Harley: Difference between revisions

'''Harley''' (Japanese: '''ハーリー''' ''Harley'') is a {{pkmn|Coordinator}} and {{an|May}}'s rival from [[Slateport City]].

Harley first competed against {{an|May}} in ''[[AG103|A Cacturne for the Worse!]]''. When the two Coordinators met, Harley was annoyed at May for several petty reasons: she was not familiar with his Cacturne, which she called "scary", and she said the cookies he offered her were "not half bad". Later, the two competed in a {{pkmn|Contest}}, Harley using Cacturne and May using {{TP|May|Bulbasaur|Venusaur}}. During the appeals round, he mentions that he doesn't want anyone to talk during their performance. After that round, in an attempt to publicly humiliate May, Harley played a recording of Max recalling a time when May was younger and she became stuck in water with a swarm of {{p|Tentacool}} and was extremely frightened. May was embarrassed, but went on to defeat Harley.

Harley and May met up again in the episodes ''[[AG121|Hi Ho Silver Wind!]]'', ''[[AG122|Deceit and Assist]]'', and ''[[AG123|Rhapsody in Drew]]''. Harley pretended that he was friends with May, and she initially believed him. He gave her "advice" to have her {{TP|May|Skitty}} use its {{m|Assist}} move repeatedly to make a good appeal; this resulted in Skitty becoming confused after using Bulbasaur's {{m|Petal Dance}}, having to {{m|DoubleSlap}} itself out of confusion. Meanwhile, [[Drew]] watched Harley, noticing how he tricked May. Later, May realized Harley's ploy, and soon the two were to battle once again. This time, it was Harley's Cacturne and {{p|Banette}} versus May's {{TP|May|Beautifly}} and Bulbasaur. May won this battle as well, and progressed further into the tournament.

The next time May and Harley met was in [[Saffron City]] during the episodes ''[[AG143|The Saffron Con]]'' and ''[[AG144|A Hurdle for Squirtle]]''. They met on this occasion in the Pokémon Center where Harley stated he was working as an assistant to Nurse Joy in gratitude for her healing his Cacturne. He stated that he was sorry and that he was working hard to make up for things. All of it was a lie and May nearly couldn’t compete because he "mistakenly" told her that she could use her Hoenn pass to compete. However, [[Lilian Meridian]], the Kanto Contest MC, gave her a Kanto Contest Pass and Ribbon box in thanks for her help in repelling [[Team Rocket trio|Team Rocket]] when they raided the Pokémon Center.

Harley competed in the Contest using Cacturne for the appeals and Ariados for the battles. He defeated [[Jessie]] who entered with {{TP|Jessie|Wobbuffet}}, but was defeated himself by May and her {{TP|May|Squirtle|Wartortle}} in the finals.

The next time he appeared was in ''[[AG160|Harley Rides Again]]'', where he competed in the [[Wisteria Town]] Contest, using Ariados in the appeals. He used Ariados's {{m|Spider Web}} to surround the stage with its web, similar to the previous Contest. He then asked it to entangle itself with its web and use {{m|Scary Face}}, scaring everyone. He then used his Octillery against May's {{TP|May|Munchlax}} in battle. After utilizing {{m|Octazooka}}, {{m|Sludge Bomb}} and {{m|Rest}}, he defeated May for the first and only time known so far.

The next time was in ''[[AG180|May, We Harley Drew’d Ya!]]'', ''[[AG181|Thinning the Hoard]]'', and ''[[AG182|Channeling the Battle Zone]]'', where he competed against May in the [[Kanto Grand Festival]]. In the Appeals Round, he used his Banette while dressed up as May, asking himself to be called ''Mayley''. He used Cacturne and Wigglytuff against Munchlax and Eevee, but both defeated his Pokémon.

The final major appearance he had was in ''[[AG187|The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing]]'' where he simply watched May and Drew have a practice Contest battle. At the end of the episode, he revealed that he was also going to compete in Contests in [[Johto]]. He also invited [[Jessie]] to do the same, but she denied, saying she still wanted to stay in [[Team Rocket trio|Team Rocket]]. Because of this, he got mad at her. He then sent out his Cacturne to battle her. As she was searching for a Pokémon to use, Harley asked Cacturne to use {{m|Bullet Seed}}, sending Team Rocket flying with Jessie still looking for a Pokémon.

Harley tended to use nicknames for May behind her back. The first was ''Meno-chan'' (English equivalent: ''Miss Tent'') after embarrassing her with the Tentacool story. The second was ''Kamo-chan'', referring to the word often used at the end of May's sentences in Japanese that can imply unsureness. In English, he calls her various cutesy pet-names, including "gingerbread-cookie".

[[File:Mayley.png|200px|thumb|Harley crossdressing as {{an|May}}]]

Harley has a rather peculiar personality. He is undeniably flamboyant, wearing an outfit similar in appearance to {{p|Cacturne}}. He has very effeminate mannerisms, which include wiggling his hips as he walks and using アタシ ''atashi'', the Japanese feminine version of ''I''. He also has a tendency to use select English words intermixed with his normal Japanese speech; for example, he calls {{TP|Harley|Cacturne}} and {{p|Banette}} ''my buddies'' or darling, sweeties, and honey and tells {{an|May}} ''good morning''. In the Latin-American dub, this is replaced by using Latin-American slang and allusions to local urban culture; for example, he sings a song by the Mexican showman {{wp|Juan Gabriel}} in the Grand Festival, as his {{p|Octillery}} dances in the flames. He talks with a high voice, another sign of effeminacy. Another example of his feminine side is in ''[[AG180|May, We Harley Drew'd Ya!]]'' where Harley cross-dresses as May, calling himself "Mayley" (Japanese: '''ハリカ''' ''Harika''), much to May's embarrassment and [[Solidad]]'s amusement. He is apparently old friends with Solidad, as she said so herself.  

Harley is a conniving character with little to no regard for anybody but himself and his Pokémon. He tends to get personal vendettas against people for the smallest of reasons. For example, his vendetta against May began after they first met, when she said she had never heard of Cacturne before, that Cacturne was "scary", and that his cookies were "not half bad"; however, the supposed "real" reason he started to dislike her was because she looks just like a classmate who stole his last snack when he was a small child. He keeps photos of people that he has grudges against in a notebook/photo album; he also tends to inflict humiliation to try to get the better of an opponent, showing sadistic pleasure when he does. This is evident when he pretended to be friends with [[Max]] in order to get him to tell an embarrassing story about May only to record it and play it during a Contest. Finally, as evidenced by his Contest performances, Harley shows no qualms in using dirty tactics to win.

Harley seems to take immense pride in his Pokémon, so much so in fact that he dresses up in clothing modeled after his signature Pokémon, Cacturne. None of Harley's Pokémon share a particular type, but they all have one attribute in common: they can all be quite menacing in Contests, even the normally cute Wigglytuff.

This listing is of Harley's known Pokémon:

===[[Hoenn]] Ribbons===

* Five unknown [[Ribbon]]s (prior to ''[[AG121|Hi Ho Silver Wind!]]'')

===[[Kanto]] Ribbons===

* Three unknown [[Ribbon]]s (prior to ''[[AG160|Harley Rides Again]]'')

* [[Wisteria Town]] [[Ribbon]] (''[[AG160|Harley Rides Again]]'')

* An unknown [[Ribbon]] (prior to ''[[AG174|New Plot, Odd Lot!]]'')