Please remember to follow the manual of style and code of conduct at all times.
Our privacy policy has recently been updated, effective September 13th.
Check the Bulbagarden home page for up-to-date Pokémon news and discuss it on the forums or in the Bulbagarden Discord server.

Riley

From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Jump to navigationJump to search
If you were looking for the character of the same name from Pokémon Adventures, see Riley (Adventures).
Riley
ゲン Gen
Brilliant Diamond Shining Pearl Riley.png
Art from Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Gender Male
Eye color Blue
Hair color Dark Blue
Hometown Unknown
Region Sinnoh
Trainer class Pokémon Trainer
Generation IV, VIII
Games Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Anime debut Steeling Peace of Mind!
English voice actor Marc Diraison
Japanese voice actor Yū Mizushima

Riley (Japanese: ゲン Gen) is a Pokémon Trainer from Sinnoh. He specializes in Pokémon with high Attack.

In the games

Riley is one of the five Trainers who can join with the main character during an event in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Later, he can join the player in competition at Sinnoh's Battle Tower and, in Pokémon Platinum, can be battled at the Battleground after the Stark Mountain subquest. All of his Pokémon excel in the Attack stat. He also appears in HeartGold and SoulSilver in a similar capacity.

Riley's first appearance in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum is at Iron Island. He helps the player to get through the deep mines on the island, and assists in the defeat of some Team Galactic Grunts. After the Grunts have been defeated, Riley offers the player a Pokémon Egg that eventually hatches into a Riolu. In Platinum, he will give the player HM04 (Strength) before the player enters Iron Island's cave.

Apparently, Byron had previously asked Riley to become a Gym Leader, though Riley politely refused, saying that Byron's son Roark should be considered first.

Riley mentioned to the Team Galactic members that Iron Island belonged to him, suggesting he may be the owner of the mines and someone else reopened the island as a place for wild Pokémon to live as well as a place for people to train.

Pokémon

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl



Given away as an Egg
Spr 4d 447.png
Type:
Fighting Unknown
Ability:
Inner Focus or Steadfast
Held item:
None
Riolu♂/♀ Lv.1
Quick Attack
Normal Physical
Foresight
Normal Status
Endure
Normal Status
  --  
   

Pokémon Platinum

Iron Island



Given away as an Egg
Spr 4p 447.png
Type:
Fighting Unknown
Ability:
Inner Focus or Steadfast
Held item:
None
Riolu♂/♀ Lv.1
Quick Attack
Normal Physical
Foresight
Normal Status
Endure
Normal Status
  --  
   
Battleground



Battle Tower

As the player's Multi Battle Partner, Riley uses Pokémon that excel in the Attack stat.

Diamond and Pearl



Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver



Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Iron Island



Given away as an Egg
447Riolu.png
Type:
Fighting Unknown
Ability:
Inner Focus or Steadfast
Held item:
None.png None None.png
Riolu♂/♀ Lv.1
Quick Attack
Normal Physical
Endure
Normal Status
  --  
   
  --  
   
Battle Tower
Master Class Double Battles (Rank 6)

In each team, Marley uses the first and second Pokémon on the list, and Riley uses the third and fourth.



Quotes

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl

Iron Island

  • Entering
"...You are? OK, you're <player>. I'm Riley. I'm a Trainer, and yes, it is a bit odd that I would be training here. If you'd like, we could team up. The wild Pokémon here are restless.
"If your Pokémon get hurt, I'll heal them up."
  • If talked to again
"Haha, I'd have to agree. People training here would be those with too much time on their hands."
"This used to be a fairly thriving ore mine once upon a time. I guess the steel ore's played out. There's only Pokémon here now."
"Have you met Byron? The Leader of Canalave Gym? He's asked me to become a Gym Leader, but there's his son Roark to consider."
"Imagine what it would be like for a Steel-type Pokémon user to battle a Steel type. Would that be like battling yourself, I wonder? I mean, it's a lot harder to defeat one's self than anyone else."
"What's going on here, though? The native Pokémon are restless... I don't like this... Let's hurry."
  • If leaving before the quest is over
"...Are you going back? I'll be hanging around here. It would be good if you came back."
  • Upon return
"Hi, <player>. Let's team up. The Pokémon seem to be restless."
"If your Pokémon get hurt, I'll heal them up."
"I get it now. You're responsible for agitating the Pokémon. I don't care what good reason you may have, but I don't want you bringing any trouble into my mine."
"To share in all the joys and all the sorrows... That is how all the Trainers and Pokémon live in Sinnoh! I won't allow anyone to defy that code of ethics! Come on, <player>! This is one battle we can't lose!"
  • When the Grunts are defeated
"Thanks. You really helped me out. Listen, I have a Pokémon Egg here. Would you take it with you?"
Yes (open party slot): "Thanks! I'd like you to show the Pokémon that's inside the Egg all sorts of new places. Spending time with you was very enjoyable. I intend to test my skills in other places from now on. Let's meet again! Take care on the way out."
Yes (full party): "Thank you... But you don't have room to take another Pokémon. All right, then. I'll wait here for you."
No: "I hope you'll accept it as a token of our friendship."

