Allister

Allister
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Galar)
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Purple
Base	Stow-on-Side
Voiced by	Nicole Gose (2021)
Debut	Pokémon Shield

Allister is one of the eight gym leaders of the Galar region's major league who must be faced in Pokémon Shield. He is a version-exclusive gym leader who appears only in Shield, with his place being taken by Bea in Sword. He acts as the game's fourth gym leader and specializes in Ghost-type Pokémon.

Background

Allister was a mysterious young boy who was skilled enough at training Pokémon to be made a trainer at a young age. He was known for his habit of always wearing a mask that concealed his face. He kept numerous spare masks on him, in case one fell off. He refused to reveal his face in public, with the only image of his unmasked face being on his rare League Card and having been taken in the locker room. Allister claimed to have a strong connection to the occult and that he had developed the ability to see deceased Ghost-type Pokémon after an accident he had when he was four years old. He was usually very shy and soft-spoken when talking to others.

Within the timeline of Pokémon Shield, Allister had been appointed as the gym leader of Stow-on-Side. The gym leaders had battled each other to determine their ranking, and Allister was ultimately appointed as the fourth gym leader in the major division who challengers had to battle. His gym's mission consisted of a maze that challengers had to ride a spinning cup through, with obstacles including ghoulish-looking hands that would push the cup upwards.

In Shield, he was first seen with most of the other gym leaders at the opening ceremony for the gym challenge that was held at Motostoke Stadium. He then returned to Stow-on-Side, where he was ultimately challenged by Victor/Gloria. All that Allister told them before the battle was his name. He was defeated and he claimed that the surprise of his loss nearly knocked his mask off. Allister commended the trainer on their victory and gave them the Ghost Badge. He also shyly wished them good luck with everything. At some point, Allister was also challenged and defeated by Hop and Marnie.

Allister returned near the end of the game, where he and most of the other gym leaders competed in the tournament that made up the Finals of the Championship Cup. In the first round of the tournament, he defeated Melony (despite her being ranked above him in the gym challenge). In the next round, he battled Victor/Gloria and lost again. He wished them luck again, but also stated that he was "mad about strong trainers". After becoming the champion, Victor/Gloria could hold other tournaments, in which Allister could appear again as a competitor (either through invitation or at random). In a rematch resulting from that tournament, he claimed that battling that trainer helped to calm his nerves, as he became so absorbed in their battles that he was able to ignore the presence of the audience.

After the cup, Allister returned to Stow-on-Side. Shortly afterwards, an incident arose in which forcibly Dynamaxed wild Pokémon began appearing in the region's stadiums. The Stow-on-Side Stadium had a total of four Dynamaxed Pokémon. Victor/Gloria, Hop and Piers all arrived to lend their aid. They split up and each defeated one of the Pokémon, restoring them to normal. Allister then proceeded to tend to the Pokémon and thanked Victor/Gloria for their help by giving them a copy of his rare League Card. Allister could later be seen visiting various areas of the Isle of Armor, and he could also take part in Galarian Star Tournaments as either a partner or an opponent. In the Galarian Star Tournament, he could partner up with Milo, Melony or Mustard, and he could also become available as a potential partner for Victor/Gloria after beating the Star Tournament three times.

In Sword, Bea had become the gym leader of Stow-on-Side instead and the fourth leader of the major division. Allister neither appeared nor was referenced at all within the game, so his status in that version of continuity is unknown.

Pokémon Roster

Allister notably changes most of his roster between battles. His roster is listed in order of which battle(s) they are used in.

• Cursola: He uses this Pokémon in all battles.
• Gengar: He uses this Pokémon in all battles and will Gigantamax this Pokémon.
• Yamask/Runerigus: This Pokémon appears as a Yamask during the gym battle and as Runerigus during post-game tournaments. It is absent from his team during the initial Championship Cup.
• Mimikyu: He only uses Minikyu during the initial gym battle.
• Dusknoir: He only uses this Pokémon during the Championship Cup and other tournament battles.
• Chandelure: He only uses this Pokémon during the Championship Cup and other tournament battles.
• Polteageist: He only uses this Pokémon during the Championship Cup.

