Kai Yamamoto
Kai Yammamoto is an major character in Pokemon: New Horizons and one of the traveling companions of Mige A kind-hearted and trusting person, Kai is enthusiastic and caring with a strong desire to help his friends. A food writer by trade, Kai has a broad knowledge of languages, cultures, and possesses an ability to deepen his understanding of others through the medium of food. While he can be a bit of a scaredy-skitty sometimes, Kai is ultimately a loyal friend who is willing to go to great lengths to stand beside his friends.
Coming from the archipelago nation of Ransei, Kai is a food writer that has amassed a modest following through his food critique column for The Happy Pilgrim magazine. He loves to travel, meet new people, and experience new cultures, brimming with enthusiasm and excitement whenever the group arrives somewhere new. Despite his generally soft-spoken and timid demeanor, Kai enjoys pushing himself out of his comfort zone from time to time. Before traveling with Mige, that meant eating things out of his wheelhouse or, like, maybe bungee jumping. These days, it means facing extradimensional beings, fighting domestic terrorists, and trudging through the mud. Despite his discomfort, though, Kai never backs down or runs away—even if he might want to. In the end, he won’t let his friends face danger alone.
Kai is a loyal and dedicated friend. He seems to be thrilled to be a part of Mige’s social circle, though he clearly lacks a lot of experience in that field, having a bit of trouble reading sarcasm and sometimes forgetting certain social norms. In social situations, Kai is extroverted but awkward; he seems eager to hang out and make new friends but can be a little tongue-tied and say weird things that others don’t really know how to parse. He doesn’t mind crowds, and enjoys people watching. He is very apologetic and tends to over-explain himself. He is a mild-mannered person, never being one to dance or be the center of attention.
Of course, this changes somewhat when he drinks. Kai is a social drinker, but he tends to drink HARD and has an extremely low tolerance. He is infamous for how quickly he gets drunk, having even gotten drunk off of a single glass of wine once. When he’s drunk, Kai is extremely affectionate, expressing his genuine affection for his friends, such as his common expression to Mige that they are “a couple of cards”. Unfortunately, Kai is also very talkative when he’s drunk ---and Mige might say he’s a little too talkative. Mige refers to this side of Kai as “Garth”, who tends to act impulsively and say whatever it is that pops into his brain. This has included, but not limited to, calling Mige a Bewear (which upset him), talking about how attractive he thinks Valerie is and positing that he could be Mige’s uncle one day, and loudly talking about how Crystal and Mige have kissed (to their embarrassment).
Part of his journey seems to be about finding his own strength. He views himself as weak, cowardly, and spineless most of the time. In dangerous situations, Kai often freezes up. He can barely control his Pokemon. He gets exhausted when the group is hiking. This all makes Kai feel less than useless. While his friends may not agree, given that his intelligence and life experience have come in handy multiple times, Kai desires to grow stronger and is dedicated to following all of the advice that Mige and Crystal have given him. He seems to be trying to model himself off of Mige, in fact, who he sees as the kind of heroic person he’d like to be.
He dresses well, but modestly. He doesn’t like to stand out, preferring dark or neutral colors with only a pop of color, usually a tie or vest. His clothes are well made, and thus expensive, but simple. He often layers his outfits and is drawn to sweater-vests and cardigans.
Starting in NH010, after the Santalune Forest arc, Kai’s main outfit changed. He now wears a red sweater vest over a white collared shirt, without a tie, and a blue and white modern-style bomber jacket. He still usually wears brown pants, as well as the same pair of sneakers.
During the aforementioned Santalune City arc, Kai wore his original outfit but with a red flannel shirt instead of the Gengar shirt. While training in the mansion during the week at the start of NH017, his athletic outfit was a sleeveless, dark blue basketball jersey with gold running shorts, tube socks, with a yellow sweatband and matching yellow wristbands.
During more formal occasions, Kai wears a black tailored suit, with a black collared shirt and a red tie, with formal, black dress shoes.
Kai came to Kalos in the hopes of writing the Ultimate Kalo Travel Guide; he wants to see as much as he can; he wants to meet people, hear their stories, learn their customs, eat new dishes, exist in their world. He has joined Mige and Crystal as they travel Kalos on their own journeys. Their basic agreement is that they’ll protect him and help him earn his Volbeat’s respect, and he’ll act as a guide, translator, and source of information about the country.
