Nate: the Unova hero who arrived two years after the battle

Nate starts his adventure in a region that has already had its own. The male hero of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, he sets out from Aspertia City two years after Team Plasma was disbanded and spends the game picking up the pieces of a conflict he never lived through. Choosing Rosa instead doesn't make him disappear, though: he simply moves to the other side of the screen, for one scene and then a permanent post at the Battle Subway.

Contents

• The boy from Aspertia City, red cap and Xtransceiver on his wrist
• A classic start in a world that no longer is
• Three possible starters, and what he picks up along the way
• Zekrom, Reshiram, Kyurem: the dragons are on the agenda
• On the other side: Nate when you play as Rosa
• No episodes, but a short film, a mobile game and a manga
• Nate at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The boy from Aspertia City, red cap and Xtransceiver on his wrist

Nate is the male option when you create your avatar in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. Choosing him moves Rosa, his female counterpart, over to the non-playable characters, where she plays the role of partner Trainer. Like every main-series protagonist, he then goes by whatever name the player gives him, within the set character limit.

His design makes him a teenager: dark brown hair, brown eyes, a red cap with cutouts, a blue vest trimmed in black over a teal T-shirt, black and blue leggings under deliberately baggy light gray shorts, and black and red sneakers with white laces.

Two accessories complete the look and speak to his calling. A white rectangular shoulder bag striped with sky blue and black, where he keeps his items; and an Xtransceiver with a red face strapped to his left wrist, Unova's communicator watch.

A classic start in a world that no longer is

The game starts him off in Aspertia City, in the southwest of the region, which is also home to Hugh, who will become his rival. His first Pokémon is handed to him by Bianca, Professor Juniper's assistant, before both boys are given a Pokédex. One first battle later, they each go their own way.

Along the road await the scheduled opponents — Gym Leaders, members of the Unova League — but also remnants of Team Plasma that shouldn't even exist anymore, since the organization was dismantled two years earlier.

This is where the character stands apart from his predecessors. Nate doesn't start a conflict; he sweeps up what's left of one, and the first game leaves very concrete traces in his adventure: in Driftveil City, he's the one who takes in N's Zorua.

Three possible starters, and what he picks up along the way

Like every Unova protagonist, he starts with one of the region's three starters: Snivy on the Grass side, Tepig on the Fire side, Oshawott on the Water side. None of the three is forced on him by the story, and the rest of the team is then built at specific points on the map.

Two of those points owe nothing to the luck of the tall grass. A Happiny Egg awaits him in Nacrene City, and Twist Mountain gives him access to fossil Pokémon — two scripted acquisitions you go looking for rather than stumble upon.

One exception is worth noting: at Pokéstar Studios, where he shoots movies, Nate doesn't act with his own Pokémon but with rental Pokémon. The team he has patiently built stays in the dressing room for the shoot.

Zekrom, Reshiram, Kyurem: the dragons are on the agenda

Dragonspiral Tower is home to the version's legendary. It's Zekrom in Black 2 and Reshiram in White 2, and Nate can catch it there like any protagonist of these two games.

The third dragon is found elsewhere. Kyurem waits in the Giant Chasm, off the main path, and catching it unlocks the maneuver that sets this game apart.

Because these legendary dragons aren't doomed to stay apart: the game lets you fuse them. So a Black 2 and White 2 hero doesn't just catch a legendary — he rebuilds one.

🐉 Zekrom, Reshiram and Kyurem have their own section: see the Legendary Pokémon.

On the other side: Nate when you play as Rosa

If the player picks Rosa, Nate becomes a non-playable character, and the story then gives him just one appearance: a Double Battle fought alongside the protagonist, against Ingo and Emmet, at the station in Nimbasa City.

The scene comes with a gameplay payoff. Nate hands over the Vs. Recorder to the protagonist, then settles in as the default partner for the Battle Subway's Multi Trains: more of a utility role than a supporting part in the story.

In this role, his team has nothing personal about it anymore. The game draws two Pokémon for him at random from lists matching the requested style — offensive, defensive or balanced — and these Pokémon are built for performance: maxed-out IVs across the board and 510 EVs split evenly across two or three stats.

What's more, the species the game ties to Nate in these roles don't form a coherent story team: the Nimbasa City Double Battle gives him the three elemental monkeys Pansage, Pansear and Panpour along with the middle evolutions of the Unova starters, while the Battle Subway lists feature species like Excadrill, Sawk or Braviary. It's an NPC pool, not a travel log.

No episodes, but a short film, a mobile game and a manga

Nate has never appeared in an animated series. Yet he does exist on screen, through promotional material, the GOTCHA! music video and, above all, a promotional short film devoted entirely to the game he stars in.

This short film runs through a condensed adventure: Bianca gives him Tepig, he meets Colress in Castelia City, takes on Elesa at the Nimbasa City Gym, and storms Team Plasma's frigate with Hugh and Cheren. The last sequence shows him chasing one of the Shadow Triad through an ice-bound Opelucid City, without recovering what was stolen.

The mobile game added him on November 12, 2020, and gives him two outfits. In his canonical clothes, he's paired with Braviary; in his Neo Champion uniform, it's a Shiny Haxorus that accompanies him — the title is built into the outfit.

His profile there describes a gifted Trainer who traveled across Unova in search of adventure, able to click with any partner and busy figuring out where the strength of the Trainers he admires comes from. The mobile game even places him at the Battle Subway during the Black 2 and White 2 storyline, and his sync pair story replays the 2-on-2 battle from his original scene.

Finally, print gives him two more identities. A manga adaptation by Satoshi Kanda renames him Arata, while another story gives him an alter ego named Blake, a high-ranking International Police officer on Team Plasma's trail. On the trading card side, he appears in his canonical outfit on a holo card dedicated to Samurott.

Nate at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Nate in Pokémon?
  He's the male playable character in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, an aspiring Trainer from Aspertia City. Choosing him puts Rosa, his female counterpart, in the role of partner Trainer.
• What is Nate's first Pokémon?
  Whichever of Unova's three starters the player picks: Snivy for the Grass type, Tepig for Fire, Oshawott for Water. Bianca is the one who gives it to him.
• Does Nate appear in the anime?
  No, no animated series has featured him. He does, however, appear in promotional material, in the GOTCHA! music video and in a promotional short film about his game.
• What happens to Nate if you play as Rosa?
  He becomes a non-playable character and appears only once in the story, for a Double Battle at the Nimbasa City station. He then gives you the Vs. Recorder and serves as the default partner on the Battle Subway's Multi Trains.
• Can Nate catch Unova's legendary dragons?
  Yes. Zekrom in Black 2 or Reshiram in White 2 can be caught at Dragonspiral Tower, Kyurem in the Giant Chasm, and the game then lets you fuse these dragons.

In short

Nate is a main-series protagonist who kicks off nothing: he inherits a region already turned upside down by Team Plasma, and an opponent that has officially disbanded. The game makes up for it by giving him Kyurem and his version's dragon — Zekrom in Black 2, Reshiram in White 2 — with the option to fuse them, then by recycling him, if you play as Rosa, into a subway partner with a randomly drawn team. A postwar hero, for a region that had already had its own.