Elesa

"The Shining Beauty"
Elesa
Species	Human
Hair color	Blonde (Black in BW2)
Eye color	Blue
Base	Nimbasa City
Voiced by	Sarah Natochenny (2012) Deborah Gatton (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Black/White Versions

Elesa is the gym leader of Nimbasa City's Pokémon Gym and is the fourth gym leader of the Unova region who appears as an opponent in the fourth generation games of the Pokémon series: Pokémon: Black and White Versions as well as in Black and White 2. She specializes in electric-type Pokémon.

Background

Elesa was a popular model who also worked as a Pokémon trainer. She was the leader of Nimbasa Gym, which was located within Nimbasa City's amusement park. The gym actually contained the amusement park's roller coaster, and only by pressing various switches could the challenger reroute the roller coasters and reach her. Elesa spent her free time jogging around the city. She was often casual and frank with those she met. Elesa considered the real her to be the one who was a gym leader, because as a model she was only making someone else's vision look like reality, which she considered to be interesting but not easy.

Black/White

In Pokémon: Black and White Versions, Elesa ran into Bianca in front of the Pokémon Musical when she was arguing with her father with Hilbert/Hilda nearby. Bianca's father was trying to make her give up her Pokémon journey and come home, but Elesa intervened by telling the man the worth of struggling through hardships. This lead to Bianca's father finally relenting and returning home. Elesa than suggested that they visit her at her gym. Hibert/Hilda soon arrived there and defeated her in battle. She complimented with their "sweet fighting style" before redacting that comment to say that they simply were a great trainer. She gave the trainer the Bolt Badge and TM72: Volt Switch. Knowing that the trainer would want to reach the next gym leader, she offered to help him reach Driftveil City if they met her on Route 6. Cheren seemed to have defeated her immediately afterwards and presumably received the same directions.

Elesa met with Hilbert/Hilda and Cheren by Route 6 and guided them towards the drawbridge to Driftveil. They were stopped along the way by Alder, who wanted Elesa to join in on the festivities and then got caught up trying to challenge Cheren's viewpoints on his goal of becoming the Pokémon League champion. Elesa than brought them to the drawbridge and called Clay, telling him that he had new challengers so that he would lower the drawbridge for them. Bianca also defeated her at some point afterwards. A meeting of the gym leaders was later held about the problem of Team Plasma, and they all agreed to take on Team Plasma if they ever came out of hiding. Bianca later gathered the gym leaders when N's castle arose at the Pokémon League. Elesa was among the gym leaders who arrived at the castle in time to hold off six of Team Plasma's Seven Sages while Hilbert/Hilda went on ahead to face N.

Elesa would later visit the villa at Undella Town which Cynthia was staying at during the summer.

Black/White 2

Elesa's BW2 design.

Over the course of the two years, Elesa underwent a makeover. A Memory Link flashback depicted her confiding in Skyla about her insecurities regarding people seeing her as being too reserved and humorless. She wanted to appear more fun and outgoing. Her idea of a "sophisticated joke" consisted primarily of a string of bad puns, and when Skyla pointed that out, Elesa decided to focus on her fashion instead.

Elesa underwent a shift in wardrobe and in hair, which she dyed black. While most gym leaders remodeled their gyms over the course of time between games, Elesa instead left her old gym to function as a normal roller coaster, and she founded a new gym elsewhere in Nimbasa's amusement park. The new gym was a club-like environment with a catwalk which she and her trainers used to perform fashion shows. In Black and White 2, she was challenged and defeated by Nate/Rosa. Upon being defeated, she surrendered the Bolt Badge as well as TM70: Volt Switch. She honored her defeat by letting the victor strut down the catwalk with her and her trainers. Elsesa referred to Nate/Rosa as a shining example of a trainer who could shine even brighter by winning against the rest of the Pokémon League.

Elesa also appeared as an opponent in several divisions of the Pokémon World Tournament. Most obviously, she is part of the Unova Leaders Tournament as well as the World Leaders Tournament. She is also a potential opponent for the Driftveil Tournament and for the electric-type choice in the Type Experts division.

Pokémon Roster

Black/White

Her roster in battle consists of two Emolga and a Zebstrika.

Black/White 2

She uses the following line-up for gym battles:

• Emolga
• Flaaffy
• Zebstrika
• Joltik (Challenge Mode only)

In the World Tournament, she has several different rosters depending on the division:

• Zebstrika
• Flaaffy (Driftveil Tournament) or Ampharos (all other tournaments)
• Galvantula (two in Driftveil, one in Unova Leaders) or Luxray (Type Expert and World Leaders)
• Emolga (two in Driftveil Tournament)
• Eelektross (Unova Leaders, Type Expert and World Leaders)
• Stunfisk (Unova Leaders, Type Expert and World Leaders)

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Elesa appeared as a playable trainer. She was depicted with her Black 2/White 2 appearance and was made available as part of several Sync Pairs, most of which could be recruited at random through the Sync Pair Scout feature:

