Barry

Barry as seen in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Versions
Barry
Species	Human
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Orange
Base	Twinleaf Town
Relatives	Palmer (father) Mother
Voiced by	Erik Scott Kimerer (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Diamond/Pearl Versions

Barry is the rival character featured in the fourth generation games of the Pokémon series: Pokémon: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Versions, as well as the remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Background

Barry was an energetic boy who had a tendency to rush from one place to another, often while neglecting or forgetting something in the process. He seemed to gotten this tendency from his father, Palmer, who acted as the Tower Tycoon of the Battle Zone's Battle Tower. Barry was determined to prove himself by defeating his father, which inspired him in his road to become a Pokémon trainer. He also had a habit of attempting to impose fines on others for being late, typically of a million or billion dollars. Barry lived at Twinleaf Town with his mother, and he was best friends with his neighbor Lucas/Dawn, whom he often dragged off to participate in mischievous schemes.

Such an event occurred in the beginning of the fourth generation games, when Barry decided to drag his friend off to Lake Verity in search of rare Pokémon. When they arrived at the lake, they witnessed Professor Rowan and his assistant Dawn/Lucas just as they were leaving. They noticed Rowan had left behind his briefcase, but just as they went to retrieve it, they were attacked by wild Pokémon. They each borrowed one of the three Pokémon (Turtwig, Chimchar or Piplup) to fend off the Pokémon. The professor's assistant arrived in time to witness this, but Rowan was not angry and instead invited them to his lab. Barry rushed there first, where Rowan told him he could keep the Pokémon. He then ran off before Professor Rowan could give him a Pokédex. In Platinum, the situation in which they borrowed Pokémon did not occur, and instead Rowan decided to give Pokémon to them when they caught up to him.

Barry then traveled to Jubilife City and spent some time at the Trainer's School. His friend came to him there with a parcel from his mother, which contained two town maps. Barry kept one for himself and let Lucas/Dawn keep the spare. He then confronted his friend when they were about to leave Jubilife, and challenged him to a battle to test his prowess. Barry traveled and began defeating several gym leaders, while occasionally running into his friend along the way. He challenged him again at Hearthome City and Pastoria. He also came to admire Crasher Wake after meeting him and appointed himself as his apprentice, despite Wake rejecting that arrangement and preferring for Barry to forge his own path.

At Canalave City, Barry battled Lucas/Dawn again. After his friend defeated the gym leader there, Barry brought his friend up to a meeting with Professor Rowan and his assistant at the Canalave Library. With Team Galactic attacking one of the three lakes, it was decided that the trainers would split up and each travel to a different lake to investigate. Barry was sent up north to Lake Verity. There, he was defeated by the Galactic Commander Jupiter and retreated in shame, while swearing to become stronger. Barry later arrived to help Lucas/Dawn in the final Team Galactic battles atop Mt. Coronet, and they engaged Jupiter and Mars in a double battle. Afterwards, Barry healed his friend's Pokémon and left.

Barry confronted Lucas/Dawn once more outside the Pokémon League headquarters. After his friend defeated the Elite Four, Barry traveled with them on a boat to the Battle Zone. Pearl endeavored to become strong enough to challenge his father at the Battle Tower, although it was unknown if he ever reached this goal. He first got caught up in the race for the Magma Stone, and he was defeated by Buck, which gave him a loss in confidence. Afterwards, he spent all weekdays training in Stark Mountain, and every weekend he could be challenged outside the Battle Park. In Platinum, he would also visit the player's villa immediately after they bought it. He was impressed by it, asking if his friend was rich now and then leaving to tell everyone about it. In Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, he could appear teamed up with his father as an opponent for a double battle in the Battle Tower.

Pokémon Roster

Barry uses the following Pokémon throughout the game:

• Turtwig/Grotle/Torterra or Chimchar/Monferno/Infernape or Piplup/Prinplup/Empoleon - Barry's starter Pokémon is whichever one has a type advantage against the player character's starter Pokémon. It evolves into its second form by the Hearthome City battle and the third form by the Mt. Coronet double battle.
• Starly/Staravia/Staraptor - Starly is first used by Barry in the Route 203 battle. It evolves into Staravia by the Canalave City battle
• Ponyta/Rapidash - Ponyta is first used by Barry in the Hearthome City battle and evolves into Rapidash by the Pokémon League battle. It is only used if Barry has Turtwig or Piplup as his starter.
• Roselia/Roserade - It is first used in the Hearthome City battle and evolves into Roserade by the Pokémon League battle. It is only used if Barry has Chimchar or Piplup as his starter.
• Buizel/Floatzel - It is first used in the Hearthome City battle and evolves into Floatzel by the Pokémon League battle. It is only used if Barry has Turtwig or Chimchar as his starter.
• Heracross - Barry first uses it in the Canalave City battle.
• Munchlax/Snorlax - Barry first uses Munchlax in the Mt. Coronet double battle. It evolves into Snorlax by the Pokémon League battle.

