Gaming

Pokemon GO just introduced its first-ever non-binary character

Oct 28 2019
Written by Vic Parsons

Blanche, a Rocket Team leader in Pokemon Go, uses they/them pronouns. (Twitter/PokemonGo)

One of Pokemon GO‘s team leaders has reportedly been confirmed to be a non-binary person.

Blanche, the team leader, has long had fans questioning their gender because Pokemon previously avoided using pronouns for them at all.

But in a new blog post, Pokemon GO used the pronoun “their” to refer to Blanche – apparently confirming that they are non-binary.

While the pronouns a person uses can be indicative of their gender identity, it’s important to note that not all non-binary people use they/them pronouns – and not all people who use they/them pronouns identify as non-binary.

But in Blanche’s case, they/them pronouns appear to confirm what had long been hinted at in other ways, such as the deliberate avoidance of using any pronouns for Blanche – when other team leaders are consistently referred to with gendered pronouns – followed by the use of singular they pronouns.

“Blanche became visibly upset, which tends to happen when things don’t go to their carefully curated plans. This was when something unexpected happened. Instead of us finding a Team GO Mystic Leader, one of them found us,” the blog post read.

Fans on Twitter were quick to celebrate, calling it a “step forward” for Pokemon GO.

“Can we talk about the fact that Blanche identifies as ‘they/them’ and is canonically the first non-binary character in Pokemon canon, and they didn’t have to make a big deal out of it? This the kind of inclusivity I like,” said one person on Twitter.

“Pokemon GO just casually confirmed a non-binary character and I sWEAR I’ve been saying Blanche is non-binary since the moment I saw their silhouette back in 2016,” one Twitter user said.

So, uh, Pokémon GO just went and used singular they for Blanche’s pronouns. In an in-universe story.

Which is doubly appropriate because Blanche, while a real name, means white, aka the non-binary color on the trans pride flag.

So…Team Mystic says Trans rights 🙂

— Evie (@EvieGHJ) October 27, 2019