Welcome. My name is Erika. I am the Gym Leader of the Celadon City Gym. I am a student of the art of flower arranging. My Pokémon are all of the Grass type. ...Oh, I'm sorry. Did you perhaps wish to challenge me? Very well... but I shall not lose.
Erika is a character that was introduced in Generation I. She serves as the Gym Leader of the Celadon City Gym. Erika specializes in using Grass-type Pokémon, and awards the Rainbow Badge to Trainers that manage to defeat her.
Quick Answers
What type of Pokémon does Erika specialize in?
What badge does Erika award to trainers who defeat her?
What is unique about Erika's eye color in the Pokémon games?
What city is Erika the Gym Leader of in Pokémon?
How does Erika's outfit differ from most Gym Leaders in Pokémon?
Appearance
Erika is a slender young woman with pale skin and short black hair with cut bangs. Unlike most Gym Leaders, her eye color changes depending on the game she appears in.
Clothing-wise, Erika wears an extremely modest and conservative outfit; in fact, her outfit is among the most conservative of all the female Gym Leaders, with almost her entire body (save for her ankles, neck, face, and hands) being hidden beneath her clothes. The outfit consists of an elegant kimono with an obi (sash), a hairband, Japanese sandals called zōri, and traditional Japanese socks called tabi. However, like with every character that appears in multiple games, what Erika's outfit exactly looks like changes, though the crux of it is the same.
Additionally, while Erika changes her clothes and has been shown wearing casual outfits in the anime, she can never be seen wearing anything else other than her normal outfit in the games.
Personality
Erika, like her style suggests, displays a modest, elegant, and somewhat shy attitude towards the player. Erika is a good sport and graceful loser, she shows no ill-will about being defeated and cares deeply towards her Pokémon. She also has a habit of falling asleep in her Gym, but this is most likely because of being around Grass-type Pokémon.
In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, however, Erika appears to have a habit of spreading damaging gossip about the other Gym Leaders, especially Clair.
Etymology
The name Erika originates from "Erica", a genus of flowers, following her usage of Grass-type Pokémon and the common naming theme involving plants among most Gym Leaders.
Biography
Games
Red, Green and Blue
Erika's Gym is filled with grass, flowers and other plants. Additionally, everyone in the Gym is female. The player must use Cut in order to reach Erika in the Gym's center.
Upon defeating her in the Generation I games, Erika rewards the player with the Rainbow Badge, along with TM21 (Mega Drain).
Yellow
Her role in Yellow is the same as it is in Red, Green and Blue.
Gold and Silver
Crystal
Her role in Crystal is the same as it is in Gold and Silver.
FireRed and LeafGreen
Her role in FireRed and LeafGreen is the same as it is in Red, Green and Blu and Yellow.
HeartGold and SoulSilver
Her role in HeartGold and SoulSilver is the same as it is in Gold and Silver and Crystal.
Other appearances
Quotes
- Celadon Gym - Erika
- Favorite kind of Pokémon?
- "I would never collect Pokémon if they were unattractive."
- Celadon Mansion - Pokémon Journal
- 'There's a rumor...'
- "Rumor has it that if you peek into Celadon Gym, you can often see Erika snoozing."
- Message from Erika
- From: Erika
- To: [Player]
- "I am so glad that there are strong Trainers like you.
- That awareness alone inspires and motivates me to try harder.
- Please visit me again.
- Zzz..."
