May (Pokémon)
Crush: Ash
May, known as in Japan, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise, a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, toys and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri.
She is the daughter of the Petalburg City Gym Leader, Norman and sister of Max. She also appears in the manga series Ash & Pikachu.
She is not to be confused with May Oak (or Daisy Oak), Gary's sister in the Pokémon manga series The Electrical Adventures of Pikachu (one of the translated, though unrelated in terms of continuity) Pokémon manga.
In the anime
The ''Pokémon'' anime series and films are a meta-series of adventures separate from the canon that most of the Pokémon video games follow (with the exception of Pokémon Yellow, a game based on the anime storyline). The anime follows the quest of the main character, Ash Ketchum[1]—an in-training Pokémon Master—as he and several companions[1] travel around the fictitious world of Pokémon along with their Pokémon partners.
At the age of 10,[2] May traveled from her hometown of Petalburg City to Littleroot Town to see Professor Birch, the authority on Pokémon in the Hoenn region. As a friend of her father's, he had agreed to give her one of three Pokémon; a Treecko, a Torchic, or a Mudkip, so that she could become a Pokémon Trainer. However, when she arrived, she found that the Hoenn Pokémon Professor had gone after an ill Pikachu belonging to Ash Ketchum.
She went to look for the Professor, only to find him stuck in a tree and about to be attacked by a group of angry Poochyena, mirroring the beginning of ''Pokémon Ruby'' and ''Sapphire''. His only hope was for May to get a Pokémon out of his bag and use it to fend off the Poochyena. However, May, who was inexperienced at commanding Pokémon, only got water sprayed in her face by the Mudkip she pulled out. Professor Birch then commanded the Mudkip and scared off the Poochyena. The experience was less than pleasant for May.
After they found Ash, the group was attacked by Team Rocket. In an attempt to get rid of the criminals, Pikachu accidentally fried May's bicycle to a crisp, reminiscent of the first episode of the series in which Pikachu fried Misty's bike, giving Misty a reason to follow Ash around for the rest of the series. The audience was led to believe that May would decide to follow Ash for the very same reason. However, the next morning, after choosing Torchic as her starter Pokémon, May stared at the charred remains of her bike in a remorseful fashion, only to shrug it off and say, "Eh, who cares?" She decided to accompany Ash so that she could have a traveling companion to show her the ropes.
When the group reaches Rustboro City, May decided that instead of collecting gym badges, she would dedicate her efforts completely to Pokémon Contests. Since then, she has won several ribbons in most of the Contest halls she has traveled to. May has a rivalry with a Pokémon coordinator named Drew (or Shū in Japanese), who appears at every contest that May participates in, which is often compared to the rivalry that Ash had shared with Gary Oak. She also has a rivalry with a Cacturne obsessive named Harley. In a recent episode of the Battle Frontier saga, Drew asked her to come to Johto with him and other Coordinators. It has been confirmed that May would be going to Johto with her rivals.
In the movies
May has appeared in four Pokémon movies, the first being Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker, in which she assists in getting to Jirachi's homeland and tries to assist in stopping a mutant Groudon. She also befriended Manaphy in Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. In that movie, Manaphy first saw May after it hatched, and thought that May was its mother, thus leading the two to have a very close mother-child relationship, which managed to bring May to tears during various points in the movie. May also stands as the only trainer to teach a pokemon to say words other than it's name, by teaching Manaphy to say 'Happy' , 'Love you' ,'May' and 'Mama' (albeit the latter 2 she didn't teach herself, Manaphy said them during the final goodbye, which reduced May to tears). The Pokemon Ranger Jackie considered May's relationship with Manaphy to be comprimising his mission of returning Manaphy to the Underwater Temple, however, the mission was a success in the end.
