Malva: the Holo Caster voice who ran Team Flare
1521 words | Reading time: 7 minutes
She covered Kalos news on the air while also serving Team Flare as one of its Admins. Malva sits on the Kalos League's Elite Four, where she champions the Fire type, and hosts the news bulletins broadcast on the Holo Caster. Her whole story comes down to that double role: the most visible figure in the region is also the one who helped the organization get its hands on a Legendary Pokémon.
Contents
- A Star Presenter on the Elite Four
- The Post-Game Story: Handing Over Xerosic to Save a Name
- Yveltal, a Capture Revealed Long After the Fact
- In the Anime: From Lysandre's Mouthpiece to Ash's Ally
- In the Manga: Lysandre's Second-in-Command
- Malva at a Glance
- Frequently Asked Questions
A Star Presenter on the Elite Four
The player crosses paths with Malva long before battling her: she first appears on the Holo Caster screen, where she runs through story after story about what's stirring up the region. The face-to-face meeting waits at the very last stage of the journey, when the player comes to take on the top of the Kalos League.
Like her three colleagues, she can be challenged in any order you like. Her personal room is called the Blazing Chamber and sits in the top-right corner of the layout: it's one of the four possible doors for starting the final challenge.
Her affiliation only weighs on the battle in light of what came before. The protagonist's triumph over Team Flare turns her into a resentful opponent, who lets her hatred boil over and demands revenge before going down as well. Her preference for the Fire type remains her signature, which the mobile game picked up in 2024 by pairing her with a Talonflame.
The Post-Game Story: Handing Over Xerosic to Save a Name
Once the League is behind you, she summons the player to a luxury hotel in Lumiose City, the Hotel Richissime. There she lays out Xerosic's true intentions regarding Emma, and makes no secret of how little she thinks of the organization's scientist.
Her motive has nothing to do with remorse, though. She simply refuses to see her organization dragged any lower through the mud than it already is: it's that reputation, not morality, that puts her on the player's side for the length of one operation.
In practice, she gives the player access to the Hidden Floor beneath Lysandre Labs, where Xerosic carries out his work. The former Admin acts there as the guardian of what's left of her organization, not as a penitent.
Yveltal, a Capture Revealed Long After the Fact
A later installment no longer shows her in person. A Lumiose City resident merely remarks that she has vanished from TV screens — a subtle hint that she withdrew from public life after the events in Kalos.
It's Grisham who supplies the missing piece: Malva was a Team Flare Admin, and the elite team she led took part in the capture of Yveltal. Without her, he argues, the organization would never have gotten its hands on the Destruction Pokémon.
The same testimony immediately turns the argument around. The operation cost Team Flare's forces so dearly that Calem, Serena and their friends were able to make their way to the ultimate weapon and stop it. Malva's greatest success is therefore exactly what made the group's downfall possible.
🔥 A Legendary among her trophies: browse our Legendaries.
In the Anime: From Lysandre's Mouthpiece to Ash's Ally
The series first presents her as an image on a screen: her very first appearance is limited to a TV set. She later returns in the field, microphone in hand, to interview Ash outside the stadium where the Kalos League is held.
Two short episodes show what her broadcasts are really for. On one of Lumiose City's public screens, she announces such demand for the Holo Caster that production has to be ramped up, then moves on to the founder's generosity: brand-new medical equipment donated to a Pokémon Center, a large sum given to health research. Elsewhere, it's an entire broadcast glorifying her boss, Lysandre, that Professor Sycamore watches from his lab.
Her change of heart plays out in two stages. She first sits at Lysandre's side and serves his plans, then turns against him to back Ash and Alain — she would rather, she says, build the future on their side.
Once the battle is over, she deals with the remaining Grunts herself to dismantle the group, then leaves to atone for what she has done. Mega Evolution Special IV gives her her most spectacular partner: a Houndoom that can Mega Evolve, has the Flash Fire Ability and is seen using Smog and Crunch.
In the Manga: Lysandre's Second-in-Command
The manga adaptation keeps her in her presenter role alone for a long time: in the early volumes, nothing links her to either Team Flare or the League. The reveal comes partway through the arc: she is the most powerful woman in the organization, second only to Lysandre.
Her to-do list there is packed: a failed assault on Cassius's helicopter, then escorting the tree in which Xerneas sleeps, alongside Celosia and Essentia. Y and her friends derail the convoy; when Diantha rushes to their rescue, Malva's Braixen traps her in a Magic Room.
The move wasn't random: she admits she wanted to humiliate the Kalos Champion, but above all that this exact spot held Yveltal's buried cocoon. With the Legendary captured, she tries to drive off the intruders while Xerneas sides with them; the clash stops dead when Xerosic points out that the two forces are evenly matched and could cancel each other out forever.
Malva at a Glance
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position | Elite Four member of the Kalos League |
| Specialty | Fire-type Pokémon |
| Battle room | The Blazing Chamber |
| Other job | Host of the Holo Caster news bulletins |
| Team Flare | Former Admin, key player in the capture of Yveltal |
| Other title | Duchess of the Battle Chateau |
| After the group's downfall | Helps the player against Xerosic, then leaves public life |
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Who is Malva in Pokémon?
A member of the Kalos League's Elite Four who specializes in the Fire type and also hosts the news bulletins broadcast on the Holo Caster. At the same time, she belongs to Team Flare, where she served as an Admin. -
Where do you battle Malva?
In her personal room at the Kalos League, the Blazing Chamber, in the top-right corner. Like the other Elite Four members, she can be challenged in whatever order the player prefers. -
Why does Malva help the player after the League?
Not out of remorse. She summons the player to the Hotel Richissime, explains Xerosic's plans for Emma, then opens the way to the Hidden Floor beneath Lysandre Labs — to keep her organization from being dragged any further through the mud. -
What was Malva's role in the capture of Yveltal?
Grisham reveals that she was a Team Flare Admin and that her elite team took part in the capture of Yveltal. Without her, the group would never have obtained the Destruction Pokémon; but the operation drained its ranks so badly that Calem, Serena and their friends were able to reach the ultimate weapon. -
Does Malva appear in the anime?
Yes, during the Kalos series. She first serves Lysandre's plans, then turns against him to help Ash and Alain, before dismantling what's left of the group herself and leaving.
In short
Malva never truly switches sides in the games: she joins the player's side without renouncing anything about Team Flare, purely to protect what's left of it. The games give her the Blazing Chamber, the anime a turn against Lysandre, the manga the capture of Yveltal — and in all three cases, the presenter is a cover for the operative.