Mina

Mina
Species	Human
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Grey
Height	5'6"
Base	Seafolk Village, Poni Island
Relatives	Parents
Voiced by	Cherami Leigh (2019)
Debut	Pokémon Sun/Moon

Mina is a Pokémon trainer who appears as an opponent in the seventh generation games of the Pokémon series, Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. She is one of the seven trial captains of the Alola region and acts as the sole captain for Poni Island. She specializes in Fairy-type Pokémon and gives out the Fairy-type Z-Crystal, Fairium Z.

Background

Mina was an eccentric young artist who lived with her parents in Seafolk Village at Poni Island. As a child, the family's Snubbull accidentally destroyed a picture she had made, and she saw that as meaning that her art was not good enough, so she constantly strove to improve herself. According to Pokémon Masters EX, there was a point in her childhood when Tapu Fini saved her from drowning, which inspired be strong. Generally, Mina was known for her relaxed nature and spent much of her time traveling to find subjects for her art. She tended to leave her home for long periods of time for her work and only occasionally returned to eat large amounts of food before setting off again.

Despite her laidback nature, she was appointed as the sole trial captain for Poni Island. It is unknown if she was chosen by Hapu's grandfather prior to his death or by Nanu, who fulfilled some of the duties for Poni Island's kahuna during the time that it had no kahuna. Mina showed different amounts of dedication for this role depending on the version. In Sun/Moon, she focused on wandering around for her art and did not put any time into an actual trial, although she mused about making one involving painting pictures and picking flowers. In Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, she actually had a trial that she ran and expressed more of an investment in watching other trainers grow. The player's encounters with her are also completely different across the two sets of games.

Sun/Moon

Elio/Selene first encountered Mina at Vast Poni Canyon, where she mused about painting the trainer before introducing herself. She explained that she did not have a trial and hinted that this area inspired Ilima's trial. She also gave them Fairium Z as a token of their acquaintance and mused about what her trial would be like before setting off.

In the post-game, Mina made two additional appearances in which she could be battled. During the Looker sidequests, Mina was sent to the motel at Route 8 at one point to pass along information about Ultra Beast sightings. She was assigned to the errand because she did not have any trials to busy herself with running. She kept the identity of the person who sent her a secret (though it may have been Nanu), and as part of the request, she was supposed to test Elio/Selene's strength through a battle. After being defeated, Mina acknowledged their strength and departed.

She also made an appearance at the Poni Gauntlet. She had defeated all the trainers in the area and was taking a break after doing a hundred sketches. Mina found herself wishing for an opponent to go all-out against, and she ended up offering to battle Elio/Selene if they could also beat all of the trainers in the area. After the trainer did so, they had their battle. Upon being defeated, Mina expressed frustration with her failure to use her full power, but she still had fun with the battle and gave a Bottle Cap to Elio/Selene.

Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon

In the Ultra games, Elio/Selene and Lillie first encountered Mina at Seafolk Vilage. She initially assumed that they were there for a trial, only to learn that they were actually looking for the kahuna. Mina did not directly explain the situation, but she suggested that they talked to Hapu. When they returned after Hapu was officially appointed as Poni Island's kahuna, Mina was surprised and impressed by the younger girl's accomplishment. She made the arrangements for Elio/Selene to travel to Exeggutor Island and offered to paint a picture of Lillie while she waited for them. She later appeared at the Island's Altar, where she invited Ellio/Selene to challenge her trial.

Mina's trial involved a Rainbow Flower, which had seven differently-colored petals. She distributed the petals to the other captains of the Alola region and kept the Pink Petal for herself. Elio/Selene had to defeat her in a battle at her home in order to earn her Pink Petal. Elio/Selene then had to travel back to the other islands in order to get the other six petals, most of which were also earned through battles. Once all the petals were assembled, Mina was able to re-form the Rainbow Flower. This attracted a Totem Ribombee, which acted as the final challenge of the trial. After Elio/Selene defeated it, she gave the trainer Fairium Z and demonstrated the accompanying pose. She then invited them to challenge Hapu for her first grand trial.

