Pokémon Trainer has one of the most unique playstyles of all characters. Pokémon Trainer doesn't actually fights in the battle, he commands his three Pokémon to help. While he isn't the only one to be consisted of multiple characters, the stamina stat that affects his Pokémon forces him to switch Pokémon or having a harder time KOing. With three characters with different playstyles, Pokémon Trainer can play anyone at a time, from an aerial combater to a defensive stronghold to a powerful tank.

In a nutshell

Pokémon Trainer is a special character in Brawl in that he has two unique mechanics that affect his gameplay. The most prominent is the fatigue mechanic, also known as the curse Sakurai placed upon Pokémon Trainer. The other is elemental weaknesses, similar to the type system in Pokémon. Is currently ranked 29th in the tier list. This is partly due to players being forced to master all three Pokémon playstyles. The stamina problem forces a Pokémon Trainer player to make crucial decisions about whether to try and switch safely or to just keep piling on the damage and hope for a KO, with the problem being most apparent when fighting as Squirtle. The Pokémon also all suffer recovery issues, ranging from poor to relatively predictable (from bad to manageable: Ivysaur, Squirtle, Charizard). However, his ability to switch between different characters at will has given him decent matchups, allowing him to reach F tier. In the Japanese tier list, Charizard, Ivysaur, Squirtle, and Pokémon Trainer each have their own spot, despite each Pokémon having to be swapped out due to the aforementioned stamina problem and therefore beign unable to use them separately in competitive play.

For information about weight, gravity, falling, air, dash, and walking speed refer to each Pokémon section.

Character Colors

This page is only for general strategies or information that applies to every Pokemon. More in-depth information about each Pokémon can be found on their seperate pages.

• Squirtle
• Ivysaur
• Charizard

Stamina is a unique stat specific for Pokémon Trainer. A fatigued Pokémon will do less damage, cause less hitstun, and give less knockback. The game actually keeps track of a fatigue value for each of your Pokémon throughout the duration of your match. This fatigue value ranges from 0 to 200, and starts at 0 for every Pokémon at the beginning of your match. Each Pokémon has their own fatigue value, and each value is unaffected by the values of the other Pokémon.

Once your fatigue hits 120, your pokemon becomes visibly tired (the "tired" standing animation occurs). At this point, your knockback is at 80% of its full power. It remains at 80% until fatigue hits 130, at which point any more fatigue will cause your moves to slowly decline further. At 200 fatigue, your moves are doing 70% of their original knockback.

As for how the fatigue value actually changes, there are a number of events that either increase it or decrease it.

Increase Fatigue (pokemon becoming more tired)

• Fatigue increases by 1 for every second that a pokemon is active
• Fatigue increases by 1 for every move that a pokemon makes; exceptions to this are:
  • Squirtle's jab combo - 3rd hit
  • Charizard's jab combo - 2nd hit
  • Charizard's jab combo - 3rd hit
  • Charizard's glide attack
  • Grab pummels
• Walking, dashing, jumping, dodging, rolling, grabbing, throwing, and throwing items do not increase the fatigue value

Decrease Fatigue (pokemon becoming less tired)

• Fatigue decreases by 1.67 (5/3) for every second that a pokemon is in its pokeball
• Fatigue is multiplied by 0.3 when a Pokémon is KO'd

The weakness/resistance system is comparatively quite simple. It follows the type triangle that the three starters have followed in every Pokémon generation. Namely,

• Fire > Grass > Water > Fire

In Brawl, a weakness means an increase in knockback. Pokemon that are weak to a type will take 10% more knockback from a move of that type. Pokemon that are resistant will take 10% less. Both weaknesses and resistances are considered here. So in summary,

• Squirtle is weak to grass, resistant to fire
• Ivysaur is weak to fire, resistant to water
• Charizard is weak to water, resistant to grass

Note that same-type resistance does not apply, and Squirtle does not resist water, Ivysaur does not resist grass, and Charizard does not resist fire. Furthermore, weaknesses and resistances are limited only to this triangle. Squirtle is not weak to Pikachu's Thunder, Ivysaur is not weak to Lucas' PK Freeze, etc.

