Alain

Alain (Japanese: アラン Alain) is the main protagonist of the side story Mega Evolution series. Alain is a Pokémon Trainer seeking to defeat all Mega Evolved Pokémon using his Mega Charizard X.

History
In the past he was Professor Sycamore's assistant, and it was Sycamore who initially inspired him to begin seeking Mega Stones in order to solve the mysteries of Mega Evolution. At this time Alain already owned a Charmander. Some time after leaving Professor Sycamore's laboratory, Charmander evolved. After reporting to Professor Sycamore, he came to a nearby ruin in search of an Ampharosite, but discovered that the raw Mega Stone had been taken by Lysandre. Alain battled Lysandre for ownership of the stone, but his Key Stone if Alain would assist him, Lysandre revealed a metal attaché case with a Mega Ring and Charizardite X. Believing he could protect the Professor this way, Alain accepted Lysandre's proposal.

Sometime later, after Charmeleon evolved into a Charizard, Alain battled a Trainer named Astrid, and defeated her Mega Absol. The battle was secretly watched by Mairin, a beginning Trainer who was sent out on a journey by Professor Sycamore. Mairin was so impressed with his strength that she began following him. From Mairin, Alain learned of a trainer who leaped off of Prism Tower to save a Pokémon. Next, Alain received a call on his Holo Caster from a mysterious person (later revealed to be Lysandre), who directed him to a location with ruins to retrieve a Mega Stone. After getting the Mega Stone, Alain was confronted by a Trainer named Remo who was also looking for the Mega Stone. Remo challenged him with a Mega Garchomp. Alain easily won the battle, and kept the Mega Stone.

Afterwards he helped Mairin capture a Flabébé. He then traveled with her to a restaurant where Elite Four member Siebold was working as a chef and challenged him to a battle, seemingly unaware that at the same time his Charizard's energy levels were being monitored by Lysandre. Charizard put up a good fight against Siebold's Blastoise, but when Blastoise Mega Evolved, it overwhelmed Charizard using a Mega Launcher-boosted Dragon Pulse. Accepting his defeat, Alain continued his journey to battle more Mega Evolved Pokémon and complete more assignments from the Lysandre, now with Mairin as a traveling partner.

He traveled to Hoenn with Mairin in Mega Evolution Special II, where he met Steven Stone. Noticing each other's Key Stones, the two Trainers recognized each other as Trainers with Mega Pokémon. Accepting Alain's challenge, Steven and his Shiny Mega Metagross fought a fierce battle with Charizard before the battle was interrupted by Lysandre. Deciding to cooperate with the Hoenn Champion, Alain and company traveled to their destination, a small temple with two pillars in the center. When Alain and Steven held their Key Stones to the monument, a staircase of light appeared to lead them further within the ancient ruin. There, they discovered a similar mechanism that summoned a glowing megalith from underneath the ruin. After Lysandre and his research team began analyzing the giant stone, a Rayquaza appeared from the sky, Mega Evolved, and started wreaking havoc on the surrounding area. Alain, Steven, and their Mega Pokémon partners tried to fend off the Legendary Pokémon, but were overwhelmed. As Rayquaza continued to destroy the megalith, it's Draco Meteors landed near Mairin, sending her and Chespie flying. Alain dove to save her, but in the process, the two are buried in debris. Mairin is safe, but Alain injures his shoulder. Despite Mairin and Lysandre's concern, Alain insists he's fine, and proceeds to Rustboro City on Lysandre's orders as he believes the megalith can be recovered. He secretly told Alain to keep a watch on Steven Stone, as he possesses great knowledge on Mega Evolution.

