Morty
マツバ Matsuba
""The Mystic Seer of the Future""
[[File:File:HGSS Morty Art.png|{{{size}}}]]
Art from HeartGold and SoulSilver
Gender Male
Eye color Brown*, Purple*
Hair color Blond
Hometown Ecruteak City
Region Johto
Trainer class Gym Leader
Generation II, IV
Games Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Stadium 2, HeartGold, SoulSilver
Leader of Ecruteak Gym
Badge Fog Badge
Anime debut A Ghost of a Chance
English voice actor Andrew Rannells
Japanese voice actor Masaya Matsukaze

Morty (Japanese: マツバ Matsuba) is the Gym Leader of Ecruteak City's Gym, known officially as the Ecruteak Gym. He hands out the Fog Badge to Trainers who defeat him. He is a young man who uses Template:Type2 Pokémon.

In the games

Morty appears in Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver, where he is the fourth Gym Leader to be encountered. A user of the Template:Type2, Morty is known as "The Mystic Seer of the Future". Morty is a follower of legendary Pokémon, and trains in Ecruteak so he may be able to see the rainbow bird Ho-Oh. He is friends with Eusine; it is alluded that he may have been Morty's predecessor as Ecruteak Gym Leader.

The body of Morty's gym is a dark pit. Trainers appear to float over it, standing on an invisible floor. Some trainers are scared away by the ghosts within the gym. A challenger able to navigate along the invisible floor can safely reach Morty and challenge him. Once defeated, he will yield the Fog Badge, and TM30 (Shadow Ball).

Morty does not spend all of his time in Ecruteak Gym. In Pokémon Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver Versions, he will join Eusine in the Burned Tower where they study the legendary Pokémon Suicune, Entei, and Raikou. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he will also take Monday mornings off once initially defeated, and visit the garden at the Tin Tower. Here, he will give his PokéGear phone number to the player. If called on Tuesday night, Morty will arrange to travel to the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City for a rematch with a stronger team of Pokémon. Notably, he is the only Trainer to appear here that uses more than one of the same species: Gengar.

Morty's outfit changed the most of any Gym Leader between Generations II and IV. The artwork released with Gold and Silver showed him wearing mainly blue. This design was carried through into the anime and manga. However, his outfit was completely retconned come HeartGold and SoulSilver: Morty now dons clothes of black and purple, like many of the Pokémon in his possession.

Morty also appears in Pokémon Stadium 2's Johto Gym Leader Castle. Due to the small amount of Ghost-type Pokémon that existed in Generation II, the majority of his team consists of Pokémon of other types.

Pokémon

This listing is of Morty's Pokémon in the video games he has appeared in.

Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal



Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

Gym match



Second battle (rematch)



Pokémon Stadium 2

Round 1



Round 2



Quotes

File:SpriteMorty.gif File:MortyHGSS.gif  
Morty's sprite from
Generation II
Morty's sprite from
Generation IV
Morty's VS sprite from
Generation IV

"Good of you to have come. Here, in Ecruteak, Pokémon have been revered. It's said that a rainbow-colored Pokémon will come down to appear before a truly powerful trainer. I believed that tale, so I have secretly trained here all my life. As a result, I can now see what others cannot. Just a bit more... With a little more, I could see a future in which I meet the Pokémon of rainbow colors. You're going to help me reach that level!"

"I'm not good enough yet... All right. This Badge is yours."

"I see... your journey has taken you to far-away places. And you have witnessed much more than me. I envy you for that..."

In the anime

File:Morty-anime.JPG
Morty in the anime

Morty appears in three episodes of the anime: A Ghost of a Chance, From Ghost to Ghost, and For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll!.

He teaches classes on training Template:Type2s. He knows that most Ghosts lack physical power, and relies on disabling his opponent by confusing or frightening them.

Ash, Misty and Brock first meet Morty when they mistakenly went to the Burned Tower thinking it was the Gym. His Ghost Pokémon had created an illusion of fire to scare the trainers away, but Morty settled them and introduced himself as Gym Leader. He told them about the legend of Ho-Oh and the two towers of Ecruteak, but didn't believe that Ash had ever seen Ho-Oh. When Team Rocket kidnapped Pikachu and Togepi, he used his powerful Gengar to stop them.

