Characters / Pokémon Sun and Moon

Main Character Index > Sun and Moon (Major Organizations)

The characters of Pokémon Sun and Moon and their Ultra versions.

For a list of Pokémon that debuted in the seventh generation, see Pokémon: Generation VII Families.

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The Protagonists

General Tropes

• Action Fashionista: Much like Calem and Serena in the previous generation, they kick lots of butt while wearing various different outfits.
• Adapted Out: Neither made an appearance in the Sun and Moon anime, but "Elio's" default outfit was given as Ash's outfit in that series.
• Ascended Meme: Their blank, smiling expressions during important cutscenes were turned into comedical gags in Masters by giving them zoomed shots of their faces as they try to figure out rhymes or Elesa's horrible puns.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Kukui goes around the islands scouting the best trainers to make up the Alolan League. When you arrive and beat the Elite Four, Kukui essentially reveals that you were being recruited to be the fifth trainer and Champion all along. The final battle sees the player as Champ defending their title from the last trainer as a challenger.
• Big Eater: While Hapu will chastise them for not finishing the Zumungous Noodle Bowl at Seafolk Village, they can still visit three different restaurants in rapid succession and eat as much as they can buy at those restaurants. Not only that but they describe the food in impeccable taste, almost like they are a professional restaurant reviewer. At the Battle Buffet, you can take up to 50 servings of food, and assuming you've picked the least popular dishes, the protagonists can eat 24 servings and still be hungry and totally unsatisfied.
• The Big Guy: Or Gal, if you're playing Selene, in the main story. The Player Character has no goals beyond the Island Challenge, and due to their blank expression, it's hard to tell how they really work in group dynamics. The rest of the cast repeatedly notes how the player is a natural when it comes to battling, and they are the powerhouse that crushes the opposition in every team they join. Whether it be fighting with the captains against Team Skull, following Gladion into the Aether Foundation, helping Lillie save Nebby, or catching the Ultra Beasts for the international police, someone else is always driving the plot. You are The Hero, but only significant due to being the most powerful trainer of the group who was directly chosen by Tapu Koko.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: A rare heroic example. Whenever they encounter Team Skull, they will ask if you remember them, and selecting no will come off as the trope. Kinda justified when you consider the fact that the Grunts all look alike.
• But Thou Must!: Certain dialogue options can make the protagonist come off as hesitant or outright resistant about becoming a Pokémon trainer, but the plot still requires them to take the island challenge, regardless.
• The Chosen One: It's implied that Tapu Koko gave them the base for their Z-Ring because they saw something extraordinary in them (with said treatment usually being confined to island Kahunas). Considering they bravely risk life and limb to save Nebby the Cosmog, it's understandable.
• Cloudcuckoolander: They have a hobby of sleeping in other people's beds, and commenting on how the beds feel and smell. This has no effect on their Pokémon's health. There's also the fact that they can suddenly burst into a pirouette if you make them walk in a circle.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The male protagonist wears blue Popplio themed shoes and shirt with Litten pants in the middle, and the female protagonist red Litten themed shoes, hat and bag with Rowlet themed shorts and shirt in the middle in their default appearances. And in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the male protagonist wears a Popplio inspired shirt and shorts with Litten themed shoes, bag and hat while the female protagonist wears a Rowlet inspired hat, shorts, and shoes and a Litten inspired shirt and bag.
• Composite Character: Pokémon Masters uses their Sun and Moon designs despite using the Ultra games for its particular canon.
• Cool Shades: They can wear sunglasses in several colors, though only Sun gets aviator shades in particular.
• Curtains Match the Window: Black hair and eyes in their default appearance, albeit with a slight bluish tint.
• Dance Battler: Part of using Z-Moves involves doing a Magic Dance.
• Dissonant Serenity: They are almost always seen with a slight smile, regardless of the situation. The exceptions are when saving Nebby/being saved by Tapu Koko in the beginning; the first appearance of Nihilego at the Aether Foundation; when Lusamine (and Guzma) are pulled into the Ultra Wormhole in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon; the beginning of Nebby's transformation into Solgaleo/Lunala; just before the appearance of Necrozma and when it absorbs Solgaleo/Lunala in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon; after defeating Lusamine/restoring her to normal in Sun/Moon; and after defeating Ultra Necrozma in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.
• Exposed to the Elements: Both dress like what you'd expect for a warm, tropical location, but they can still ascend to the chilly heights of Mt. Lanakila in the same outfits, with no problem.
• Fantasy Helmet Enforcement: Their ride gear includes a helmet.
• Friend to All Living Things: In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, as they can play with several Pokémon who has trainers. taking an interest in the the player character as they walk by them even when these Pokémon had just met them for the first time. In the Rainbow Rocket Episode, the Rotom Dex tells Cyrus that it's because they are this to Pokémon that they are able to win against him.
• Heroic Mime: Averted, as you are given plenty of dialogue options.
• I Have Many Names:
  • A promotional trailer featuring the Battle Royale shows two male playable characters named "Sun" and "Elio" and two female characters named "Moon" and "Selene", and the demo puts the player in the shoes of a male playable character named "Sun."
  • Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon use the promotional names "Ray" ("Kouta") and "Ailey" ("Koumi").
  • Internal data sets their names to "Kai" for the boy, and "Lana" for the girl, though the existence of Trial Captain Lana complicates this.
  • Masters uses their promotional theme names from the originals.
• Jerkass: In a first for the series, you're given plenty of chances to play your character as a rude, detached asshat. You can express indifference to Alolan culture, insult Hau and Lillie, and tell Sophocles that you don't like his Festival Plaza.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: They do keep a Meowth as a housecat after all. You can reinforce this by picking Litten as your starter, giving everyone in your family a signature cat Pokémon.
• Limit Break: The first playable protagonists to use Z-Moves, which are powerful attacks that activate through a bond between Pokémon and trainers and the use of a Z-Crystal, but can only be used once per battle.
• Magical Accessory: Their bracelets are Z-Rings, which allow their Pokémon to use Z-Moves and Mega Evolve.
• Magic Dance: Are the first protagonists to use Z-Moves, which require a dance to activate.
• Magical Flutist: They play the Sun/Moon Flute to call Solgaleo or Lunala depending on the version.
• Meaningful Name: Their version names are Sun and Moon for the guy and girl respectively. Their promotional theme names are Elio and Selene — Helios and Selene were the Greek gods for the sun and moon. Meanwhile, their names as of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are Ray and Ailey, which mean "beam of light" and "light" in Irish. Alternatively, based on their Japanese equivalents, Ray could refer to the musical note (Kouta roughly translates to "Song") while Ailey sounds phonetically similar to bay leaf (Koumi may translate to "Spice").
• Mighty Whitey: Downplayed. It seems this way; a foreigner is welcomed into a different culture, learns their ways, is chosen by one of their ancient guardians, eventually becoming the strongest trainer and very first official Pokémon Champion of the Alola League. However, since they came from Kanto – which is based on Japan – their default light-skinned appearance isn't supposed to be white but rather Asian.
• New Transfer Student: Like in the Japanese trailer, the hero is a new kid who just moved to Alola and is quickly befriended by the rival.
• No Name Given:
  • The player characters in Sun and Moon are not given official names in the final game. In the actual, final game, the opposite playable gender never appears as an NPC and no selection of names are given when the player is asked to name their character.
  • Japanese fandom adopted Mizuki as the female trainer's name. Although not as unanimous, they're tending towards calling the male protagonist Yō. Eventually, Mizuki was confirmed to be the female trainer's Japanese canon name via figurine, as was Selene when it came out in English. Though given that Mizuki is the Japanese equivalent for one of the female trainer's promotional names, it may be a placeholder.
  • In promotional material for Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the protagonists are named Ray and Ailey. Despite these being the first set of names with no direct connection to the games' titles, these names were officially supplanted later on.
• One Head Taller: Lillie is actually slightly taller than they are, which is more dramatic a difference when playing as Selene.
• One-Man Army:
  • Or to be more exact, a One-Trainer Army. Near the end of the game, they've become strong enough to take on five Team Skull grunts at once and win.
  • Even moreso in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, as they can defeat eight Big Bads (six of them with Legendary Pokémon in their teams, mind you) and three Pokémon League Champions all by themselves, which is much more than any other player character could do, with only Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 having protagonists that can dare to get close to such accomplishments.
• Parental Title Characterization: A throwaway line has them refer to their father as "father". In previous games the father was always described as "Dad" by the protagonist. It's never specified what this could mean, however their dad is apparently absent. This wasn't the case in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon where the protagonist calls their father "Dad" instead.
• Perpetual Smiler: They almost never have their smiles leave their faces, even while faced with villains.
• Save the Princess: They rescues Lillie, whose placement in the plot makes her a "princess"-type character on several occasions.
• Schrödinger's Player Character: The player character you don't choose never appears as an NPC, which hasn't happened in a main series game since FireRed & LeafGreen.
• Spectacular Spinning: Spinning the control pad in a circle for long enough will make them do a pirouette.
• The Stoic: They hardly ever change expression, not even when an Ultra Wormhole opens. Downplayed that they do have reactions of shock in some cutscenes, but otherwise, their reactions remain unchanged. Masters hilariously makes this trait into an Ascended Meme.
• Ship Tease: They're teased a lot with Lillie throughout the story. Yes, even when playing as Selene. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, they also got some tease with Hau and even a little with Gladion.
• Suddenly Voiced: While they normally don't talk outside of dialogue options, when an Ultra Wormhole briefly appears in the sky above Heahea City, you get a sentence from their internal monologue where they wonder why they're seeing a crack in the sky.
• Super Mode: In the post-game, they gain the ability to use Mega Evolution through Dexio or Sina gifting them a Key Stone after beating them, depending on the version.
• Supporting Protagonist: The story is really more about Lillie and Nebby than the hero, and the post game is more about Looker and Anabel.
• Status Quo Is God: Surprisingly averted. They become Alola's first champion and it sticks in the post-game. Whenever they go through the Elite Four, the person they fight after is out to claim their title.
• Strong Family Resemblance: You can choose the third option for the trainer customization at first and have either of the protagonist you choose look exactly like their mother in skin color, eyes and hair.
• Vague Age: Actually averted, despite them having access to the same basic toolbox that gave Calem and Serena such a wide variety of apparent ages. Wicke asks the player at one point if they are "around eleven", to which the player can choose to respond either "Yes" or "How'd you know?", but saying no isn't an option.
• Virtual Paper Doll: Much like the Gen VI protagonists, the Gen VII protagonists are customizable. Even more so now that you can choose between four skin tones, including a legit dark skin tone as opposed to X and Y only having a medium brown, more clothing options, being able to dye white clothes and even go hatless.

Elio (Yō)

Elio / Yō (ヨウ you)

^{Click here to see him in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon}

Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (Pokémon Masters - JP), Mike Dent (Pokémon Masters - EN)

The male main character of Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, a young boy who has recently moved to the Alola region from Kanto alongside his mother and their pet Meowth. After meeting a mysterious girl named Lillie and protecting her Cosmog, Nebby, from a flock of aggressive Spearow, he is gifted a stone for making a Z-Ring by the guardian of Melemele Island, Tapu Koko. Soon afterwards, he picks his starter and undergoes the Alolan Island Challenge.

While Elio hasn't appeared in the Pokémon Sun and Moon anime, his default clothes are the inspiration for Ash's outfit during that arc. His counterpart in Pokémon Adventures is known as Sun.

In Pokémon Masters, Elio and Selene appear together despite the chosen trainer making the other choice not exist and no clear clues to tell who of them is supposed to be the lead, leaving it rather ambiguous as to who of them is supposed to be the main playable character. As such, most of the tropes below may pertain to his depiction there.

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• '80s Hair: His hair in his default appearance goes down to shoulder length.
• Blue Is Heroic: His default outfit features a blue striped shirt, and his backpack, shoes, and even his hair have blue accents.
• The Cameo: He appears faceless in the music video for Starmie's song.
• The Ditz: Subverted in Masters. While he and Selene are both slow to react when listening to Elesa's horrible puns, it turns out that, in his case, he simply took time to respond because he wanted to reply with his own pun ("you know, U-no-va"?) while Selene's slow response was because she took a while to process what she heard.
• Fanboy: In Masters, he mentions that he looks up to the Kantonian Gym Leaders and Elite Four.
• Hair Antennae: Has a tiny pair on top of his head that you only see when his hat's off, which he appears to have inherited from his mother as she has a similar pair on top of her head.
• Implied Love Interest: For Lillie, though she still has a lot of Ship Tease with both genders, much like Shauna from X and Y. But during the Exeggutor Island rain cutscene, Lillie's dialogue differs depending on the protagonist's gender. If the protagonist is male, she says that when she becomes a trainer, she'd like to travel together with him. If the protagonist is female, she simply says that she wants to learn all of the things she knows.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: You can choose an effeminate battle style for him, and some of his clothes have pink options.
• Keet: At least when comparing his Sun & Moon mugshot with his very excitable Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon mugshot.
• Meaningful Name: Elio sounds similar to Helios, the Greek god of the Sun.
• Primary-Color Champion: His primary outfit includes a blue and white striped shirt, blue backpack, and blue sneakers, and his capri pants have red accents.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Some of his available clothes options. In particular, one shirt exclusive to him is based on Cherrim.
• Signature Mon: Is largely associated with Incineroar, though Decidueye isn't unheard of. Masters however gives him Primarina.
• Shirtless Scene: In the surfing outfit, the only thing he wears are swim shorts and a life-jacket.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: He has a lot of tank top options.
• Workaholic: In Masters, Elio mentions that his entire routine back in Alola consisted of training with his Pokémon.

Selene (Mizuki)

Selene / Mizuki (ミヅキ mizuki)

^{Click here to see her in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon}

Voiced by: Christina McBride (Pokémon Masters - EN), Suzuko Mimori (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The female main character of Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, a young girl who has recently moved to the Alola region from Kanto alongside her mother and their pet Meowth. After meeting a mysterious girl named Lillie and protecting her Cosmog, Nebby, from a flock of aggressive Spearow, she is gifted a stone for making a Z-Ring by the guardian of Melemele Island, Tapu Koko. Soon afterwards, she picks her starter and undergoes the Alolan Island Challenge.

Her Pokémon Adventures counterpart is known as Moon.

In Pokémon Masters, Selene and Elio appear together despite the chosen trainer making the other choice not exist and no clear clues to tell who of them is supposed to be the lead, leaving it rather ambiguous as to who of them is supposed to be the main playable character. As such, most of the tropes below may pertain to her depiction there.

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• All There in the Manual: Although "Selene" was given in the trailers, it was originally thought to be only a promotional name. It was only confirmed as her official name with the announcement of an officially licensed figure, at least until the url was changed to use Mizuki. It originally said:
  The Alola Pokémon Trainer Selene is joining the figma series!
• The Ditz: Masters shows that she is a bit slow on the uptake when dealing with Elesa's horrible puns or even rhymes.
• Flower Motifs:
  • In Sun and Moon her hat looks like a flower when seen from behind or above, and her shirt has a floral pattern on it.
  • In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon she has a flower on her hat, and she wears a different floral-patterned blouse with a hemline that resembles a flower's petals.
• Genki Girl: Her official artwork depicts her as fairly energetic looking.
• Girliness Upgrade: Selene's default hair in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is far longer by default compared to her appearance in the earlier games, going down past her shoulders in Girlish Pigtails.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Her hair options are noticeably longer than Elio's.
• Meaningful Name: Shares her name with the Greek goddess of the moon.
• Minidress of Power: Can become the most powerful trainer in the region, and has numerous miniskirt options.
• One-Steve Limit: Her unused Japanese name Lana is the same as that of the Water-type Trial Captain. Her Japanese promotional name also happens to be shared with a random NPC.
• Pink Is Feminine: Her ride outfit is decorated with pink stripes.
• Red Is Heroic: Wears a red hat, and her purse and shoes have red accents.
• Signature Headgear: She starts out with a cute red hat that kind of looks like a potted plant (and a flower, from behind) In the Ultra games, her default hat is a simpler looking straw hat with a red flower on the band.
• Signature Mon: Overwhelmingly associated with the Rowlet line. Fittingly, she gets Decidueye in Masters.

Rotom Pokédex

Rotom Pokédex (ロトム図鑑 rotomu zukan)

A Rotom inhabiting the latest version of the Pokédex, which is specifically made for it. Combined, the Rotom Pokédex elevates the technology to never before seen uses.

For tropes pertaining to Rotom as a species, see here.

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• Adaptational Nice Guy: The Rotom Dex in the original Sun and Moon was a mouthy Deadpan Snarker who only steadily warmed up to you as the story progressed. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the Rotom Dex is more of a Cheerful Child who is initially nervous of the player, but gradually warms up to them much faster than in the original story, even offering to give the player a nickname of "Roto-(the first letter of the player's name)" at one point.
• Ascended Extra: Rotom was a Pokémon that got some publicity around the release of Platinum with its formes, but has otherwise been just another Pokémon.
• Cute Machines: A small cheerful and friendly ghost inhabiting a small machine, with a bubbly personality and funny lines who encourages you!
• Deadpan Snarker: As befitting its mischievous personality, the Rotom Pokédex makes some pretty sarcastic comments.
• Fairy Companion: As a main series first; a Rotom assists the player character by inhabiting a tailor-made Pokédex, allowing it to talk and perform more features than a standard Dex. In a somewhat ironic twist however, Rotom is a Ghost-type, which are better known for haunting people.
• Haunted Technology: As is fitting with Rotom's ability to possess machinery. The Rotom Pokédex is the first known use that is intentional, however.
• Hypocritical Humor: At one point, it claims to be afraid of ghosts despite, y'know, being a 'Ghost-type. Partially justified, though, when you realize Ghost-type Pokémon are weak to Ghost-type moves.
• Irony: It doesn't have a Pokédex entry of its own species.
• Monster Compendium: The original purpose of the Pokédex is to list Pokémon. So naturally this Pokédex does the same thing.
• Non-Action Guy: Dex Rotom does not battle any Pokémon.
• Retired Badass: Possibly. It mentions that it used to battle prior to entering the Pokédex, but doesn't elaborate.
• Robot Buddy: Your Pokédex is a facsimile of one, seeing as it's possessed by a friendly Rotom.
• Sarcastic Devotee: For all its snarking, it clearly cares for the player character.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Is powered down once you reach Ultra Space. Except for when they travel to Ultra Megalopolis in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• So Proud of You: As your Pokédex gets filled and at certain points in the story, Rotom will praise you, being especially fond of "clever boy/girl".
• Talking Animal: While there have been other speaking Pokémon before, this is the first time one has been in a larger role. The Rotom can only do this if it's inside the Pokédex, though.
• Unusual Euphemism: At one point, Rotom says "What the zzzt!?"
• Verbal Tic: Sprinkles its dialogue with electric noises like "bzzt" and "zzzt", and tends to drag out s at the end of words into "zzz".
• Welcome to Corneria: Averted at first, with many lines of unique dialogue after every story event, but falls into this during the postgame, where Rotom will draw from a list of only about 10 lines, leading to it continuing to remind you about content you've already completed. One of its lines is basically, "How about you register a new Pokémon in my Dex today?" Rotom will ask this question even after you've completed the Alolan Regional Dex and there are no new Pokémon to register.

