Lillie

Lillie
Species	Human
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Green
Age	Around 11
Relatives	Mohn (father) Lusamine (mother) Gladion (brother)
Voiced by	Jennifer Losi (2020)
Debut	Pokémon: Sun/Moon

Lillie is a young girl who was featured as a supporting character in the seventh generation games of the Pokémon series: Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. For most of those games, she acted as the protector of a Cosmog named Nebby. She defied her mother, Lusamine, who was the president of the Aether Foundation and an antagonist of that generation. Lillie was also noted for her aversion to Pokémon battling, although she does eventually become a Pokémon Trainer in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.

Background

Lillie was born to Lusamine and Mohn, and she was their second child after her brother Gladion. The family initially seemed to get along well. In Sun/Moon, Lillie recalled a time when she went out to sing and dance in the rain after seeing how fun it looked in a movie. Lusamine was initially shocked to see her out in the rain and went out to get her, but then she ended up smiling and dancing with her. They both caught colds, but Lusamine let Lillie stay in her big bed with her while they recovered, and she was happy to spend time with her mother. Everything changed when an experiment caused Mohn to disappear into an Ultra Wormhole, leaving behind only his research notes and a weakened Cosmog that had come from the portal.

After Mohn's disappearance, Lusamine's behavior changed dramatically. She became severe and cruel towards her children, and she only seemed to truly value the Pokémon that she considered to be beautiful. She only seemed to value her children when they did exactly as she wanted. Lillie and Gladion both had to dress only in clothes that she picked out. Two years before the events of the seventh generation, Gladion ran away with Type: Null. This made it harder for Lillie to deal with her mother's behavior without her brother around, but she was still able to receive aid from Wicke. Lillie became a friendly but timid young girl, and she disliked Pokémon battles because of the pain that it caused to Pokémon. She forged a bond with the Cosmog that was left behind by the experiment and nicknamed it Nebby.

Ultimately, Lusamine planned to use Nebby in an experiment to open up an Ultra Wormhole. This threatened to strain the Cosmog's powers to a degree that would most likely kill it. Lillie objected to this and rebelled against her mother by running away with Nebby. As depicted in the opening scene of the seventh generation games, Lillie evaded several Aether employees until Nebby activated its power to teleport them away. The two of them ended up on Akala Island in the nearby Alola region, and Nebby was left in a weakened state for some time afterwards due to the strain of using its powers. Lillie wanted to learn more about Cosmog and to find a way to return it to its home, so she went to meet with Professor Burnet, who had been recommended to her by Wicke, who had helped her to plan her escape. Burnet arranged for Lillie to stay in the loft of her husband Kukui's lab on Melemele Island, and she acted as his assistant while both professors worked on investigating Cosmog's origins. Lillie appreciated Burnet's kindness and felt that she was "like a real mother" to her. Over the next three months, she helped Kukui with his research along with Hau. Due to her dislike of Pokémon battles, she usually carried Repels on her to avoid wild Pokémon attacks. She also brought Nebby around with her concealed within a duffel bag in order to keep it a secret and avoid the attention of anyone who could inform her mother. Despite her efforts, Nebby was often eager to explore and would sometimes pop out of her bag.

Three months after arriving at Alola, Lillie first met Elio/Selene at Mahalo Trail. It seemed that Nebby had wanted to visit the nearby Ruins of Conflict and escaped from her bag to go ahead of Lillie. The Cosmog ended up being ambushed by a group of Spearow in the middle of the rickety bridge, and Lillie was helpless in the situation. Elio/Selene showed up and went to protect Nebby, but the bridge broke in the process. Suddenly, Tapu Koko appeared and saved Elio/Selene and Nebby. She also noticed that the deity had left a Sparkling Stone with the trainer. After thanking Elio/Selene for their help, she asked them to escort her and Nebby back to Iki Town, and she also asked them to keep Nebby's existence a secret. Afterwards, she led Elio/Selene to Kukui's laboratory and went on to act as their guide in various areas of Melemele Island. Despite her dislike of battles, she watched Elio/Selene and Hau's battle to support them. It was utlimately decided that she would explore the other islands of Alola at the same time as Elio/Selene to look for more answers about Nebby, who seemed to be drawn to the ruins of each island. They next traveled to Akala Island, where she met with Professor Burnet again and met Olivia. Over the course of their journeys, Lillie slowly started to change her opinion on Pokémon battling due to the way that Elio/Selene and Hau used their Pokémon. She also remained supportive of the trainer's quest and would regularly give them items and/or heal their Pokémon.

