Ian (Sinnoh)

Ian (Japanese: イワオ Iwao) is the gym assistant for the Oreburgh Gym and first appeared in Shapes of Things to Come. He is voiced by 田中正彦 Masahiro Tanaka in Japanese and Sean Reyes in English.

He is first seen escorting Paul outside of the Oreburgh Gym, and is thought to be the Gym Leader by Ash until he admits that the actual Gym Leader Roark isn't available to fight. Instead, he claims his job is taking care of the Gym's Pokémon.

Ian is also responsible for Ash getting his badge case, offering the general qualifications for the Sinnoh League, and explaining where Roark is and his work mining for coal and treasure. Once Roark and the gang return to the Gym, Paul's request for a challange is accepted, and Ian is the judge for the match.

His role as judge carries over to Ash's first Gym battle against Roark the following day in the episode A Gruff Act to Follow.

In Wild in the Streets, Ian's brief role is to warn Roark of Aerodactyl's rampage and Armaldo and Kabutops' escape from the Oreburgh museum.

Ian makes his last appearance in O'er the Rampardos we Watched, once more as the judge for Ash's second battle against Roark.

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