Rood: The Team Plasma Sage Who Ended Up Fighting It

A Team Plasma sage who ends up fighting against it. Rood is the second of the seven sages the player meets in Pokémon Black and White, alongside Bronius. Two years later, he runs a house for former members in Driftveil City, takes in Pokémon left without a Trainer there, and battles the new organization's grunts to clear the way for the player.

Contents

• One Sage Among Seven, Met in Castelia City
• Route 18: The Confession, the TM and the Handcuffs
• Driftveil City, Two Years Later
• The Sage Who Turns Against His Own
• On Screen, Always in the Background
• In the Manga, a Mission and a Kidnapping
• Rood at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

One Sage Among Seven, Met in Castelia City

Rood is one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma, the inner circle that Ghetsis assembled around the young king N. In Pokémon Black and White, he is the second sage the player meets, in Castelia City, together with Bronius.

The encounter is brief, and at this point the character is little more than scenery. He turns up again at N's Castle among the assembled sages, where he declares that the wait is nearly over and that nothing will stop the organization now.

A late line of dialogue provides the only personal detail on file: he was born in a land by the sea, whose smell of sea spray still catches up with him years later. Ghetsis, he says, traveled the world in search of knowledge and kindred spirits — that is how he found him, and understood him.

Route 18: The Confession, the TM and the Handcuffs

Once the player has entered the Hall of Fame, Rood reappears on Route 18 and gets everything off his chest. N could understand Pokémon but not the hearts of humans, he explains, and that flaw was already part of his leader's calculations.

The sage admits he can no longer tell truth from lies in the speeches he was fed. He gets rid of TM32 Double Team, a gift from Ghetsis he no longer wants, by leaving it with the player, then confesses two wishes: to see N again and, above all, to come face to face with Ghetsis.

Looker was waiting for the confession to end before showing himself. Rood is taken to International Police headquarters to keep talking, and the agent takes the opportunity to tally things up out loud: Ghetsis aside, three sages are still at large.

Driftveil City, Two Years Later

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, he can be found at the former Team Plasma's house in Driftveil City. The group cares for Pokémon that have lost their Trainers there, as a way to atone for the crimes committed two years earlier.

Visitors are rare and the sage remains cautious: before opening his door, he wants to know what kind of Trainer he's dealing with and proposes a battle. His team comes down to two level-27 males: a Herdier with Intimidate and a Psychic/Flying Swoobat with the Unaware Ability, relying on Heart Stamp and Attract.

With the battle won, he has nothing to offer — except a request. The sage entrusts the player with a Zorua that belonged to N and fought bravely at his side; other Pokémon of Unova, he adds, supported the young king in the same way.

The Sage Who Turns Against His Own

On Route 6, Rood is accompanying an old man when Cobalion appears. The old man recalls that Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion went to war to protect Pokémon from a conflict started by humans; its reappearance would point either to the harm done two years earlier or to a new disaster.

The sage, for his part, draws a practical conclusion. Unlike N, he can neither talk to Pokémon nor guess their intentions, and merely observes that such an ally would change the game against any opponent.

At the Giant Chasm, he first tries words: Ghetsis only wants to take Unova by force and liberating Pokémon is nothing but a front. The grunts call him a traitor, Hugh cuts the argument short, and the sage ends up fighting to clear the way to the Plasma Frigate.

Along the way he slips the player three Max Revives, then lets out a piece of information he had kept to himself: the Pokémon stolen from Hugh's sister is in the hands of the Shadow Triad. He is also the one who will report the epilogue — a man dressed in white, who came down from the ship, disbanded Team Plasma before vanishing.

⚔️ Cobalion and the other giants have their own section: check out the Legendary Pokémon.

On Screen, Always in the Background

In Pokémon the Series, Rood exists only in the past: he appears in a flashback in the 118th episode of the Black & White series (BW118, "Secrets From Out of the Fog!"), during a ceremony held at N's Castle before the young king and Ghetsis. Reshiram bursts in and sets the castle on fire.

The scene isn't flattering to the top brass: all the sages panic and flee, except Ghetsis. Their animated versions also make them noticeably younger and less distinctive than their game counterparts.

Two other productions bring him back as an extra. Pokémon Generations shows him as N's Castle rises out of the ground beneath the Unova League, and Pokémon Evolutions places him at N's coronation in its fourth episode. In the French dub, he is voiced by Gabriel Le Doze.

In the Manga, a Mission and a Kidnapping

The manga adaptation gives him a far more active role. In the Black & White arc, Ghetsis tasks him with capturing Victini; in the Black 2 & White 2 arc, he is among the sages who followed N out of conviction.

In chapter 539, he meets up with his ally Whitley in Castelia City. The girl has lost N's memory card, which holds the plans for a device capable of countering a machine known as the Colress Machine; Hugh found it and left it at the Trainers' School.

So that Whitley's disappearance won't reveal her ties to Team Plasma, the sage asks N's Zorua to take on her appearance. A Mandibuzz that Ghetsis sent after him swoops down on him: Whitley pushes him out of its path and gets kidnapped in his place.

Rood at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Rood in Pokémon?
  One of the seven sages of Team Plasma, in Unova. The player first meets him in Castelia City in Pokémon Black and White, at the same time as Bronius.
• Why does Rood turn against Team Plasma?
  On Route 18, he admits he can no longer tell truth from lies in Ghetsis's speeches. Two years later, he runs the former Team Plasma's house in Driftveil City, where the group cares for Pokémon left without Trainers to atone for its actions.
• What is Rood's team in Black 2 and White 2?
  A Herdier and a Swoobat, both male and level 27. The Herdier has the Intimidate Ability; the Swoobat has the Unaware Ability and a moveset built around Heart Stamp and Attract.
• How do you get Rood's Zorua?
  By beating him in Driftveil City and then accepting his offer, which requires a free spot in your party. This Zorua belonged to N and fought at his side.
• Does Rood appear in the anime?
  Yes, but always as an extra: a ceremony at N's Castle interrupted by Reshiram in the main series, the emergence of N's Castle in Pokémon Generations, and N's coronation in the fourth episode of Pokémon Evolutions.

In short

Rood is the sage Team Plasma lost along the way. He starts out as an extra in a triumphant organization and ends up holding off grunts in a cave to clear the way to the Plasma Frigate. In between, he will have abandoned a TM he no longer wanted, talked to the International Police, and handed a stranger the Zorua that had fought alongside N.