A Frontier Brain (Japanese: フロンティアブレーン) is a Trainer class first introduced in Pokémon Emerald Version in Generation III. They are usually seen as a collective, known under the plural, Frontier Brains.
Description
Frontier Brains are the owner of a battle facility at a Battle Frontier, where they are of the highest rank, just as Gym Leaders are in a Gym. Each time a Frontier Brain loses in battle, they hand out an item to a Pokémon Trainer to indicate that they have lost to that Trainer: the Frontier Brains of Hoenn give out Symbols, while those in Sinnoh hand out commemorative prints.
List
Hoenn
Sinnoh and Johto
Appearances
Core series
Pokémon Emerald Version
In Pokémon Emerald Version, the seven Frontier Brains are located on the Battle Frontier, where each of them are fought after defeating the Pokémon Trainers before them. After being defeated, a Frontier Brain gives their own distinct Silver Symbol or a Gold Symbol to the player for if they have won once or twice, respectively.
Generation IV
In Pokémon Platinum Version as well as Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version, there are five different Frontier Brains at a different Battle Frontier. The only returning Frontier Brain is Tower Tycoon Palmer, who also runs the Battle Tower in Pokémon Diamond Version and Pokémon Pearl Version, but he was not considered a Frontier Brain until Pokémon Platinum Version, in which the other four and their respective battle facilities were introduced. Each Frontier Brain gives two commemorative prints after their first and second defeat respectively, similarly to the Symbols in Generation III. The Frontier Brain and the player are both depicted on the commemorative print, with the first commemorative print depicting them on a gray background and the second depicting the background in color.
Anime
In Pokémon the Series, Ash defeats the Frontier Aces in the order of Factory Head Noland, Arena Tycoon Greta, Dome Ace Tucker, Pike Queen Lucy, Palace Maven Spenser, Salon Maiden Anabel, and lastly Pyramid King Brandon.
Ash loses three times to two of the Frontier Brains, Anabel and Brandon. Ash first loses to Anabel's Metagross. After being possessed by the King of Pokélantis, Brandon defeats it using his Brandon's Regirock. Ash demands a rematch in the episode "Overjoyed!", where he loses to Brandon's Registeel despite having a type advantage by using his Torkoal.
After Ash defeats Brandon, Scott (revealing himself as the owner/founder/head of the Battle Frontier) offers Ash the chance to become a Frontier Brain himself. Ash considers the offer but declines because he wants to pursue his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.
Trivia
- The only Frontier Brains to appear in Pokémon Masters are both Factory Heads.
- Caitlin is the only Frontier Brain to also be a member of the Elite Four.