Alola's True Protagonist?

Now, we all now that, from a game-play point of view, the protagonist of Pokémon Sun and Moon is obvious us, the players, taking the role of the new Trainer, fresh off the boat from Kanto, going on their island challenge, thwarting the plans of the evildoers, living the legends of the Alola region, and becoming one themselves as the region's first official Pokémon League Champion. But, what if I told you that the story of these two games was actually that of a different character?

This character is definitely a fan-favourite, and there's lots of evidence to support this theory. Please note that I didn't come up with up, but I thought it'd be fun to share it on here and create some interesting dialogue between members. So, without further ado, I present to you the true protaginst of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon...

Lillie.
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Now, before everyone starts picking fights and taking names, I'm fully aware that Lillie is, by far, one of the most popular characters introduced in the seventh generation, and also one of the least popular. Whether she's your one true waifu, your precious daughter, or you wish she'd never existed, all of that is irrelevant to the point I'm trying to make, so keep your opinions to yourself, and let's get started.

The first, and probably the biggest, piece of evidence that Lillie is the true protagonist lies in her design, or rather designs. There's actually two factors here, but I'll start with the most obvious one, which is the fact that Lillie had two outfits.

There have been many occasions where an NPC in Pokémon had received a slight redesign, like some of the Gym Leaders between an original game and its remake, or very drastic design changes, like how Anabel went from "hello ma'am, it's nice to finally meet you" to "your son calls me mommy too" after her adventures in Ultra Space, but Lillie is the only character in the history of the main series Pokémon canon to undergo such a drastic change in design in the same game. This shows that the game designers obviously wanted to place importance on her, or else she'd just be another friendly NPC.

The second point that comes with the outfit changes is the way the outfits are designed. There is definitely a lot of sun and moon imagery in Pokémon Sun and Moon, as to be expected, and characters are no exception. Take the game's two rivals, Hau and Gladion. Hau is friendly, outgoing, and he walks around in bright orange board shorts, while Gladion is serious, distant, and likes to wear your typical "edgy teen" attire. Hau obviously represents the sun, with his light and warm personality, while Gladion is obviously tied to the moon, and it's connections to the dark and the unknown. Lillie's two outfits also have connections to the sun and the moon. Her first outfit is where the moon imagery lies - conservative, covering lots of her body despite the Alolan climate, and her broad sunhat shades her face, giving her an air of mystery. Her outfit is also very white, which is definitely representative of the moon. On the other side of the spectrum, her second outfit is where the sun imagery lies - it's sporty, it's colourful, and one could even say it's revealing, in both how more of her skin is visible and that her hat is gone, showing that she's become a changed woman throughout the story. The white colour works for the sun too, as the colour white is often associated with the light, and that's one of the things the sun provides. So, with that, it's clear that Lillie represent both the sun and the moon, key aspects of the Pokémon Sun and Moon games.

Moving on from design, I'll talk about how Lillie's actions in the games' story shows her protagonist role. Now, the beginning of Pokémon games is usually the same - you meet the region's Pokémon Professor (except Elm, RIP Elm), choose and name your character, and off you go, leaving your bedroom as you set out on your journey. However, in Pokémon Sun and Moon, there's something a little extra added in between meeting the Professor and starting your journey. For those who can't remember or are unfamiliar with the games, there is a cut-scene of Lillie running through the Aether Paradise's Conservation Area during the day (Pokémon Sun) or night (Pokémon Moon), being chased by a gaggle of Aether Foundation Employees as she protects the contents of her iconic duffel bag. Eventually she's cornered, but the thing she's protecting in her bag opens is tiny eyes, and surrounds Lillie in a mystical light, before transporting them out of the Aether Paradise. This cut-scene is an obvious nod to how Lillie will play an important role in the story, as she's shown in screen before even your character is, aside from the small portraits you can choose from. We already know so much about her from this single, wordless cut-scene - she's running from the Aether Foundation, she's protecting something, and whatever it is she's got in her bag has a lot of power.

In addition to this beginning cut-scene, Lillie appears numerous times throughout the games' plot. You, the player, interact with her at least once on every island, and there are a lot of times where it's just you and her, especially towards the end of the story. In the climax of the story, where it's revealed that the Pokémon she was protecting, the Cosmog she lovingly calls "Nebby", was actually the pre-evolved form of either Solgaleo or Lunala, Lillie really begins to take charge of the story. In fact, despite the fact that the player can't speak apart from text options, they really don't do anything in the climax of the story, except for battling Lusamine. If Lillie was an actual Pokémon Trainer, it would not be surprising if the player was able to take control of Lillie for this fight instead of the player.

That's another thing that helps solidify Lillie's role as the protagonist of the story - her connections with other characters. As the player, you've just arrived from the Kanto region, and you're a bit of an outcast, but welcomed nonetheless. Lillie, on the other hand, as connections to so many characters. Although her father, Mohn, doesn't affect the story of the games at all, her mother, Lusamine, is the game's main and true antagonist. Lillie's brother, Gladion, also plays an important role in the story as an assistant to the team of children going against Lusamine, despite saying he's acting in his own interests. There's also the parental figures she sees in Professor Kukui and Burnet, who take her in after she runs away from the Aether Paradise, as well as all the characters she meets on her journey through the Alola region, like the player, Hau, Hala, Acerola, and Hapu. Sure, the player meets all the important characters, but a lot of them don't impact the story as much as the characters that Lillie has connections to do. The one exception to this might be Team Skull, as Lillie doesn't interact much with them, but they're important to the story as a subsidiary of the Aether Foundation.

Well, that's all the evidence I could find on my own. Of course, as I stated earlier, this theory isn't mine, but I wanted to make sure that all the evidence I found towards it was my own. Feel free to discuss down below, and I'll see you all next time. This is Pixel, signing out!

 

It's really late here, so it's definitely a mistake. It should be 7, not 6