Are you a boy? Or are you a girl? Professor Oak is the very first Pokémon Professor you meet in the wonderful world of Pokémon. He’s forgetful, unable to remember the name of his nephew in games and he’s always around to remind you that you can’t use a bike in the ocean. However, he is an indispensable companion to Ash (and, really, all trainers).

A gym leader who trains only the cutest of Normal-type Pokemon, Whitney (Yuko Miyamura / Megan Hollingshead) is a rather unorthodox trainer. She’s young, sensitive, and admittedly a bit immature, but her Miltank is a force to be reckoned with. If you defeat her, she will give you the Plain Badge…but only after crying about it.

Professor Juniper is the first female professor in the Pokémon series. Her specialisation is Pokémon origin and she is an old friend of Professor Oak, because who isn’t, right? Her clothes are pretty plain, especially when compared to the other Pokémon Profs.

In the Street Fighter series, Guile is a US Air Force major who sets out to avenge his wingman’s death. He does this by bare-knuckle brawling M. Bison. An F-14 Tomcat would get the job done much faster, but where’s the fun in that?

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Sabrina reprises her role as the gym leader of Saffron City. Her own psychic abilities are tied to her affinity for Psychic-type Pokémon, and if you defeat her she will give you the Marsh Badge. Though much of her appearance changes from title to title and platform to platform, Sabrina retains a similar hair color no matter what.

Brock is the leader of the Pewter City gym and a master of rock-type Pokemon. He travels the countryside alongside his companions Misty and Ash, the latter of which he supports in the goal of becoming the Pokemon champion. That is, when he’s not falling in love with every girl he sees.