Oleana: the Dynamax researcher who became Rose's right hand

She says herself that she gave up everything for one man. Oleana runs Macro Cosmos as its number two and serves as assistant to its chairman, Rose, but she started out as a lone researcher on a subject nobody else wanted to dig into anymore. The game places her at the very end of the journey, as the last obstacle before the top of Rose Tower. What she's defending isn't a job — it's someone else's dream that has become her own.

Contents

• Before Macro Cosmos, a Researcher Left on Her Own
• Two Jobs, One Boss
• In Sword and Shield, the Final Gatekeeper
• Five Pokémon Unlike the Rest of the Company
• In the Anime, the Loyal Lieutenant Who Has Doubts
• After the Fall, Volunteer Work and a Ghost
• Oleana at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Before Macro Cosmos, a Researcher Left on Her Own

Oleana didn't start out at the top of the org chart. She was a researcher, working on Dynamax, Gigantamax in the Wild Area and Wishing Stars.

It was a thankless subject. A short animated series shows the members of her team leaving the project one after another, discouraged by how hard it was, until she was the only one left working on it.

That's when Rose took an interest in her work and hired her. Years later, she's the company's number two, more self-assured than in her early days and as unflappable as ever. She's also credited with creating the Dynamax Band.

Two Jobs, One Boss

Her title hides a second one. She's the conglomerate's vice president, but she's still the chairman's personal assistant: day-to-day business, schedule, travel. When he's away, she runs the show — meetings, files, oversight of Wyndon Stadium and the other projects.

One detail says everything about where she really stands: she's the one who writes Rose's League Cards. So the official image the region has of the boss comes from her pen. The company's employees, for their part, openly admire her.

One animated scene sums her up better than any org chart. In a taxi shared with the chairman, she insists her day was nothing difficult; when he tells her she could run the company without him, she replies that he has his own part to play too. He then tells her how grateful he is.

The same ride shows the comic flip side. Flying over Wyndon Stadium, she hears the driver mix up Dynamax and Gigantamax: she corrects him, elaborates and refuses to stop despite his pleas, on the grounds that it's been a long day.

In Sword and Shield, the Final Gatekeeper

The player first spots her at the stadium in Motostoke, alongside the chairman for the opening of the Gym Challenge. The first real encounter happens in Hulbury, where she keeps Rose's admirers at bay. The rest of Sword and Shield will bring her back at every stage of the story.

She sets a condition right away: the chairman will only see the Trainer once they've earned Nessa's Water Badge, and until then she blocks the entrance to the seafood restaurant. At the meal, she barely speaks, points out that the schedule is full and announces that she'll arrange a meeting with Sonia.

After that, she's shown in a position of strength. In Hammerlocke, she's pleased that the Trainer hasn't forgotten who they owe their endorsement to. After Bede destroys the Stow-on-Side mural, she harshly scolds the boy even though the game strongly hints that she pushed him into it, then collects the Wishing Stars.

At the top, she waits. She had an employee hide the tower's key so that the meeting between Leon and the chairman wouldn't be disturbed; the player and Hop head up anyway, and she battles them to protect her boss's interests.

Five Pokémon Unlike the Rest of the Company

Her roster is an internal anomaly. Oleana is the only one at Macro Cosmos who doesn't specialize in Steel types, in an organization that has made them its signature.

She fields Salazzle, Garbodor, Milotic, Froslass and Tsareena; the Trubbish seen with her in Pokémon: Twilight Wings only appears in a flashback, from when she was young. Each of them carries a kind of grace or traits readily associated with femininity — except one.

The exception happens to be the strongest. Garbodor is her signature Pokémon and the only one on her team with a Gigantamax form, which she triggers against the player at the top of the tower.

🧪 Galar's Pokémon have their own section: see the Pokémon figures.

In the Anime, the Loyal Lieutenant Who Has Doubts

Pokémon Journeys gives her an active role in the disaster. Summoned with the chairman to the Energy Plant beneath Hammerlocke Stadium, she learns that the core is overloaded and that the teams plan to release the excess into the wild, which forces Pokémon to Dynamax outside the designated areas.

She then informs Rose that these giants are wrecking towns across the region, and asks whether they shouldn't cut off the energy injection; he replies that this overflow is magnificent. Meanwhile, she has an assistant tail Sonia and demands that she be stopped as soon as possible.

Posted at the stadium entrance after Eternatus awakens, she stands in the way of Goh, who has come with the Rusted Sword and the Rusted Shield. She sends out Milotic, explains that the chairman's dream is also her own, and mocks the boy's battling skills — before her Pokémon goes down in a single hit against a freshly evolved Cinderace.

Her worry does eventually show through. From the helicopter flying over the battle, she can't share the chairman's enthusiasm for Eternatus's Eternamax form. The helicopter is hit, the two executives are reported missing, and they turn up much later, incognito in Wyndon.

After the Fall, Volunteer Work and a Ghost

Her defeat doesn't break her right away; what comes next does. When Rose unleashes Eternatus, Oleana's Pokémon Dynamax on their own in Hammerlocke Stadium, and she begs the player to go pull the chairman back from his madness.

Once the main story is over and Rose has been arrested, you find her deep in Galar Mine, where she's doing volunteer work on his behalf. There she talks about her boss's mining past, says she sacrificed everything for him, and gives the Trainer the chairman's rare League Card.

The DLC drives the point home. A rumor tells of a ghost in the Old Cemetery; the player finds Oleana there at night, searching for someone. She's heard that Rose was supposedly spotted in the area and leaves right away, annoyed, on discovering that it's only his brother Peony.

Peony, for his part, can't quite believe it. Seeing his brother inspire such devotion is beyond him, and it's probably the best definition of the character: Oleana isn't defending a company, she's waiting for a man.

Oleana at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Oleana in Pokémon Sword and Shield?
  The vice president of Macro Cosmos and Chairman Rose's assistant. A former researcher on Dynamax and Gigantamax, she handles the company's day-to-day business and battles the player at the top of Rose Tower.
• Which Pokémon does Oleana use?
  Salazzle, Garbodor, Milotic, Froslass and Tsareena. Garbodor is her signature Pokémon, the strongest on her team and the only one with a Gigantamax form.
• Why doesn't Oleana use Steel-type Pokémon?
  That's what sets her apart: she's the only one at Macro Cosmos who doesn't specialize in that type. Her Pokémon share a kind of grace instead, with the notable exception of Garbodor.
• What happens to Oleana after Rose's arrest?
  She does volunteer work on his behalf deep in Galar Mine, where she gives the player the chairman's rare League Card. Later, she's still looking for him at night in the Old Cemetery, acting on a rumor.
• Does Oleana appear in the anime?
  Yes. In Pokémon Journeys, she assists Rose during the Eternatus crisis and battles Goh at the entrance to Hammerlocke Stadium, where her Milotic is knocked out by a Cinderace.

In short

Oleana is the most consistent character at Macro Cosmos, and the only one whose motivation fits in a single line: she sacrificed everything for Rose. A researcher abandoned by her team, then the number two of a conglomerate, she defends to the very end a project whose damage she can see — she even suggests cutting off the energy, and doesn't push it when the chairman refuses. The game doesn't punish her: it leaves her searching for her boss in a cemetery, at night, long after his downfall.