Pokémon Coordinator

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. But 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, Jesselana, or Jessalina, m.m. 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 four 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, Lila, Solidad, Kelly, Anthony, Robert, Drew, Harley, Zoey, Nando, Kenny, Fantina, Ursula 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 and the owner of a ranch, Hayley are all famous Coordinators and the player's opponents in the higher ranks.

The first, and so far only, time the term "Coordinator" was used in the games was in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, by a girl in an apartment in Hearthome City.

Notable Coordinators

Trivia

• For Different Strokes for Different Blokes, 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."

	Pokémon Contests
	Necessary Spoils Pokéblocks • Poffins Contest Categories Cool • Beautiful • Cute • Clever • Tough Rounds Appeal • Battle • Dance • Visual	Participation Contest • Super Contest • Contest Show Coordinator • Contest Hall • Contest Pass The Grand Festival Kanto • Hoenn • Sinnoh Top Coordinator • Ribbon Cup
	Others Combinations • Opponents (III • IV • VI • VIII) • Double Performance • Jamming Ribbons (list) • Stickers • Ball Capsules • Ranks • Judges • Announcers • Wallace Cup