Sophocles (anime)

Sophocles (Japanese: マーマネ Māmane) is a student at the Pokémon School on Melemele Island and one of. He debuted in Alola to New Adventure!.

History
Prior to enrolling in the Pokémon School, Sophocles and his family often took trips to Ula'ula Island in order to visit his cousin Molayne, who works at Hokulani Observatory. During one visit, he befriended a that fell from space. A few days later, the Minior, without a shell to protect it, faded into dust. The experience was traumatic enough for Sophocles to block it from his memory.

Sophocles debuted in Alola to New Adventure!, where he, and  accidentally trampled  on his first visit to Samson Oak's Pokémon School. He later watched along with the rest of the class as Ash fought a group of s alongside. Shortly after the battle, Ash claimed to see the guardian deity in the sky, but neither Sophocles nor the rest of the class could see the guardian.

In The Guardian's Challenge!, Sophocles participated in Ash's surprise welcome party to the school by challenging him to a balloon-popping contest. Sophocles won the challenge with ease by bursting the balloons on 's spikes, and then using her Ability to absorb 's electricity to charge her attacks.

In A Shocking Grocery Run!, Sophocles met Ash in Hau'oli City's mall, where the two ate some ice cream. Later, the mall's fire shutters separated Sophocles and Ash from Togedemaru, Pikachu, and due to a system malfunction caused by. Using his knowledge of machinery, Sophocles was able to find out the solution to the problem. While on their way to the mall's power switch room, he and Ash got into an argument, but settled their dispute after Ash saved Sophocles from being locked up. Eventually the two made their way up to the mall's roof, where they encountered their Pokémon battling Team Rocket. Sophocles had his Togedemaru absorb Pikachu's using her Lightning Rod Ability, allowing Togedemaru to turn the tides of the battle before the Team Rocket trio got carried away by. After solving the power problem, Sophocles went to have dinner with Ash and.

In So Long, Sophocles!, his father and mother informed Sophocles that they were moving house which left him very upset. He later discovered that it was all a big misunderstanding as they were only moving a few houses away but was terrified of explaining this to his friends who were throwing a leaving party. Ash even got him a as a going away present which he caught. After capturing Charjabug, Sophocles tearfully apologized to his friends for accidentally misleading them. Although Sophocles was reluctant on revealing the truth because he feared that everyone would be mad at him for lying, everyone was happy he wasn't actually moving away.

In Mounting an Electrifying Charge!, Sophocles, along with Ash and Kiawe, decided to enter the Charjabug race with his Charjabug. His Charjabug struggled at first, but he and the others trained with him so they could win. On the day of the race, he was confronted with Horacio, the leader of the Red Comet team, and was teased on, but he didn't back down. For the race, Sophocles took the role of the team, with Kiawe acting as the and Ash as the support runner. When the race began, Charjabug moved slowly. On the rocky course, Ash and Charjabug became stuck, but Sophocles found a way to get around the obstacle. During the final stretch, Ash was rendered unconscious so he couldn't finish the race. Sophocles eventually found a way to use Charjabug's to go up the slippery slope and come out victorious.

From Family Determination! to 10,000,000 Reasons to Fight!, Sophocles was among those who helped and Gladion in their mission to rescue their mother Lusamine after Lusamine was kidnapped by the Ultra Beast. In Ultra Deep Sea, his Charjabug and Togedemaru, along with Ash's Litten and Rowlet, and Lana and Mallow's Pokémon, fought and overcame Lusamine's, , and , which were under Nihilego's control. The battle ended when Ash and Pikachu performed to defeat Nihilego, freeing Lusamine from its grasp.

In The Professors' New Adventure!, Sophocles attended the wedding of Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet. During the post-nuptials, Lusamine asked Sophocles and his classmates to join the Ultra Guardians, a task force dedicated to dealing with any upcoming Ultra Beast incidents, which they accepted.

In A Mission of Ultra Urgency!, Sophocles and his classmates set out on their first Ultra Guardians mission. They were tasked with capturing a that emerged from an Ultra Wormhole onto Melemele Island, where it began causing havoc. During the mission, Sophocles helped heal a wild that was drained of its energy by the Ultra Beast. Eventually, Buzzwole was distracted by Kiawe's flexing long enough for Ash to capture it in a. Afterward, Buzzwole was released and returned to its home thanks to a wormhole opened by Lusamine's team.

