Bill (Adventures)

Bill (Japanese: ソネザキマサキ Masaki Sonezaki) is a Storage System developer and self-proclaimed Pokémon Critic (Japanese: ポケモン評論家). He is a regularly appearing supporting character of the Pokémon Adventures manga. His inventions, such as the Pokémon Storage System, are used to help the Pokédex holders fight against their many enemies.

Character
Bill is stated to be a genius, graduating from college at an early age and being the creator of several inventions such as the Pokémon Storage System and the Vs. Seeker. Despite seeming like a weak person who constantly gets into trouble he can actually be a capable battler when put to the test.

In the Japanese version, Bill speaks with an Osaka accent. However, an Osaka accent is impossible to render in English; he instead speaks with a very thick Southern or Texan accent, which is commonly used when translating manga and anime due to the similarity in perception of the two accents in the two cultures. His accent was actually so thick as to be unintelligible to some characters within the manga, which provided a source of humor at times. In the Chuang Yi translation, the accent disappeared in his reappearance in the Gold, Silver, & Crystal chapter but remained in the VIZ translation for a longer period of time before disappearing as well.

Bill first appears in his Sea Cottage on the Cerulean Cape where his seen fixing his Pokémon transfer system. As he climbs into the machine, his shirt accidentally pulls the door and closes the machine with him inside of it. The machine automatically activates and switches Bill with the that was in the other machine. Sometime later, is seen on  after having captured so many Pokémon, he needs to find a way to carry them. Red notices an odd looking Rattata walking nearby and assumes it's a new type of Pokémon and tries to catch it. Red is shocked to find out that this "Rattata" can talk the human language and is asking him for help. Before he can explain what he is, Bill is captured by a hungry wild and Red rushes to rescue him. Eventually, Bill is rescued, the Fearow is captured, and Red uses Bill's transporter to turn him back to normal. Thanking Red for his help, Bill introduces himself and allows Red to use his transfer system.

Later, when Red unsuccessfully tries to find an to capture so he can challenge Erika for his next Gym Badge, Bill appears to offer his assistance. They go on a search for an Eevee that has been reported to be able to breathe fire. They eventually find it, however, they find that this Eevee can not only breathe fire, but can also evolve back and forth between its, , and forms. Red manages to defeat the Eevee and Bill finds out that it has been genetically enhanced, allowing it to evolve and turn back at will. Bill and Red go to the Celadon Gym for answers and after some events, find out that she was not the one who modified Eevee.

Bill later appears at Indigo Plateau where he is one of the many people watching the tournament. He watches both the matches between and  along with the match between Red and  while giving commentary on them.

Two years later, Bill is seen walking through a forest trying to get to Viridian City. After being surprised by a wild and, he notices a Pikachu trying to get its attention. As he follows the Pikachu, Bill accidentally falls into the river and begins sinking because of his heavy bag. The Pikachu leaves and soon returns with who tries to save Bill from drowning. As she tries to rescue Bill, they are attacked by a wild ; Yellow manages to defeat and capture the Seadra and rescue Bill in the process.

As he tries to understand the odd events such as Yellow's Pikachu sharing the same name as Red's, Yellow's ability to move a Poké Ball telekinetically, and the Seadra that Yellow captured being healed without the use of an item or Pokémon Center, Bill is approached by a mysterious woman who asks him to hand over Pika. The woman, now revealed to be Lorelei of the Elite Four, attacks Bill with her and reveals that they have defeated Red in battle. They manage to escape, and Bill finds out that Yellow is on a mission to find the currently-missing Red. Lorelei manages to find them again and begins attacking the two with her deadly -Dewgong combination. Eventually, they are cornered by Lorelei and held at gun point but Yellow manages to use her Ratty to free them and they are saved by an unknown woman. The two go their separate ways after Bill manages to make it to his destination.

Later, at his Sea Cottage, a sleeping Bill awakens to find someone sneaking inside of his house. He tries to attack the thief, but it is revealed that the thief is actually Green who wants access to his Transfer system. After some coaxing, Green manages to convince Bill to let her see the past records of any Pokémon withdrawals. By checking the records, they find out that Red is in fact, alive, but before they can get anymore information, a attacks them. Green and Bill chases after the runaway Hitmonlee, and get separated from her Blasty, leaving Green no choice but to give him commands from a distance. After Blasty defeats the Hitmonlee, Green realizes that it only attacked them to buy some time and go to find Yellow after realizing that she may be danger.

