Nessa (2024)

Nessa is a Gym Leader and a user of Water-type Pokémon.

Appearance

Nessa is a tall, dark skinned girl with a very slender physique, long blue and black striped hair and blue eyes. She wears a gym uniform consisting of a white crop top and shorts with blue and orange details as well as a number 049 on it. For accessories, she wears hoop earrings, two armlets, a Dynamax Band and a single blue glove on her right hand. She also wears a belly chain and white and blue sandals with buoys on them.

Her rare League Card depicts her with her hair more wavy, along with a beige-colored dress and red strappy high heels.

Personality

Underneath her seemingly composed exterior through her calm tone when she speaks, Nessa actually conceals a burning heart on battling with massive competitiveness and indomitable willpower. As her type preference suggests, she is a strategist that relies on powerful Water types to suppress and eventually overwhelm opponents' Pokémon.

Etymology

Nessa's name references Loch Ness from Scotland, known for its fabled sea monster. Rurina, her Japanese name, likely comes from 瑠璃 (ruri, lapis lazuli, a blue gemstone) and "marina" (a type of harbor).

Biography

League Card entries

Regular League Card

Her father is a fisher, and her mother works in the marketplace. Perhaps because of her parents, she grew up playing with Water-type Pokémon and eventually made it all the way to being a Gym Leader. She met Sonia during their Gym Challenge, and they continue to be close friends. Nessa often gives Sonia fresh seafood from Hulbury. She has declared that Milo of Turffield is her rival, but Milo responded by saying that his rival is himself.

Rare League Card

Nessa is incredibly popular, both as a Gym Leader and as a model. Many people even think the Gym Leader Nessa and the model Nessa are two different people, since she shows a completely different attitude in each role. She had the misfortune of being defeated in the first match of the Finals, and those who knew of her indomitable nature worried that this would impact her work as a model. Despite her loss, she was still able to give her fans a perfect smile. Things were not nearly as peaceful with her Gym, however...

Other appearances

Pokémon

Nessa's Pokémon are kept in Dive Balls.

Gym battle

Goldeen		Arrokuda		Drednaw
Lv. 22	♀	Lv. 23	♀	Lv. 24	♂
Ability: Swift Swim
Item: None		Item: None		Item: None
Water Pulse		Aqua Jet		Razor Shell
Whirlpool		Bite		Water Gun
Horn Attack		Whirlpool		Bite
Agility		Fury Attack		Headbutt

Champion Cup

Golisopod		Pelipper		Barraskewda		Seaking		Drednaw
Lv. 51	♂	Lv. 51	♂	Lv. 52	♀	Lv. 52	♀	Lv. 53	♀
Ability: Emergency Exit		Ability: Drizzle		Ability: Swift Swim
Item: None		Item: None		Item: None		Item: None		Item: None
First Impression		Roost		Liquidation		Smart Strike		Liquidation
Liquidation		Air Slash		Throat Chop		Megahorn		Jaw Lock
Swords Dance		Water Pulse		Ice Fang		Aqua Ring		Rock Tomb
Shadow Claw		Tailwind		Drill Run		Waterfall		Crunch

Champion Cup rematch

Golisopod		Pelipper		Quagsire		Toxapex		Drednaw
Lv. 60	♂	Lv. 60	♂	Lv. 61	♂	Lv. 61	♂	Lv. 62	♀
Ability: Emergency Exit		Ability: Drizzle
Item: None		Item: None		Item: None		Item: None		Item: None
First Impression		Roost		Earthquake		Baneful Bunker		Liquidation
Liquidation		Hurricane		Scald		Recover		Jaw Lock
Swords Dance		Water Pulse		Ice Punch		Venoshock		Rock Tomb
Shadow Claw		Tailwind		Toxic		Liquidation		Crunch

Trivia

• Nessa resembles Marina from the Splatoon series somewhat: both have dark skin, long, dark hair with teal accents, and midriff-exposing outfits. In addition, both have a water/aquatic life motif: Nessa is a Water-type specialist and swimmer, while Marina is an Octoling, a humanoid species that evolved from (and can turn into) octopi.
  • Her appearance is also similar to Shelly's Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire redesign, as both are dark-skinned and have long dark hair with blue accents.
• Nessa's uniform number, 049, can be read as "oyogu" ("to swim" in Japanese).
• In the Gym Battle, Nessa's Drednaw is male, while in all subsequent Champion Cup matches, it is female.
  • However, the Drednaw she uses during the Gym Battle can be Dynamaxed, while the one she uses afterwards can be Gigantamaxed.
• Nessa is the third Gym Leader with a modeling career (as revealed by her rare League Card, her only in-game appearance in something other than her Gym uniform), after Unova's Elesa and Valerie of Kalos.
  • She is also the second, after Elesa, to still be active in that career, as a Kalosian TV program specifically states Valerie is a former model (as the reason Valerie can wear very high heels; Nessa's rare League Card is the only time she's seen in heels, making her the only Gym Leader with experience as a model to not wear them in-person)

Gallery

Polski