Lokoko (pronounced lɒ.kəʊ.kəʊ / lɑ'kōʹkō the last 2 Os being long, the first being short, derived from her original Japanese pronunciation Rokoko) is a character appearing in Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver.
Biography[]
Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver[]
Lokoko was a maid working for a mansion owner two hundred years prior to the events of Just Waiting on a Friend. The original owner of the mansion left on a journey and meant to only be gone for a month, but something apparently happened to him and he ultimately never came back. As time passed, the staff and other tenants of the mansion left one by one until eventually, the only one left was the mansion owner's Ninetales, who patiently waited for her master to return. But once a full century had passed, Ninetales started to accept that her master just wasn't coming back (especially since he had most likely long since passed away at that point) and even tried leaving the state herself, but found herself bound to it (because of her Poké Ball).
When Ash, Brock and Misty (who were on their way to Mahogany Town so that Ash could earn his seventh gym badge for the Johto League) appeared, Ninetales created Lokoko as an illusion to deceive them. As Ash and Misty (who were getting very suspicious of Lokoko) later discovered, the mansion's original owner happens to look identical to Brock (with literally the only physical difference between them being the fact that the mansion owner had a mole near his left eye) -- when Ninetales first saw Brock, she thought that her master must've finally come back after so long. But eventually, Brock and his friends learned the truth about Lokoko, Ninetales and the mansion's history and were also able to help Ninetales understand what must've happened to her original owner.
When Team Rocket tried kidnapping Ninetales, Brock and his friends (with help from their Pokémon) were able to save Ninetales -- during the rescue, Ninetales's Poké Ball gets destroyed. While this would normally be rather sad, in this case, it's actually a good thing -- with her Poké Ball finally gone, Ninetales can leave the old estate and truly move on from what happened to/with her original trainer.
Trivia[]
- Meowth refers to her as "that lady with the lantern" when he sees her. As the Ninetales does not appear to be aware of Team Rocket spying on her and the twerps, this helps clarify that the illusion is a neutral projection and not merely something altered in the minds of those knowingly targeted.
- Brock posits "her skin is so delicate that it can't be touched" after his "joyous jump" fails to result in hugging her (he doesn't notice that he phased through her body) after Ash declares "he fell right through Lokoko's body, right through!"
- It is never made clear if she really existed, as there are no pictures of her and what we see turns out to be a glamour.