File:WhitneyMortyCameo.jpg
Whitney's and Morty's appearance in DP147.

The next day, Ash and Morty had their Gym battle. Ash was able to defeat him by relying on his Noctowl's Foresight to weaken Morty's Ghost Pokémon and make them vulnerable to Normal attacks. After Morty was defeated, he said he believed that Ash may very well have seen Ho-Oh, given Ash's great spirit.

When Ash and company returned to Ecruteak on their way to Mahogany Town, it is revealed that he and Eusine have a close relationship because they both study about the rare legendary Pokémon.

He makes a small cameo along with Whitney in DP147 when it was revealed that Kotone's next gym challenge was supposed to be one of them.

Pokémon

This listing is of Morty's Pokémon in the Pokémon anime.

Pikachu
Debut [[]]
Pikachu
Debut [[]]
Pikachu
Debut [[]]

At Ecruteak Gym

 
Gastly (Multiple)
 
Haunter (Multiple)

Voice actors

Language Voice actor
Japanese 松風雅也 Masaya Matsukaze
English Andrew Rannells
Polish Ireneusz Machnicki (EP181-EP182)
Aleksander Gawek (EP227)
European Spanish Juan Antonio García Sainz de la Maza


In the Pokémon Adventures manga

File:Morty Special.png
Morty and his Misdreavus

In Pokémon Adventures, he is a natural version of the Itemfinder, using his powers to locate lost objects and Pokémon. He has clairvoyant psychic abilities that allow him to see things at a distance.

He was unfortunately away from Ecruteak when Team Rocket attacked it, but later assisted in its reconstruction.

His dream is to one day be able to see Ho-Oh. The rainbow Pokémon's power is so great, it blocks Morty's abilities.

Pokémon

This listing is for Morty's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

 
Misdreavus
 
Gastly

In the TCG

This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Morty or his Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Name Type Level Rarity Set Set no.
Morty's Ninetales   -   Pokémon VS (no English release) 20/141
Morty's Gengar   -   Pokémon VS (no English release) 21/141
Morty's Hypno   -   Pokémon VS (no English release) 22/141
Morty's Marowak   -   Pokémon VS (no English release) 23/141
Morty's Noctowl   -   Pokémon VS (no English release) 24/141
Morty's Murkrow   -  H Pokémon VS (no English release) 25/141
Morty's Misdreavus   -   Pokémon VS (no English release) 26/141
Morty's TM 01 - -   Pokémon VS (no English release) 109/141
Morty's TM 02 - -   Pokémon VS (no English release) 110/141

Trivia

  • His Japanese Leader title is 千里眼を持つ修験者.
  • Morty is currently the only known Ghost-type specialist who is male.
  • Morty appears as an opponent in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge. He uses a Gastly to battle.

Names

Language Name Origin
Japanese マツバ Matsuba 松葉 matsuba, a pine needle. Possible from 末 matsu, the end, or 魔 ma, evil spirits.
English Morty From Latin mortis, death.
French Mortimer From mort, death.
German Jens From Jenseits, afterlife.
Italian Angelo Literally means angel.
Spanish Morti From muerte, death, or mortuorio, mortuary.
Korean (Game translation) 유빈 Yubin Similar to 유령 yuryeong, ghost.
Korean (Manga translation) 마솔 Masol Similar to the word 마수(masu), which means 'evil hand'.
Chinese 小松 Xiǎo Sōng 松 is taken from 松葉 matsuba.

External links

Gym Leaders of the Johto region
Violet Gym  
 
Falkner
Azalea Gym  
 
Bugsy
Goldenrod Gym  
 
Whitney
Ecruteak Gym  
 
Morty
Cianwood Gym  
 
Chuck
Olivine Gym  
 
Jasmine
Mahogany Gym  
 
Pryce
Blackthorn Gym  
 
Clair


  This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.