In Mega Evolution Special III, after landing at the Devon Corporation headquarters via helicopter with Mairin, he receives confirmation from Steven and Lysandre that Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are set to battle each other near Rustboro City to claim the megalith's energy, putting the entire world at risk. Alain and Steven volunteer to fly to the point where the super-ancient Pokémon will meet to analyze the situation. Concerned, Mairin asks Alain about his shoulder, but Alain insists he's fine. Mairin says it's too dangerous, and begs Alain to stay, but he refuses, saying he has to keep his promise to Lysandre to become the strongest. Mairin continues to press him, causing Alain to lash out at her, saying she knows nothing about his goals. After calming down, Alain walks away from Mairin, telling her to go back to Kalos.

On Steven's aircraft, Alain and the Champion approach a large energy reading that the Devon Corp. staff and Lysandre confirm to be the megalith. Lysandre tells the two to be careful while investigating the situation. Primal Kyogre surfaces, and begins engaging Primal Groudon. After the Primal Pokémon exchange blows, Alain receives private orders from Lysandre. The director wants the megalith protected at all costs until it fully materializes. Alain opens the aircraft's door and sends out Charizard, and triggers it's Mega Evolution. Following Alain's lead, Steven and Metagross follow suit, volunteering to attack Kyogre. While Charizard successfully stops Groudon from reaching the megalith, it is hit by Precipice Blades, and falls from the sky onto a glacier caused by Kyogre's Ice Beam.

Alain rappels from the aircraft onto the glacier, and rushes to Charizard's side, digging it out from chunks of ice. Noticing its tail flame dying, Alain immediately recalls Charizard to rest. Alain is then blown back from an explosion caused by Groudon and Kyogre's battle. Steven orders the aircraft to decend, allowing Mairin and Chespie, who had stowed away, to exit the aircraft's rear and help Alain. As Groudon's Solar Beam causes debris to fly towards the three, Steven's Metagross dives in front to guard the three with Protect. As Metagross continues to fend off Groudon and Kyogre, Mairin brings an unconscious Alain to shelter. Alain wakes up after Mega Rayquaza returns and single-handedly defeats Groudon and Kyogre. A submarine sent by Lysandre surfaces and steals the megalith by blinding Rayquaza with flash missiles. Lysandre deems the mission a success, and Rayquaza retreats. With the skies cleared, Alain approaches Mairin and thanks her.

However, back at the Devon Coproation headquarters, Mairin is told by Steven that Alain returned to Kalos without her. Alain told Steven that Mairin would be in danger if she continued following her. Alain is shown to be back at Lysandre Labs, where Lysandre thanks Alain for his help. While Lysandre tells Alain he's earned a rest, Alain insists on continuing his training with Charizard, recalling how they were defeated by the super-ancient Pokémon of Hoenn. He is last seen with Charizard, battling a nameless Trainer and his Mega Tyranitar under Lysandre's supervision.

Alain made a cameo appearance in Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction. He made his first appearance in the main series during a flashback in Garchomp's Mega Bonds.

Alain made a cameo in From A to Z!, walking past Ash and his friends.

He reappeared in A Meeting of Two Journeys! where he was passing by Ash's battle with Sawyer. He took notice of Ash's Greninja's unique transformation and was intrigued by it. The next day, he saved Ash's Pikachu from Team Rocket and introduced himself to Ash and his friends. He then requested to battle Ash's Greninja, to which Ash agreed. Alain held the upper hand against Ash and Greninja with his Charizard, which he eventually Mega Evolved as he wanted to draw out Greninja's full power. Once Greninja did transform, Alain was surprised to discover it wasn't a Mega Evolution, as his Mega Ring didn't respond. Ash-Greninja managed to battle Charizard on more even grounds, but was still defeated. Afterwards Alain and Ash introduced themselves, just before he thanked Ash for the battle and left.

He appeared again in An Explosive Operation!, where he was sent by Lysandre to help Aliana and Mable in their mission to capture Z2 when they were having a hard time. Alain and Charizard were an even match for Zygarde and distracted it long enough for Team Flare to use their specialized weapons. After they captured Z2, Aliana and Mable recognized him as working for Lysandre.

