Sanpei

This article is about a character featured in the Pokémon anime who has not yet debuted in the English language dub. As such, their information may contain romanized Japanese names, rather than dub names.

If you were looking for the other character whose Japanese name is Sanpei, see Steveland.

Sanpei

(Japanese: サンペイ Sanpei) is a character of the day who appeared in A Rush of Ninja Wisdom. He is a ninja hailing from a ninja village. He has two older brothers. His eldest, Ippei, who is the strongest of the ninja village, and his second brother Nihei, who is the second strongest of the ninja village.

As Ash was training with Froakie, their training was criticized by Sanpei, who had concealed himself behind a veil on a tree. Sanpei revealed himself, but quickly disappeared with his "leaf concealment" technique. Startled, Ash and Froakie tried to look for Sanpei but weren't able to spot him anywhere, until they noticed a Frogadier in a tree. Sanpei then joined with the Frogadier and he introduced himself to the group. Ash quickly challenged Sanpei to a battle with Froakie against Frogadier, which Sanpei accepted as he was also looking for a battle opponent.

Although Froakie tried many attacks, Frogadier proved to be too quick. As Froakie tried Water Pulse, Frogadier disappeared in a flash. Concentrating on finding Frogadier's current location, Froakie thought it had found it, only to find out it was a decoy. The real Frogadier appeared out of a nearby pond and the fight went on with both using Water Pulse. Sanpei then ordered Frogadier to use Quick Attack, which was too fast for Froakie to keep up with. Ultimately Frogadier landed the hit and Froakie was defeated.

Sanpei helped Froakie recover by giving it medicine. As Sanpei was about to leave, Ash asked him to help Froakie learn Quick Attack. Sanpei accepted Ash's request, but assured him his teachings are strict. Sanpei had Froakie go through various stages of training, such as jumping from spot to spot and running across the surface of the water. After this, the group and Sanpei decided to have a meal together. Sanpei then told Ash more about his background.

As they continued their training, Team Rocket suddenly appeared in a giant ninja robot. They managed to grab Frogadier and Pikachu. As Froakie now tried to battle Team Rocket on its own, the training with Sanpei pulled off and Froakie managed to execute Double Team. With a Water Pulse, it managed to free Frogadier and Pikachu. Ash and Sanpei then blasted off Team Rocket together with a double Water Pulse from Froakie and Frogadier. Now showing more respect for Ash than when they met, Sanpei said his farewells to Ash and the group as he went on his way.

Pokémon

Frogadier

Debut	A Rush of Ninja Wisdom
Voice actors
Japanese	Kiyotaka Furushima

Frogadier is Sanpei's only known Pokémon.

It first appeared sitting on a treebranch as Ash was looking for its Trainer. It was then used in a battle against Ash's Froakie. Although Froakie tried many attacks, Frogadier proved to be too quick. As Froakie tried Water Pulse, Frogadier disappeared in a flash. Concentrating on finding Frogadier's current location, Froakie thought it had found it, only to find out it was a decoy. The real Frogadier appeared out of a nearby pond and the fight went on with both using Water Pulse. Sanpei then ordered Frogadier to use Quick Attack, which was too fast for Froakie to keep up with. Ultimately Frogadier landed the hit and Froakie was defeated.

Frogadier then aided Froakie in its training to learn Quick Attack. Frogadier showed its various techniques, such as jumping quickly from spot to spot and quickly running across the surface of the water. Eventually during the training, Team Rocket showed up in a giant ninja robot. Although Frogadier and Froakie tried to battle it, Frogadier was caught by Team Rocket together with Pikachu. Froakie now had to fight Team Rocket alone and then showed what the training had pulled off: Froakie had suddenly learned Double Team. It managed to free Frogadier and Pikachu with Water Pulse. Together with Froakie, Frogadier blasted off Team Rocket with a double Water Pulse. Afterwards it said its farewells to Froakie and the group as it and Sanpei went on their way.

It has a rather presumptuous personality, as shown when it laughed when Froakie wasn't able to make it running across the surface of the water, and acting unimpressed when Froakie did manage to do it.

Frogadier's known moves are Smokescreen, Bubble, Water Pulse and Quick Attack.

Voice actors

Language Voice actor Japanese 三瓶由布子 Yuuko Sanpei

Trivia

• The names of Ippei, Nihei and Sanpei are a play on the Japanese words for one, two, and three: "ichi" (一), "ni" (二) and "san" (三).

This article is part of Project COD, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each one-time character of the Pokémon animated series.