For his friends, Kai possesses a pure sort of love, offering enthusiastic support and unconditional kindness. He is generous with his time and energy, and when he’s not busy with work he seems to prefer spending time with his friends doing the things that they like to do. He doesn’t seem to mind what the group does, and seems genuinely happy to just be there with his friends.
He is a genuine person seemingly without an ounce of cynicism in his body. He tries his best to be helpful, considerate, and honest, and expects others to be the same. It’s difficult to get a rise out Kai, but when it happens it’s usually due to someone being intentionally cruel or careless in ways that cause real harm to others. He’s extremely open-minded and respectful of others’ beliefs and lifestyles.
He often gives others the benefit of the doubt, taking them at their word and never assuming maliciousness. This leads Kai to being a bit naïve and more than a little gullible. He’s a favorite target of Celosia for just this reason; no matter what absurd shit she says, he usually takes her at face value nine times out of ten. His lack of assertiveness and tendency to be a people pleaser make Kai a doormat sometimes, which is something he seems to recognize about himself and want to change.
While he professes to not have much experience or knowledge about dealing with romance, he possesses quite a bit of “rizz” when he’s drunk, becoming more flirtatious and bold. A prime example of this was when Mige and the others found him making out with Viola Rousseau during a get-together.
It seems that despite his straightforward and genuine nature, Kai still has some surprises up his sleeve.
Despite this, Kai has shown himself to be much more readily capable as a caregiver. While nervous with Dedenne’s egg at first, he’s taken to caring for an infant Pokemon quite readily. He enjoys grooming Pokemon, and has started to look into Pokemon nutrition more seriously.
His motivations for training aren’t to collect badges or to grow stronger for the sake of growing stronger. He seems to have little interest in that, if any, given that his original intent of traveling with Mige and Crystal were that they would serve as bodyguards of sorts for him (an idea that all three of them promptly dropped, like, right away when Mige indicated that he didn’t need a pretense to travel with them). Instead, he wants to grow stronger as a way to protect his friends from danger.
Character
Kai is mild-mannered, enthusiastic, and kind-hearted. A bit of a dork, Kai is the kind of person to wear his emotions on his sleeve and speaks to others without a hint of deceit. He can be a bit timid and anxious, and often has trouble expressing his thoughts and feelings to others; he is not assertive at the best of times. However, he is supportive of his friends and trusts them implicitly, so while he may not always chime in with his opinions, he is confident that his friends know what they’re talking about and will generally trust them to make the right calls.Coming from the archipelago nation of Ransei, Kai is a food writer that has amassed a modest following through his food critique column for The Happy Pilgrim magazine. He loves to travel, meet new people, and experience new cultures, brimming with enthusiasm and excitement whenever the group arrives somewhere new. Despite his generally soft-spoken and timid demeanor, Kai enjoys pushing himself out of his comfort zone from time to time. Before traveling with Mige, that meant eating things out of his wheelhouse or, like, maybe bungee jumping. These days, it means facing extradimensional beings, fighting domestic terrorists, and trudging through the mud. Despite his discomfort, though, Kai never backs down or runs away—even if he might want to. In the end, he won’t let his friends face danger alone.
Kai is a loyal and dedicated friend. He seems to be thrilled to be a part of Mige’s social circle, though he clearly lacks a lot of experience in that field, having a bit of trouble reading sarcasm and sometimes forgetting certain social norms. In social situations, Kai is extroverted but awkward; he seems eager to hang out and make new friends but can be a little tongue-tied and say weird things that others don’t really know how to parse. He doesn’t mind crowds, and enjoys people watching. He is very apologetic and tends to over-explain himself. He is a mild-mannered person, never being one to dance or be the center of attention.
Of course, this changes somewhat when he drinks. Kai is a social drinker, but he tends to drink HARD and has an extremely low tolerance. He is infamous for how quickly he gets drunk, having even gotten drunk off of a single glass of wine once. When he’s drunk, Kai is extremely affectionate, expressing his genuine affection for his friends, such as his common expression to Mige that they are “a couple of cards”. Unfortunately, Kai is also very talkative when he’s drunk ---and Mige might say he’s a little too talkative. Mige refers to this side of Kai as “Garth”, who tends to act impulsively and say whatever it is that pops into his brain. This has included, but not limited to, calling Mige a Bewear (which upset him), talking about how attractive he thinks Valerie is and positing that he could be Mige’s uncle one day, and loudly talking about how Crystal and Mige have kissed (to their embarrassment).
