Factory Head (Trainer class)
Factory Head ファクトリーヘッド Factory Head | |
![]() ![]() Art of Noland and Thorton | |
Introduced in | Generation III |
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Appears in | Emerald, Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver |
Gender | Male only |
Notable members | Noland, Thorton |
Anime debut | Numero Uno Articuno* |
Manga debut | Swanky Showdown with Swalot (Adventures) |
Factory Head (Japanese: ファクトリーヘッド Factory Head) is a Trainer class that first debuted in Emerald Version. It is reserved for Frontier Brains of Battle Factories. Noland and Thorton are the only Trainers that have this Trainer class.
Appearance
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Noland's sprite from Emerald |
Thorton's sprite from Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver |
Thorton's VS sprite from Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver |
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Noland's overworld sprite from Emerald |
Thorton's overworld sprite from Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver |
In the anime

Noland is the only Factory Head to appear in the anime, debuting in Numero Uno Articuno. Ash battled him in The Symbol Life, eventually defeating a wild Articuno that Noland befriended using his Charizard, thus securing his first Battle Frontier victory.
In the manga
Ash & Pikachu
Like in the anime, Noland was the first Frontier Brain challenged by Ash, appearing in Off To The Battle Frontier!!.
Pokémon Adventures
Noland appeared in the Emerald chapter, where he, like his fellow Generation III Frontier Brains, was challenged by Emerald and helped in fighting against the villainous Guile Hideout. He made a brief reappearance in the Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire chapter.
Thorton appeared in the Platinum chapter as the Factory Head of Sinnoh's Battle Factory. Despite his great battling skills and knowledge about Pokémon, he still ended up getting defeated by Platinum, proving her superiority over him in said subjects.
In the TCG
There are three FB Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game belonging to Factory Head Thorton.
Related cards Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a silver background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
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Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
Electivire ![]() |
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Supreme Victors | ![]() |
4/147 | Beat of the Frontier | ![]() |
038/100 |
Skarmory ![]() |
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Supreme Victors | ![]() |
83/147 | Beat of the Frontier | ![]() |
066/100 |
Electivire ![]() |
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Supreme Victors | ![]() |
144/147 | Beat of the Frontier | ![]() |
039/100 |
In other languages
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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. |