In the Galarian Star Tournament, he uses only Dusknoir, Cursola and Gengar.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Allister and his Gengar (with the Gigantamax factor) 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 October 2021. There was also a Fall 2022 variant which depicted Allister wearing a pumpkin mask that was paired with a Super Size Gourgeist and was available during limited time periods starting in October 2022. He was featured in the "Midnight Battle Ball" Story Event, in which he was appointed to act as the final opponent for the eponymous event. However, he somehow misplaced his mask and did not want to be seen by others, so he hid while his Gengar led other Ghost-type Pokémon in driving others away. Caitlin ultimately brought his mask back to him, and he found out that his spare masks were used as decorations due to a misunderstanding. The group convinced Allister to join the festivities afterwards. Allister was featured in his fall attire for the "Otherworldly Encounter" Story Event, in which he took part in Halloween-like activities such as 'fight or fright' with Iris and took the occasion as a chance to support his Gourgeist. He and a Hex Maniac named Helena spun theories about a mysterious Pokémon that scared Iris, but they soon discovered the Pokémon to be a Poipole that bonded with Iris. Allister supported Iris in her bond with the Poipole and asked the Helena to form a team with them. Allister also made an appearance in the Galar chapter of the Main Story's Villain Arc, in which he and Shauntal battled each other to demonstrate for Rose how sync pairs worked.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon: Twilight Wings series of anime shorts, Allister made a cameo appearance during a montage seen at the end of the first episode and was later featured in the sixth episode. He was seen spending time at a graveyard with his Ghost-type Pokémon when a boy named Tommy came to see him. Tommy wanted Allister to invite his friend John to attend one of Leon's matches. Instead, Allister helped Tommy to sneak into the hospital so that he could apologize to John in person. Allister as portrayed as nervous around others but ultimately managed to shake Tommy's hand. Allister appeared again in the final episode, both as part of a montage of video testimonies made about Leon and attending Leon's match with Tommy. In the bonus episode, Allister was seen with his Pokémon when he received his invitation to the Galarian Star Tournament and was seen arriving for the tournament with the other gym leaders. Both Allister and Bea were known as gym leaders in this series.
• Allister appeared in Pokémon Adventures during the Sword/Shield arc. He and Bea were shown to alternate as Stow-on-Side's Gym Leader, and he was in charge of the gym when Sword challenged and defeated him. He also appeared in another chapter, where he searched the Glimwood Tangle for an Antique Form Sinistea, and he ended up catching a Dreepy and Drakloak instead.
• He appeared in several episodes of the Pokémon anime during the Pokémon Journeys series. It was shown that he and Bea were both Gym Leaders of Stow-on-Side, with Allister running the Pokémon Gym while Bea ran the Stow-on-Side Stadium. In Allister's first appearance, Ash and Goh unwittingly followed Allister onto a ghost train while trying to give him a ticket he had dropped, and Allister ended up saving Ash after he was possessed by a Spiritomb. He disappeared after the train reached the station, but he reappeared in the following episode, in which Ash learned about Allister's Gym Leader status, and Allister taught Ash how to prepare Max Soup so that his Gengar could Gigantamax. Allister went on to make cameo appearances watching some of the World Coronation Series battles (as well as Team Rocket's radio show) and was seen celebrating Ash's final victory.

Trivia

• His English name seems to be a play on both "allium" (the name of the genus that contains onions, in reference to his Japanese name) and the name of occultist Aleister Crowley. His Japanese name is Onion, referring to both the vegetable and the Japanese word "oni" (which is a type of demon or ogre).
• His League Number is 291, which can be read in Japanese as a word meaning "hateful".
• Allister's eyes sometimes become visible through his mask's eye holes, especially at moments where he feels particularly determined or surprised.
• His Pokémon are kept in Dusk Balls.
• His rare League Card is the only image that depicts him without his mask. It is claimed that it is unknown who took that photo of Allister, but that it is rumored to have been a Ghost-type Pokémon.
• According to his concept art, he is left-handed, and his one spike of hair can detect ghosts like a dowsing rod.
• Allister and Melony are the two gym leaders exclusive to Shield. Allister, his counterpart Bea and Melony are also the only gym leaders to only appear in one version of a game.