Brock

Brock (Japanese: タケシ Takeshi) is a close friend and former traveling partner of Ash Ketchum.

History
In the anime, Brock is a Pokémon Breeder and a former Gym Leader of Pewter City who is studying to become a Pokémon Doctor. He is a close friend and former traveling companion of Ash, Misty, May, Max and Dawn. Some notes on official sketches of his character set his age at 15 at the start of the series.

He originally trained Rock-type Pokémon, but has, since the second episode he appeared in, diversified. As he has stated in Battling A Cute Drama!, his philosophy is that the important thing about being a Pokémon Trainer is the bond between Trainer and Pokémon. He is an experienced cook and caretaker by nature, so he always makes scrumptious food both for Pokémon and for humans.

One of his best known character traits is that he falls in love with every pretty woman he meets, particularly Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy. He can tell whether they are real (women) or impostors as well. This "ability" has been used multiple times in the series. He has always held a supporting role in the series, usually contributing more in terms of wisdom and comedic antics than the action and battles of the series.

Early on, he showed that he carries around a Boulder Badge for identification. He also has a Contest Pass for the Kanto region, though he only used it once, as well as one for Hoenn which was required to watch a Contest there.

Brock has had two notable musical appearances. One is the Japanese ending theme タケシのパラダイス Takeshi's Paradise, which is about his love for women and his determination to find love despite often appearing foolish and getting heartbroken. There is a running joke about him singing this song often in the anime, since it's the only song he knows. The other is the Pokémon Karaokémon song Two Perfect Girls, which is about his love of both Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy.

Appearance
Brock's most notable feature about his appearance is that his eyes naturally appear closed. The rare times people see them open are when they are forced open unnaturally: from a hit with Charmander's Flamethrower in The Ninja Poké-Showdown, when being hit in the back of the head by Arbok's tail in Who Gets to Keep Togepi?, and when he makes a face for Larvitar in A Crowning Achievement. This has been the center of fan attention for a long time.

He also has tan skin, notably darker than the skin of any other major character in the anime, until Iris in the Best Wishes series.

Brock, along with Tracey and Cilan, are the tallest of Ash's traveling companions, and the closest to looking like an adult. Next to actual adult characters, however, it is clear that he is still a teenager.

Not counting temporary outfits, he has worn three different outfits over the span of the anime, all of which have had the colors orange, green, and brown, with blue shoes.

Character
Brock is considered the most mature, wise and level-headed of the main characters, and he is arguably the most intelligent character as well. He often acts as an older brother and caretaker to the other characters and a voice of reason in disputes. He will usually place others before him and will help and support his friends even against his better judgment or at his own expense. While he is not shown to battle often, he can understand the situations and strategies in any Pokémon battle, and often explains them to the other characters, probably due to the fact that he was once a Gym Leader. His wisdom is possibly derived from how observant he is; he can tell just by sight how a Pokémon is feeling and spot the differences between the various Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy.

Brock always carries books and maps with him, and thus is usually the character who knows where the group is headed and what they can do when they get there, though in Advanced Generation this role was mostly taken over by the PokéNav. He also carries a lot of other supplies, such as Potions, Pokémon food, and a set of cookware, as well as practical tools like a brush and pocket knife; in The School of Hard Knocks, the extent of his preparedness and comically large capacity of his bag was demonstrated, as he pulled out a table and full tea set out of his backpack. He is a domestic, and grooms not only his Pokémon but also those of his friends with whom he travels. He handles all the cooking and cleaning for his friends.

Despite this, all his maturity and rationality leaves him completely at the sight of a beautiful woman, as he falls in love with every pretty girl he meets. Brock has a desperate need for female companionship which grows worse as he fails to gain it. He will do anything and everything he thinks will impress women, which inevitably ends with his heart being broken every time. A few women have shown interest in him as well, such as Wilhelmina, Temacu, Natalie, Lucy, Holly, Autumn, Narissa and Lizabeth, but most do not notice him or are not interested. No matter how many times he is disappointed, though, Brock remains determined to find a girl to start a relationship with, and has indicated several times he would stop traveling with Ash and stay with the girl if this happened. This behavior tends to wear on the nerves of other characters, and Misty and Max have both commonly dragged Brock away from women by his ear. Some of Brock's own Pokémon, most notably Croagunk, have attacked him for getting too flirtatious with women.

His goals have played a passive role in his character's activity and development, and his role has generally been one as support for other main characters. Unlike other characters, who aspire to achieve and excel in competitive fields like Pokémon training and Pokémon Contests, his aim to become a great Pokémon Breeder is a quiet one and thus does not get showcased frequently. This caused him to question if he was actually pursuing his dreams like his friends were near the end of the Diamond & Pearl series, and ultimately lead to him deciding to become a Pokémon Doctor instead. His other goal, to find a girlfriend, is similar to Team Rocket's quest to capture Pikachu in that both are for comedy and thus doomed to fail.

