Original Trainer
The Original Trainer or Original PartnerLA (Japanese: 親 owner), or OT for short, of a Pokémon is the Trainer who obtained the Pokémon in question first. It is shown in the Pokémon's summary. The Original Trainer's name is used in conjunction with their gender and ID numbers to verify which Pokémon are outsider Pokémon.
Assignment
Pokémon receive the Trainer who originally caught, hatched, received, snagged, or otherwise obtained them as their OT. NPCs who give away gift Pokémon will not be registered as the Pokémon's OT, aside from four instances: a Spearow given by Webster and a Shuckle given by Kirk, both in the Generation II games and their remakes, a Plusle given in Pokémon Colosseum, and a Zorua given by Rood with N as its OT in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. In the case of Webster's Spearow and Kirk's Shuckle, these are special instances in that the Pokémon received is intended to be later returned, in Webster's case, to his friend on Route 31 and in Kirk's case, to him after Silver has been defeated at Mt. Moon, although in the latter case, Kirk will allow the player to keep Shuckle if it has maximum friendship. In the case of N's Zorua, it is unique as it is one of N's Pokémon; besides Zorua, various other Pokémon with N as their OT can be encountered and caught if Memory Link is used, making these the only wild Pokémon that the player can catch without being considered their OT. Unlike with most gift Pokémon, NPCs who give away Pokémon in in-game trades are considered to be the OTs of those Pokémon.
A Pokémon bred by a player which is traded as an Egg to another will have the hatching Trainer as its OT, regardless of the breeder. A Shadow Pokémon that has been snagged will initially display its OT as question marks, but after being purified, it will have the Trainer who purified it as its OT. Shedinja produced by the Evolution of a Nincada retain the Nincada's OT.
When transferring Pokémon from the Generation III to IV through the Pal Park, despite the player catching the Pokémon again, its OT and ID remain the same.
Effects
A Pokémon whose Original Trainer is not the same as its current Trainer is called an outsider Pokémon; this is determined by using the Original Trainer's name, Trainer ID number, secret ID number, and gender. An outsider Pokémon with too high a level may disobey its Trainer in battle if they have too few Badges or stamps (but they will always obey in link battles). Outsider Pokémon gain 50% more experience than Pokémon trained by their Original Trainer; from Generation IV onward, outsider Pokémon with a different language of origin to the game's language instead gain 70% more experience.
In most games, only the Original Trainer of a Pokémon can change its nickname. Starting in Generation VIII (with the exception of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl), an outsider Pokémon without a nickname can be given one by any Trainer, though only its Original Trainer can change it again afterwards, and outsider Pokémon with nicknames still cannot have their nicknames changed.
If two compatible Pokémon with different Original Trainers are bred, they will produce Eggs more frequently than Pokémon with the same Original Trainer.
Prior to Generation VI, due to a glitch, if an Egg is hatched in a game other than that of the player who generated it, it can hatch with the appearance of a Shiny Pokémon in the cutscene but actually be normally colored, or hatch normally colored but actually be Shiny. This is because the Egg has the same Trainer ID number and secret ID number as the player who generated it before the cutscene, but they change to match the hatching player after the cutscene. This also allows Eggs that are normally prevented from containing Shiny Pokémon (namely Eggs obtained from event distributions and the Manaphy Egg) to hatch into Shiny Pokémon, as long as they are hatched in a game other than the game that generated them. Starting in Generation VI, this can no longer happen.
Pokémon Yellow
In Pokémon Yellow, if the player has an OT Pikachu, it is assumed to be the Pikachu received as their first Pokémon. This Pikachu follows the player and has a happiness value.
Pokémon Crystal
In Pokémon Crystal, the player needs the three OT legendary beasts in order to obtain the Rainbow Wing, which is required before Ho-Oh can appear.
Due to an oversight, only the first five letters of the OT name are verified. For example, if the player's name is “CRYSTAL”, then having the Legendary beasts with the OT name “CRYST” and a matching ID of the player will enable the event. This is due to the player names in the original Japanese version being a maximum of five characters long and the English version failing to account for the change.
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, if the player shows an OT Togepi or Togetic to the old man at the Water Labyrinth, he makes a remark about Daisy Oak which is saved as one of her Fame Checker entries. This is assumed to be the Pokémon that hatched from from the Egg received from the old man.
Pokémon Black and White
In Pokémon Black and White, the player can obtain the following items from a man in black in the Castelia City Pokémon Center:
- Wide Lens if the player has Pokémon from 5 different original Trainers
- Everstone if the player has Pokémon from 10 different original Trainers
- Zoom Lens if the player has Pokémon from 20 different original Trainers
- Choice Scarf if the player has Pokémon from 30 different original Trainers
- PP Max if the player has Pokémon from 40 different original Trainers
- Master Ball if the player has Pokémon from 50 different original Trainers
Special Original Trainers
- Main article: List of notable ID numbers
Sometimes, there are special Original Trainer names assigned to Pokémon if they come from a non-standard Pokémon game or are received as a prize.
Trivia
- The OT will be highlighted as blue if it is a male Trainer or red if it is a female Trainer in Generations III (except in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen), IV, and V. In Korean games, female OTs are highlighted in pink instead of red. This information is still stored in later games, but is no longer visible in-game.
- In the Japanese versions of the Generation III games, Western OT names (like Western Pokémon names) are rendered as fullwidth characters, which limits the display of names to five characters.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Cantonese | 初訓家 Chōfangā * 父母 Fuhmóuh * |
| Mandarin | 初訓家 / 初训家 Chūxùnjiā * 父母 Fùmǔ * 訓練師 Xùnliànshī * | |
| French | Dresseur d'Origine (D.O.) Partenaire d'origineLA | |
| German | Originaltrainer (OT) OriginalpartnerLA | |
| Italian | Allenatore Originale (AO) Alleato originale (AO)LA | |
| Korean | 어버이 Eobeoi | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Treinador Original | |
| Spanish | Entrenador Original (EO) Compañero originalLA | |
| Vietnamese | Chủ nhân | |
Related articles
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This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |
