History Characters / PokemonTheSeriesXYMegaEvolutionSpecials

** PlayedWith and ultimately [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]. Alain has never lost a battle against Ash despite battling him multiple times. However, he is easily driven by guilt and his attempts to remedy the situation only make things worse thanks to [[EvilMentor Lysandre's teachings and orders]]. Alain doesn't find happiness until he meets Ash, whose battle prowess not only gives him a WorthyOpponent that Alain hasn't faced for a long time, but snaps Alain out of his HeroicBSOD during the Team Flare climax. By the aftermath of Flare crisis, Alain begins to take notes from Ash's method of starting over again and privately sees him as the one trainer that he could not best.

** PlayedWith and ultimately [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]. Alain has been victorious against Ash in three of the four battles they have had; two times in a one-on-one match and a third time during the Kalos League finals (with the remaining battle ending prematurely due to Ash [[PowerStrainBlackout collapsing from the strain of Bond Phenomenon]]). However, he is easily driven by guilt and his attempts to remedy the situation only make things worse thanks to [[EvilMentor Lysandre's teachings and orders]]. Alain doesn't find happiness until he meets Ash, whose battle prowess gives him a WorthyOpponent that Alain hasn't faced for a long time. It is Ash who snaps Alain out of his HeroicBSOD during the Team Flare climax, while also taking the power of Ash-Greninja to a whole new level. By the aftermath of Flare crisis, Alain begins to take notes from Ash's method of starting over again and privately sees him as the one trainer that he could not best.

* IAmNotLeftHanded: In the Kalos League, Alain suggests more than once that he's ''intentionally'' dragging out his battle with Ash, simply to feel the thrill of battling him for as long as possible. However, when push comes to shove, he lives up to his vow to never lose again -- in the final moment, his Charizard's Blast Burn still overpowers Greninja's strongest Water Shuriken ever.

** Retroactively, [[spoiler:Leon versus Diantha makes it clear that his Chesnaught doing well against Rillaboom and his Charizard defeating it in one blow is a sign of ''their'' strength when that very same Rillaboom tears Diantha's team apart]].

** Retroactively, [[spoiler: Leon versus Diantha makes it clear that his Chesnaught doing well against Rillaboom and his Charizard defeating it in one blow is a sign of ''their'' strength when that very same Rillaboom tears Diantha's team apart]].

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Alain loses 3-1 to Leon in the first match of the Masters Tournament, only managing to defeat his Rillaboom after it had already beaten his Chesnaught, with his Malamar doing nothing before getting knocked out and his Mega Charizard X being quickly and easily overwhelmed and beaten by Leon's base Charizard.]] Ash never even managed to win against Alain, and this match's result shows how strong Leon really is.

* NiceHat: She is always wearing a hat.

[-'''Series-wide:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesAshKetchum Ash Ketchum]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesPikachu Pikachu]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketTrio Team Rocket Trio]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesTeamRocketOrganization Team Rocket Organization]]\\

* AlmightyJanitor: [[spoiler:He is the only member of the final Masters Eight lineup to not be a Champion in ''Journeys'', and was still able to be ranked over '''two of them''' prior to the Masters Eight tournament (Iris and Ash), explicitly making him one of the strongest trainers in the world.]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Other than Siebold and his Blastoise, Steven is the only shown Mega Pokémon owner who breaks Alain's victory streak. His Metagross endures all of Charizard's attacks, even the super-effective Blast Burn, without any visible damage and lays down some serious hurt on him. If not for Lysandre's Pyroar interrupting the battle, it's safe to assume he would have won. [[spoiler:This is all but confirmed in Journeys, which occurs after Alain has continued to train and get even stronger, and which takes place after the Kalos League. Even though Alain and Steven both make it to the Masters Eight, Steven is still ranked higher than Alain AND the two Champions above him, implying Alain never had a chance to begin with during their battle in XY. He is also this for most of the Masters Eight, being ranked higher than four other Champions (Lance, Diantha, Iris, and Ash), but is also himself below Leon and Cynthia.]]