Their next destination was Ula'ula Island. There, Lillie was befriended by both Hapu and Acerola, and she did research at the Malie Library, through which she learned more about the myths and Legendary Pokémon of Alola. She stayed with Acerola by the local Aether House (which was run by Acerola rather than anyone working for her mother), but they then got caught up in a series of encounters with Team Skull. After Elio/Selene and Acerola went off after members of Team Skull who had stolen a child's Pokémon, Plumeria led other Team Skull members to get Lillie while they were gone. In order to protect Nebby from using its teleportation power again, Lillie chose to surrender herself to them, and she was brought back to Aether Paradise. There, she was faced with her mother again, who refused to listen to reason. Elio/Selene, Hau and Gladion all came to save them, but none of them were able to prevent Lusamine from using Nebby to open an Ultra Wormhole. Lusamine and Guzma both entered the portal before it closed. Nebby was shown to have survived the process, but it had evolved into an inert form known as Cosmoem. Worried for Nebby, they sought a way to restore it to normal. The key seemed to lay on the next island, Poni Island. Lillie donned new clothing that she had gotten at Malie City, and she referred to her new self as her "Z-powered form".

At Poni Island, Lillie and Elio/Selene met up with Hapu for help, and they watched as Hapu became the island's kahuna. She told them about how to perform a ceremony involving a Legendary Pokémon that could help them to reach Lusamine in Ultra Space, and it required the Sun and Moon Flutes. They already had found one flute (the Moon Flute in Sun/Ultra Sun and the Sun Flute in Moon/Ultra Moon) before leaving the Aether Foundation, and Hapu allowed them to search Exeggutor Island for the other flute. While she joined Elio/Selene in Exeggutor Island in Sun/Moon, she was barred from going there in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon because it was considered too dangerous for someone who was not a Pokémon Trainer, and Mina decided to paint a picture of her while they waited for Elio/Selene to return. Regardless, both flutes were gathered, and they made their way towards the altar. Along the way, they confronted Plumeria, and Lillie told her that she believed that they would save Guzma in addition to Lusamine.

They eventually made their way to Poni Island's Altar (Altar of the Sunne in Sun/Ultra Sun or Altar of the Moone in Moon/Ultra Moon). There, they took part in the ceremony for the Legendary Pokémon, with each of them playing one of the flutes. Lillie played the Moon Flute in Sun/Ultra Sun or the Sun Flute in Moon/Ultra Moon. This brought them into contact with the Legendary Pokémon in an unexpected way, as it caused Nebby to evolve into that Legendary Pokémon: Solgaleo in Sun/Ultra Sun or Lunala in Moon/Ultra Moon.

From there, the story's events differ based on the version.

Sun/Moon

In these games, Lillie was driven by a desire to confront her mother and assert how she felt about the way Lusamine treated her and Nebby. Aftter Nebby evolved, it was able to take Elio/Selene and Lillie into Ultra Space. There, they confronted Lusamine while a Nihilego was latched onto her. Lillie proceeded to tell Lusamine off andtold her that she was terrible. After Elio/Selene defeated Lusamine, the Nihilego left her in a severely weakened state, in which she started to show signs of her old self again, as she seemed surprise to realize that Lillie had truly become beautiful. They brought Lusamine back to the Altar with Nebby's help. Now that Nebby had evolved and become powerful, it was ready to travel with a Pokémon Trainer. As Lillie was not a trainer, she encouraged Elio/Selene and Nebby to work together instead and become family. With that, Lillie went to the Aether Paradise to look after her mother, as the Nihilego's toxins had left her in an unstable condition. As she watched over her, Lillie also scolded her and tried to help her to realize what she had done wrong.