The Rivals

Hau

Hau (ハウ hau)

Voiced by: Laura Stahl (Pokémon Masters - EN), Daiki Yamashita (Pokémon Masters - JP)

Kahuna Hala's grandson. He's always up for a battle and is quick to make friends with the player character.

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• Adapted Out: His Komala is replaced with a Tauros in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Is implied to have a crush on Lillie, but she remains oblivious and is implied to have feelings for the player character as well, especially in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Always Second Best: He's implied to feel somewhat overshadowed by his grandfather Hala, as one of his goals is to eventually beat him in a real battle. Generally averted regarding the player character, as while he aspires to catch up to and be on equal ground with them, he doesn't feel too bad when he loses to them. The fact he is a potential challenger for the player's champion title indicates he did beat his grandfather in battle and can stand on even footing with him now. In Ultra Sun and Moon he is shown to be wiping away tears after losing to the protagonist for the title of Champion. He's also shown to be sulking after he finds out that Gladion left a Type:Null for the protagonist, while he received nothing.
• Animal Motifs: Concept art reveals that the pattern on his shorts are taken from Florges. Ironically, unless the player chooses Rowlet, he will have no Fairy types on his team.
• Bait-and-Switch Boss: In Ultra Sun and Moon, Hau, not Kukui as it was in the original, is your final challenge before being officially declared Champion.
• Big Eater: An energetic boy with an appetite to match, especially where malasada is concerned.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Not to the extent of Hapu's, but they're still pretty pronounced.
• Cannot Spit It Out: As Lillie departs from Alola to Kanto, Hau is unable to confess his feelings for her.
• Can't Catch Up: Your character is always one or two steps ahead of him, but he always comes back, ready to fight as equals. Of note is that unlike Calem or Serena, he seems mostly fine with this.
• Cheerful Child: He's an 11-year-old boy who has almost no mode of being other than happy and energetic.
• Deconstructive Parody:
  • Most of his character is made to be comedy relief, but there are occasional hints to a more complicated personality stemming from his self-esteem. He does believe in battling for the sheer fun most of the time, but he's well aware of his own shortcomings, and takes his defeats against people like the Player Character and Gladion on a personal level. On some occasions it becomes difficult to tell whether he's genuinely being cheerful, or merely putting up a facade. In Ultra Sun and Moon he appears to be wiping away tears before turning to face you with a smile, to congratulate you on defeating him for the title of Champion.
  • He also deconstructs the Friendly Rivalry archetype in how most of his friendliness comes from him trying way too hard to be a good sport and exercise a "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" outlook on Pokémon battles, mentalities that are usually encouraged in friendly competition. But as a result, Hau ends up not taking competition and battling seriously enough, with him having to learn that it's alright to be serious about battling to win and feeling/expressing some frustration and disappointment about his best having not been good enough to achieve victory is natural and won't cost him any friendships. It's likely that Hau opting to take his good sport approach in the first place was born from how much he struggled with his feelings of inadequacy and disappointment about always being in his grandfather's shadow and never being as strong as him.
• Delayed Reaction:
  • When discovering that Lusamine is Older Than She Looks, he takes a couple seconds before doing a double take.
  • And again when he finds out she's Lillie and Gladion's psychotic mother.
• Disappeared Dad: He mentions that his dad left the region after becoming fed up with Alolan customs.
• Dragon Tamer: In Ultra Sun and Moon, from his second battle onwards he obtains the Flying/Dragon Noibat, which evolves to Noivern by the time you visit Aether Paradise the second time.
• Final Boss: He is the final obstacle in your path to becoming Champion in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Foil: To Gladion. While Hau finds joy and fun in everyone, Gladion is very much a lone wolf who detests what would normally bring Hau down.
• Foregone Conclusion: To anyone playing the Ultra games, one might notice something a bit different with Hau by the end. Most notably, his battle before the Elite Four is suspiciously Adapted Out. Given these these versions really emphasize how much more seriously he's taking things, it's pretty reasonable to believe that he becomes the Final Boss, especially with how that last battle is notably absent. That is indeed what happens, taking the Final Boss spot from Kukui, although both of them remain Title Defense challengers.
• Friendly Rivalry: With the Player Character. His battle theme is even literally titled "Friend Hau." Unlike past rivals in this archetype though, Hau actually does have a pronounced goal. His ambition is to surpass his Grandfather, not the PC, and become the Kahuna of Melemele Island.
• Gender Flip: Rowlet users may notice his Popplio is male in Sun and Moon, but female in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Generation Xerox: Like Hala, he eventually owns part of the Crabrawler family but only does so during Title Defense matches against him. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, his sixth party member is a Crabominable.
• Genre Blind: Unlike most main Rivals in the series, his starter is the one that your Starter has Type Advantage over. To be fair, he does already have his starter before you get yours in Sun and Moon. Not the case for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when he chooses after he clearly sees your starter. But don't get too comfortable, because he copes quickly.
• Hand Behind Head: He does this in his losing battle animation, just like Hala. One of his overworld poses has him casually put both hands behind his head.
• Hidden Depths:
  • While he's always chipper and upbeat, he seems to have something of a mild complex in regards to being Hala's grandson. Gladion even admits to you that he's impressed by Hau working towards being seen as equal to his grandfather, even after growing up in his shadow all his life. A casual throwaway line in the endgame reveals that his father left the region when he couldn't deal with the pressures of Alolan tradition and Hala's legacy, which may or may not have influenced Hau's own goal to one day surpass Hala.
  • He also becomes noticeably more frustrated each time he loses to the player character, and while he never lets it get him down in the end, he can't hide how disappointing it is to work his hardest only to lose to you each time. Notably, his intro animation when he challenges you for the Alolan Champion title is different from other fights in the game- he's still smiling, but his body language is less relaxed and playful, as if he's taking things more seriously.
• Keet: Now here's a kid who's pumped to be a trainer!
• The Lancer: Particularly when he joins the player and Gladion in a raid on Aether Paradise to rescue Lillie.
• Morality Pet: He appears to be one to Guzma in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Nice Guy: He becomes friends with you after you're done moving to the region. His niceness to Pokémon is only matched by his big appetite. This is also shown with one of the Pokémon he uses - Pichu can only evolve if its happiness level is high enough.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: During the initial visit to Aether Paradise, Hau comments that Lillie might be the only other person who could pull off Lusamine's look besides Lusamine herself. This offhand remark leads to Lusamine finding out that Lillie is travelling with him and the player and adjusting her plans accordingly.
• Optional Boss: Is one of the potential challengers for the player's champion title.
• The Pollyanna: In spades. Hardly anything brings this kid down, even when he's losing when you can find him jumping with joy.
• Privileged Rival: He's the grandson of the first Kahuna Hala.
• Recurring Boss: As your rival he challenges you to a battle several times throughout the story. He picks the starter weaker to your starter.
• Rival Final Boss: Takes over Kukui's role of being the final opponent the player must face before they can officially be titled Champion in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Zigzagged. He's around for Lusamine's first battle, but afterwards he decides to go on his own journey to get stronger so he misses the climax. Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where he fights alongside Tapu Koko in Hala's place during the climax of the game.
• Signature Mon:
  • Pokémon Masters sets his as Alolan Raichu, which was his first catch after his starter (when it was a Pichu) and is usually the one he leads battles with. His Sygna Suit variant has Tapu Koko.
  • Regional starter wise, he's often associated with the Rowlet line. The Adventures manga, however, gives him the Popplio line.
• Smarter Than You Look:
  • He's naïve and easygoing, but not stupid. He is actually quite perceptive when it comes to deciphering the feelings of others (e.g.: he quickly realizes that Gladion fears returning to Aether Paradise), points out the flaw in Faba's plan to stop the heroes, and builds up an impressive team of Pokémon.
  • He's also got a fair amount of snark to him, figuring Gladion's attitude is just him trying to look cool.
• The Smurfette Principle: As a Challenger to your League Title Defense, the only female Pokémon on his team is a Komala. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon however, if his starter is Popplio, then it is always female.
• Took a Level in Badass: Gets a case of Gameplay and Story Integration in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. Hau gets upgraded to being the Final Boss of the game, taking over Professor Kukui's spot as challenging the Player Character to become Alola's first Champion. He also finally now has a full team of six Pokémon. In fact, his team is even slightly higher leveled than both Gladion's and Kukui's in rematches.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Malasada; a local Alola delicacy. He likes going to every kind of malasada shop there is, and rarely makes an appearance where he doesn't mention it. Funnily enough, in one scene, you are rewarded with a Technical Machine while he's given malasada. Although, given the Pokémon battle with him immediately afterwards, he likely already has that TM.
• Tranquil Fury: Hau is remarkably easygoing—not once is he seen angry. However, when the kids are all Storming the Castle late in Pokémon Sun and Moon, a certain enemy makes the mistake of trying to block their progress not once but twice. Hau, with his trademark smile turned up full blast, declares to Branch Chief Faba that he intends to move right along—the little flourish of Ironic politeness at the end is quite the implied threat.
  I wanna help save Lillie, so I'm going ahead! You don't mind, right?!
• The Unfought: Appears in the special demo but doesn't seem to want to fight you for fun. Obviously averted in the main game.
• Trying Not to Cry: After losing to you at the Pokémon League in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Verbal Tic: He often appends "You know?" to his statements.
• Vibrant Orange: Hau is energetic, enthusiastic, always on the lookout for fun things to do, and wears an orange backpack and sandals wherever he goes. His shorts also have an orange pattern on them.

Gladion (Glazio)

Gladion / Glazio (グラジオ gurajio)

A cold loner loosely affiliated with Team Skull. He travels by himself accompanied by a strange Pokémon, Type: Null.

For more information, check his folder in the Team Skull section here.

Allies

Lillie/Lilie (リーリエ riirie)

^{"Z-Powered Form"}

Voiced by: Jennifer Losi (Pokémon Masters - EN), Maaya Uchida (Pokémon Masters - JP)

A mysterious girl who assists Professor Kukui for personal reasons. She's not a trainer, because she dislikes seeing Pokémon get hurt. She is fiercely protective of a strange and temperamental Pokémon named Cosmog, nicknamed Nebby, that she carries around in her bag.