Part of his journey seems to be about finding his own strength. He views himself as weak, cowardly, and spineless most of the time. In dangerous situations, Kai often freezes up. He can barely control his Pokemon. He gets exhausted when the group is hiking. This all makes Kai feel less than useless. While his friends may not agree, given that his intelligence and life experience have come in handy multiple times, Kai desires to grow stronger and is dedicated to following all of the advice that Mige and Crystal have given him. He seems to be trying to model himself off of Mige, in fact, who he sees as the kind of heroic person he’d like to be.
Appearance
Kai is tall and thin, with a somewhat wiry and lanky build, with long limbs. He has shaggy, black hair and brown eyes, with extremely fair skin that sunburns easily. His eyesight is abysmal, so he wears thick, black framed glasses with a very strong perscription.He dresses well, but modestly. He doesn’t like to stand out, preferring dark or neutral colors with only a pop of color, usually a tie or vest. His clothes are well made, and thus expensive, but simple. He often layers his outfits and is drawn to sweater-vests and cardigans.
Outfits
When he was first introduced, Kai’s main outfit was a long-sleeved shirt with a stylized Gengar on the front and a puffy black vest with a green collar. He wore long, brown pants and sneakers, and wore a red scarf to accent the look.Starting in NH010, after the Santalune Forest arc, Kai’s main outfit changed. He now wears a red sweater vest over a white collared shirt, without a tie, and a blue and white modern-style bomber jacket. He still usually wears brown pants, as well as the same pair of sneakers.
During the aforementioned Santalune City arc, Kai wore his original outfit but with a red flannel shirt instead of the Gengar shirt. While training in the mansion during the week at the start of NH017, his athletic outfit was a sleeveless, dark blue basketball jersey with gold running shorts, tube socks, with a yellow sweatband and matching yellow wristbands.
During more formal occasions, Kai wears a black tailored suit, with a black collared shirt and a red tie, with formal, black dress shoes.
History
Main Article: Detailed History (Kai Yamamoto)Pre-Series
Growing up in a middle class family in southern Ransei, Kai always strove to write and create over the “safer” career paths of his father and brother. He made a name for himself as a food critic, before eventually receiving opportunities to travel to various restraunts around the world.Kai came to Kalos in the hopes of writing the Ultimate Kalo Travel Guide; he wants to see as much as he can; he wants to meet people, hear their stories, learn their customs, eat new dishes, exist in their world. He has joined Mige and Crystal as they travel Kalos on their own journeys. Their basic agreement is that they’ll protect him and help him earn his Volbeat’s respect, and he’ll act as a guide, translator, and source of information about the country.
Relationships
Kai doesn’t have a lot of personal relationships. His work, combined with the need to travel for it, kept Kai pretty much by himself for a long time. To his own admission, he’s only ever had one girlfriend—which last about two months during his first year of university. He is eager to please, polite, and friendly but his awkwardness can sometimes be a little off-putting or a little much for others.For his friends, Kai possesses a pure sort of love, offering enthusiastic support and unconditional kindness. He is generous with his time and energy, and when he’s not busy with work he seems to prefer spending time with his friends doing the things that they like to do. He doesn’t seem to mind what the group does, and seems genuinely happy to just be there with his friends.
He is a genuine person seemingly without an ounce of cynicism in his body. He tries his best to be helpful, considerate, and honest, and expects others to be the same. It’s difficult to get a rise out Kai, but when it happens it’s usually due to someone being intentionally cruel or careless in ways that cause real harm to others. He’s extremely open-minded and respectful of others’ beliefs and lifestyles.
He often gives others the benefit of the doubt, taking them at their word and never assuming maliciousness. This leads Kai to being a bit naïve and more than a little gullible. He’s a favorite target of Celosia for just this reason; no matter what absurd shit she says, he usually takes her at face value nine times out of ten. His lack of assertiveness and tendency to be a people pleaser make Kai a doormat sometimes, which is something he seems to recognize about himself and want to change.
While he professes to not have much experience or knowledge about dealing with romance, he possesses quite a bit of “rizz” when he’s drunk, becoming more flirtatious and bold. A prime example of this was when Mige and the others found him making out with Viola Rousseau during a get-together.
It seems that despite his straightforward and genuine nature, Kai still has some surprises up his sleeve.
