Ronald: The Game Boy Card Game Rival Who Became GRX

He doesn't have a team; he has decks. Ronald is the hero's designated rival in the Game Boy adaptation of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, a world where you don't catch anything and everything is settled at the table. His role there runs with mechanical regularity: he comes back at the same milestones along the way, with a rebuilt deck each time. The sequel adds a mask and a second identity.

Contents

• The Rival in a Game Where You Don't Catch Anything
• The Pokémon Dome Duel and the Legendary Cards
• In the Sequel, the Rival Puts On a Uniform
• A Rival Who Fills Out the Player's Collection
• Ronald at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Rival in a Game Where You Don't Catch Anything

This spin-off game swaps the Trainer's journey for a circuit of card duels, yet it still needs a recurring opponent. That role falls to Ronald, a professional Pokémon card player and the declared rival of Mark, the hero of this adventure.

His appearances are no accident: they're tied to milestones in the player's progress. Once the second Master Medal is earned, he comes looking for the player; he does it again after the fifth, with a deck that's no longer the same.

Both Challenge Cups also serve as his arena — one is held between the third and fourth Medals, the other between the fifth and sixth. Four distinct decks follow one another over the course of the game: the character doesn't improve, he re-equips.

The Pokémon Dome Duel and the Legendary Cards

The decisive showdown awaits the player at the Pokémon Dome, once the four Grand Masters have fallen for the first time. Ronald shows up with a deck built around Legendary Cards that have only just come into his hands: the rival doesn't come back better trained, he comes back better equipped.

His defeat takes away precisely that advantage. He loses the power of those Legendary Cards and can no longer be challenged at the Pokémon Dome, which is an unusual consequence: beating him doesn't make him weaker, it removes him from the scene.

That doesn't mean he's gone from the game. The Challenge Cup sees him return with a deck whose name speaks for itself, Invincible Ronald — a title that comes after a defeat the player has already handed him.

In the Sequel, the Rival Puts On a Uniform

The card game's sequel brings him back several times, and he starts out as a guide. As soon as the player enters a Club for the first time, he tells them about Team Great Rocket and takes them to try out the Card Pop! feature, which hands out a randomly drawn card.

He becomes an opponent again once the second piece of the GR Coin has been recovered, then seemingly switches sides. At the GR Grass Fort, he stands in a Team Great Rocket uniform, under the name GRX, and starts a six-Prize duel with a deck that focuses on Pokémon.

Once defeated, he drops the mask and reveals who he is. One last encounter with him takes place at the GR Fire Fort, once Hiderō has been beaten; when the adventure is over, you'll find him near the duel table in Dr. Mason's Laboratory.

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A Rival Who Fills Out the Player's Collection

What makes him unique in this sequel is that he loses usefully. Every win against him pays out a card: Super Energy Retrieval after the duel that follows the second piece of the GR Coin, and the Computer Error card after the one at the GR Fire Fort.

He also gives without fighting. Once GR3 is defeated and the Water Club members are freed, he brings a Legendary Power booster pack; on GR Island, on the first visit to the Game Center, he hands over the PC card named after Bill.

Revealing his identity at the GR Grass Fort earns two more booster packs, both bearing the name of Team Rocket: Team Rocket's Ambition and We Are Team Rocket. Three named cards and three booster packs thus pass from his hands to the player's.

Ronald at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Ronald in the Pokémon Trading Card Game on Game Boy?
  A Pokémon card player, presented as the rival of Mark, the game's hero. He comes back to challenge the player at regular intervals and fields four different decks over the course of the game.
• Who is GRX?
  It's Ronald himself, in the card game's sequel. He appears at the GR Grass Fort in a Team Great Rocket uniform under this alias, then reveals his identity once beaten.
• What happens after the Pokémon Dome duel?
  Ronald faces the player there with a deck built on freshly acquired Legendary Cards. His defeat makes him lose their power, and he can no longer be challenged at the Pokémon Dome afterward.
• Which cards does Ronald give the player?
  In the first game, beating him earns you Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Mew and Super Energy Retrieval. In the sequel: Super Energy Retrieval, the Bill's PC card and the Computer Error card, plus three booster packs: Legendary Power, Team Rocket's Ambition and We Are Team Rocket.
• Does Ronald have any Pokémon?
  He isn't presented as a Trainer but as a card player. What he fields against the player are decks, and no personal team is attributed to him.

In short

Ronald fills a role few rivals hold in the series: he pits neither a team nor a badge against the player, only a deck of cards rebuilt for each encounter. The first title makes him an opponent calibrated to the player's progress, right up to the Dome duel where he loses the power he'd just acquired. The sequel disguises him, unmasks him, then leaves him near a game table — after making him the adventure's most reliable supplier of cards.