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• Adaptational Wimp: An interesting yet downplayed variation, as Lillie does become a Pokémon trainer on screen in Ultra Sun and Moon but personality wise, she is much less confrontational towards Lusamine and Gladion for their abuse and abandonment respectively never calling them out for the actions that affected her deeply. In the first games she also implies she's going to become a trainer and get Nebby back from the player character to use as her own partner after adventuring on her own in Kanto but in Ultra Sun and Moon, she seems content to simply use a Clefairy and remain under her her mother's wing in Alola. Admittedly helping her mother recover was the main reason she went to Kanto in the first games, something that was not needed in the Ultra games.
• Aerith and Bob: She has a very common name compared to the rest of her family (Gladion, Lusamine, and Mohn).
• Angry Cheek Puff: When Lillie gets annoyed (such as when you choose the more flippant dialogue options), her cheeks puff out with noticeable blush stickers.
• Badass Pacifist: Lillie isn't a trainer, and for most of the story outright abhors Pokémon battling, but she always sticks to her convictions, and even becomes your traveling partner while traversing Vast Poni Canyon.
• Blush Sticker: When she gets mad (usually when the player is given the option of a flippant response to her), she puffs up her cheeks as they turn red◊.
• Breakout Character: She is the most popular Sun & Moon character and has received a lot of merchandise for it. In Masters, she has the honor of having four trainer variants (her Z-Powered look, New Years, Master Sync Pair, and Easter) while also being a recurring character in the Villain Arc and one of the characters (next to the player and Rosa; another popular character in her own right) taking on the Victory Road lessons.
• But Now I Must Go: After the player becomes the Champion, she decides to go to Kanto to start her journey as a trainer. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, however, this is averted as she stays throughout the post-game and helps you in the Rainbow Rocket Segment, and later even becoming a trainer and joins the player as their partner for the Battle Tree.
• Calling the Old Woman Out: When Lusamine details her whole plan to Lillie and the protagonist while they're inside the Ultra Beast's home dimension, Lillie responds with "That's terrible, Mother! You are terrible!" Doubles as a Kirk Summation because Lusamine is in full Evil Matriarch Brainwashed and Crazy mode at that time. Shame this remark also proves to make Lusamine mad enough to turn herself into a mutant.
• Character Development: Over the course of the story, she becomes more confident and outgoing, thanks to the player character's influence. By the end of it, she grows interested in Pokémon battles, and decides to start her own journey in Kanto. And in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, she eventually has her own Pokémon by the time of the post-game.
• Character Tics: After her makeover, she often makes a fist pump with both hands.
• Crazy-Prepared: Despite not being a Pokémon trainer herself, she still carries plenty of trainer gear on her at all times, including Potions and Repels. Justified, since traveling across the islands necessitates traveling through a lot of areas with dangerous Pokémon, and it pays to be prepared.
• Cute Bookworm: She loves to read, and her loft bedroom at Professor Kukui's place is full of high-level books.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Her father vanished into an alternate dimension, prompting her mother Lusamine to obsessively search for him and neglect Lillie and her brother. Exposure to the Nihilego drove Lusamine further to insanity (Sun & Moon) / her obsessive search for her husband caused her to neglect her children (Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon), to which Gladion eventually grew sick of and ran away from with Type:Null. Unfortunately, this left Lillie being the only one to endure the brunt of Lusamine's now-exacerbated psychosis and obsession with the Ultra Beasts for two years. Three months before the game begins she followed suit with Nebby, and spent much of it afterwards fearing capture by both the Aether Foundation and Team Skull.
• Deuteragonist: The main story is as much about her as it is about the player. It's most prominent during the Poni Island arc, where she travels right by the player's side across the entire island.
• Disappeared Dad: While we know eventually her mother is Lusamine, not many details are given about her father. Later on, it's explained that her father was lost into an Ultra Wormhole and never came back, which is what probably drove her mother to deep end with her fixation on Ultra Beasts. Though piecing some information together will point out that her father is Mohn but nobody else knows this fact.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Hapu got too distracted by how lovely Lillie was (her exact words) to give you the Mudsdale ride in Malie City. Acerola also seems very happy to spend time with Lillie as well.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Along with changing her outfit, she also puts her hair up in a ponytail prior to the departure to Poni Island, in order to prominently delineate her strengthening resolve. She goes back to her old hairstyle for her Anniversary 2021 outfit in Masters.
• Eye Take: When she scoffs at Hau's misuse of "land ahoy" and asks Kukui and the protagonist to back her up, and Kukui sides with Hau and makes a bad joke, Lillie's momentarily stunned, causing her eyes to briefly turn into black dots and her mouth to become a tiny triangle. It happens again briefly when Hapu's Mudsdale gallops up behind her and loudly neighs to her.
• Family Eye Resemblance: Shares green eyes with her brother Gladion, mother Lusamine, and father Mohn, likely as foreshadowing for the relation they all share.
• The Fair Folk: As a trainer, she's a Fairy-type specialist, using a lone Clefairy when she battles alongside you against Faba, and as a partner in the Battle Tree, she uses Ribombee and Comfey.
• Foil: Visually serves as a foil to her brother Gladion's red and black color scheme. Within the story, she acts as a foil to her mother, Lusamine. Lillie serves as the responsible and protective "mother" of Cosmog, while Lusamine says she has no children directly to Lillie.
• Foreshadowing: Her response to meeting the protagonist's mother for the first time is to remark, "You... have a very nice mother, don't you?", foreshadowing the very bad relationship she has with hers.
• Green Thumb: Her Ribombee in the Battle Tree wields a Grassium Z, allowing her to perform Bloom Doom in spite of her lack of an actual Grass-type Pokémon.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde-haired and a very good person. It stands in stark contrast to her mother.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Downplayed. She's usually pretty polite and soft-spoken, but if you choose certain lines of dialogue while talking to her, her cheeks will puff out as well as turn red and she'll start snapping at you.
• Happily Adopted: Professor Burnet found her and Nebby on the beach three months before the start of the game, and Burnet and Kukui have been taking care of her ever since. Lillie later admits that she sees Burnet like an actual mother figure.
• Implied Love Interest: For the male protagonist, at least. During the Exeggutor Island rain cutscene, Lillie's dialogue differs depending on the protagonist's gender. If the protagonist is male, she say that when she becomes a trainer, she'd like to travel together with them. While if the protagonist is female, she simply says that she wants to learn all of the things they know (though she still has a lot of Ship Tease with them, much like Shauna from X and Y).
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: After Nebby turns into the mascot Legendary of the game, it wants to stay in the Alola region and go on adventures with Lillie. However, Lillie realizes she can't give the new Legendary the adventures or battles it desires, so she allows the player character to capture it instead so that Nebby will be happy. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, while she also lets Nebby get caught by the player for the same reason, it is also with the hope of being able to heal Necrozma.
• Kid with the Leash: To Nebby, after it evolves into Solgaleo/Lunala.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Lillie just took up Pokémon training right before Episode RR, so when she attempts to join the player in a gauntlet of battles against Team Rainbow Rocket, she isn't an Instant Expert and ends up being unsuited for it. While she takes down a Rocket Grunt on her own, after the Multi Battle against Faba she decides that she's not yet strong enough and instead helps by healing the player's Pokémon.
• Leg Focus: When she changes into her new outfit, the camera has a couple of images focusing on her legs.
• Little Miss Snarker: Downplayed. Some of your responses as well as Hau bring out this side of her on occasion but that's all there is.
• The Load: Pre-Character Development. Lillie isn't totally useless — she regularly heals your Pokémon for you — but she spends much of the early game bemoaning how weak she is because she's "not a Trainer" while complaining that she doesn't like to see Pokémon fight, pleading with you to "save Nebby!" (who she constantly loses track of) as she stands by and frets, then gets herself kidnapped when she actually does make some sort of stand for herself. As someone who's been under the influence of a dangerous and domineering mother, plus said mother's corrupt organization, Lillie has serious justification for being this way...but it's a good thing she has Incorruptible Pure Pureness on her side, ensuring that everyone is keen to help her out and protect her, or she might not have survived to get her level in badass.
• The Medic: She'll frequently heal the player's team throughout the game, especially at the Trainer's School, and later while traveling through Vast Poni Canyon. After the RR Episode in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, she gets promoted to Combat Medic once she joins your side in the Multi Battle challenge of the Battle Tree, with a Ribombee and a Comfey that can both fight opponents and heal your Pokémon if they get injured during battle.
• Minidress of Power: Wears a very short skirt after she becomes more courageous and outgoing.
• Mysterious Waif: Not much information was given about her in the pre-release period of the game, save that she was crucial to the plot of Pokémon Sun and Moon. And during the early portions of the game itself, she tends to be very evasive and shy about personal details. This is largely due to her awful relationship with her mother and her shame at having been witness to the early stages of Aether's plan.
• Narrator All Along: After the festival cutscene at the end of the game, text appears on the screen in which an unnamed narrator states that the festival lasted till the late of night. The text then goes into 1st person, and the narrator states that they are so happy to have met everyone. This, when combined with the final words after the credits, implies that Lillie may have been the story's narrator the whole time. This is averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, however, as she stays in Alola while Gladion is the one to leave instead.
• Nice Girl: She has plenty of praise and compliments for the people around her, she treats others with respect, she was willing to defy her own mother to protect Cosmog, and at a few points in the story she'll heal your team. Speaking of her mother, Lillie in fact, forgives Lusamine for everything Lusamine did, and took Lusamine with her on her journey to Kanto, because she heard that Bill had a similar situation to Lusamine fusing with Nihilego and wants to see if he can help get rid of the last bits of Nihilego's neurotoxins from Lusamine. Considering that her father, Mohn, is also such a Nice Guy, it safe to assume that she inherited this personality trait from him.
• The Nicknamer: Both Pokémon that are most strongly associated with Lillie (Cosmog in the main series games, Alolan Vulpix in the anime) were both given nicknames (Nebby and Snowy respectively).
• No Sense of Direction: It's made apparent that it's easy for her to get lost, and how she almost always has to travel with someone else as a result. In fact, one of her idle animations is looking around confusedly.
• "Not So Different" Remark: On Poni Island, Plumeria says that Lillie is very much like Lusamine, in that they both have extremely strong convictions. Like Mother, Like Daughter as one would say.
• Oblivious to Love: She doesn't seem to be aware of Hau's rather explicit crush on her, though the two are still friends regardless.
• Olympus Mons: Spends much of the game with Cosmog, which eventually becomes the box legendary depending on which version is being played. In Masters, she pairs up with Lunala for the game's second anniversary.
• One Head Taller: She's actually slightly taller than the protagonist is, regardless of gender, though it's slightly more dramatic when you're playing as female. She likely inherited Lusamine's height genes.
• Our Fairies Are Different: In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, she uses a Clefairy, and in the Battle Tree as your partner she uses the Fairy-types Ribombee and Comfey.
• Pacifist: Dislikes Pokémon battles, but makes exceptions for the protagonist. And just as often, she'll heal up your Pokémon after they get into a fight with others. Eventually she comes to see that Pokémon battles aren't that bad, and even goes to Kanto to become a trainer herself. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, she even has her own Pokémon.
• Perpetual Frowner: Her official artwork depicts her frowning, and she's definitely this at first, a small pout being her near-constant expression. As time passes and she opens up more to Hau and the player, she gradually starts to smile more and more. Amusingly, a look at the artwork for all her in-game facial expressions◊ shows that her eyebrows are naturally crossed into a furrow. The anime and manga adaptations downplay this greatly, making her casual expression more gentle.
• Recurring Element: Takes after N from Pokémon Black and White. Both are characters which are mysterious at first with a sad backstory with an awful parent of the same gender who leads the local villainous team. Both credit their friendship with the protagonist as the reason for the drastic changes in worldview they undergo over the course of their respective games, but leave Unova/Alola at the end of the game. Both also befriend the legendary of the game.
• Red Herring: Prior to the release of the game, many assumed that Lillie would ultimately be the "second rival" and pick the starter that has the type advantage to the Player Character. This ends up not being the case and it's Professor Kukui who gets that starter, and Gladion ended up being the second rival. Additionally, many fans predicted that Lillie may be UB-01, or that UB-01 may be the creature living in her bag. The reason she looks like UB-01 is actually because her insane mother dressed her up that way thanks to her obsession with the Ultra Beasts. Why UB-01 behaves like a young girl, however, is never explained.
• Shared Family Quirks: She and her brother Gladion share similar aspects with each other. Both stole a Pokémon from the Aether Foundation and seem to have a fondness for hooded shirts. Also, both are perpetual frowners that eventually smile more often once they open up. Not to mention, both have a strong sense of protectiveness over the Pokémon they stole.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: She turns very pretty when she changes her outfit.
• Shrinking Violet:
  • In the Pokémon Sun and Moon demo, she will run away from you even if you simply ask her name. Justified, considering how she is obviously very protective of whatever lives in her bag.
  • In the main game she's also very shy by nature.
• Signature Headgear: Lillie wears a white, wide-brimmed hat, presumably to protect herself from the sun. It's also likely part of what her mother forced her to wear to make her look more like Nihilego, and once she starts to defy her mother and changes her outfit she ditches the hat.
• Signature Mon: Despite not being an active trainer, Lillie spends most of the games caring for Nebby the Cosmog. In the post-game of the Ultra titles, she becomes a Fairy-type trainer; with her most notable Pokémon being a Clefairy that then becomes her true signature partner, carrying over into TCG cards, a Kotobukiya figure, and Pokémon Masters.
  • Masters changes things up in her many variants; for her New Years attire, she gets Ribombee; for her Master Sync Pair, she gets Lunala; and her Easter variant gives her Polteageist.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: After getting rescued from Aether Paradise, Lillie decides to don a new outfit as representative of her getting out of her mother's influence. She calls it her "Z-powered form".
• Stylish Sunhats: Lillie is a Mysterious Waif and Shrinking Violet in an elegant Minidress of Power whose Signature Headgear is initially a large, white sun hat. She keeps the outfit to begin with in the alternate-universe sequels, but later Takes A Level In Badass, undergoing a Significant Wardrobe Shift (including the hat) for a more practical one and getting an Expository Hairstyle Change to a Tomboyish Ponytail as she begins her trainer career.
• Support Party Member: Her team in the Battle Tree in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is focused on healing and supporting the player, as is her Clefairy in the Multi Battle with the player against Faba and a Rocket Grunt. Specifically, her Clefairy and Ribombee use Light Screen and Reflect, and her Comfey can set up Grassy Terrain and use Floral Healing to completely restore an ally's HP.
• Tareme Eyes: The fact that she's a Perpetual Frowner dampens this a little, but her eyes are round and downward-slanting. She's far more affable and approachable than her brother Gladion, who has Tsurime Eyes.
• The Smart Girl: Examining the bookshelf in her loft in Kukui's lab shows that she's quite interested in advanced scientific concepts.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: Later in the game, she changes her hairstyle to that of a ponytail.
• Took a Level in Badass: If her appearance on the poster for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is anything to go by, she's finally a Pokémon trainer, and the fact that she's in her "Z-Powered Form" indicates that she won't be the same Shrinking Violet she was most of the first game. You still have to help her protect Nebby from the Aether Foundation though. This is more apparent in the Rainbow Rocket episode where she joins you in a battle, becoming a trainer on her own.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: After the player's first battle against Lusamine, she not only undergoes a Significant Wardrobe Shift and ties her hair up into a ponytail, she considerably becomes more cheerful, outgoing and open.
• Took a Level in Kindness: At the start of the game, while generally respectful and polite, she's also rather cold and aloof towards others, and generally looks down on the Hau and the player's lifestyles as trainers. With time, though, she gradually opens up more and more, becoming significantly more cheerful and energetic, and eventually decides to become a Pokémon trainer herself, complete with her own personal journey in Kanto.
• Tsundere: Type B; she is for the most part a polite and kind-hearted person, but does have an angry side, as seen if the player decides to be snarky to her. She also sometimes expresses irritation with Hau's & Kukui's antics.
• Uncatty Resemblance: Due to her clothes, hat, and hairstyle, she has a striking resemblance to Nihilego. It turns out that Lusamine dressed Lillie up like that on purpose, due to the former's obsession with the Ultra Beasts. Lillie eventually subverts this by getting a change of clothes later in the story, though she still seems to prefer white.
• The Unfought: Mostly due to not being an actual trainer for most of the game. When she gets her own Pokémon in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, she only ever fights alongside you as a double battle partner and doesn't offer to challenge you in friendly matches.
• Walking Spoiler: Despite being the player's constant companion throughout the game, you won't learn much about Lillie until Sun and Moon's closing hours of main-story content.
• Your Size May Vary: When compared to her brother Gladion in the original Sun and Moon, she was notably slightly taller than him. The Ultra titles seemingly change their sizes so that Lillie is now the smaller one of the two, which carries over into their appearance in Masters.

Professor Kukui

Professor Kukui (ククイ博士 kukui hakase)

Voiced by: Alejandro Saab (Pokémon Masters - EN), Jun'ichi Suwabe (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Pokémon Professor who lives in the Alola Region who specializes in researching Pokémon moves up-close.

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• The Ace: He is the Alola region's most prominent and respected researcher, and became so at a fairly young age. On top of that, he's also a famous pro wrestler and is on familiar terms with most of the kahunas and Trial Captains of his region, all of whom are fairly important and influential individuals. He's also one of the region's strongest trainers and is powerful enough to serve as the storyline's Final Boss, and was also strong enough to make it to the Final Elite Four or Champion battle of the Indigo League as well.
• Audience Surrogate: For the people who first played Pokémon 20 years ago. Like them, he went though the Kanto League and knows how hard it was, but still has fond memories of it, to the point of bringing a Pokémon League to Alola while using the island challenge in place of Gyms. He also enjoys sharing his love of Pokémon battles and teaching the younger generation about them, just like most people passing down their love of Pokémon. On top of that, his team is properly IV'd like any older, competitive Pokémon players, and he uses legitimate competitive strategies.
• Badass Bookworm:
  • Watch Pokémon moves to study them? He takes them at times. He's also badass enough to try and take the title of Champion from you and it's hinted that he was able to put up a fight against Lance.
  • In Hau'oli City's Trainer School you can find a blackboard on the top floor that has battle damage calculations even taking into account items and Abilities, all written out by him.
  • His secondary occupation is a pro wrestler, so even if the matches themselves are staged/scripted he's still need to be in top physical conditions to do the moves and take all the bumps.
• Badass Labcoat: Noted as having it unbuttoned to show his torso and his unique style.
• Badass Normal: What's more badass than a Pokémon Professor who also wrestles others in the ring and endures Pokémon attacks? Him actually being the trainer to fight to claim the title of Champion, that's what.
• Big Brother Mentor: Breaking tradition of regional professors from past games, Kukui actually spends a good chunk of the story traveling alongside you on your quest to complete the Alola Challenge. Kukui acts as a guide, teaching you about Alolan culture and mentoring you through the challenge. In hindsight, Professor Kukui takes the mentor role that many regional Champions have had, which is appropriate since he's the final boss of Sun and Moon. In fact, he even calls the player character "cousin". Helps with his being an Audience Surrogate for the older players since Generation I.
• Breaking Old Trends: Most Professors are content to stay in their lab and become a footnote that only show up once the player has beaten the Champion, and are really a justified Non-Action Guy as researchers. Kukui travels with the player a lot more, serving as Mr. Exposition for some of Alola's customs and serving as a more direct mentor. In addition to that, Kukui is not only dealing with Pokemon physically, he's a competent trainer who also wrestles as a side gig and is implied to be pretty good at it as well.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: His notable quirks include walking around with an open lab coat with no shirt underneath it, and researching Pokémon moves by letting himself get hit directly by Pokémon, but he is also a highly respected researcher in Alola and one of the region's strongest trainers.
• Combat Pragmatist: If you don't screw up his strategy by one-shotting either Pokémon before they can act, his first tactic will be to have his Lycanroc set up Stealth Rock, then spam Whirlwind with his Braviary for free damage on your entire team as long as the bird can keep it up.
• Discontinuity Nod: In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Kukui is no longer the final challenger in the League, but he still retains his line "And of course that Trainer is me! Woo!" before he adds it's a joke. He then introduces the true final boss, Hau.
• Exposed to the Elements: Male example — he retains his getup on snowy Mt. Lanakila. You can even lampshade it with "Aren't you cold?"
• Final Boss: He's the final trainer you have to beat to keep your title as Champion in Sun and Moon, though Hau takes his place in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• The Glasses Come Off: He takes off his sunglasses when he battles you for the spot of Champion.
• Genius Bruiser: He's Alola's Pokemon Professor, but also is a durable enough man to take on Pokemon attacks and come out no worse for wear as well as being a professional wrestler? He more than qualifies for this trope.
• Graceful Loser: Though visibly a bit disappointed after losing to the player, he is still ecstatic for them becoming Alola's first champion and heartily congratulates them.
• Happily Married: To Professor Burnet.
• Hidden Badass: Kukui usually only talks about his battling skill self-deprecatingly, mentioning how he was no match for the gym leaders of Kanto, and talking about how the Kahunas are too tough for "normal people" such as himself to defeat. Turns out he is actually one of the greatest trainers in Alola, and strong enough to challenge your character for the title of Champion. The only time he hints at his true prowess prior to the League is when he is confronted by Guzma, and even then he quickly lets the player character handle the situation as soon as they show up.
• Interface Spoiler: The first time you meet his wrestling alter-ego, the first time you get a choice popup, one of the options is "Professor Kukui?"
• Kayfabe: He keeps his Masked Royal persona separate from his normal life as the Professor. The game itself is ambiguous about whether his own wife Burnet is in on it. The ending gives her a "Wait, could he be...?" realization moment, but she shrugs it off.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: He tends to count things in fours, holding up four fingers to drive his points.
• Made of Iron: The official description details how he sometimes takes the hits from Pokémon moves himself if there is something to be learned from them.
• Masked Luchador: His identity as Masked Royal is such.
• Meaningful Name: Like all professors, he's named after a tree, in his case the Kukui or Candlenut tree, a tree found throughout the tropics and the state tree of Hawaii.
• Mr. Fanservice: Young and tanned professor? Wears an open shirt showing his bare torso? Doesn't fear taking Pokémon hits himself? Sheds his top completely when he wrestles? Oh yeah.
• No Shirt, Long Jacket: He does have his lab coat, but it's completely open, and there's no shirt underneath. He's a boisterous wrestler-scientist on a tropical archipelago. This is lampshaded multiple times: In her first scene, Olivia makes fun of him for not having found a shirt that matches his coat yet. When you meet him at the Pokémon League site^note which is atop a snowing mountain one of the responses is "Aren't you cold?". In Lillie's diary, she wonders if everyone from Alola wears outfits like that.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Guzma sarcastically quips that him and Kukui are alike in that they are "a couple of rejects that could never become (trial) captains.", which Kukui scoffs at. While Kukui and Guzma both agree that some parts of the island trials have become antiquated, but Kukui still embraces the tradition of Alola and simply wants to update and add to the regions' traditions by making a Pokémon League that will get the attention of other regions. Guzma on the other hand has completely rejected Alola's traditions and opposes the idea of a League out of the belief he's already the strongest trainer around.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: His Masked Royal wrestling persona. Heck, one of the first things you can say to him is "...Professor?". Funnily enough, of all people, his own wife can't make the connection. She appears to in the ending cutscene, but just as quickly laughs it off as coincidence.
• Only One Name: We don't get his first name.
• Parental Substitute: Lillie is living with him at the beginning of the game.
• Patriotic Fervor: Mentioned as his motivation for building the Alolan League. He wants to show the world how good his beloved archipelago's Trainers truly are, and what better way is there than turn the Island Challenge tradition into something officially recognized worldwide?
• Shown Their Work: He uses actual competitive strategies when you battle him in the end.
• Signature Mon: He has two when fighting you for the spot of Champion, Midday Form Lycanroc, and the starter that's strong against yours, which carries over to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon during the Title Defense. Interestingly enough, his appearance as a tag partner in the Battle Tree sees his Decidueye with no Z-Crystal while his other starter Pokémon do. He also uses Lycanroc in Masters, with him switching to using Incineroar under his Masked Royal alias.
• Superboss: Is one of the challengers you can meet when defending your Champion Title after defeating the Elite Four again. He's also the strongest of them all (in Sun and Moon), and like in his first battle, he carries a full team of six Pokémon. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, he's now on par with Guzma and Lusamine, and below Hapu, Hau, and Gladion, but also is the only trainer to use a full team of 6 besides Hau and Gladion.
• Talking Is a Free Action: In Masters, he has some of the longest battle lines that last beyond when he wins or loses.
• Verbal Tic: He often uses the word "Yeah" like a punctuation, occasionally switching things up with "Oh yeah". He's also prone to let out a "Woo!"
• Walking Shirtless Scene: He only wears a lab coat with no shirt underneath it. The game loves to lampshade it. Lillie even writes in her diary that "he walks around half-naked all the time!" His Masked Royal persona forgoes the jacket completely, and it's the subject of the first thing that Olivia says, even before her name is given:
  ???, a.k.a Olivia: Still haven't found a shirt that goes with your labcoat?
• Weak, but Skilled: Compared to other Final Bosses in the series, Kukui's team is rather unremarkable on paper, having no pseudo-legendary (unlike Steven, Cynthia, Ghetsis, Iris or Leon) or a Mega Evolution (unlike Diantha), yet he makes up for it in strategy. To summarize, he leads with a Pokémon that can set up Stealth Rock (and is so fast it will almost always be set), another one has Tailwind to turn Kukui's Mighty Glaciers into Lightning Bruisers as well as Whirlwind to take advantage of Stealth Rock, another one has Safeguard to protect his team from status and another has Sturdy and Mirror Coat to surprise special attackers. Furthermore, his team is almost entirely made of Pokémon the player can obtain very early in the game, with only Ninetales not being available to obtain before defeating Hala the first time.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Is secretly a pro-wrestler; he refers to this identity as the Masked Royal.

Professor Burnet

Professor Burnet (バーネット博士 baanetto hakase)

^Sun/Moon

The professor in charge of the Pokémon Dream Radar application, who specializes in the relationship between Pokémon and alternate dimensions. She searches for abnormalities in different spaces where Pokémon and items dwell. She makes her first main series appearance in Pokémon Sun and Moon.

