Alain (Pokemon)

Alain is a recurring character who appeared in the Pokemon anime. He is a Pokemon Trainer seeking to defeat all Mega-Evolved Pokemon using his Mega Charizard X. He initially appears as the main character of the Mega Evolution Specials side-series, working under the instruction of Lysandre (Jason Douglas/Hiroki Tochi) to collect Mega Evolution energy. He later appears in the XY & Z arc of Pokemon the Series: XY as a rival to Ash (Yuri Lowenthal/Rica Matsumoto).

In Pokemon Journeys: The Series, he was revealed to have become one of the eight best Trainers in the world within the World Coronation Series. Alain was also revealed to have become a Mega Stone researcher.

In the past, Alain was Professor Sycamore (Jason Spisak/Hiroshi Tsuchida), and it was Sycamore who initially inspired him to begin seeking Mega Stones in order to solve the mysteries of Mega Evolution. At this time, Alain already owned a Charmander. Some time after leaving Professor Sycamore's laboratory, Charmander evolves. After reporting to Professor Sycamore, he came to a nearby ruin in search of Ampharosite, but discovered that the raw Mega Stone had been taken by Lysandre (Jason Douglas/Hiroki Tochi). Alain battled Lysandre for onwership of the stone, but his Charmeleon was soundily defeated by Lysandre's Pyroar.

Alain was then invited to Lysandre Labs, where Lysandre revealed his intention to harness the energy Pokemon produce when they Mega Evolve, for peaceful resources. He also claimed that if Professor Sycamore were to publish the secrets of Mega Evolution, mankind would find a way to use those secrets to nefarious ends, and said that he would not allow the Professor's name to be tarnished. Asking if Alain would assist him, Lysandre revealed a metal attache case with a Mega Ring and Charizardite X. Believing he could protect the Professor this way, Alain accepted Lysandre's proposal.

Some time prior to **Mega Evolution Special I**, Charmeleon evolved into a Charizard. Alain was first seen in **Mega Evolution Special I** battling a Trainer named Astrid, and defeated her Mega Absol. The battle was secretly watched by Mairin, a beginning Trainer who was sent out on a journey by Professor Sycamore. Mairin was so impressed with his strength that she began following him. From Mairin, Alain learned of a Trainer who lept off of Prism Tower to save a Pokemon. Next, Alain received a call on his Holo Caster from a mysterious person, who directed him to a location with ruins to retrieve a Mega Stone. After getting the Mega Stone, Alain was confronted by a Trainer named Remo who was also looking for the Mega Stone. Remo challenged him with a Mega Garchomp, but Alain won the battle and kept the Mega Stone.

Some time prior to **Mega Evolution Special I**, Charmeleon evolved into a Charizard. Alain was first seen in **Mega Evolution Special I** battling a Trainer named Astrid, and defeated her Mega Absol. The battle was secretly watched by Mairin, a beginning Trainer who was sent out on a journey by Professor Sycamore. Mairin was so impressed with his strength that she began following him. From Mairin, Alain learned of a Trainer who lept off of Prism Tower to save a Pokemon. Next, Alain received a call on his Holo Caster from a mysterious person, who directed him to a location with ruins to retrieve a Mega Stone. After getting the Mega Stone, Alain was confronted by a Trainer named Remo who was also looking for the Mega Stone. Remo challenged him with a Mega Garchomp, but Alain won the battle and kept the Mega Stone.

Afterwards, he helped Mairin catch a Flabebe. He then traveled with her to a restaurant where Kalos Elite Four member Siebold (Sean Chiplock/Hiroyuki Yoshino) was working as a chef and challenged him to a battle. Charizard put up a good fight against Siebold's Blastoise, but when Blastoise Mega Evolved, it overwhelmed Charizard using a Mega Launcher-boosted **Dragon Pulse**. Accepting his defeat, Alain continued his journey to battle more Mega Evolved Pokemon and complete more assignments from Lysandre, now with Mairin as a traveling partner.

In **Mega Evolution Special II**, he traveled to Hoenn with Mairin, where he met Steven (Kevin James/Kenichi Suzumura). Noticing each other's Key Stones, the two Trainers recognized each other as Trainers with Mega Pokemon. Accepting Alain's challenge, Steven and his Shiny Mega Metagross fought a fierce battle with Charizard before the battle was interrupted by Lysandre.

