Roark

Roark (Japanese: ヒョウタ Hyouta) is the Gym Leader of Oreburgh City's Gym, known officially as the Oreburgh Gym. He hands out the to s who defeat him. He specializes in . He is Byron's son.
==In the core series games==
Roark's team is made up entirely of Pokémon. After he is defeated, he will give the the and ; the Badge gives the player the ability to use outside of battle. Roark, as the Oreburgh Mine's safety supervisor, lets the Trainers of Oreburgh train in the mines. Despite his young age, he keeps the mine running safely and efficiently. After losing, he feels embarrassed that his Cranidos lost to a Trainer without any Badges and cautions the protagonist that the following leaders are a lot tougher. Roark later appears in the Underground/Grand Underground, welcoming the player on their first visit there, and explaining a handful of features of the area. Like the other Gym Leaders, he can be fought again at the Battleground in .
Roark also appears in , taking part in the Pokémon World Tournament. He can be faced in the Sinnoh Leaders, Type Expert, and World Leaders Tournaments.
In , after the player has obtained the National Pokédex, Roark appears in Sandgem Town via the Grand Underground to inform them that the Gym Leaders of Sinnoh are now ready to rematch them. He also appears at the , where he's able to team up with his father Byron in a Double Battle.
A woman in Sunyshore City mentions Byron and the Underground Man are related and they, with Roark, are a trio of dedicated diggers. As a child, Roark spent a significant amount of time playing on Iron Island. Apparently, Riley was considered for the position of Oreburgh Gym Leader first, but he declined and suggested Roark for the position, so he was picked instead.
===Pokémon===
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=====Gym battle=====
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=====Rematch=====
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=====Pokémon World Tournament=====
Roark uses three of these Pokémon in Single Battles, four in Double and Rotation Battles, and all six in Triple Battles. He will always lead with his signature Pokémon, .
======Sinnoh Leaders Tournament======
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======Type Expert/World Leaders Tournament======
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=====Gym battle=====
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=====Rematch=====
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=====Battle Tower=====
======Master Class Single Battles (Rank 1)======
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! colspan='18' style='background:#' | Team A
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! colspan='18' style='background:#' | Team B
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! colspan='18' style='background:#' | Team C
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======Master Class Double Battles (Rank 1)======
In each team, Roark uses the first and second Pokémon on the list, and Byron uses the third and fourth.
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! colspan='18' style='background:#' | Team A
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! colspan='18' style='background:#' | Team B
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! colspan='18' style='background:#' | Team C
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==In the spin-off games==
===Pokémon Masters EX===
Roark forms a sync pair with and its evolved form in Pokémon Masters EX. Roark became a playable sync pair since the game's release.
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==Gallery==
===Artwork===
 	
Official artwork from	Template background from
===Sprites and models===
 	 	 	 	 	
Sprite from 	Sprite from 	Sprite from 	VS sprite from 	VS model from 	VS model from
 	 	 	 	 	
Overworld sprite from, and	Overworld sprite from, and	Overworld sprite from	Sprite from the from, and	Overworld model from	Sprite from the from
==Quotes==
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
====Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl====
Roark is the Oreburgh City Gym Leader as well as the foreman of the Oreburgh Mine and the chief of Ancient Pokémon Expedition Operations.
Roark first appeared in Shapes of Things to Come!, in which he was seen excavating for buried fossils at the Oreburgh Mine. He later d Paul, during which he demonstrated his strong abilities, even beating Paul's with his . However, his powerhouse, , was not powerful enough to defeat . With this victory, Paul earned the from Roark.
Following his defeat, Roark recovered and battled the following day in A Gruff Act to Follow!. Roark's Cranidos quickly knocked out , Ash was later forced to recall as well, but ’s super effective attacks led to Cranidos's defeat. Onix made quick work of Turtwig in the next round, then its attack knocked Pikachu out and Ash was left defeated.
In Wild in the Streets!, Roark used Cranidos to confront a which had been released into Oreburgh City by . While had her and pin Aerodactyl to the ground, Cranidos later evolved into and sent Team Rocket blasting off.
In O'er the Rampardos we Watched, Ash challenged Roark in a rematch. Onix and Geodude were defeated by Ash's Pikachu and Aipom respectively. His powerhouse Rampardos battled against Ash's whole team, but it was knocked out by . Being the victor, Ash earned his first Sinnoh League Badge, the Coal Badge.
He reappeared in Ancient Family Matters!, where he confronted his father Byron in Canalave City over some family tensions. Roark revealed that his father left the Oreburgh Gym to him after he was requested to take over the Canalave Gym. Roark was shocked and saddened by his father's sudden departure, thinking that he didn't care what happened to him or his mother. The pair argued over who loved fossils the most, and it escalated into a battle. Byron's Bastiodon and Roark's Rampardos were evenly matched, but the battle was interrupted after Team Rocket set off alarms when they stole Byron's fossil collection. The father and son duo joined forces to defeat Team Rocket, and Pikachu sent Team Rocket blasting off. Later, Byron revealed that he had always treasured a fossil of a 's leaf that Roark had given to him as a child ten years earlier, and Roark accepted that his father did care about him all along.
In Dealing With Defensive Types!, he was the referee for Ash's Gym battle against Byron.
====Pokémon movies====
Roark made a cameo appearance during the ending credits of Zoroark: Master of Illusions.
====Character====
Roark is a compassionate individual who often complements his challengers on their strategies during a Gym . Roark is ambitious, but he puts a lot of pressure on himself to perform his best in his leading roles at the Oreburgh Mines and as Gym Leader. He also shares his father Byron's enthusiasm for fossil Pokémon, and has deep interests in investigating the past.
Roark has trained his Pokémon to be fast and relentless in battle. While his style of battle is largely offense based, his defense strategies however are much like his father. He utilizes his Pokémon's to combat status condition ailments and negate damage, while the move causes damage to any of the opponent's substituted Pokémon before the round begins.
====Pokémon====
This listing is of Roark's known in :
====Voice actors====
===GOTCHA!===
Roark briefly appeared in GOTCHA!.
===Pokémon Evolutions===
Roark appeared in The Rival, where he and his were defeated in a Gym by and his .
====Pokémon====
		
