Falkner

Falkner (Japanese: ハヤト Hayato) is the Gym Leader of Violet City's Gym, known officially as the Violet Gym. He hands out the to s who defeat him. He specializes in .
==In the core series games==
Falkner appears in , where he is the first Gym Leader s will encounter. A master of Pokémon, Falkner runs the Violet Gym, which he inherited from his father; the Pokémon he uses in battle also formerly belonged to him. Falkner's father is reported to be traveling, but is never seen in the game.
Known as "The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon", Falkner is adored as a cool and handsome Trainer. Falkner reveres his father, and aspires to follow in his footsteps to become the greatest bird Pokémon master. Falkner uses, notably, the lowest leveled Pokémon found in any Gym in any region. In fact, his is . Once defeated in battle, he awards winners with the and a Technical Machine: in Generation II; in Generation IV. In each generation, his Pokémon know the respective TM; Falkner uses this move as part of his battle strategy.
Like all Gym Leaders in , Falkner ventures out of his Gym occasionally. Once the player has obtained the , Falkner will journey every Monday to Celadon City so he can visit the Department Store. He can be found talking with Janine of Fuchsia City on the fourth floor, and will exchange Pokégear phone numbers with the player. Once this has been completed, Falkner can be invited to the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City every Saturday morning to be faced in a rematch with a stronger team of Pokémon. He may also participate in the Pokéathlon's Supreme Cup in the Jump Course with his , , and .
Falkner also appears in , taking part in the Pokémon World Tournament. He can be faced in the Johto Leaders, Type Expert, and World Leaders Tournaments.
===Pokémon===
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=====Gym battle=====
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=====Rematch=====
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=====Pokéathlon=====
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=====Pokémon World Tournament=====
Falkner uses three of these Pokémon in Single Battles, four in Double and Rotation Battles, and all six in Triple Battles. Falkner will always lead with his signature Pokémon, .
======Johto Leaders Tournament======
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======Type Expert/World Leaders Tournament======
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======The Battle Between Legendary Pokémon======
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==In the side series games==
===Pokémon Stadium 2===
Falkner appears in Pokémon Stadium 2's Johto Gym Leader Castle. Unlike other Gym Leaders in this game, all of his Pokémon are of his specialist type. Notably, he even uses a Legendary Pokémon; .
During the game's end credits, he is seen having a battle with Erika.
====Pokémon====
=====Round 1=====
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=====Round 2=====
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==In the spin-off games==
===Pokémon Puzzle Challenge===
Falkner appears as an opponent in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge. He uses a to battle.
===Pokémon Masters EX===
Falkner forms a sync pair with , , and in Pokémon Masters EX. Falkner became a playable sync pair on August 5, 2021.
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==Gallery==
===Artwork===
 	
Headshot from	Official artwork from
===Sprites===
====In the core series====
 	 	 	
Sprite from 	Sprite from 	VS sprite from 	Sprite from
 	 	 	
Overworld sprite from	Overworld sprite from	Overworld sprite from	Overworld sprite from
====In other games====
 	