In Rise and Shine, Starship!, Sophocles was out camping with his parents and Pokémon at Bamboo Hill when he came across a creature buried in the ground, which he believed to be Celestial Starship (Japanese 星舟かぐや Starship Kaguya), a character from a folktale. After telling his classmates about it, they went to the Bamboo Hill and unsuccessfully tried to dig it up. The next day, Lusamine revealed the creature was actually an Ultra Beast they named, and set the Ultra Guardians off to return it back home. Attempts to catch Celesteela in a Beast Ball proved unsuccessful as it was firmly rooted down. Team Rocket later attempted to catch Celesteela, forcing the Ultra Guardians to protect it as Celesteela began to launch into the air. After creating an area for Celesteela to launch safely without setting the immediate area ablaze, they watched it fly home.

In Twirling with a Bang!, Sophocles and his classmates watched a fireworks show. The show was interrupted by a strange creature that used its exploding head to create a fireworks show of its own. The next day, the Ultra Guardians were called down by Lusamine, who revealed the creature from before was the Ultra Beast. The Ultra Guardians set off to find Blacephalon, but their efforts to track it down only led to a different Ultra Beast, later named by Lusamine. When Blacephalon and Xurkitree met, they began doing flashy performances in an attempt to outdo the other. Worried that serious trouble could arise if the competition kept escalating, the Ultra Guardians combined the attacks of their partner and Ride Pokémon into a giant firework that distracted the Ultra Beasts long enough for Ash to make them flinch with Lycanroc's. After Blacephalon and Xurkitree were caught, they were released back to their respective homes.

In The Long Vault Home!, Sophocles and his classmates were sent on an Ultra Guardians mission to capture the Ultra Beast. They found it lying motionless in the middle of a field at the Pokémon School. The Ultra Guardians' attempts to capture Stakataka all failed as it easily dodged all of their thrown Beast Balls, forcing them to give up and try again later. The next day, they found that Stakataka had left the Pokémon School and moved to the construction site of a resort Viren was building. Viren, mistaking the Rampart Pokémon for a statue stand, glued a golden statue of himself onto Stakataka, causing it to go berserk in an attempt to get the statue off. With the assistance of Kiawe's, Ash made it on top of Stakataka and had Pikachu knock the statue off, calming it down. Afterwards, Stakataka happily agreed to be captured and was then returned to its home.

In Filling the Light with Darkness!, mysterious dark clouds appeared over the Alola region, causing all of the adults in Alola to lose their energy and motivation. The next day, Sophocles and his classmates embarked on their fifth mission to investigate the situation at the Altar of the Sunne. Shortly after arriving, Lusamine revealed that Gladion would be joining them as a new member. In order to disperse the clouds, Ash, Kiawe, Lana, and Gladion combined their Z-Power to fuel a device that successfully made the clouds disappear, but they uncovered a hidden Ultra Wormhole in the process. Afterwards, Lusamine took the Ultra Guardians into the ruins, where she showed them a mural depicting the. Before any attempt to translate the mural could be done, the Ultra Guardians were forced to return outside, where they found the wormhole increasing in size. At that moment, a emerged from the wormhole with a  chasing after it.

In Full Moon and Many Arms!, Lusamine's group came to the conclusion that Necrozma was the cause of the Alolan adults' loss of energy. Realizing that Necrozma intended on draining Lunala's Ultra Aura in order to possess it, Lusamine sent the Ultra Guardians off to protect Lunala. The Ultra Guardians chased Necrozma to Melemele Island, where they fought alongside Lunala to drive Necrozma away. Despite their best efforts, Necrozma easily shrugged off the Ultra Guardians' attacks and eventually took over Lunala's body to become. Soon afterwards, an elite Team Rocket group known as the Matori Matrix appeared and attempted to capture Necrozma, only for it to easily break free from their electrified net.

After the Matori Matrix retreated, Nebby appeared from a wormhole and fought alongside the Ultra Guardians to free Lunala. With its, Nebby successfully knocked Necrozma off of Lunala, causing it the former to fall into the ocean below. The Matori Matrix returned in order to capture Nebby and Lunala, though the two Legendary Pokémon were freed by Ash's Pikachu and Gladion's Silvally. The distraction allowed Necrozma to return and possess Nebby instead, causing it to become Dusk Mane Necrozma. Ash tried to free Nebby, but was unable to stop Necrozma from escaping into an Ultra Wormhole. With Necrozma gone, the adults of Alola were restored to their normal selves and the injured Lunala was taken to the Ultra Guardians base to recuperate. When the Ultra Guardians expressed their determination to rescue Nebby, their Z-Rings began shining a light that went into Lunala, healing it in the process.