* GeniusBruiser: Applies to Steven and his Metagross. Steven is ranked 3rd in the entire world by the time of the Pokemon Masters Tournament, and is incredibly knowledgeable about ruins, stones, excavation and many topics. His Metagross is extremely strong and can take hits from Legendary Pokemon, and during its battle with Ash's Pikachu, Steven and Diantha noted that particularly after Mega Evolution, Metagross not only had extreme speed, but also such high computational power it could predict every breath or move Pikachu could make and perfectly evade any attack. This is seen first-hand when it becomes the first Pokemon to ever dodge 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt, immediately getting behind Pikachu. Despite some of the beams redirecting automatically to Metagross (which is something neither it nor Steven could have known), it still managed to only take hits from three of them. This also resulted in Metagross being the only Pokemon to take the attack and still be able to battle, as it had to be taken down by an Iron Tail afterwards.

** He later returns in ''Journeys'' as part of the final Masters Eight lineup. Notably, he is the only participant to not be a Champion, and is also ranked ''above'' two Champions (Iris, and Ash himself) to boot. [[spoiler:And then the trope is applied to him when he confronts Leon and finds himself in a crushing loss against the World Coronation Monarch's Charizard only getting to defeat Leon's Rilaboom and not taking down any other member of Leon's team. To make matters worse for him, he winds up being the ''first'' member of the Eight to be defeated.]]

* InvincibleHero: Alain's appearances progressively make him more and more overpowered until he becomes practically unbeatable. He is currently the only major rival whom Ash faced multiple times and never defeated. [[spoiler:He loses this status come ''Journeys'' courtesy of none other than World Monarch Leon, who sweeps his 2/3rds of Alain's team with his base Charizard once Alain takes down Rillaboom, even Alain's own Mega Charizard X isn't much of a challenge for the Monarch and is beaten with one Dragon Pulse while not dealing any significant damage in turn.]]

* TookALevelInCheerfulness: Alain finally smiles and becomes more open after he goes through heartbreaking times when his aloof behavior made it worse for Mairin when her Chespin accidentally ends up in the coma making himself self-doubted when he meets Ash and his friends. He treats Ash with strong respects for each other without being rude to him a single time calling him a great opponent to battle. After Ash consoles him that it wasn't his fault, he decided to help Professor Sycamore to research mega evolutions and resolves to find the keystone for himself and the mega stone for his Charizard to call upon the mega evolution himself.

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Alain loses 3-1 to Leon in the first match of the Masters Tournament, only managing to defeat his Gigantamax Rillaboom after it had already beaten his Chesnaught, with his Malamar doing nothing before getting knocked out and his Mega Charizard X being quickly and easily overwhelmed and beaten by Leon's base Charizard.]] Ash never even managed to win against Alain, and this match's result shows how strong Leon really is.

** PlayedWith and ultimately [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]. [[spoiler:Alain has been victorious against Ash in three of the four battles they have had; two times in a one-on-one match and a third time during the Kalos League finals (with the remaining battle ending prematurely due to Ash [[PowerStrainBlackout collapsing from the strain of Bond Phenomenon]]). However, he is easily driven by guilt and his attempts to remedy the situation only make things worse thanks to [[EvilMentor Lysandre's teachings and orders]]. Alain doesn't find happiness until he meets Ash, whose battle prowess gives him a WorthyOpponent that Alain hasn't faced for a long time. It is Ash who snaps Alain out of his HeroicBSOD during the Team Flare climax, while also taking the power of Ash-Greninja to a whole new level. By the aftermath of Flare crisis, Alain begins to take notes from Ash's method of starting over again and privately sees him as the one trainer that he could not best.]]
** However, [[spoiler:his Charizard can be safely said to fulfill this role towards Ash-Greninja. While it put up a good effort each time, Greninja ultimately never managed to defeat Charizard in battle -- even during the Kalos League, where Charizard had taken prior damage from Pikachu, Greninja couldn't quite finish the job.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: He almost suffers it when he sees Ash-Greninja's Giant Shuriken about to be launched during the League finals [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope but is spared defeat]] when he manages to knock Ash-Greninja out first. But then it is DoubleSubverted when Team Flare attacks just as Alain is awarded the trophy of being the League victor, and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he gets to see]] what his ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero real reward]]'' is for becoming the strongest and helping Team Flare's goals all along.]]
* BreakingOldTrends: [[spoiler:He is the first major rival that Ash is unable to defeat, even in their final battle during the Lumiose Conference. When he returns in ''Journeys'' there's no rematch either, he comes back solely to be beaten by Leon in a crushing defeat.]]

* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:After the Team Flare climax, Alain is no longer wearing the Mega Ring and Charizard no longer has the Charizardite X. In the last episode of XYZ, Alain reveals that he had turned them in to the police as they were properties of Team Flare and he wishes to no longer be associated with them. He plans to start from scratch and find his own Keystone and Mega Stone. Journeys later shows he managed to find his own Charizardite X and used it to climb all the way to Rank 6 in the Pokemon World Championships.]]

** Heavily implied about all his [[spoiler:Gym battles to enter the league in the span of ''7 episodes'' with the only onscreen one being partially depicted as Korrina's Lucario getting beaten by his Charizard easily and even then it's only the aftermath with the implication Charizard swept through her team]].

** [[spoiler:His battle with Trevor in the Kalos League is also a curb-stomp in his favor. He only used Charizard to defeat all three of Trevor's Pokémon]]
** [[spoiler:He basically pulls a Tobias in his battle against Remo in the semi-finals, defeating the his whole team with just Metagross and Charizard.]]
** [[spoiler:And in ''Journeys'' he's on the receiving end of this from Leon, his Chestnaught puts up a good fight against Rillaboom and even survives against its Gigantamaxed form long enough for it to run out but is quickly beaten once it goes back to fighting, then after his Charizard finishes off Rillaboom the rest of his team is demolished by Leon's own Charizard; special mention goes to his Ace Mega Charizard X who despite all its previous showings of power is beaten in one Dragon Pulse and a slight Ancient Power attack without dealing any meaningful damage at all.]]

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Alain's entire storyline essentially takes apart the goal of ToBeAMaster piece by piece. His total focus on becoming the strongest causes him to neglect the people important in his life and be an UnwittingPawn for Team Flare. He believes that beating every strong trainer would make him stronger yet [[HeroicBSOD finds himself helpless]] when actual danger arrives. [[VictoryIsBoring He stops enjoying his wins]] and [[AndThenWhat never considers what to do after he became the strongest]], his reasons behind it constantly changing to justify his path. [[spoiler:And despite always winning battles, Alain finds himself feeling inferior to Ash Ketchum, who encompasses the happiness and wisdom that he never got under Lysandre's guidance.]]

* DoubleKnockOut: [[spoiler:His Unfezant ties with Talonflame when they collide into each other with Sky Attack and Brave Bird.]]

* FinalBoss: [[spoiler:He's Ash's final opponent in the Kalos League, with the battle ultimately ending in a win for Alain.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Ash telling him about the strong Pokémon Trainers in the Kalos League hinted that Alain would enter it as well, due to his BloodKnight nature. And he does eventually get eight badges ''seven episodes'' later before entering the competition as part of his goals to gather energy and become stronger.]]

* GuiltComplex: His FatalFlaw. Alain tends to shoulder the responsibility upon himself whenever those close to him are in danger or at the risk of being in danger. This makes it easy for Lysandre to manipulate him into helping Team Flare's agenda, such as collecting Mega Evolution energy in order to "save" Mairin's Chespie and not telling Prof. Sycamore about their operation to "protect" the professor's reputation. It also makes Alain very susceptible to suffer HeroicBSOD whenever a large crisis breaks out [[spoiler: such as Team Flare's attack on Lumiose City. Alain has [[InvincibleHero a nearly unbeatable Mega Charizard X]], is the only one who could fight Lysandre ([[BadassInDistress with Ash and his Pokémon incapacitated by Flare cuffs]]), and now [[HeelRealization sees Lysandre's true intentions]]. But instead of fighting his former boss, he completely breaks down in despair due to the guilt of unwittingly endangering everyone. He remains in this state until Ash breaks free of his bonds and [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan tells him to not dwell on past mistakes]].]]