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• The Bus Came Back: Returns in Sun and Moon having married Professor Kukui between appearances.
• But Not Too White: Unlike her appearance in Dream Radar, Burnett has a heavy tan in the mainline games and anime, likely due to spending so much time in the Alolan sun.
• Canon Immigrant: Debuted in the Dream Radar application before she came to the mainline games.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: She built the radar so she could study Pokémon and the Dream World. She ended up helping catch the Kami Trio. And, if the player has any of the Generation IV game cards, she thinks about a theme, builds a new extension, and lets you catch the title Legendaries for those games.
• Einstein Hair: Female variant, less balding.
• Failed a Spot Check: She's apparently unaware of the fact that her husband is the Masked Royal. Or she might be in on the Kayfabe. It's a bit ambiguous.
• Fangirl: Of The Masked Royal. Not surprising, given that she's married to him, although the ending implies she may or may not actually be aware of his real identity.
• Goggles Do Something Unusual: They are presumably the same type of goggles the player uses to interact with the Interdream Zone.
• Happily Married: To Kukui. Although they work on different islands, there's a lot of affection there.
• Latex Space Suit: Never actually explained... In Alola, it's tied around her waist, indicating she probably wears it when having to interact with the Interdream Zone (or other dimensions).
• Like a Son to Me: Implied to feel this way towards Lillie, whom she and Kukui took in prior to the events of the game, which is only compounded by the fact that Lillie sees her as an actual mother figure. This is all the more tragic considering Lillie's actual mother. Burnet is so upset by Lillie's departure that she couldn't bring herself to see her off.
• Married to the Job: She makes a point of mentioning that she needs to go outside. Averted by the time of Sun and Moon; although she and Kukui are dedicated to their research and work on different islands, there's nothing to indicate that this gets in the way of their marriage.
• Minimalist Cast: Unless you count the Kami Trio, she is the only character in the Dream Radar application.
• Parental Substitute: She discovered Lillie on a beach some 3 months before the game begins, and took her in alongside Kukui. This ends up becoming more tragic in hindsight when more about Lillie is revealed later in the game.
• Ring on a Necklace: She wears her wedding ring this way. She's Happily Married but is also a scientist who presumably works with her hands a lot, so it would make sense for her to find another way to keep her ring close.
• Two-Person Love Triangle: Whilst she is happily married to Kukui, she has a crush on his wrestling ego, The Masked Royal similar to that of a groupie. Ironically enough, she is the only main character who doesn’t recognise that they are one and the same.
• Younger Than They Look: May have all-white hair, but was in college with Fennel.

Samson Oak (Nariya Ōkido)

Samson Oak / Nariya Ōkido (ナリヤ・オーキド nariya ookido)

This Oak is the cousin of Kanto's Professor Oak. Samson Oak is a researcher who is studying Pokémon who have taken on Alolan forms.

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• Big Ol' Eyebrows: A trait he shares with his cousin.
• Family Theme Naming: Both Kanto and Alola Professor Oaks are named for Biblical figures whose names start with "Sam".
• The Gimmick: An Alolan variant of Professor Oak who studies Alolan variants of Kanto pokémon.
• Going Native: Most evident in Japanese, where he writes his given name first instead of his family name. That is, he goes by Nariya Ōkido, while his cousin goes by Ōkido Yukinari.
• Meaningful Name: The name "Samson" is not only similar to his cousin's name "Samuel", but it could also be a reference to the Biblical Samson and his long hair.
• Shaped Like Itself: Samson researches Alolan forms, and he can be seen as (and has even officially been joked to be) Professor Oak's Alolan form.
• Strong Family Resemblance: He and Professor Oak have the exact same face.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: A "variant" of a Kanto Professor who studies variants of Kanto Pokémon.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Apart from the tanned look and mullet, he could be mistaken for his cousin.

Mohn (モーン moon)

The caretaker of the Poké Pelago archipelagos.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: The anime version of his character was stranded in the Crown Tundra rather than the Poké Pelago. In the absence of Poké Beans he retained a slimmer, more conventionally attractive appearance.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: His scarf and pants are originally orange. They are changed to green in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Apocalyptic Log: The only thing he left behind after his disappearance were Nebby and some incomplete notes on Nihilego. This may very well be the reason behind Lusamine's obsession with them.
• Big Fun: Quite rotund, but very accommodating and helpful to the player.
• Character Tics: Hardly ever takes his hand off his chin.
• Hidden Depths: He was the former president of Aether Foundation, husband to Lusamine, and father to Lillie and Gladion. In the past, he was absorbed into an Ultra Wormhole and later on came back out somewhere else - surely Poké Pelago - with no recollection of his past.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: He apparently has lived his whole life raising the archipelagos. In truth, he is a former Aether Foundation president who got lost inside an Ultra Wormhole and came back out with his memories lost. Ultra confirms that he absolutely has no prior recollection of Aether Paradise.
• Nice Guy: He's very hospitable to both the player character and all of the Pokémon staying at the Poké Pelago. Lillie most likely got her Nice Girl personality from him.
• Not Quite Dead: Is presumed to have died after being absorbed into the Ultra Wormhole when in reality he is alive.
• Punny Name: His name is basically the last syllable of "Pokémon".
• Small Role, Big Impact: You'll only ever see him if you open Poké Pelago, but his disappearance basically drives the entire plot of the game, namely that Lusamine's motivation was to find him after he vanished. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon he gets a bit more of a role, appearing in the overworld a few times and starting up a friendly relationship with Lusamine (though as of the game's ending he still remembered nothing of his past and she was not keen on pushing him).
• Strong Family Resemblance: Blond hair and green eyes surely are too prominent, don't you think? Additionally, his hair also resembles Gladion's if you take a closer look.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Poké Beans - fitting, as that's the only kind of food that seems to be available on the Poké Pelago. He apparently eats more of them than he should.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: His children have clearly inherited their mother's looks, though it's implied that he is quite attractive before his disappearance and the subsequent Poké Beans addiction.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: He's fairly rotund, with noticeable hair on his arms and dressed in very simple clothes. Lusamine is his wife! It is admittedly indicated he was more trim in the past, he talks about how his present state is due to how he's gotten addicted to eating way too many Poké Beans since starting up Poké Pelago.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His disappearance led to his wife becoming emotionally abusive to their children and eventually her obsession with Ultra Beasts, thus kicking off the plot of the game.
• Walking Spoiler: He's the father of Lillie and Gladion and husband of Lusamine.

Trial Captains

As a group

The supervisors of Alola's seven trials (eight trials in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon). They guide trial-goers on how to do their trials. Each captain did their own island challenge several years ago.

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• Book Ends:
  • The first trial challenge involves a simple objective; battle a number of Pokémon, then grab the Z-Crystal from a totem, which causes the Totem Pokémon to appear and challenge you with the trial cleared upon its defeat. The final trial remixes this objective: you walk up to the totem holding the trial's Z-Crystal, entering mandatory fights against a number of Pokémon on the way, then fight the Totem Pokémon after taking the Z-Crystal to complete the trial. Mina actually implies that Ilima got the idea for his trial from the final trial.
  • Played with in another way for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Mina's trial sends the player around Alola, collecting flower petals to represent each of the seven Trial Captains, and the player returns to the location of most of the previous trials, battling the Trial Captains along the way, similar to how Ilima battled them before the first trial.
• Bootstrapped Theme: In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the Trial Captains are the only trainers to use the original Alola Trainer theme from Sun and Moon, turning it into this for them.
• Chromatic Arrangement: For the first five, their specialty types match the (five including Pikachu and Eevee) starter types, Grass, Fire, Water, Electric, and Normal. As such their theme colors are green, red, blue, yellow, and violet. These colors also comprise one quarter of their medallions, except for Ilima whose medallion is colored white. Acerola and Mina naturally contrast this as they use Ghost and Fairy types, with their medallions colored purple and pink respectively.
• Color-Coded Elements: Their designs prominently feature colors pertaining to their type specialty. Lana is blue, Kiawe is red, Mallow is green, Sophocles is yellow, and Acerola is purple. Ilima's and Mina's designs feature pink and white.
• Floral Theme Naming: Their names in all languages reference flowering plants in some way.
• Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: It is heavily implied the Trial Captain title doesn't come with much pay, if any at all. Mallow and Lana spend time helping their family businesses and Kiawe once worked at the Thrifty Megamart before he got fired, which he took very badly.
• Hidden Depths: Once you beat a captain's trial, you'll be able to visit the houses of several of them and learn more about them. Many of the captains have jobs and family members that can be interacted with.
• Kid Hero: They're all aged between 12 to 19, (Mallow states that they must retire from their positions when they turn 20) are the equivalent of gym leaders in Alola and frequently help out around the island they live on, with ones like Ilima helping you out against Team Skull. If anybody is worthy of this title the most, it's Acerola due to her being the youngest known Elite Four member in the series until Poppy.
• Kid with the Leash: It's their job to train their designated Totem Pokémon for trial goers, and as shown by Totem Kommo-o they may go rogue if they don't have a Captain watching over them.
• Mythology Gag: The concept of giving non-battle challenges before being allowed to fight the island's strongest trainer is similar to the anime-exclusive Orange Crew on the Orange Islands.
• Nice Guy: All of them are friendly individuals.
• Optional Boss: In S/M, the Captains themselves are optional fights, usually after beating the Grand Trial of whichever Kahuna they're under. The exceptions are Ilima, who battles you before his trial to see if you're ready, and Acerola, who becomes a member of the Elite Four and thus is a mandatory story fight. Additionally, you can only challenge Kiawe in Sun while you can only challenge Mallow in Moon. Sophocles is one of the challengers for the Champion battle. However, in Ultra S/M, Mina's trial has you battle her, Ilima again, either Mallow (US) or Lana (UM), Kiawe and Hiker David, and either Sophocles (US) or Nanu (UM) before you can face the Totem Pokémon.
• Vague Age: While all of them have to be somewhere in the range of 12 to 19, due to the requirements of being a Trial Captain, none of them have an exact age. With some of them, it's more obvious that they're kids (Acerola, Sophocles) but others, like Ilima, Kiawe and Mina are more confusing.

Ilima

Ilima (イリマ irima)

The first Trial Captain who specializes in Normal-types. His Trial Grounds are located in Verdant Cavern on Melemele Island, and the objective is simply to defeat various wild Pokémon and obtain the Z-Crystal waiting at the end. The trial's Totem Pokémon is Gumshoos in Sun and Ultra Sun and Alolan Raticate in Moon and Ultra Moon.

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• The Ace: He's a Trial Captain, graduated top of his class at the Trainers' School, and his skill at Pokémon battling is quite renowned.
• Badass Bookworm: He's a graduate of the local Trainers' School and a hero to their students. He's even carrying books in his official artwork and his bedroom contains several bookshelves.
• Big Fancy House: His house in Hau'oli City, while not an extreme example, is certainly one of the bigger and more well-kept of any residence you see in the game. It has a pool and is taken care of by a few maids and helper Pokémon.
• Blood Knight: Surprisingly enough, one of the women working in his house mentions that, despite his affable personality, he becomes very competitive while battling. This is shown in-game, where his battle pose is him slightly crouching with his fists clenched forward.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Gives no attention the the Skull Grunts that are more or less threatening to mug him in the first game, which may remind veteran players of a similar incident with Rowan.
• Character Catchphrase: "Greetings! Captain Ilima here."
• Color-Coded Elements: In addition to pink and white (which he shares with Mina), the brown and cream of his vest is a color scheme present in many of the series' Normal-types (eg. Zigzagoon).
• Crazy-Prepared: When you fight him again after completing his trial, his Smeargle will know a move for each starter-type.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: His battling pose, where he is leaning forward in a crouched position, makes it appear that he has a problem with part of his digestive system.
• Early-Bird Cameo: His first mention was when a zoomed shot of his conversation text box revealed his name and occupation during a formal online video commercial. Prior to this, people had thought there were only four Trial Captains.
• Foil: To Mina, to an extent. They're the first and last Trial Captains encountered in the games, respectively, and they have very different personalities, with Ilima being very studious and focused and Mina being spacy to the extent of not having a trial prepared. Aesthetically, they both have white and pink color schemes as well as similar-sounding names in English. On a meta sense, his Smeargle suits Mina's profession.
• No-Sell: When members of Team Skull attempt to accost Ilima in the first game, he completely ignores them and continues his conversation with the protagonist.
• Non-Elemental: Ilima specializes in Normal-type Pokémon.
• Poor, Predictable Rock: Averted with his Smeargle, which will always know a move that's super-effective against your starter.
• Pretty Boy: He's quite the pretty boy. The Rotom Dex even lampshades it at one point, calling him a "dreamboat."
• Princely Young Man: Not only is he a popular and prolific student in the Trainers' School, his family is also rather well-off.
• Signature Mon: He uses a Smeargle to test you before his Trial. Afterwards, he shows his true signature Pokémon, a Gumshoos with a Normalium Z-Crystal in Sun and Moon, or a Komala with a Normalium Z-Crystal in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Spirited Competitor: He loves to battle. Outside of battles, he's very well-mannered and proper. When he enters a battle, one can clearly see him in the background slightly crouched down with excited, shaking fists. Many comment how he's a different person when this happens.
• Useless Useful Spell: Played with. During the first battle with Ilima in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, his Smeargle has Technician, which powers up the normally weak Tackle and Leafage/Ember/Water Gun, as they are under 60 base power. It effectively becomes useless in rematches, as Smeargle gets moves that are over 60 base power (Extreme Speed, Energy Ball/Flamethrower/Surf, and Power Whip/Fire Blast/Hydro Pump), which Technician doesn't provide its benefits for.

Lana (Suiren)

Lana / Suiren (スイレン suiren)

Voiced by: Amanda Lee (Pokémon Masters - EN), Kaori Nazuka (Pokémon Masters -JP),

The Trial Captain who uses Water-types. Her trial starts off with her asking the player to locate a strong Pokémon lurking in the waters of her Trial Grounds, which are located in Brooklet Hill on Akala Island. That Pokémon turns out to be the trial's Totem, a Wishiwashi in its School Forme (Sun and Moon) or an Araquanid (Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon).

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• Adaptation Personality Change: In the original Sun and Moon, Lana is a blatant Trickster Mentor, proposing unserious scenarios and playfully suggesting there might be a hunky swimmer to rescue. In the Ultra games, Lana trickster side is deliberately Hidden—she adopts a straightforward and polite style of speech, without overt silliness and hunky swimmer talk, but she still gets a little giggle out of her Red Gyarados joke; still uses her Z-move on the Sudowoodo as a gag; and while the real surprise in Lana's Ultra trial is that it's derailed by a Totem Araquanid, she subtly reveals during Mallow's trial that she's the one who trained it.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Blue hair, blue clothes (with a wave motif on her pants), blue eyes, carries a fishing rod. It's not possible to be more obvious that she's a water type trainer.
• Badass Adorable: She's a highly skilled trainer and fisher, on top of being cute as a button. In fact, the Battle Style you unlock by beating her is the "Girlish" style, reinforcing this fact.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Lana is by nature a laid-back, loving sister with a bit of a mischievous streak. However, she is not above solving a Broken Bridge with a Z-Move.
• Birds of a Feather: In Pokémon Masters, she is able to gain Tapu Lele's aid because they both are mischievous pranskters (though Lele is more brutal about it, but still).
• Cloudcuckoolander: Zig-zagged. On one hand, she is a trickster who acts absent-minded but on the other hand used a Z-Move as a means to solve a mundane problem.
• Cool Big Sis: According to her profile, Lana is dedicated to her family and is a reliable older sister who watches over her younger sisters.
• Covert Pervert:
  • In Sun and Moon, Lana disguises each stage of her trial by suggesting that the disturbances in the water (Wishiwashi that she herself trained) are Hunky swimmers in need of rescue. (This joke is removed from Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon games, but is preserved in other appearances, as seen below).
  • Becomes a Brick Joke in Pokémon Masters. Lana's appearance in the Alola event has her tricking the player character into fishing up a trio of trainers, including Marlon who is indeed a young and handsome swimmer.
  • Her proper debut has her wishing to meet "young strapping swimmers" at the current festival. Kiawe laughs at her for even thinking that, but it only makes her grunt in frustration.
• Curtains Match the Window: Both Lana's eyes and hair are blue.
• The Dreaded: Due to the There Is No Kill Like Overkill incident below, the Sudowoodo blocking the route to Route 6 flee immediately upon seeing that you have a Waterium Z in your possession because of the sheer trauma Lana inflicted to them last time.
• Elemental Hair Colors: Straight and blue, with sidebangs that fan out like waves. She's a Water-type user.
• The Gadfly:
  • She more or less teases you the whole trial, suggests Kyogre was the cause of the rain, and gets one more chance to joke by claiming she caught a Red Gyarados once just to see how you would react. She also tricks you into starting her trial without preparing you first like the other trial captains, and reveals at the end that the whole thing was apparently a Secret Test of Character (although more likely it was just to get a kick out of messing with you).
  • Downplayed in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon. She tells you outright that you have to startle Wishiwashi into School Forme to awaken the Totem Pokémon... but then you fight Totem Araquanid, which (allegedly) surprises Lana as well. She keeps her Red Gyarados joke afterwards, though Kyogre isn't mentioned this time. Double Subverted later when later dialogue reveals that Lana did in fact train the Totem Araquanid herself, and claimed she didn't know about it apparently to mess with you.
  • She's back to her old tricks during the Alola event in Pokémon Masters. Her EX Trial seems simple enough: fish something up and defeat it in battle. However, the region the game takes place in has no wild Pokémon and the player instead ends up pulling in a trio of trainers: a male and female swimmer and gym leader Marlon. She never said you'd be fishing for Pokémon, after all.
• King Mook: Lana is one for the Fisherman trainer class—her trial takes place in the best fishing spot in Alola (where many Fishermen trainers have gathered), and she's depicted in official character art carrying a fishing rod; unlike the standard middle-aged or elderly Fisherman, however, Lana is a young girl. Later in the games, an NPC identifies the Player Character's fishing rod as something Lana made.
• Making a Splash: Lana specializes in Water-type Pokémon.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Suiren means water lily.
  • Lana is both Hawaiian for afloat and contains part of lilia-lana-i-ka-wai (Hawaiian for water lily).
• Noodle Incident: Once dealt with a Sudowoodo blockade in the past by Cutting the Knot with a Water-type Z-Move.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Will be waiting for you at each step of her Trial, despite not being shown to move and the path being linear. Even Rotomdex comments on it.
• One-Steve Limit: Her "German" name is Tracy, which is spelled almost the same way as the anime's Tracey.
• Optional Boss: Can be fought after Olivia in Sun and Moon and the post-game of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, but not optional in Ultra Moon as she must be defeated to claim her and Mallow's petals for Mina's Trial.
• Out of Focus: In terms of battling, at least. Discounting Kiawe and Mallow's version-exclusive Battle Tree fights, she and Ilima are the only captains who can't be fought in the postgame, and unlike Ilima, she doesn't get a mandatory story fight in addition to the optional one post-trial. The player can only fight her once. Fixed in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where she is a mandatory battle during Mina's trial in Ultra Moon and can be fought in the postgame in both Ultra versions.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The concept art makes a note of it that she's far stronger than her small size suggests. There's a photo in her house that apparently shows her at a younger age, reeling in a Wailord. Additionally, in the photos featured in the credits sequence of Sun and Moon, she's shown fishing up a Wishiwashi in its School form, a Pokémon that collectively weighs 173 pounds.
• Precocious Crush: She primarily goes after "strapping swimmers" of all kinds. To her chagrin, her fellow Trial Captain friends think she's just joking as always, and the swimmers she does find brush her off as Just a Kid.
• School Swimsuit: She wears one under her clothes - you can see the blue material peeking out at her neckline and midriff. It's wholly justified as she spends a lot of time in the water as a fisherman's daughter, and is shown more clearly in the anime adaptation.
• Shipper on Deck: During Pokemon Masters, she becomes this towards Victor and Mallow once she learns her Appletun was given to her as an Applin (upon remembering the story behind said Pokémon), wanting them to become an item. Unfortunately for her, Victor and Mallow don't catch on so it sinks immediately.
• Signature Headgear: Wears a headband that resembles part of a fishing net.
• Signature Mon:
  • Her Araquanid, which she uses to fight you at her house after her Trial is complete.
  • In Masters, her Sygna Suit variant gets Tapu Lele.
• Skintone Sclerae: Like Cilan before her, Lana's sclerae match her skin.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Lana adopts a lot from the Kanto Gym Leader Misty. This resemblance doubtless precipitated Lana and Misty befriending each other when the latter Guest Starred Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon.
  • Lana is the second Trial Captain; specializes in the Water-type; is always wearing a swimsuit; and is the young, female King Mook of a trainer-class consisting primarily of grown men, much like Misty of Pokémon Red and Blue.
  • While Lana is the fisher to Misty's swimmer, Misty was introduced in Pokémon: The Series in the middle of fishing.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Girly girl to Mallow's tomboy. Apart from her True Blue Femininity, her Z-Move dance is inspired by the hula, which looks rather graceful.
• Trickster Mentor:
  • With more emphasis on the "Trickster" than the "mentor", though as a trial captain she is trying to help teach you something.
  • Lana's suspicious tendencies and blatant ulterior motives from the original games are removed in the Ultra remakes, but despite her newfound politeness and straightforwardness, she still has a trick or two up her sleeves.
• There's No Kill like Overkill: In previous games, all that was necessary to move a Sudowoodo out of the way was to pour water on it. Lana goes ahead and full-on blasts them with a Water-type Z-Move just because she can. It fits right in with her Trickster tendencies...
• True Blue Femininity: Has a prominent blue color scheme and beating her unlocks the Girlish battle style animation.
• Youthful Freckles: The six dots below Lana's eyes are her freckles, as shown in her concept art. Their positioning makes them look like blush marks, which just adds to her youthful looks.

