Sophocles: The Alola Trial Captain Who Invents Machines

A trial examiner who talks like an online gamer. Sophocles holds one of Alola's captain posts, reserved for trainers who have already completed their island challenge. He represents the Electric type there, but his file is mostly about what he does outside battle: building machines and running Festival Plaza.

Contents

• A Trial Captain who came out of the island challenge
• An engineer before a trainer
• Mobile game, anime, trading cards
• Sophocles at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A Trial Captain who came out of the island challenge

Alola replaces the Gym circuit with an island challenge, and the Trial Captains are its examiners. The post is only open to those who have completed that journey themselves, a few years earlier: Sophocles is one of those former challengers who crossed over to the other side of the trial.

His specialty is the Electric type. You run into him in Sun and Moon as well as in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where he can also show up as a challenger for the Champion title — a position that takes him out of the examiner role and puts him back among the competitors.

The game gives him few personal ties, and only one is named: he is the cousin of Molayne. That family tie and his love of mechanics make up just about everything we know of his private life.

An engineer before a trainer

Sophocles is presented first and foremost as an inventor: several remarkable machines have come out of his workshop, and it's that talent his descriptions highlight, far more than his battle record.

The way he talks heightens the contrast: he borrows his vocabulary from gamer jargon, whereas the rest of the island challenge is steeped in a ritual, solemn register. On islands that put their traditions on stage, he stands out through his vocabulary as much as his passion.

On top of that comes a responsibility with nothing martial about it: he's the one who runs Festival Plaza. Few captains combine a management role with their examiner duties, and this one puts him on purely organizational ground.

🔧 The workshop fits on a shelf: see the section Pokémon toys.

Mobile game, anime, trading cards

The mobile game included him from launch, in his canonical outfit. His default sync pair puts him alongside a Togedemaru; a second version, exchanged for a BP Sync Pair Voucher, has him battling alongside an Alolan Golem.

In the anime, he first appears in the trailer for the twentieth season, then in the very first episode of the Sun & Moon series, introduced at the same time as Samson Oak and several other new faces from the archipelago.

The card game followed soon after: his first card appeared in the Sun & Moon—Burning Shadows expansion, released in France on August 19, 2017.

Sophocles at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• What type does Sophocles use?
  The Electric type. It's his specialty as an Alola Trial Captain, in Sun and Moon as well as in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• What is a Trial Captain?
  In Alola, the island challenge replaces the Gym circuit, and the Trial Captains are its examiners. The post goes to trainers who completed that journey themselves a few years earlier.
• What's the connection between Sophocles and Molayne?
  They're cousins. It's the only family tie the game gives Sophocles.
• Which Pokémon does Sophocles use?
  His in-game teams include Togedemaru, Magnezone, Electivire, Vikavolt and Alolan Golem; on mobile, he forms a default sync pair with Togedemaru and an alternate sync pair with an Alolan Golem, obtained with a BP Sync Pair Voucher.
• Does Sophocles appear in the anime?
  Yes. He appears in the trailer for the twentieth season, then in the very first episode of the Sun & Moon series, alongside Samson Oak and other characters introduced at that point.

In short

Sophocles is a rare case in Alola's lineup: his appeal lies less in his team than in his trade. Inventor and manager of Festival Plaza, he holds an examiner's post within a ritual system while speaking a gamer's language. A Trial Captain whose workshop matters as much as the battlefield.