Eventually, they reach Cerise Island and find Yellow there too. After some traveling, they find Blue, Blaine, Sabrina, Lt. Surge, and Koga waiting for them further into the island. The Team Rocket Triad reveals that they aim to defeat the Elite Four too, and reluctantly wish to temporarily join forces in order to defeat them. With Sabrina's Spoons of Destiny, each member of the group is paired up with another except for Bill and Lt. Surge, whose spoons do not react to each other. Left with no choice, Bill is dragged into battle by Lt. Surge despite his protests.

While Blue and Koga battle Agatha, Green and Sabrina battle Lorelei, and Yellow and Blaine battle Lance, Bill and Lt. Surge are left with the last member, Bruno. They stumble into his lair and falls off the platform and into the water below; Bill finds out that the platform is actually an and the water surrounding them is in fact, Pokémon stomach acid. They are attacked by Bruno immediately after. Bill and Lt. Surge begin battling against Bruno but find themselves at a disadvantage due to their Pokémon's types.

After Bill's and Lt. Surge's  keep Bruno's  and  busy, they are left to fight against his. They manage to trap Bruno in a corner and deliver a powerful, , and combination that sends both Bruno and the Bill-Lt. Surge team flying off of the Onix platform. Luckily, Lt. Surge manages to save the both of them with his 's "Electrical pod" technique. As Bill tries to pull the hanging Lt. Surge to safety, they are attacked by Bruno once again who uses his Pokémon to pull Lt. Surge off of the Electrical pod. Lt. Surge's Pokémon try to rescue him but are defeated by Bruno's Pokémon and he is left to fall in the acid before being rescued by someone. Bill and Lt. Surge are shocked to find that Red has arrived and witness him battle and defeat Bruno. With Bruno defeated, Bill is tossed off the Electrical pod by Lt. Surge who leaves to join Koga and Sabrina since their temporary truce has ended.

Later, after Lance's defeat at the hands of Yellow, Bill, the Kanto Pokédex holders, Yellow, and Blaine are seen heading back to Kanto. Bill tries to ask Green about why she hasn't told Red about Yellow's true gender and becomes annoyed when she states that it's more fun when he doesn't know about it.

Bill makes his first appearance in the third chapter at the Pokémon Association Headquarters in Goldenrod City where he is seen attempting make a change in the Gym Leader system for the Kanto and Johto regions. Using the former members of Team Rocket, Sabrina and Lt. Surge, along with the missing Gym Leaders, Koga and, as examples, Bill tries to make the Gym Leader inauguration tests stricter but is unsuccessful due to the lack of evidence on their crimes. He is told that instead of worrying about the Gym Leader tests, he should try to fix the currently broken Pokémon Storage System.

Later, he is seen going to deliver the notification for the Gym Leader inauguration exam to Falkner and gets distracted by passing nearby while holding his Pokédex. Bill, along with the other Pokémon Association members, welcomes the newest Johto Gym Leader, Falkner, after his successful test. Next, Bill talks to Red who is nervous because of his upcoming test to see if he can become the next Viridian Gym Leader; Bill assures him that it will be easy.

After needs an assistant to capture Pokémon for research purposes, Bill calls him on the video phone with the news that someone has sent out an application for such a job. He then faxes over the information to Professor Oak. Due to the Pokémon Transfer system still being broken at this point, Bill is sent to help Professor Oak's new assistant,, and gives her an alternative means of sending Pokémon to the Professor. After giving her the new Link Cable, Bill is attacked by a herd of wild and is pinned to a roller coaster. He is saved by Crystal and is told that the Staryu were friendly and were only playing with him.

Later, at the Pokémon Association headquarters, Bill and the Association Director discuss the new rules of the upcoming Pokémon League. Bill later appears at the League to view he tournament along with the Director and Daisy Oak.

After the Masked Man begins his attack on Indigo Plateau, Bill, Daisy, and the Radio Manager all emerge from the wreckage. Checking to see if anything is damaged, they find the fax machine still intact and printing out messages sent by children wishing to help them from around the region. With the Transfer system still broken, they cannot send their Pokémon to help; this causes Bill to realize why it has been broken. Bill and Daisy rush to the control room for the Pokémon Transfer system and despite being injured, he manages to figure out the problem. Bill reveals that Team Rocket had hacked the system and edited the screen to show that the energy that powers the Transfer system is working perfectly and made everyone assume it was a mechanical problem.

