A unique character for thePokemonfranchise, Sonia is introduced inSword & Shieldas the assistant to Professor Magnolia. She ends up having a far more active role in the game’s story, though, spending her time researching the Darkest Day & the region’sLegendary Pokemon, which ends up being the climax of the plot.
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Sonia is young, energetic, intelligent, and has an instantly recognizable look that made are an immediate fan favorite. Having appeared in the games, anime, manga, and even the trading card game, there are many tidbits about Sonia that may have gone under the radar for most players.
10She’s Not Named After A Tree
This may seem obvious to some, but it is an oddity for the franchise. It is a well-known factoid that, in the main series of Pokemon,every Professoris named after a type of tree. Oak, Elm, Birch, Rowan, Juniper, Sycamore, Kukui & Magnolia.
While Sonia isn’t a Professor at the start of the game - and thus, excused from this tradition - she does become one by the end of the story. Additionally, she arguably fulfills more of the traditional role of a Professor than Magnolia does, making her name an odd decision.
9She Gives The Player Their Pokedex
Giving the player their first Pokemon has often been a tradition of the region’s Pokemon Professor; however, it’s not always the case. InSun & Moon, for example, they are given by Hala, the island Kahuna, and inUltra Sun & Ultra Moon, theStarter Pokemonsaves the player from a Yungoos of their own accord.
However, the one tradition that has always followed is the Professor being the one to give the player their Pokedex. The Pokedex is seen as a research tool, so it’s only natural for the Professor to want it filled. However, Magnolia is not the one to give it to the player inSword & Shield, giving the honor to Sonia instead.
8Nessa Is Her Best Friend
This is a detail often glossed over or only mentioned in passing, but it remains consistent throughout all forms of media. It’s unclear how these two met or became friends, but their close bond is referenced multiple times in the game, manga &Twilight Wingsweb series.
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While this is never confirmed, Nessa & Sonia are likely the same age and probably met whilst participating in the Gym Challenge. Either way, the Water-typeGym Leaderconsistently leans on Sonia when she gets stressed, calling her in the manga to vent her frustrations after the protagonist beats her, and Sonia comforts her inTwilight Wingswhen she fails to win the Champion’s Cup.
7She Is Leon’s Childhood Friend
The player’s first meeting with Sonia in the game is brief. However, there is a surprising amount of detail surrounding her character dropped in this pool of dialogue, which many players may have skipped through to get to the action.
The first is that she was once a close friend of Leon’s. It’s clear from how they interact that they know each other well, and their bond is said to go back to their childhood days. This makes sense as they lived more or less just down the road from each other and started with the same ambitions in life.
6She Participated In The Gym Challenge
Her friendship with Leon led her down the path of wanting to become a strong & successful trainer. Likely with Leon’s guidance, the two trainers signed up for the Gym Challenge together, a journey that took the two friends around the entirety of Galar.
It’s unclear if this is the case, but presumably, Sonia had a strong team of Pokemon behind her at some point. In all her media to date, she has only ever been shown to have theElectric-type, Yamper, so it’s unclear what other Pokemon, if any, she journeyed with.
5She Dropped Out Of The Gym Challenge
Unfortunately, as shown in the games, the life of a top Pokemon battler isn’t for everyone, which Sonia discovered on her journey. Be it because she lacked the strength or, as some characters comment, she lacked confidence, Sonia discovered that the life of a champion wasn’t the life for her.
This sets in motion the chain of events that lead to where Sonia is when the player meets her inSword & Shield. She doesn’t really know what she wants to do with her life and is acting as a research assistant for Magnolia because she doesn’t know what else to do with herself.
4Her Friendship With Leon Decayed As He Rose The Ranks
This is a thread that is more mentioned in the anime & manga than in the games. While Leon & Sonia have been friends since childhood and still feature heavily in each other’s lives, they are no longer as close as they once were.
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In Sonia’s words, this is mostly due to Chairman Rose. When it became clear that Leon was a prodigy in battling, Rose became far more involved in Leon’s development. This has the unfortunate consequence of squeezing Sonia out of his life bit-by-bit, as Leon became obsessed with growing stronger and stronger.
Something a bit more light-hearted now, and something only found in the anime. A small tidbit from a random episode of the anime, but at some point, Goh & Sonia need to travel together to chase down the Dynamax energy that is mysteriously falling from the sky.
In a funny scene, the two get into Sonia’s car and follow the trail. However, Sonia’s driving is best described as “wild”. She speeds off with little regard for what’s around her and manages to turn any ride into a bumpy one. Goh tries to comment on this, but Sonia blames the car.
2She Almost Passed Opal’s Audition
Players who make it to thefairytale village of Bollonleawill be surprised to find that the Gym Leader there, Opal, is seeking retirement and auditioning her challengers to be her replacement. This is not a new tradition, as Sonia went through this audition during her Gym Challenge.
Sonia reveals that she managed to correctly answer all of Opal’s questions, putting her in line to pass the audition. However, Opal eventually rejected Sonia, saying she lacked the confidence to be a Gym Leader. Sonia’s lack of pink attire likely played a role, too, although Opal didn’t say that.
1She’s One Of The Few Adults To Accompany The Player
Throughout thePokemongames,the child protagonistand their friends are often left to travel the world completely alone. They may have chance encounters with Professors and Gym Leaders along the way, but they mostly travel without adult supervision.
Kukui somewhat broke this trend in the Alola games, but he would mostly just introduce players to a new island and then leave them be. Sonia, however, is a much more active traveling companion, appearing as regularly (or more so, in some cases) as rivals like Hop & Marnie.