==In the manga==
===Pocket Monsters DP===
Roark appeared in PMDP07.
====Pokémon====
===Pokémon Adventures===
Roark first appears arriving in Oreburgh City after exploring the Underground with the Underground Man at Eterna City and speaking with his father, Byron, at Canalave City. He meets , a new Trainer who wishes to challenge and sets up a match for the next day.
The next day, Platinum challenges the Oreburgh Gym for their match. After getting through the Trainers inside, she faces Roark in an official Gym battle. In the match, Roark's Cranidos proves to be a powerful opponent for Platinum's Piplup, but the match eventually ends in Platinum's favor. Defeated, Roark awards Platinum with her first Badge, the Coal Badge. Later, he talks with Byron over the phone about his recent loss to Platinum and they begin talking about another subject.
Later, it is revealed that the aforementioned subject was about a mysterious group that had been going in and out of Canalave to read ancient texts at the library. With the recent disappearance of two scientists, Roark worries that his father would start jumping to conclusions about the littlest things. Later, when Byron is forced to find her, Maylene, and Platinum someone to train them so they can confront Team Galactic, he considers Roark at first but soon changes his mind to Volkner.
Later, Roark, along with Fantina and Gardenia, faces the Team Galactic Commanders on the Spear Pillar. After Candice, Maylene, Byron, and Crasher Wake join the fight, Roark and Fantina team up to face Saturn. Eventually, they emerge victorious and attempt to fight Cyrus before he can finish his ritual. Due to a rift in space-time, they are forced to use the Sinnoh Underground to get to Cyrus, but they manage to come up right at the exact spot he was in.
All the Gym Leaders attempt to stop Cyrus's plan by breaking one of his Red Chains. Though a difficult struggle, they manage to succeed, but they bring upon Cyrus's wrath in the process and are defeated.
After the final battle with Cyrus ends, Roark and the other Gym Leaders are taken to a hospital due to their heavy injuries.
====Pokémon====
This listing is of Roark's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.
===Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!===
Roark first appeared in Oreburgh City, using his to defeat the s that kidnapped Hareta. Afterwards, Hareta challenged him to a Gym battle. Using a combination of , and the Oran Berry Roark had given him, Hareta managed to defeat Roark and earn the Coal Badge.
====Pokémon====
==In the TCG==
Roark was introduced as a in the Pokémon Trading Card Game during the English Scarlet & Violet Series (the Japanese Scarlet & Violet Era). It was first released in the Japanese expansion and the English expansion, with artwork by Ryuta Fuse. An version with artwork by the same illustrator was released in the same sets. It allows players to draw 2 cards, and put a from their discard pile into their hand.
The expansion during the Platinum Series featured two of Roark's Pokémon: Rampardos and Aerodactyl .
==Trivia==
* His Japanese Leader title is .
* Roark is the third Gym Leader encountered first in the region that uses Pokémon, the other two being Brock and Roxanne.
* He and his father's Badges are references to the term Coal Mine. Additionally, mines are located in or near their respective town (Oreburgh Mine and Iron Island, which was once a mine).
* He is the only Sinnoh Gym Leader not to use any fully evolved Pokémon in his Gym battle in the games.
** He is also the only Sinnoh Gym Leader whose Pokémon do not change in the slightest between and .
* He is the only Gym Leader to have a parent who is a Gym Leader in the same region at the same time.
==Names==
Language 	Name 	Origin
Japanese 	ヒョウタ Hyouta 	From 瓢箪 hyōtan ( gourd), matching with his father Tougan who is named after the wax gourd
English 	Roark 	From rock and ore
German 	Veit 	From Eveit (), a mineral isostructural with which matches his father's German name Adam
Spanish 	Roco 	From roca (rock)
French 	Pierrick 	From pierre (stone)
Italian 	Pedro 	From pietra (stone)
Korean 	강석 Gangseok 	From 강 (强) gang (strong) and 석 (石) seok (rock) or 광석 (礦石) gwangseok (ore)
Chinese ()	瓢太 Piáotài 	From the Japanese name 瓢太 Hyōta. Contains 瓢 piáo / pìuh (ladle made from dried calabash gourd)
Chinese ()	瓢太 Pìuhtaai 	From the Japanese name 瓢太 Hyōta. Contains 瓢 piáo / pìuh (ladle made from dried calabash gourd)
Russian 	Рорк Rork 	Transcription of his English name
Vietnamese	Hyota 	Transcription of his Japanese name
==References==
* Pokémon.com Shapes of Things to Come!
* Pokémon.com A Gruff Act to Follow!
* Pokémon.com Wild in the Streets!
* Pokémon.com O'er The Rampardos We Watched!
==Related articles==
* Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
Category:Gym Leaders
Category:Diamond and Pearl characters
Category:Platinum characters
Category:Black 2 and White 2 characters
Category:Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl characters
Category:Rock-type Trainers
Category:Animation characters
Category:Pokémon Adventures characters
Category:Pokémon DP Adventure characters
Category:Pocket Monsters DP characters
Category:Pokémon Evolutions characters
de:Veit
es:Roco
fr:Pierrick
it:Pedro
ja:ヒョウタ
zh:瓢太