Alder

Alder as seen in Black and White
Alder
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Unova)
Hair color	Red/Orange
Eye color	Black
Relatives	Benga (grandson)
Voiced by	Unknown (2020)
Debut	Pokémon: Black/White Versions

This article is about the Pokémon character. For the character from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, see Characters in Fire Emblem 9 and 10.

Alder is the Pokémon Champion of Unova's Pokémon League as featured in Pokémon: Black and White Versions. He also acted as a supporting character and an extra opponent in Black 2 and White 2, in which he was no longer the champion.

Background

Alder was a powerful trainer living in the Unova region. His most powerful Pokémon was his unspecified starter Pokémon that he described as being "courageous, noble and kind", and together they pursued strength without even knowing what strength really meant. Alder was skilled enough that he was eventually named the champion of Unova's Elite Four. His life reached a turning point when his loyal starter Pokémon died of an illness.

From that point on, Alder realized the epiphany that strength was not something that remained forever, but that the joy one felt from being with Pokémon was what really mattered. He stopped spending time at the Pokémon League, ordered the Elite Four to protect the League, and he then began traveling aimlessly around Unova and other regions in hopes of spreading this message. Alder met many different Pokémon and trainers along the way, including Marshal. Marshal became an apprentice of Alder and a member of Unova's Elite Four, who apparently tried to speak for Alder during his various absences from the League. He was also able to open Brycen's eyes when he was depressed, which inspired him to become a gym leader following the death of his film career. Alder was said to not have any serious Pokémon battles during this timespan.

Black/White

In Black and White, Hilbert/Hilda and Cheren first met Alder at a festival on Route 5 when Elesa was guiding them to the bridge. He encouraged them to stay and have fun. Cheren accused him of goofing off, and Alder was bothered by Cheren's judgemental attitude. Cheren told Alder that his goal as a champion was to become stronger, and Alder tried to tell him the importance of loving Pokémon without trying to force him into his point of view. He then suggested that Hilbert/Hilda and Cheren have a double battle against a pair of preschoolers nearby, one that the two older trainers easily won. Alder then comforted the losers and told them that it was a good battle and that their Pokémon looked like they were having fun. Alder then acknowledged to Cheren that they had different ideas of what a champion should be, but he suggested Cheren think over what he said.

Alder ran into Hilbert/Hilda and Cheren again outside Twist Mountain and witnessed part of their battle. which he described as a fine battle. Cheren was bothered by this due to having lost the battle, and Alder wanted him to accept the compliment "without the stinging remark". Alder asked Cheren again about his goal, which was the same, and Alder was apparently reminded of Marshal. He advised them that what one wants to become is important, but what one wants to do afterwards is even more important. Alder gave HM 03: Surf to both Hilbert/Hilda and Cheren, and he then left after suggesting they do not forget the needs of their Pokémon. Alder went into action after hearing that N of Team Plasma had revived the legendary Dragon-type Pokémon (Zekrom in Black and Reshiram in White). He met with Hilbert/Hilda, Cheren, Bianca, Brycen and Cedric Juniper in the aftermath of that Pokémon's revival.

Alder spoke about the myth and the dragon Pokémon's power, worrying that both of them had the power to destroy Unova. Despite this, Alder saw that searching for the opposing dragon's stone was the only solution, and he left for the Relic Castle as it was the only place he thought it would be. Cheren left with him, as he was starting to understand the true meaning of strength. Relic Castle was filled with Team Plasma members also searching for the stone, and Alder wound up getting ahead of Cheren. Cheren caught up to Alder with Hilbert/Hilda just as Alder was confronting Ghetsis. They had all come to the realization that the stone was not there. N had apparently chosen Hilbert/Hilda as the one to find the other Dragon-type Pokémon and face him. Alder tried to question Ghetsis's plan to take and liberate everyone's Pokémon, and Ghetsis then tried to taunt him about his past. Alder offered to fight for both people and Pokémon, but Ghetsis dismissed him by saying that their king, N, was not interested in him. As they all departed from the area, Alder decided to return to the Pokémon League to await N's challenge, although he was bothered to be doing exactly what Ghetsis wanted.

He then stopped at Nacrene City after Cedric and Professor Juniper discovered an unidentified stone at Lenora's museum was the very stone that they were seeking. Hilbert/Hilda was offered the stone, but Alder first asked the trainer if they really wanted the responsibility of battling N if anything happened to them. Hilbert/Hilda accepted, so Alder understood and urged the trainer to be strong. They then realized that no one really knew how to awaken the Dragon-type Pokémon from the stone, but Lenora pointed out to Alder that there were the Dragon-type experts Drayden and Iris at Opelucid City. Thinking they might be helpful, Alder told Hilbert/Hilda to proceed to Opelucid and waited for them there. Once Hilbert/Hilda arrived, they wound up witnessing the end of one of Ghetsis's speeches. Alder then guided the trainer to Drayden and Iris before departing for the Pokémon League.

N eventually did arrive and defeated the entire Elite Four followed by Alder. Hilbert/Hilda arrived just in time to witness Alder's defeat. This was possibly partially due to Alder not having had to fight at full strength in a long time. N reviewed Alder's past and how he reacted to his Pokémon's death, but he told Alder that he kinda liked that about him. Alder tried to get N to change his mind, but N told him it was too late. At that point, N's Castle rose from the ground behind them. Cheren also caught up with them at this point, and Alder congratulated him for becoming stronger by realizing what he wanted to do. At the same time, he was disappointed that he did not demonstrate the bond between him and his Pokémon in his battle with N.