The next time Lillie appeared was during the credits sequence after Elio/Selene became the champion of the Alola region. She attended the festival that was held at Iki Town to celebrate the trainer's victory. She brought Elio/Selene to the Ruins of Conflict in order to see Tapu Koko now that the bridge had repaired. Tapu Koko did appear before them and challenged Elio/Slene to a battle. Afterwards, they returned to the festivities. Along the way, Lillie also reminisced with Elio/Selene about their first meeting and how far they have come, while also considering her next step. She held back from telling Elio/Selene about her plan, however, after they were interrupted by fireworks.

Soon afterwards, Lillie prepared to set off on a boat to the Kanto region. She had two reasons to travel to Kanto. One was to help her mother to recover, by receiving help from another person who was said to have once fused with a Pokémon. Her other goal was to become a Pokémon Trainer and go on her own Pokémon journey in that region. She initially told only Kukui and Burnet, and Burnet was too sad about her departure to see her off. Hau and Elio/Selene ultimately arrived to help see her off, at which point she explained her reasons for leaving. Lillie thanked the trainers for everything they had done, and she promised to return to Alola one day. She also left the two of them with presents, with Elio/Selene receiving an old Poké Doll of hers. With that, she set off to sea.

Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon

Part of the difference in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon was that Lusamine's goal in traveling to Ultra Space was actually to defeat Necrozma before it could menace Alola and the world that it was part of. Lillie was frustrated that her mother was trying to do it all by herself and wanted to help. Right after Nebby evolved, an Ultra Wormhole opened up and ejected Lusamine and Guzma, who had both been defeated by Necrozma. Necrozma then arrived and absorbed Nebby to obtain a stronger form before retreating into Ultra Space. Elio/Selene went off into Ultra Space after it with help from the Ultra Recon Squad and their Legendary Pokémon, while Lillie stayed at the Altar with Lusamine and Gumza. Lillie and Lusamine proceeded to talk out their issues offscreen and reached some kind of an understanding. Elio/Selene soon returned with a liberated Nebby. However, Nebby was weakened by the whole experience, and Lillie brought it back to Aether Paradise to recover.

Lillie could later be found with Nebby by Mahalo Trail at any point after defeating Gladion at Mount Lanakila. There, she decided that Nebby should go with Elio/Selene as one of their Pokémon. This was partly so that Nebby could be near Necrozma, which would lessen Necrozma's suffering. At this point, Elio/Selene could battle and catch Nebby, and Lillie also gave them the Pokémon's matching Z-Stone.

At some point afterwards, Lillie started to collect and train Pokémon of her own. During Episode RR, the Aether Foundation was taken over by Team Rainbow Rocket, who also captured Lusamine. Lillie worked with Elio/Selene in storming Team Rocket's Castle to save her. She mostly played her usual support role, but she also teamed up with Elio/Selene for one Multi Battle against Faba and an Aether employee. Ultimately, Team Rainbow Rocket was defeated, and Lusamine was saved. Afterwards, Lillie could appear as a partner for the Battle Tree.

Pokémon Roster

Throughout the games, the primary Pokémon associated with her is a Cosmog named Nebby, although Lillie does not actually own Nebby. Nebby evolves into a Cosmoem, and its final evolution depends on the version: Solgaleo in Sun and Ultra Sun or Lunala in Moon and Ultra Moon.

In Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, Lillie gains Pokémon of her own after the main story. She uses a Clefairy as a Multi Battle partner at Aether Paradise, and she would use Ribombee and Comfey (with Grassium Z) when acting as a partner at the Battle Tree. Based on these Pokémon, she seems to be developing a Fairy-type specialty.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Lillie and Clefairy appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature after being added to the game in September 2020. There have also been three different varients of Lillie with different outfits and Pokémon which have been made available through the Sync Pair scout during limited time periods: the New Year's 2021 variant which was paired with Ribombee and first available in January 2021, the Anniversary 2021 varient that was paired with Lunala and first available at the end of August 2021, and a Special Costume varient that was partnered with an Antique Forme Polteageist and first available at the end of March 2022. The characters in this game follow the Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon version of events.

