Chobin: the assistant who thinks everyone is a thief

Chobin never recognizes anyone at first sight, and he has turned that into a method. Stationed outside Kaminko's House, he takes every visitor for a burglar and settles the misunderstanding with a battle. Assistant to Dr. Kaminko, he talks about himself in the third person, worships his boss and climbs into a mechanical Groudon whenever he gets the chance. Seven battles later, the machine still won't have made him a better Trainer.

Contents

• The Number-One Assistant, and the Lab's Only One
• Seven Battles at the Door of Kaminko's House
• Robo Groudon, or How to Lose at a Higher Price
• Chlorophyll, Gyarados and a Lot of Earthquake
• Final Opponent of Group 4 at the Orre Colosseum
• Jovi, the Basement Treasure and the Blank Sheets
• Chobin at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Number-One Assistant, and the Lab's Only One

His official profile fits in a few words: Dr. Kaminko's assistant and Pokémon Trainer. Chobin, however, claims a more flattering title, number-one assistant, and backs it up with arithmetic all his own: he is the only one in the job, so he has to be the first.

The rest of the portrait comes down to his look. A lab coat and very thick glasses: his nearsightedness is bad enough that he can't make out who is standing in front of him, and he freely admits he can't work without his glasses.

Two quirks complete the picture. He talks about himself in the third person no matter what and never misses a chance to put himself forward. His admiration for his boss, meanwhile, knows no bounds: no one else in the world could come up with such inventions, and the argument goes around in circles without bothering him in the least.

Seven Battles at the Door of Kaminko's House

Chobin serves as a guard post as much as a Trainer. Outside the entrance to Kaminko's House, he offers seven battles in all, four of which you're under no obligation to fight. The reason is always the same: he can't see who's coming, concludes he's dealing with a thief and orders the intruder not to move.

The very first encounter kicks off the adventure: Michael comes to pick up his little sister Jovi from the scientist's house, gets accused of burglary and has to send out a Pokémon before anyone will listen. Chobin has to lose before he'll agree to take a closer look, realizes he's facing a child, apologizes and immediately launches into a guided tour of the doctor's inventions. The same scene plays out all over again when the hero comes back to the manor with Jovi after the kidnapping of Professor Krane.

The difficulty climbs steadily from one meeting to the next. You start against a lone level 5 Sunkern; next comes a level 6 duo, then a two-stage battle at level 26 once the S.S. Libra has been added to the Orre map; the last rounds are fought at level 37, and at level 38 if you replay the battle. When he leaves his machine in the garage, his Trainer class goes back to plain "Kaminko Aide."

Robo Groudon, or How to Lose at a Higher Price

Of all his mentor's creations, he has one clear favorite: Robo Groudon, a mechanical monster he climbs into to battle. The results don't follow. The machine looks impressive and changes the class shown on screen, yet it doesn't make him a better Trainer.

He digs in, and he pays for it. Between encounters, Chobin has the contraption modified: a reclining backrest for the pilot's seat, a part billed as powerful, and air conditioning meant to provide optimal comfort. Every upgrade is announced as the game-changer, and every battle ends with the same verdict. He even asks Michael for his P★DA number so he can let him know by E-Mail as soon as the next version is ready.

The story ends for lack of funds: with his personal savings drained, he announces that from now on he'll fight with pure guts. Once the main plot is wrapped up, Robo Groudon gets a second life as an Orre Colosseum attraction, which is still the most honest way to make the investment pay off.

Chlorophyll, Gyarados and a Lot of Earthquake

At the manor, his lineup is overwhelmingly Grass-type and built entirely around the same Ability, Chlorophyll: Sunkern, then Sunflora, Hoppip, then Skiploom, and a Tropius that rounds out the team for the final rounds. The only outsider is a Gyarados with Intimidate, present from the level 26 battle onward and never replaced afterward — a Magikarp had come before it, at level 6, in a far more decorative role.