Sprites
Pokémon
Red and Blue
![]() Victreebel ![]() ![]() |
![]() Tangela ![]() |
![]() Vileplume ![]() ![]()
| |||
Lv. 29 | - | Lv. 24 | - | Lv. 29 | -
|
Wrap | Bind | PoisonPowder | |||
PoisonPowder | Constrict | Mega Drain | |||
Razor Leaf | - | Sleep Powder | |||
Sleep Powder | - | Petal Dance |
Yellow
![]() Tangela ![]() |
![]() Weepinbell ![]() ![]() |
![]() Gloom ![]() ![]()
| |||
Lv. 30 | - | Lv. 32 | - | Lv. 32 | -
|
Bind | Wrap | Acid | |||
Mega Drain | Stun Spore | Petal Dance | |||
Vine Whip | Sleep Powder | Stun Spore | |||
Constrict | Razor Leaf | Sleep Powder |
Gold, Silver and Crystal
FireRed and LeafGreen
HeartGold and SoulSilver
![]() Shiftry ![]() ![]() |
![]() Jumpluff ![]() ![]() |
![]() Victreebel ![]() ![]() |
![]() Bellossom ![]() |
![]() Roserade ![]() ![]() |
![]() Tangrowth ![]() | ||||||
Lv. 54 | ♀ | Lv. 53 | ♀ | Lv. 56 | ♀ | Lv. 56 | ♀ | Lv. 55 | ♀ | Lv. 60 | ♀ |
Ability: Chlorophyll | Ability: Chlorophyll | Ability: Chlorophyll | Ability: Chlorophyll | Ability: Natural Cure | Ability: Chlorophyll | ||||||
Item: None | Item: None | Item: Kelpsy Berry | Item: None | Item: None | Item: None | ||||||
Leaf Storm | U-Turn | Natural Gift | Sunny Day | Weather Ball | Swords Dance | ||||||
Sucker Punch | Memento | Sludge Bomb | Solar Beam | Energy Ball | Power Whip | ||||||
Sunny Day | Sleep Powder | Leaf Storm | Giga Drain | Sludge Bomb | Rock Slide | ||||||
Explosion | Giga Drain | Leaf Blade | Attract | Stun Spore | Earthquake |
Black 2 and White 2
Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!
![]() Tangela ![]() |
![]() Weepinbell ![]() ![]() |
![]() Vileplume ![]() ![]()
| |||||
Lv. 33 | ♀ | Lv. 33 | ♀ | Lv. 34 | ♀
| ||
Item: None | Item: None | Item: None
| |||||
Mega Drain | Mega Drain | Mega Drain | |||||
Sleep Powder | Poison Jab | Moonblast | |||||
Bind | — | — | |||||
— | — | — |
![]() Tangela ![]() |
![]() Parasect ![]() ![]() |
![]() Victreebel ![]() ![]() |
![]() Exeggutor ![]() ![]() |
![]() Vileplume ![]() ![]() | |||||
Lv. 56 | ♀ | Lv. 56 | ♀ | Lv. 56 | ♀ | Lv. 56 | ♀ | Lv. 57 | ♀ |
Item: None | Item: None | Item: None | Item: None | Item: None | |||||
Mega Drain | Spore | Power Whip | Psychic | Moonblast | |||||
Sludge Bomb | Leech Life | Poison Jab | Sludge Bomb | Sludge Bomb | |||||
Reflect | Brick Break | Reflect | Solar Beam | Petal Dance | |||||
Power Whip | Solar Beam | Swords Dance | Hyper Beam | Stun Spore |
Stadium
Stadium 2
Trivia
- In the first release of Pokémon Gold's Japanese rom, the player could see Erika's Tangela at a level higher than 100.
- Erika's official art and game sprites show her having black hair, but the art in Pokémon Stadium, Pokémon Stadium 2 and the anime show her to have blue hair.
- In the anime, Erika was the second Gym Leader to have a story of how she came to be and have a younger version of herself. The first was Sabrina, also from Kanto. Another one was Clay of the Driftveil Gym.
- In HeartGold and SoulSilver, all of Erika's Pokémon have the Chlorophyll ability (aside from Roserade, which has Natural Cure) when rematching her.
- Erika's name is the same in both English and Japanese. This makes her one of the few characters to have the same name in both languages, the others being Iris and Cheren.
- In Red and Blue, Erika's kimono is draped over her left side. This was changed in Yellow so it drapes over her right side. This is due to the Japanese tradition to drape the kimono over the left side for a burial, and is considered bad luck if worn otherwise. Based on how the sprite looks, it is possible that she was initially going to be a ghost type specialist.
Gallery
Locations · Pokédex | |
Gym Leaders | |
Others | |
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Johto | |||||||
Hoenn | |||||||
Sinnoh | |||||||
Unova |
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Kalos | |||||||
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Paldea | |||||||
Orange Islands | |||||||
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