appeared in had Masaaki Iwane as animation director.
• The Japanese names of the Kimono Girls in the Generation II games are mixed up with those of the Generation IV games, barring Tamao and her Umbreon.

This Trainer Class article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.