Kiawe (Kaki)

Kiawe / Kaki (カキ kaki)

Voiced by: Chris Jai Alex^note (Uncredited due to contractual reasons) (Pokémon Masters - EN), Tomohiro Oomachi (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Hot-Blooded Fire-type Trial Captain. His trial is a bit different than the previous two, requiring the player to identify the differences between two dances, and the Trial's Totem Pokémon is Salazzle (in Sun and Moon) / Alolan Marowak (in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon). His Trial Grounds are located at the peak of Wela Volcano Park on Akala Island.

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• Broken Ace: He's a Trial Captain and an accomplished fire dancer, but apparently suffers from loneliness and appears to struggle with holding down a job.
• The Comically Serious: How he reacts to you during his trial can be summed up as this.
• Dance Battler: He himself is a fire dancer, and his partner Marowak is known to incorporate fire dancing into its attacks.
• Elemental Hair Colors: His hair color and shape is reminiscent of a flame, appropriate considering he's a Fire-type trainer.
• Farm Boy: He lives in the Old West-inspired Paniola Town, and in concept art he's shown herding Tauros around Paniola Ranch.
• Hidden Depths:
  • His father mentions that despite his outward appearance, Kiawe is actually very lonely and is quite grateful for the protagonist's friendship.
  • An event exclusive to Sun reveals that he works part time at the Thrifty Megamart. Unfortunately, he gets fired from his job right in front of you, after which he reveals that he's been trying to make money so that he can study dance abroad but things just haven't been going right for him.
• Hot-Blooded: Comes with the territory of being a Fire-type specialist, and he's also a very passionate dancer.
• Meaningful Name: Kiawe is a species of mesquite tree whose wood is a source of long-lasting firewood and charcoal, hence his use of Fire-type Pokémon.
• Mr. Fanservice: He's always shirtless and has an athletic build. You even get to see him dancing during the epilogue and his Sun exclusive event.
• Perpetual Frowner: Though he's not really angry. He's just very Hot-Blooded.
• Playing with Fire: Kiawe specializes in Fire-type Pokémon. His Battle Tree team is more varied in type representation, however.
• Signature Mon: His Alolan Marowak, whom he studies dances with.
• Stealth Pun: Kiawe is a Fire-type Trainer. In the Sun and Ultra Sun versions, you can see a cutscene where he loses his job at the Thrifty Megamart—i.e. he gets "fired".
• The Unfought: In Moon version, where the player learns the Reverent battle style from Mallow.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Kiawe goes bare-chested and is slightly ripped. Justified during his trial, which takes place on an active volcano, but his design remains the same in other parts of Alola.
• When He Smiles: Kiawe pretty much always has a scowl on his face, but when he does smile, it's adorable.

Mallow (Mao)

Mallow / Mao (マオ mao)

Voiced by: Amber Connor (Pokémon Masters - EN), Sora Amamiya (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Trial Captain specializing in Grass-types. Her trial starts off with her requesting the player to locate some ingredients and help cook a meal, and its Totem Pokémon is Lurantis. Her Trial Grounds are located in Lush Jungle on Akala Island.

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• Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: The food she makes to attract Lurantis is so spicy that Lana and Kiawe are sent running.
• Character Catchphrase: She tends to greet the player character with "Thanks for stopping by!" whenever they run into her. This is likely a carryover from greeting customers in her family's restaurant.
• Cool Big Sis: All of the other workers at her family's restaurant on Akala Island look up to her like a big sister. Most notably, she takes in a Team Skull Grunt after the team collapses, giving her a job at the restaurant and setting her on the road to becoming a chef. The grunt even refers to Mallow as "Sis".
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Mallow's profile mentions she loves cooking, but sometimes likes to experiment and that her tastes can be considered unorthodox. During her trial, Lana and Kiawe are sent running by how spicy her food is and the smell ends up attracting her trial's Totem over to attack the player.
• Curtains Match the Window: Both Mallow's eyes and hair are green.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The cooking segment of her trial in the original Sun and Moon is...suggestive, to say the least. Doesn't help that, for the entirety of it, the camera is closed in on her pelvis and doesn't actually show you what you're cooking. The cooking segment is removed to be just a cut-scene in the Ultra games.
• Dragon Tamer: In the Battle Tree she can use the Grass/Dragon Mega Sceptile.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She made appearances in a few story events in Pokémon Masters before she was added to the game as a playable character.
• Elemental Hair Colors: Long and green, with a flower. She's a Grass-type user.
• Farm Girl: While she doesn't live at Paniola Ranch like Kiawe, visiting the farm shows her volunteering there in her spare time.
• Fetch Quest: Her trial consists of locating various ingredients scattered throughout Lush Jungle, each of which is guarded by a Pokémon. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you can avoid the fights should you pick the right items without directly confronting the Pokémon in a form of Video Game Caring Potential.
• Flowers of Nature: It resembles one of Shaymin's Gracidea blossoms, adding to the Uncatty Resemblance.
• Girlish Pigtails: Her hair is styled into two pigtails.
• Green Thumb: Mallow specializes in Grass-type Pokémon. Her Battle Tree team is more varied in type representation, however, adding in Fire, Ghost, Flying, and Fairy-type Pokémon.
• Hero-Worshipper: Towards Olivia, her island's Kahuna and thus direct superior. Mallow really wants to impress her with her cooking.
• Hidden Depths:
  • She seems outgoing, but when you talk to the Skull Grunt working at her family's restaurant in the postgame, you are handed some presents that Mallow had wanted to give you in congratulations for becoming the champion, but was apparently too shy to do so herself.
  • She happens to be a very adept businessgirl, as shown in Masters's Beachside Rivalry story event where she points out that even if Marnie decides to help another eatery get its customers back, she won't be able to do so if she helps every other eatery and risk running out of business herself.
• The High Queen: Comments in Masters that her Tsareena is the undisputed queen of all Bounsweet and worries that she has too much power at her beck and call.
• Meaningful Name: Mallow (the namesake plant, not the young woman) comes from a family of plants that includes cotton.
• Nice Girl: Is nice enough to even get a former Skull Grunt a job at her family's restaurant in Konikoni City following Team Skull's disbandment, and tells them to Think Nothing of It.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Not to the same degree as Lana, but she'll repeatedly appear out of nowhere every time you find an ingredient during her trial.
• Optional Boss: Can be fought after Olivia in Moon and in the post-game of Ultra Moon, but not optional in Ultra Sun as she must be defeated to claim her and Lana's petals for Mina's Trial.
• Signature Mon: Her Steenee, which she uses to fight you after her Trial is complete. During rematches at the Battle Tree, it's evolved into a Tsareena.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Definitely isn't asking you to gather ingredients as part of her Trial so she can practice her cooking skills for Olivia. Nope. Definitely not. The fact that the smell of her meal summons the Totem Pokémon to battle you suggests that she might have at least partially been messing with the player, though.
• Through Her Stomach: A platonic example; she really wants to impress her hero, Olivia, with her cooking. The "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue shows that she succeeded.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to Lana's girly girl. Apart from her looks and her spicy cooking, her Z-Move dance is inspired by cheerleading, which looks a quite bit more energetic than Lana's hula-inspired Z-Move dance.
• Uncatty Resemblance: Her Girlish Pigtails and off-kilter bangs evoke the appearance of her Steenee. Her hair also resembles both formes of Shaymin, cementing her role as a Grass-type specialist.
• The Unfought: In Sun version, where the player learns the Reverent battle style from Kiawe.

Sophocles (Mamane)

Sophocles / Mamane (マーマネ maamane)

Voiced by: Jeannie Tirado (Pokémon Masters - EN), Michiyo Murase (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Trial Captain whose specialty is Electric-types. His Trial Grounds are located in Hokulani Observatory in Ula'Ula Island, and the trial's Totem Pokémon is Vikavolt in Sun and Moon. Since he only recently became a Trial Captain he's still relatively inexperienced, and ends up causing a blackout during the trial. He also runs the Festival Plaza.

In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Sophocles' trial differs in that it no longer takes place in a darkened room of Hokulani Observatory and now involves a Charjabug puzzle, to power a Vikavolt-shaped machine to attract the Totem Pokémon, which is now a Togedemaru.

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• Affectionate Nickname: "Soffy", by Molayne. Sophocles affectionately nicknames Molayne "Big Mo" in return.
• Amusing Injuries: During his trial, the player must identify several audio clips as passwords to several doors. Getting the answers wrong result in Sophocles getting electrocuted, which is emphasized since the trial takes place in a Blackout Basement, and Sophocles' body briefly lights up the place.
• Big Damn Heroes: During the Team Rainbow Rocket invasion, he helps the player by booting all the RR grunts out of Festival Plaza while adopting the hacked theme colors he considers cool.
• Birds of a Feather:
  • Surprisingly enough with Cyrus at least when he was a kid. They share similar hobbies such as playing with Rotom, tinkering with machines as well as suffer loneliness at one point.
  • He later goes on to make good friends with Clemont. Unsurprisingly, as both of them share a whole lot in common.
• Black Bead Eyes: Unlike most characters, his eyes are black dots.
• Black Out Basement: He ends up causing a blackout during his trial.
• Blush Stickers: Has these as part of his design.
• Cerebro Electro: Sophocles is an inventor who develops various gadgets, and an Electric-type specialist. Both versions of his Trial (the one in Sun and Moon and the one in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon) involve wrangling an Electric-type that is involved in his invention.
• Chekhov's Gunman: As the host of Festival Plaza, you'll be meeting him long before the story proper, since the Plaza is available close to the beginning of the game, and Sophocles lives in Ula'ula, the third island.
• Child Prodigy: He's probably not that much older than the protagonists but happens to be a skilled inventor.
• Elemental Hair Colors: Short, rather spiky, and ginger, befitting an Electric-type user.
• Fat and Skinny: The shorter and fatter of the duo compared to Molayne.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Sophocles' profile mentions that he's good with mechanics and has invented various machines.
• Geek Physiques: Of the short and fat kind. His battle portrait in the title defense shows him with an exasperated and sweaty look, presumably from ascending Lanakila and the steps to the Champion platform.
• Gone Horribly Right: In an attempt to speed up the trial, he tests out a new device to lure the Totem Vikavolt to where you are and the result ends up knocking out most of the power in the building with the both of you trapped inside the room. Meanwhile, the device ended up working and attracted the Vikavolt like it was supposed to.
• He Knows About Timed Hits: He's your tutorial guide for Festival Plaza, and appropriately teaches you about the Wi-Fi features.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Molayne, his cousin and best friend despite their relative ages (Sophocles is, at oldest, a teenager, while Molayne is probably in his twenties if not older).
• Legacy Character: He keeps the trend of introducing important characters associated with Electric-types in every generation, although he is sort of a Gym Leader.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Named after Sophora chrysophylla (or mamane in Hawaiian), a species of flowering plants related to beans and peas.
  • Greek philosopher Sophocles also wrote one version of the Electra myth ^note The name comes from the Greek word for "amber", which is incidentally the root word of "electricity".
• Mythology Gag: He wears a T-shirt depicting a Game Boy and a Link Cable, referencing how players interacted with each other in the earlier games, which fits into his theme as the head of the Festival Plaza, an area that allows players to interact with each other using more advanced technology.
• Nervous Wreck:
  • Throughout his trial in the vanilla games, he tries his best to stay calm when the power goes out, but when one of his machines malfunctions in the Ultra games and his Togedemaru steps in to absorb the electricity, he promptly freaks out.
  • At the beginning of the Rainbow Rocket invasion in the Ultra games, when he barges into the player's house to alert them of the Festival Plaza takeover and he messes up an apology to the family Meowth.
    "S-S-S-Sorrocles! I mean I'm sophorry! I mean I'm sorry! No, I mean I'm Sophocles! I'm a very sorry Sophocles!"
• Non-Standard Character Design: His character model looks extremely off in comparison to the rest thanks to his rounder physique and unibrow.
• No Social Skills: He's noticeably socially awkward upon meeting the protagonist for the first time. His character event in Masters has him asking the protagonist for help with his poor social skills... while standing metres away in a dark cave, which is the only way Sophocles feels comfortable enough to talk to them.
• Optional Boss: He is one of the Title Defense challengers. Averted if playing Ultra Sun, as you'll fight him as part of Mina's Trial.
• Perpetual Frowner: Compared to the outwardly warmer Molayne, Sophocles always has a frown on his face.
• Recurring Element: The Trials are analogous to Gyms, and like Lt. Surge, Wattson, Volkner, and Clemont before him, he's a Gadgeteer Genius Electric-type user.
• Shock and Awe: Sophocles specializes in Electric-type Pokémon.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Is one of the shortest captains and has made several inventions while having involvement with the Festival Plaza.
• Signature Mon:
  • Alolan Golem is the last Pokémon on his roster during his battle with you at the Pokémon League and during Mina's Trial in Ultra Sun, although all of his Pokémon are equally leveled. In various media, such as Sun and Moon's credits and several trailers for Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, a Togedemaru can be seen with him, which is what he uses in Masters.
  • He and Molayne also seem to share the Magnemite line as a secondary signature Pokémon representing their friendship since it is a dual type combining both of their type specialties (Sophocles's Electric and Molayne's Steel). The location of Sophocles's Trial (which Molayne assists with) has several Magnemite living within. They also both carry a Magnezone on their respective teams when battled.
• The Smurfette Principle: As a challenger to your League Title Defense, his only female Pokémon is Togedemaru.
• When He Smiles: He's a Perpetual Frowner, but the instances where he does smile are quite cute.

Acerola

Acerola (アセロラ aserora)

Voiced by: Christine Marie Cabanos (Pokémon Masters - EN), Shiori Mikami (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Trial Captain specializing in Ghost-types. Her trial starts off with her requesting the player to take some photos of the Pokémons hiding in an abandoned supermarket, and its Totem Pokémon is Mimikyu. Her Trial Grounds are located in the Abandoned Thrifty Megamart in Ula'ula Island.

