Akari (Japanese: アカリ Akari) is a middle-school student who appeared in How I Became a Pokémon Card. He is a transgender boy. As a child, Akari was a boy who aspired to be a "cool" Pokémon Trainer. When Akari was very young, he made a promise with his best friend, Akira, that both of them would aim to become the "coolest" Pokémon Trainers ever. When Akira received a Scyther as a present for completing elementary school, Akari begged his mother to get him an equally cool Pokémon. His mother agreed once Akari promised her that he might act more "feminine" if he got his way, and said he would consider it a graduation gift, a birthday gift, and an early Christmas gift all in one. On Akari's birthday, however, he received not the "cool" Pokémon he was hoping for, but rather a Pikachu. In a fit of anger, Akari stormed out of the house and into the woods, pursued by Akira and Pikachu. Akira scolded Akari for acting like neither a male or a female, but rather like "a pathetic human being". While they were arguing, the three were accosted by a group of Ariados, whose territory they had accidentally stumbled into. Pikachu proved its worth by single-handedly defeating the entire herd, and Akari, embracing Pikachu, finally accepted that the coolness of a Pokémon wasn't something objective.