* IAmNotLeftHanded: In the Kalos League, Alain suggests more than once that he's ''intentionally'' dragging out his battle with Ash, simply to feel the thrill of battling him for as long as possible. However, when push comes to shove, [[spoiler:he lives up to his vow to never lose again -- in the final moment, his Charizard's Blast Burn still overpowers Greninja's strongest Water Shuriken ever]].

* InvincibleHero: Alain's appearances progressively make him more and more overpowered until he becomes practically unbeatable. [[spoiler:He is currently the only major rival whom Ash faced multiple times and never defeated. He loses this status come ''Journeys'' courtesy of none other than World Monarch Leon, who sweeps his 2/3rds of Alain's team with his base Charizard once Alain takes down Rillaboom, even Alain's own Mega Charizard X isn't much of a challenge for the Monarch and is beaten with one Dragon Pulse while not dealing any significant damage in turn.]]

** He's hands down one of the strongest trainers in the series, Champion or otherwise. And it shows in many regards. First off, he's the first non-titled trainer to ever defeat one of the Elite Four (and just prior to that, he had to defeat 9 other Mega Evolution trainers to even reach said Elite Four member). His victory over the Kalos League basically amounted to him just effortlessly steamrolling every single one of his opponents with relative ease, using only two Pokemon until his final match with Ash. Even Ash's other rivals don't measure up to this guy. [[spoiler:While Ash himself eventually defeated every last one of them, he's never once beaten Alain in any of their matches (though he came close in the finals)]].

* MadeOfIron: Charizard has become extremely tough, to the point that taking [[spoiler:Pikachu's and Greninja's super effective moves ''and'' Ash-Greninja's giant, orange Water Shuriken]] are not enough to take it down. [[spoiler:However, Leon's Charizard does take it down with laughable ease by simply using Ancient Power and Dragon Pulse, even after it Mega Evolves.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Alain helping out Team Flare throughout the saga proves to be disastrous when [[spoiler: Lysandre decides to launch his attack on Lumiose City after the League. And he couldn't have done it without Alain collecting the Mega Evolution energy for him as well as securing the capture of Z2.]]
* OneHitKill: His Bisharp knows the OHKO move Guillotine. [[spoiler:It knocks out both Hawlucha and Goodra with it.]]

* PaperTiger: [[spoiler:His two pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, Tyranitar and Metagross, don't get a single win against any of Ash's Pokémon and both of them are knocked out by Pikachu. Tyranitar even gets it worse than Metagross, since the latter at least has an on-screen victory as a Metang and it got plenty of off-screen victories in the league. Tyranitar barely gets a hit on Pikachu, while Metagross does some major damage at least and it takes a lot to go down. Tyranitar is defeated in a faster fashion.]]

* PyrrhicVictory: Alain finds both his quest to prove his Charizard is the strongest Mega Evolution [[spoiler: and his later victory over Ash at the Kalos League]] to fall into this [[spoiler: when Team Flare stages their attack on Kalos. By end of the arc, after everything has wrapped up, Alain considers Ash to be the stronger trainer despite Alain having previously beaten him.]]
* TheRival: He becomes one to Ash. After Ash tells him that there are a lot of other powerful trainers and Pokémon in the Kalos League, [[spoiler:Alain quickly gathers eight badges, enters it, and ''wins'' it as well, while doing everything mostly to fight Ash in the league again.]] He quickly becomes Ash's strongest Kalos rival.

* WasItReallyWorthIt: [[spoiler: Alain seems to have finally achieved his goal of becoming the strongest Mega Evolution trainer by defeating Ash and Ash-Greninja (his toughest opponent yet) at the Kalos League finals and making Mairin smile. Shortly after winning however, his boss Lysandre launches an attack on Lumiose City with Zygarde, putting everyone in danger, Mairin included. Later, Lysandre reveals to Alain that the whole point of becoming the strongest was to simply collect Mega Evolution energy to bring Zygarde under their control and be worthy of living in his post-genocide world. He [[ArmorPiercingQuestion rhetorically asks Alain if he had ever thought of what exactly he was going to protect with the strength he had gained]]. This breaks Alain completely.]]