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• Amazon Brigade: With the exception of her Dhelmise, she uses an all-female team.
• Badass Adorable: Is a very competent battler and Trial Captain despite being young, so much so that she's picked to become a member of Alola's Elite Four (and the youngest of any Elite Four member in the series until Poppy) in Nanu's place when he refuses.
• Cassandra Truth: After her trial, Acerola tells the player that there is no back room (which was Totem Mimikyu's lair, so the player has reason to doubt this) in the Abandoned Megamart. Subsequent visits to the place reveals that Acerola is actually telling the truth.
• Cheerful Child: She's an upbeat little girl prone to twirling, dancing, and jumping around.
• Child Prodigy: Being one of the youngest Trial Captains and Elite Four members cements her status as a talented Pokémon Trainer while still not being much older than the player character.
• Curtains Match the Window: Purple hair and purple eyes.
• Dark Is Not Evil: She uses Ghost-types, but is a complete sweetheart.
• Elemental Hair Colors: Or as elemental as the highly varied Ghost-types can be, anyway. Her hair is puffy and purple, which fits with a common way the series depicts ghosts (think the Gastly or Drifloon lines).
• Friend to All Children: Is known to be taking care of children in her spare time and is adored by them.
• Genki Girl: While she's capable of being serious, Acerola is still quite outgoing, and has some rather energetic animations, too.
• Get Out!: Something during her trial in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon causes her to start screaming this repeatedly, seemingly as a warning towards the player. Turns out, it's an illusion possibly created by the Totem Pokémon, Mimikyu, as an intimidation tactic.
• Girly Run: Very pronounced one at that.
• Girly Skirt Twirl: Does a lot of twirling.
• Impoverished Patrician: She says she has royal blood, but nowadays she's only a Trial Captain and later a member of the Alolan Elite Four. She also dresses in Pauper Patches and lives in a foster home (the Aether House).
• Improbable Age: While all Trial Captains are teenagers, Acerola looks by far the youngest, and might even be younger than the protagonists who are eleven. And then she gets promoted to a member of Alola's Elite Four, making her the youngest character in the series to bear that title until Poppy comes along.
• I See Dead People: The art book reveals that Acerola, like fellow Ghost-type user Phoebe, is able to see and talk to ghosts.
• Little Miss Badass: She's probably younger than the main character, but she's a Trial Captain. She's so skilled a trainer that she was to be next in line for a slot to be in the Elite Four; when her "Uncle" refused, she took the spot and definitely proves she's earned it.
• Meaningful Name: Her name derives from "Malpighia emarginata", which is a tropical fruit-bearing shrub. They're commonly known as barbados cherries or acerola.
• Miss Exposition: An indirect example. She offers the player character and Lillie help in finding the research material they were searching for in the library they are in.
• Modest Royalty: Despite claiming to have royal blood, she's dressed in tattered rags and is a very kind person.
• Morality Pet: Implied to be this to Nanu.
• My Greatest Failure: Doesn't take it well that two separate kidnappings occur at the Aether House while she is absent.
• Nice Girl: Almost skirting into Team Mom territory and is one of her defining traits. She immediately aids the player character and Lillie despite just meeting them and takes the latter out shopping to help her feel better. She also has taking care of the children at the Aether House as her hobby and even extends this to other characters.
• Older Than They Look: She looks like a very young girl and is shorter than the player character, but she's at least 12.
• Parental Substitute: Is taking care of at least two children at the Aether House.
• Perky Goth: She wears a dress made out black and blue rags haphazardly sewn together, but is a very cheerful and energetic girl.
• Playful Cat Smile: One of her most defining features is a cat-like smile that provides a playful, mischievous air befitting her Ghost-typing, which is rather ironic since she's a Nice Girl without a hint of mischief to her, not even being The Gadfly.
• Purple Is Powerful: Her design from the dress to her hair has this and she is a Trial Captain as well. Then she becomes a member of the Elite Four and it shows she earned that title.
• Recurring Element: She's part of a line of female Elite Four members specializing in the Ghost type introduced in odd-numbered generations, following Agatha, Phoebe, and Shauntal.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She claims to have royal blood and is a Trial Captain as well as an Elite Four member.
• Signature Headgear: Her trial captain medallion, believe it or not, in hair clip form.
• Signature Mon:
  • Her Palossand is the Pokémon she chooses to give the Ghostium-Z when you battle her as part of the Elite Four and in Masters.
  • She and Nanu also both lead off with Sableye in their respective battles as a possible sign of their connection to each other since it is a dual type combining both of their type specialties (Acerola's Ghost and Nanu's Dark).
  • In Masters, her Sygna Suit variant has Tapu Bulu.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: She is often seen as a very cheerful little girl just like Hau. They both are seen together a lot during the festival to inaugurate the player's ascension to the local Champion of the region. On separate occasions, they both mention having chicken skin.
• Token Mini-Moe: Is the sole kid member of the Alolan Elite Four.
• Took a Level in Badass: She eventually ends up as one of the Elite Four.
• Visual Pun: Claims to have royal blood and the mon associated with her is Palossand, a sand castle.
• Wise Beyond Her Years: Despite being the youngest of the captains and the Alolan Elite Four, she has shown a great degree of wisdom and maturity, even as far as taking care of other children.

Mina (Matsurika)

Mina / Matsurika (マツリカ matsurika)

Voiced by: Cherami Leigh (Pokémon Masters - EN), Yukana (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Trial Captain specializing in Fairy-types. The art-loving Mina is the only Trial Captain on Poni Island and is located in Vast Poni Canyon. However, when you first meet her, she hasn't developed a trial yet.

In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Mina has finally developed a trial, in which the player is required to engage in a Boss Rush with her and all of the previous Trial Captains, though they will need to travel around Alola in order to do so. Her trial grounds are located in her house at Seafolk Village, and her Totem Pokémon is a Ribombee.

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• …And That Little Girl Was Me: In Pokémon Masters, she tells Hapu a story about how Tapu Fini saved a kid from drowning on Poni Island. She says this in regards to Tapu Fini saving her again, this time from rogue Aether Foundation members.
• Big Eater: Mina tends to shovel as much food as she can into her mouth whenever she heads home before promptly leaving again right after, and is stated to be fond of spam musubi. She seems to be close with Mallow, whose family runs a restaurant, as she has one of her paintings hanging up in the foyer.
• Boss Rush: In Mina's trial, the player is tasked with finding all seven Trial Captains and fight most of them. It only takes place following Necrozma's defeat at Megalo Tower. Every Captain or whoever you fight in their stead gives you a colored petal, and Mina will craft all seven into a rainbow flower that attracts her Totem to her house to fight you.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Mina may look a little flaky and spacey, but she's actually a pretty competent trainer. Her faux-trial takes place at the Poni Gauntlet, which has some of the strongest trainers in the region (outside of Title Defense matches) due to their high-leveled teams. When you first arrive in the area and talk to her, Mina says she already beat all of the trainers there before you came along. Her team, which you battle on two separate occasions, is also no cakewalk if you aren't prepared for them.
• The Cameo: A younger version of Mina appears in Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! as a trainer who appears at the dock after the S.S. Anne departs from Vermilion City, where she can be fought daily.
• Chekhov's Gun: Well before the player encounters her in person, one of her paintings can be found in the Konikoni City restaurant. The player character's internal monologue mentions that the painting "sets your imagination on fire, but some people wouldn't understand it."
• Chekhov's Gunman: During the cutscene before you're able to venture into Vast Poni Canyon (and before your trial battle with Hapu), triggered when you walk up to Hapu and Lillie, you can see a small figure standing on a bridge in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. That person is most likely Mina, since no other trainers are stationed on top of the wooden bridges. You meet her towards the end of your trek in the canyon on what else? That same bridge.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Comes off as seemingly a little off as a result of her airy personality and partially closed eyes. Talking to her relatives in Seafolk Village reinforce this with one of them comparing her to a vagabond fae and noting her habit of stuffing her mouth with food and leaving off to somewhere with her art supplies without any warning.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Given she specializes in the Fairy Type, it's rather concerning that she only uses Pokémon in the Kanto Dex when you challenge her in Let's Go!, of which there are only six Fairy Types in the entire Pokédex (including Alolan Ninetales).
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: With Mina's spacy attitude, vacant stare, and abovementioned habit of suddenly stuffing her mouth with food before going on a painting spree, you're forgiven for wondering if she's stoned off her gourd. Possibly intentional, as her appearance and behavior seems to evoke the stereotypical hippie artist. The fact that she has a Shiinotic on her team may also contribute to this viewpoint. To drive the point home, her voice in Masters is very much reminiscent of someone who's clearly high on something.
• The Fair Folk: Specializes in the Fairy-type. Her mannerisms and habits are rather odd as well, which leads to her parents jokingly comparing her to the fae.
• Foil:
  • As a successor to the Poni island trial, she contrasts greatly with what's established about the previous trials; she's a newcomer succeeding the oldest trial tradition in the Alola region, a Fairy-type specialist to the Totem Pokémon Kommo-o, which as a Dragon/Fighting type has a quadruple weakness to Fairy-type, speaking of which are still running the trial without their trial captain while she has yet to devise a trial of her own.
  • She can also be considered one to Ilima, as she's the final Trial Captain encountered in the game whereas he's the first one met. Their personalities are very different from one another, with Ilima being very bookish and prepared to take on any situation while Mina is so caught up in her art that she hasn't thought up any ideas for what her trial should be. Aesthetically, they both utilize white and pink color schemes and their English names are fairly similar sounding. On a meta level, two of her Pokémon, Wigglytuff and Granbull, used to be pure Normal types before Generation VI, giving her another point of contrast with Ilima. Much like Ilima needing to be fought prior to his trial in Sun and Moon, Mina has the player fight her during her trial in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Foreshadowing: As part of her faux-trial in Sun and Moon, Mina requests that the player battle all of the trainers around Poni Gauntlet and then battle her afterwards. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Mina has the player battle her as part of her trial. Her musing about making a trial that involves picking flowers leads to the goal of her real trial being to fight all the Trial Captains and earn colored petals from them.
• Girlish Pigtails: Her hair is tied up in loose-hanging pigtails when you meet her in Let's Go!.
• G-Rated Stoner: Definitely fits the bill with her spacy attitude, messy appearance, large eating habit, and overall hippie artist motif, not to mention her having a Shiinotic on her team. Obviously, since this is a family-friendly franchise, no actual drug use is mentioned, but it's clear she was meant to evoke this archetype as a Parental Bonus. Cherami Leigh clearly gives her a stereotypical pothead voice in Masters, further leading credence to the idea that this is all intentional.
• Meaningful Name: Mina comes from jasmine. Mina also means love in Greek. It may also come from Min or Meena, Irish Gaelic names meaning smooth, fine, small. Her fairy typing may come from the tea arrangement called jasmine fairy maidens.
• Mundane Solution: Mina's trial grounds in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon aren't some special landmark or facility. Rather, her trial just takes place in the corner of her house filled with her art equipment - a place rather fitting for a disorganised and artistic vagabond teen who was indecisive about what her trial should be located and about in her debut games. Her trial is also not particularly complex either, just requiring you to trek around the islands to face the other Trial Captains once more.
• Naïve Newcomer: She's only a new captain and hasn't quite got the hang of making a trial just yet, at least in the original Sun and Moon. In the Ultra games, she has a trial and Totem fight just like the others.
• Pink Means Feminine: As a Fairy-type specialist and with Colour-Coded for Your Convenience in play for every trial captain, Mina is associated with the color pink and has quite a lot of pink paint on her body and clothes.
• Signature Mon:
  • Hers is Ribombee, serving as her strongest Mon on all of her teams, while you also have to fight Totem Ribombee as part of her trial. In Masters, her ace is Granbull instead.
  • In Masters, her Sygna Suit variant gets Tapu Fini.
• Stealth Pun: Mina is spacey, disorganized, and more than a little out of it. She's away with the fairies.
• Totally Radical: Invoked on occasion, as she has a tendency to say phrases like "Get your Z on!". This is very likely done to contribute to her overall stoner vibe.
• Trademark Favorite Food: According to the notes on her concept art, her favorite food is Spam musubi.
• Unkempt Beauty: She still manages to look cute even when her face, hair, and clothes are drenched in paint.
• Younger Than They Look: Could pass for someone in their 20s, but like the other Captains is likely in her late teens at most.
• Zero-Effort Boss: In the original Sun and Moon, she doesn't actually have a trial and just gives you the Fairium Z after briefly musing about the canyon's scenery. She's still trying to come up with ideas, and eventually comes up with a pseudo trial at the Poni Gauntlet where you have to fight a bunch of trainers before fighting her, not unlike a typical Gym challenge in the rest of the series.
  • Averted in the Ultra games, where she has a proper trial that tasks you to fight her and a few other Trial Captains, acquiring flower petals from them, which forms a flower that summons Totem Ribombee.

Vast Poni Canyon Trial

Vast Poni Canyon Trial

Although this trial doesn't have a captain, it's still fully functioning, and is filled with Dragon-type Pokémon. The Totem Pokémon is Kommo-o, with this trial known as the oldest of them all.

Despite the island challenge being stated to be comprised of seven trials and Mina having a proper trial this time around, the Totem Kommo-o, and its trial as well reappears in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

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• Call-Back: Some characters have taken to compare Ilima's trial with that of the Vast Poni Canyon Trial.
• Extra-ore-dinary: Not Totem Kommo-o itself, but it can summon the Steel-type Scizor to help it out against any Fairy-types you might be packing.

Kahunas

As a group

The leaders of the four islands of Alola, chosen by the Guardian Deity Pokémon of each island.

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• An Offer You Can't Refuse: According to Nanu, the position of Kahuna is more or less forced on you and cannot be rejected, given that it was a decision made by the Tapu.
• Badass Preacher: The Kahunas are all leaders of their respective islands and serve as significant challenges. Since Alola is based on Hawaii, they too are based on the Kahuna, ancient Hawaiian priests, many of whom held positions of political power. The connection to the gods that the Kahunas of old were thought to possess is reflected in the Alola Kahunas' connection to the deity Pokémon.
• Big Eater: After beating them, the player character can be treated to a dinner at each island's local restaurant courtesy of the local Kahuna, who will express disbelief that the player character can't keep up with their eating habits.
• The Chosen One: They are selected by their island's Tapu.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: They usually wear an article of clothing that matches their island's signature color. For Hala and Melemele it's yellow, Olivia and Akala it's pink, Nanu and Ula'ula it's red, and Hapu and Poni it's purple.
• Elite Four: They're the final tests of the four Grand Trials. Half of them later join the newly formed Elite Four.
• Floral Theme Naming: Their names in all languages reference flowering plants in some way.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: Two male Kahunas and two female Kahunas in all by the end. Technically averted for most of the game, as the previous Kahuna of Poni was male and had died prior to the start of the game, only to be formally replaced by his granddaughter shortly after you had arrived there.
• Meaningful Name: Kahuna could either mean a wise man or shaman in Hawaii or a person in charge in slang. The Kahunas effectively fulfill both meanings. This is only present in the localized versions of the games; the original Japanese and some other languages refer to them as "Island Kings/Queens".
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: They're the leaders of their respective islands, and the most powerful Trainers.

Hala

Hala (ハラ hara)

Voiced by: Kane Jungbluth-Murry (Pokémon Masters - EN), Hōchū Ōtsuka (Pokémon Masters - JP),

Hala isn't just Hau's grandfather and a Fighting-type specialist; he's also the Kahuna of Melemele, and one of the first Alolans the player meets after moving to the region. He's also the one who releases the starter Pokémon for the player and Hau to choose from.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Hau calls him "Tutu".
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Hala is a Fighting-type Kahuna.
• Beware the Nice Ones: There's a reason why he's Melemele Island's Kahuna and its strongest trainer, and in addition to that he's said to be quite scary when he's angry. At a young age, Hau encountered Hala when he was in a mood and his umbrage-ridden facial expressions frightened the poor kid into inconsolable tears.
• Big Fun: Hala is rather portly and is very fun to be around. During the credits, there's a picture of him and Hau riding on Tauros. Hau is wearing proper safety gear, Hala is wearing his normal clothes and riding the Tauros like a surfboard.
• Boisterous Bruiser: He is as sanguine as his grandson and is always up for a battle.
• Critical Hit Class: His Mankey during his first Grand Trial is clearly designed for this. It will always use Focus Energy and try to follow up with Karate Chop.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Hala originally appeared in a screenshot with Professor Kukui, and was then shown giving advice to the player. That he holds the important position of Kahuna wasn't revealed until a later trailer.
• Eyes Always Shut: Hala's always seen with his eyes closed.
• Foil: To Nanu, in a way. Hala is first described as "looking like a Kahuna", he is known in his island and he pretty much paints the image of what that title means, proudly helping his people even with the slightest problems. Nanu, on the other hand, never wanted to become a Kahuna, and his personality and actions don't seem to fit the job, preferring to be on his own and not liking intervening in his island's matters. Their introductions as their island's Kahuna are especially noteworthy - Hala walks into Iki Town announcing his arrival to the locals' fanfare and his Grand Trial is a formal event with noticeable buildup, while Nanu is encountered several times throughout events on Ula'ula only to nonchalantly reveal his role and extend his challenge when he catches the protagonist preparing to depart at Malie City's pier.
• Made of Iron: In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon we are told of how he once directly fought his rival (a Bewear) for a week straight before the two decided to call it a draw. Given that Bewear are often noted to be able to easily break the bones of normal humans this trope must come into play.
• Manly Facial Hair: He's a strong patriarchal figure (Hau's beloved grandfather and the leader of Melemele Island) who specializes in Fighting-types. In keeping with this, he has a big grey moustache.
• The Mentor:
  • He's Hau's grandfather and Melemele Island's Kahuna, meaning he's the island's leader and one of its strongest fighters.
  • Hala is the one who gives the Player Character and Hau their starter Pokémon, and is generally rather friendly. He calms down the Tauros that eventually ends up as the player's first riding Pokémon multiple times during their adventure through Melemele, encouraging the player to gently pet him to ease his nerves.
  • He was also this to Guzma at one point, and post-game, takes Guzma (as well as two Team Skull Grunts) under his wing again.
• Nerves of Steel: Not even an encounter with an Ultra Beast is enough to shake this man.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
  • When an Ultra Beast invades Melemele Island, Hala teams up with Tapu Koko to take it on. We see the start of battle, but not its end.
  • He's an accomplished martial artist himself, especially in sumo, and in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon we hear he can even fight powerful Pokémon like Bewear to a stalemate.
• The One Guy: The only male member of the Alolan Elite Four. In Ultra Sun and Moon, Molayne replaces him as the One Guy.
• Pun: He makes one using his name during Title Defense rematches:
  Hala: Hala is here to make you holler!
• Rank Up: He's chosen to be part of the Elite Four.
• Shaped Like Itself: Professor Kukui's description of him is he "looks like a Kahuna".
• Signature Mon: Crabrawler during your first Grand Trial. It evolves into Crabominable to fight you in the Alolan Pokémon League.
• Stout Strength: Hala can fight against a Bewear for a week despite his noticeable girth.
• Sumo Wrestling: He's said to practice "Alolan-stylized" sumo wrestling, and his clothing is befitting of the sport.

Olivia (Lychee)

Olivia / Lychee (ライチ raichi)

Voiced by: Julia McIlvaine (Pokémon Masters - EN), Hitomi Nabatame (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Kahuna of Akala, the second island, and a Rock-type specialist.

