Pokemon lore can be found in various forms, including the games, movies, and tv series. However, it is not often that we come across lore in merchandise. Recently, the United States’ online Pokemon Center store released a figure of Grimsley, a member of Unova’s Elite Four, alongside Tyranitar. This unexpected figure has caused quite a stir due to its surprising description.
The description for Grimsley on the Pokemon Center website, like all other items, contains some flavor text. According to the website, before joining Unova’s Elite Four, Grimsley reportedly “loses his family’s fortune.”This revelation came as a surprise to me, as I had never heard anything this intense about his backstory in any of the games.
According to the fan-operated database Bulbapedia, Grimsley is described as “the son of a once prestigious family that suffered a downfall, leading to his development of a gambling habit.”However, the source of this information is not cited. Additionally, Grimsley’s in-game quotes, as recorded on the website, do not mention this aspect of his background.
According to the TV Tropes page for Pokemon Black and White characters, there is a backstory involving a character who was born into a wealthy family but later lost their fortune and became impoverished. In an attempt to regain his family’s wealth, he turned to gambling on Pokemon battles and eventually became a master of Dark-type Pokemon. However, the origin of this information is unknown and no source has been provided.
Although something being repeated does not necessarily make it true, the recent description of the Grimsley figure confirms a similar idea, indicating that the information likely originated from a Japan-only interview or other official source. However, this also brings up a curious discrepancy. Popular sources such as Bulbapedia and TV Tropes claim that Grimsley develops a gambling addiction in an attempt to regain his family’s lost fortune, while the Pokemon Center site states that Grimsley himself lost the fortune, most likely due to gambling. Interestingly, Pokemon Masters EX portrays Grimsley as having a negative view of his family, suggesting that this may have been a deliberate or unapologetic choice on his part.
It is possible that Grimsley’s backstory is not mentioned in any of the games due to the sensitive and weighty nature of gambling addictions. Additionally, the Pokemon series has made the decision to remove Game Corners since the early 2010s, likely due to their resemblance to casinos. While this does raise some questions about why Grimsley’s backstory was included if it would not be appropriate for the games, it is reassuring to have official confirmation regarding the validity of these claims surrounding Grimsley’s lore.
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