Hamber: Gibeon's butler who came to doubt the Explorers

He almost never has a mission of his own: he runs everyone else's. Hamber serves Gibeon as his butler and is the Explorers' second-in-command in Horizons: reports come back to him, new recruits pass through his hands, and the boss's orders travel down through him. A former adventurer set back on course by that same Gibeon, he nonetheless spends the end of his arc secretly investigating one of his own administrators.

Contents

• The lost adventurer, then the oath
• What a second-in-command does
• Amethio, the pupil who became almost a son
• Galar, the only operation he leads himself
• Dusknoir, Rotom and Ursaluna
• Doubt, Spinel and the Zygarde Cube
• Hamber at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The lost adventurer, then the oath

Before the livery, there was the road. An episode of Pokémon Horizons looks back on that period: Hamber started out as an adventurer, and was one of the closest friends of Diana, who followed the same calling.

A later episode in the series explains the turning point. Over the years, the man lost sight of what he was looking for, no longer knowing where to turn, and it was in that state that he crossed paths with Gibeon — a man who wanted a better world for humans and Pokémon alike. The meeting gave him a purpose again, and he swore loyalty to the man before him.

From this come his two titles: butler to the family, and second-in-command of the organization Gibeon founded, the Explorers. His master's trust takes a concrete form — a cell from his white Zygarde attaches itself to Hamber, who keeps it close at all times.

What a second-in-command does

The job is first and foremost a switchboard. Hamber keeps information flowing both ways, between the boss and the administrators: they report to him, as Amethio does from the very first episodes of Horizons, and he's the one who closes the meetings — including the one, a little further into the series, where Spinel has to explain how he lost the pendant he had just stolen.

He's also the one who trains the recruits. Amethio first, then Coral, Sidian and Chalce all went through his training; the only exception is Spinel, who never did. An episode from the second half of the series credits him with another decision: it was Hamber who assigned Zirc and Onia to Amethio when the two agents joined the organization.

His style comes down to courtesy and restraint: a responsible, calm man who gives advice — be wary of Friede, stay cautious — and hands out reprimands when his administrators go off and act on their own. When an argument turns ugly, he steps in as mediator, and if that isn't enough, he brings his Dusknoir into the room and lets a flash of irritation show.

Amethio, the pupil who became almost a son

Gibeon lost his daughter in a road accident, and his grandson Amethio grew up with Hamber as a father figure. The butler trained him, and the young man eventually joined the Explorers himself.

The bond shows in the rules Hamber bends. At the very start of the series, Amethio asks him not to report anything to Gibeon while he tries out a new plan: Hamber agrees and simply warns him about Friede. During the Galar Mine affair, he scolds him for setting up his operation alone, then relents when he sees footage of the pendant's Pokémon — as long as the administrator checks in before acting next time.

After the Black Rayquaza slips through their fingers, Hamber asks Amethio what he is still missing; the answer is power. The next episode gives him a chance to measure it: his Dusknoir first overpowers the young man's Ceruledge, then Amethio's new strategies turn the battle around, and the butler has to Terastallize to win. Right afterward, he gives him a Tera Orb, and later tells him he expects great things from him.

Galar, the only operation he leads himself

In that same Horizons episode, Hamber summons Sidian and Coral to go with him to Galar. Sidian is surprised to see the butler make the trip in person; Hamber replies that the object they're after is too important, and that he wants to see the pendant's awakened Pokémon with his own eyes.

In the following episode, the helicopter approaches Diana's old castle. The orders for the two administrators are clear: stay on board, step in only when told to, and act as secret weapons. Hamber goes in alone with his Dusknoir to confront the adventurer and her Arcanine in her own room, brushes aside her lie about the pendant going missing, and announces that he has come for the Pokémon that awoke inside it.

Diana fires back the question that stings: why would an organization supposedly descended from Lucius's friends turn against them? The discussion is cut short, as the attack Sidian and Coral launch without orders causes enough chaos for her to escape, and Hamber notes that those two never listen. Back in the meeting room, he tells his master that the wheels are turning again; Gibeon replies that their wish can now come true.

