Lucian: Sinnoh's Psychic Elite Four who reads between battles

Lucian is the last door before Cynthia. The fourth and final member of the Sinnoh League's Elite Four, he defends the Psychic type at the very moment the Trainer thinks the hardest part is over. Yet the character has a second life, with no Poké Ball involved: that of a reader you come across in a library, a collection of letters in his hands.

Contents

• The Last Line of Defense Before Cynthia
• A Platinum Exclusive: Meeting Him Outside the League
• The Book He Holds in Canalave City
• Anime, Trading Cards and a Mobile Game
• Lucian at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Last Line of Defense Before Cynthia

Sinnoh's Elite Four is taken on in a set order, and Lucian holds the fourth and final spot. The Trainer who gets past him has only one opponent left: Cynthia, who holds the title of Pokémon League Champion.

His specialty never wavers: he trains only Psychic-type Pokémon. Two names stand out on his profile more than the rest, Bronzong and Gallade, presented as his favorite partners.

Beating him once doesn't tell the whole story. Once the Stark Mountain challenge is complete, the Elite Four revamp their teams: Lucian, for his part, fields the same five Pokémon in Platinum — Mr. Mime, Espeon, Bronzong, Alakazam and Gallade — but at much higher levels, with his Gallade going from level 59 to level 75.

🔮 His Psychic partners, display-shelf edition: check out our Pokémon figures.

A Platinum Exclusive: Meeting Him Outside the League

There is one place where Lucian isn't waiting for anyone in battle gear. Platinum, and only Platinum, has him appear on the ground floor of the Canalave Library, far from the League's arena.

You still have to earn the visit, though. The encounter only unlocks after you've beaten him a second time at the League, with the National Pokédex in hand — in other words, very late in a playthrough, once you've already claimed the title the first time.

The portrait the mobile game paints of him points the same way: a calm, well-spoken young man and an avid reader, who escapes into a novel between battles. The library is no random backdrop for him.

The Book He Holds in Canalave City

The detail is too precise to be a throwaway: the game says exactly what Lucian is holding. It's a collection of correspondence, the letters an artist wrote to his brother.

One page is even singled out. In it, the artist confides what starry skies inspire in him, and that's the very letter the character is reading when the player catches him.

Two clues are enough to put a name to the anonymous artist. Vincent van Gogh wrote regularly to his younger brother Theo and painted The Starry Night: the reference is never spelled out, but it's considered likely.

Anime, Trading Cards and a Mobile Game

On screen, Lucian only passes through. The Diamond & Pearl series gives him two appearances, the first in a battle against the Buizel belonging to Dawn.

He returns five episodes later, this time up against a Garchomp. The titles of these two episodes, "An Elite Meet and Greet!" and "Top-Down Training!", say a lot about the role he's given on screen.

The rest of his career comes down to two dates. The Trading Card Game welcomes him with the Platinum—Rising Rivals expansion, released in France on November 6, 2009; the mobile game recruits him on May 13, 2022, in his canonical outfit and paired with a Girafarig.

Lucian at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• What type of Pokémon does Lucian use?
  The Psychic type. He's the fourth and final member of the Sinnoh League's Elite Four, the one you face right before Cynthia, who holds the title of Champion.
• Where can you meet Lucian outside the League?
  On the ground floor of the Canalave Library, in Platinum only. The encounter only becomes possible after you've beaten him a second time at the League, with the National Pokédex.
• Does Lucian's team change over the course of the game?
  Yes and no. The Elite Four revamp their teams once the Stark Mountain challenge is complete, but in Platinum Lucian keeps the same five Pokémon: only their levels go up, from 53-59 to 69-75.
• What book is Lucian reading in the library?
  A collection of letters written by an artist to his brother, including one in which he describes what starry skies inspire in him. The nod to Vincent van Gogh, who wrote letters to his brother Theo and painted The Starry Night, is considered likely.
• Does Lucian appear in the anime?
  Twice, in the Diamond & Pearl series: he first battles Dawn's Buizel, then returns five episodes later for a battle against a Garchomp.

In short

Lucian is the Elite Four member you meet twice, in two opposite roles: the final obstacle before Cynthia, then a quiet reader on the ground floor of a library. That's why the Psychic type suits him — he wins less through raw power than through anticipation. And the book he holds, those letters from a painter to his brother, says more about him than any team sheet ever could.