Deciding to cooperate with the Hoenn Champion, Alain and his company traveled to their destination, a small temple with two pillars in the center. When Alain and Steven held their Key Stones to the monument, a staircase of light appeared to lead them further within the ancient ruin. There, they discovered a similar mechanism that summoned a glowing Giant Rock from underneath the ruin. After Lysandre and his research team began analyzing the giant stone, a Rayquaza appeared from the sky, Mega Evolved into Mega Rayquaza, and started wreaking havoc on the surrounding area. Alain, Steven, and their Mega Pokemon partners tried to fend off the Legendary Pokemon, but were overwhelmed. After an attack from Rayquaza's **Draco Meteor**, the Giant Rock was revealed to have disappeared, causing Rayquaza to leave. Alain, Mairin and Steven then proceeded to Rustboro City on Lysandre's orders as energy waves, believed to be the Giant Rock's, were detected near the city's coast.

In **Mega Evolution Special III**, after landing at Devon Corporation via helicopter with Mairin, Alain received confirmation from Steven and Lysandre that Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre were set to battle each other near Rustboro City to claim the Giant Rock's energy, putting the entire world at risk. Alain and Steven volunteered to fly to the point where the super-ancient Pokemon would meet to analyze the situation. Despite Mairin's attempts to make Alain stay, he refused, saying he had to keep his promise to Lysandre to become the strongest. As Mairin continued to press him, Alain began to lash out at her, saying she knew nothing about his goals. After calming down, Alain walked away from Mairin, telling her to go back to Kalos.

On Steven's aircraft, Alain and the Champion approached a large energy reading that Devon Corp. staff and Lysandre confirm to be the Giant Rock. The two then witnessed Primal Kyogre surface, who began engaging Primal Groudon. After the Primal Pokemon exchanged blows, Alain received private orders from Lysandre to protect the Giant Rock at all costs until it fully materialized. Alain then opened the aircraft's door and sent out Charizard, and triggered its Mega Evolution. Following Alain's lead, Steven and Metagross followed suit, volunteering to attack Kyogre. While Charizard was initially able to stop Groudon from reaching the Giant Rock, it was eventually struck by Precipice Blades, causing it to fall from the sky to a glacier created by Kyogre's **Ice Beam**.

Alain immediately rappelled from the aircraft onto the glacier, and rushed to Charizard's side, digging it out from chunks of ice. Noticing its tail flame dying, Alain recalled Charizard to rest. Alain was then blown back from an explosion caused by Groudon and Kyogre's battle. Thanks to Steven's order to descend the aircraft, Mairin and Chespie, who had stowed away, were able to exit the aircraft's rear and help Alain. As Groudon's **Solar Beam** caused debris to fly towards the three, Steven's Metagross dove in front to guard the three with **Protect**. While Metagross continued to fend off Groudon and Kyogre, Mairin brought an unconscious Alain to shelter. Alain then woke up to witness Mega Rayquaza return and single-handedly defeat Groudon and Kyogre. A submarine sent by Lysandre then surfaced and proceeded to take in the Giant Rock by blinding Rayquaza with flash missiles. Lysandre deemed the mission a success, and Rayquaza retreated. With the skies cleared, Alain approached Mairin and thanked her.

However, back at the Devon Corporation headquarters, Mairin was told by Steven that Alain returned to Kalos without her, as staying with him would put her in danger. Alain was shown then to be back at Lysandre Labs, where Lysandre thanked him for his help. While Lysandre told Alain he had earned a rest, Alain insisted on continuing his training with Charizard, recalling how they were defeated by the super-ancient Pokemon of Hoenn. He was last seen with Charizard, battling a nameless Trainer and his Mega Tyranitar under Lysandre's supervision.

In **Mega Evolution Special IV**, Alain fought ten Trainers with Mega Evolved Pokemon in a row under the condition that he had to return his Mega Stone and Mega Ring to Lysandre had he lost to one of the Trainers. Despite not being able to rest between battles, Alain was able to defeat the first nine Trainers. During the middle of the challenge, he was reunited with Mairin again, but he still refused to let her travel with him. As she continued to press him, Alain lashed out at Mairin, telling her he couldn't get stronger with her around, greatly upsetting her. After an upset Mairin had walked away and told Chespie she wanted to be alone, Chespie walked in on an experiment which subsequently overloaded, exposing Chespie to near-fatal levels of the energy produced as part of the experiment and causing it to fall into a coma.

Later, Alain fought Malva (Kira Buckland/Akeno Watanabe) of the Elite Four as the final Trainer. Alain pitted his Charizard against Malva's Mega Houndoom and after a hard-fought battle, he was able to defeat her. After the battle, he went to see Mairin from behind a corner. Upon finding out about Chespie and hearing a broken, sobbing Mairin begging Lysandre to assure her that Chespie would wake up, he started to blame himself. Believing that the Mega Evolution system would restore Chespie's health, Alain set out to complete it in order to bring back the cheerful Mairin he knew. After leaving, a Trainer with a Mega Banette stopped him and they had a battle.