History
Not much is known about his early childhood, except that his first Pokémon was his Onix, which he received as a gift at the age of 10. Sometime after, his father, Flint, left home to become a great Trainer. When he never returned, his mother, Lola, left them as well, leaving Brock to take care of his siblings, as well as their house and Pewter Gym, by himself (though the English version of Showdown in Pewter City has Flint claim she died, and some speculate he was lying). However, Flint eventually returned home considering himself a failure, and instead of returning to his family he donned a disguise and sold rocks as souvenirs at the edge of town. After Brock awarded Ash the Boulder Badge, Flint came forward and confessed who he was. Flint took on the responsibilities of the Pewter Gym and his family, leaving Brock free to journey with Ash and Misty.

Brock only became the Gym Leader because he felt it was his responsibility, and he admitted to Ash that he would rather care for Pokémon than battle them. It is his dream to become a great breeder, and when Flint took back control of the Gym, Brock was allowed to start following this dream. Most notably, he took care of a Vulpix that belonged to a breeder named Suzy. Shortly before Vulpix was returned, Brock used it in a Pokémon Beauty Contest.

Brock was also able to meet and make advances towards the many beautiful women he met. At first, he was more casual about approaching women, such as the Officer Jenny in Cerulean City, and more modest as well, such as when he met Melanie. However, he became more open and passionate towards almost all single young women as time progressed.

Brock briefly left the show during the Orange Islands saga to work for Professor Ivy on Valencia Island and so is only seen in a couple of cameos in the second movie. While there, something happened that will probably remain secret as Brock will only huddle and say "that name" whenever he is asked about it. (Brock does mention his work for her in Destiny Deoxys, though this line was added in the dub.) After this incident, Brock returned to Kanto where he was found by Delia Ketchum, who helped him to regain his strength. Brock then became a rival to Mimey until he rejoined Ash and Misty as the three traveled to Johto. They stayed together for the entire region, but at the end of this journey, the three went their separate ways, with Brock's help requested at home by his father.

In The Little Big Horn Brock mentions he participated in Little League Baseball when he was younger.

Upon his return home, Brock was dismayed to find that his mother had returned and commandeered the Gym, turning the Rock-type haven into a brightly decorated Water-type den. Brock battled her for the honor of Rock types and won, promising his brother Forrest that he would become Gym Leader someday.

After that, Brock returned to follow Ash through Hoenn, along with their new friends May and Max, and then through Kanto again as Ash took on the Kanto Battle Frontier. He left briefly when the Advanced Generation series ended in order to visit his home, but quickly returned to travel with Ash and Dawn in Sinnoh. Near the end of the Sinnoh saga, Brock began to show interest in becoming a Pokémon Doctor, and so, rather than following Ash to Unova to advise him, decided to remain in Kanto to study.

Brock is among the longest-running main characters in the anime, having been present in nearly every episode between Showdown in Pewter City and Memories are Made of Bliss!, with the notable exception of the Orange Islands saga, the final original series episode, the first three episodes of the Advanced Generation series, and the first episode of the Diamond & Pearl series. His tenure is ranked only under Ash and Pikachu, who have appeared in every episode, and Jessie, James, and Meowth, who have appeared in every episode except for the first, AG120, and a few episodes of the Best Wishes series and the XY series.

Brock makes an appearance in SS025 where it is revealed that, while waiting to attend a Pokémon medical school, he has been studying hard at home as well as helping out at the Pewter City Pokémon Center. In the episode, he plays a major role in helping Forrest to officially become the Pewter City Gym Leader when it is revealed that his father never informed the Pokémon League of the title change.

Brock was mentioned in Expedition to Onix Island! when Dawn learned that Cilan cooks for himself, Ash and Iris. She stated that this was similar to the way Brock used to for her and Ash before he decided to become a Pokémon Doctor. He also appeared in a flashback in The Mystery of the Missing Cubchoo! and in Ash's flashbacks of his memories with Charizard in The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!. He reappeared in a flashback in The Dream Continues!.

Brock returned in SS027, where it was revealed that he had attended the Pokémon medical school and had been sent to Johto to apprentice under a Pokémon Doctor as part of his training. While passing through the town he bumped into Pokémon Connoisseur Cilan briefly, then encountered him again when Cilan took his Pansage to be treated at the town's Pokémon Center after it was injured by a Gyarados. While waiting for it to recover, the two encountered the beginning Trainer Ayumi who was having trouble teaching her Pikachu to use Thunderbolt; Brock was very impressed with Cilan's talents as Cilan helped Pikachu master the move. Later, when the Gyarados that Cilan encountered earlier started to rampage due to being injured by the poacher Amer, Brock spotted that it was injured, so after Pansage's Grass Whistle put it to sleep, Brock was able to quickly treat it. Afterwards, the two said goodbye to each other and continued their separate travels, having never learned their names or that Ash was a mutual friend of theirs.