** His rematch with Ash and Greninja fills him with an excitement he hasn't felt in many matches. After Greninja gets a few good hits in, he even calls Greninja ''worthy'' to face Charizard's Mega Evolution. He ended up enjoying the battle so much that he decided to quickly gather 8 badges so that he could have an opportunity to face off with [[spoiler:and defeat]] Ash again in the Kalos League.

* BigSisterWorship: Develop this towards Serena after [[spoiler:watching her attempt to fight Team Flare at Lysandre's labs on her own and watching her help Ash, Alain, Professor Sycamore, and Steven during their initial assault on Team Flare's Megalith]]. In the XY(Z) Finale she personally thanks Serena for her help in [[spoiler: rescuing Chespie]] and tells her she'll be cheering on from afar with a double high five.

* DamselInDistress: Rescuing Chespie from Team Flare is on the list of the heroes' priorities, with Professor Sycamore, Serena and Mairin taking on the mission (with assistance from Team Rocket [[spoiler:and Steven]]).

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler:Chespie, still comatose, becomes the power source that keeps the Megalith alive. When the heroes finally free Chespie from the Megalith's clutches, it actually shuts down, until Lysandre returns and powers it back up.]]

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: [[spoiler:Everyone thought rescuing Chespie is all that was needed to be done at Lysandre Labs. But then the Megalith awakens, and absorbs Chespie...]]

* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Come the Kalos League Semi-Finals, Alain defeats his whole team using ''just'' his Metagross and Charizard, and Charizard didn't even have to Mega Evolve until its battle with Garchoo.]]

* AscendedExtra: He was first mentioned in passing in the ''Advanced Generation'' series, and when he finally showed up, he was ultimately just as a OneShotCharacter with little fanfare. When he eventually returns for the ''XY'' series, he's acknowledged as the Hoenn Champion, becomes an important character in the Mega Evolution Specials, has a part in Sawyer's backstory, [[spoiler:and eventually returns for the climax and conclusion of the Team Flare arc]].
* BackToBackBadasses: With fellow Champion Diantha [[spoiler:when buying more time for Ash and Alain to defeat Megalith Zygarde.]].

* BigDamnHeroes: Shows up to save [[spoiler:the heroes during their raid on Lysandre Labs]].
* BrickJoke: Jessie was instantly smitten with Steven merely from seeing a photo of him in Sawyer's notebook. An infatuation that suddenly resurfaces out of nowhere when [[spoiler:Team Rocket and the twerps run into the real deal much later when they attempt to raid Lysandre Labs]].

** [[spoiler:Steven also returns to assist in the [[StormingTheCastle raid on Lysandre Labs]], handily tipping the odds in the heroes' favor]].

* OneManArmy: [[spoiler:His Metagross tears through Lysandre Labs effortlessly, despite being heavily outnumbered.]]

** [[spoiler:He also sees Leon as one, having entered the World Coronation Series and made it to the Masters Eight with the dream of battling and surpassing Leon's Charizard. He loses, but enjoyed the battle, and says he'd like to face Leon again one day.]]

** [[spoiler:He also sees Leon as one, having entered the World Coronation Series and made it to the Masters 8 with the dream of battling and surpassing Leon's Charizard. He loses, but enjoyed the battle, and says he'd like to face Leon again one day.]]

* TheBusCameBack: Makes a return during [=JN115=] alongside Sycamore to watch Alain's match against Leon. She is left in tears after Alain loses and Sycamroe has to comfort her.

* WorthyOpponent: His rematch with Ash and Greninja fills him with an excitement he hasn't felt in many matches. After Greninja gets a few good hits in, he even calls Greninja ''worthy'' to face Charizard's Mega Evolution. He ended up enjoying the battle so much that he decided to quickly gather 8 badges so that he could have an opportunity to face off with [[spoiler:and defeat]] Ash again in the Kalos League.