Pokémon Platinum

Iron Island

  • Entrance
"...You are? OK, you're <player>. I'm Riley. I'm a Trainer, and yes, it is a bit odd that I would be training here. Anyway, it's always nice to meet another Trainer. Here's a gift."
  • (Receiving HM04 without the Mine Badge)
"That Hidden Machine contains the move Strength. To use it out of battle, you need the Mine Badge from Canalave Gym."
  • (Receiving HM04 with the Mine Badge)
"That Hidden Machine contains the move Strength. To use it out of battle, you need the Badge from Canalave Gym... Oh, never mind, you've already got the Mine Badge. My bad."
"I'll be training inside. You can join me if you'd like."
  • Inside
  • Upon approach inside
"<player>, I'm glad to see you here. If you don't mind, let's team up. The Pokémon seem to be restless."
"If your Pokémon get hurt, I'll heal them up."
  • If talked to again
"Haha, I'd have to agree. People training here would be those with too much time on their hands."
"This used to be a fairly thriving ore mine once upon a time. I guess the steel ore's played out. There's only Pokémon here now."
"Have you met Byron? The Leader of Canalave Gym? He's asked me to become a Gym Leader, but there's his son Roark to consider."
"Imagine what it would be like for a Steel-type Pokémon user to battle a Steel type. Would that be like battling yourself, I wonder? I mean, it's a lot harder to defeat one's self than anyone else."
"What's going on here, though? The native Pokémon are restless... I don't like this... Let's hurry."
  • If leaving before the quest is over
"...Are you going back? I'll be hanging around here. It would be good if you came back."
  • Upon return
"Hi, <player>. Let's team up. The Pokémon seem to be restless."
"If your Pokémon get hurt, I'll heal them up."
"I get it now. You're responsible for agitating the Pokémon. I don't care what good reason you may have, but I don't want you bringing any trouble into the mine."
"To share in all the joys and all the sorrows... That is how all the Trainers and Pokémon live in Sinnoh! I won't allow anyone to defy that code of ethics! Come on, <player>! This is one battle we can't lose!"
  • When the Grunts are defeated
"Thanks. You really helped me out. Listen, I have a Pokémon Egg here. Would you take it with you?"
Yes (open party slot): "Thanks! I'd like you to show the Pokémon that's inside the Egg all sorts of new places. Spending time with you was very enjoyable. I intend to test my skills in other places from now on. Let's meet again! Take care on the way out."
Yes (full party): "Thank you... But you don't have room to take another Pokémon. All right, then. I'll wait here for you."
No: "I hope you'll accept it as a token of our friendship."

The Battleground

  • Before battle
"Hi. Long time, no see. If it's all right with you, I'd like to challenge you to a battle right now."
No: "Oh, all right. Then we'll wait till you're ready."
"That look you have... I take it you're ready for battle?"
Yes: "We're pulling out all the stops to put your Pokémon down."
  • During battle
"Your team! I sense your strong aura!"
  • When defeated
"At times we battle, and sometime we teamed up. It's great how Trainers can interact."
  • After being defeated
"If I weren't on Iron Island then... If you hadn't arrived on Iron Island then... Perhaps we would have never met. Or, would we have met elsewhere?"

The Battleground (variant)

  • Before battle
"You and I, we're both Trainers. Let's forego the small talk and proceed right to battle. That's my style!"
No: "All right, then. So, what've you got to tell me?"
"See? It just doesn't feel right if we don't battle, does it?"
Yes: "Battling is our way of greeting!"
  • During battle
"Your team! I sense your strong aura!"
  • When defeated
"At times we battle, and sometime we team up. It's great how Trainers can interact."
  • After being defeated
"Know your enemy. If you know your opponent's Pokémon and what moves they use... If you have intelligence like that, your chances of winning are much improved."

Artwork

Diamond Pearl Riley.png Sticker Template Riley Background.png
Official artwork from
Diamond and Pearl 		Sticker Template background from
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Sprites

Spr Pt Riley.png Riley OD.png DP Riley Back.png VSRiley.png
Sprite from
Platinum 		Overworld sprite from
Generation IV 		Back sprite from
Generation IV 		Battle Tower VS model from
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

In the anime

Riley in the anime

Riley debuted in Steeling Peace of Mind!. He is an Aura Guardian in-training alongside his Lucario. Riley is also a Trainer specializing in Steel-type Pokémon and is currently staying on Iron Island for the study of the said type.

