Edge's Azumarill

**Edge's Azumarill** (Japanese: **えっじのマリルリ** *Etsuji's Marilli*) is the very first Pokémon that Edge ever obtained, and his main battling partner and longtime best friend.

## **History**

### **Background**

Prior to going out on his journey, Edge owned Azumarill as a Azurill. While swimming one day, Edge began to drown and Azurill was unable to do anything but watch. Due to being unable to help Edge in her current state, she forced herself to evolve into Marill and saved him from drowning. Ever since then, Edge and Marill began training and battling as many opponents as they possibly could to make Marill grow stronger.

### **Kanto**

In Pallet Town, a small group of children are trying to capture a Nidorina. Seeing the children struggling to do so, Edge walks up to them and teaches the children how to catch a Pokémon by mentioning that a Pokémon first needs to be weakened before throwing a Poké Ball at it. While explaining every one of his moves to the children, Edge sends out Marill and commands her to use Water Gun. Nidorina slowly recovers and uses Double Kick, which Marill counters with Aqua Tail, sending the Nidorina crashing onto the ground, before Edge throws a Poké Ball and successfully captures the Nidorina, as the children cheer on his success. Edge then gives away Nidorina to the children, telling them to take good care of the Pokémon.

Later, Edge chose Marill to battle the Mythical Pokémon Mew after having just witnessed Robyn Oak trying, but failing to defeat the Mythical Pokémon. However, Marill was easily defeated with one hit after Mew reflected Marill's attack back at her.

Marill was chosen by Edge to battle against a Trainer's Graveler during a battle to determine the right to face the Pewter City Gym Leader Brock, despite Marill being exhausted and low on health. The muscular Trainer predicts an easy win due to Marill's lack of health. However, Edge comes up with a strategy to take out his opponent, using one-hit knockouts and complimentary moves. He uses Water Gun on the Graveler, then follows up with Ice Beam, freezing and shattering the opponent's Pokémon.

While walking through Route 25, Edge is shocked to find a Rattata with the head of a human and converses in human language. The Rattata introduces itself as Bill, a Pokémon expert; however, in the middle of the introduction, a Fearow grabs Bill by its talons and takes him away. Edge tries his best to save Bill by using his Pokémon, eventually succeeding when Pikachu delivers an electric attack from above that knocks the bird down and freeing Bill in the process. Despite the damage, Fearow recovers and goes into an offensive stance. Bill recognizes Fearow's movements and warns Edge that it will use Drill Peck. Spiraling like a torpedo, Fearow dives at Edge's Marill, appearing to pierce right through her. However, it is revealed that Fearow merely pierced a Double Team clone, which gave Marill time to freeze the Beak Pokémon with Ice Beam and allowing Edge to capture the Fearow.

Marill was the only member of Edge's team to infiltrate the S.S. Anne. Immediately upon entering, the two of them end up battling a Voltorn, with Marill ending up paralyzed. Due to Marill being paralyzed and unable to help out, Edge is forced to dodge the powerful Thunder Punch attacks from Lt. Surge's Electabuzz. Right when it seems the two of them are trapped, Edge reveals their plan, which had Marill secretly drip a trail of water on the floor leading to Lt. Surge and Electabuzz. At Edge's command, Marill uses Ice Beam to freeze the legs of Lt. Surge and Electabuzz, and with the smoke of a launched Poké Ball, the two escape safely. While trying to find the exit, Marill is attacked by a Magneton and captured by Lt. Surge, who throws her off the ship. Edge attempts to rescue her, but is electrocuted and thrown into the ocean as well. As Edge begins to recall a similar situation, he is saved by her, who evolved into a Azumarill. With her newfound strength, Azumarill easily out powers Electabuzz with her newly-learned Seismic Toss.

Azumarill, along with the majority of Edge's team, was temporarily traded to Robyn Oak when the two Trainers bumped into one another, although they re-traded their teams back a few days later. However, much to Edge's dismay, Azumarill and his other Pokémon had adopted Robyn's serious and aggressive attitude, although they quickly returned to their normal state soon afterwards.

Azumarill battled in Edge's Gym battle against Erika in his fight to save Eevee. Azumarill went up against Erika's Bellsprout, with Edge being confident that it would be an easy victory. Azumarill attacks with Covet, but is stopped on the last hit and counter attacked with Bellsprout's Mimic, knocking her out.

Azumarill is picked as Edge's first Pokémon in his battle against Giovanni at the Viridian Gym. Edge send out Azumarill to attack, but in the short amount of time that he does so, Giovanni successfully releases his Cloyster and freezes Azumarill, forcing Edge to recall her, and leaving her unable to battle any longer.

During the Indigo Plateau Conference, Azumarill battled against a Trainer's Kabutops, advancing Edge to the semi-finals. In the finals, Azumarill and Pikachu helped Venusaur defeat Robyn's Charizard in a brilliant strategy by having Azumarill's water vapor and Pikachu's electric energy create a thundercloud that struck a vine shot and wrapped around it by Venusaur.

