Some of the Pokémon series’ Trainers don’t always appear to match their type specialty; one such Trainer is the Normal-type Trial Captain Ilima from Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. The set of Pokémon games set in the Hawaiian-inspired Alola region use trials in place of Gyms, in which players solve a Gym-like puzzle and battle one-versus-two against a Totem Pokémon and its ally. The Trial Captain is the Trainer selected to design the trial’s puzzle and train the Totem Pokémon to test the skills of Trainers trying to complete Alola’s island challenge.
Like Gym Leaders, Trial Captains specialize in one type, and the Pokémon featured in their trial match said type. The first trial of Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon is on Alola’s first of five islands, Melemele Island. The Trial Captain is Ilima, a charming young man who specializes in the Normal-type. His trial is the only one to have a “version difference:” in Sun and Ultra Sun, players battle Totem Gumshoos, while in Moon and Ultra Moon, the Totem Pokémon is Alolan Raticate. Before challenging the Totem Pokémon, however, players must find and battle wild Pokémon hiding away in the Verdant Cavern.
But Ilima’s specialty in the Normal-type isn’t very clear by just looking at him. Although this normalcy may be intentional, Ilima’s pastel pink hair and bright, round eyes seem more fitting for a Fairy-type Pokémon Trainer. Alola’s other Trial Captains convey their specific type much more clearly, such as Lana’s predominantly blue outfit with a wave design on the pants, Kiawe with his fiery hairstyle, or Acerola with her purple patched up dress. The only Trial Captain whose type isn’t as clear as Ilima’s is the Fairy-type Captain herself, Mina. Fans have noticed that these two character designs are practically interchangeable despite standing for completely different types. Not only is it possible that these two Trainers switched types during Sun and Moon’s preproduction, but the games could have actually benefited from Ilima acting as a Fairy-type Trial Captain rather than as a Normal-type Captain.
Ilima’s Design In Pokémon Sun & Moon Is Better Suited To The Fairy-type
Whether it’s Sun and Moon or their follow-up games Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Ilima’s ace partner is the Painter Pokémon, Smeargle. Smeargle is a versatile Normal-type that can learn almost any attack with very few restrictions thanks to its exclusive move Sketch. Ilima uses this to teach his Pokémon either Leafage, Water Gun, or Ember depending on which starter Pokémon the player chooses. Ilima will have type coverage over the player’s starter, which is a clever way to make players strategize when they battle against him. But nothing about Ilima’s prim and proper appearance would suggest he uses a messy painting Pokémon, unlike Mina who is very clearly a painter herself.
Fans have noticed how odd it is that Alola’s resident artist doesn’t use Smeargle while Ilima does. The pink paint smeared across Mina’s clothes isn’t as concentrated as Ilima’s light pink hair, meaning in terms of using the Pokémon Fairy-typing’s signature color, both characters are about equal. But where Ilima has notebooks for writing, Mina has a sketchbook that’s light green, as well as some green paint on her baggy shirt. It isn’t the exact same shade, but it does bear similarities to Smeargle’s own green paint.
Not only is Smeargle a much more fitting partner for Mina than Ilima, but Ilima has another design element better suited for Fairy-type Trainers. His round eyes may seem out of place when compared to the eyes of other characters in Sun and Moon, but they aren’t actually entirely unique to him: the very first Fairy-type specialist, Kalos’ Gym Leader Valerie, has similar shiny eyes to add to her literally fairy-like appearance. The Fairy Tale Girl Trainer class, also from Pokémon X and Y, has a similar appearance to her eyes and also tends to use Fairy-type Pokémon.
Ilima has even more connections to “fairy tales” when considering his position: he’s called the “Prince of the Trainers’ School,” and princes can often be major characters in fairy tales. Sun and Moon aren’t the first games in which a Normal-type Trainer was an important member of the region’s Trainers’ School – in Black 2 and White 2, Cheren is the Normal-type Gym Leader whose Gym doubles as the Trainers’ School. But unlike Ilima, Cheren isn’t called a “prince;” Cheren is instead very strictly a teacher, a much more “normal” profession and not at all connected to fairy tales the way princes can be.
All the small details regarding Ilima seem to point toward him being planned as a Fairy-type Trainer, while Mina’s design focusing on her painting skills leans more toward a Normal-type Pokémon user who would have a Smeargle. Even if it’s merely a coincidence, it’s still a testament to how well-suited Ilima’s design is for a Fairy-type Trainer, and he could have been the series’ first male Fairy specialist. Pokémon’s merchandising tends to market Fairy-related products toward girls, but all types can appeal to anyone. With Ilima as a Fairy-type Trainer, the Pokémon series could have begun to push towards a more gender-neutral presentation for the type earlier. Although this didn’t happen, Sword and Shield would later provide the series with its first male Fairy-type specialist with Bede.
Ilima’s Fairy-type Trial Could Have Been More Challenging In Pokémon Sun & Moon
If Ilima had been a Fairy-type Trainer, there might have been some additional challenge added to the start of Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. Ilima’s type specialty is used for the games’ very first trial, and his trial is different between the game versions. The Normal-type Totem Pokémon Gumshoos is the boss players must defeat in Sun and Ultra Sun, but the Totem Pokémon is Alolan Raticate in Moon and Ultra Moon.
As a regular, pure Normal-type Raticate, this Pokémon would only be weak to the Fighting-type just like its Sun and Ultra Sun counterpart Gumshoos. But Alolan Raticate adds the Dark-type to its usual Normal-typing, which not only doubles its Fighting weakness but also adds weaknesses to both Bug- and Fairy-type. Fighting is already a rather common type to come across in the Alola region because of the almost guaranteed Crabrawler encounters in berry piles. There are also other wild Fighting-types and even an in-game Pokémon trade for a Machop before starting the first trial. Alolan Raticate has additional counters that can be caught before challenging it, including a Pokémon that just happens to evolve into Mina’s own ace Pokémon: Cutiefly.
At Level 10, Cutiefly learns Struggle Bug, which hits both opponents in a double battle, making it a great choice against Alolan Raticate and Alolan Rattata. Both Pokémon will take super effective damage from this attack. If the trial had been Fairy-themed, Cutiefly’s evolution Ribombee could have served as an interesting Totem Pokémon with its own spread damage move and weaknesses that are a little tougher to exploit.
Admittedly, Ribombee has more weaknesses than Alolan Raticate, but none of them are double weaknesses like Alolan Raticate’s Fighting bane. One of them, a weakness to the Steel Pokémon type, isn’t relevant so early into Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon. Ribombee also has more resistances than Alolan Raticate, including a double resistance to the aforementioned common Fighting-type. Swapping Ilima’s and Mina’s type specialties also means the later Normal-type trial could take advantage of the unique properties of the type, including their diverse movepools, instead of simply having a trial with a version difference based on the time of day when the Totem Pokémon evolves.
There’s always the possibility that as a Fairy-type Trainer, Ilima would be the game’s final Trial Captain, with Mina taking his place as the first. But Ilima’s association with the Pokémon Trainers’ School makes it more likely that he would be the first Trial Captain no matter his type since the Alola Trainers’ School is on Melemele Island. Pokémon Sun and Moon is notorious for only having seven trials, while Mina wanders the region with no trial of her own. Her trial in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon has the player revisiting the other islands to challenge the Trial Captains, which feels fitting for a Normal-type trial considering Normal-type Pokémon are known for learning moves of many different types.