Portrait from	Portraits from
==Quotes==
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
====History====
Falkner appeared in the episode Fighting Flyer with Fire. When Ash's Pikachu was stolen by , Falkner arrived and rescued it with the help of his . He flies around on a hang-glider in order to be as close to Pokémon as he possibly could be. He is usually seen with his on his shoulder. Falkner conducts his matches on the roof of the Gym, accompanied by his many students who chant in unison during his s.
Falkner escorted and to the Violet Gym after agreeing to have a match against Ash. He selected his Hoothoot, and its incredible speed helped it defeat . Then, Pikachu was able to knock Hoothoot out of the sky and used to win the round. Next, Falkner selected his , and while its speed and high jumps made for a difficult match, Pikachu's overwhelmed it. Pikachu, however, was defeated by Pidgeot. Ash called on 's assistance against Pidgeot. Falkner appeared to have the upper hand, but Ash soon saw a pattern in Pidgeot's strategy and had Charizard use , followed by a . Ash was able to win the , despite Charizard's wing being severely injured during the match.
He reappeared in a flashback in Why? Wynaut!.
====Character====
Falkner has a self-righteous attitude when it comes to Pokémon training, which angered . Falkner also expressed an intense dislike for the assumption many Trainers make that Pokémon will always lose to Pokémon, but proved to be slightly hypocritical as he criticized Ash's poor choice of using , a type that is weak to Flying, in their match.
He is intense in and rigorously commands his Pokémon's every move, including their flight paths. He uses his Flying Pokémon's abilities to whip up strong winds, and their wings, or in 's case its long legs, to evade attacks and swoop down to attack. While he pushes his Pokémon to perform their best, Falkner also thanks them for their efforts.
====Pokémon====
====Voice actors====
===GOTCHA!===
Falkner briefly appeared in GOTCHA!.
==In the manga==
===Pokémon Adventures===
====History====
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Falkner debuts in Elekid Incorporated, where he is seen working as a part-time . He finds unconscious at Professor Elm's laboratory and blames him for the fire started on the lawn. Under the threat of arrest, Gold comes with Falkner and explains to him that the true thief was named . When asked to provide a picture of Silver, Gold deliberately gives wrong information so that he can find Silver himself. Falkner offers Gold and Joey a place to stay for the night at the police station in Cherrygrove City, but Gold turns it down and runs off with Joey in tow.
Falkner reappears in Sunkern Treasure, where he is seen training while off-duty. He runs into Gold and properly introduces himself. Falkner reveals that he plans on taking the Gym Leader qualifying exam so that he can take over the Violet Gym that his father used to lead before being run into hiding. They are attacked by a wild that Falkner had faced before, but failed to defeat. With Gold's help, Falkner manages to defeat and capture Skarmory. In Smeargle Smudge, it is revealed Falkner passed the Gym Leader exam.
In Delibird Delivery - 1, Falkner appeared in Professor Elm's fantasy when he informed Gold that the Masked Man may be a Gym Leader.
In Really Raikou & Entirely Entei (Part 1) and Really Raikou & Entirely Entei (Part 2), Falkner trains his Pokémon on the outskirts of Violet City, where he encounters a poacher. They are attacked by and , who Falkner assumes are challenging Gym Leaders like had been doing. Falkner initially struggles to keep up with Entei and Raikou's speed, but he manages to divert their attacks, leaving an opening for him to catch them. The thrown Poké Balls are stopped by Suicune, who had arrived to assist its comrades. The poacher suggests that Falkner give up and live to fight another day, but Falkner refuses the challenge to succeed where the other Gym Leaders failed. In a last-ditch effort, Falkner throws a multitude of Poké Balls into the air, which surround Suicune due to them being outfitted with Skarmory's shed clear feathers, turning them into boomerangs. Falkner almost hits Suicune, but Entei and Raikou return the favor by destroying the Poké Balls. Skarmory begins crashing to the ground due to its now-missing wing, but Suicune saves Falkner with a bubble and then leaves with Entei and Raikou. Falkner admits defeat and claims that he would have lost even if Suicune did not come to help Raikou and Entei. He reveals to the poacher his job as a police officer and proceeds to arrest him for capturing Pokémon in a protected environment. 
At the Indigo Plateau, Falkner arrives with his fellow Johto Gym Leaders to participate in an exhibition tournament for the Pokémon League against the Kanto Gym Leaders. In the third round, he faces off against Janine of Fuchsia City. The Gym Leader proves too powerful for Falkner and he is nearly defeated by her . When Janine sees what appears to be her missing father, Koga, in the audience, she forfeits the battle to search for him. When the Masked Man attacks the Pokémon League, Falkner and the other Gym Leaders combat his army of mind-controlled s. The fight takes them to the Magnet Train, which is used as a diversion to get the Gym Leaders away from the stadium. After the Masked Man is defeated, Falkner returned to his usual duties of being a Gym Leader.