### **Two Years Later**

Azumarill is shown in a flashback fighting against Bruno's Hitmonchan. Azumarill was easily able to block all of Hitmonchan's attacks and strike back with Covet, but was taken out when Hitmonchan attacked with Thunder Punch and Fire Punch. Azumarill battled in the rematch against Bruno, where he is battled against Machamp. Machamp quickly overpowers her after his belt is removed and holds Azumarill down. Eevee manages to use the water Azumarill left to use Acid Armor to surprise attack Machamp, causing Machamp to be defeated.

### **Crisis of Deoxys**

Azumarill battled against Carr's Steelix. Azumarill sends a Focus Punch at Steelix, sending it flying. Carr tries to counter with Steelix's Iron Tail, but Azumarill simply catches it in her hands. She then lifts Steelix into the air by its tail and smashes it into the ground.

Later, Azumarill was seen joining Edge's other Pokémon, Robyn's Charizard, and Chuchu to take down the ten Forretress that Carr had placed inside the Team Rocket airship that were set to explode.

### **Battle Frontier**

Azumarill joined forces with Miguel's Politoed while battling against Guile Hideout. After saving Magna and his Dusclops from Jirachi's Doom Desire attack, Azumarill used Double Team to confuse Guile Hideout so that Politoed could get a chance to sneak closer and attack. Although Guile Hideout tried to send his Walrein and Masquerain to attack the Aqua Rabbit and Frog Pokémon, they simply threw them away and attacked Guile Hideout directly, breaking his armor.

## **New Era**

### **Prologue**

Azumarill often acted as the caretaker of Edge's son, Dwayne, often watching over him while played with the other Pokémon at Professor Oak's Laboratory. When Dwayne was six years old, he was playing with the Pokémon living in Professor Oak's Laboratory while being watched by Azumarill. While playing with a group of Oddish, Dwayne suddenly hears a voice calling and takes off running to find out what it is, with Azumarill rapidly behind him. Soon enough, Dwayne finds a Ralts laying next to a lake. When Azumarill arrives, Dwayne shares his belief that Ralts fell into the lake and got sick.

Azumarill then runs off to get Edge, who quickly arrives minutes later. Edge hands some soup for it to try. At first, Ralts won't eat the soup, but then Dwayne tells Ralts to go ahead, so Ralts manages to eat it and enjoys it. Dwayne lays her back down and thinks she must be feeling better, but Edge, however, thinks otherwise. He explains that she is definitely running a fever, and it was pretty high, so it would be best for them to get Ralts to a Pokémon Center right away, and since Pallet Town didn't have a Pokémon Center, they needed to head to Viridian City immediately. Dwayne offers Ralts a lift, then declares that he is going to take full responsibility for Ralts on the trip.

While passing through Route 1, Edge and Dwayne's path gets blocked by a trio of Pokémon poachers, who demand them to hand Ralts over to him. Ralts weakly cries out, and Dwayne realizes that Ralts's sickness was probably caused whilst she was escaping from the poachers, which the poachers smugly confirm, and state that Ralts wasn't going anywhere. Edge brings out his Azumarill to battle the poachers, who bring out a Zubat, Raticate, and Spearow. Zubat attacks with Gust, knocking Edge, Dwayne, Azumarill, and Ralts off their feet. Raticate then attacks with Super Fang. Dwayne takes cover behind a tree, promising to keep Ralts safe. Edge has Azumarill use Bubble Beam, which strikes Raticate and sends it flying back. However, Spearow swoops in with Aerial Ace, which Azumarill counters with Hydro Pump, which pushes Spearow back.

Dwayne then notices that Ralts is getting worse, and alerts his father, causing Edge to assume she must be suffering from something worse than a cold. Edge tells Dwayne to make a run for the Pokémon Center while he still can. When Dwayne is nervous about going alone, Edge reminds him that he is the one who wanted to be responsible for Ralts. After further encouragement from his father, Dwayne goes for it while Edge prevents the poachers from focusing on his son. After Azumarill crashes from Raticate's Hyper Fang, Edge summons his Pikachu, who uses Surf to engulf all three Pokémon at once, and then runs off after Dwayne. Unfortunately, one of the poachers had summoned a Vaporeon, whose Water Absorb Ability had absorbed all of Pikachu's Surf within it. Zubat then uses Haze, blinding Edge and his Pokémon, and allowing the poachers to escape and find Dwayne.

Stopping for a moment, Dwayne finds out that Ralts's fever is getting worse, and he needs to come up with something fast. He then finds a bundle of Berries that his mother would always give him whenever he was sick, and tries to convince Ralts to eat some of them. Unfortunately, Ralts is too sick to eat, and Dwayne starts to worry that Ralts is giving up. He then begins to emotionally break down, wondering why he wanted to be the big hero, and he becomes scared that all he did in the end was let Ralts down. Suddenly, an Ice Beam blows past him, and Dwayne looks up to see Azumarill holding some of the Berries, which she froze solid. Dwayne, getting an idea, wraps the Berries in a rag, and uses it as a cold compress for Ralts. This cools Ralts down, and Dwayne once again tries to convince her to eat. Fortunately, she manages to take a bite this time.