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Alain loses 3-1 to Leon in the first match of the Masters Tournament, only managing to defeat his Gigantamax Rillaboom after it had already beaten his Chesnaught, with his Malamar doing nothing before getting knocked out and his Mega Charizard X being quickly and easily overwhelmed beaten by Leon's base Charizard.]] Ash never even managed to win against Alain, and this match's result shows how strong Leon really is.

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Alain loses 3-1 to Leon in the first match of the Masters Tournament, only managing to defeat his Gigantamax Rillaboom after it had already beaten his Chestnaught, with his Malamar doing nothing before getting knocked out and his Mega Charizard X being quickly and easily beaten by Leon's base Charizard.]] Ash never even managed to win against Alain, and this match's result shows how strong Leon really is.

%%* WindFromBeneathMyWings: His Charizard's normal secondary type until it Mega Evolves. It has never used any Flying-Type moves.

** He later returns in ''Journeys'' as part of the final Masters Eight lineup. Notably, he is the only participant to not be a Champion, and is also ranked ''above'' two Champions (Iris, and Ash himself) to boot.

* BadassCrew: Alain has an impressive line-up of Pokémon, which are [[TheAce Mega Charizard X]], [[InfinityMinusOneSword Metagross]], [[spoiler:[[InfinityMinusOneSword Tyranitar]], [[FragileSpeedster Weavile]], [[OneHitKill Bisharp]]... [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Unfezant]]]].

* BreakTheHaughty: He almost suffers it when he sees Ash-Greninja's Giant Shuriken about to be launched during the League finals [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope but is spared defeat]] when he manages to knock Ash-Greninja out first. But then it is DoubleSubverted when Team Flare attacks just as Alain is awarded the trophy of being the League victor, and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he gets to see]] what his ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero real reward]]'' is for becoming the strongest and helping Team Flare.]]
* BreakingOldTrends: [[spoiler:He is the first major rival that Ash is unable to defeat, even in their final battle during the Lumiose Conference.]]

* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler: After the Team Flare climax, Alain is no longer wearing the Mega Ring and Charizard no longer has the Charizardite X. In the last episode of XYZ, Alain reveals that he had turned them in to the police as they were properties of Team Flare and he wishes to no longer be associated with them. He plans to start from scratch and find his own Keystone and Mega Stone. Journeys later shows he managed to find his own Charizardite X and used it to climb all the way to Rank 6 in the Pokemon World Championships.]]
* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:He is part of the final Masters Eight lineup, as revealed in ''Journeys''.]]

* CastingAShadow: Half of Alain's team are part Dark-Type: [[spoiler:Tyranitar, Weavile and Bisharp]]. Coincidently, they all have a secondary type that also makes them double weak to Fighting-Type moves, but that issue only comes to [[spoiler:Weavile]].

** Heavily implied about all his [[spoiler:Gym battles to enter the league in the span of ''7 episodes'']].

* DarkIsNotEvil: [[spoiler: four]] of his Pokémon are partial-Dark types, but Alain himself ultimately proves to be a good guy.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Alain's entire storyline essentially takes apart the goal of ToBeAMaster piece by piece. His total focus on becoming the strongest causes him to neglect the people important in his life and be an UnwittingPawn for Team Flare. He believes that beating every strong trainer would make him stronger yet [[HeroicBSOD finds himself helpless]] when actual danger arrives. [[VictoryIsBoring He stops enjoying his wins]] and [[AndThenWhat never considers what to do after he became the strongest]], his reasons behind it constantly changing to justify his path. [[spoiler: And despite always winning battles, Alain finds himself feeling inferior to Ash Ketchum, who encompasses the happiness and wisdom that he never got under Lysandre's guidance.]]