He encountered Ash and his friends while they were responding to a call for help from friend Barry. Riley stopped a rampaging Aggron from attacking the group with his mastery of aura. He ordered them to return to town and wait while he continued his investigation into why Iron Island's Steel Pokémon were behaving hostile. Though he allowed them to come along after seeing Ash's determination.

With the help of his Lucario, Riley and the others discovered that Team Galactic were behind the low frequency energy that irritated the Steel Pokémon. After Commander Mars activated the Iron Ruins using the Spear Key, Lucario quickly became affected by the frequency as well.

In Saving the World From Ruins!, Riley led the group to disrupt Team Galactic scheme. Ash and Brock fought through Mars's defences while Riley held off an angry Steelix from injuring Dawn, Barry and Team Rocket, who were all trapped in a crevasse. Ash's Pikachu eventually destroyed Team Galactic's machine, which restored the Steel Pokémon to their normal selves.

However, in their tactical retreat Mars and her crew planted bombs throughout the Iron Ruins. Riley and his Lucario managed to trap the explosion using their aura and sent it away from the island, foiling Team Galactic's plan. Later he decided to help Professor Carolina study of the island's connections to Veilstone City's meteorites and Spear Pillar.

Character

Riley remains level-headed and fearless in his approach to challenging situations. He is selfless and will always act to protect others from harm like he did on several occasions in Saving the World From Ruins!. His aura abilities are astoundingly powerful and allows him to create defensive shields, it also makes him quite perceptive of others.

Pokémon

This listing is of Riley's known Pokémon in the anime:

Riley Lucario.png
Lucario

Voice actors

Language Voice actor
Japanese 水島裕 Yū Mizushima
English Marc Diraison
Czech Pavel Tesař
Finnish Aku Laitinen
Italian Renato Novara
Korean 신용우 Shin Yongwoo
Norwegian Trond Teigen
Polish Karol Wróblewski
Brazilian Portuguese Sílvio Giraldi
Spanish Latin America Igor Cruz
Spain Juan Amador Pulido


In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Riley and his Lucario in Pokémon Adventures

History

Emerald chapter

Riley makes a cameo appearance in Epilogue, where he is on a boat heading to the Battle Frontier.

Diamond & Pearl chapter

Riley later appears in Grumpy Gliscor where he saves Diamond and Sailor Eldritch from crashing into a large boulder with his Lucario. He reveals that he is there to train Diamond in increasing his battling skills on Byron's request. Once they arrive on Iron Island, they have a test battle to see just where Diamond's skills are lacking in. After defeating Diamond, Riley deduces that his weakness is the lack of speed and takes him to cave in order to train.

After three days of training, Riley reveals Diamond's next task: to retrieve a Pokémon Egg. After finding the boss of the cave, a Steelix, injured from a battle, they realize that someone must have attacked it and go searching for them. As they search, Riley is attacked by a Pokémon and has his and Lucario's face covered with honey, blinding them. The attackers are revealed to be two Roughnecks who were hired by Team Galactic to make a mess on the island and have stolen the Egg. With their technique that can prevent Aura users from finding them, Riley and Lucario are helpless to stop them but Diamond steps in their place. Diamond manages to defeat them without harming the Egg and with the ability to sense Aura again, Riley and Lucario finish the two off. The Egg hatches into a Riolu and Riley decides that Diamond has finally passed his test. After Diamond reveals that someone was targeting him, Riley realizes someone is spying on them. After knocking down a flying camera machine, Riley checks the machine and feels a malicious Aura emanating from it. Riley and Diamond then say their goodbyes.

Later, Riley appears at the Spear Pillar, having tracked the Aura on the camera machine to this location. Although the Aura he saw was that of the Advanced level Grunt, it turns out there was an even darker one coming from deeper inside: the Aura belonging to Sird. Riley attacks Sird and the other Commanders but they manage to escape.

Platinum chapter

Riley later appears at the Battle Frontier where he presents the machine to Palmer in hopes of being able to track Sird since the Aura he used to track her before had disappeared. Palmer then gives the machine to Thorton in hopes of his technological expertise will be of some help.

After Thorton finishes fixing the machine, Riley uses his Aura to lead everyone to where the owner is. He—along with Palmer, Platinum, Cheryl, and Mira—all set off to the Distortion World. Eventually, they manage to track the owner of the machine, the Advanced level Grunt. The Grunt, who had escaped from Team Galactic out of fear, takes them to the Distortion World, under Platinum's request.