Moments later, the poachers finds Dwayne and Azumarill, and they order Dwayne to hand over Ralts, but he refuses. Suddenly, a Gardevoir and Kirlia arrive and put the poachers to sleep with Hypnosis. Dwayne realizes the two Psychic-types were looking for Ralts, but he is forced to try to explain to them that Ralts is in bad shape and needs help. Kirlia is put off by this, but Azumarill refuses to let it get closer. They get into an argument, which results in the angry Kirlia firing a Thunder Wave}} attack. However, Ralts stops this by using Safeguard, although it leaves the Ralts even weaker than before. Kirlia tries to approach them, but Gardevoir stops it. They decide that if Ralts is willing to trust Dwayne that far, then so can they. As they teleport away, Dwayne quickly gets going again.

Dwayne finally manages to make it to the Pokémon Center in Viridian City, and Ralts is put in the intensive care unit. Edge then shows up, upon which Dwayne runs crying into his father's arms. Edge calmly comforts him, saying he really came through. After Officer Jenny arrives and arrests the sleeping poachers, Dwayne and Edge sit at the waiting room for results. A few hours later, Nurse Joy comes out, announcing that Ralts is fully healed. Dwayne quickly runs in to see her, and they are overjoyed to see each other. It turns out that Dwayne had gotten Ralts to the Pokémon Center just in time; had he been an hour late, Ralts might not have survived. Edge praises his son for stepping up when he needed to. However, Dwayne realizes that since Ralts is feeling better, it was time for her to go back where she belongs. He heads outside and starts calling for Gardevoir and Kirlia. Gardevoir and Kirlia then appear to Dwayne, who prepares to hand Ralts over to them. Ralts, however, doesn't want to leave Dwayne, and it is obvious that Dwayne is equally hesitant to let Ralts go.

Gardevoir uses Psychic Terrain, and they are engulfed by a purple dome of energy. Then, Dwayne hears voices, and realize they're coming from Gardevoir and Kirlia, who are speaking telepathically with him, with Psychic Terrain enhancing this ability, and Gardevoir explains that Ralts seemed far happier with him than she ever was with them. Then, Ralts herself starts speaking telepathically with Dwayne, telling him that she loves him and doesn't want to leave his side, and hugs him, and Dwayne returns the gesture, and asks Gardevoir's permission to keep Ralts.

Gardevoir smiles and says that Ralts's happiness was the most important thing, and says that itself and Kirlia would miss Ralts, but they knew that Dwayne would keep Ralts safe with him, and agree to let Ralts stay with Dwayne. Ralts becomes overjoyed and profusely thanks her siblings for letting her stay with Dwayne, waves her family goodbye as Gardevoir and Kirlia teleport away. As the Psychic Terrain dissipates, Dwayne hugs Ralts once again, telling her that they'll stay together forever, and Ralts hugs Dwayne in return, happy to remain by his side, as Dwayne, Ralts, and Edge begin making their return to Pallet Town.

### **Frontier Challenge**

Azumarill was chosen by Edge to battle against Romina's Zangoose to prevent the Viridian Gym from getting shut down. Edge tells Azumarill to use Ice Beam, but Zangoose uses Double Team to avoid it. Zangoose then uses Thunder Wave to paralyze Azumarill. With Azumarill unable to move, Zangoose takes the opportunity to use Belly Drum, draining half of its health in exchange for maximum attack power. Seeing that Azumarill was finally able to move again, Edge issues a Hydro Pump attack, but Zangoose counters with Rock Climb, and the difference in power being the deciding factor, Zangoose defeats Azumarill.

## **Personality and Characteristics**

Being Edge's very first Pokémon, Azumarill and her Trainer share a strong, unbroken, bond. Due to all the time they have spent together, Azumarill and Edge can formulate plans without the use of words, which have saved both of their lives on numerous occasions throughout their journeys.

Azumarill herself is Edge's most trusted Pokémon, although Azumarill isn't his strongest one, but nonetheless, Azumarill knows this fact, and actually accepts it, but becomes incredibly proud and overjoyed at knowing that despite not being his strongest, Azumarill is certainly Edge's favorite Pokémon due to the long they spent together.

Azumarill also shares a strong bond with Edge's son, Dwayne, with Azumarill often acting as Dwayne's caretaker whenever the young boy would play with the Pokémon living at Professor Oak's Laboratory, something that Azumarill genuinely enjoyed doing. Acting rather motherly towards her Trainer's child, Azumarill often assisted Dwayne with anything and everything that Dwayne struggled with.