He appeared again in The Synchronicity Test!, where he had a rematch against Ash. First he battled his Noivern, using his newly revealed Metang. After a close battle, Alain's Metang won after a decisive clash between its Metal Claw and Noivern's Acrobatics. Afterwards Alain agreed for him and Charizard to have a rematch against Ash's Greninja. At first the battle played out very similar to their previous one, but after Charizard Mega Evolved, Greninja started getting a few hits in. When Charizard retaliated, Greninja transformed into Ash-Greninja and proved itself Charizard's equal, and Alain was excited to face such a strong opponent, saying that Ash and Greninja were the type of opponents he had been looking for. In the closing stages of the battle, Greninja managed to land a powerful Cut attack which smashed Charizard into the ground, to Alain's surprise. Before the battle could be finished, however, Ash collapsed from exhaustion, much to Alain's concern. Alain remained with the group until Ash recovered, after which he once more thanked Ash for a good battle. He was then asked by Ash if he was planning on entering the Kalos League, and when he said that he was not, Ash questioned as to why, since there would be plenty of strong opponents to battle against. To this, Alain commented that it would certainly be interesting, and then departed. Later on, Alain had a brief video chat with a Team Flare Grunt and was glad to see that Mairin was doing fine. He would afterwards reminisce on his time working with Sycamore alongside Charizard before reiterating his desire to get stronger and protect those that he cares most for.

He made an appearance in the introduction to Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, where he was shown battling Korrina's Mega Lucario with his Mega Charizard X. The result of that battle was shown at the end of A Diamond in the Rough!, where he defeated her and earned himself the Rumble Badge, fulfilling his requirement for entry into the Kalos League. When asked by Korrina if he was going to enter the League, he confirmed, saying that he was planning on entering in order to battle Ash, whom he did not mention by name to her.

Alain reappeared in A League of His Own!, where he entered the Lumiose Conference. During the opening ceremony, Alain met Sycamore, who hosted the tournament together with Diantha, but Alain refused to talk with his former mentor. He also met Ash, and explained that he entered the tournament to collect Mega Evolution energy. The next day he battled Trevor, with both trainers using their Mega Charizard. Alain, however, easily won, defeating all three of Trevor's Pokémon without being seriously pressured in battle, and advanced to the second round.

In Valuable Experience for All!, it was revealed that Alain had won his second round, third round, and quarterfinal matches, qualifying him for the semi-finals. Following the conclusion of the fourth quarterfinal battle between Sawyer and Tierno, it was revealed he would once again face Remo for a spot in the finals.

In Analysis Versus Passion!, he had a rematch with Remo. Using only his Charizard and his newly evolved Metagross, he was able to easily defeat Remo and qualify for the finals. According to Clemont, Alain had up until this point only used these two Pokémon in the entire tournament. Alain had a cold, serious demeanor throughout the battle, which worried Professor Sycamore. Afterwards, Alain observed the battle between Ash and Sawyer and continued to do so in A Riveting Rivalry!, even showing a smile after Ash was named as the victor of the battle.