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• The Ace: Her extraordinary skill let her become a Kahuna at a young age.
• Adaptational Modesty: She keeps her regular rather skimpy outfit in the anime, but always wears a jacket over it (even when swimming in the ocean). Oddly, said jacket doesn't really hide much of anything.
• Badass Back: Her battle intro sequence shows her with her back facing the camera, for good reason.
• Blood Knight: Judging by her pre-battle quotes, especially at the Pokémon League, she certainly seems to enjoy battling.
• Boobs-and-Butt Pose: Her pre-battle pose starts with her doing a Supermodel Strut but then coming to a stop and assuming the classic Boobs-and-Butt Pose.
• Dishing Out Dirt: A Rock-type user.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: She wears quite a few accessories with magenta and cyan jewels on them and runs a shop that sells jewelry and various stones (including evolutionary stones and fossils), which also indicates that she's a Rock-type specialist.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She owns a few Stufful at home, along with life-sized Stufful plushies that the player character notes are often bought by single women.
• Hartman Hips: She's quite curvy, and her battle intro animation even has her do a Supermodel Strut to show off.
• Improbable Age: Olivia is very young compared to most Alolan Kahunas, and she insists that she's just a normal girl.
• Informed Attribute: She herself and others remark on how "normal" she seems, but as one of the strongest trainers in the region and one of its most breathtaking/distinctive beauties, it's hard to see how that is the case.
• Irony: Rock-types are supposed to be strong in appearance, but she comments how funny it is that her figure or gender doesn't exude that.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: She's quite warm and personable with a friendly smile, but the moment she's about to battle, the Death Glare she gives makes it clear she means business.
• Ma'am Shock: Her concept art has her painfully pulling Mallow's hair when she refers to her as "ma'am" rather than "miss".
• Male Gaze: Her battle intro animation as the Kahuna has the camera pan up her body as she does a Supermodel Strut.
• Meaningful Name: From Alyxia oliviformis, a flowering plant native to Hawaii. It may also come from "olivine", a rock-forming mineral, fitting her type specialty^note Similarly, Olivine City in Johto has a Steel-type specialist as its Gym Leader..
• Ms. Fanservice: A curvy woman with attitude who wears skimpy clothing? The fans were all over her from the get-go.
• No Sense of Personal Space: In Masters, she dotes on her Lycanroc so much that he gets sick of listening to her. To make a point, she goes so far as to hug him while they sleep. The player then suggests that she has to give him some space as her doting leaves no time for him to do anything by himself.
• Old Maid: Implied, since people wonder why she hasn't married yet, she owns Stufful plushies often bought by single women, and she painfully tugs on Mallow's hair in a concept sketch when she refers to Olivia as "ma'am" rather than "miss".
• Pink Means Feminine: She's associated with the color pink just like her home of Akala Island, and various shades of pink comprise most of her clothes and the crystals she wears.
• Rank Up: She becomes part of the Elite Four at the end of the game.
• Running Gag: More often than not, she usually slips in her unfortunate status as an Old Maid.
• Ship Tease: Some of her lines with the player are quite teasing leading to a case of Ambiguously Bi.
• Signature Mon: Her Lycanroc, which is in its Midnight Form no matter which version you play.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Implied. Many comment how surprising it is she hasn't settled down yet, her concept art mentions that she's a fan of romantic shoujo manga, she owns Stufful plushies that the player notes are popular among single women, and she often directly comments about how she's single. It gets more direct if one takes the option to have a meal with her at a restaurant, wherein she will tell the player character that she's decided it may be time to find someone she would want to cook for. If you fight her as the last of the Elite Four, she even comments that you must enjoy saving the most delicious bite of a meal for last.
• Supermodel Strut: Her walking animation has her doing a deliberate strut where she swivels her hips and legs from side to side, denoting her status as a mature beauty.

Nanu (Kuchinashi)

Nanu / Kuchinashi (クチナシ kuchinashi)

Voiced by: Sean Chiplock (Pokémon Masters - EN), Kenjiro Tsuda (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Kahuna of Ula'ula, the third island, and a Dark-type specialist. He's also a police officer and Acerola's Honorary Uncle.

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• Ambiguous Situation: The exact reasoning for Acerola referring to him as uncle is unclear. It could just be a reference to Hawai'an culture where elders are referred to as aunty or uncle out of respect, but because she is the only child seen doing this in both Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon it would suggest that Nanu and Acerola are actually that close and she really does see him as her Honorary Uncle.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Wears mostly black and constantly has a gloomy indifferent expression. Not hard to guess he's a Dark-type trainer.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Gives one to Gladion before the player character and him depart for Aether Foundation. This sticks to him, leading to his Character Development.
  "If you're really trying to get stronger as you say, then what're you depending on Team Skull for?""
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He doesn't really care about Team Skull so long as most of them stay in Po Town, despite being strong enough to put them in their place. Additionally, he makes a comment that he only became a Kahuna because Tapu Bulu's selection cannot be turned down. According to Acerola, she mentioned she was offered a slot to be Elite Four because Nanu didn't want to bother with the hassle.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Is both the police chief and Kahuna of Ula'Ula Island yet would prefer to slack off or do his own thing. In the past he was even part of the International Police, as revealed during the postgame's Ultra Beast sidequest. You even have a rematch with him and his team is on par with the Elite Four's.
• Cool Uncle: According to Acerola, though they aren't actually related.
• Crazy Cat Lady: Gender Inverted. Aside from half a dozen Alolan Meowth, he lives alone in the abandoned police station outside Po Town.
• Da Chief: He's a police chief on Ula'ula Island.
• Dark Is Not Evil: A police officer who specializes in Dark-types. Just like his "niece", he's a good person even though he's less expressive about it.
• Deadpan Snarker: He doesn't mince his words, especially when it comes to reminding Looker in regards to Fallers.
  Acerola: Uncle Nanu!
  Nanu: And here comes the noise again...
• Declining Promotion: Late in the game, he is offered the chance to become a member of Alola's new Elite Four, but refuses because he doesn't want to bother.
• Everyone Has Standards: He is willing to let Team Skull run amok in Po Town but he draws a line in the sand with using people such as children to lure in Ultra Beasts, especially when one of them is essentially friends with his "niece".
• Exhausted Eye Bags: Adding onto his aged appearance. Given he holds two jobs as Kahuna and Ula'Ula's police chief, it likely has caused him a good deal of stress.
• Foil:
  • To Hala. Hala is literally described as "looking like a Kahuna", and is a jolly fellow with a somewhat loud presence and colorful attire, announcing his arrival and proudly helping his people even with the slightest problems. By contrast, Nanu is discrete enough about being Ula'ula's Kahuna that the fact is only revealed right before the protagonists are ready to leave the island, only really took the job at his Tapu's demand, and is a black-coated introvert with a dry and somewhat morose sense of humor who takes a very hands-off approach to island matters. Even their type specialties contrast each other, with Hala focusing on the brute strength of Fighting types, while Nanu focuses on the trickery and deception of Dark types.
  • To Hapu, to some degree. Both aren't terribly expressive and very down-to-earth in personality. However, whereas Nanu had the position of Kahuna more or less forced upon him, Hapu tried to become the next Kahuna after her grandfather's death and initially failed. She worked hard ever since then to try and become chosen.
• Grin of Audacity: The only times he smiles are when he gives a toothy smirk at the player accepting and winning his challenges and when he privately does a Z-move pose at the player's champion celebration festival.
• Honorary Uncle: Acerola calls him "uncle", even though they aren't actually related. This is a nod to Hawai'an culture, and more or less means Acerola thinks of him as a paternal figure.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Is only the Ula'ula Kahuna because he literally has no other choice.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Despite his gruff exterior, he's this. The police station he resides at has a horde of Alolan Meowth that he gives to local kids as Starters, and his strongest mon is an Alolan Persian (which only evolves from friendship/love), which is also the Pokémon he brings with him to Masters.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Is rather snarky and cynical in nature, but is a good person deep down. During the Ultra Beasts sidequest post-game it's revealed he has a strong moral compass when he shows disapproval of using people to lure out the beasts, especially when those people are children or amnesiacs.
• Meaningful Name: In all languages, his name references the gardenia. Kuchinashi is also a homophone for "something unspoken," indicative of his Dark-type specialty.
• Not So Above It All: Despite coming off gloomy, he is surprisingly not immune to silly antics himself, such as doing his Z-Move dance from the trees during the final celebration. In the Ultra versions he even goes as far as joining the others on stage, and it is Mina who does her Z-Move dance in secret.
• Perpetual Frowner: He doesn't emote much, making this his default facial expression.
• Properly Paranoid: According to Acerola, he doesn't seek out the Aether Foundation for help in regards to dealing with Team Skull. Given Skull is working with Aether, he was justified in being suspicious of them.
• Police Are Useless: Subverted. He doesn't seem to do much, and even lets Team Skull do whatever they want on Ula'Ula Island, who he's supposed to be the guardian of. He even lives close to their base of operations, and could arrest the group on a whim. However, he lets Team Skull take over Po Town as a way of mitigating the damage they could do to the island, as they just get to stay there and make the town their own. Indeed, Acerola herself claims that Nanu lives near Po Town to ensure that Team Skull doesn't do anything too extreme.
  • During the Ultra Beast sidequest in the postgame of the original Sun and Moon, he even helps out a great deal in finding the Ultra Beasts and lures out Guzzlord in Anabel's place.
• Rank Up: Defied. He was offered a slot on the Elite Four but didn't want it so Acerola took it instead.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Doesn't make any attempt at arresting Gladion despite likely knowing he works with Team Skull, even letting him go to save his sister from Aether Foundation.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes are red, he specializes in Dark-types, is the police chief and Kahuna of Ula'ula Island, and while he may be Brilliant, but Lazy, he's Kahuna for a reason.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's laid back and rather depressed Blue to Acerola's more energetic and cheerful Red.
• Resigned to the Call: Once the Tapu of his island had made a decision to enroll him as the local Kahuna, he had no choice but to accept, as their choice cannot be overturned.
• Retired Badass: The Ultra Beast postgame sidequest reveals he used to work for the International Police prior to retiring and becoming a police captain.
• Riddle for the Ages: Just how he knows Acerola and became her Honorary Uncle is never explained in the games and likely never will be.
• Signature Mon:
  • His is Alolan Persian.
  • He and Acerola also both lead off with Sableye in their respective battles as a possible sign of their connection to each other since it is a dual type combining both of their type specialties (Acerola's Ghost and Nanu's Dark).
• Silver Fox: Despite being on in his years, he still has a pretty shapely figure with fine, gray hair to go with it.
• Smarter Than You Look: He comes off as cynical, lazy, and a bit of a slob but Nanu is by no means dull-witted. He was Anabel's superior in the past when he worked for the International Police and still has unknown connections to be in the loop in regards to the Ultra Beast plot. He was also one of the first characters outside of Lillie and Gladion to be suspicious of the Aether Foundation long before everyone else and turned out to be right.
• The Stoic: Aside from the rare smile, Nanu isn't too expressive. He walks around with a noticeable slouch, his pre-battle animation involves him simply sitting down, and his animation for ordering a move is a simple motion of his head compared to the more lively pointing gesture seen from most other characters.
• Token White: The only kahuna who doesn't appear to be of native Alolan descent (though given the franchise's love of Mukokuseki, he might be intended to be the Pokémon World's equivalent of Asian rather than Caucasian.)
• Trash of the Titans: His place of residence is quite a mess.
• When He Smiles: Being a Perpetual Frowner, Nanu's signature lopsided grin is a rare sight, making it all the more heartwarming when it does make an appearance. Averted in Masters, where he smiles just as often as he frowns.
• Willfully Weak: When he battles the player^note In Ultra Moon or Hau^note In Ultra Sun in Acerola's stead during Mina's trial, he mentions that he is going to hold back so that he's battling at Acerola's level. Considering that Acerola is good enough to be an Elite Four member herself, this says something about Nanu's skill as a trainer.

Hapu

Hapu (ハプウ hapuu)

Voiced by: Della Saba (Pokémon Masters - EN), Ari Ozawa (Pokémon Masters - JP)

The Kahuna of Poni, the fourth island, and a Ground-type specialist.

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• Adorably Precocious Child: Assuming she is a child in the first place, the fact that she manages her family's farm as well as serves as Poni Island's kahuna makes her this.
• Ambiguously Gay: Claims to have been distracted by Lillie's "loveliness", but her orientation otherwise goes unmentioned.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Hapu is actually not the Kahuna when she first meets the player character and Lillie. It's only later in the story that she is officially appointed the Kahuna of Poni, and you get to witness her coronation.
• Badass Bystander: She is not in fact the kahuna for most of the story. Doesn't stop her from doing things like crushing Team Skull whenever she gets a chance or fighting off an Ultra Beast alongside the local deity.
• Big Eater: If you go to the restaurant in Seafolk Village and buy the largest dish available, Hapu will enter and order the same. She easily finishes her meal and comments that the protagonist hasn't eaten a whole lot of their order, before admonishing them for wasting food.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: She's got some pretty thick eyebrows.
• Born in the Wrong Century: Having grown up on the secluded, rural Poni Island, she's not very knowledgeable of contemporary customs. She also talks like someone much older, which she admits is due to spending so much time with her grandfather.
• Chekhov's Gunman: You meet Hapu quite early in your trials before Hapu officially becomes a Kahuna.
• Daddy's Girl: Or rather granddaddy's girl, as she mentions that she was very close with her grandfather before he died.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Specializes in Ground types.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Hapu would've given you the Mudsdale ride earlier...if she hadn't supposedly gotten distracted by Lillie's "loveliness".
• Dragon Tamer: Uses the Ground/Dragon Flygon for her Grand Trial battle.
• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: In Pokémon Masters, she talks like this. Granted, she is a little girl...
• Foil:
  • A mild one to Nanu. Both aren't terribly expressive and very down-to-earth in personality. However, whereas Nanu had the position of Kahuna more or less forced upon him, Hapu tried to become the next Kahuna after her grandfather's death and initially failed. She worked hard ever since then to try and become chosen.
  • To Acerola. Both are highly talented girls with purple color schemes in positions higher than anyone their age should occupy (Acerola as a trial captain and Elite Four member and Hapu as a kahuna), but while Acerola is cheerful, lively, and acts her age, Hapu is serious, formal, and acts like an older person.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Her partner Mudsdale is as big as any other member of his species at over eight feet or 2.5 meters tall, while she's likely under five feet tall.
• Huge Rider, Tiny Mount: Inverted. She's a tiny little girl whose partner is Mudsdale, an eight-foot-tall horse.
• Improbable Age: Olivia is at least in her twenties and is considered very young for a Kahuna. Hapu meanwhile looks about the same age as the protagonists, and happens to be even shorter.
• Irony: In the "With Beauty and Grace" solo event, she advises Shauna and Flannery on cherishing their young age instead of rushing to become grown-up women quickly. This is coming from a girl who's apparently younger than the 11-year-old protagonists and is Wise Beyond Her Years.
• Kid with the Leash: She's likely no older than the protagonist, but she was chosen by Tapu Fini to be Kahuna of Poni Island.
• Kubrick Stare: Her expression in her battle intro cutscene.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Upon arriving at Poni Island, she tells the player character and Lillie that she teamed up with Tapu Fini to fight against an invading Ultra Beast.
• Optional Boss: She is one of the Title Defense challengers, which technically makes her the strongest Kahuna.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: She's even shorter than the protagonists, but a powerful Trainer.
• Purple Is Powerful: Wears purple gloves and a purple riding hood, has purple eyes, and happens to be Kahuna of Poni Island. She challenges you for the champion title instead of being an Elite Four member, implicitly making her more powerful than the other three kahunas.
• Rank Up: She really wasn't the Kahuna of Poni Island when you meet her. Though you do get to see her being blessed by the local Tapu into becoming the next one. Fittingly enough, her late grandfather was the previous Kahuna.
• Sequence Breaking: An In-Universe example. She's the only Kahuna who will challenge you before doing the respective island's trial first. Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon where she challenges you after Mina's trial.
• Signature Mon: Her Mudsdale, shown accompanying her in the overworld, and serves both as her main during her Grand Trial and during your Pokémon League Title Defense.
• Smug Smiler: Her main expression other than a serious look is a very satisfied-looking smirk.
• Technicolor Eyes: The Kahuna of Poni Island, which is represented by purple, also happens to have purple eyes.
• Token Mini-Moe: Of the four Kahunas, being the youngest out of all of them.
• Two Girls to a Team: As a challenger to your League Title Defense, out of her five Pokémon, her Dugtrio and her Gastrodon are both female.
• Vague Age: Her age isn't specified beyond being young, though her height could mean she's even younger than the protagonists. Then again, her grandfather died of old age...
• Walking the Earth: Puns aside, you meet her at Akala Island, which is two islands prior Poni Island, as she's currently exploring the world to widen her horizons before she is appointed as the Poni Island Kahuna.
• Wise Beyond Her Years: Was made a Kahuna at a young age and acts older than her youthful appearance would indicate, which she credits due to hanging out with people like her grandfather.

Alola Elite Four

It is worth noting that Kahili and Molayne are the only Elite Four who aren't a Trial Captain or Kahuna.

Hala

See his folder in the Kahunas section above.

Olivia (Lychee)

See her folder in the Kahunas section above.

Acerola

See her folder in the Trial Captains section above.

Kahili

Kahili (カヒリ kahiri)

Voiced by: Janice Kawaye (Pokémon Masters - EN), Shiho Kawaragi (Pokémon Masters - JP)

"Why don't we see who the winds favor today, you or me?"

Golfer and Flying-type specialist. She's been traveling to other regions to become a better trainer and golfer, but flew back to Alola at Kukui's request to become a member of the new Elite Four.

