Ludlow: the fisherman hiding a movie star and a masked hero

The crew member who talks the least is the one with the most to keep quiet. Ludlow is the fisherman of the Rising Volt Tacklers, the old man who has settled into a corner of the airship's deck in Pokémon Horizons. Beneath that silence lie three successive lives: a career as a movie star, a superhero alter ego, and ownership of the ship that serves as the group's headquarters.

Contents

• A Fishing Spot That Doubles as a Lookout Post
• Guy Silver, Olivine City's B-Movie Star
• Mighty G, a Hero Who Can No Longer Last Three Minutes
• The Boat Lent to Friede Became an Airship
• Quagsire, a Partner Kept in Its Dive Ball
• Teaching Through Metaphor
• Ludlow at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A Fishing Spot That Doubles as a Lookout Post

Ludlow holds a fixed place in the team's setup: he stays aboard when the others go ashore. Visiting a town, going on a picnic, setting off to find a missing member — he lets them go, and keeps watch over the balloon.

This withdrawal is anything but inattention. He's the one who spots Zirc circling the moored ship, and he's also the one who discovers the tracker planted on the balloon, which he immediately has Quaxly destroy.

The character is described as calm, composed, solitary and very sparing with words. So his vigilance is easily mistaken for idleness: from a distance, you see an old man with a fishing rod; up close, he's the only crew member keeping constant watch.

Guy Silver, Olivine City's B-Movie Star

Ludlow comes from Olivine City, in Johto, and he was famous there. Under the name Guy Silver, he was a star of B-grade action movies, with a career that mostly comes down to a single franchise: the Versus Sharpedo films.

These movies pitted him against a Sharpedo, and the production had a trade secret: his Quagsire helped him off camera. So the actor owed part of his reputation to a partner the audience never saw on screen.

He gave it all up for the sea. What truly drew him were the horizons and the Pokémon on the other side of the oceans: he left his hometown and ended his career to see them with his own eyes.

Mighty G, a Hero Who Can No Longer Last Three Minutes

After the movies, Ludlow invented a second role for himself, this time with no camera. As Mighty G, he became a protector of the seas known throughout the world, backed by a wild Palafin he met along the way.

The transformation comes with a timer. His advanced age now keeps him from lasting more than three minutes as Mighty G: after pulling Roy and a photographer away from a group of Klawf, he comes back to sit down, exhausted — and above all relieved that the youngsters didn't recognize him.

The costume also changes his personality. Silent on board, he becomes active and energetic, and preaches peace among all as soon as he climbs onto his Sharpedo's back — even braving a stormy night to get Amethio to safety in a cave, then teaching him to cook rice and curry, before coming back aching all over from holding his transformation for so long.

🌊 Sea Pokémon have their own section: check out the Pokémon figures.

The Boat Lent to Friede Became an Airship

The Rising Volt Tacklers only exist because Ludlow said yes. Friede moves onto his boat, moored near Porto Marinada, after quitting his job as a researcher, and spends idle days fishing there despite the old man's efforts to get him motivated again.

The turning point comes from elsewhere: Friede goes to see his former teacher Lucca and returns a few days later with a Pikachu. Ludlow immediately grasps that this encounter has changed everything for the younger man, and hands over the boat as soon as he asks for it.

What follows is presented to him as a done deal. In Slateport City, Friede asks Orla to convert the boat into an airship — an idea that catches Ludlow by surprise — and the old fisherman nonetheless becomes one of the first crew members of the Brave Olivine.

Quagsire, a Partner Kept in Its Dive Ball

That Ludlow is a Trainer isn't revealed until about a dozen episodes in. His Quagsire has been with him for a very long time, but he takes it out of its Dive Ball so rarely that Mollie didn't even know it existed.

The reveal serves a specific purpose. In the Arboliva forest, the Berries planted by the youngsters lack water: Ludlow calls on Rain Dance, and the giant Arboliva can then replant the forest with Seed Sower. It's one of the rare occasions when he leaves the airship.

The duo also works at the helm. When Friede hands him the controls, Ludlow skillfully maneuvers the Brave Olivine and dodges attacks from wild Pokémon thanks to his Quagsire — for which the series also shows Surf and Hydro Pump, plus Whirlpool for his Sharpedo.

Teaching Through Metaphor

Ludlow doesn't teach much, but when he does, he hits the mark. He explains to Dot that caring about someone without telling them is the same as not caring at all — a line that's enough to convince the young recluse to draw something for Liko.

His interventions almost always take the form of imagery. He wonders aloud about clashing points of view — parents versus children, then humans versus Pokémon — and asks himself whether Liko and Roy will be able to see them. Elsewhere, he gives his roasted candy apple to his Quagsire while reciting a bit of wisdom about gravity.

When the team disbands, he disappears for a year, with none of his teammates knowing what became of him. He comes back on his own the day the Rising Volt Tacklers re-form, pointing out that the airship was originally his vessel and that he could almost feel it was ready to set off again.

Ludlow at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Ludlow in Pokémon Horizons?
  He's the fisherman of the Rising Volt Tacklers, an old man from Olivine City in Johto. He mostly stays aboard the airship, keeping watch over it, and he's the original owner of the boat that became the Brave Olivine.
• Are Ludlow and Mighty G the same person?
  Yes. Mighty G is the superhero alter ego Ludlow created to protect the seas, first with a wild Palafin and then with his Sharpedo. His advanced age keeps him from lasting more than three minutes under this identity.
• Who is Guy Silver?
  It's the name under which Ludlow was a B-movie action star, starting with the Versus Sharpedo series. He ended that career because the sea appealed to him more than the movies.
• What Pokémon does Ludlow have?
  A Quagsire, his longtime partner that he very rarely takes out of its Dive Ball, and a Sharpedo he rides as Mighty G. The series shows Rain Dance, Surf and Hydro Pump for Quagsire, and Whirlpool for Sharpedo.
• How did Ludlow join the Rising Volt Tacklers?
  Friede first lived on his boat, then asked him to hand it over. After Orla converted the boat into an airship, Ludlow joined his protégé's team and became one of its first members, along with the mechanic.

In short

Ludlow is built on a contrast: the most taciturn crew member is also the one who has lived the most. A movie career abandoned for the ocean, a hero costume that now holds up for only three minutes, a boat lent out of friendship that became the headquarters of an entire team. He tells none of this, and that's exactly what makes him interesting.