History
In A Family That Battles Together Stays Together!, Flint recalled that he first met Lola when she was a budding Trainer. He was impressed by her Poliwag‘s Hydro Pump during a battle against his Graveler. They went on to date for sometime, eventually got married, and had their ten children.
Flint was once the Pewter City Gym Leader, but he relinquished this role and abandoned his children to pursue his own ambitions of becoming a powerful Pokémon Trainer, though he had failed in this regard and couldn’t bring himself to face Brock and his nine younger siblings in the wake of this failure. He instead decided to live a life as a hermit selling souvenir rocks for a living on the outskirts of Pewter City.
Ash and Misty first met Flint in Showdown in Pewter City, during which Ash bragged about his goal to become a Pokémon Master. In response, Flint told Ash that thinking he could defeat Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader, was foolish.
After Ash’s unsuccessful match against Brock, Flint talked with him about Brock. Flint went on to point out Brock’s home life and the circumstances behind it. Flint then decided to help Ash in his Gym battle and hooked Pikachu to a hydroelectric dam to increase its strength. After Ash’s rematch, Flint showed up and revealed himself to be Brock’s father. As Brock wanted to travel with Ash, he left the Gym Leader position and the duty of being head of the family to Flint.
Brock returned home in A Family That Battles Together Stays Together! after traveling through Kanto and Johto with Ash, only to find Flint being neglectful of his duties as Gym Leader. Brock scolded Flint for not taking care of the Gym, and Flint explained that it was because Lola had recently returned and renovated the Gym into a Water-type one, much to his dismay. Flint took Brock back to the Gym to show him the renovations.
Lola and Flint had a rematch for the title of Gym Leader, which he lost. However, this rekindled their relationship and prompted them to try and remodel the Pewter Gym into a dual Rock/Water-type Gym, much to the disapproval of their children. Eventually, Brock was able to beat his mother and stop these plans. Flint went on to return to his role as Gym Leader, though Forrest was revealed to have taken over this role in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl special episode Nibi Gym – The Greatest Crisis Ever!
In Grating Spaces, Flint and Lola were sent on a plane trip by Team Rocket, who were posing as Gym stylists and attempting to redecorate the Pewter Gym in a bid to take over the facility. Brock visited home and was shocked to see his parents’ absences, and the Gym’s latest renovation. When the pair returned from their trip, Brock scolded them for abandoning the children once again and informed them that they had fallen for one of Team Rocket’s schemes.
In Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl special episode Nibi Gym – The Greatest Crisis Ever!, Flint returned from a holiday trip with his wife, and started supporting his son Forrest in his match against a Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Inspection Agency.
Character
Flint’s passion for the Rock type has been passed on to his two eldest sons, Brock and Forrest. He continues to reminisce about the battles he had in his youth.
Flint dislikes confrontation and will attempt to keep to himself to avoid issues, such as Lola’s extreme makeover of the Pewter Gym. Brock, on two occasions, had to give Flint some stern advice to help him to overcome this. Even so, Flint struggles with guilt and is consciously aware that he allowed his children to grow up without their parents, but is pleased with their resilience and ambitions.
Flint rekindled his relationship with Lola in A Family That Battles Together Stays Together!, after it had gone astray because of Lola’s passionate uptake of certain hobbies. Lola brings out a softer side of Flint’s personality, where he is shown to be happier and more easygoing in her presence. However, his affection for Lola also embarrasses his children. Flint also panders to Lola’s dreams at the expense of his children’s beliefs, to the point where he is fine with the Pewter Gym closing for good.
Trivia
- In the English, Finnish and Castilian Spanish dubs, Flint in Grating Spaces! (in the Finnish dub also in Showdown in Pewter City) is voiced by the same voice actor who voices the narrator.
- In Pocket Monsters: The Animation, it implies that Flint is not Lola’s only husband and may not actually be the father of some of Brock’s siblings, as it mentioned that Lola “married again and again” to keep the gym due to each husband fleeing from their responsibilities, which also resulted in her having lots of kids.
- Flint’s Japanese name could be from Yoshiharu Tsuge‘s manga, “The Incompetent Man”.