Despite finding out this information, the damage done to Indigo Plateau prevents them from redirecting any energy to the Transfer system to make it work. Desperate for any energy to put into the system, Bill breaks down in frustration of his failure. Luckily, Daisy finds leftover energy from Magnet Train left by Lt. Surge's. Using the energy they found, Bill successfully fixes the system and has the Radio Manager announce it over the airwaves. With the system fixed, people from both Kanto and Johto send their Pokémon out to help battle against the Masked Man's and, allowing them to be freed from his control.

After the defeat of the Masked Man, Bill is seen attempting to use the Masked Man's plan to capture as a basis for a new addition to the Transfer system. While he is doing this, Daisy, his new assistant, is seen delivering food to him.

Bill makes his first appearance on the Seagallop Ferry when he notices Red's Pikachu, Pika, running towards and shocking him. He meets up with Red and Blue again and is asked by the latter why he is not with his sister; Bill states that she is at home at the moment. Bill tells the two that he is on his way to One Island to go see his friend Celio and help him fix the Transfer system. After receiving a call from Celio, Bill, Red, and Blue witness Green being attacked by an invisible monster and her parents being sucked into a miniature black hole. While Red goes to rescue Green and Blue attacks the invisible monster, Bill finds a diary on the ground that Green had dropped.

They take Green to the Pokémon Center and Bill presents the diary he dropped that reveals that Green was going to the Sevii Islands to meet with her long lost parents. As they discuss what to do, they are attacked by the woman of Cape Brink, Ultima, who offers to train Red and Blue to learn her ultimate moves. While they train with Kimberly, Bill is left behind on One Island where is seen watching over the unconscious Green and bringing parts to fix the.

After Blue and Red finish their training to learn the moves and, they get a message from Bill on the Pokégear. Bill sends them a pair of Rainbow Passes so they can go to the Icefall Cave on Four Island. Once they arrive, Bill gives them a new item, the Vs. Seeker and gives information on the invisible Pokémon that had attacked Green before; he reveals that was seen in the same location. They are soon joined by former Elite Four member, Lorelei, and attacked by the Three Beasts of Team Rocket.

They are saved by Lorelei and her but find out that the Three Beasts intend to destroy Five, Six, and Seven Islands if Red, Blue, and Green are not handed to them. After Red goes and defeats Carr, Bill arrives on the scene to taunt the small Team Rocket member. He defends Red from the wrath of the townspeople of Five Island who blame him for causing the destruction of their home. He witnesses the battle between Red and the monster from before and notices the black Pokédex that Carr possesses.

Later, the team regroups and plan on what they will do next while Bill goes to repair the Transfer system. While Red and the others go to rescue Professor Oak and Green's parents, Bill and Celio remain on Five Island and call the Hoenn Transfer system managers Lanette and Brigette so they can help them. With their help, Bill and Celio manage to find out the secrets of Deoxys's Forme change. They go the Rocket Warehouse and defeat the that were inside. They manage to retrieve the and, preventing Deoxys from using its Forme change ability and allowing Red and  to defeat it.

Later, after the Team Rocket airship is prevented from crashing into Vermilion City, Bill is seen celebrating with Celio and the residents of Five Island. His joy quickly changes to shock when he receives a call from Professor Oak about the Pokédex holders being turned into stone by Sird.

Bill, along with various other characters from Kanto and the Sevii Islands, is seen traveling to the as a part of the wish for visitors made by Scott.

Bill is seen talking to Cassius via video call about the Kalos Storage System in his cottage. Bill gets continuously annoyed with Cassius nonchalant tone and mocking him of his Goldenrod accent. His call is then hung up by Cassius as he tells his assistants about the commotion he hears coming from outside.

Three years after the events of the FireRed & LeafGreen chapter, the Ruby and Sapphire began reforming into their original forms, the Red and Blue Orbs. After studying the Orbs, Bill came to the conclusion that the Orbs are the manifestation of Hoenn's natural energy, which meant something must be happening in Hoenn to cause the Orbs to reform. He calls Red for assistance with the Orbs, but is attacked by Maxie and Archie before Red can arrive. The two villains take the Orbs and steal Bill's boat and use it to travel to Hoenn. When Red arrives with Green and Daisy, Bill informs them of what happens and gives Red and Green a tracking device for his boat so they can pursue the thieves.

Pokémon
The following is a list of his known Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga:

Trivia

 * It's mentioned in Mato's old website that Bill is 4 years older than Red during the.