Brock (anime)

Brock aspires to be the greatest Pokémon Breeder, and gives up his title of Gym Leader after Ash Ketchum won his first Kanto League Gym Badge from him. He is first seen taking care of his nine siblings.

Biography
After Ash loses to Brock, a stranger offers to help make his Pikachu stronger. Pikachu (after being hooked up to a local hydro-power station) becomes stronger and manages to defeat Geodude, but Onix remains too strong. Onix has Pikachu in a body bind; however, Pikachu's previous electric attack ravaged the gym, which set off the sprinklers, weakening his Onix. Ash declines the badge on the grounds that he unfairly beat Brock, but Brock later catches up to him and presents to him the badge, saying that he wants Ash to fulfill his dream of becoming the best. The stranger that first helped Ash reveals himself to be Brock's father, Flint, who has a tendency to not notify people it is him. Brock is now free to train himself, and joins Ash and Misty on their journey.

Since then, he travels with Ash and Misty on his many adventures. In the Orange Islands series, he leaves the team to join Professor Felina Ivy, but mysteriously returns to Pallet Town when Ash wins the Orange League Championship. Rejoining Ash and Misty, Brock travels to Johto, where he continues to help Ash and Misty. Upon the conclusion of the Silver Conference, the three part ways, Brock heading back to Pewter City. It is there (in an episode of Pokemon Chronicles) that he discovers his estranged mother Lola (Mizuho in the original), who, because she is a Water-type Pokémon Trainer, has ruined the reputation of the Gym he defended so long ago and had ended up filling the gym with water (causing Brock to comically freak out and keeps repeating "A LAKE!!!" when he first see's it). By defeating his mother, he restores the Gym's reputation, and proceeds to leave all his Pokémon (except Forretress) to his younger brother Forrest, before departing for the Hoenn region, where he catches up with Ash and his two new friends, May and Max. The group travel across Hoenn and then return to Kanto to participate in the Battle Frontier. The group went their separate ways and Brock met up with Ash in Sinnoh. While there, they meet a new coordinator named Dawn and her partner Piplup, who joins them on their journey through Sinnoh.

During this time, both Brock's father, Flint (Munō in the original, who was also Brock's predecessor as Gym Leader), ran off again, and his oldest younger brother Forrest (Jirō in the original) took the role of Gym Leader in Pewter City, as well as the responsibility of caring for his many other younger siblings. Brock is the oldest of ten siblings, with five brothers and four sisters.

Brock is always well-equipped, and is sometimes the voice of reason when Ash and Misty (and later, May and Dawn) get into an argument. He is also hardworking and is always willing to help others. Coupled with his experiences in taking care of others, Brock often prepares food and does most of the chores for the main characters. Brock is also exceptionally good at making food for Pokémon.

Running gags
Over the course of the series, there have come to be a couple of recurring gags related to Brock that have become quite prominent.

Girls
One of the most notable running gags in the anime is that Brock makes advances on virtually every girl (similar style of Barbie dolls) his age or older, and is usually met by rejection, confusion, or being dragged away from them by Misty, Max, or his Pokémon, Croagunk. One of several exceptions was Professor Ivy, the Pokémon Professor from the Orange Islands, with whom he spent some time away from the show. He later returns but refuses to explain why he left her, simply saying "Don't mention that name!" Pike Queen Lucy of the Battle Frontier in Tohjo Falls seems to have a liking towards Brock (partially because she has a soft spot for Pokémon with squinty eyes) almost traveling with him, before Max interrupts. Other girls who had feelings for Brock include Wilhelmina, Temaku, Natalie, Autumn, Narissa, Lizabeth and Holly.

His crushes include the various Nurse Joy's and Officer Jenny's, which he can differentiate with ease based on very perceptive but minute observations. Because of this, he can spot impostor Joy's and Jenny's instantly.

Oatmeal Pokemon
An other one of the notable running gags is how Brock is forced to entertain an audience while other characters retrieve something which would typically be another Pokémon that would have been putting on a show for the current audience that has likely been stolen by Team Rocket. During the cases in which he do as such he repeats one song (usually an English version of "Takeshi no Paradise", one of the Japanese ending themes) ad nauseam to the point that he is either booed offstage or loses interest in singing he reveals that he sings this song over and over is because its the only song he knows. After Ash finished the Sinnoh league Ash and Brock left back to Kanto and went their seperate ways. In the Pokemon DP Special Episode 2, Brock is shown studying to become a Pokemon Doctor, and even has photos of Ash, Pikachu, Misty, May, Max, Dawn and Piplup.

Voice Actors

 * English: Eric Stuart (season 1 - 8) (4Kids)
 * English: Bill Rogers (season 9 - 13) (PUSA/DuArt)
 * German: Marc Stachel
 * Japanese: Yuji Ueda
 * Dutch: Fred Meijer
 * Italian: Nicola Bartolini Carrassi (season 1 - 2); Luca Bottale (season 3 - 13)

Trivia

 * Brock's personality reflects the one of Uxie, the Knowledge Pokemon.Brockeyes.jpg
 * Brock owns a Pokegear as of DP144 which he gets from Khoury's father.
 * In the Pokemon DP Special, Brock has photos of Ash, Misty, May, Max, Dawn, Pikachu and Piplup to remind him of his past journeys through Kanto, Hoenn, Johto, and Sinnoh. This may be a sign that this special was Brock's last appearance in the series.
 * Brock is very talented cook, especially when it comes to making food for Pokémon (this is related to the fact he is a Pokémon Breeder).
 * In the DP Episode 'Pokémon Doctor Brock', Brock thought of departing from the group with his newly evolved Chansey to become a Pokémon Doctor.
 * In the episode, A Crowning Achievement, Brock actually temporarily opens his eyes in a flash second to try to cheer up Larvitar.