Melony

Melony
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Galar)
Hair color	White
Eye color	Blue
Base	Circhester
Relatives	Gordie (son)
Voiced by	Wendee Lee (2022)
Debut	Pokémon Shield

Melony is the sixth gym leader of the major division of Galar's Pokémon League who appears as an opponent in Pokémon Shield. Her appearance is exclusive to Shield; in Sword, her son Gordie is the gym leader instead. She specializes in Ice-type Pokémon.

Background

Melony was a skilled Pokémon Trainer, who has acted as a Gym Leader of Circhester Stadium since she was in her twenties. She also acted as a coach to others. Melony was known for being strict and stoic, both in terms of her coaching style and her battle style. She worked to shape her Gym Trainers into formidable opponents. Because of how strong she and her trainers were, Circhester Stadium was seen as a major roadblock for Gym Challengers. For her gym's gym challenge, challengers had to navigate through a snowy field while avoiding hidden pitfalls with the help of a douser. She was placed as the sixth gym leader of the major division, which meant that only Piers and Raihan had bested her in Pokémon battles.

She had a son named Gordie, who quickly rose to become a very powerful trainer in his own right and specialized in Rock-type Pokémon. Melony wanted him to her place as Circhester's Gym leader, but Gordie wanted to focus on training his Rock-type Pokémon. According to Melony's League Card in Shield, this conflict led to a Pokémon battle between the two of them that divided the whole town. Afterwards, the two of them hardly ever saw each other, and their conflict was believed to have influenced Melony's harsh battle style. Regardless, Melony managed to become the first member of Gordie's fan club.

Within Sword, Gordie was shown as the Gym Leader of Circhester Gym. Melony did not appear, not was referred to, so her status in that version was unknown. It was also unknown if they had the same conflict that they were said to have had in Shield.

In Shield, Melony was first seen with most of the other gym leaders at the opening ceremony of the latest gym challenge that was held at Motostoke Stadium. She returned to Circhester Stadium afterwards. She defeated Hop when he challenged her and was then challenged by Victor/Gloria. That second trainer managed to defeat her. She was saddened by her loss, but she was also glad to meet a powerful trainer. Melony gave them the Ice Badge and hoped that they would thrash her son in battle after becoming the champion. Sometime afterwards, Hop returned and managed to defeat her on his second try, and she was also beaten by Marnie at some point.

Melony and most of the other gym leaders later went to Wyndon Stadium to take part in the tournament that made up the Finals of the Pokémon League's Championship Cup. In the first round, she was pitted against Allister and lost to him (despite his gym being placed two below hers). Melony returned to Circhester and could be found at her stadium during the crisis in which forcibly Dynamaxed Wild Pokémon were appearing within stadiums. With help from Victor/Gloria, Hop and Piers, they were able to return the Pokémon to normal. Melony proceeded to take care of the Pokémon and thanked Victor/Gloria for their help by giving them her rare League Card. Melony could also appear at any of the tournaments held by Victor/Gloria as champion (either through invitation or at random), and this came with a chance of having a rematch with her. She claimed that she participated in tournaments occasionally for the sake of inspiring her gym's trainers. She could also be seen visiting the Isle of Armor and also appeared as a possible competitor in the Galarian Star Tournament. In that tournament, she could appear teamed up with Nessa. Allister, Raihan or Avery, and she could be unlocked as a possible partner for the player by winning the tournament four times.

Pokémon Roster

• Frosmoth
• Darmanitan
• Eiscue
• Lapras (Gigantamax)
• Mr. Rime (tournament only)

For the Galarian Star Tournament, Melony used only Mr. Rime, Darmanitan and Lapras.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Melony and her Lapras appeared as a playable Sync Pair that could be recruited at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature after being added to the game in October 2022. As in Sword/Shield, her Lapras was capable of Gigantamaxing in battle. She and Gordie coexisted within this game, with both being referred to as gym leaders. Her and Gordie's Sync Pair Stories both referenced the past conflict mentioned in her Rare League Card in Shield, with more detail. Melony revealed that she initially trained her Lapras for Gordie, but he felt that she was pushing her style on him, which led him to leave home. The two of them talked less afterwards, but Melony felt that there was not genuinely bad blood between them. She also said that she was seeking out a talented Ice-type trainer to train to battle Gordie, and she teased the possibility of preparing Scottie/Bettie for such a role.

She was featured in the Solo Event "Severely Strained Relations", in which she and Nessa showed up while Victor and Gloria were training against Gordie and Raihan. They wanted to join in on the training session, which immediately made Gordie and Raihan fearful, as Melony was known to be harsh on her teammates as well as her opponents. Gordie and Raihan asked Victor to join them, and in turn Melony recruited Gloria for a three-on-three battle. During the Solo Event "With Beauty and Grace", Flannery and Shauna eventually consulted her, Lorelei and Glacia about how to grow up to be cool adults. Melony did not being acknowledged for her her age, but she warned Flannery and Shauna that they could be pretty strict. The trio were ultimately impressed with the results of the training session that ensued. Melony also appeared in the "Solve the Case!" Costume Event, in which she took part in a mystery game and was assigned the role of a sculptor. She was suspected at one point due to an ice shard found at the crime scene, but it was ultimately determined to be a red herring.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Within the Pokémon: Twilight Wings anime, Melony made a brief cameo appearance in the fifth episode, where she and Gordie were in the middle of a battle between their respective Gigantamax Pokémon. She later made a brief speaking appearance in the final episode, as part of a video montage of testimonies about Leon given by Gym Leaders. She was seen eating a sundae at a restaurant and called him unrelenting. She also appeared in the bonus episode, where she was relaxing with her Pokémon at the Hero's Bath when she received her invitation for the Galarian Star Tournament, and she was later seen arriving to compete with everyone else.
• Melony appeared in the Pokémon Adventures manga as a supporting character during the Sword/Shield arc, in which she and Gordie acted as alternating Gym Leaders for Circhester. She gave her Mr. Rime to Henry Sword when she saw that they got long better, after Henry fixed the Pokémon's cane.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is simply "Melon". Both versions of her name refer to the fruit of the same name.
• Melony's League Number in 361. In Japanese, the numbers can also be read as the Japanese word for "cold".
• According to her concept art, she has five children in total, including Gordie. This includes a level-headed eldest daughter and three young sons.
• Melony and Gordie both say the same thing at the end of their first match with the trainer: stating that they want to climb into a hole, and then that it would be more like falling into one from there.
• Her Pokémon are kept in Ultra Balls,
• Melony and Allister are the two gym leaders exclusive to Shield. Melony, Allister and Bea are the only gym leaders to only appear in one version of a game.
• Her rare League Card depicts her and Gordie together. This is the only time that they appear together within the mainline games, as their appearances are otherwise restricted to their respective versions of the game.
• When facing her in a tournament rematch, she will ask the player their ten favorite Pokémon and claim that this is how she breaks the ice.