Faba

Faba
Species	Human
Affiliation	Aether Foundation
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Base	Aether Paradise
Debut	Pokémon Sun/Moon

Faba is a Pokémon scientist who appeared as a minor antagonist in the seventh generation games of the Pokémon games: Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. He is a member of the Aether Foundation, originally with the title of branch chief, who schemed to take control of the organization. He specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon.

Background

Faba was an arrogant and narcissistic scientist who acted as the branch chief of the Aether Foundation under the presidency of Lusamine. He has referred to himself as an "elite, self-made man" and considered himself vital to Aether, as he referred to himself as the company's "last line of defense". Wicke was his assistant branch chief, and he often put work upon her while demanding to be addressed only with his formal title. Faba worked on several Ultra Beast-related projects for the Aether Foundation. One project was the creation of three "UB-Killer" lifeforms that were originally known as "Type: Full", but they were ultimately renamed Type: Null after they were designated failures. Faba designed the helmet that used to limit the powers of the Pokémon. After Gladion ran off with one of them, he claimed that he did not 'blow it out of proportion' and instead 'massaged the truth' of the incident in his favor. He also worked on the creation of the Beast Balls; in Sun/Moon, it was a project inherited from his predecessor, while in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, the Beast Balls were made in conjunction with the Ultra Recon Squad. Faba made a blog in which he bragged about his accomplishments under the simple alias of "F", with the blog entries being readable on a computer in Aether Paradise's Secret Lab A.

Within the narrative of the seventh generation games, Faba was first seen being accosted by members of Team Skull at Memorial Hill on Akala Island. After Elio/Selene and Hau came to his defense, Faba rewarded the young trainers by bringing them to Aether Paradise and tasking Wicke with giving them a tour of the facility. In Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, he made an extra appearance at Ula'ula Meadow, where he claimed to be traveling Alola to check up on Pokémon while thinking of how to tackle the Necrozma issue. He considered his dedication to be behavior fitting a president of Aether, and he also warned Elio/Selene about Team Skull.

Later on, Lusamine had captured Lillie and Nebby the Cosmog, with the intention of using the Cosmog to open a portal to Ultra Space. Faba was aware of her plans and was tasked with keeping others from interfering. Elio/Selene, Hau and Gladion soon came to Aether Paradise in hopes of saving Lillie and Cosmog. Faba quickly confronted the trio and taunted Gladion before taking on Elio/Selene in a battle. After being defeated, Faba pointed them in the direction of the basement laboratories as a misdirect, while he went to gather more Aether Foundation employees to deal with them. The trio returned empty-handed to get more answers from Faba, who attempted to take them by surprise and gloated about his plan to ambush them. Hau did point out an obvious error in his plan, in that Faba could have just remained hidden, and they would not be able to progress through the locked door otherwise. Annoyed, Faba sent a pair of Aether Foundation employees to battle them, before fighting Elio/Selene and Hau alongside the remaining employee in a Multi Battle. After he was defeated, he let out a scream and claimed that this was the reason why he did not like children, while the trio progressed to Lusamine's Mansion.

In Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, Faba also played a role in Episode RR, in which he helped Giovanni and Team Rainbow Rocket to take over Aether Paradise and capture Lusamine. He claimed that more Pokémon would be able to be saved through this expanded organization, but also that his career would reach new heights. Faba was confronted by Elio/Selene and Lillie when they arrived to save Lusamine, and he attempted to explain his motives. While he was reluctant to battle Elio/Selene again now that they had become a champion, he felt that Lillie would trip the trainer up with her perceived lack of expertise, and so he battled the two of them with an Aether Foundation employee in a double battle. After being battled, he noted that they had not heard his scream in a while and proceeded to scream before leaving the trainers with a warning that the Ultra Wormhole had brought powerful villains from other worlds to the facility. Faba showed up again at the Trophy Room after Lusamine was saved and tried to deny his involvement with Team Rainbow Rocket, only to be quickly contradicted by Lillie.

In all versions of the game, Faba was ultimately demoted to becoming an intern. He claimed to be "turning over a new leaf" and to be a new and improved Faba, who tried to address others more politely and gain their favor, as he wanted to charm others to gain their support. Despite his claims, he was intent on climbing the organization's ladder all over again and was still eyeing the presidency. He would even ask the player character if they agreed that he would be a better fit than Aether's current president. Faba could be challenged to a rematch at Aether Paradise, and he would give a Dubious Disc after being defeated. In Sun/Moon, he would also take on the Pokémon League and could appear as an opponent for Title Defense battles.

Pokémon Roster

• Hypno
• Slowbro: He uses this Pokémon starting in the second battle, in Sun/Moon only.
• Claydol: He uses this Pokémon starting in the second battle, in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon only.
• Bruxish: He uses this Pokémon starting in the second battle.
• Alolan Raichu: He uses this Pokémon for post-game battles in Sun/Moon and the fourth battle in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.
• Alakazam: He uses this Pokémon for post-game battles in Sun/Moon and the fourth battle in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Faba made recurring appearances during the Sun/Moon-based series. He started off as an antagonist who had kept several past incidents secret from Lusamine. One of those incidents was the creation of an Ultra Wormhole, through which a Nihilego emerged and was defeated by the Silvally that Faba had created in secret. This incident traumatized Lillie, and Faba tried to cover up the truth by giving Silvally a limiter mask that turned it into Type: Null, but Gladion found out and ultimately stole the Pokémon. Faba acted as a member of the Aether Foundation while trying to keep the truth of the past incidents secret by seeking out Gladion's Type: Null and trying to keep Lillie from remembering her repressed memories, but he ultimately failed. After being demoted to Wicke's assistant and apologizing for his actions, Faba acted as an ally helping the Ultra Guardians with their missions. He was also shown to be a big fan of the Masked Royal, managing to figure out his identity and even posed as him briefly in one episode. Faba later participated in the Manalo Conference, where he was defeated by Ash in the first round of the tournament. He later reappeared during the Pokémon Journeys series, where he and Wicke commentated on a battle royal involving Ash, Hau, Kukui and Kiawe.
• Faba was featured as an antagonist in the Sun/Moon arc of Pokémon Adventures. He led an attempt to kidnap Hapu after she became a kahuna and took over Aether Paradise while Lusamine was missing. Faba managed to manipulate Plumeria and Ryuki for working for him in tasks such as attempting to assassinate Lusamine. He also taunted Sun over his failure to buy back his great-grandfather's island, which had been bought by the Aether Foundation and converted into Aether Paradise. Ultimately, Sun and his Alolan Meowth confronted Faba seeking revenge, and Faba's fear attracted a group of Nihilego who carried him away. Faba's fear was turned into joy by their neurotoxins while he was taken into the Ultra Wormhole, never to be seen again, in one of the grimmer fates of the series.

Trivia

• His Japanese name is Sauboh, which is taken from the German word for 'faba bean'. His English name of Faba comes directly from the same bean.
• He keeps his Pokémon in Ultra Balls.