In these games, she also appeared in the festivities that were held at Iki Town on Melemele Island after Elio/Selene became the region's Pokémon League Champion. At one point, most of the kahunas and captains demonstrated their Z-Move poses on stage together. Mina was seen doing her pose privately in the bushes off-stage, which Nanu had done during the first Sun/Moon. She could still be found at Seafolk Village in the post-game, where she would simply muse about making pressed flowers for anyone who becomes champion rather than being a captain.

Let's Go, Pikachu/Eevee!

A somewhat younger Mina appeared in the Let's Go! games, which take place some years prior to the seventh generation games. She was found at the Vermilion City docks, where she missed the ship that would take her back to Alola while she was sketching the ocean. She did not mind staing for a while, as she liked the color of Kanto's sea. Mina offered to battle Chase/Elaine and could be challenged to rematches on a daily basis. She joked that she could not go back to Alola until she defeated them.

Pokémon Roster

In Sun/Moon, she uses the following Pokémon in battle:

• Klefki
• Granbull
• Shiinotic
• Wigglytuff
• Ribombee

In the Ultra games, she only uses a Mawile, Granbull and Ribombee. She also works with a Totem Ribombee for her trial. In the Let's Go! games, she initially uses a Jigglypuff and Mr. Mime. After the player becomes champion, her Jigglypuff becomes a Wigglytuff, and she also adds an Alolan Ninetales to her team.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Mina and her Granbull appeared together as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the Sync Pair Scout feature. A Sygna Suit variant that was paired with Tapu Fini was also made available during limited time periods starting at the end of April 2023. She also made minor appearances in some events, such as helping Burgh to use her Pokémon in her artwork in the "Trials on the Isle" Story Event, and she also acted as an opponent in one of Roxie's Sync Pair Stories, in which Roxie's Whirlpiede would evolve if she could defeat Mina in a one-on-one battle. Mina showed herself to be a fan of Roxie's music in the process. Mina was featured in the Alola chapter of the Main Story's Villain Arc. In the beginning, Mina and Hau dressed up in ceremonial attire matching some of the tapus in preparation for an Alola-style festival that was being held. Mina later confronted some rogue Aether Foundation members, and although they had her outclassed, she was determined to stand strong like Tapu Fini. This summoned the actual Tapu Fini to her aid, and they formed a sync bond, even though it was different from the Tapu Fini of Poni Island. Eventually, the four trial captains who had teamed up with tapus (Mina, Hau, Lana) and Acerola) joined forces to calm down the Ultra Beasts and to drive back the Team Rocket grunts and rogue Aether Foundation members.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Mina made a few appearances in the series that was based on Sun/Moon. She was shown to have a knack for interpreting the paintings made by Ash's Poipole. Several Team Skull members wanted her Ribombee, and Mina was willing to give it to them if they could beat her at a drawing contest. She ultimately decided that it was a draw, and Ash helped her to defeat them when they tried to take it from her by force. She later took part in the Manalo Conference, where she lost to Sophocles.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Mina appeared during the Sun/Moon arc, where she worked together with the other captains and kahunas in their efforts against the Ultra Beasts. She was also shown to have received a pendant that seemed to be from Mohn, which she passed on to Lillie.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is Matsurika, named after the Japanese word for the plant called the Arabian jasmine, while her English name of Mina seems to simply be derived from "jasmine".
• According to her concept art for the Let's Go! games, she is intended to be around 13-15 in that appearance. This causes some timeline confusion, as the seventh generation games are considered to take place around ten years after the first generation ones, and it was also mentioned by Mallow in Moon that trainers are supposed to move on from being captains upon turning 20. This could possibly be explained by Let's Go! being in a different timeline, as it already has alterations to Red and Blue's stories.
• She is the only seventh generation character to have made an appearance in a mainline game outside of Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.
• She keeps her Pokémon in Ultra Balls.