Dusknoir, Rotom and Ursaluna

His lead Pokémon is a Dusknoir, and it's the one the series shows in action most often. It serves as much to assert authority as to fight: it calms a meeting that's getting out of hand, stands up to Diana's Arcanine at the castle, and carries the training battle against Amethio right up to the final reversal. A late Horizons episode credits it with Phantom Force and Haze.

The same episode documents two other Pokémon. A Rotom, with Double Team and Thunder Wave, covers the Electric side of the butler's lineup — a fitting choice for a man whose job involves monitoring screens and communications.

The third is an Ursaluna, credited with Moonblast, Blood Moon and Slash: by far the most brutal member of a lineup otherwise built on cunning. Hamber has also mastered Terastallization, which he uses to beat Amethio before handing him an Orb of his own.

👻 The Horizons companions have their own section: browse the Pokémon figures.

Doubt, Spinel and the Zygarde Cube

Everything shifts midway through the series. A video brought back by Spinel seems to prove that Amethio has sided with Liko and given up on seizing Terapagos; Hamber asks the accused for a detailed account, but Gibeon settles the matter and expels his grandson before the eyes of a stunned butler. Doubt creeps in: shortly afterward, Chalce reports that the butler questioned her about Spinel, and a few episodes later she warns Spinel that his zeal will end up drawing the second-in-command's attention.

Later in Horizons, Spinel is too quick to dismiss the idea of bringing Amethio back, under Hamber's suspicious eye. The butler then frees Amethio, Zirc and Onia, who were locked in a dockside warehouse for infiltrating Exceed, and realizes they have reached the same conclusion he has: Spinel is plotting to betray Gibeon. At the family manor, he finally tells them the whole story — the founding of the Explorers, the rift between Lucius and Gibeon when the Laquium was discovered beneath Laqua, the Zygarde cells sacrificed to bury the deposit, his master's journey across the centuries, and the family tie that links Lucius and Rystal to Liko.

When Spinel publicly announces, in the final part of the series, that Amethio betrayed Gibeon and that the two killed each other, Hamber doesn't believe a word of it. He summons Zirc and Onia, entrusts them with a Zygarde Cube that the white cell leaps into of its own accord, and sends them to find the missing administrator without Spinel's knowledge. Much later, the call confirming that Amethio is alive brings him to tears once the line goes dead; soon after, he gets back in touch with Diana to tell her that the Six Heroes, except for the Black Rayquaza, are in the Explorers' hands — unable to say more, since he knows he's being watched.

Hamber at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Hamber in Pokémon Horizons?
  Hamber is Gibeon's butler and the Explorers' second-in-command. He is the link between the organization's leader and its administrators, receives their mission reports and trains new recruits. He appears from the very first episodes of Pokémon Horizons.
• What did Hamber do before serving Gibeon?
  He was an adventurer, and one of Diana's close friends. Over time, he lost sight of his goals, until he met Gibeon, whose vision of a better world for humans and Pokémon gave him a purpose again.
• What are Hamber's Pokémon?
  A Dusknoir, the one the series most often shows in action, with Phantom Force and Haze; a Rotom, with Double Team and Thunder Wave; and an Ursaluna, with Moonblast, Blood Moon and Slash. Hamber also uses Terastallization.
• What is the connection between Hamber and Amethio?
  Amethio is Gibeon's grandson. After Gibeon's daughter was killed in a road accident, Hamber became a father figure to the young man, trained him, and then watched him join the Explorers as the first administrator he had trained himself.
• Does Hamber stay loyal to the Explorers?
  He stays loyal to Gibeon, not to the organization as Spinel runs it. He questions Chalce about Spinel, frees Amethio, Zirc and Onia, then entrusts those two agents with a Zygarde Cube and an investigation carried out behind Spinel's back.

In short

Hamber is the character the Explorers should have kept an eye on first. He holds the organization's memory, trained almost all of its senior members and has the boss's trust, which makes him the only one capable of turning the house against itself from within. The butler never takes up arms against Spinel: he opens a warehouse door, tells a centuries-old story and hands a box to two henchmen. That's more than enough to put Amethio back in the game.