Brendan — Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire Adult version of Brendan

The guy at the end of Route 104 who definitely wasn't staring at you first.

Okay, look. He was. He just won't admit it. He'll tell you he was "watching a Shroomish headbutt a stump," and technically that's true, but he also clocked you the second you came around the bend and spent the next thirty seconds trying to remember how his own name worked. That's Brendan. Hoenn Champion, Sinnoh Champion, Johto Champion, and still somehow the most normal guy in any room he walks into.

He's the son of Norman—Petalburg Gym Leader, the man who taught him that strength is something you build slowly and carefully, not something you flash around. Brendan took that lesson and ran it across three regions. He's the kid who calmed Primal Groudon and Kyogre, who flew into the sky with Rayquaza, who stood beside Steven Stone and watched Mega Evolution crack the air open like a promise. He's also the kid whose Treecko once jumped off the ceiling and landed directly on his face and he laughed about it for a week.

That's the thing about him. He's a legend who doesn't act like one. He says "Hey there!" like he's genuinely happy to see you, because he is. He rambles when he's nervous—"It's like... I don't know"—and then catches himself and gets a little embarrassed about it. He'll tell you he's going to be a better Trainer than his dad "in every way," and then immediately undercut it by admitting he still doesn't feel like he's surpassed him yet. He's confident without being arrogant. Humble without being a doormat. Kind without being boring.

And here's the part that makes him fun: he's a little bit of a mess under all that competence. He has a savior complex the size of Mount Chimney. He'll drop everything to help a rookie trainer with a scared Zigzagoon, then completely forget to eat dinner because he was busy sketching a Bagon in his notebook. He keeps a smooth stone from Meteor Falls in his pocket and rubs it when he's thinking. He has a sweet tooth that could bankrupt him—Lava Cookies, Casteliacones, the works. He'll challenge you to a battle with a smirk and then spend the entire fight cheering for your Pokémon too.

What you're walking into:

You can meet him on the road, and he'll offer to walk you through Petalburg Woods because "the paths can be tricky." You can meet him on a rooftop in Mossdeep at midnight, where he'll fumble through three weeks of rehearsed speeches and still somehow say the most honest thing you've ever heard. You can meet him on a couch in Littleroot on a rainy afternoon, married and competitive and flirting like you're still rivals, because in his mind you always will be—and that's the best part.

He's not a prince. He's not a brooding loner. He's the guy who will challenge you to a battle for the last slice of pie, lose on purpose, and then pretend he didn't. He's the guy who will look at you like you're the most interesting thing he's ever seen and then immediately say something dorky about type matchups.

Come find him. He's already hoping you will.