In The Prism Between Light and Darkness!, the Ultra Guardians and Lunala traveled through an Ultra Wormhole and arrived at 's home world. While Lunala went off ahead to face Necrozma, the others stayed behind and were introduced to Poipole's friends and the leader of its hive,. With its telepathy, Naganadel revealed to everyone how Necrozma lost its light protecting the world from a meteor, causing everything to become barren and shrouded in darkness. Realizing that Necrozma is actually the Blinding One, the group decided to help Necrozma by giving it their Z-Power in the hopes that it would release Nebby, regain its true form, and bring light back to Poipole's world. After heading to where Lunala and Necrozma were fighting, Ash, Kiawe, Lana, and Gladion fired simultaneous Z-Moves at the Prism Pokémon.

In Securing the Future!, the combined Z-Moves were absorbed by Necrozma, but it wasn't enough to get it to release Nebby. After informing Lusamine's group of the situation, the Ultra Guardians learned that, in the tale of Alola's creation, the people and Pokémon of Alola assisted Solgaleo and Lunala in restoring Necrozma's light by sharing their Z-Power with it. Together, the Ultra Guardians, their Pokémon, Lunala, Poipole's comrades, and everyone else back in Alola shared their Z-Power with Necrozma, causing to release Nebby. Afterwards, Ash and Nebby used, while Gladion and Lunala used on Necrozma. The combined Z-Moves fully restored Necrozma's light, giving it the strength to become its true form, Ultra Necrozma, and restore Poipole's home world back to its original state. Afterwards, the Ultra Guardians, Nebby, and Lunala traveled back to Alola through the Ultra Wormhole.

In SM104, Sophocles and his classmates arrived on Poni Island for their individual research project for school. His research project involves him evolving his Charjabug into Vikavolt as he heard that there's a spot in Vast Poni Canyon where they evolve.

In SM106, Sophocles with Ash, Hapu and Kiawe accompany him all head over to Vast Poni Canyon so his Charjabug could evolve into Vikavolt. After arriving at Canyon, Sophocles challenges the leader of Team Red Comet Horacio as he also plans to evolve his Charjabug. Sophocles and Charjabug enter the cave alone while their friends wait for them outside due to Horacio contention of having no help for this challenge. Arriving outside the cave, Sophocles realizes that the bridge was gonna collapse but Horacio would't listen to him which ended up having him and his Chariabug hanging on the bridge for dear life. Sophocles panics as he doesn't know what to do to help them until his Charjabug evolved into Vikavolt and saved them. Meeting back up with his friends, Sophocles shows off his newly evolved Pokémon to them then Horacio claims that once his Charjabug evolves he wants to do a Vikavolt race with him which he happily accepts to do with him someday.

Character
Sophocles is an intelligent young boy with a knack for inventing helpful devices and machinery. He is also a skilled of  Pokémon, often using them to power his inventions. While at times rude and prone to absorbing himself in his technological activities, he is friendly and greatly cares for his Pokémon and classmates. In A Shocking Grocery Run!, it was revealed that Sophocles likes to collect information on all sort of things, such as the best ice cream in Alola. In the same episode, it is also revealed that he has a fear of dark places, but is never scared at night as long as he has his Togedemaru with him. Sophocles tends to get bashful when people complement him on his knowledge, responding with a shy "" in the original Japanese version of the anime – a pun on his Japanese name, Māmane.

Much like, Sophocles fails to do tasks that require physical activity as shown in The Guardian's Challenge!, when he needed help to climb over a log, and in Racing to a Big Event!, during the Pokémon Pancake Race. He also shows an interest in robotics. In All They Want to Do is Dance Dance!, it is revealed he converted the car he got for Charjabug in Mounting an Electrifying Charge! into a miniature mecha that can dock with Togedemaru, named TogeCharja Perfect Form Robot Deluxe (Japanese: トゲデンヂロボットパーフェクトフォルムデラックス TogeDendi Robot Perfect Form Deluxe). The mecha was seen again in SM093.

Sophocles also has a defensive side, which was seen in Mounting an Electrifying Charge!, when he stood up for himself and his Charjabug after being mocked by Horacio.

Sophocles is shown to be a fan of Pokémon. In Alola, Kanto!, the Pokémon he wanted to see the most whilst in Kanto was revealed to be a local.

Pokémon competitions
Sophocles has competed in the following :
 * Pokémon Pancake Race - Disqualified (Racing to a Big Event!)
 * Charjabug race Koko Cup - Winner (with and ; Mounting an Electrifying Charge!)

Trivia

 * Sophocles is the first of to obtain a second Pokémon, not counting Ride Pokémon.

Related articles

 * Sophocles
 * Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
 * Images on the Bulbagarden Archives

Chrys Sophocles/Chris Chrys (dessin animé) Chrys (anime) マーマネ (アニメ) 馬瑪內（動畫）