Alain made his main series debut during a flashback in **Garchomp's Mega Bond!**, where he was revealed to have found a wild Gible that eventually became Professor Sycamore's partner Pokemon, Garchomp.

Alain made his physical main series debut in **From A to Z!**, where he was briefly seen walking past Ash and his friends.

In **A Meeting of Two Journeys!**, while passing by Ash's battle with Sawyer, Alain took notice of Ash's Greninja's unique transformation and was intrigued by it. The next day, he saved Ash's Pikachu from Team Rocket and introduced himself to Ash and his friends. He then requested to battle Ash's Greninja, to which Ash agreed. Alain held the upper hand against Ash and Greninja with his Charizard, which he eventually Mega Evolved as he wanted to draw out Greninja's full power. Once Greninja did transform, Alain was surprised to discover it wasn't a Mega Evolution, as his Mega Ring didn't respond. Ash-Greninja managed to battle Charizard on more even grounds, but was still defeated. Afterwards, Alain and Ash introduced themselves, just before he thanked Ash for the battle and left.

In **An Explosive Operation!**, he was sent by Lysandre to help Aliana (Kira Buckland/Rinko Natsuhi) and Mable (TBD/Sayuri Hara) in their mission to capture Z2 when they were having a hard time. Alain and Charizard were an even match for the Zygarde and distracted it long enough for Team Flare to use their specialized weapons. After they captured Z2, Aliana and Mable recognized him as working for Lysandre.

In **The Synchronicity Test!**, Alain noticed Ash and Clemont (Michael Liscio Jr./Yuki Kaji) battling, during his visit to the Pokemon Center. After reuniting with the group, he had a rematch against Ash. First, he battled his Noivern, using his newly revealed Metang. After a close battle, Alain's Metang won after a decisive clash between its **Metal Claw** and Noivern's **Acrobatics**. Afterwards, Alain agreed for him and Charizard to have a rematch against Ash's Greninja. At first, the battle played out very similar to their previous one, but after Charizard Mega Evolved, Greninja showed its improvement by started getting a few hits in. When Charizard retaliated, Greninja transformed into Ash-Greninja and proved itself Charizard's equal, making Alain feel excited to face such a strong opponent. In the closing stages of the battle, Greninja managed to land a power **Cut** attack which smashed Charizard onto the ground, to Alain's surprise.

Before the battle could be finished, however, Ash collapsed from exhaustion, much to Alain's concern. Alain remained with the group until Ash recovered, after which he once more thanked Ash for a good battle. He was then asked by Ash if he was planning on entering the Kalos League, and when he said that he was not, Ash questioned as to why, since there would be plenty of strong opponents to battle against. To this, Alain commented that it would certainly be interesting, and then departed. Later on, Alain had a brief video chat with a Team Flare Grunt and was glad to see that Mairin was doing fine. He would afterwards reminisce on his time working with Sycamore alongside Charizard before reiterating his desire to get stronger and protect those that he cares most for.

The conversation with Ash had apparently inspired Alain to enter the Kalos League and collect Badges. He was seen battling for his final Kalos Badge in the introduction to **Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel**, where he was shown battling Korrina's (Stephanie Morganstern/Wakana Kingyo) Mega Lucario with his Mega Charizard X. The result of that battle was shown at the end of **A Diamond in the Rough!**, where he defeated her and earned himself the **Rumble Badge**, fulfilling his requirement for entry into the Kalos League. When asked by Korrina if he was going to enter the League, he confirmed, saying that he was planning on entering in order to battle Ash, whom he did not mention by name to her.

In **A League of His Own!**, Alain entered the Lumiose Conference. During the opening ceremony, Alain reunited with Sycamore, who was hosting the tournament together with Diantha (Tabitha St. Germain/Sayaka Ohara R.I.P. Lynne Thigpen), but Alain refused to talk with his former mentor. He also met up with Ash, and explained that he entered the tournament to battle him again and told him to keep advancing. The next day, he battled Trevor, with both Trainers using their Mega Charizard. Alain, however, easily won, defeating all three of Trevor's Pokemon without being seriously pressured in battle, and advanced to the second round.

In the next episode, it was revealed that Alain had won his second round, third round, and quarterfinal matches, qualifying him for the semi-finals. Following the conclusion of the fourth quarterfinal battle between Sawyer and Tierno, it was revealed he would once again face Remo for a spot in the finals. His rematch with Remo was seen in the following episode. Using only his Charizard and his Metagross, he was able to easily defeat Remo and qualify for the finals. According to Clemont, Alain had up until this point only used these two Pokemon in the entire tournament. Alain had a cold, serious demeanor throughout the battle, which worried Professor Sycamore. Afterwards, Alain observed the battle between Ash and Sawyer and continued to do so in the following episode, even showing a smile after Ash was named as the victor of the battle.