Upon entering the Distortion World, everyone is separated due to the dimension's strange gravity. While the others land safely, Riley lands onto a floating island and is left alone. Later, he manages to meet up again with the others after the Legendary Pokémon get into a huge brawl.

He rescues Marley from getting crushed by a falling Regigigas that was put to sleep by Darkrai. When Charon tries to escape after getting his flying machine broken, Riley is left behind along with the others while Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum chase after Charon.

After Charon's defeat, Riley and everyone else who was left behind manages to escape unharmed. When Riley ponders where Darkrai went off to when the legendary Pokémon all begin to leave, the Advanced level Grunt shows it is flying to parts unknown.

Pokémon

Riley's Lucario
Lucario ♂
Main article: Riley's Lucario

Lucario is Riley's main Pokémon which he uses in battles. He has a variety of powerful moves and the ability to sense Aura, an ability that Riley shares.

Debut Grumpy Gliscor
Riley's Riolu

Riley's Riolu
Egg → Riolu
Riolu is a Pokémon that was stolen by two Roughnecks while it was an Egg but was retrieved by the combined efforts of Diamond and Riley.

None of Riolu's moves are known.

Debut Vexing Vespiquen & Unmanageable Mothim II

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!

Riley in Diamond and Pearl Adventure!

Riley appears in Serious Training on Iron Island!! along with his Lucario where he rescues Hareta from B-2's Graveler. Later, he gives Hareta a Pokémon Egg containing a Riolu.

Pokémon

On hand
Riley Lucario DPA.png
Lucario
Given away
Hareta Riolu Egg.png
Egg

In the TCG

Riley in the TCG
Main article: Riley (Lost Origin 166)

Riley was introduced as a Supporter card in the Pokémon Trading Card Game during the English Sword & Shield Series (the Japanese Sword & Shield Era). It was first released in the Japanese S-P Promotional cards and the English Lost Origin expansion, with artwork by Ken Sugimori. It allows the player to reveal the top five cards of their deck. Two cards of their opponent's choice are discarded and the remaining three are put into the player's hand.

Trivia

  • Of all the potential partners in the Battle Tower, Riley has the largest pool of Pokémon to choose from.
  • Riley is the only human in the games confirmed to be able to use Aura, as displayed in his intro animation and through a line of in-battle speech where he mentions feeling the player's Aura. In the anime, he is one of two known and currently living human users of Aura, the other being Ash.
  • Riley has many similarities with Sir Aaron from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. In addition to design similarities, both Trainers have a Lucario and can use Aura.
    • The design of the necklace Riley wears is the same as the pattern on Sir Aaron's gloves. It is also the same as the pattern on Groudon's arm.
  • In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Riley's hat can be bought at the Clothier in Jubilife Village.

Names

Language Name Origin
Japanese ゲン Gen From 玄米 genmai (brown rice)
English,
Brazilian Portuguese 		Riley From rye and Riolu
German Urs*
Hordeo* 		From Urhirse (red millet)
From Hordeum (barley genus)
Spanish Quinoa From quinoa
French Armand*
Bernard* 		From Sir Aaron and amarante (amaranth)
Possibly from amarante queue-de-renard (foxtail amaranth)
Italian Marisio*
Fabiolo* 		From mais (maize)
From faba (Latin for bean)
Korean 현이 Hyeon'i From 현미 (玄米) hyeonmi (brown rice)
Chinese (Mandarin) 亞玄 / 亚玄
Yǎxuán / Yàxuán 		From 亞朗 Yǎlǎng / Alóhng (Sir Aaron) and the Japanese 玄米 genmai
Chinese (Cantonese) 亞玄 Ayùhn
Vietnamese Gen Transcription of his Japanese name


Related articles


Non-player characters in the core series games
Sinnoh Professor Rowan • Professor Oak • Johanna • Barry • Lucas • Dawn • Cynthia • Looker • Stat Trainers (Cheryl • Riley • Mira • Buck • Marley)
Bebe • Teala • Felicity • Roxy and Oli • Roseanne • Rad Rickshaw • Eldritch • Wilma • Jasmine • Caitlin • Julia • Jordan • Dexter • Keira • Mr. Backlot • Morimoto
Underground Man • Mr. Goods • Mr. Fuego • Pokétch Co. President • Dr. Footstep • Pokémon Fan Club Chairman • Massage Girl • Scarf Guy • Helena • Ketch Appy
Team Galactic • Gym guide • Gym Leaders • Elite Four • Frontier Brains • Name Rater • Day-Care Couple • Professors' aides • Stats judge


Project CharacterDex logo.png This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.
Retrieved from "https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/w/index.php?title=Riley&oldid=3579226"