One of the core lessons my parents passed on to me was the notion that stranger danger is real, and I should not listen to or pay attention to what random strangers do or say to me. Another such lesson was the idea that if said stranger was half naked, I’d run away. Unfortunately my playable character in the Sinnoh games didn’t really get that memo. You see, in the city of Veilstone, you encounter a man that fits the exact description my parents told me to run away from.

Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Brilliant Diamond, Shining Pearl

The man at the Veilstone Gym tells us that the Fighting type gym leader, Maylene, is one tough cookie. He then walks away singing sea shanties about his own brilliance: “Put out the fire! Crasher Wake! Run from electricity! Crasher Wake!”

This, plus his blue color scheme, should give us a clue at what type this stranger might like to use in battle. The man’s name, as we will find out later when we reach Pastoria City, is Crasher Wake. Duh. He is a Water type expert and the leader of the Pastoria City Gym. Crasher Wake is either the fourth or the fifth gym leader you come across, depending on what game you play (Platinum = fifth, the rest = fourth).

When you arrive in Pastoria City, you see Crasher Wake and your rival hanging out together. I hadn’t mentioned yet, but your rival was there as well when this man walked out the gym. Ever since hearing Crasher Wake’s motto, your rival has designated him as his mentor. Non-consensual, might I add. Maybe your rival is the real weirdo in this scenario.

Crasher Wake has a really fun gym design. It’s a giant pool with different depth levels. There’s a water draining system at work, and when you press certain buttons the pool will either flood a bit, flood a lot, or drain completely. You have to work your way across the water or through the bottom of the pool until you reach Crasher Wake.

Crasher Wake is a fairly straight forward battler. He has three Pokemon in all games. He leads with Gyarados. This is always a big threat in any fight, and that’s no different here. Electric moves are highly recommended. To make sure Electric types don’t sweep his team, however, Crasher Wake uses a Quagsire as his second pokemon. I like the synergy here: Gyarados punishes Grass types with Ice Fang, and Quagsire punishes Electric types with Mud Bomb. His final pokemon is his signature pokemon Floatzel, a Sinnoh exclusive Water type. It’s very fast and hits very hard, with a lot of coverage moves such as Crunch and Ice Fang. Floatzel has little defenses though, so if you get a hit in, it will hurt. Beating Crasher Wake gives you the Fen Badge.

After the gym fight, Crasher Wake remains in contact with your rival, having now begrudgingly accepted him as his disciple. Normally this would be about the end of the gym leader’s involvement in the story, but Crasher Wake is a rare exception. At some point later in the game, Team Galactic (the evil team) sets off bombs in various locations, such as Lake Valor and the Great Marsh. The Great Marsh is this region’s Safari Zone, and is a part of Pastoria City. As a result, the player heads back only to find a Galactic Grunt exiting the entrance to the Great Marsh. Crasher Wake and your rival are there, and Crasher Wake is outraged that Team Galactic would blow up the Great Marsh. He heads in to investigate the damage and tells you to chase that Galactic Grunt.

In the Post Game of Platinum, Crasher Wake can be found a few times in the Battle Zone, a small island off the coast of mainland Sinnoh. He is first seen alongside your rival. It’s actually kind of nice that he seems to have taken a liking to the kid, as it’s revealed that your rival’s dad is the Battle Tower Tycoon. He’s not home often, so having Crasher Wake as a mentor figure is good for your rival’s character. Crasher Wake can later be rematched in the Battle Zone. He keeps his gym team, and adds two Hoenn Water types: Sharpedo and Ludicolo. Weird that he uses only Floatzel for Sinnoh Water types.

In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Crasher Wake can be rematched in his gym instead. He has a very terrifying offensive team, so be very careful. Crasher Wake leads with a Politoed. Normally not a scary Pokemon by itself, but it has the ability Drizzle. This was Kyogre’s signature ability until Gen 5. It automatically sets up the Rain weather effect. Politoed even extends the duration of rain due to its held item. Crasher Wake’s whole team centers around rain. 4 of his remaining 5 Pokemon have the ability Swift Swim, doubling their speed while rain is active. They can then fire off Water attacks that get a 50% damage boost in the rain on top of that! These Swift Swim attackers include a powerful Kingdra, an annoying Ludicolo, a Huntail that has the insane setup move Shell Smash (doubling all its offensive stats AND its speed). This one even has an item preventing you from getting a one hit KO, making it guaranteed to get off a Shell Smash if it wants to. The final Swift Swim attacker is of course his trusty Floatzel. What’s the one Pokemon without Swift Swim? It’s basically just as scary: a Gyarados with the setup move Dragon Dance! Most of these rematches are rather simple, but it seems they went all out for Crasher Wake.

Pokemon Heart Gold, Soul Silver

Crasher Wake makes a small cameo in the remakes of the Johto Games. In the Post-game, he can be found in the Celadon Department Store and gives you some accessories of the Sinnoh starters, which you can use to decorate your Pokemon with in the game’s picture feature. After talking to him here, you can actually spot him again on route 47 in Johto, where he is admiring a big waterfall.

Pokemon Black 2, White 2

Crasher Wake is a unique case when it comes to the gym leaders in this game. You actually have to come and find him all the way at the back of route 18. Seems like this guy loves walking off and doing his own thing. Upon talking to him, he will return to Driftveil City for the Pokemon World Tournament. There he can be fought in the Sinnoh Leaders and Type Expert challenges. He finally uses some new Sinnoh water types on his teams here! He has the forgotten pokemon Lumineon, a Gastrodon, and the Sinnoh starter Empoleon! I'm very glad that these Pokemon get some time in the spotlight. Especially Lumineon, I can’t recall any other notable trainer using one.

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Crasher Wake is an awesome gym leader and an even better character. He is completely unique among the Water gym leaders, and his main personality traits don’t even have much to do with the type at all. He’s this big Wrestler dude with a mask and all, you’d almost expect him to be the Veilstone City Gym Leader for that reason. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of wrestler characters in Pokemon as they are very one dimensional, but Crasher Wake is able to be a multidimensional character as a wrestler, which is rare and fun. His matches are also shown on the TV, and I recall some funny lines from those segments.

He is loud, but I really enjoy how much he cares about his city and the people around him. Most gym leaders in Pokemon wouldn’t have batted an eye if the evil team did something in their city, but Crasher Wake was on the case from the very start. It’s clear that his wrestler singing and goofy character isn’t all that there is to him, as he quickly takes control of the situation and heads into the Great Marsh himself to protect the Pokemon there, despite risks of potentially another explosion.

This alone would make him a top tier gym leader, but Crasher Wake goes a step further due to his relationship with the rival character. The rival is initially very insistent on Crasher Wake becoming his mentor, which Wake really doesn’t care for or want to do. You don’t get to see everything those two talk about and train for, etc. , which I enjoy. It’s none of your character’s business at the end of the day, and I’ve always liked feeling like I’m exploring a world that’s alive. Having characters develop a rapport with each other ‘off screen’ adds to that immersion. We see glimpses of how their bond grows. At first Crasher Wake ignores him, but eventually he allows him to do some mundane tasks around the city. By the end, it becomes clear that there is a high level of trust between them, as they even take a trip together to the Battle Zone, where the rival’s father is the Battle Tower Tycoon. It feels like in his father’s absence, the rival found another figure to look up to in Crasher Wake. So much depth for a goofy wrestler dude and a ‘middle’ gym leader.