Ryoku: The Team Plasma Sage Who Never Gave His Gift

He was preparing a trophy for a boss who had just vanished into thin air. Ryoku sits on the council of the Seven Sages who oversee Team Plasma in Pokémon Black and White. The player finds him in the Relic Castle, busy with a hunt whose intended recipient no longer exists, and leaves with a Technical Machine the sage no longer has any use for. The scene lasts only a few lines, yet it tells the end of the organization as seen from below.

Contents

• The sixth Sage on the player's path
• The Volcarona he wanted to give his boss
• TM04 Calm Mind, a gift that no longer serves a purpose
• Beyond the games: anime, short film and manga
• Ryoku at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The sixth Sage on the player's path

Unova doesn't throw Team Plasma's council in the player's way all at once: the story spreads its members along the journey, one per major stage. Ryoku is the sixth one you come across, and the meeting takes place in the Relic Castle.

The encounter opens with a challenge: the sage invokes the orders of Ghetsis and invites the player to test their strength against the organization. The prophetic tone comes later, and elsewhere — it's at N's Castle that he proclaims the heavens will decide, that destiny is running its course and that the reign of King N is a foregone conclusion.

His confidence doesn't survive the next scene. Looker apprehends him on the spot, in the very ruins where he has just harangued the player — the International Police detective has followed the Seven Sages' trail all the way there, and Ryoku doesn't run.

The Volcarona he wanted to give his boss

Ryoku explains for himself what he was doing in those ruins: he was hunting Volcarona, the creature tied to the Relic Castle, to present it to Ghetsis. The gesture says everything about his relationship with his boss — a vassal's tribute, not a tactical mission.

The Shadow Triad cut the plan short by telling him news he didn't expect: Ghetsis had chosen to step aside. The trophy was ready, the recipient had just vanished, and no one had thought to warn the sage.

What remains is the motto that held the council together — the idea that the seven were only worth something together, and that together they formed a whole. Ryoku repeats it, then realizes it no longer means anything to him. He comes to wonder what the council was ever for, and says he has stopped dreaming.

🔥 The coveted Pokémon of the Relic Castle has its own section: browse the Pokémon figures.

TM04 Calm Mind, a gift that no longer serves a purpose

The sage then parts with the only thing he has from his boss: he hands the player TM04, which teaches Calm Mind. Ghetsis had given it to him, it's no longer of any use to him, and he hands it over the way you'd get rid of a cumbersome keepsake.

His last reflection is about the setting. The ruined castle at least proves that a kingdom once stood here, whereas Team Plasma's castle, which has collapsed too, will bear witness to nothing. The sage notes that they will leave no trace behind — the organization's funeral oration, delivered by one of its own dignitaries.

Looker takes him away for further questioning at International Police headquarters, and Ryoku goes along, with one caveat: he himself knows next to nothing about Ghetsis and N, not even the exact nature of the family tie between them. The detective then heads off on his own, following a distant sighting of a young man resembling N alongside a Dragon-type Pokémon.

Beyond the games: anime, short film and manga

The animated series grants him only a single memory. A flashback in the Black & White series brings the Seven Sages together for a ceremony at N's Castle, before N and Ghetsis, until Reshiram bursts in, attacks and sets the castle ablaze. All the Sages flee — except Ghetsis.

The scene also matters for what it takes away. The Sages are drawn younger and far less distinctive than in the games: Ryoku loses the silhouette that set him apart from his six colleagues and blends into an interchangeable group.

He turns up again in a short film, as N's Castle rises out of the ground beneath the Unova League, and then in an episode titled "The Plan," once again in flashback, among the crowd watching N being crowned king of Team Plasma. His animated appearances are limited to these three group shots, but the Pokémon Adventures manga also gives him a role and a Scolipede.

Ryoku at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Ryoku in Pokémon?
  One of the Seven Sages who oversee Team Plasma in Pokémon Black and White. He's the sixth one the player meets over the course of the story.
• Where do you meet Ryoku?
  In the Relic Castle. That's also where he's arrested by Looker, the International Police detective on the Seven Sages' trail.
• What does Ryoku give the player?
  TM04, which teaches the move Calm Mind. He got it from Ghetsis and gets rid of it, explaining that it's no longer of any use to him.
• Why was Ryoku looking for Volcarona?
  He wanted to catch the Pokémon tied to the Relic Castle to give it to Ghetsis. In the meantime, the Shadow Triad told him that his boss had chosen to disappear.
• Does Ryoku have any Pokémon?
  His animated appearances are limited to three group shots, but the Pokémon Adventures manga also gives him a Scolipede

In short

Ryoku isn't an opponent, he's a witness. In just a few lines, his scene overturns the hierarchy Team Plasma put on display: the sage was preparing a gift for a boss who had already written him out of his plans, and discovers that he knows almost nothing about the people he served. The Relic Castle serves as both his backdrop and his mirror — ruins that prove a kingdom once existed, facing an organization that will leave nothing behind.