* DishingOutDirt: [[spoiler:Alain has a Tyranitar, which is primary a Rock-Type Pokémon, and it has the Sand Stream ability, which summons automatically a Sandstorm (and it's the first Tyranitar to display this ability in the anime). However, the Sandstorm vanishes when Pikachu splashes a lot of water. Aside from that, Tyranitar knows Stone Edge, and Metagross knows Rock Slide; the former is used defensively (and it backfires), while the latter is used offensively.]]

* DramaticIrony: He keeps Professor Sycamore out of the loop because Lysandre tells him if the research on Mega Evolution is published then evil people will use it and ruin the professor's reputation. Knowing Lysandre's role in the games, he is one of those of people.

* {{Expy}}: Tetsuo Yajima has stated Alain was modeled after prequel-era Anakin Skywalker, being someone who turns to TheDarkSide to protect those he loves.
* ExtraOreDinary: His Charizard knows Steel Wing, but seems to have forgotten it in favor of Thunder Punch. He is later on shown to own a Metang, a Steel-type that resembles a floating metallic robot, which later evolves into Metagross, a SpiderTank. [[spoiler:He also has a Bisharp, and his Unfezant also knows Steel Wing.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Ash telling him about the strong Pokémon Trainers in the Kalos League hinted that Alain would enter it as well, due to his BloodKnight nature. And he does eventually get eight badges ''seven episodes'' later.]]
* FriendlessBackground: Alain didn't have any other friends that weren't Professor Sycamore as his loaner attitude distanced himself from making them. However, after meeting Mairin and Ash, Alain not only found his first real friends from them but also discovers the true meaning of it.
* FriendlyRivalry: He and Ash have a friendly relationship with each other from the beginning, which makes him different from the previous main rivals (Gary, Paul, Trip) who were very antagonistic towards him. Since Alain has met Ash, he has become a DefrostingIceKing.

* GreenThumb: [[spoiler: Journeys reveals he has a Chesnaught]]
* GroundPunch: His Charizard does this to perform Blast Burn.

* InvincibleHero: Alain's appearances progressively make him more and more overpowered until he becomes practically unbeatable. [[spoiler:He is currently the only major rival whom Ash faced multiple times and never defeated.]]

* TheJuggernaut: He's hands down one of the strongest trainers in the series, Champion or otherwise. And it shows in many regards. First off, he's the first non-titled trainer to ever defeat one of the Elite Four (and just prior to that, he had to defeat 9 other Mega Evolution trainers to even reach said Elite Four member). His victory over the Kalos League basically amounted to him just effortlessly steamrolling every single one of his opponents with relative ease, using only two Pokemon until his final match with Ash. Even Ash's other rivals don't measure up to this guy. [[spoiler:While Ash himself eventually defeated every last one of them, he's never once beaten Alain in any of their matches (though he came close in the finals)]].

* MadeOfIron: Charizard has become extremely tough, to the point that taking [[spoiler:Pikachu's and Greninja's super effective moves ''and'' Ash-Greninja's giant, orange Water Shuriken]] are not enough to take it down.
* MightyGlacier: [[spoiler:Tyranitar]] usually hits hard, but is too slow to actually land a proper hit.

* OneHitKill: [[spoiler:His Bisharp knows the OHKO move Guillotine. It knocks out both Hawlucha and Goodra with it.]]

* TheRival: He becomes one to Ash. [[spoiler:After Ash tells him that there are a lot of other powerful trainers and Pokémon in the Kalos League, Alain quickly gathers eight badges, enters it, and ''wins'' it as well, mostly to fight Ash in the league again.]] He quickly becomes Ash's strongest Kalos rival.

* ShockAndAwe: His Charizard knows Thunderpunch to counter Water-Type Pokémon, and his [[spoiler:Bisharp]] knows Thunder Wave to slow down the opponent.

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Alain loses 3-1 to Leon in the first match of the Masters Tournament, only managing to defeat his Gigantamax Rillaboom.]] Ash never even managed to win against Alain, and this match's result shows how strong Leon really is.
* WorthyOpponent: His rematch with Ash and Greninja fills him with an excitement he hasn't felt in many matches. After Greninja gets a few good hits in, he even calls Greninja ''worthy'' to face Charizard's Mega Evolution. He ended up enjoying the battle so much that he decided to quickly gather 8 badges so that he could have an opportunity to face off with [[spoiler: and defeat]] Ash again in the Kalos League.

