Hala: the Island Kahuna who welcomes you to Melemele Island

Alola doesn't open with a Gym, but with a welcome. Hala leads Melemele Island, the first island in the archipelago, and he's the one who greets the player the moment they arrive. Island kahuna, Fighting-type specialist, the only man in the region's Elite Four: the character juggles several roles instead of holding just one. Here's what the series has him do, from the games to the anime.

Contents

• The Kahuna Chosen by Tapu Koko
• Three Fighting-Type Pokémon, and a Level Cap That Lifts
• In the Anime: Beaten, Robbed, Then Referee
• Cards, the Mobile Game and Traditional Wrestling
• Hala at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Kahuna Chosen by Tapu Koko

The player in Sun and Moon moves to Melemele Island, the first of Alola's islands. There, Hala holds the office of kahuna: he governs the island, and it's on his turf that the local grand trial takes place.

The post didn't come to him through a contest but through a choice. It was the guardian deity Tapu Koko that chose him, so his authority rests as much on a tutelary creature as on his record as a Trainer. His reputation, for its part, reaches well beyond Melemele: the whole region knows him.

His first scene revolves around a gift. It's Hala who entrusts their starter Pokémon to the player and to Hau, his grandson, under the watchful eye of Professor Kukui. He openly bets on the two young Trainers, and the game puts this scene before everything else.

🔥 Starter Pokémon are his department: check out the Pokémon starters.

Three Fighting-Type Pokémon, and a Level Cap That Lifts

The Fighting type is his specialty, and Melemele's grand trial is the adventure's first real milestone. He fields three Pokémon there — in Sun and Moon, he's inevitably the first Trainer you face with that many, which changes the scale of the battle.

Victory brings more than a trophy. Beating Hala makes traded Pokémon obey you up to level 35, a threshold that very concretely shapes how you build your team for what comes next.

His career doesn't stop at the island. In Sun and Moon, he also sits on Alola's Elite Four, as its only male member; he returns in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where he's still Melemele's kahuna.

In the Anime: Beaten, Robbed, Then Referee

The anime introduces him during the Sun & Moon series. In the very episode after his first appearance, he loses to Ash in Melemele's grand trial: the series doesn't leave him undefeated for long.

Later, the series takes him to Mount Lanakila with his Crabrawler. There, the Pokémon evolves into Crabominable, a rare moment for a kahuna: the series shows him helping his own team grow.

He even ends up a victim: Pheromosa steals his Z-Crystals, which he eventually gets back. Then, when the Alola League takes shape, he changes roles and referees the matches with the other kahunas, all the way to the final fought by Ash.

Cards, the Mobile Game and Traditional Wrestling

The Trading Card Game brought him in early. His first card appears in the Sun & Moon—Guardians Rising expansion, released in France on May 13, 2017, and other cards have featured him since.

The mobile game recruited him on June 15, 2021, in his canonical outfit. There he battles as a sync pair with a Crabominable — the same Pokémon the anime associates with him, which gives the character a consistent lineup from one medium to the next.

The blurb that accompanies him in that game sums the man up well: it praises his very high level as a Trainer and his mastery of the traditional wrestling practiced across the archipelago. The side notes add just one detail about his build: he stands 1.70 m tall.

Hala at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Hala in Pokémon?
  He's the kahuna who governs Melemele Island, the first island in Alola, and the only man in the region's Elite Four. He champions the Fighting type and welcomes the player when they arrive in the archipelago.
• How did Hala become kahuna?
  He was chosen by Tapu Koko, Melemele's guardian deity. His authority therefore rests on that choice, and his reputation as a Trainer extends across the entire Alola region.
• Why does Hala give out the starter Pokémon?
  Because he believes in the player's potential as much as in that of his grandson Hau. The handover takes place in front of Professor Kukui, at the very beginning of the adventure.
• What do you get for beating Hala in the grand trial?
  Pokémon obtained through trades will then obey you up to level 35. He's also the first Trainer in the game to field three Pokémon, which makes him a real step up in difficulty.
• Which Pokémon does Hala evolve in the anime?
  His Crabrawler, which he takes to Mount Lanakila and which becomes a Crabominable there. That same Crabominable is his sync pair partner in the mobile game.

In short

Hala plays a role no classic Gym Leader takes on: he hands out the first Pokémon, then blocks the way at the first milestone. A kahuna chosen by a guardian deity, grandfather of a Trainer who sets out at the same time as the player, the only man in Alola's Elite Four, a referee at the League once his own part has been played — the character switches hats at every stage without ever leaving the Fighting type. Few figures in the series cover so many roles in a single region.