Rudy

Rudy ジギー Ziggy
Rudy
Gender	Male
Eye color	Black
Hair color	Auburn
Hometown	Trovita Island
Region	Orange Islands
Relatives	Mahri (sister)
Class	Gym Leader
Gym	Trovita Gym
Challenge	Attack test, 3-on-3 Pokémon battle
Badge	Spike Shell Badge
First episode	Misty Meets Her Match!
English voice actor	Matthew Mitler
Japanese voice actor	Ryō Horikawa

Rudy (Japanese: ジギー Ziggy) is the Trovita Island Gym Leader. He hands out the Spike Shell Badge to Trainers who defeat him. His strategy includes teaching his Pokémon skills they would not normally learn, such as modern dance.

In the anime

Rudy's only anime appearance was in Misty Meets Her Match. His Japanese Seiyū is 堀川亮 Ryō Horikawa, and his English voice actor is Matthew Mitler.

Rudy put all his efforts into wooing Misty after she saved his younger sister, Mahri, from a whirlpool, instead of focusing on Ash's challenge. Like most members of the Orange Crew, Rudy requires that all Trainers who face him pass a test of skill. He had Ash's Pokémon shoot at targets while aboard a moving boat.

After Ash passed Rudy's attack test, he faced him in a three-on-three battle pitting Pokémon of the same type against each other atop one of the rock pillars that surrounds Trovita Island. Prior to the fight, Rudy asked Misty if she wanted to stay with him after the match, but permitted Misty to decide after the battle was over. Ash lost the first round of the battle — Pikachu versus Electabuzz — but Bulbasaur won the battle against an Exeggutor by using Sleep Powder on it, causing it to fall off the pillar before Bulbasaur caught it with Vine Whip.

When the final round came — Squirtle versus Starmie — Rudy dedicated the fight to Misty, subsequently ordering Starmie — evading Squirtle's Water Gun by dancing — to spin itself into a Thunderbolt. As Ash tried to think of a strategy, Misty, finally making up her mind, yelled at Ash to keep fighting as he was the only one who could bring out Squirtle's real power. His resolve renewed, Ash had Squirtle use Water Gun to force itself out of the path of Rudy's Thunderbolt, Squirtle subsequently learning Hydro Pump just in time to stop it falling into the nearby sea, subsequently using Hydro Pump and Skull Bash to defeat Starmie. After presenting Ash with his badge and Misty with some flowers as a farewell, Rudy commented that he hoped Ash knew that he was a very lucky guy, and that Ash would find out what he meant some day.

Pokémon

Rudy battled with the following Pokémon:

Electabuzz

Electabuzz was Rudy's first choice of Pokémon in his Gym battle against Ash. Electabuzz was shown to be extremely resilient to most attacks thrown at it, not even requiring to evade any of them, unlike Exeggutor and Starmie. Ash used Pikachu against him for the first round, trying to defeat the Electric-type Pokémon with Quick Attack, then changing tactics and used Thunderbolt instead. Neither attack phased Electabuzz however, as it charged forward and defeated Pikachu with a single ThunderPunch.

Exeggutor

Exeggutor was shown to be a nimble dancer, using this to evade Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf, with the aid of some music requested by Rudy. It was then ordered to go on the offensive, knocking Ash's Bulbasaur to the ground with a powerful Egg Bomb. Upon moving in for the finishing blow however, the tables were turned as Bulbasaur countered with Sleep Powder, causing Exeggutor to become dopey and clumsily stumble towards the precipice of the battle field. Exeggutor was saved from falling into the water below by Bulbasaur, who used Vine Whip to rescue the snoozing coconut tree.

Starmie
	Starmie was shown to be powerful and fast. As with most of Rudy's Pokémon, Stamie was proficient in modern dancing, and used it to help avoid attacks thrown at it by Ash's Squirtle. Despite being quick and having Thunderbolt at its disposal, it was ultimately defeated by Squirtle with the help of its newly learned Hydro Pump. Its voice actress in both Japanese and English is Ikue Ohtani.

In Trovita Gym

Hitmonchan

Alakazam

Golem

Pidgeot

Rhydon

Venomoth

Ninetales

In the manga

Electric Tale of Pikachu

Rudy as a woman

Rudy was featured in a chapter of the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, making him the only one of the Orange League Gym Leaders to make an appearance outside of the anime. However, he was referred to as Jeremy in the English version.

Events in the manga transpired similar to the anime episode in which he was featured, although Tracey was not there. Rudy was the final Orange League Gym Leader that Ash battled, not the third. In addition, after Misty turned down Rudy's proposal, Mahri was disappointed because she wanted Misty to become her big sister. To solve this, Rudy starts to crossdress, becoming a big sister for Mahri.

Pokémon

This listing is of Rudy's Pokémon in the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga.

Rudy battled with the following Pokémon:

Electabuzz

Exeggutor

Starmie

Rudy also handled the following Pokémon at his Gym:

Nidoqueen

Alakazam

Pidgeot

Ninetales

Golem

Trivia

• Rudy is the only member of the Orange Crew who hasn't met or defeated Team Rocket in battle.
  • Although, he may have unintentionally defeated them after his Exeggutor fell off the battle field and knocked them into the ocean.

External links

• Ziggy's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)

Gym Leaders of the Orange Archipelago
Cissy of Mikan Island	Danny of Navel Island	Rudy of Trovita Island	Luana of Kumquat Island	Head Leader Drake of Pummelo Island

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.