If Brendan is selected as the player character he starts his journey moving from his home in Johto to his new home in the town of Littleroot in Hoenn. After saving Prof. Birch from a wild Pokémon, he is given one of the three starters of the Hoenn region. Brendan develops a close bond with May, and eventually Wally, who both act as his rivals. Brendan goes on to gather the eight badges of Hoenn, stop the plans of Team AquaWrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc./Team MagmaWrong template. See Template:Sup/doc.Wrong template. See Template:Sup/doc. and conquer the Pokémon League all before going off to face the Battle Frontier (in Emerald).
If Brendan is not selected as the player, he is helping his dad finish the Hoenn Pokédex and becoming a Pokémon professor. He is also the player's rival and friend. Unlike other rivals (except for May when playing as Brendan), he gives up being a Trainer, making them the only rivals unavailable for battle after defeating the Elite Four. Additionally, they both are the only ones to not evolve their starter Pokémon into its final form.
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Littleroot Town
"Pokémon fully restored... Items all packed, and... Hey! You... Who are you? Oh, you're <player>, aren't you? Moved in next door, right? I didn't know that you're a girl. Dad, Prof. Birch, said that our new next-door neighbor is a Gym Leader's kid, so I assumed you'd be a guy. My name's Brendan. So, hi, neighbor! Huh? Hey, <player>, don't you have a Pokémon? Do you want me to go catch you one? Aw, darn, I forgot... I'm supposed to go help my dad catch some wild Pokémon. Some other time, okay?"
"Okay, so it's this one and that one that live on Route 103..."
Before battle
"Hey, it's <player>! ...Oh, yeah, Dad gave you a Pokémon. Since we're here, how about a little battle? I'll teach you what being a Trainer's about!"
When defeated
"Huh, <player>, you're not too shabby."
After being defeated
"I think I get it. I think I see why my dad has his eye out for you now. Look, your Pokémon already likes you, even though you just got it. <player>, I get the feeling that you could befriend Pokémon with ease. We should head back to the Lab.
Professor Birch's lab
"Huh... So you got a Pokédex, too. Well then, here. I'll give you this."
"You know it's more fun to have a whole bunch of Pokémon. I'm going to explore all over the place to find different Pokémon. If I find any cool Pokémon, you bet I'll try to get them with Poké Balls."
"<player>, how’s you Pokédex? Have you filled in any pages yet? Mine rules. I went on a Pokémon-catching frenzy in Petalburg Woods until I ran out of Poké Balls.”’’
"By the way, I walked by Mr. Briney in Petalburg Woods. I bet he was on his way home to his cottage by the sea. I bet you didn’t know this, but he’s always got a Pokémon with him."
Pokémon Emerald
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Littleroot Town
"Hey! You... Who are you? Oh, you're <player>, aren't you? Moved in next door, right? I didn't know you're a girl. Dad, Prof. Birch, said our new next-door neighbor is a Gym Leader's kid, so I assumed you'd be a guy. My name's Brendan. So, hi, neighbor! Huh? Hey, <player>, don't you have a Pokémon? Do you want me to go catch you one? Aw, darn, I forgot... I'm supposed to go help my dad catch some wild Pokémon. Some other time, okay?"
"Okay, so it's this one and that one that live on Route 103..."
Before battle
"Hey, it's <player>! ...Oh, yeah, Dad gave you a Pokémon. Since we're here, how about a little battle? I'll teach you what being a Trainer's all about!"
When defeated
"Huh, <player>, you're not too shabby."
After being defeated
"I think I get it. I think I know why my dad has his eye out for you now. Look, your Pokémon already likes you, even though you just got it. <Player>, I get the feeling you could befriend any Pokémon with ease. We should head back to the Lab."
Professor Birch's Lab
"Huh... So you got a Pokédex, too. Well then, here. I'll give you these."
