Klara

Klara
Species	Human
Affiliation	Master Dojo
Hair color	Pink
Eye color	Blue
Debut	Pokémon Sword

Klara is a rival Pokémon trainer who was featured as a recurring opponent in the "Isle of Armor" DLC of Pokémon Sword. In Pokémon Sword, Avery appears as the rival instead. She specializes in Poison-type Pokémon.

Background

Klara was a Pokémon Trainer who presented herself with a bubbly and friendly attitude, but she could also be underhanded and lazy. She started off as an underground pop singer who promoted herself as having "both cuteness and the virulence of poison". She held live concerts and other events, as well as making her own Klara-themed collectibles, but her music career flopped as she was only able to sell eight copies of her debut album, "Krazy for Klara". Klara then decided to become a Gym Leader as an attempt to boost her popularity, and she chose to specialize in the Poison type because it matched her personality and came with less competition. However, the training at the unspecified Poison-type Gym proved to be too harsh for Klara, so she dropped out after two days. She then saw an advertisement for the Master Dojo during a late night TV show and decided to enroll, because the master seemed kind, and Klara was hopeful that the training regimen would be much easier. Within Sword, Klara made her first appearance at Wedgehurt Station while on her way to the Isle of Armor, where she said she planned to catch rare Pokémon and train. She witnessed Victor/Gloria catch a Slowpoke and was impressed by how cool they were. Klara proceeded to go ahead to the Isle of Armor and joined the Master Dojo. As a student there, she minimal effort into her training, while expecting others to dote on her.

During the "Isle of Armor" storyline, Klara was sent to the station to meet with a potential new student for the dojo and came across Victor/Gloria. She had mostly forgotten their first encounter and confused the trainer with the new student. Klara challenged the trainer to a battle in order to see how strong they were, and the young trainer defeated her. She was completely surprised by her loss and became worried that she would be overlooked next to this new trainer. She proceeded to attempt to convince Victor/Gloria that they weren't strong enough for the Master Dojo and gave them a Style Card before encouraging them to focus on sight-seeing around the Isle instead of going to the Master Dojo. Klara then returned to the Dojo and tried to tell Honey that the new trainer had given up, only for Victor/Gloria to show up there anyway. With the dojo's ranks filled, Mustard decided to submit his students to a series of three trials in order to determine who would receive the "ultimate armor" from him.

Klara then saw that Victor/Gloria was already receiving a dojo uniform and complained that she had not yet gotten one of her own. Mustard tried to give her one, but it was stolen by the targets of the first trial: a trio of super-fast Slowpoke. The students were tasked with pursuing the Slowpoke. Victor/Gloria ultimately succeeded in catching all three of them and gave Klara her uniform. Klara and most of the others had done well enough to advance to the second trial, which was to collect Max Mushrooms to make some Max Soup with. Klara came across Victor/Gloria after the trainer had found some of the mushrooms and tried to claim that she had spotted them first. Klara battled Victor/Gloria for the mushrooms and lost again. After retreating, she managed to find some Max Mushrooms of his own. Although she was late, Mustard accepted her Max Mushrooms and let her advance to the final trial.

The final trial was a battle between Victor/Gloria and Klara at the Master Dojo's Battle Court, which was located on top of a power spot. Klara attempted to rig the game in her favor by scattering Toxic Spikes as the battle began, but she still lost once again to Victor/Gloria. She proceeded to apologize for her cheating and lying. It turned out that Mustard was aware of her misdeeds, but he forgave her and let her off easy by assigning her to watch over the dojo's Pokémon for the next six months. Mustard felt that Klara was still a good and hardworking student, and Klara was humbled by this. She gave Victor/Gloria her League Card and admitted that she was starting to acknowledge the trainer's strength. Klara then set herself on becoming strong enough to truly beat Victor/Gloria. She could be found taking part in secret training with a Slowpoke at the Potbottom Desert. There, Victor/Gloria could receive her rare League Card, but Klara would grow self-conscious and retreat. Klara also appeared to congratulate Victor/Gloria after they completed Mustard's training.

Afterwards, Klara was found at the Master Dojo and could be challenged to rematches on a daily basis. There was also a chance of her appearing as a partner for Max Raid battles. Additionally, Klara could appear as a competitor in the Galarian Star Tournament, where it was revealed that she successfully became Gym Leader of the Psychic-Type Gym as part of the minor division. In that tournament, she could partner up with Bede, Marnie, Gordie or Mustard, and she was available as a parter for the player after completing the Star Tournament twice.

Pokémon Roster

• Venipede/Whirlipede/Scolipede: Her Venipede evolved into a Whirlipede by the second battle and a Scolipede prior to rematches.
• Slowpoke/Slowbro: Her Slowpoke evolved a Slowbro by the third match and was the Pokémon she Dynamaxed in battle. She was also seen training with another Slowpoke at Potbottom Desert, which could be a different Slowpoke (possibly the Slowking that appeared later) or a continuity error.
• Koffing/Weezing: She first used Koffing during the second battle and it evolved by the third battle.
• Skorupi/Drapion: She first used Skorupi in the third battle, and it evolved into Drapion prior to rematches.
• Slowking: Klara used a Slowking at the Galarian Star Tournament and would add it to her roster for rematches after completing the tournament.

As a Max Raid partner, Klara would use her Slowbro. For matches at the Galarian Star Tournament, she would use Slowking, Scolipede and Slowbro.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon: Twilight Wings anime shorts, Klara appeared in the DLC-inspired bonus episode. She was initially seen searching for Max Mushrooms on the Isle of Armor and was later seen with other trainers walking out for the opening ceremony of the Galarian Star Tournament.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, she appeared during the Sword/Shield arc. She and Avery were both shown as students at the Master Dojo.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is Kurara, which is the Japanese word for the shrubby sophora, a herbal plant that contains toxins. Her English name of Klara is based on her Japanese name.
• Her uniform number is 881, which can be read in Japanese as a word meaning 'dangerous'.
• Klara's outfit contains some references to Poison-type Pokémon. Her headband is shaped like a Dustox's wings, and her ribbons and bracelets resemble parts/symbols of Skorupi and Drapion.