Allister

Allister
Species	Human
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Purple
Base	Stow-on-Side
Debut	Pokémon: Sword and 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". The battle could be repeated if the player rechallenged the championship cup afterwards. Allister's dialogue would change to reflect Victor/Gloria being the champion. He also 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.

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 (both battles)
• Gengar (Gigantamax; both battles)
• Yamask (gym only)
• Mimikyu (gym only)
• Dusknoir (championship cup only)
• Chandelure (championship cup only)
• Polteageist (championship cup only)

Trivia

• His 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 Japanes 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 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 (not counting any gym leaders added after the initial two versions of a game, such as Juan).