• Her default design was paired with Zebstrika and was first made available in November 2019. In one Pokémon Center conversation, she talks about how she first met this Zebstrika after it had been struck by lightning during a rainstorm.
• Sygna Suit: Partnered with a Rotom, Elesa wears an outfit known as a Sygna Suit that is designed to be evocative of Rotom's appearance. This variant was first made avaialble at the end of February 2020.
• Classic: This variant has Elesa in her original outfit and blonde hair from the first Black/White and pairs her with an Emolga that can Dynamax. Available during limited time periods starting in December 2021.
• Joltik was available as an alternate partner for Elesa's default form and could be unlocked by reaching Friendship Level 100 with Elesa at the Trainer Lodge. Elesa was added to that mode in November 2022.
• Palentine's 2023: This variant depicts Elesa with blonde hair and wearing a relatively casual outfit. She is paired with Togetic that is said to have come from an egg given to her by Skyla. This variant was available in limited time periods starting in February 2023.

Within the Main Story's PML Arc, she was featured in Chapters 23 and 24, and she appeared as an opponent in the latter chapter. In Chapter 23, Elesa was seen battling Leaf and met Valerie. The two trainers respected each other's work a lot, and Elesa agreed to model one of Valerie's dresses. In Chapter 24, it was shown that Elesa had teamed up with Sabrina and Fantina for the Pokémon Masters League tournament. They were Scottie/Bettie's third opponent for the tournament's finals, and Elesa wore her Sygna Suit for the battle. Although the tournament was intervened by Team Break, the battle ultimately took place, and Elesa's team was defeated. Elesa also briefly appeared at the beginning of the Villain Arc's Unova chapter, in which she was shown hosting a fashion show with Hilda. She also appeared as an opponent in a Sync Pair Story of Serena's, in which she had to be defeated in a one-on-one battle for Serena's Braixen to evolve into Delphox.

She was also featured in the "Shining Star" Story Event, where she ran a fashion show on Pasio. Team Break tried to intervene, but she started her fashion show while fending them off with help from Scottie/Bettie, Skyla and Marley, and she debuted her sygna suit at the same time. Afterwards, they briefly confused Will for a Team Break member and battled him despite realizing their misunderstanding, in order to test herself against an Elite Four member. In the "New World Dilemma" Story Event, she found Sophocles in the aftermath of his confrontation with Cyrus and asked him about the encounter. She let her Rotom accompany Sophocles while she went to alert other sync pairs about Cyrus. Elesa was later featured in the "For the Fans" Solo Event, in which she appeared as a special guest at one of Lisia's shows and came up with the idea of them having battles with their fans as a way of interacting with them. Elesa was inspired by the way Lisia was able to directly connect with her fans. She also expressed her appreciation with Scottie/Bettie, who she looked battling both alongside and against. In the "Chef's Heartful Delivery" Story Event, she helped Skyla by working as chief advertiser for Mistaltron Cargo Service and decided to run a campaign themed around Palentine's Day in which the cargo service would deliver sweets to people. Seeking out a buzz-worthy treat around Pasio resulted in a competition between Mallow and Siebold about who could make a better apple pie. Mallow ultimately won, and her apple pie was popular enough that the advertising campaign was fully successful. At the end of the event, Scottie/Bettie would approach Elesa with a gift of home-made chocolates. Elesa had not gotten around to making any chocolates of her own due to how busy it was, and she felt that she could not eat all of the trainer's chocolates by herself, so she invited them to eat them with her.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Elesa appeared in several episodes of the Pokémon anime during the Black and White series. Her first appearance featured one of her modeling shows, which Ash and Bianca attended in hopes of challenging her. Elesa was impressed enough with Ash's Pikachu that she let it walk down the runway. She soon battled Bianca in a three-on-three match and defeated all her Pokémon using just her Zebstrika. Ash challenged her and was able to defeat her in the following episode.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Elesa appeared during the Black/White arc. She was initially seen cooperating with Nimbasa City officials about ways to promote tourism, but she was quite apathetic towards the proceedings. Elesa did support the Pokémon Musical when White started it but was more eager to battle Black. He was able to defeat her despite being stuck in one of the cars at her gym, but he was separated from the gym by Thundurus before he could collect the badge. She was later captured by Team Plasma with the other gym leaders while trying to protect the Dark Stone, and once they were freed they took part in the battle against Team Plasma. She also appeared in the Black 2/White 2 arc, where she and Skyla helped to find some of Cheren's missing students.
• She appears in one episode of the Pokémon Generations anime, which shows her and the other gym leaders fighting Team Plasma at N's Castle.

Trivia

• Her English name was likely chosen for sounding similar to "electric" and may also be a play on Tesla, after famed electrician Nikola Tesla. Her Japanese name is Kamitsure, which is named after the Japanese word for chamomile and may also be intended to refer to 'kaminari', the Japanese word for 'thunder'.
• She apparently writer to the National Gymquirer under the pen name "Shocking Supermodel".