Alder

Alder (Japanese: アデク Adeku) is the of the Unova region's Pokémon League in .
==In the core series games==
In , Alder appears as the wandering Champion of Unova. The first meets him on , where he is seen with Cheren. The two are discussing Cheren's ambitions and goals as a Trainer—at this point, Cheren is aiming to be the Champion of Unova. Alder appears at several points in the game to help the player put a stop to the plans of Team Plasma, making appearances at Relic Castle and N's Castle.
Uniquely for a Champion, Alder cannot be battled the first time the player challenges the . By the time the player is ready to challenge him, Alder has already been defeated by N. The player must then battle N, putting each other's beliefs on the line to determine the future of Unova.
In the past, Alder's first partner Pokémon died of illness, and in despair over not being able to save it, he began traveling around aimlessly. Before his partner's death, the two of them madly pursued strength, much like Cheren did. The Pokémon's death changed Alder's outlook on life. The identity of this Pokémon is never mentioned in Black and White, but dialogue in reveals that Alder's late partner was a that evolved into .Alder: "Well done! That was an impressive battle. The spirit of my first partner, Larvesta - no, Volcarona - lives on in my current partners, too! I want to add your strength to their experience as well!"
Ghetsis suggests that Alder may not have actually won the title of Champion, instead being requested by the Pokémon League to take the position. It is said that Alder instructed the Elite Four to look after Unova as he traveled around the region.
In , former Opelucid City Gym Leader Iris has become the region's Champion. Alder will again assist the player at various points of the game, and he is based in his hometown of Floccesy Town this time. A woman in the Trainers' School notes that Alder had refused to work at the school because it is the era of young people. After defeating Iris, the player can return to Floccesy Town and accept Alder's request for a . If victorious, the player will be able to battle in the Black Tower/White Treehollow. Alder's grandson Benga is known to train there.
As a former Champion, Alder participates in the Champions Tournament at the Pokémon World Tournament.
===Pokémon===
========
|
|
|
|
|
|
========
=====Floccesy Town=====
|
|
|
|
|
|
=====Pokémon World Tournament=====
Alder uses three of these Pokémon in Single Battles, four in Double and Rotation Battles, and all six in Triple Battles. He will always lead with his signature Pokémon, .
|
|
|
|
|
|
====Deceased====
==In the spin-off games==
===Pokémon Masters EX===
Alder, as a retired , forms a sync pair with in Pokémon Masters EX. Alder became a playable sync pair on November 6, 2020.
|}
==Gallery==
===Sprites===
 	 	 	
Sprite from	Sprite from	Overworld sprite from	VS sprite from
==Quotes==
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
====Pokémon the Series: Black & White====
Alder debuted in Ash and Trip's Third Battle!, during a flashback of Trip's childhood. He was battling a in the middle of a town with his as Trip watched in awe. After the ended, the approached the child and allowed him to pet and feed Bouffalant. He asked Trip what his goal was, and Trip replied that it was to be Champion. Impressed, Alder inspired Trip to train hard when he got older, and promised that he would be waiting to challenge Trip someday. Trip sealed the promise with a confident handshake.
Alder physically debuted in Ash Versus the Champion!. and Trip met him on , and upon meeting them, he referred to them as Ashton (Japanese: サンタロ Santaro) and Tristan (Japanese: シュータロ Shootaro), respectively. He wished to battle both of them in a two-on-one battle, but Trip refused to battle alongside Ash, so Alder settled for battling them one at a time. Trip allowed Ash to go first, thinking that being quickly defeated by the Champion would do him good.
During the battle, Alder just stood calmly and allowed his Bouffalant to take multiple attacks from Ash's Pikachu. Ash and then realized Alder was actually sleeping while standing up. Trip woke Alder, while Bouffalant expressed its embarrassment and disappointment in its Trainer. After explaining why he was asleep, Alder commanded Bouffalant to use , but Bouffalant was still angry with him and slow to respond. In order to persuade Bouffalant to quit wasting time and attack, Alder slapped its rump, sending it charging. Bouffalant stampeded towards Pikachu, but it stopped quickly, made a U-turn, and attacked Alder instead.
Afterwards, much to Trip's disappointment, and despite his Bouffalant still being fit to battle, Alder conceded defeat to Ash and decided he was finished battling for the day. Trip then questioned Alder about the advice he was given as a child. Alder seemed to be confused by this and then contradicted the original advice he gave to Trip by saying becoming the strongest was not the most important part of battling. Trip immediately left in anger, telling Ash he would continue on the path he believed in.
Later, Alder stopped a that was on a rampage with his bare hands. Afterwards, he removed a nail from its foot that had been causing it pain and fed it some minerals, making it so thankful that it even saved Officer Jenny from being crushed under a falling monument.
