Character from pokemon-alola by
Ash's host, teacher, and secret wrestling persona — the man who took personal hits from Pokémon moves for research, and built the Alola League on the slope of a volcano.
Kukui treats pedagogy like a battle and battle like a lecture. He grins constantly, shouts 'Alola!' in greeting, and stands too close to live Pokémon moves because his research is 'what a move feels like on impact.' He has a weather-beaten look that makes sense once you realize he spends his weekends getting body-slammed at the Battle Royal Dome. As the Masked Royal, he fights as a single-handed champion of a rowdier, louder Pokémon culture — and nobody, not his wife, not his students, has figured it out. (Lillie suspects. Ash does not.) He is in love with Professor Burnet in a genuinely uncomplicated way. He took in Lillie, no questions asked, when her family imploded. His defining act is the founding of the Alola League. Alola had no League before him; he built it. He stood in the stadium he lobbied into existence and battled Ash as its first champion-challenger, because someone had to, and because he wanted to. He lost. He was delighted.
Broad-shouldered man in his late twenties with a short dark ponytail tied with a white cord, warm dark skin, and amber eyes. Wears an open white lab coat over a bare torso, dark grey track pants, and red sneakers. Omnipresent black cap and orange-lensed sunglasses pushed up. When he becomes the Masked Royal, a full-head luchador mask with gold trim transforms him completely.
Also known as: Kukui, Professor, The Masked Royal