Buck: The Quiet Partner Who Returns the Magma Stone

Buck is one of the few Sinnoh Trainers the player meets to battle alongside, not against. He's based in the Survival Area, a stone's throw from Stark Mountain, with a well-connected family and an open fondness for Pokémon that can take a hit. On top of that, the story hands him the act without which Heatran stays out of reach. A minor role on paper, a gatekeeper in practice.

Contents

• His Base: The Survival Area, in the Shadow of Stark Mountain
• The Multi Battle Partner and His Love of Defense
• On Screen: A Treasure Hunt, Then a Volcano to Calm
• In the Manga, the Act That Awakens Heatran
• Buck at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

His Base: The Survival Area, in the Shadow of Stark Mountain

You meet Buck in the Survival Area, the strip of land that borders Stark Mountain: he lives there, that's where he shows up, and his profile hardly ever takes him outside that area. That's not much ground for a character the story entrusts with so much.

His family, on the other hand, holds far more visible positions. The Battleground, right there, is run by his grandfather; his brother Flint sits on the region's Elite Four.

What the player remembers is this: it's Buck who takes care of returning the Magma Stone to the heart of Stark Mountain. This act is part of the mandatory sequence without which Heatran never becomes catchable — skip it, and the encounter never happens.

The Multi Battle Partner and His Love of Defense

Buck is one of the five partner Trainers who can join the player: the mechanic exists in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, and returns in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. At the Battle Tower, he can be picked as a Multi Battle partner in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum as well as in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

His team isn't fixed: several Pokémon can be assigned to him. The selection consistently leans toward Defense and Special Defense, so the lineup is made up of creatures with very high defensive stats. A teammate who holds the line rather than one who hits hard.

You can also battle him at the Battleground in the Survival Area, alongside the Gym Leaders. It's as a Battle Tower partner, however, that his Pokémon produce an oddity: Cresselia is among those he can field, so if the player has already caught their own, a single battle can bring together two separate Cresselia, which never happens otherwise — Regirock, Regice and Registeel are in the same boat.

On Screen: A Treasure Hunt, Then a Volcano to Calm

The Diamond & Pearl series devotes an entire episode to him, on Dandelion Island: Buck is looking for treasure there and travels for a while with Ash, Dawn and Brock, who are then heading to Lily of the Valley Island to compete in the Sinnoh League.

Each of his Pokémon serves a specific purpose. His Baltoy has a knack for sensing treasure and his Mantine serves as his mount for exploring the depths; as for the Claydol that guarded the loot, it ends up caught on the spot.

The mini-series Pokémon Generations later puts him back at Stark Mountain, where he battles Heatran with his Claydol, backed up by Looker and the latter's Croagunk. Charon had roused the Legendary from its slumber; returning the stone to its place is enough to calm it. Buck then introduces himself to the agent and tells him the goal of his journey: to become the greatest Trainer of all.

🔥 Stark Mountain's resident has its own section: check out our Legendary Pokémon.

In the Manga, the Act That Awakens Heatran

The manga sets him up at the Battleground from the very start of the arc, and gives him a sharp eye: he's the one who catches Looker spying on him and his friends. Later, he interrupts Darach and the policeman mid-conversation to announce that he knows a lot about Stark Mountain, finds the man suspicious, then declares he'll personally deal with Team Galactic, which he guesses is after Heatran.

So he climbs Stark Mountain to take on the organization. Thinking he's depriving them of their objective, he snatches the Magma Stone before they can — and it's this act that awakens Heatran. Charon, now at the head of Team Galactic, immediately seizes the colossus.

The Legendary relentlessly hounds him and Looker, whose disguises make no difference. His Claydol's powers let them recover the Magma Stone, but it isn't enough: both are rescued, then taken to the clinic near the Battle Frontier. He's seen later in Sunyshore City, where he warmly welcomes the Trainers returning from the Distortion World.

Buck at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Buck?
  A Trainer from the Sinnoh region, based in the Survival Area, and one of the five partner Trainers the player can team up with in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum as well as in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
• What is Buck's role in catching Heatran?
  He's tasked with returning the Magma Stone to the heart of Stark Mountain. This act is part of the mandatory sequence without which Heatran can't be caught.
• Which Pokémon does Buck use?
  His partner team isn't fixed: several Pokémon can be assigned to him, with a clear preference for high Defense and Special Defense. His signature Pokémon is Claydol; the anime also gives him a Baltoy and a Mantine.
• Does Buck have any known family?
  Yes. The Battleground, in the Survival Area, is run by his grandfather, and his brother Flint sits on the Sinnoh Elite Four.
• Where can you battle Buck?
  At the Battleground in the Survival Area, where he battles alongside the Gym Leaders. He can also be chosen as a Multi Battle partner at the Battle Tower.

In short

Buck amounts to a handful of lines of dialogue, and yet the fourth generation makes him carry a key: until he has returned the Magma Stone to Stark Mountain, Heatran doesn't exist for the player. The rest of his profile follows the same supporting logic — a teammate built to take hits, a brother on the Elite Four, a grandfather behind the Battleground counter. The manga simply flips the script: there, it's his hand on the stone that sets off the disaster.