Professor Kukui

Professor Kukui
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Alola)
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Black
Base	Hau'oli Outskirts
Relatives	Professor Burnet (wife)
Voiced by	Alejandro Saab (2020)
Debut	Pokémon Sun/Moon

Professor Kukui is the Pokémon Professor of the Alola region who is featured as a supporting character in the seventh generation games of the Pokémon series, Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. His studies focus on Pokémon attacks. In addition to his duties as the professor, Kukui also becomes the founder of Alola's Pokémon League and participates in Battle Royals under the secret masked identity of The Masked Royal. He also acts as the ultimate opponent for the player's championship battle in Sun and Moon.

Background

When he was young, Kukui took on Alola's island challenge along with his friend Molayne. While Kukui never obtained the rank of trial captain, he started to form new goals along the way. He started to become fascinated with Pokémon moves when wondering which moves would be the strongest ones to use against Hala. He came to feel that the strongest moves were the ones that trainers and their Pokémon chose together in the heat of the moment. This realization also inspired his dream of starting a Pokémon League in Alola, so that more young trainers could be pushed to their limits and develop their own perfect moves. So he grew up to be a Pokémon Professor based in a laboratory located in the Hau'oli Outskirts on Melemele Island, and he married Professor Burnet, a fellow Pokémon researcher who specialized in researching other dimensions. His lab could be somewhat hectic, as he had his Pokémon demonstrate their moves in the middle of the lab. Kukui also became a secret participants in the battle royals held on Akala Island, wearing a mask and calling himself The Masked Royal. He assumed a more confident personality in this guise. His secret identity was only shown to be obvious to Molayne, who often teased Kukui by referring to him as the Royal in front of others, which would lead Kukui to nervously issue an assurance that the two of them are different people. Not even Burnet suspected the truth, but she became a dedicated fan of the Masked Royal seemingly independently.

At one point in his life, Kukui traveled to Kanto and took on that region's Pokémon League challenge in order to research Kanto Pokémon moves. It was apparently a tough ordeal, although it was known that he made it up to the Elite Four and was implied to have battled Lance. During his time in Kanto, he also befriended Elio/Selene's mother. Back in Alola, Kukui put efforts into starting Alola's Pokémon League. He wanted to honor Alola's old traditions while combining it with the Pokémon League. Thus, it was decided that the island challenge would act as Alola's equivalent of the gym challenge in other regions, and he had construction started on a Pokémon League headquarters atop Mount Lanakila where Alola's Elite Four would be housed. The mountain was where the end of the island challenge usually took place, and he saw it as a way of honoring the Legendary Pokémon of the Alola region. He still continued his work as a Pokémon Professor, with help from Hala's grandson Hau. Two months prior to Elio/Selene's arrival in Alola, Burnet discovered a lost girl named Lillie, and it was decided that she would stay in the loft of Kukui's lab for the time being. She also helped Kukui as a research assistant.

Generation VII

During the events of the seventh generation games, Elio/Selene and their mother had just moved to Melemele Island. Kukui initially contacted them over a video call to collect information for their Trainer Passport. He proceeded to meet them at their house and acted as their guide to the basics of life in Alola and the island challenge. He gave them their Trainer Passport and Pokédex (which he later upgraded into a Rotom Dex), and he also taught them about catching Pokémon and using Z Moves. In Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, he also provided the starter Pokémon instead of Hala; he had been holding onto them for Hala, but after the Pokémon came out of their Poké Balls to protect Elio/Selene from a wild Pokémon, he decided to let the trainer pick their Pokémon early, and he then allowed Hau to do the same to be fair. Kukui also gave Elio/Selene, Hau and Lillie a ride to Akala Island on his own boat, although Hau and Elio/Selene opted to travel by Mantine surfing instead in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. At Akala Island, he introduced them to Professor Burnet, and also appeared before them as the Masked Royal for the first time, when he took part in a battle royal against Elio/Selene, Hau and Gladion. Kukui also gave Elio/Selene TM67: Smart Strike after they completed Mallow's trial at the Lush Jungle.

Once they reached Ula'ula Island, Kukui remained there for the most part to focus on overseeing the construction of the Pokémon League headquarters. First, he was confronted by Guzma at Malie Garden, who threatened Kukui because of his misgivings about the island challenge and was skeptical that starting the Pokémon League would be a good solution, when he instead wanted to establish Team Skull as the strongest force in Alola. Kukui stood by his ideals and attempted to explain them, and Elio/Selene was able to drive Guzma away by defeating him in a battle. With that, Kukui went on to finish setting up the Pokémon League. He sent out invitations to past champions and other powerful trainers of the Alola region, eventually forming his Elite Four. Elio/Selene was able to beat the Elite Four, at which point Kukui appeared before them. As there was not yet a standing champion for Alola's Pokémon League, it was decided that Elio/Selene should fight another trainer instead. In Sun/Moon, Kukui himself stepped up as that final opponent. In Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, he only joked about being the final opponent, before introducing Hau as his actual final opponent, as he had beaten the Elite Four around the same time as Elio/Selene. Regardless of the opponent, Elio/Selene ultimately won the championship, and Kukui brought them to be recorded as the first champion of Alola. Afterwards, Kukui partook in the celebrations at Iki Town, where Burnet seemed to finally start noticing Kukui's similarity to the Masked Royal. In Sun/Moon, Kukui also saw Lillie off when she left for Kanto and related that Burnet was too sad to join them.