In **Kalos League Passion with a Certain Flare!**, he was seen training for his upcoming battle against Ash with his Charizard, which Malva interrupted. She expressed her congratulations at Alain being able to make it to the finals so easily, adding that winning in the finals should be easy for someone like him. Alain replied by telling her to go away so that he could focus on training for his match. Malva shrugged off his comment, saying that since Alain's goal was to become the strongest, entering and winning the Kalos League was common sense. Alain replied by telling her that being the strongest didn't matter to him for his battle, saying that he just wanted to battle Ash. Malva commented that she thought Ash must be happy that Alain was being so mindful about him, with Alain asking what she was insinuating, adding that he was suspicious about her "true colors". Malva merely commented on how Alain was nearly finished gathering the remaining amount of Mega Evolution energy, asking him what he would do after Chespie had recovered, to which Alain replied that it was none of her business.

Later that night, he was seen training with Charizard, expressing on how eager he was to battle Ash and how close they were to meeting the quota for the needed Mega Evolution energy. He was then approached by Professor Sycamore, who despite the awkwardness of their meeting, expressed that there were many things that he had wished to talk about with Alain, but that it was hard for him to remain collected while doing so. Alain questioned if Sycamore was mad at him for not coming back to the lab, which Sycamore denied, saying that he had heard about Alain's work with Lysandre. Alain admitted that he didn't want to expose his former mentor to any possible danger, telling the Professor about his goal to gather the power produced by Mega Evolution, but that there were also many people who would seek to twist that power for evil purposes, with Sycamore asking Alain if he backed away from him for his own safety, to which Alain confirmed. Alain told his former mentor that he couldn't turn back, not while there were even more things that he had lost compared to when he first started his journey, and until he could get those lost things back, he said that he could only continue to become even more powerful. Sycamore, smiling in understanding, told his former assistant to do as he wished. The next day, Alain was seen entering the battlefield for his final battle with Ash.

In **Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted!** and **Down to the Fiery Finish!**, Alain faced Ash in the final round of the Lumiose Conference for a Full Battle. Alain and Ash started a back and forth battle that eventually came down to Alain's Charizard against Ash's Greninja. Charizard Mega Evolved and Greninja transformed into Ash-Greninja, but in the end, Charizard emerged victorious, making Alain the winner of the Lumiose Conference. During the closing ceremony, after Diantha had handed Alain the championship trophy, the Kalos League stadium was attacked by massive roots unleashed by Z2, which Team Flare had placed under their control.

In the following episode, he and Ash made their way through the root-infested Kalos League stadium in order to find Mairin. After meeting with Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie outside, and seeing Z2 on top of Prism Tower, he and Ash went to find Mairin. After finding her, the two were ambushed by Celosia (TBD/Karin Nanami) and some Team Flare Grunts, who informed Alain that Lysandre had ordered Ash to be captured and brought to him. Despite Ash trying to pull him away, Alain resisted, and allowed Team Flare to capture an unconscious Ash, along with all of his Pokemon. Alain was then transported via helicopter to Prism Tower, where he angrily questioned Xerosic (Russell Brand/Tsuguo Mogami) as to why Team Flare needed Ash. He then went to the top of the tower, where he asked Lysandre what he was doing, and why he was destroying Kalos if he wanted to protect it. Lysandre revealed his true goal of returning Kalos to a beautiful state, and his belief that in order to do so, Kalos needed to be destroyed and rebuilt from scratch. Alain was then seen visibly frustrated and shocked when he witnessed Ash and all of his Pokemon bound in midair. When Ash and Pikachu regained consciousness he made no movement when Ash asked him what was going on.

Upon hearing about Lysandre's true motivation for gathering Mega Evolution energy in the next episode, Alain collapsed in anger and frustration towards himself for being used by Lysandre for his scheme, no longer knowing what he had been fighting for all that time. He then watched in horror as Lysandre attempted to control Ash and Greninja with Mega Evolution Energy so he could be in control of their Bond Phenomenon power. Luckily, the two were able to trigger the transformation on their own and break free of their confinement. Alain then grabbed Ash when he was about to collapse from using his energy, as well as thanking him for the words he said that brought him into his senses. He then turned against Lysandre and freed Ash's other Pokemon. The two then began a battle against Lysandre's Pyroar and Mega Gyarados, and thanks to the efforts of Ash's Hawlucha, Noivern, and Pikachu, they were able to knock out Pyroar.

