Ren: Professor Cerise's Assistant and the Café's Magnemite

He shows up late, he's scared of ghosts, and yet he's the one who explains everything. Ren is the second assistant at the lab in Vermilion City, alongside Chrysa, throughout Pokémon Journeys. Behind his slightly scruffy look, the series gives him two roles: the resident encyclopedia, and the Trainer of a single Pokémon, a Magnemite he took in from a café on the verge of closing.

Contents

• The Lab's Second Assistant
• Francois, the Café's Magnemite
• The Gengar in the Basement
• The Resident Encyclopedia
• The Radio, and a Misdirected Letter
• The Magnetic Storm and the Reopening
• Ren at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Lab's Second Assistant

The lab runs with three people. Professor Cerise is in charge, Chrysa brings the rigor, and Ren rounds out the team. His very first appearance coincides with the lab's opening, where he stays at his station while the professor reports a very rare Pokémon passing through.

When Ash and Goh come back from their encounter with Lugia, it's he and Chrysa who comb through the readings they bring back. Cerise promptly offers the two boys the chance to stay on as research fellows, and Ren greets the decision with a smile — a reflex he'll keep every time they come back.

The character isn't exactly a model of punctuality. He turns up one morning apologizing, his bus having been held up by an Ivysaur appearing in the middle of the city, and that's when the professor officially introduces him to the two boys. Chrysa, on the other hand, is never late: the contrast between the two assistants is set up from the very first episodes.

Francois, the Café's Magnemite

While still a student, Ren discovers Café Francois, a Vermilion City spot run by an owner with a passion for antiques. He becomes a regular there and comes across a Magnemite that had wandered in from the wild to feed on the dining room's chandelier. The Pokémon only feeds on electricity produced by old objects, and on that chandelier above all others: it even turns down the retro lamp Ren offers it.

The owner eventually announces that the café is closing, and worries aloud about a Pokémon he can't afford to look after. Ren offers to take it in and leaves with the retro lamp, given to him as thanks. Living together gets off to a rough start: the Magnemite stubbornly refuses to accept anything but the chandelier it left behind.

One snowy night, the Pokémon escapes to go back to the café. Ren goes looking for it and finds it among the trash cans, where it was trying to keep warm. He promises to take it back to its chandelier one day, as long as it eats in the meantime: the Magnemite accepts the lamp, then the nickname Francois, borrowed from the café. Once the Pokémon is caught, the student helps the owner in the hope of a reopening.

💡 Retro-powered electricity has its own section: see our Pokémon lamps.

The Gengar in the Basement

A power outage sends Ren down to the basement with his Magnemite. A wild Gengar attacks him there and leaves him on the floor, frozen with fear; it's his Pokémon that goes back upstairs to get help. Along the way, the team figures out that sudden drops in temperature give away the ghost, which is invisible the rest of the time, and Chloe eventually drives it out of the building with her Yamper's Spark.

The Pokémon comes back a second time. Ren raises the alarm, then stays behind alone in tears while the others go after it. Cerise then admits that he bought the building knowing poltergeists lived there, which means the presence was there long before the lab. Goh takes the opportunity to suggest that the assistant himself might be behind the attacks.

The episode leaves lasting marks. From then on, just mentioning a haunted place is enough to make him nervous, and the slightest noise, even the wind, makes him jump. Sheer drops and heights have the same effect: the series found a running gag there that it keeps coming back to.

The Resident Encyclopedia

That's his real function in the story. Ren knows his rare species and enjoys explaining what he knows: he walks Ash through the Dratini, Dragonair and Dragonite line, pointing out that few Dragonite have been recorded in the wild. Same reflex with Goh's Sobble, whose admiration for Inteleon he explains by reminding everyone that it's Sobble's final form.

He also acts as a voice of caution. After a presentation on the research by Professor Elm into Eggs, the two boys head off to find one; Ren warns that these Eggs aren't so easy to come by. Faced with a Drizzile that keeps to itself, he offers a hypothesis rather than a certainty: the Pokémon might be withdrawing like a Metapod as its evolution approaches.

Last but not least, the lab doubles as a guidance office, and Ren does his part. He explains to Ash how the World Coronation Series works and advises him to battle higher-ranked Trainers, shows Chloe that Galarian Ponyta doesn't look like the Kanto one, and he's there when Cerise sends the duo off to see Professor Magnolia. The group's missions almost always start from a tip given at the lab.

The Radio, and a Misdirected Letter

Ren and Cerise share a passion for radio, and that's how the assistant stumbles upon the show hosted by Team Rocket. He becomes a loyal listener, without ever connecting it to the lab's regular adversaries.

He sends a letter to the show to share Ash and Goh's dreams and cheer them on. Team Rocket reads the message on air and sends its encouragement to the two boys, with no idea who they're cheering on. Ren, for his part, receives a Premier Ball for taking part.

The same thing happens elsewhere. He writes in to an online podcast to help a father who wants to support his daughter, unaware that the father is Professor Cerise. The character fuels these mix-ups precisely because he takes these shows seriously.

The Magnetic Storm and the Reopening

A magnetic storm damages a satellite, whose signal throws the Magnet Pokémon of Vermilion City into disarray. Cerise identifies the transmission by examining Francois and advises Ren to head out to the suburbs, beyond the phenomenon's reach. The group escorts him along the way.

A horde of possessed Magnemite catches up with them and carries Francois off. The signal forces the Pokémon to join together to evolve, but there are too many of them and they clump into a giant mass. The idea that breaks the deadlock comes from Ren: lure the whole horde with the Thunderbolt from Ash's Pikachu, knowing that his own Pokémon won't budge for ordinary electricity.

The plan works, the satellite goes quiet, and Ren gets his Magnemite back. The duo then heads to Café Francois, which is finally celebrating its reopening, and the Pokémon is reunited with the chandelier it never forgot. The promise made one snowy night took almost the entire series to come true.

Ren at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Ren in Pokémon?
  Ren is one of Professor Cerise's two assistants, alongside Chrysa, at the Vermilion City lab. He's a supporting character in the anime, introduced during Pokémon Journeys.
• What Pokémon does Ren have?
  Just one: a Magnemite he nicknames Francois, after the café where he met it. This Pokémon only feeds on electricity produced by old objects.
• Why is Ren afraid of ghosts?
  A wild Gengar attacked him in the lab's basement, then came back for more. Since then, the mere mention of a haunted place is enough to make him nervous, and the slightest noise makes him jump.
• What's the difference between Ren and Chrysa?
  They both hold the same position alongside the professor, but Chrysa is punctual where Ren sometimes shows up late. Ren is also the one who most enjoys explaining what he knows about Pokémon to others.
• Does Café Francois reopen?
  Yes. The owner first has to close, and Ren then helps him in the hope of a reopening. The café eventually reopens, and the Magnemite is reunited with the chandelier it used to feed on.

In short

Ren has just one Pokémon and no badges, but the series gives him a complete arc: an encounter in a café on the verge of closing, a promise kept, a reopening. In between, he holds the thankless job of the one who explains things, puts up with Goh's ghost jokes and misses his bus. When Ash and Goh announce they're leaving, the three scientists thank them for their work, and Chloe volunteers as the lab's new assistant.