* BigSisterWorship: Develop this towards Serena after [[spoiler: watching her attempt to fight Team Flare at Lysandre's labs on her own and watching her help Ash, Alain, Professor Sycamore, and Steven during their initial assault on Team Flare's Megalith]]. In the XY(Z) Finale she personally thanks Serena for her help in [[spoiler: rescuing Chespie]] and tells her she'll be cheering on from afar with a double high five.

** [[spoiler:He basically pulls a Tobias in his battle against Remo in the Semi-Finals, defeating the latters' whole team with just Metagross and Charizard.]]

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Alain loses 3-1 to Leon in the first match of the Masters Tournament.]]

* DarkIsNotEvil: Three of his Pokémon are partial-Dark types, but Alain himself ultimately proves to be a good guy.

* TryingNotToCry: When she finally meets the gang at the Kalos League, she is fighting back tears when Clemont's Chespin reminds her of Chespie.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Other than Siebold and his Blastoise, Steven is the only shown Mega Pokémon owner who breaks Alain's victory streak. His Metagross endures all of Charizard's attacks, even the super-effective Blast Burn, without any visible damage and lays down some serious hurt on him. If not for Lysandre's Pyroar interrupting the battle, it's safe to assume he would have won. [[spoiler:This is all but confirmed in Journeys, which occurs after Alain has continued to train and get even stronger, and which takes place after the Kalos League. Even though Alain and Steven both make it to the Masters 8, Steven is still ranked higher than Alain AND the two Champions above him, implying Alain never had a chance to begin with during their battle in XY. He is also this for most of the Masters Eight, being ranked higher than four other Champions (Lance, Diantha, Iris, and Ash), but is also himself below Leon and Cynthia.]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Other than Siebold and his Blastoise, Steven is the only shown Mega Pokémon owner who breaks Alain's victory streak. His Metagross endures all of Charizard's attacks, even the super-effective Blast Burn, without any visible damage and lays down some serious hurt on him. If not for Lysandre's Pyroar interrupting the battle, it's safe to assume he would have won. [[spoiler:He is also this for most of the Masters Eight, being ranked higher than four other Champions (Lance, Diantha, Iris, and Ash), but is also himself below Leon and Cynthia.]]

* AudienceSurrogate: For teenage ''Pokémon'''s fans. Unlike [[Anime/PokemonOrigins Origins version of Giovanni]], Alain's characterization doesn't focus on ''Pokémon'' nostalgia, but he's older and more serious than the main episodes' child protagonists, and his partner Pokémon is Charizard, a fan-favorite of fans who grew up with Gens 1-2. His mentor-student relationship with Mairin can be seen as an analogue to teenage and young adult ''Pokémon'' fans introducing their younger siblings to the franchise and teaching them how to play the games.

* AudienceSurrogate: For the ''Pokémon'''s series' older fans, specifically teenagers. Unlike [[Anime/PokemonOrigins Origins version of Giovanni]], Alain's characterization doesn't focus on ''Pokémon'' nostalgia, but he's quite a bit older and more serious than the main episodes' child protagonists, and his partner Pokémon is Charizard, a fan-favorite with the older fans of the franchise. His mentor-student relationship with Mairin can be seen as an analogue to teenage and young adult ''Pokémon'' fans introducing their younger siblings to the franchise and teaching them how to play the games.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Other than Siebold and his Blastoise, Steven is the only shown Mega Pokémon owner who breaks Alain's victory streak. His Metagross endures all of Charizard's attacks, even the super-effective Blast Burn, without any visible damage and lays down some serious hurt on him. If not for Lysandre's Pyroar interrupting the battle, it's safe to assume he would have won. [[spoiler:He is also this for most of the Masters Eight, being ranked higher than four other Champions (Lance, Diantha, Iris, and Ash), but is also himself below Leon and Cynthia.)]]