Ethan (Pokémon Trainer)

Ethan
First Game	Pokémon Gold and Silver (1999)
Trainer Class	Pokémon Trainer Player character

Ethan (ヒビキ, Hibiki) is the main playable character in Pokémon Gold and Silver and is the male choice in Pokémon Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver. In Crystal, his female counterpart is Kris, while in HeartGold and SoulSilver his female counterpart is Lyra.

Appearances

Pokémon series

Ethan was sent off by his mother to their friendly neighbor Professor Elm. In his lab, Elm tells Ethan that his friend Mr. Pokémon has found an egg and that he found. He wants Ethan to go retrieve it. In order go, Ethan needs a Pokémon. So the professor lets him choose Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile. At Mr. Pokémon's house Ethan gets the Pokédex and a weird egg. Upon leaving Elm calls Ethan and tells him to hurry back to his place. While leaving Cherrygrove City Ethan meets a bully named Silver who stole one of Professor Elm's Pokémon. The two battle and Ethan ends up victorious. Ethan makes it to New Bark Town and informs the cops about Silver. The police depart and Ethan gives the egg to the professor. Elm tells Ethan that he should battle the Gym Leaders from different towns and get Gym badges.

Ethan soon goes to Violet City and makes his way up the Sprout Tower where he meets his rival and battles the Elder. He fights the gym leader Falkner and wins. Ethan then discovers Team Rocket in Azalea Town and teams up with Kurt and stops their evil deeds. He continues getting stronger and winning battles. He soon destroys Bugsy in Azlea Town, Whitney in Goldenrod City, Morty in Ecruteak City, Jasmine in Olivine City, Chuck in Cianwood City, and Silver. In Mahagony Town Ethan meets Team Rocket and teams up with a stranger named Lance. After Team Rocket is defeated Ethan battles Pryce and earns the Glacier Badge. Ethan then battles Team Rocket again at the Goldenrod City Radio Station and gets the Rainbow Wing/Silver Wing. He makes his way through Ice Path and battles Clair, the Gym Leader of Blackthorn City. Despite winning against her, Clair refuses to give him the badge. Instead, she deamnds Ethan to journey into Dragons Den and earn the respect of an elder. He does this and gets his last badge before challenging the Elite Four. He fights Will, Koga, Bruno, Karen, and Lance, whom he met earlier in Mohagany Town. He wins and enters the Hall of Fame. After, Prof. Elm gives him a boarding pass for the S.S. Aqua and Ethan goes to Kanto.

In Kanto, Ethan fights the Gym Leaders (Brock, Misty, Lt. Surge, Sabrina, Erika, Janine, Blaine, and Blue) and shows them the power of Johto. He also meets Silver who changed his ways and became nice to his Pokémon. Word of his victories travels to Pallet Town and Professor Oak tells him that he should fight a kid he gave a Pokédex to two years ago. Ethan makes his way through Mt. Silver and finally meets the person: Red.

Trivia

• Ethan is the only male player character who does not wear long pants, instead opting for shorts.
• Ethan is the only male player character to have two different female counterparts.
• Ethan is the main protagonist in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge's Challenge Mode.
• The majority of his Japanese default names from HeartGold and Soul Silver are shared with Red and Lucas. The same holds true for their respective female counterparts.
• Ethan and Lyra are the only pseudo-rivals, along with the only rival characters in any game apart from Wally, to not appear to have a starter Pokémon from the professor in that region.
• Ethan's sprite in HeartGold and SoulSilver is positioned the same as Lucas's in Platinum.
• In Gold & Silver version there is a minor trainer named Cal who can be battled in the Viridian City, some fans hinted for the player character would be the default name as "Cal" for the main player character due to the sprite character being the same as Ethan's and because Cal also had only all three level 50 fully evolved Johto starters. However in Pokémon Stadium 2, Cal is a separated character from the player character "Gold", who eventually was renamed to "Ethan".