His favorite playstyle is no secret: he loves physical sweepers. The method that goes with it is to stack stat boosts, hand them off with Baton Pass to the teammate in charge of hitting, and use Earthquake whenever the move won't damage his own side.

His Colosseum team applies the principle to the letter. Three Earthquake users — Dragonite, Kangaskhan and Marowak — back up two Baton Passers: a Mr. Mime that chains Fake Out, Psych Up and Baton Pass, and a Ninjask with Speed Boost that sets up Swords Dance before passing the baton. Scizor rounds out the pool, and each one holds a dedicated item, from Dragonite's Leftovers to Kangaskhan's Scope Lens.

🐉 His Gyarados shows up in every fight: see the section Gyarados.

Final Opponent of Group 4 at the Orre Colosseum

Once the credits roll, Chobin's status changes. He becomes the final opponent of Group 4 at the Orre Colosseum, still sitting in his robot, with a team that's no longer set in advance: four Pokémon drawn at random from a pool of six, all at level 60 or above.

The draw changes the nature of the battle from one attempt to the next. The two Baton Passers aren't guaranteed: depending on the selection, you face either a team that calmly powers up before striking, or four attackers that hit hard right away with no setup.

The reward matches his rank: 2,000 Poké Coupons and TM Sludge Bomb. On top of that comes a more personal keepsake, since the win earns you a title Chobin awards himself — "Defeater of Chobin" — which he presents, with no apparent irony, as something to be proud of.

Jovi, the Basement Treasure and the Blank Sheets

A good chunk of his working hours goes into keeping an eye on the hero's little sister. Jovi wanders all over the manor and never listens to a word Chobin says, so he ends up asking her big brother to deal with it, without much hope for the result. Along the way, she asks to try on his eye-crossing glasses: he refuses to make any promises.

The basement is off-limits, officially because that's where everything secret is kept, and incidentally because Chobin hides his own treasure in a chest at the back. Jovi stashes the things she swipes around the manor down there, and the area is under construction: that's the reason the assistant gives for asking you to have a word with her.

The treasure, for its part, delivers the character's best punchline. The chest holds nothing but blank sheets — the blueprints for Chobin's inventions, drawn on the disappearing-ink paper developed by Dr. Kaminko. He can't remember what he had invented. He also sends the player to search the Crane Room in his place, since heights scare him, and lets you keep whatever you find there — except his treasures, of course.

Chobin at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Chobin in Pokémon XD?
  He is Dr. Kaminko's assistant, recognizable by his lab coat and thick glasses. He stands guard outside Kaminko's House and challenges anyone who shows up to a battle, because he can't recognize his visitors.
• How many times do you battle Chobin?
  Seven battles are available outside the manor's entrance, four of them optional. On top of those comes the Orre Colosseum battle, where he closes out Group 4 after the end of the main story.
• What is Robo Groudon?
  An invention of Dr. Kaminko's, and Chobin's favorite, which he climbs into to battle. He has it modified several times out of his own pocket, until he can no longer pay for the upgrades, without his results improving at all.
• What is Chobin's team at the Orre Colosseum?
  Four Pokémon drawn at random from Scizor, Dragonite, Kangaskhan, Mr. Mime, Marowak and Ninjask, all at level 60 or higher. Winning earns you 2,000 Poké Coupons and TM Sludge Bomb.
• Does Chobin look like another character in the franchise?
  Yes: his look recalls Dr. Akihabara, who appears in the original series episode about Porygon, "Electric Soldier Porygon."

In short

Chobin comes down to a single loop: he can't see a thing, he accuses, he loses, he apologizes, and he starts over with a more expensive robot. The game turns him into a gauge of the player's progress, from the level 5 Sunkern to the level 60-plus draws at the Colosseum, without ever granting him the win he demands. What remains is a sincerely devoted assistant whose invention blueprints vanished on his own boss's paper.