Molayne: The Observatory Director Who Runs Alola's PC Boxes

He's the one who looks after your Pokémon while you play. Molayne runs the observatory perched on Ula'ula Island, champions the Steel type and oversees the storage infrastructure for the entire Alola region. Around this low-key engineering job revolve a friend's secret, a family succession, and a seat at the top of the League that players only discover in the second version of the games.

Contents

• A scientist in charge of the Ula'ula observatory
• The region's PC Boxes are his department
• Kukui's friend, and the Masked Royal's secret
• Trial Captain, then Elite Four member
• The mobile game and the trading card game
• Molayne at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

A scientist in charge of the Ula'ula observatory

Molayne holds a position few characters in the series can claim: he runs a scientific facility, the Hokulani Observatory on Ula'ula, the third island of Alola. It isn't a Gym, a professor's lab or a headquarters: it's a place for measuring and observing.

His specialty as a Trainer follows the same logic. Molayne has sided with the Steel type, the type of shells, magnets and alloys — the most mechanical type in the game, and by far the best fit for a man whose job is keeping machines running.

The portrait the mobile game paints of him completes the picture in a few words: an affable nature, paired with a curiosity that never switches off. That's the temperament of a researcher, not a competitor, and the rest of his story confirms he never tried to take center stage.

The region's PC Boxes are his department

Molayne is also the owner of the Pokémon storage system used throughout the region. In other words, Alola's PC Boxes fall under his responsibility: every Trainer who deposits a catch in a computer goes, without knowing it, through a facility he's in charge of.

The detail matters more than it seems. Storage is one of the few systems that every single player uses, from the first chapter to the last, and giving it a named owner turns an interface menu into a part of the world that someone actually inhabits.

This double role — the observatory on one side, the Boxes on the other — makes Molayne an infrastructure character. He doesn't take down criminal organizations and doesn't guard a badge; he keeps running what everyone else relies on, which explains why you rarely run into him in the thick of the plot.

🗂️ Keeping a collection organized is right up his alley: browse our card storage.

Kukui's friend, and the Masked Royal's secret

Professor Kukui is one of his closest friends, and that friendship lets him in on the best-kept secret in the region. Molayne belongs to the very small circle that has figured out who the Masked Royal really is, the masked Battle Royal specialist.

Knowing that Alola's professor and the masked fighter are one and the same means holding information the story reserves for a handful of characters. The secret rests on trust, not on investigation: Molayne guessed it because he has known his friend for years.

The anime takes the joke one step further. After a first appearance during the Sun & Moon series, he ends up being asked to put on the Masked Royal's costume himself — the confidant promoted to stand-in, for lack of a better option.

Trial Captain, then Elite Four member

His path as a Trainer starts like that of any young Alolan: he completes the island challenge, then becomes a Trial Captain. The title rewards completing the regional challenge and entrusts its holder with a trial that the Trainers who come after will have to face.

Yet he eventually steps aside, and the way he does it is out of the ordinary. Molayne personally picks his young cousin Sophocles to succeed him, even though choosing a Captain is normally up to the Kahunas alone: custom gives way to a family arrangement, and nobody in the region objects.

His career doesn't stop there. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, he joins the League's Elite Four, taking the seat held by Hala in the previous version. The observatory director becomes one of the last four obstacles before the title, without ever leaving his post or his favorite type.

The mobile game and the trading card game

The mobile game recruited him on October 8, 2020, in his canonical outfit. There he battles as a sync pair with an Alolan Dugtrio, his signature Pokémon, which he already uses at Mount Hokulani alongside Skarmory and Metang — a choice that suits a Steel specialist rather well.

On the card side, his first illustration dates back to the Sun & Moon—Unbroken Bonds expansion, released in France on May 3, 2019. A behind-the-scenes character rarely ends up on a collectible card: this one made it.

Molayne at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Molayne in Pokémon?
  The director of the Hokulani Observatory on Ula'ula Island, in Alola, and a Steel-type specialist. He also owns the region's Pokémon storage system, the one Trainers use through the PC Boxes.
• Is Molayne a member of the Elite Four?
  Yes, but only in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. There he takes the seat held by Hala in the previous version of the Alola games.
• How is Molayne related to Sophocles?
  Sophocles is his cousin, and the two are very close. Molayne was a Trial Captain before stepping down and personally choosing Sophocles to succeed him, even though naming a Captain is normally up to the Kahunas.
• Why is Molayne associated with the Masked Royal?
  Because he's one of the few people who know that his friend Professor Kukui is hiding behind the mask of the Battle Royal specialist. The anime goes further: he's asked to take on the role of the Masked Royal himself.
• Which Pokémon does Molayne use?
  He's a Steel-type specialist. At Mount Hokulani, he uses Skarmory, Metang and an Alolan Dugtrio; in the Elite Four of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Klefki, Bisharp, Magnezone, Metagross and that same Alolan Dugtrio, which has also been his sync pair partner in the mobile game since October 8, 2020.

In short

Molayne doesn't lead any quest or block any storyline: he keeps the region running while others explore it. Observatory, PC Boxes, a friend's secret, a cousin promoted in his place, a seat in the Elite Four in the second version of the games — his profile reads as a list of roles rather than feats. He's the kind of character whose value you only grasp by imagining Alola without him.