Moves with type association:

• Fire
  • Bowser- Fire Breath
  • C. Falcon- Falcon Punch
  • C. Falcon- Raptor Boost
  • C. Falcon- Falcon Kick
  • C. Falcon- Fsmash
  • Charizard- Flamethrower
  • Charizard- Dthrow
  • Charizard- Fair
  • Charizard- Bair
  • Charizard- Nair
  • Charizard- Ftilt
  • Diddy Kong- Rocketbarrel Boost
  • Falco- Firebird
  • Fox- Firefox
  • Game and Watch- Fsmash
  • Game and Watch- Chef (frying pan hit)
  • Game and Watch- Judgement 6
  • Ganondorf- Utilt
  • Ike- Eruption
  • Link- Bombs
  • Lucas- PK Fire
  • Luigi- Fireball
  • Luigi- Green Missile
  • Luigi- Super Jump Punch (sweetspot)
  • Mario- Fireball
  • Mario- Fsmash
  • Ness- PK Fire
  • Olimar- Red Pikmin attacks
  • ROB- Laser (close range)
  • ROB- Usmash
  • ROB- Nair
  • ROB- Bair
  • ROB- Dair
  • Samus- Missile
  • Samus- Bombs
  • Samus- Usmash
  • Samus- Fair
  • Samus- Dtilt
  • Sheik- Vanish
  • Snake- Hand Grenade
  • Snake- Remote Missile
  • Snake- C4
  • Snake- Fsmash
  • Snake- Usmash
  • Snake- Dsmash
  • Toon Link- Bombs
  • Zelda- Din's Fire
  • Zelda- Farore's Wind
  • Zelda- Uair
  • Zero Suit Samus- Plasma Whip
• Grass
  • Ivysaur- Bullet Seed
  • Ivysaur- Razor Leaf
  • Ivysaur- Vine Whip
  • Ivysaur- Usmash
  • Ivysaur- Dsmash
  • Ivysaur- Uair
  • Ivysaur- Dair
  • Ivysaur- Bair
  • Ivysaur- Fair
  • Ivysaur- Ftilt
  • Ivysaur- Dtilt
• Water
  • Mario- F.L.U.D.D
  • Squirtle- Water Gun
  • Squirtle- Waterfall
  • Squirtle- Usmash
  • Squirtle- Dsmash

This system overall seems to help Squirtle and hurt Ivysaur, while Charizard remains indifferent. Since the only moves that other characters carry are of the fire-type, Ivysaur sees more knockback from them, while Squirtle sees less. Also, this is actually a good thing for Ivysaur when it comes to Charizard's Flamethrower, Bowser's Fire Breath, and Ness' PK Fire. The increase in knockback makes it easier for Ivysaur to escape. Stage hazards such as Norfair lava, Pirate Ship bombs and Pictochat flames are also considered fire-based knockback.

The order Pokémon can be swapped

-Down: Pokémon Change - It's the only move all three Pokémon have in common. It switches between Pokémon Trainer's three Pokémons. Squirtle switches always to Ivysaur, Ivysaur switches always to Charizard and Charizard switches always to Squirtle. This move can only be used while on the stage or on a platform. Like Zelda/Sheik's Transform, the next Pokémon to appear must be loaded from the disc before the switch can be completed. Pausing can shorten the in-game switch time (since the game loads during the pause). It's minimum time to switch is 120 frames.

Frame Data

• Start up: 0
• Invulnerable: 1-100
• Vulnerable: 101-120

Baton Pass

Performed during a Pokémon switch on a moving stage- the Pokémon emerges from the Pokéball with no downtime; Squirtle and Ivysaur get triple jumps. This can only be performed on a moving platform/stage. Get on the part of the stage that moves and get to the edge of the platform (rolling or dash attack is the most common way; see the video for other methods). Pokémon switch when you get there, and you should just fall off the platform when the switch is done. Alternatively, if you do a switch on a floor that disappears/is destroyed while you're switching, the same effect will occur. Squirtle and Ivysaur will get two mid-air jumps when you come out, but Charizard gets no jumps at all. Places where this is possible include:

• Smashville - Moving platform
• Lylat Cruise - During stage tilt
• Rainbow Cruise - Most platforms
• Pokemon Stadium (Melee) - Windmill
• Pictochat - Any transformation you can stand on
• Frigate Orpheon - Rising/falling platform, platforms on the side, stage flip
• Pirate Ship - "Shipwreck" part as prow moves up

Serious Advantage Match-ups

• Ganondorf
• Zelda
• Samus

Advantage Match-ups

• Ness
• Lucas
• Link
• Jigglypuff
• Captain Falcon
• Mario
• Luigi
• Donkey Kong
• Bowser

Fair Match-ups

• Sonic
• Pokémon Trainer

Disadvantage Match-ups

• Yoshi
• Wolf
• Wario
• Toon Link
• Snake
• Pikachu
• Lucario
• Ike

Serious Disadvantage Match-ups

• Ice Climbers
• Mr. Game & Watch
• Falco
• Diddy Kong
• Meta Knight
• Marth
• King Dedede