Koga

Koga in the games: the Fuchsia Gym and the Elite Four

Koga runs the Fuchsia Gym in Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen, specializing in Poison types and awarding the Soul Badge. His Red and Blue team is two Koffing, Muk and Weezing He is also a teacher of ninjutsu who makes his own medicines and antidotes.

By Gold, Silver and Crystal (and HeartGold and SoulSilver) he has been promoted to the Elite Four, where he is the second member the player faces and relies on confusing, sleeping and poisoning an opponent rather than brute force. His daughter and student Janine now leads the Fuchsia Gym.

Koga in the anime: The Ninja Poké-Showdown

Koga's only anime episode is The Ninja Poké-Showdown. His Gym is an old mansion in the woods outside Fuchsia City, rigged with fake mirrors, invisible walls, pits and Voltorb, and his younger sister Aya trains there as his student. Once Ash reaches him, Koga's newly evolved Venomoth beats Pidgeotto before Team Rocket interrupts; in the rematch Ash's Charmander defeats Koga's Golbat to win the Soul Badge.

Koga on cards: Gym Challenge and Koga's Trap

Koga first appeared in Gym Challenge (October 16, 2000), which holds nearly all of his cards: his own Trainer card as a holo (#19) and a non-holo Rare (#106), the Trainer card Koga's Ninja Trick, and Owner's Pokémon led by the holos Koga's Beedrill and Koga's Ditto. The rest cover his Koffing, Weezing, Grimer and Muk, plus Weedle, Kakuna, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Ekans, Arbok, Zubat, Golbat and Tangela.

His only modern card is the Supporter Koga's Trap, printed in Unbroken Bonds (2019) with a full-art Ultra Rare by TOKIYA, and reprinted in Hidden Fates later that year.

Cards to know

• Koga (Gym Challenge #19)

  His own holo Trainer card.

• Koga's Beedrill (Gym Challenge #9)

  One of his two holo Owner's Pokémon.

• Koga's Ditto (Gym Challenge #10)

  His other holo Owner's Pokémon.

• Koga's Muk (Gym Challenge #26)

  A Rare of a Pokémon from his Red and Blue Gym team.

• Koga's Trap (Unbroken Bonds #211)

  The full-art Ultra Rare of his 2019 Supporter, illustrated by TOKIYA.