Yancy: the Xtransceiver voice who was hiding a Unova idol

An Xtransceiver lost in an amusement park, and suddenly there's an idol on the other end of the line. Yancy enters Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 through the smallest of doors: a found object, calls with no picture, a date in front of a Ferris wheel. It takes the player dozens of conversations to figure out who they're talking to, and the answer is that they've been chatting all along with a singer you can watch on the game's TV.

Contents

• An Xtransceiver Lost at the Nimbasa City Amusement Park
• Ten Calls, a Ferris Wheel, a Daily Date
• Nancy, the Idol Behind the Name
• Cooking, Normal Type, Pop: What the Calls Let Slip
• Twelve Trades, All Level 50 with Hidden Abilities
• In the Manga, a Breakup in the Very First Chapter
• Yancy at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

An Xtransceiver Lost at the Nimbasa City Amusement Park

It all starts with a found object. At the Nimbasa City amusement park, the player picks up an Xtransceiver that isn't theirs, and its owner calls it right away. The conversation is audio only: she's calling from an old device, and the picture doesn't come through.

Held up at work, she can't come and collect her property right away, so she asks the player to hold on to it until she's free. Along the way, she introduces herself as Yancy, but starts to say something else before catching herself — the game plants its first clue right there, and lets it slip by.

The calls that follow don't come just anywhere. The Xtransceiver only rings on specific spots, spread across nine routes — Routes 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 — and six towns: Nimbasa City, Driftveil City, Mistralton City, Lentimas Town, Undella Town and Lacunosa Town. A player who stays put will never hear from her.

Ten Calls, a Ferris Wheel, a Daily Date

On the tenth call, Yancy finally gets a day off and sets up a meeting in front of the Nimbasa City Ferris wheel. The meeting starts with a mix-up: the voice she heard over the Xtransceiver had made her picture someone older, and it takes her a few seconds to accept that they're about the same age.

The player gives her device back, she saves their contact info and sets a curious condition: the player has to do the calling, not her, since her coworkers complain that she spends too much time on the phone. Her number only shows up at random, and only in the places already listed: so you have to travel and check at every stop.

Twenty conversations later, she suggests a second date at the same spot, this time to ride in one of the gondolas. The Ferris wheel ride then becomes available every day, and the whole relationship plays out there: a call, a trip to Nimbasa City, a view over the city, a few lines of dialogue and back to work.

Nancy, the Idol Behind the Name

The game eventually lets the cat out of the bag. Yancy is Nancy, a singer and idol on Unova's TV channels: the celebrity the player sees on screen and the voice on their Xtransceiver are one and the same, and the fiftieth call shows her directly under that stage name.

Her job takes up a good part of the TV schedule. On air, she interviews the region's Gym Leaders, one question per guest: for Cheren, why he chose the Normal type; for Skyla, what flying feels like; for Burgh, what goes through his mind while painting. In front of Elesa, whose Gym happens to be right in Nimbasa City, she forgets her question and settles for a compliment.

The rest of the time, she sings, dances with her Pokémon, sells albums and plays along on celebrity quiz shows. She names just one role model when it comes to choreography: Christoph — which happens to be the stage name of Curtis, the character a player meets in her place after choosing Rosa over Nate.

Cooking, Normal Type, Pop: What the Calls Let Slip

Food comes up in nearly everything she confides. She can't hear about a good restaurant without going — for experimental purposes, she insists — keeps an eye on Castelia City's Casteliacone without ever braving the line, and tells of a pastry shop whose cakes left her speechless.

Her business trips double as a foodie's notebook. She brings back Rage Candy Bars from Johto, Old Gateau from Sinnoh and Lava Cookies from Hoenn, and describes a detour to Mt. Moon, in Kanto, to see with her own eyes Clefairy dancing in a circle.

The rest comes down to a few tastes she fully owns: the Normal type, which she finds cute and says has no ceiling as long as you train, the pop music she listens to and sings, the Pokémon Musical she dreams of joining in costume. She also talks about her family — a father she argues with about work, a mother who signed her up for tennis, and a little brother and little sister who are jealous of her phone calls.

🧸 Her favorites are cute and Normal type: check out the Pokémon plushies.

Twelve Trades, All Level 50 with Hidden Abilities

Once the League is beaten and a Ferris wheel ride is done, Yancy offers a deal. She trades a Pokémon brought back from her travels for any one the player is carrying, and the player is free to choose what to give. Twelve trades are on offer, and once the series is complete, they become available again as often as you like.

The list is carefully tuned. All twelve arrive at level 50 with their Hidden Ability, which makes them a handy source of Abilities that are otherwise a pain to get: Meowth, Wobbuffet, Ralts, Shieldon, Rhyhorn, Shellos, Mawile, Spiritomb, Snorlax, Teddiursa, Spinda and Togepi.

The detail that gives the cook away lies elsewhere: each one holds an edible item — Rare Candy, Rage Candy Bar, Lava Cookie or Old Gateau. The last three are exactly the regional specialties she talks about on the phone, and five of the twelve are Normal type, the type she champions on air as well as in her private conversations.

In the Manga, a Breakup in the Very First Chapter

The manga adaptation treats her very differently. She appears in tears at the very start of the Black 2 & White 2 arc, just as Blake, the protagonist, tells her he's ending their relationship.

The reason he gives is professional: he says he doesn't want to get in the way of the young woman's career. The rest of the story reveals another reason, far less flattering to him.

Blake had only gotten together with her because he suspected she belonged to Team Plasma, and the suspicion turns out to be unfounded. The contrast with the game is stark: on the console, Yancy is an idol you discover by accident and get to know call after call; on paper, she's a lead in an investigation, ruled out before the reader even has time to find out who she is.

Yancy at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you meet Yancy in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2?
  You need to pick up the lost Xtransceiver at the Nimbasa City amusement park, then receive ten calls. The Xtransceiver only rings on certain spots, spread across nine routes and six towns, so you have to travel. On the tenth call, she sets up a meeting in front of the Ferris wheel.
• Are Yancy and Nancy the same person?
  Yes. Yancy is the name she gives on the phone, Nancy her stage name as an idol. The player only makes the connection later, when they spot her on the in-game TV.
• Which Pokémon does Yancy offer in trades?
  Twelve, once the League is beaten: Meowth, Wobbuffet, Ralts, Shieldon, Rhyhorn, Shellos, Mawile, Spiritomb, Snorlax, Teddiursa, Spinda and Togepi. All of them arrive at level 50, with their Hidden Ability and an edible held item.
• Why doesn't Yancy appear in my game?
  Because she only exists if the player character is Nate. A playthrough as Rosa puts Curtis, alias Christoph, her male counterpart, in her place.
• What happens to Yancy in the manga?
  She appears at the start of the Black 2 & White 2 arc, in tears, because Blake breaks up with her, citing her career. We later learn he was only dating her because he wrongly suspected she belonged to Team Plasma.

In short

Yancy is as much a game mechanic as a character: Black 2 and White 2 routes a celebrity through a phone picked up off the ground, and lets the player recognize her on their own. The setup stretches over dozens of calls, a first meeting that misfires and a Ferris wheel, then leads to twelve level 50 trades that stay useful long after the reveal. No battles on the agenda: this NPC can only be earned by traveling.