Sawyer: the Kalos rival who took notes before beating Ash

Sawyer is the rival the XY series builds up from the bottom. He shows up when the Kalos arc is already well underway, takes loss after loss through seasons 18 and 19, and needs a very long time before he gives Ash anything to worry about. Then he lines up eight Badges, makes it into the Kalos League and bows out in the semifinals. In between: a notebook and a green gecko.

Contents

• A Rival Who Makes His Entrance With a Loss
• A Rivalry That Stays One-Sided for a Long Time
• Eight Badges, Then the First Win
• The Kalos League and Sceptile's Mega Evolution
• Sawyer at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A Rival Who Makes His Entrance With a Loss

Sawyer's first appearance is a lost match. He challenges Clemont for a Gym Badge, and his Treecko is no match for the Gym Leader's Luxray: his partner's Grass typing isn't enough to turn the tables. The character is introduced through his limits, not his track record.

Still, the loser doesn't leave empty-handed. Clemont takes the time to point out what he needs to work on once the battle is over, and Sawyer listens, then writes it down. The notebook he pulls out at every opportunity becomes his signature: where a rival is usually defined by a battle style, this one is defined by a habit of recording everything he sees.

The opening Getta Banban sums up the character in a single shot. In it, Sawyer walks in Ash's footprints, his Treecko perched on his shoulder, and immediately jots down the move he has just made. The image conveys both admiration and an obsession with detail, the two driving forces of his entire arc.

🔥 His day-one partner has its own section: check out our Pokémon Starters.

A Rivalry That Stays One-Sided for a Long Time

When he crosses paths with Ash and his friends again, Sawyer finally gets the battle he was after, in the form of a Double Battle. His Treecko ends up facing Ash's Frogadier, but the exchange never reaches its conclusion: Valerie's fashion show begins and interrupts the match before there's a verdict.

He presses on regardless, this time against Valerie and her Spritzee, with his Bagon leading the charge. The type matchup works against the little dragon and Spritzee wins the battle without Sawyer ever getting a say in it.

What follows looks like a losing streak that never ends. He watches Ash's battle against Valerie, tries his luck against Ash again and fails once more, lacking Trainer experience comparable to his opponent's. A low-key reappearance, another attempt, another loss: the counter stays stuck at zero.

Eight Badges, Then the First Win

The turnaround is announced by a number. Sawyer shows up in front of Ash with eight Badges in his pocket, including the one he wrested from Wulfric — exactly the number you need to enter the Kalos League, and proof that all the advice he collected has finally paid off.

In that same episode, he breaks through the barrier he had never managed to cross: he beats Ash for the first time. The result is no fluke; it comes at the end of a long line of lost matches against the same opponent, and it changes the character's standing in one stroke.

This is the turning point in how he's written. The Trainer we had seen outclassed by one Gym Leader, then another, and by Ash himself becomes a credible contender for the regional tournament overnight. His arc fits in a single sentence: he lost often enough to finally understand how to win.

The Kalos League and Sceptile's Mega Evolution

At the Kalos League, Sawyer makes it through the preliminary rounds and settles into the final bracket. The quarterfinal is his launchpad: that's where he pulls out the trump card nobody knew he had, after dozens of episodes spent being taught lessons.

His Sceptile, the Treecko from his early days now at the end of its evolutionary line, Mega Evolves and wins him the quarterfinal. The bracket then tells him the name of the opponent waiting for him in the semifinals, and that name is Ash.

The run ends there for him. Ash-Greninja takes down his Mega Sceptile and brings his run to a close in the semifinals. We see him again much later as a spectator, in front of a TV alongside Tierno, watching the first round of the Masters Eight Tournament, in which Lance takes on Diantha.

Sawyer at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Sawyer in the Pokémon anime?
  He's a Trainer who serves as Ash's rival during seasons 18 and 19 of the XY series. He appears when the Kalos arc is already underway and later competes in the Kalos League.
• Has Sawyer ever beaten Ash?
  Yes, once: in the episode where he shows off his eight Badges. All his previous attempts had ended in defeat, and he loses to Ash again in the Kalos League semifinals.
• Which Pokémon does Sawyer use in battle?
  His Treecko, there from his very first appearance and later a Sceptile, but also a Bagon that became a Salamence, a Slurpuff, a Honedge that became an Aegislash, a Clawitzer and a Slaking. It's his Sceptile that carries his Mega Evolution in the tournament.
• How far does Sawyer go in the Kalos League?
  He gets through the preliminary rounds, wins his quarterfinal thanks to his Sceptile's Mega Evolution, then falls to Ash in the semifinals: Ash-Greninja ends his run.
• Why does Sawyer take notes all the time?
  It's the trait that defines him from his very first appearance: he's curious and writes down every last detail in his notebook. The Getta Banban opening even shows him noting that he's walking in Ash's footprints.

In short

Sawyer is a rival built the opposite way from the others: he starts out losing to just about everyone, and only becomes dangerous once he has racked up a long tally of defeats. The notebook isn't a sidekick gag; it's the very engine of his progress, from the Badge he missed against Clemont to the Mega Evolution he unleashes in the quarterfinals. Ash beats him in the semifinals, but it took Ash-Greninja to do it.