"You know it's more fun to have a whole bunch of Pokémon. I'm going to explore all over the place to find different Pokémon. If I find any cool Pokémon, you bet I'll try to catch them with Poké Balls."
Rustboro City
"Oh, hey, <player>! You had a Match Call feature put on your Pokénav! Cool! Let's register each other so we can get in touch anytime!"
"By the way, <player>, I walked by Mr. Briney in Petalburg Woods. I bet he was on his way to his cottage by the sea. <player>, how's your Pokédex? Have you filled any pages yet? Mine rules. Want to have a battle to test how far you've progressed?"
After saying yes to the battle
"I know you just became a Trainer, but I won't go easy!"
After saying no to the battle
"What's the matter? Don't have any confidence in your Pokémon?"
When defeated
"Hmm... You're pretty good."
After being defeated
"By the way, you know Mr. Briney? The guy I just passed? I bet you didn't know this, since you just moved here, <player>, but Mr. Briney was once a great sailor."
While the player can name this character as is the case with all player characters, there are several default names provided for him. In Ruby and Sapphire, he has four default names, including three shared between the two versions. The two variant names between games collaborates with the theme of the plot, referring to "land" and "sea" respectively.
In the English version, these names are Landon and Sean; in the Japanese version, リクヤ Rikuya and カイト Kaito (陸 riku means land and 海 kai means sea). This is also the case in other languages. Additionally, in the English version, two of the shared names—Terry and Seth—seem to be influenced by the same theme.
In all translated versions of Emerald, Brendan has the same default names as in Pokémon Ruby, as well as 16 additional names which don't seem to hold any significance. Consequently, there is no default name that relates to "sea" in Emerald. Notably, as the player character, the name Brendan (or its other language counterparts) is never offered as a default name in any version.
As a rival, Brendan's name is static.
The full list of default names for Brendan as the male playable character in the games are as follows:
Brendan's only anime appearances are small cameos in the movies, appearing in the openings of Jirachi: Wish Maker, Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea and Giratina and the Sky Warrior. Brendan seems to be a competitive battler, as his cameos suggest he spends time in Battle Towers. In all of his appearances, he has appeared with his Ruby and Sapphire outfit.
Like in the games, he has the starter Pokémon that weakens May's. It is unknown if his relatives are the same as that of the games, where, as May is Norman's daughter (as the player is), Brendan would be Professor Birch's son.
Pokémon
The following are Brendan's known Pokémon in the anime:
Brendan's Aggron was only briefly seen in a double battle at the beginning of the sixth movie alongside Shiftry, against a Solrock and Manectric. Aggron was freezing the opponent's Solrock while Shiftry was being hit by the Manectric's Spark. Notably, Aggron is kept within a Luxury Ball, a type of Poké Ball rarely seen in the anime.
Brendan's Shiftry was only briefly seen in a double battle at the beginning of the sixth movie alongside Aggron, against a Solrock and Manectric. Aggron was freezing the opponent's Solrock while Shiftry was being hit by the Manectric's Spark. Notably, Shiftry is kept within a Repeat Ball, a type of Poké Ball rarely seen in the anime.
Swampert is the third Pokémon revealed under Brendan's ownership. Not much is known about it, however, as it has only been seen briefly at the beginning of the ninth movie, where it was seen confronting Template:Mo's Tyranitar in the Battle Tower.
Brendan, based on a blue recolor of this character's usual clothes, appears as a common Trainer figure in Next Quest, the launch set of the Pokémon Trading Figure Game. There is also an unreleased figurine based on him from the cancelled Groundbreakers expansion, named Landon (one of the default names for him in Pokémon Ruby and Emerald), who wears the same outfit as Brendan does in Ruby and Sapphire.
Trivia
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pikachu wears Brendan's Emerald headband as an alternate costume. Also, the Pokémon Trainer has an alternate costume with a similar color scheme as Brendan's Emerald outfit.
He and May are the only set of player characters who have a chance to speak with both a mother and a father in the games.