Continuing their battle, Lysandre's Mega Gyarados proved unexpectedly powerful as it was able to defeat all of Ash's Pokemon except for his Pikachu and Greninja. Alain and Ash were eventually assisted by Malva. Alongside Malva, Alain was impressed by the dedication and wisdom Ash displayed when he lectured Lysandre on why the current world is worth fighting for. The three were finally able to defeat Lysandre in the next episode, but left in shock when Lysandre appeared to commit suicide by stepping off Prism Tower. After learning the Giant Rock had absorbed Chespie and was heading to Anistar City's Sundial, Alain and company met up with Clemont, Bonnie, and Blaziken Mask (George Newbern/Kensuke Sato) and headed towards the Giant Rock by helicopter. Upon reaching the creature, Alain, along with everyone else, began fighting the creature and were eventually aided by Diantha and the Gym Leaders of Kalos as well.

In the following episode, Alain and Ash were able to reach the Giant Rock's core, where Alain helped rescue Chespie, taking out the creature. After Lysandre returned and controlled the Giant Rock, Alain used his Charizard to continue fighting and was able to destroy Lysandre's control device, allowing Squishy and Z2 to destroy the Giant Rock and stop Lysandre's wicked plan. Relieved to see that Chespie finally awoke from its coma, Alain apologized to Mairin for all he did and asked for her forgiveness, but Mairin told him that as long as he was safe, then everything was alright.

He reappeared in **Battling With a Clean Slate!**, where Mairin threw a party for his return at Professor Sycamore's lab. He listened as Ash revealed his intent to return home to Pallet Town, later admitting to Ash that he was not sure of what he wanted to do now that everything he wanted to do had been accomplished. Feeling depressed and unsure, Alain said that despite not knowing Lysandre's plot, he still felt that he needed to atone for his mistakes. Ash suggested that they have another battle someday, as battling always helped him to find the answers to questions that he had. Although Alain was hesitant since Ash had already done so much for him, he agreed noting to himself that in every way that was important Ash was his superior.

However, their conversation was interrupted when Team Rocket started attacking the lab in order to steal Pikachu. Using Charizard and Greninja, Ash and Alain successfully rescued Pikachu, and then sent Team Rocket blasting off with Serena and Clemont's assistance. Later on, he and the others received medals from Sycamore for their efforts against Team Flare, before posing for a group photograph and watching the reopening of Prism Tower that night. Professor Sycamore also asked Alain if he would like to return to his post as research assistant and Alain happily agreed. Alain reappeared in the next episode, where he and Mairin came to watch Serena's performance. He was hesitant when Mairin and Chespie dragged him to dance with her, but with Professor Sycamore's encouragement, he eventually agreed, although still feeling awkward.

Alain made one more appearance in **Till We Compete Again!**, where he, Mairin, and Professor Sycamore visited Ash and his friends before they would leave. During their conversation, Alain revealed that he and Mairin were now going to journey throughout Kalos to hunt down Key Stones and Mega Stones, due to the Anistar Sundial now providing locations to Mega Stones throughout the region. He also informed Ash that he had discarded his Mega Stone and Key Stone because he received them from Lysandre, and that he wanted to find them on his own and start from zero just like Ash. Alain and Ash then said goodbye to each other and promised to battle again one day. Alain was later seen talking with Sycamore via a video call alongside Mairin in Frost Cavern, giving him an update on their journey.

Alain made a cameo appearance in a flashback of the Lumiose Conference in **Catching the Aura of Fate!**.

In **Aim For The Eight!**, Alain was revealed to be in the Master Class of the World Coronation Series, being the only non-Champion member of the season's final Masters Eight.

In **Curtain Up! Fight the Fights!**, Alain participated in the Masters Eight Tournament, along with the rest of the Masters Eight, reuniting with Ash, Diantha, and Steven, and meeting Iris (Eileen Stevens/Aoi Yuki) and the rest of the regional Champions. His opponent was chosen to be Leon (D.C. Douglas/Takahiro Sakurai). Despite putting in his best efforts, Alain was eventually defeated by the Galar Champion, making him the first Trainer to be eliminated from the tournament. In the following episodes, Alain watched the rest of the quarterfinal matches with the other Masters Eight. In **Battling as Hard as Stone!**, after Ash had emerged victorious against Steven, Alain met Goh (Zeno Robinson/Daiki Yamashita) and wished Ash good luck for the remainder of the competition before returning to Kalos.

In JN129, Alain watched Ash's match against Leon alongside Charizard, Mairin, and Professor Sycamore.