Pokemon
Kai is not a “natural” trainer. Unlike many others throughout the World of Pokemon series, things don’t seem to come easily to him. He loves Pokemon, but they can make him nervous sometimes and he has a hard time commanding them and has a great deal of difficulty with battles. He’s slowly getting better, but it’s taking a lot of effort and hard work for him to do so.Despite this, Kai has shown himself to be much more readily capable as a caregiver. While nervous with Dedenne’s egg at first, he’s taken to caring for an infant Pokemon quite readily. He enjoys grooming Pokemon, and has started to look into Pokemon nutrition more seriously.
His motivations for training aren’t to collect badges or to grow stronger for the sake of growing stronger. He seems to have little interest in that, if any, given that his original intent of traveling with Mige and Crystal were that they would serve as bodyguards of sorts for him (an idea that all three of them promptly dropped, like, right away when Mige indicated that he didn’t need a pretense to travel with them). Instead, he wants to grow stronger as a way to protect his friends from danger.
On Hand
 Volbeat |
 |
 Skiddo |
 |
Achievements
Other Accomplishments
- Winner of the “Who Do You Meet at the Top of Mount Hoji?” essay contest (2009)
- Graduated Hojo University with a Bachelor’s Degree Culinary Science (2017)
- Staff Writer at Happy Pilgrim magazine
- Awarded an Editor’s Choice Magazine Journalism Award for “Best Foreign Food Guide” by RASJE (the Ransei Academy of Journalistic Excellence) (2019)
Alternate Versions
Main Article: Alternate Timelines Throughout Pokemon: New Horizons, Mige has had the opportunity to travel to and view different possible futures, which according to Theron are those that are “the most likely” outcome based on current circumstances when Mige travels. Kai has been mentioned or encountered in each of the timelines Mige has seen so far. He seems to go on to become relatively well-adjusted after his adventures; his resilience and optimism seem able to carry him through. However, it should be noted that Mige has only directly encountered Kai in only one of these timelines so information is fairly limited. Listed below are the notable timelines for Kai that Mige has encountered, either in a Special or in an episode of Pokemon: New Horizons. For consistency, note here that the timeline experienced in the present day within the World of Pokemon universe, as experienced by Mige and all other characters, is referred to as the “Prime Timeline”, the “Prime World”, or “Earth Prime”. As such, current, present-day versions of characters are referred as their prime versions (Kai-Prime, for example). Possible futures are numbered in the order Mige visited them, so Timeline-001, Timeline-002, and so on. Character encountered in these timelines are referred with that number, so Kai-001 is the future version of Kai encountered in Timeline-001 and so on.Timeline-001 - Uncle Kai
Main Article: Timeline-001 When Mige first arrived in this timeline, in 2024, Kai-001 was one of the people that Mige learned was alive and well after the events the group was living through in the present. According to Celosia-001, Kai-001 was loyal and never left Mige's side throughout all of his adventures, despite how terrified he was mostly the entire time. Kai-001 was deeply affected by Crystal-001's death, and being unable to reconcile or save her caused Kai to become more dedicated to growing stronger. Kai-001 has a mustache he was extremely proud of and almost everybody else hated. Little is known about Kai-001 beyond this, except that Clem-001 referred to him as "Uncle Kai", that he buys presents for Clem when he visits, and that he was in some kind of a romantic relationship with Viola-001. They evidently did not live in Lumiose City, as the two were eager to travel to the city for Christmas in order to meet baby Bill. In NH025, as Theron and Mige discussed certain elements of the future, Theron revealed that Kai-001 was among the many dead as of 2044, having died in some point before Theron returned to 2020. The exact time and nature of Kai's death is unknown, though it is widely speculated that Kai-001 was killed by the same sickness that killed Mige-001 (given the context of Theron bringing it up).Timeline-002 - Unknown
Main Article: Timeline-002 Set in 2029, little is known about Kai-002 except that he is alive, living in Ransei, and is apparently still in contact with Alexa-002. This may be because he is in a relationship with Viola-002, or they might just still talk sometimes (it's unclear). Like Timeline-002, Kai-002 has "an awful mustache".Timeline-003 - Divorced Kai