In Kalos League Passion with a Certain Flare!, he was seen training for his upcoming battle against Ash with his Charizard, which Malva interrupted. She expressed her congratulations at Alain being able to make it to the finals so easily, adding that winning in the finals should be easy for someone like him. Alain replied by telling her to go away so that he could focus on training for his match. Malva shrugged off his comment, saying that since Alain's goal was to become the strongest, entering and winning the Kalos League was common sense. Alain replied by telling her that being the strongest didn't matter to him for his battle, saying that he just wanted to battle Ash. Malva commented that she thought Ash must be happy that Alain was being so mindful about him, with Alain asking what she was insinuating, adding that he was suspicious about her "true colors." Malva merely commented on how Alain was nearly finished gathering the remaining amount of Mega Evolution energy, asking him what he would do after Chespie had recovered, to which Alain replied that it was none of her business. Later that night, he was seen training with Charizard, expressing on how eager he was to battle Ash and how close they were to meeting the quota for the needed Mega Evolution energy. He was then approached by Professor Sycamore, who despite the awkwardness of their meeting, expressed that there were many things that he had wished to talk about with Alain, but that it was hard for him to remain collected while doing so. Alain questioned if Sycamore was mad at him for not coming back to the lab, which Sycamore denied, saying that he had heard about Alain's work with Lysandre. Alain admitted that he didn't want to expose his former mentor to any possible danger, telling the Professor about his goal to gather the power produced by Mega Evolution, but that there were also many people who would seek to twist that power for evil purposes, with Sycamore asking Alain if he backed away from him for his own safety, to which Alain confirmed. Alain told his former mentor that he couldn't turn back, not while there were even more things that he had lost compared to when he first started his journey, and until he could get those lost things back, he said that he could only continue to become even more powerful. Sycamore, smiling in understanding, told his former assistant to do as he wished. The next day, Alain was seen entering the battlefield for his final battle with Ash.

In Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted!, Alain commenced his final round Full Battle with Ash. He started off with his Tyranitar to battle against Ash's Pikachu. While starting off strong by making use of Tyranitar's Sand Stream ability and size-advantage, it was quickly countered by Pikachu's agile movements and fierce attacks before being defeated by a powerful Electro Ball. Alain then sent out his Weavile to battle against Ash's Noivern and while initially having trouble due to Noivern's use of its echolocation abilities, Weavile managed to defeat it with a crushing Night Slash. Alain continued to use Weavile against Ash's Hawlucha and in spite of hitting consecutive techniques, it was defeated with Flying Press. Alain then sent out his Bisharp, which, making use of it's Thunder Wave technique, managed to swiftly defeat Hawlucha with Guillotine. After recalling his Bisharp, Alain would then call out his Unfezant to battle against Ash's Talonflame. Both Flying-types quickly made use of their aerial capabilities, and after repeated clashes, the two would eventually draw after knocking each other out due to a collision between Brave Bird and Sky Attack. Due to both Alain and Ash having lost half of their respective teams, the battlefield was changed. After the change, Alain would call out his Metagross as Ash once again called out his Pikachu. After gaining the advantage and increasing its speed with Agility, Metagross would overwhelm Pikachu with a barrage of its attacks, in the process burying it in a pile of boulders from its Rock Slide. In spite of that, Pikachu was able to fight back and intercept Metagross with Electro Ball and then made use of the opening to latch onto it and repeatedly blasted it with repeated Thunderbolts before defeating it with a powerful Iron Tail. Alain would then call out his Charizard, who would endure repeated attacks from Pikachu with little difficulty.

In Down to the Fiery Finish!, he defeated Ash in the finals, making him the winner of the Lumiose Conference. During the closing ceremony, after Diantha had handed Alain the championship trophy, the Kalos League stadium was attacked by massive roots unleashed by Z2, which Team Flare had placed under their control.

In A Towering Takeover!, he and Ash made their way through the root-infested Kalos League stadium in order to find Mairin. After meeting with Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie outside, and seeing Z2 on top of Prism Tower, he and Ash went to find Mairin. After finding her, the two were ambushed by Celosia and some Team Flare Grunts, who informed Alain that Lysandre had ordered Ash to be captured and brought to him. Despite Ash trying to pull him away, Alain resisted, and allowed Team Flare to capture an unconscious Ash, along with all of his Pokémon. He was then transported via helicopter to Prism Tower, where he angrily questioned Xerosic as to why Team Flare needed Ash. He then went to the top of the tower, where he angrily asked what Lysandre was doing, and that if he was trying to protect Kalos, then why was he destroying it. Lysandre revealed his true goal of returning Kalos to a beautiful state, and in order to do so, Kalos needed to be destroyed and re-built from scratch. Alain was then seen visibly frustrated when he witnessed Ash and all of his Pokémon bound mid-air by Lysandre, but made no movement to help his rival when he called out to him.