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• Almighty Janitor: In Masters, both Elio and Selene comment that Kahili has what it takes to become the Alola Champion, but she tells them that she prefers being part of the Elite Four without telling them why. After both leave, she tells Kukui that newer generations of trainers will come to claim the title, hinting that she may not be able to hold being the Champion for long, though she is excited nonetheless.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: The back of her hair looks like crossed bird wings, her ahoge resembles a head feather, and she wears an orange feather over her left breast.
• Blood Knight: While she was annoyed at Kukui constantly pestering her, Kahili admits that she did enjoy the prospect of being able to fight really strong trainers.
• Blow You Away: Specializes in Flying-types, making her a first for the Elite Four roster.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Kahili has pale blue eyes and hair.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Pardon the pun.
  • A non-playable character talks about her in the demo for the original Sun and Moon, while the workers at the biggest tourist resort in Akala Island mentions her name, and the fact she's the daughter of the owner there. It's not until you see her at the League when she shows up formally.
  • In Ultra Sun/Moon, she shows up briefly to demonstrate how to do the pose for the Flyinium-Z at Ten Carat Hill, although she never introduces herself until you meet at the Pokémon League much later.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Downplayed. While her appearance is foreshadowed (as mentioned above in Early-Bird Cameo), a vast majority of players tend to overlook it as standard NPC talk and likely completely forget about it once she finally shows up at the end of the game. This is especially noticeable considering that the other Elite Four members were all previously encountered in the game and have story significance. Averted in Ultra Sun/Moon, where she'll at least appear briefly to teach you how to use the Flynium Z when you find it, but since she doesn't even bother introducing herself and leaves immediately, it just comes across as a random scene until you encounter her again.
• Hidden Depths: You can find her at the Hano Resort in the post-game. Talking to her reveals that she is very competitive and hard-working in nature, offhandedly implying she spends up to half of the day working on her abilities.
• Idiot Hair: Sports a large one resembling a bird’s feather.
• I Know Madden Kombat: Her battle pose is the same as a golfer's driving stance, and she even carries a club with her to do so.
• Lady of War: Is highly focused and calm, while also being a powerful Elite Four member. Justified as this is very much a prerequisite for golf.
• Meaningful Name:
  • The kahili was a staff used as a symbol of power by the rulers of Hawaii, traditionally made from the long bones of an enemy king, and adorned with the feathers from birds of prey. Fittingly, Kahili happens to be a Flying-type specialist and is in a position of authority as an Elite Four member.
  • Additionally, Kahili happens to be the name of a well-known Hawaiian golf course, fitting her status as a golfer.
  • Fitting with the region's Floral Theme Naming, kahili is the Hawaiian term for several flowering plants.
• Minidress of Power: Wears a short skirt and happens to be a member of the Alolan Elite Four.
• Non-Idle Rich: She's the heiress of the massive Hano Resort, while also being both a professional golfer and an extremely capable Pokémon trainer.
• The Ojou: Her family owns Hano Resort in Heahea City, and she's very graceful and reserved even in the heat of battle.
• Perpetual Frowner: Consistently has a scowl on her face, much like her signature Toucannon. Zig-zagged in Masters however, as she does smile regularly in conversations.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: In-Universe. She gives you the TM for Trick Room post-game and will mention that she uses the move to handicap herself during training with her mons since most Flying-types are very fast in nature. Ironically, her Toucannon would have benefited from such a move.
• Signature Mon: Toucannon, which is the ace of her team and wields a Flynium Z-crystal. Her golf club is even adorned with its beak's colors.
• Stealth Pun: A golfer who specializes in Flying-types. The terms "Birdie", "Eagle", and "Albatross" are related to golfing (1, 2, and 3 under par, specifically).
• The Stoic: She is very reserved and focused.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Projects an aloof air, but is actually a pretty nice person to the player, especially after they defeat her for the first time.
• Training from Hell: In Masters, her training regimen consists of practicing her swing for six hours every day without accounting for when she trains her battle skills, she always makes sure she sleeps at the same time each day, and is normal for her to fight 20 battles in a single day.
• Uncatty Resemblance: Her golf club's colors and her permanent frown gives her a resemblance to Toucannon.
• When She Smiles: While she doesn't smile in her home game, Masters shows that she does smile regularly enough, and it's pretty cute.
• Wind Is Green: The room she's fought in is completely colored green.
• Worthy Opponent: She constantly looks out for strong opponents and when she meets you she wants to beat you to show she's the best trainer in the world and is also looking for a good fight. Masters further adds to this by having Elio and Selene note that she can very well be the Alola Champion.
• Younger Than They Look: While she otherwise looks very young, her silvery-blue hair could make some mistake her for an older person.

Molayne (Mullein)

Molayne / Mullein (マーレイン maarein)

Voiced by: Ezra Weisz (Pokémon Masters - EN), Takayuki Kondō (Pokémon Masters - JP)

Molayne is a former Trial Captain, who passed the role onto his cousin, Sophocles. Now, Molayne takes care of Alola's Pokémon Storage System. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, he replaces Hala as a member of Alola's new Elite Four.

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• Affectionate Nickname: "Big Mo/Mul-san", by Sophocles.
• Ascended Extra: In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where he joins the Elite Four.
• Badass Bookworm: A computing wiz and a former Trial Captain who can still hold his own in a battle. And is good enough to challenge you for the title of Champion in the originals, and be an Elite Four member in the re-release.
• Extra-ore-dinary: He specializes in Steel-type Pokémon, and hands over Steelium Z to the player.
• Eyes Always Shut: Outside of a Pokémon battle, he almost never opens his eyes.
• Fat and Skinny: He's the taller and skinnier of the duo compared to Sophocles.
• Geek Physiques: Of the tall and skinny kind.
• Intergenerational Friendship: He and Sophocles are close friends despite Sophocles being young enough to be his child.
• Meaningful Name: His name might come from molybdenum, a metallic element.
• Nice Guy: Outside of some friendly ribbing towards his pals Kukui and Sophocles, he is never anything other than polite and genteel to anyone he meets.
• The One Guy: He's the sole male member of the Elite Four in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Optional Boss: Is one of the many trainers who fights you in Title Defense in Sun and Moon.
• Perpetual Smiler: In contrast to his cousin Sophocles, Molayne has a warm smile as his default expression, even when he loses a battle.
• Retired Badass: A former Trial Captain who is apparently one of the region's better trainers, but he's content to manage the PC system. He eventually unretires to join the Elite Four in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Secret-Keeper: Of sorts, regarding Kukui's extremely Paper-Thin Disguise as a masked luchador. Kukui is serious about not letting him reveal that to anyone, despite how obvious it is.
• Signature Mon:
  • Alolan Dugtrio is his strongest Pokémon during your first battle with him, and his last one in subsequent battles.
  • He and Sophocles also seem to share the Magnemite line as a secondary signature Pokémon representing their friendship since it is a dual type combining both of their type specialties (Sophocles's Electric and Molayne's Steel). The location of Sophocles's Trial (which Molayne assists with) has several Magnemite living within. They also both carry a Magnezone on their respective teams when battled.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Fittingly for Alola's Pokémon Storage System developer, Molayne is seen wearing glasses. His glasses are also hexagon-shaped, which is a common design motif.

Champions

Elio / Selene

The protagonist of Sun and Moon and their enhanced versions Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and the inaugural Champion of the Alola Pokémon League.

Information about them is found in the Protagonists section above.

Professor Kukui

In Sun and Moon, after defeating the Elite Four, the Player is approached by Professor Kukui. While not the Champion, Professor Kukui is the founder of the Alola League and the final trial before the Player can be officially recognized as the first Champion of the Alola Pokémon League.

More information about him can be found in the Allies section above.

Hau

In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, after defeating the Elite Four, the Player is approached by Hau, who stands as the final trial before the Player can be officially recognized as the first Champion of the Alola Pokémon League.

More information about him can be found in the Rivals section above.

Team Skull

Information about Team Skull can be found here.

The Aether Foundation

WARNING: Major spoilers for Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon follow. Read at your own risk.

Information about the Aether Foundation can be found here.

Ultra Recon Squad

Information about the Ultra Recon Squad can be found here.

Kagetora and The Eeveelution Users

In General

A group of trainers who were active roughly 30 years prior to the events of the games. A post-game side quest involves Kagetora sending you to find and defeat all eight of the Users. They all use one of the eight Eeveelutions (except for Kagetora, who uses Eevee).

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• Darker and Edgier: Contrasting most in-game Pokémon stories, this particular side quest is rather serious, dealing with themes such as old age, letting go of the past, and death.
• Growing Up Sucks: A major theme of their sidequest is dealing with the transition from youth to adulthood. Kagetora himself has to set aside his childhood passions to focus on his family and career, and the other Eeveelution trainers show their bodies and minds succumbing to the ravages of time.
• Informed Ability: Kagetora describes all users in great detail, often mentioning their amazing, almost super-human qualities. Aside from their battle abilities, which are indeed good, the player never gets to witness said qualities. The conversation with Braiden implies their larger-than-life reputations may have been the result of rumors and exaggeration.
• I Was Quite a Looker: It's implied all of them were good-looking in their youth. Jane, Ishaan, and Linnea in particular are described as being particularly attractive and charming. The latter actually averts this: She's as beautiful as ever, but only thanks to massive amounts of money being spent on near-constant medicine and plastic surgery.

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Kagetora (カゲトラ kagetora)

An employee at the Thrifty Megamart, and also a retired trainer now focusing on raising his son and paying off his mortgage. He sends you on an errand to find and challenge eight powerful trainers.

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• Non-Elemental: Uses an unevolved, Normal-type Eevee as his only Pokémon.
• Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Deliberate. Despite being the one you fight after locating and defeating all eight of them, Kagetora gives you less than half of the maximum amount of money the Eeveelution Users can give you for defeating them (11,000 Pokémon Dollars), because he's got a family to support and a mortgage to pay off.
• This Loser Is You: Downplayed. Since the franchise is already more than 20 years old, it's a given that at least a few of the older Pokémon fans can identify with his newfound responsibilities. This, however, is played sympathetically, and is treated as another fact of life: People grow up and now have to do things besides battling Pokémon all day.

Polly/Elise (エリーゼ eriize)

A female trainer who uses a Vaporeon in battle. She works at the Pokémon School in Hau'Oli City.

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• Almighty Janitor: Nowadays, she's a window cleaner, but her Vaporeon is still as powerful as ever.
• Making a Splash: Her only Pokémon is a Vaporeon.
• Mundane Utility: Her Vaporeon uses its water-based powers to help her clean windows.

Chad/Cloud (クラウド kuraudo)

A male trainer who uses a Flareon in battle. He likes to stay at the Tide Song Hotel in Heahea City.

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• Blood Knight: He had a fiery disposition in his youth and loved looking for fights.
• Playing with Fire: Uses a Flareon as his only Pokémon.
• Stage Magician: He was a stage magician before retirement.

Jane/Orochimaru (オロチマル orochimaru)

The Jolteon user. Nowadays, she hangs out at the Malie City Community Center.

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• Scatterbrained Senior: A serious example, played for drama. She still recalls her days as a trainer, but she apparently has no memory of who Kagetora is. It's heavily implied this is due to Alzheimer's, senile dementia, or a similar disorder.
• Shock and Awe: Uses Jolteon, the Electric-Type Eeveelution. She was described as a "Thunder striking from a blue sky" and uses a few lightning-themed metaphors.

Ishaan/Kaiser (カイザー kaizaa)

The Espeon user, who supposedly could charm the Sun itself. Works at the Geothermic Power Plant.

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• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Implied. He feeds his Espeon in spare times.
• The Power of the Sun: Uses Espeon, a Pokémon that's heavily associated with the Sun. Also, he was said to be able to charm the Sun itself, back in his youth. In his old age, he says that just as the Sun rises and sets, he, too, will set soon.
• Psychic Powers: Uses the Psychic-Type Espeon in battle.

Braiden/Zerok (ゼロック zerokku)

A man surrounded by mystery, with quite a few rumors of black magic and the occult floating around about him back in the day. Fittingly, he uses an Umbreon. To this day, he has a habit of going to Hau'Oli Cemetery every night, presumably to perform some sort of odd ritual.

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• Back from the Dead: A rumor persists that he once died and came back to life. By his own admission, this was a misunderstanding after he got sick and had to spend a long time in the hospital. He goes on to say that death IS final, and that as much as he would like the rumors to be true, one day, soon, he will die, and it'll be for good.
• Combat Pragmatist: A given, since he uses the Dark-Type Umbreon.
• Dark Is Not Evil: A Dark-type user with a foreboding, creepy reputation... but he's not really a bad person. He may not be completely nice (he wanders away from the hospital and his presumably concerned son on a regular basis), but he's a perfectly normal, polite gentleman with no actual relation to the occult. He did, however, enjoy playing up the rumors in his youth.
• Lunacy: Uses Umbreon, a Pokémon heavily related to the moon. In battle, he likes to use the Moonlight move.

Rea/Citone (シトネ shitone)

A cool beauty who uses a Glaceon in battle. In her youth, she was merciless in pursuing her opponents. She lives in Iki Town and wants nothing more than to spend time with her grandchildren.

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• Doting Grandparent: What she is in the present. She makes a point of asking the player character to tell Kagetora to leave her alone so she can spend what remains of her life with her grandchildren.
• An Ice Person: Uses Glaceon, and she's said to have a soul of ice.

Linnea/Rene (ルネ rune)

A model famous around the world for her breathtaking beauty back in the day. Her Leafeon was said to be able to bring any withered plant back to full bloom. Likes to stay at the exclusive Hano Resort in Heahea City.

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• Green Thumb: She's the Leafeon user.
• Magic Plastic Surgery: She's supposedly the same age as all the other Users, who all appear as the character models of elderly NPCs (Gentlemen, Janitors, and Madames). She instead appears as one of the very youthful female Swimmers. Downplayed, because she still has to constantly visit her beautician to maintain her looks, and according to her, her body is falling victim to the ravages of age anyway. Still, no real life doctor is that good.
• Older Than They Look: Despite being an old woman, she looks far younger as a result of plastic surgery.
• Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Deliberate. She gives you the least amount of money out of the Eeeveelution Users besides Kira, because she uses all her money to maintain her looks.

Sakura and Kira/Sakuya (サクヤ sakuya) and Kirari (キラリ kirari)

Sakura was adored by Fairy-type Pokémon. She lived in Seafolk, but she died a year before the events of the story and her role as Sylveon user was passed to her granddaughter, Kira.

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• Friend to All Living Things: Sakura was a friend to all Fairy Pokémon, who were drawn to her pure nature.
• Lunacy: Sylveon's lunar association is shown via Moonblast, and it often uses that move in battle.
• Meaningful Name: Sakura (cherry blossom) trees are famous for only being in full bloom and beautiful for a short time.
  Kira: My grandma told me that the sweetest part of life is when you're cute. But the sweetest part of life is also the shortest.
• Posthumous Character: Sakura died about a year prior to the events of Sun and Moon.
• Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Kira's Sylveon is a level lower than the other Eeveelutions, perhaps in reflection to how her original owner Sakura passed away a year prior to the story. Kira also gives the least amount of money when beaten due to her being a literal child compared to everyone else.

Others

Tristan/Tarou (タロウ tarou)

A Youngster Trainer who shows up early on Route 1.

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• Badass Adorable: He's a Youngster which means he's just a little kid. He ends up being stronger than the Elite Four and his team was made to defeat them. He has a Dark type for Acerola (Sharpedo, along with Pursuit on Tauros and Brutal Swing on Alolan Exeggutor), a Flying type for Hala (Emolga), a Fire type for Molayne (Magmortar, along with Earthquake on Alolan Exeggutor and Tauros), a Grass type (Alolan Exeggutor again) and a Water type (Sharpedo again) for Olivia, and an Electric type for Kahili (Emolga again, along with Ice Fang on Sharpedo).
• Boss in Mook Clothing: One of the Title Defense challengers, Tristan is just a regular Youngster with a significantly stronger team than all the other ones found outside of battle facilities.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Tristan appears very early in the game, even before you got your first Pokémon. He asks the Professor if he has any recommendation for a move. Post-game, he asks the same to you again when he is challenging you for your Champion title, clearly putting those move recommendations to good use.
• Dragon Tamer: Has an Alolan Exeggutor, which is part Dragon-type.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: How he likely got past the Elite Four despite his team being weaker level-wise and stat-wise. When he asked for move recommendations, he was clearly paying close attention!
• Optional Boss: Tristan is one of the Title Defense challengers.
• Signature Mon: Tauros, which shows up at the end of his team and holds a Normalium Z.
• Took a Level in Badass: He's an early Youngster, but post-game, he becomes one of the Title Defense challengers. He also has an impressive line up of Pokémon (Emolga, Sharpedo, Alolan Exeggutor, Magmortar and Tauros).
• Walking Spoiler: Not so much his existence, since he does show up very early. Rather, the spoiler is that he's one of the defense challengers.
• Weak, but Skilled: Implied. Tristan's team is weaker than the entire Elite Four, yet he has managed to get past them and is one of the Title Defense challengers, and his team is also pretty varied of types with some of them such as Emolga and Sharpedo having low base stat totals, making good use of the move recommendations he asked for.

Ryuki (リュウキ ryuuki)

Voiced by: Jonah Scott (Pokémon Masters - EN)

A rock star from overseas who specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon. He only appears in the original games as one of Title Defense challengers as he came to Alola to spread his fame. He returns in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon as an optional opponent at the Kantonian Gym in Malie City.

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• Anime Hair: His hairdo is best described as someone trying to emulate a fanged maxilla, blood red gums included.
• Ascended Extra: In Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, in addition to being one of the potential challengers in a Title Defense, Ryuki can also now be encountered and challenged in Alola's first Pokémon Gym at Malie City.
• Be Yourself: He gives this advice to the protagonist after the battle—as Ryuki explains, while critics loved his music, his music wasn't selling very well for a while. But he didn't give up, since rocking is who he is down to his bones. So he advises the protagonist to also be who they are down to their bones.
• Dragon-in-Chief: In Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, Ryuki is the strongest trainer at Malie City Gym, despite not being the Gym Leader.
• Dragon Tamer: Specializes in Dragon-types.
• Expy: More than a few people have likened his appearance to Viewtiful Joe.
• Face Framed in Shadow: His upper face is shadowed up, with his left eye being visible, albeit in a glowing white eye kind of way. Only through the character design sheets you find out that he does this on purpose to disguise his baby-face◊.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: The only Title Defense challenger who isn't someone you have previously met.
• Gratuitous English: He sports this in the Japanese version, with words like "star" or "soulful".
• Large Ham: He speaks like the famous musician he is ("Allow me to introduce my bandmates! Come on, babies!"), his motion towards his Pokémon during battle is a punch toward the sky, and his ponytail is constantly ruffling from an invisible gust of wind.
• Meaningful Name: His name is derived from ryū (Japanese for dragon). He specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon.
• Optional Boss:
  • Is one of the trainers you can battle in Title Defense.
  • He sometimes appears at the Kantonian Gym in Ultra Sun and Moon to battle, getting even stronger during the postgame.
• Signature Mon: Though all of his Pokémon are the same level, his ace appears to be Kommo-o based on its placement at the end of his team.

The Old Man in Haina Desert

A strange amnesiac man who can be found in Haina Desert. His memory can be regained if you show him a Solrock or Lunatone.

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• Ambiguously Brown: Despite being an alien from outer space, he has the generic tan-skinned "Old Man" overworld model.
• Applied Phlebotinum: After giving his "star pulses" to the old men in Mauville City, he ended up getting amnesia due to losing his power. Luckily enough for him, Solrock and Lunatone can produce more at will.
• Call-Back: Based on how certain revelations are taken, his backstory explains what produces the O-Powers, how they came to Earth in the first place, and how they got into the hands of the old men who would create Mr. Bonding.
• Human Aliens: He outright says that his home is in space and teleports up after regaining his memories.
• Irony: Fills in the final holes in the backstory of Mr. Bonding and the O-Powers, despite the fact that Sun and Moon themselves cut the O-Power feature.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Lost his memory after giving away all his O-Powers.
• Red Herring: He asks to see a Pokémon related to the sun or moon, and given the box Legendaries of the games he appears in, one couldn't be blamed for assuming he was talking about Solgaleo or Lunala. Instead, he needs to be shown Solrock or Lunatone, Pokémon that aren't native to Alola.
• Star Power: Refers to the O-Power as "star pulses".

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