Pokémon
On Hand
- Torchic → Combusken → Blaziken
May chose a Torchic as her Starter Pokémon, which later evolved into Combusken, and finally Blaziken. When it was a Torchic, she thought it was cute and that was why she rarely used it in battle. It evolved when it was trying to protect Ash's Corphish from a group of angry mob of Breloom. It is very playful, though since evolving it has shown that it can be tough when it wants to be. May did not use it in Contests initially, but she used it in the Lilycove City Pokémon Contest, which she won. Combusken was also used in the appeal round of May's first contest in Kanto, held at Saffron City. It was also used in her second contest in Silver Town, also in the Kanto region, in the battle round. After her first loss in Kanto, May used Combusken in the battle round against Brianna and her Vibrava. After much hard training, May and Combusken finally defeated Drew in the Kanto Grand Festival. In "Once More With Reeling!", while Ash and friends battled Team Rocket during the Pokémon Contest break, Combusken evolved into Blaziken. May later used Blaziken in a Contest against Ash's Sceptile.[3]
- Munchlax
Munchlax was caught by May when a bunch of kids accused it of stealing their PokéBlocks, a plan which was thought of by Team Rocket to frame Munchlax. When everyone except May believed Munchlax was guilty, May decided to catch it in order to train it not to be a glutton and to protect it. May decided to keep Munchlax even when she left Beautifly, Skitty, and Bulbasaur behind. It also became a good friend to Ash's Snorlax. It is the only Pokémon that loves May's PokéBlocks, May's Purple Surprise. Her other PokeBlock specialty, May's Pink Surprise (a recipe she got from Professor Oak), are used to make it bloated and satiated. May's Munchlax is often seen restrained by Max as a sign of comedy relief, as she has little luck in restraining its gluttony. Recently, May has used Munchlax in two battles already. One in the battle round, which she lost to Harley's Octillery and the second in the appeal round of the following contest which she won her last battle. She also used Munchlax in the Kanto Grand Festival - where it helped her get through the second appeal round and in a double battle against Solidad, which she lost. Like Skitty, Munchlax will now let itself out of its Poké Ball for something to eat. It may be noted that Munchlax is the first fourth generation Pokémon to be caught by an anime protagonist.
- Squirtle
Squirtle was May's second Kanto starter Pokémon after Bulbasaur. Squirtle was given to her by Professor Oak after a visit to the lab, before leaving for Kanto. Squirtle shares the love of Pokémon Contests that May has. She first used it in the Battle Round of her first Contest in Kanto since she obtained it, which was in Saffron City, and she used it in the appeal round of her second Contest in Kanto at Jiruba Town, which she won. Since then, Squirtle has been used in the appeal round of the Modama Town Contest, which she lost, and the Aberia Town Contest which takes place in episode "What I Did For Love!". May also used Squirtle in the Grand Festival, where it defeated Drew's Flygon but was subsequently defeated by his Absol. Some people think that Squirtle is just like Misty's Togepi in some ways.
- Eevee
May had received an egg from a couple that ran a breeding center in Kanto, which hatched into an Eevee a few episodes later after May had a time-traveling adventure. The young Pokémon watched the first few Contests May participated in after its birth, as the young trainer prepared the newborn for its upcoming debut in the Contests. Eevee's Contest debut was the same Contest that Brock entered, in Aberia Town. After a long match against Brock's Marshtomp, Eevee emerged triumphant. Eevee enjoys running around and learning Dig has only made it harder to find.
At Petalburg Gym
- Wurmple → Silcoon → Beautifly
The first Pokémon that May caught was a Wurmple. She found it in Petalburg Woods. It later evolved into a Silcoon, and finally a Beautifly. After traveling around Hoenn, Beautifly was left in her father's greenhouse in Petalburg City. May used Beautifly in the Slateport City Contest, making it her first Pokémon to enter a contest. Though she lost this one, she used Beautifly again in the next contest, in Fallarbor Town, where she won her first ribbon. It was later used in the appeals round of the Rubello Town contest. May left both Beautifly and Skitty at the Petalburg Gym shortly before leaving for the Battle Frontier. May temporarily brought Beautifly back into her team in "The Unbeatable Lightness Of Seeing!" and used it in a battle against Drew before sending it back to Petalburg Gym.
- Skitty
May caught Skitty on Route 111 after being saved from Team Rocket. Skitty is extremely hyperactive, but its brief periods of mania are offset by just as brief periods of narcolepsy. It is similar to Jessie's Wobbuffet or Misty's Psyduck in that it often used to leave its Poké Ball without being called; it even caught itself like Misty's Psyduck did. It has the ability to juggle, which May takes advantage of in Contests. After traveling around Hoenn, Skitty was left in her father's greenhouse in Petalburg City. Skitty was the first Pokémon that May used in a Contest after Beautifly. It was used in the Verdanturf Town and Pacifidlog Town contests, where May won her second and fifth ribbons. Skitty's cuteness has helped May in contests and other cases, such as the one where Meowth of Team Rocket developed a crush on Skitty. May left both Skitty and Beautifly at the Petalburg Gym shortly before leaving for the Battle Frontier. May temporarily brought Skitty back into her team in "The Unbeatable Lightness Of Seeing!" She didn't do anything with it, however, and quickly returned it to Petalburg Gym.