Alder and Cheren eventually entered N's Castle and caught up to Hilbert/Hilda right after the trainer had defeated N and was being challenged by Ghetsis. After Ghetsis was defeated, Alder asked N if he truly believed Pokémon should be separated, which triggered Ghetsis into speaking harshly about N's life. Cheren believed that it was a waste of time to listen to Ghetsis and that Cheren had a human heart, which Alder agreed with. N admitted his mistakes, but Alder told N that lack of understanding was no reason for people to reject each other, because there were two sides to every argument. Alder and Chere escorted Ghetsis away to presumably the authorities, but the Shadow Triad managed to snatch Ghetsis away from them. Looker later arrived in Unova searching for Ghetsis and the other Six Sages of Team Plasma, and Alder recommended that he seek help from Hilbert/Hilda.

It was only after this that Hilbert/Hilda could challenge the Elite Four and then truly battle Alder as the Pokémon League Champion. Before the battle, Alder told Hilbert/Hilda how grateful he was for their help against N and was sure that N now saw that different people and Pokémon had their own paths to follow. After being defeated by Hilbert/Hilda, Alder claimed to feel a warm wind blow through his heart and then guided Hilbert/Hilda to the computer where he registered the trainer in the Hall of Fame. After beating defeated Alder appeared atop Celestial Tower, where his Pokémon was apparently buried, and he rang the bell there to comfort its spirit. He spoke about his time with that Pokémon and the impact its death had on him, as well as the realizations it brought out in him. Alder urged Hilbert/Hilda to go out and meet as many of the world's trainers and Pokémon as they could.

Pokémon Roster

Like some previous champions (particularly Blue and Cynthia, Alder's team does not have a unifying theme, although half of his Pokémon are of the Bug-type. In battle he uses the following Pokémon:

• Accelgor (not used in World Tournament)
• Bouffalant (not used in World Tournament)
• Druddigon (Black/White)
• Vanilluxe (Black/White)
• Escavalier (not used in World Tournament)
• Volcanaroa
• Conkeldurr (Black 2/White 2)
• Braviary (Black 2/White 2)
• Reuniclus (World Tournament)
• Krookodile (World Tournament)
• Chandelure (World Tournament)

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Alder and his Volcanaroa appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature during limited time periods, starting in November 2020. He has also been seen using Accelgor and Chandelure in battles. He has also made appearances in some of the game's Story Events. In "Champion Time", he was defeated by Gloria in a special exhibition match. In "Shining Heart of Dragons", he was seen spectating Iris's battle with Diantha from a distance. He also played a supporting role in "Father or Foe", where he provided N with support in figuring out his issues with Ghetsis. In the Neo Champion Event "Leaders of a New Era", he was among the champions appointed as judges for the Neo Champion Stadium, but he was apparently appointed primarily act as an adviser for Iris, so he saw no issues helping Calem prepare for the tournament through a training session. He proceeded to help train Calem and brough in Acerola to act as a challenger for him to further train against. For the Champion Stadium's Unova Challenge, which was based on the Elite Four challenge of the respective region, the final opponent would alternate between Alder and Iris.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Alder was first shown in a flashback where it was shown that Trip was inspired to become a Pokémon trainer after a friendly encounter with him. He eventually appeared during the present in an episode where both Ash and Trip met him at Route 5 and suggested fighting them both. Trip only wounded a single match and had Ash fight Alder first, but the battle was inconclusive due to Alder sleeping through it, which caused Trip to leave due to disappointment. However, Alder was able to stop a rampaging Gigalith with his bare hands and calmed it by removing a nail from its foot. Later on, Alder acted as one of the hosts for the Pokémon Tournament Junior Cup and the final opponent for its eventual champion, Trip. He was able to defeat Trip with his Bouffalant. During the Pokémon Journeys series, Iris had become Unova's new champion, and Alder himself made a cameo appearance watching Iris and Cynthia's battle during the Masters Eight Tournament on television alongside other Unovan trainers.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Alder appeared during the Black/White arc. He was initially shown in a chapter where he met with Marshal at Nimbasa City and battled him at the Battle Subway. Alder and Marshal were said to battle whenever they met, regardless of the location. Alder was also shown to simply play around with Pokémon most of the time, and even wild Pokémon were drawn in by his kind nature. He was eventually defeated by N and vanished afterwards, leaving matters in the Elite Four's hands. During the Black 2/White 2 arc, Iris had succeeded him as champion, and Alder played a role helping out in the conflict against Team Plasma.
• He appeared in the fourth episode of the Pokémon Evolutions anime miniseries, which depicted his battle with N from Black/White. His Volcanaroa was defeated by N's Zekrom, and he tried to talk to N at the same time in defiance of Team Plasma's ideals.

Trivia

• He is named after the alder, a type of tree, and this also connects to the alder moth, in reference to Volcanaroa. His Japanese name is Adeku, named after a plant that is known to host moth larvae.
• In the Japanese version of Black/White, Alder is distinguished by his speaking in old-fashioned Japanese.
• According to a designer, he was originally designed with a Christ-like image, but they ultimately decided to make him look more like a drifter.
• Alder wears a necklace of six Poké balls and notably seems to have nine Poké balls on his person. According to one interview, he carries that many him simply because he never figured out how to work the PC storage system.
• He is notable as the only champion who is not battled directly after the Elite Four (the first time around) or even as part of the game's main story.
• His Pokémon roster in the Pokémon World Tournament seems to reference the Elite Four, as he has one Pokémon for each of them: Chandelure for Shauntal, Conkeldurr for Marshal, Krookodile for Grimsley and Reuinclus for Caitlin.
• In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, there is a portrait in the homes of both the Diamond and Pearl Clans depicting a man who resembles Adler. He has similar hair and also wears something resembling Alder's Poké Ball necklace, containing six orbs that may or may not be Poké Balls. The figure's significance is unknown, but he is presumably intended to be an ancestor of Alder's.