Ilima: Trial Captain and tutorial for the island challenge

He's the first Captain the player meets, and one the player never forgets. Ilima runs the opening trial of Alola's island challenge, the one that teaches newcomers what a Totem Pokémon is. A Normal-type specialist, he's also one of the few Captains whose hairstyle the game describes in as much detail as his role. He appears in Sun and Moon and later in their Ultra versions.

Contents

• The Trial That Doubles as a Tutorial
• The Boy From the Biggest House in Hau'oli City
• A Trainers' School Graduate Now on the Other Side
• In the Anime: Mega Evolution and Z-Moves
• The Alola League, the Card Game and the Mobile Game
• Ilima at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Trial That Doubles as a Tutorial

Alola replaces Gyms with the island challenge, and entrusts Ilima with the very first stage of the journey. His trial serves as the opening lesson: it introduces the region's signature mechanic, the Totem Pokémon, to a player who hasn't faced anything else yet.

The Totem changes depending on the version: a Gumshoos in Sun and Ultra Sun, an Alolan Raticate in Moon and Ultra Moon. Two Normal-type species, in keeping with the Captain's specialty, for one and the same demonstration.

The Ultra versions give him a second role: he's the first in the line of Captains you have to beat during the trial run by Mina, and his defeat earns the player the Orange Petal. No prerequisite applies to that battle: it's the extra match at the Trainers' School that requires you to first go and talk to him in his bedroom in the mansion, in Sun and Moon as well as in their Ultra versions.

The Boy From the Biggest House in Hau'oli City

Ilima lives with his parents, in the biggest house in Hau'oli City, Alola's largest city, on Melemele Island, where the adventure begins. The detail isn't just decoration: the player's first serious opponent lives in the mansion that towers over the city whose outskirts they've just moved to.

The character has a very high opinion of himself and an unabashed obsession with his appearance. His lines keep coming back to hair, style and hairdressers, to the point of advising the player to pull out a comb as soon as the trial is over.

His profile goes so far as to note that he tends to smell of shampoo, and that he has an appointment at the hair salon once the trial wraps up. As for vital statistics, only one measurement is given: 1.65 m.

A Trainers' School Graduate Now on the Other Side

Before becoming a Captain, Ilima completed his own island challenge, a few years before the player's. So he's no abstract examiner: he's a former challenger who has simply switched places along the route.

He's also a graduate of the Trainers' School, where the students see him as a hero. That reputation sheds light on the character's self-assurance, and on the gap between the vanity he flaunts and the seriousness of the role he's been given.

The mobile game sums up his temperament in a single word, combative, and notes that he went on to further his studies in Kalos. Learning is the common thread of the character: school, island challenge, study abroad, then a return as Captain.

In the Anime: Mega Evolution and Z-Moves

The anime brings him back to Alola at the end of his studies in Kalos, in an episode of the Sun & Moon series. There he's presented as a top-tier Trainer, and incidentally as a Pokémon Ping-Pong champion.

What sets him apart technically comes down to two mechanics: he wields both Mega Evolution and Z-Moves. Few supporting characters in the series combine the two, one inherited from Kalos, the other specific to the archipelago where he serves.

The moves on record for him outline a short team: an Eevee that chains Baby-Doll Eyes, Last Resort and Extreme Evoboost, a Smeargle that pulls out Sketch, and a Kangaskhan capable of Mega Evolving. It's the latter that carries his Mega Evolution, Parental Bond Ability included.

🌺 His tournament partner has its own shelf: check out the section dedicated to Eevee.

The Alola League, the Card Game and the Mobile Game

Ilima takes part in the Alola League and makes it through the opening Battle Royal, knocking out Team Skull Grunts and Plumeria along the way. Qualifying puts him in the Top 16.

His run comes to an abrupt end: Guzma knocks him out in the very first round of the bracket. The character thus serves as a milestone in the tournament's progression — strong enough to clear the first filter, not strong enough to go far.

Outside the main games, he joined the Trading Card Game with the Sun & Moon expansion, released in France on February 3, 2017. The mobile game added him on April 4, 2025, in his standard outfit and as a sync pair with Gumshoos, the very species of his Totem Pokémon.

Ilima at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Ilima's trial?
  It's the first trial of Alola's island challenge, and it serves as a tutorial for the Totem Pokémon mechanic. The Totem to beat is a Gumshoos in Sun and Ultra Sun, and an Alolan Raticate in Moon and Ultra Moon.
• What type does Ilima use?
  The Normal type. His specialty matches the two Totem Pokémon of his trial, Gumshoos and Alolan Raticate, which share that same type.
• Where does Ilima live?
  In Hau'oli City, on Melemele Island, with his parents in the biggest house in town. In fact, you need to go talk to him in his bedroom in that mansion to trigger his extra battle at the Trainers' School, in Sun and Moon as well as in the Ultra versions.
• What do you get for beating Ilima in the Ultra versions?
  The Orange Petal. He's the first Captain you face during Mina's trial, and beating him unlocks that petal.
• How far does Ilima go in the Alola League?
  To the Top 16. He qualifies in the opening Battle Royal by knocking out Team Skull Grunts and Plumeria, then Guzma beats him in the first round of the bracket.

In short

Ilima holds a unique position in Alola: he's both the first obstacle and the lesson. His teaching role could have made him a mere extra; instead, the games give him a mansion, a hair obsession and a reputation as a model former student. The anime pushes things even further by giving him two battle mechanics that few supporting characters master. A tutorial with a backstory of his own.