With Professor Oak
- Bulbasaur
In the episode "Grass Hysteria!", May befriended a Bulbasaur in a forest that was secluded from the outside world. It decided to travel with May to explore the world outside of the forest. It is very curious and will try to play with anything that looks interesting. That initially got it into a lot of trouble, but after a bit of tutoring from Ash's Bulbasaur, it began to grow. It can be distinguished from other Bulbasaurs by a heart-shaped marking on its forehead, which suggests that it is female. May used Bulbasaur in the Battle round of the Ruiboso Town contest, which she lost. She later uses it in the Izabe Island contest, which she won. After traveling around Hoenn, May left her Bulbasaur with Ash's Bulbasaur at Professor Oak's lab.
Befriended
- Swablu
In the episode, "True Blue Swablu!", May took care of this injured Pokémon until it returned to full health and could fly again. At the end of the episode, although she had a hard time, May managed to say goodbye to Swablu and released it.
- Manaphy
In the ninth movie,Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, meeting up with a Pokémon Ranger, Jack "Jackie" Walker, who was on the mission to protect the egg of Manaphy, May worked hard to protect it. However, in doing so, the egg hatched into Manaphy. While technically it wasn't part of her team, Manaphy and May shared a close bond when they were together, with Manaphy having a mother-child relationship with May (May being its mother). May teamed up with Manaphy and managed to stop a group of pirates. However, she eventually returned it to live in the sea.
Rivals
All throughout May's contests, Drew has been her main rival. Their rivalry is similar to the rivalry Ash and Gary had. Although May was finally able to beat Drew in the Kanto Grand Festival, she lost to him in a rematch.
Another rival of May's is Jessie of Team Rocket, who is constantly finding ways to win, even cheating.
Yet another rival is Harley, who was insulted when May said she'd never heard of him and Cacturne before, as well as telling him that "his cookies aren't half bad" and swore to make her pay for it. In another episode, he tells Jessie that a person who looked just like May ate one of his "snackies" when he was a child, and he now takes his anger out on her. He faced May during the Izabe Island Contest and the Grand Festival in Hoenn, losing both times, then clashed with her again in the Saffron City and Modama Town contests, losing in the former but earning a surprise victory and his fourth ribbon in the latter. Harley allied himself with Team Rocket during the last contest of the season, loaning Jessie his Pokémon in the hopes that she'd defeat May and prevent her from entering the Grand Festival. Jessie lost, despite all of Harley's cheating. He then entered the Grand Festival himself, and lost to May for the fourth time. A few episodes later, May and Drew had a rematch, which Harley watched and May lost. After he dumped Team Rocket for good, both Harley and Drew revealed they were going to compete in contests in the Johto region.
During one of May's contests, Brock was her "rival" as he wanted to impress a pretty girl coordinator. However, during the contest, May managed to defeat Brock, pitting her Eevee against his Marshtomp.
May's other rival in Kanto was Solidad who had long ago defeated Drew in his first ever Contest. She ended up defeating May and went on to win the final match of the Kanto Grand Festival.
She also found a rival in Ash in "Once More With Reeling!" when Ash decided to try a Pokémon contest. May faced him in the finals, pitting her newly-evolved Blaziken against Ash's Sceptile. This match ended in a tie, with neither May nor Ash triumphing over one another.
Accomplishments
- Hoenn Grand Festival - Top 8
- Kanto Grand Festival - Top 4
In video games
May is the female protagonist of Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, and, as such, is a playable character. However, if the player chooses to play the male character, May will be their rival. In this case, she will be Professor Birch's daughter, and will turn up in the following areas of the Hoenn region, either to challenge the player to a battle, or to give them a present.
- Outside Rustboro City
- Between Slateport City and Mauville City
- A rain forest between Mauville City and Fortree City
- Outside the Lilycove City department store
- At the end of the Pokémon League after the player defeats the Pokémon League Champion
After the player defeats the Pokémon League Champion, May decides to quit training for a while and help Professor Birch with his research.
Notes and references
Citations