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Falkner, along with Chuck and Bugsy, is asked by Morty to guard the Ecruteak Gym from suspicious people asking to use Morty's clairvoyance. When arrives to see Morty under Eusine's recommendation, the Gym Leaders mistake him for another suspicious person and stop his attempts to advance. Having no time to talk, Silver opts to battle the Gym Leaders and force his way inside. Silver's clash ends when he is revealed to be a friend of Chuck's former student, . They decide to trust Silver and let him inside to meet with Morty, who had been helping Gold due to mistaking him for Silver. The meeting is cut short by the sudden appearance of , who lands in front of the Ecruteak Gym and destroys it with a single blast. Falkner, Bugsy, and Chuck are caught in the blast and knocked unconscious.
Falkner's father is , who also uses boomerang Poké Balls made from Skarmory's shed feathers.
====Pokémon====
This listing is of Falkner's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.
===Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys===
Falkner first appeared in Falkner The Bird Keeper's Challenge!! where heard that he lived in Violet City. Gold went to Violet City to challenge Falkner. During the Gym battle, Falkner revealed that he challenged someone previously using his and . They were worn out after being defeated by his . As a result, Falkner sent out his to battle Gold. Gold defeated Pidgeot with 's combination of and .
The Gym battle continued in The Legendary Pokémon Appears! where Gold had to deal with Falkner's who appeared once every four years. Gold had a long fight with it using Totodile, , and and was about to lose until Articuno flew away. Falkner stated that it fights when it wants to and leaves at will. As Articuno chose not to fight anymore, Gold was able to defeat Falkner and was rewarded the .
====Pokémon====
=====On hand=====
=====Other=====
===Pokémon Pocket Monsters===
Falkner first appeared in The Gym Challenges Begin!! as the first Gym Leader in Johto encountered. Red met him in Sprout Tower while talking to one of the Elders. He reappeared in PMHGSS05, where he had a rematch with Red during the latter's return to Johto.
====Pokémon====
===Pocket Monsters HGSS Jō's Big Adventure===
Falkner appeared in JBA1, where he challenged Jō to a Gym battle in the Violet Gym. Jō managed to defeat Falkner, earning himself the . He reappeared in a flashback in JBA5.
====Pokémon====
==In the TCG==
Falkner 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 subset and the English expansion, with artwork by Ryuta Fuse. An version of the card with artwork by the same artist was released in the same sets. It lets players draw two cards. If the player has a in play, they draw four cards instead.
=====Pokémon VS=====
The Japanese exclusive expansion featured several of Falkner's Pokémon and two Technical Machine cards. was later released in English in the .
==Trivia==
* His Japanese Leader title is .
* In Generation II, Falkner is the only Gym Leader who cannot give out a TM that contains a move of his Gym's specialty type, because no TM existed in Generation II.
** In Generation I, Brock also gives out a TM containing a move () that is not of his Gym's specialty type, even though one existed: TM48 .
* Falkner's Pokémon are the lowest level of any Gym Leader. His level 7 and 9 (9 and 13 in Generation IV) Pokémon include an .
** Despite popular misconception, however, these are not impossible levels for a Pidgeotto to be at. Level 7 Pidgeotto can be found in Kanto Route 2 in all Johto games and Viridian Forest in , and legitimate level 9 Pidgeotto can also be transferred in to Generation II from .
* In the Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld 1999 demo, Falkner has a third Pokémon, that being a level 10 , 26 levels lower than Pidgeotto's Evolution level.
* Falkner is the only Gym Leader from either Kanto or Johto to only use Pokémon of his in the Pokémon Stadium series.
* Falkner is the only Gym Leader whose Gym team in the doesn't share any Pokémon with their Gym battle teams from the .
==Names==
Language 	Name 	Origin
Japanese 	ハヤト Hayato 	From 隼人瓜 Hayato-uri () and 隼 hayabusa (peregrine falcon)
English, Indonesian,Brazilian Portuguese	Falkner 	From , one who trains falcons to hunt
German 	Falk 	From Falke (falcon)
Spanish 	Pegaso 	From Pegaso ()
French 	Albert 	From albatros (albatross)
Italian 	Valerio 	From volare (to fly)
Korean 	비상 Bisang 	From 비상 (飛上) bisang (flight)
Chinese () 	阿速 Ā Sù 	From the Japanese name 速人 Hayato and 速 sù (quick)
Chinese () 	隼人 Sǔnrén 	From the Japanese name 集人 Hayato
Chinese () 	阿速 A Chūk 	From the Japanese name 速人 Hayato and 速 chūk (quick)
Thai 	ฮายาโตะ Hayato	Transcription of his Japanese name
Vietnamese 	Hayato 	Transcription of his Japanese name
==References==
==Related articles==
Category:Animation characters
Category:Manga characters
Category:Pokémon Adventures characters
Category:Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys characters
Category:Pokémon Pocket Monsters characters
Category:Pocket Monsters HGSS characters
Category:Gold, Silver and Crystal characters
Category:HeartGold and SoulSilver characters
Category:Black 2 and White 2 characters
Category:Stadium 2 characters
Category:Gym Leaders
Category:Flying-type Trainers
Category:Trainers with Legendary Pokémon
de:Falk
es:Pegaso
fr:Albert (Johto)
it:Valerio
ja:ハヤト
zh:阿速