Main Article: Timeline-003 In this timeline, by 2032, Kai-003 is having a rough go of things. He is going through a divorce from Valerie-003 and will likely not gain primary custody of their two children, and he has had a falling out with Marcellus-003, as their restaurant went out of business as well. Mige directly encountered and interacted with Kai-003, who was much like regular Kai only with a mustache and a lot sadder. He was present at Mige-003 and Crystal-003's wedding, at which he "openly wept". He also "openly wept" at his own wedding. Kai-003 is a beloved "uncle" to Mige's children and a close friend to the family, as they are letting him sleep on their couch for as long as he needs to until he gets back onto his feet. Casey Fjord, Mige-003's daughter with Crystal-003, mentioned that she could hear Kai-003 crying on the couch at night when he thinks everyone else is asleep.Timeline-004 - Acclaimed Writer Kai
Main Article: Timeline-004 In this timeline, much like Timeline-002, the Kai of this future has moved back to Ransei and works as a successful food writer. He still remains in contact with Mige-004 and Alexa-004, and he sends extravegent gifts to their children. Kai-004 is the only future Kai that Mige has encountered so far that does not have a mustache.Timeline-005 - Possible Criminal
Main Article: Timeline-005 This timeline is very similar to Timeline-001 in many ways, but there are several fundamental differences between them. In this future, Kai-005 apparently bought a silk shirt that made him "cocky and pretentious", according to Celosia-005, and started him down a long road that ultimately led to him owning a bar/lounge in Ryme City that may or may not cater to criminals and underworld figures. That seemed to be the implication, and while Celosia-005 was not totally clear on it is worth noting that Mige-005 and Celosia-005 are evidently "not super comfortable" with the lavish gifts Kai sends them all. This Kai does have a mustache, as well as mutton chops. Little else is known about Kai-005, except that he does not keep in touch with most of their surviving friends. As discovered when Mige returned to this timeline, by 2044, Kai-005 no longer lived in Ryme City and had moved back to Ransei to be with his sister. It's not known what Kai-005 got up to after that, aside from the fact that he kept in touch with both Clem-005 and Mige's other children, all of whom refer to Kai-005 as "Uncle Kai".Timeline-006 - Globe Trotter
Main Article: Timeline-006 The Kai of Timeline-006 survived as most have. He stayed in Kalos with Mige-006 and Tim-006 for some time, until Bill-006's death; when Mige-006 moved back to Kanto, Kai-006 did not follow along and instead stayed with Viola-006, whom he married. The two apparently travel together and co-wrote a number of successful travel guides. As of 2029, Kai-006 and Mige-006 are no longer in contact as Mige cut off ties with almost everyone. It isn't known whether Kai-006 has a mustache or not.Timeline-007 - Roomates
Main Article: Timeline-007 Not much is known about Kai-007, aside from the fact that he is alive as of 2032 and is apparently roommates with Wynn-007. Kai-007 is referred to as "Uncle Kai" by Mige-007 and Lara-007's children.Timeline-008 - Twinned Fates
Main Article: Timeline-008 This timeline is nearly identical to Timeline-007, with the exception of a few minor details. Kai's fate is never directly mentioned during Mige-Prime's visit to that timeline in 2043. Due to Timeline-008's similarity to Timeline-007, however, it can be safely assumed that Kai-008's life and fate are more or less the same, with differences likely being minor.Appearances
Kai has appeared in 20 episodes of Pokemon: New Horizons, and in two episodes of the New Horizons: Wish Upon a Star special.Trivia
- His favorite food is beef ramen and his favorite dessert is green-tea mochi. His least favorite food is anything with too much cinnamon.
- His favorite Pokemon is Dragonite.
- Kai’s favorite season is winter. He dislikes the summer, because he strongly dislikes being hot.
- Kai has ADHD.
- Kai is afraid of ghosts. He also used to be afraid of ghost-type Pokemon, but that's relaxed quite a bit since traveling with Mige and the others.
- Kai is Mige’s 8th traveling companion, or his 11th if Djorn Tony, Lara Miyamoto-Pierce, and Trevor Pearl are counted.
- Kai does not own any Pokemon pre-generation III or post-generation VI.
- After Mige and his Pokemon, Kai has appeared in the most number of Pokemon: New Horizons episodes.
- Kai is directly based off of the Male Tourist trainer class from the Pokemon X&Y games.
Kai
Children
Nicknames: K (Crystal) | "Garth" (Drunken Persona; coined by Mige)
Birthday: February 17, 1996 (aged 24)
Hometown: Terrera City, Ransei
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Height: 6’01"
Relatives: Kenji Yammamoto (father)
Kimiko Yammamoto (mother)
Shoji Yammamoto (older brother)
Yuki Yammamoto (younger sister)
Blood Type: B+
Occupation: Food Critic, Travel Writer
First Appearance:
The Critic and the Volbeat
Status: Alive
