Fantina
Fantina was the Gym Leader of Hearthome City, though the group passed through town twice without finding her—she'd left a note explaining she was away developing a new battle style and didn't want to be disturbed.
When she finally showed up in "Playing The Leveling Field!", she made an immediate impression: constantly breaking into dance during battles and casually dropping French phrases like "s'il vous plaît." She'd apparently been busy while away. Alan had faced her twice (winning the second encounter), and Paul had managed to beat her too.
Ash eventually caught up with her back in Hearthome City. Their first real gym battle came down to "Shield with a Twist!"—Ash won and claimed the Relic Badge. By the time Barry wanted a shot at her, Fantina had already taken off again, leaving him to take a number and wait for her return.
She later served as a guest judge at the Grand Festival, appearing across four episodes during that event.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