Lillie was featured with Lusamine and Gladion in the "Family Ties" Story Event, in which she signed the three of them up for a family battle competition so that they could learn to work together as a family. They ended up having difficulties which caused Lusamine to try leaving the team due to the strife she caused, but Lillie called her selfish for that because the point of this was supposed to be for all three of them to battle together. They were ultimately able to work together to defeat the team of Norman, Brendan and Wally. Lillie later appeared with her New Year's attire in the "Season's Greetings" Story Event, where she worked with Lance to deliver New Year cards among the people of Pasio. Her anniversary varient appeared in the "Hearts United" Story Event, where she chose to battle Professor Kukui during the Unity Gala as a way of thanking him, and Gladion came to see her as a rival. In the Story Event "The Light Devourer", Lillie helped Lusamine and others to deal with Necrozma's presence at Pasio. She was able to intuit Necrozma's feelings, and she also drove off some Team Break members who tried to interfere.

Her costume variant, featuring her in a Polteageist-inspired outfit, was later featured in the Costume Event "Curious Tea Party". In it, she accompanied Scottie/Bettie in solving a series of riddles presented by Sonia, Emmet and Ingo in order to gain access to a tea party that was being held. The final test consisted of telling Lillie's Antique Form Polteageist from several Phony Form Polteageist, and Lillie was barred from the test because it would be too easy for her to identify her partner. After one of the Phony Forms turned out to belong to a Team Break member who was seeking her Antique Form one, Lillie helped him to recognize the value of the Polteageist partner he had instead. Afterwards, Sonia realized that Lillie did not know how to tell the different forms of Polteageist apart, so she decided to submit her to the test anyway to see if she really could identify her partner without knowing how, and Lillie instantly passed.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Lillie was featured as part of the ensemble main cast during the Sun/Moon-based series. She was a student at Alola's Pokémon School and later became part of the Ultra Guardians. Many elements of her story were changed for the anime, including Lusamine being busy and overbearing rather than being villainous or abusive, although Mohn was still missing. Lillie was portrayed with a fear of touching Pokémon that she faced throughout much of the series, and she made progress by getting her first Pokémon, an Alolan Vuplix named Snowy. It was ultimately revealed that this fear stemmed from a suppressed childhood memory in which a Type: Null acted to save her from a Nihilego. While she did not have Nebby in this version, she did give that nickname to a Cosmog that Ash had befriended. Towards the end of the series, Lillie competed in the Manalo Conference and lost to Gladion. She also discovered her father's inactive Shiny Magearna and helped to retore it. She and her family departed at the end of the series so that Magearna could lead them to Mohn. This story was picked up in the Pokémon Journeys series, where they discovered an amnesiac Mohn at the Crown Tundra and helped him to restore his memories. They also welcomed into the family a Shiny Nihilego which Mohn had believed to be his daughter when his memories were gone.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Lillie appeared as a supporting character in the Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon arc. At the beginning of the arc, she was accidentally entered in Iki Town's festival tournament, which led to a situation similar to the beginning of the seventh generation games, in which Moon saved Nebby, and then both of them were saved by Tapu Koko. Moon took Lillie's place in the tournament, and Lillie continued to make appearances traveling the Alola region alongside Professor Burnet and Sun at different points. In this version of events, Lusamine did not manage to kidnap Lillie or Nebby, and Nebby evolved into Cosmoem on its own, but they dcided to take part in the ritual at Poni Island so that the Legendary Pokémon could help against the Ultra Beasts. Nebby ultimately became Lunala. During the second part of the arc, Lillie had started training Pokémon and also learned that Mohn was alive. She found Lusamine after she was merged with Nihilego, as in Sun/Moon, and she managed to get her to detach herself from Nihilego by telling her about Mohn still being alive. She was also able to talk down Plumeria from battling them by telling her about Guzma's whereabouts. The arc ultimately ended similarly to Sun/Moon, with her going to visit Bill to help with her mother's recovery, but this time Burnet decided to accompany her.
• In Pokémon Evolutions, Lillie was featured in the second episode. This depicted events based on Ultra Moon, in which Lillie and Selene partook in the ceremomy at the Altar of the Moone to restore Nebby. Flashbacks to earlier parts of Lillie's journey were also shown. Nebby was shown becoming Lunala and battling Necrozma before ultimately being absorbed by it. The episode ended with Lillie nearly breaking down before having her strength restored by Selene's presence as she went to battle Dawn Wings Necrozma.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is similarly 'Lilie', which is German for 'lily'. Her English name simply seems to be an embellishment of her Japanese name.