He appeared in a flashback in Climbing the Tower of Success!.
In Jostling for the Junior Cup!, Alder was one of the hosts of the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup alongside Freddy O'Martian. The winner of the tournament would be given the opportunity to have a battle with him. In Ash, Iris, and Trip: Then There Were Three!, Trip won the tournament by defeating Ash, and as such, he got the right the battle Alder. In their battle, although Trip's Serperior was shown to be strong, it was no match to . Then, after talking to Trip and petting his Serperior, he was shown along with , Caitlin, and Freddy O'Martian, talking to the competitors and saying their goodbyes.
He made a cameo appearance in the ending credits of Genesect and the Legend Awakened.
====Pokémon Journeys: The Series====
In Thrash of the Titans!, was confirmed to be the current Champion of the Unova League, indicating that Alder no longer holds the title.
In The Fiery Road to Mastership!, Alder was shown watching Iris's Masters Eight Tournament match against Cynthia. During said match, Iris mentioned her having finished the battle that made her Champion, likely indicating she defeated Alder to earn her title.
====Character====
Characterized as strong and wise, Alder is respected as the Unova League . He pays particular attention to children, hoping to inspire them to become s. Alder is also reckless, often leaping into action to save the day like in Ash Versus the Champion!, where he approached a rampaging .
In his spare time, Alder is typically carefree and relaxed. This extends to the point where he has a habit of sleeping and forgetting things. Much like , he often flirts with women such as Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and .
====Pokémon====
This listing is of Alder's known in :
====Pokémon League====
Alder has competed in the following Pokémon League Conferences:
* Unova League - Champion (prior to In the Shadow of Zekrom! until sometime before Thrash of the Titans!)
====Voice actors====
===Pokémon Evolutions===
Alder appeared in a flashback in The Plan, where he and his battled N and his . While trying to talk N out of his brainwashing by Ghetsis, he briefly got the upper hand in battle, but eventually lost, begging N not to separate people and Pokémon.
====Pokémon====
====Voice actors====
===GOTCHA!===
Alder briefly appeared in GOTCHA!.
==In the manga==
===Pokémon Adventures===
==========
Alder debuted in A Nickname for Tepig, where he was featured in 's imagination when he voiced his desired to conquer the .
He physically debuted in Gigi's Choice, where he met Marshal at Nimbasa City. They went to meet the Mayor of Nimbasa City and battled to test the newly-created Battle Subway while waiting for him to arrive. Annoyed the mayor hadn't come even after their battle was finished, Alder went to take a break and play with the wild Pokémon outside. After returning a day later, Alder found out the mayor arrived while he was away, much to his annoyance. When and mocked him for slacking off, Alder claimed he was actually on a spiritual journey. 
In The Lesson Ends Here, Alder and Marshal walked together on , the latter requesting that Alder reconsider stepping down from the position of Pokémon League Champion. They were interrupted by the King of Team Plasma, , who insulted the League and challenged Alder to a Double Battle. Despite Alder's strength, he was eventually defeated by N, who didn't need to use the power of the Legendary Pokémon .
After his defeat, Alder vanished and left the Elite Four to handle the Pokémon League. Team Plasma used N's victory to justify their goal, increasing the amount of released Pokémon and lowering the number of Pokémon League spectators.
==========
At some point, Iris succeeded Alder as Unova Champion.
In Deduction Time, Alder, Iris and Gorm worked together to break out of the White Treehollow, which had been frozen solid by Team Plasma's flying ship, the Plasma Frigate. The three then set off to join Marlon and launch a counterattack against Team Plasma.
In The Final Battle, and N encountered Alder on the Plasma Frigate. Alder revealed that he and had been battling Ghetsis, but the latter managed to escape and hide himself. N managed to find Ghetsis, but an explosion tore the Plasma Frigate apart, sending everyone flying. Alder and the others escaped to safety on Black's , but the Plasma Frigate ended up crashing into the abandoned N's Castle, setting the building on fire and putting the liberated Pokémon Team Plasma left behind in danger. With a combination of , , and , Black and the others successfully doused the flames.
In Epilogue, Alder attended the Aspertia City Trainers' School graduation ceremony, where he watched Benga and his classmates graduate.
====Pokémon====
In Epilogue, it was revealed that Alder had one other Pokémon that died due to illness.
===Pocket Monsters BW===
Alder appeared in .
===Pocket Monsters BW: The Heroes of Fire and Thunder===
Alder appears in Pocket Monsters BW: The Heroes of Fire and Thunder. He is a man with multiple personalities and describes himself as a burning man. He first appears in shadow at the Pokémon League destroyed by , as N declares that he is next, having defeated all of the members of the Elite Four. On a news broadcast some time later about N's conquest of Unova, he is reported missing. Calling himself an old man passing by, he throws Shin into a dump to ask him to look for a very important thing with a (Japanese: ア) written on it that he has lost.