Afterwards, Kukui had a chance of taking on the Elite Four himself and appearing as a Title Defense opponent in all versions. The Masked Royal also had a chance of appearing as an opponent in Master Rank battle royal matches. In Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, Kukui could also appear as an opponent at the Battle Tree.

Pokémon Roster

• Rockruff: Kukui uses Rockruff during tutorials and the first battle royal, and it uses Normalium Z during the Z Move tutorial. During the Z Move tutorial, he is depicted as having two Pokémon in his team, but he only uses the Rockruff.
• Grubbin: He catches a Grubbin during the capture tutorial in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, but it is never seen or mentioned afterwards.

The following are Pokémon that Kukui uses for championship and Title Defense battles:

• Lycanroc (Midday)
• Alolan Ninetales
• Braviary
• Snorlax
• Magnezone
• Decidueye, Incineroar or Primarina: Kukui will use the fully-evolved form of the starter Pokémon that was not chosen by the player or Hau, which is the one with the type advantage over the Pokémon chosen by the player. Thus, he uses Decidueye if the player chose Popplio, Incineroar if the player chose Rowlet or Primarina if the player chose Litten. It will also use a Z Crystal matching its type: Grassium Z, Firium Z or Waterium Z.

When fought in Master Rank battle royal, the Masked Royal will use three random Pokémon out of a pool of Pokémon that comprises most of his main team, but with a Crabominable in place of the fully evolved starters. For the Battle Tree, Kukui will use a team of four random Pokémon out of a pool of Pokémon that includes his entire main team, along with the possibility of a Kanto Ninetales. His Alolan Ninetales will also have Icium Z or Psychium Z if used.

Additionally, Kukui has a number of Pokémon that are seen around his laboratory: Poliwhirl, Murkrow, Snubbull, Corsola, three Luvdisc, Rockruff and Stufful.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Kukui and his Midday Lycanroc appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random during the game's Sync Pair Scout feature after being added to the game in January 2020. The Masked Royal and Incineroar could be similar obtained after being added in June 2021. Kukui has also used Decidueye in certain challenges. Kukui has appeared in several Story Events, as both himself and the Masked Royal. During the "Trials on the Isle" event, Crasher Wake tried to give Kukui a challenge to pass along to The Masked Royal. The Masked Royal was also featured in the Solo Event "Town Square Street Fair". In the event "Hearts United", Lillie battled him as her way of thanking him for his help. He also warned Lillie and Hau about the sighting of Necrozma in the event "The Light Devourer". During the event "New Year and New Friends", the Masked Royal teamed up with Brycen for a battle against Volkner and Sabrina, and he later appeared as Kukui while claiming that the Masked Royal filled him in about the situation that was going on. In the "Verdant Guardian" event, the trainers came to Kukui for information on Zygarde, and he reluctantly pointed them towards an overzealous local scientist who was researching it.

Kukui can also appear as the final opponent in the Champion Stadium's Alola Challenge, which alternates between him and Hau, reflecting how each of them have acted as the championship opponent in Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, respectively.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Professor Kukui was featured as a supporting character in the Sun & Moon series. He was a teacher at the Pokémon Trainer School that was being attended by Ash Ketchum, Lillie and a number of characters who were trial captains in the original games. Kukui was not yet married to Burnet in this version of canon, and his proposal to her as well as their wedding were both depicted during the series. He was also shown to have a rivalry with Guzma that stemmed from both of them learning under Hala as children. Several episodes also focused on the Masked Royal, and he was shown to have cheating enemies who banded together as the Revengers. After Ash won the Alola championship, he also won the right to an exhibition match against the Masked Royal. The battle was initially delayed by the attack of a shiny Guzzlord, and while the two of them were able to sent it back to Ultra Space together, the resulting shockwave unmasked the Royal and publicly revealed his identity. Kukui and Ash proceeded to have an all-out battle, with Tapu Koko choosing to join Kukui's team to test Ash, and Ash ultimately won. The end of that series revealed that Kukui and Burnet were expecting a child. The couple reappeared with their newborn son, Lei, in several episodes of the Pokémon Journeys series.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Kukui appeared as a supporting character during the Sun/Moon arc. His tests of Pokémon moves were shown to be more over-the-top, as they sent him flying through the roof of his house. He also scolded Sun upon meeting him for mishandling his Pokédex. Sun later defeated him in his Masked Royal guise during an Iki Town festival tournament. Over the course of the arc, Kukui took Lillie as an assistant at Burnet's request, and he helped the other Alola trainers in their efforts against the Ultra Beasts, including offering his boat as transportation for the trainers. At the end of the arc, he revealed that Burnet had discovered his identity as the Masked Royal, and they went on to fight together in battle royals as "Luran and Kommo".

Trivia

• He is named after the Hawaiian word for the candlenut, the state fruit of Hawaii.
• Kukui marks the second Pokémon Professor who could be battled in the series, following the preceding generation's Professor Sycamore. He is also the only Pokémon Professor to be fought in place of a champion, in Sun/Moon.