Sapphire (Pokémon)

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Sapphire in her later clothes

Sapphire (サファイア, Safaia^?) is a protagonist in the Fourth Chapter of the Pokémon Adventures manga, first appearing in Volume 15.

The daughter of Professor Birch, she is a wild tomboy who usually wore clothing made out of leaves. She eventually encountered Ruby, the son of Petalburg Gym Leader Norman, who was then in the process of running away from his new home in Littleroot Town.

While saving Ruby from three Mightyena, Sapphire injured herself. In gratitude for saving him, Ruby dressed her wounds and made an outfit for her. In Volume 19, it is shown that the reason why Sapphire chose to wear the clothes he made for her was because he wrote, in a letter enclosed with the clothes, that the clothes would definitely fit her. Sapphire gets her third outfit change at the end of Volume 19. Once again, it was Ruby who made the clothes for her, and told her personally that the new clothes would fit her.

Sapphire may be wild and tomboyish, but in actuality, she is a devoted Pokémon Trainer who would go to any lengths to achieve her goals and protect what she treasures most. She was very upset when Ruby had declared that he would rather go back to Johto than stand beside the Gym Leaders as they prepare to face Team Aqua and Team Magma in Volume 19. She persuaded Winona to battle her later, and the Gym Leader was so impressed by her fighting spirit and her will to defend Hoenn that she gave Sapphire the Feather Badge.

In Volume 21, Sapphire was revealed to have a crush on Ruby, though it had been hinted at on several occasions before that.

Sapphire has her wild tomboyish personality, and Ruby his prissy feminine personality, because of an incident that happened when they met briefly at the age of five. She and Ruby were attacked by a wild Salamence. Ruby protected Sapphire, leading Sapphire to believe that she should stand up for herself more. It is highly probable that, because of this belief, she forsook Pokémon Contests and discarded her liking for fanciful stuff at that time, turning her attention to Pokémon Battles.

Sapphire is based on May, the female character from the video games, and it is possible that the design of May in the Pokémon anime is based on her. However, Sapphire's character is notably different from the other two versions of May, especially the animated version, in terms of personality and attitude. In the animated series, May is a Pokémon coordinator, while Sapphire believes coordinators to be rather prissy and prefers Pokémon Battles to contests.