Casey Saunders

Nanako Casey Saunders is from New Bark Town in the Johto region. She and Lyra Nakajima previously traveled with the Mokusetsu when they were in Ecruteak City, Johto, looking for the fourth Plate, Tamamushi. Her main Pokémon is a Beedrill.

Present
Casey first appeared in Episode 14. She and her best friend, Lyra, came across Ash and Dawn in their hometown of New Bark Town, Johto. After introductions and learning what Ash and Dawn were there for, Casey and Lyra wanted to travel with them to find the next Plate. Ash and Dawn brought them to Alain and introduced them. They showed immediate interest in being Manipulators and joining the Mokusetsu later.

They all then traveled to Ecruteak City to find Tamamushi. Casey revealed she has a Beedrill with her. Casey and Lyra educated Ash on the Burned Tower, since they passed by it.

Casey suddenly became sad. Ash checked on her, which is when Casey informed him that she misses the older days before the Tekiyoku took over. She misses the days of Pokémon Gyms, competitions, safety, family, fellowship, and no strict laws. There's a baseball field in this city that she and her family used to play in. Her family loves baseball. However, that field is now abandoned and run-down. Ash tells her comforting words to get her by and Lyra suggests going to play baseball in that old stadium. They all do (except Alain).

When the Tekiyoku attacked the town, they noticed Archie picking on an innocent girl over her not keeping up with her taxes. He tied the girl up to a fence and said he'd come back for her later. The girl's name was Bianca. This angered Casey, who, without thinking, sent her Beedrill out to attack, to the panicked reactions of the others. She ordered Beedrill to attack, which didn't work. Archie caught Beedrill and uttered about how Casey was breaking the Tekiyoku law of not having Pokémon do moves. As a result, he stabbed and killed the Beedrill. Casey was distraught and cried over her dead Beedrill. After this, Casey raised her baseball bat towards Archie. This led Archie to figure out that she must have just come from that baseball field and must love it. Archie then went to it and burned it down with a fuel-filled jerrycan, furthering Casey's tears and dismay. They couldn't stop him because when he left, The Iron-Masked Marauder intercepted and started fighting Ash and Alain.

After the fight for the Bug Plate, the Tekiyoku retreated and when the Plate was found, Ho-Oh flew over the Burned Tower in magnificent fashion. This caused 3 silhouettes to appear from the tower, which Alain exclaimed must be the three Pokémon that died in the fire of that tower years ago. They came back to life, but flew away, their faces not seen.

Another effect of the Bug Plate being found was that Casey's Beedrill came back to life. This filled her with joy and relief.

Dawn ended up being caught by the enemy when they retreated, though. They ordered for the Bug Plate to be given up to them or else they'd kill Dawn. Alain gave the Plate up and the Tekiyoku left. Alain was furious and there was big tension. He then sent Casey and Lyra away from the group.

Personality
Casey has more of a dependent relationship with Lyra. Casey is generally pretty sad and cries easily. She depends on Lyra to cheer her up and keep her going. Lyra seems to be used to this, immediately knowing the different things to cheer Casey up, including playing baseball.

Speaking of which, Casey, along with her family, is a huge fan of baseball. The family colors are yellow and black. Casey loves yellow and black Pokémon, including Ash's Pikachu.

She gets pretty agressive when she's angered, often acting without thinking. Again, Lyra is usually the one to talk sense into her when she does this.

Pokémon
Casey mentioned that she has a Meganium, but due to the Tekiyoku's law on owning only one Pokémon at a time, she chose to keep her Beedrill with her. This is due to her large love for yellow and black Pokémon.

Naming

 * Her first name, Nanako, is her Japanese name in the Pokémon anime. It means "seventh child".
 * Her middle name, Casey, is her name in the English dub of the anime. This is likely a reference to an overconfident baseball player named Casey in the 1888 poem titled "Casey at the Bat".
 * Fun fact: in the anime, Ash's original name was supposed to be Casey, as reported by Veronica Taylor.


 * Her last name, Saunders, was randomly picked from an English name generator. This was done back in Nocturnal Jay's series, Kanto Summer Camp, but he kept the name for Tears of the Fallen.

General

 * Her birthday, October 21st, is the original air date of the episode of the Pokémon anime she first appeared in, in both Japan and the United States. The U.S. version aired exactly one year after the Japan one.
 * In the anime, Casey's Beedrill was given to her by Ash, but in Tears of the Fallen, she caught hers on her own.
 * Both she and Lyra have a Meganium, but neither picked it to be the one Pokémon they keep.