Lusamine: the Alola philanthropist devoured by Ultra Beasts

Her French name, "Elsa-Mina," is an anagram of the word "malsaine" (unwholesome), and the story takes forever to prove it right. Lusamine presides over the Aether Foundation, the Alola institution that takes in injured Pokémon, and presents herself to the player as a benefactor. Behind that showcase, the seventh generation builds one of its most disturbing portraits: a woman who has replaced her attachment to her children with a fascination for creatures from another world.

Contents

• President of the Aether Foundation
• Mohn, the Unfinished Thesis and the Turning Point
• Sun and Moon: Running Off to the World of Nihilego
• Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon: Same Character, Different Story
• The Mobile Game, the Cards and a Name That Warns You
• Lusamine at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

President of the Aether Foundation

Lusamine holds the presidency of her father's Aether Foundation, and the organization's agenda looks crystal clear: caring for mistreated Pokémon and taking in those that arrive from other regions. She herself talks about it the way a mother would talk about her children.

One detail slips in very early and feels unsettling: her face is that of a young woman, but she is past forty. Nothing is said about it at the time, and it takes the player's second visit to Aether Paradise, followed by the completion of the main story, for her file to truly open up.

Her place in the series' history also comes down to a first: no woman had headed the central organization of a main series game before her. And that organization isn't an openly villainous gang, but a respected institution — which makes the turn all the more effective.

Mohn, the Unfinished Thesis and the Turning Point

Before becoming the president the player meets, she was the wife of Mohn, who was then writing a thesis on Ultra Beasts. An experiment meant to better understand these creatures made him disappear, and his wife picked up his work where he had left off.

Her original motive, then, is grief: she wants to get her husband back. The research ended up devouring the researcher, until the Ultra Beasts stopped being a means and became an end, and the attentive mother gave way to a woman who only cares about what she finds beautiful.

Her descent takes very concrete forms in the family mansion. There she keeps Pokémon cryogenically frozen, locked away in a secret room, and dictates even the clothes worn by Lillie and Gladion: the two children end up breaking away and fleeing that madness.

Sun and Moon: Running Off to the World of Nihilego

The goal she pursues in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon is brutal once revealed: unleash the Ultra Beasts on Alola, then live alone among the Nihilego. Her children's warnings don't sway her one bit.

She crosses over to the other side for good, into the Ultra Beasts' world, with Guzma, the leader of Team Skull. In Ultra Space, she disowns Lillie, who has come to reason with her, then fuses with a Nihilego to battle the player.

The battle brings her back to herself: once defeated, she regains her senses, but the player will never see her again. Gladion locks up the mansion and takes over as president of the foundation, while Lillie sets off for Kanto to seek help from Bill, who has also been through a fusion with a Pokémon.

Two staging details say the rest. During this second clash, all her Pokémon wear a nasty expression — all except Bewear. And when she collapses after the battle, she tells Lillie, who has come to help her up, that she has grown into a beautiful young woman: coming from a woman who only loved what she judged beautiful, the admission amounts to a reconciliation.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon: Same Character, Different Story

The enhanced version rewrites her intentions without touching her methods. Opening an Ultra Wormhole is still her plan, but this time to confront Necrozma, which threatens to steal Alola's light. To that end she allies with the Ultra Recon Squad, who are convinced she will help them recover their own, and designs the Beast Ball, which works better on Ultra Beasts.

Once again, her daughter pays the price. She has Team Skull steal Nebby, Lillie's Cosmog, from her, locks it in a box, battles the player, then escapes through an Ultra Wormhole with Guzma. The energy drained from the little Pokémon makes it evolve into Cosmoem, then into Solgaleo or Lunala depending on the version, and the betrayed Ultra Recon Squad sides with the player.

The ending, however, redeems her. Emerging from an Ultra Wormhole at the Altar of the Sunne (or of the Moone), she urges the player and Lillie to flee from Necrozma, which absorbs the Legendary Pokémon at the end of the battle; once the two creatures have been separated, she is the one who picks up the exhausted Legendary and has it treated at Aether Paradise, with her daughter's help. She keeps her presidency and can still be found once the main story is over, something Sun and Moon denied her.

The episode devoted to Team Rainbow Rocket gives her an unusual role: that of a hostage in the hands of Giovanni. She draws her conclusions by the end of the episode, demoting Faba, whose part in her kidnapping she won't let slide. Once that organization is defeated, she waits for the Trainer at the Pokémon League on the first day of every month, with the same team of five Pokémon as at Aether Paradise, this time raised to level 68.

🌌 Solgaleo, Lunala and Necrozma play the lead roles in her story: check out the section dedicated to Legendaries.

The Mobile Game, the Cards and a Name That Warns You

The mobile game Pokémon Masters EX recruited her on September 10, 2020, with two looks. Her standard outfit pairs her with Pheromosa by default, and two variants open up later: one with Lilligant, in exchange for a sync pair voucher, the other with Milotic, once her friendship level is maxed out at the Trainer Lodge.

Her Sygna Suit puts her alongside Dusk Mane Necrozma, which can further transform into Ultra Necrozma. The game's official profile presents her as a woman devoted to her Pokémon and her two children — the public-facing version, exactly the one Alola spends dozens of hours taking apart.

On the card side, she entered the game with the Crimson Invasion expansion, from the Sun & Moon series, released in France on November 4, 2017. That leaves the detail that sums up the character: her French name, "Elsa-Mina," is an anagram of "malsaine," French for "unwholesome", and her silhouette is strangely reminiscent of Pheromosa, the very Ultra Beast she is partnered with in the mobile game.

Lusamine at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Lusamine in Pokémon?
  The president of the Aether Foundation, the Alola institution that takes in Pokémon that are injured or have arrived from other regions. She succeeded her father in this role, and she is Mohn's wife as well as the mother of Lillie and Gladion.
• Why is Lusamine obsessed with Ultra Beasts?
  Because her husband Mohn disappeared during an experiment carried out to study them. She took over his thesis in the hope of finding him, then the research turned into fanaticism: she ended up wanting to unleash them on Alola and live alone among the Nihilego.
• What happens to Lusamine at the end of Pokémon Sun and Moon?
  She fuses with a Nihilego in Ultra Space, loses her battle against the player and comes back to her senses, but you can't see her again afterward. Gladion takes over as president of the foundation, and Lillie leaves for Kanto to find a way to save her.
• What changes in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon?
  Her goal. She wants to open an Ultra Wormhole to confront Necrozma, from which she means to protect Alola and its light. She survives the story, keeps her presidency and can still be found at Aether Paradise once the adventure is over.
• Can you battle Lusamine after the adventure?
  Yes, in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, once you're done with Team Rainbow Rocket. She sets up at the Pokémon League on the first day of every month, with the same team of five Pokémon as at Aether Paradise, this time raised to level 68.

In short

Lusamine isn't just another antagonist placed at the head of an organization: she's a scientist whom her husband's disappearance turned into a collector of creatures. Sun and Moon makes her vanish, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon gives her a second trajectory, but both versions tell the same story — a woman who stopped loving living beings and came to love only their beauty.