He declares that Shin cannot beat N and then abandons Shin to watch him battle from a nearby rooftop. While Shin is battling, he randomly finds a Hyper Potion with a written on it hidden in his 's tail, which Alder claims is his present to Shin. After the battle ends, Shin asks who he is, and he reveals he is Champion of Unova, that he has known who Shin is all along, and that Shin should have the legendary Pokémon, .
He leads Shin to the Relic Castle in the Desert Resort where he says the Light Stone lies, inside showing him ancient drawings depicting the Hero and his Original Pokémon, and the war between the two brothers. Upon reaching the Light Stone, he attacks Shin with his and claims it for himself, saying that he left the Elite Four behind as decoys to take Reshiram for himself, so that he alone will be able to stay in Unova once N cleanses it of people.
Challenging Shin that if he can lay a single finger on the Light Stone he will give it to him, he begins a harsh battle against Shin with his flawless Volcarona. After defeating Shin and trapping him in a cage of fire, he says that Alder is weak for keeping Reshiram all to himself, and breaks through Volcarona's fire cage to grab the Light Stone.
Alder's personality reverts to normal and he says that it was all a trial suggested by N to get the Light Stone to accept him as a hero, and as Shin flies away on Reshiram, Alder suggests that once everything is over they should battle again, claiming that he won't lose again, as he bids farewell to the Hero of Fire.
====Pokémon====
==Trivia==
* In the Japanese version of , Alder speaks in old-fashioned Japanese.
* Alder is the only regional who is not battled during the main story. This is due to Team Plasma's activities, which are preventing the battle the would have with Alder after beating the Elite Four for the first time.
* While he does not state that he specializes in any specific type, three of his six Pokémon are in the teams he uses outside of the Pokémon World Tournament.
* Alder is the only Champion to exclusively use Pokémon that were introduced in the same generation as himself in all of his in-game appearances.
* In the Pokémon World Tournament, Alder uses one Pokémon representing each of the : a for Shauntal, a for Grimsley, a for Caitlin, and a for Marshal.
* Alder shares his battle theme with three other characters (Ingo, Emmet, and Benga), more than any other Champion.
* In , due to an oversight, if the player talks to Alder after battling Hugh in Floccesy Ranch and before finding the lost , he will say that the player needs to give Hugh their Town Map, which the player already did.
* The reason Alder carries more than six s with him is because, according to an interview with Yusuke Ohmura and Ken Sugimori in a 2010 article of the Japanese magazine "Nintendo Dream", he never figured out how to operate the Pokémon Storage System.
* In the , Alder is the only Champion, current or former, who has never lost an onscreen .
* , Alder's signature Pokémon in the games, has not been confirmed to be a part of his team in the animated series, although it has appeared in the Pokémon Evolutions miniseries.
* Alder's is the only Pokémon in to have used the move .
* In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a portrait of a man who resembles Alder is found within houses at both the Diamond Settlement and Pearl Settlement. The relationship between the two, if any, is unknown.
* In , reveals that Alder is the oldest Unovan Champion in history.Marshal: "I have a master. Alder is his name. He is the oldest Champion in Unovan history, and he represents what I aim to achieve!"
==Names==
Language 	Name 	Origin
Japanese 	アデク Adeku 	From アデク adeku (), a host plant to various species of moth larvae
English, Brazilian Portuguese	Alder 	From , , and
German 	Lauro 	From the genus , possibly a reference to the
Spanish 	Mirto 	From mirto (), possibly a reference to the myrtle wreath or the that contains the boxleaf eugenia
French 	Goyah 	From goyavier ()
Italian 	Nardo 	From nardo ()
Korean 	노간주 No Ganju 	From 노간주나무 noganjunamu () and 노 (老) no (elder)
Chinese () 	阿戴克 Ādàikè 	Transcription of his Japanese name
Chinese () 	阿戴克 Ádaaihāk 	Transcription of his Japanese name
Thai 	อาเดคุ Adeku 	Transcription of his Japanese name
Vietnamese 	Adeku 	Transcription of his Japanese name
==References==
==Related articles==
* Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
Category:Champions
Category:Black and White characters
Category:Black 2 and White 2 characters
Category:Animation characters
Category:Pokémon Adventures characters
Category:Pocket Monsters BW characters
Category:Pokémon Evolutions characters
Category:Manga characters
de:Lauro
es:Mirto
fr:Goyah
it:Nardo
ja:アデク
zh:阿戴克