At the Battle Tower in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, he will use either Empoleon and Staraptor, Infernape and Heracross, or Torterra and Snorlax.

In Other Pokémon Games

Barry was featured in Pokémon Masters EX as a playable trainer with Piplup as his partner Pokémon. He was recruited through the Main Story, and his Piplup could evolve into Prinplup and Empoleon through sync pair stories in which he had battles with Cheryl and Crash Wake, respectively. It was also possible to unlock Roserade as an alternate sync partner for him by spending battle points, starting in at the end of August 2023. He has also used his Staraptor when battled as an opponent. In this appearance, he was known as a famous trainer from Sinnoh. In his sync pair story, he explained that he sought a lot of money through his attempts at fining others so that he could build his own Battle Tower and get his dad to challenge it.

He was featured and recruited in the second chapter of the Main Story's PML Arc. Rosa had befriended Barry and guided Scottie/Bettie to him, in hopes that he would join their team too. At the beach, Barry was looking to stop Team Break, and he had to be battled after he confused the player's team for members of that team. He only recognized Rosa's presence after the battle, and he agreed to join the player's team only after they helped him to defeat the Team Break members that were hiding in the nearby cave. During the Villain Arc, he played a supporting role in the conflict with Team Galactic during the Sinnoh chapter. He worked with Jupiter while searching with Cyrus, and the two decided to have a rematch. He also played a supporting role in the Story Event "The Strongest There Is", where he and Scottie/Bettie tried to learn from Steven Stone and Wallace. During the Story Event "Revel in Rivalry", he took part in the New Stars of Pasio tournament as part of a randomly-chosen team with Gladion and Marnie. Barry was later featured in the Story Event "Tower Tycoon and Hall Matron", where he was avoiding his father and pushing himself in his training. This was because once Palmer arrived in Pasio, Barry claimed that he had become stronger than him, but when they worked together in a team battle, Palmer ended up carrying the team while Barry did nothing. This left Barry feeling inadequate. Brendan, Norman and Argenta all talked Barry through his issues and convinced him to focus on his own unique strength. So Barry apologized to his father and admitted his issues, to which Palmer assured Barry that he did not have to try to compare himself to him or try to copy him. He just had to nurture his own strength. With that, Barry decided to show his father his strength and teamed up with Scottie/Bettie and Brendan in a battle against Palmer, Argenta and Norman.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Barry was introduced during the Diamond/Pearl episodes. He had the same hyperactive personality and was childhood friends with Dawn, although he did not remember her. He traveled with Ash Ketchum and acted as a rival to him, as well as admiring Paul for his training strategies, although Barry still cared for his Pokémon. His starter Pokémon was a Piplup which eventually evolved into an Empoleon. He made it up to the second round of the Lily of the Valley Conference until he lost his battle with Paul, but he remained friendly afterwards.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, the character of Pearl is based on him. Diamond (Lucas) and Pearl were introduced in the Diamond/Pearl arc as a pair of traveling comedians who, through a mix-up, were confused with two bodyguards who were supposed to escort Miss Platinum Berlitz (Dawn) to Mt. Coronet. They initially played along, believing it to be part of a reality tv show, but they eventually began to realize the truth. Of the two, Pearl was shown to be better at battling. Ultimately, the three of them worked together to save Sinnoh from Team Galactic. In the process, Pearl received training from Crasher Wake and sacrificed his Pokédex to save the lake guardians. He also worked with Palkia and had a supporting role in the Platinum arc. His starter Pokémon was a Chimchar that evolved into Infernape. He was also associated with Azelf due to his strong willpower, and among the Pokédex holders his specialty is known as being a Determiner.
• In Pokémon Evolutions", Barry was featured in the fifth episode. This showed events from the fifth generation from Barry's point of view, with him remembering his journey while battling Palmer at the Battle Tower. The events shown include him getting his starter Pokémon at Lake Variety, his first gym battle against Roark and both of his battles against Jupiter. Ultimately, he was able to defeat his father.

Trivia

• Barry was one of the default names listed for him in both Diamond and Platinum. That name was used for his anime incarnation, and it was re-confirmed as being his canonical name within the games when he appeared in Pokémon Masters EX. His official name in Japan is Jun, named after Junichi Masuda.
• Prior to Barry being officially canonized, some fans had referred to him as Pearl instead (imitating the naming conventions used for the official names of some characters in the first two generations such as Red, Blue and Silver), and the name 'Cedric' (or Pearl in the Japanese version) was used in the fourth generation games' internal data.
• In the Japanese version, "Shigeru" (the Japanese name for Gary/Blue) is given as one of the default names. However, "Gary" only appears as a default name in the German and Italian versions.
• Barry holds the high score at the Pal Park (which is 2,000).