In Coming Apart at the Dreams!, he collapsed in anger and frustration towards himself for being used by Lysandre for his scheme, punching the ground and screaming his frustration that he wouldn't be able to help Mairin and Chespie after all he had done. He then watched in horror as Lysandre attempted to force Ash and Greninja to undergo their Bond Phenomenon power, and after the two were able to trigger the transformation on their own and break free of their confinement, Alain turned against Lysandre and freed Ash's Pokémon. The two then began a battle against Lysandre's Pyroar and Mega Gyarados, and thanks to the efforts of Ash's Hawlucha, Noivern, and Pikachu, were able to knock out Pyroar.

Continuing their battle in XY134, Lysandre's Mega Gyarados proved unexpectedly powerful as it was able to defeat all of Ash's Pokémon except for his Pikachu and Greninja. Alain and Ash were eventually assisted by Malva. Alongside Malva, Alain was impressed by the dedication and wisdom Ash displayed when he lectured Lysandre on why the current world is worth fighting for. The three were finally able to defeat Lysandre in the next episode, but left in shock when Lysandre appeared to commit suicide by stepping off Prism Tower. After learning the Megalith had absorbed Chespie and was heading to Anistar City's Sundial, Alain and company met up with Clemont, Bonnie, and Blaziken Mask and headed towards the Megalith Zygarde by helicopter. Upon reaching the creature, Alain, along with everyone else, began fighting the creature and were eventually aided by Diantha and the Gym Leaders of Kalos as well. In the following episode, Alain and Ash were able to reach the Megalith Zygarde's core, where Alain helped rescue Chespie, taking out the creature. After Lysandre returned and controlled the Megalith Zygarde, Alain used his Charizard to continue fighting and was able to destroy Lysandre's control device, allowing Squishy and Z2 to destroy the Megalith Zygarde and stop Lysandre's wicked plan. Relieved to see that Chespie finally awoke from its coma, Alain apologized to Mairin for all he did and asked for her forgiveness, but Mairin told him that as long as he was safe, then everything was alright.

He reappeared in XY137, where Mairin threw a party for his return at Professor Sycamore's lab. He listened as Ash revealed his intent to return home to Pallet Town, later admitting to Ash that he was not sure of what he wanted to do now that everything he wanted to do had been accomplished. Feeling depressed and unsure, Alain said that despite not knowing Lysandre's plot, he still felt that he needed to atone for his mistakes. Ash suggested that they have another battle someday, as battling always helped him to find the answers to questions that he had. Although Alain was hesitant since Ash had already done so much for him, he agreed noting to himself that in every way that was important Ash was his superior. However, their conversation was interrupted when Team Rocket started attacking the lab in order to steal Pikachu. Using Charizard and Greninja, Ash and Alain successfully rescued Pikachu, and then sent Team Rocket blasting off with Serena and Clemont's assistance. Later on, he and the others received medals from Sycamore for their efforts against Team Flare, before posing for a group photograph and watching the reopening of Prism Tower that night. Professor Sycamore also asked Alain if he would like to return to his post as research assistant and Alain happily agreed. Alain reappeared in the next episode, where he and Mairin came to watch Serena's performance. He was hesitant when Mairin and Chespie dragged him to dance with her, but with Professor Sycamore's encouragement, he eventually agreed, although still feeling awkward.

He appeared in a flashback in XY139.

Alain made one more appearance in XY140, where he, Mairin, and Professor Sycamore visited Ash and his friends before they would leave. During their conversation, Alain revealed that he and Mairin were now going to journey throughout Kalos to hunt down Key Stones and Mega Stones, due to the Anistar Sundial now providing locations to Mega Stones throughout the region. He also informed Ash that he had discarded his Mega Stone and Key Stone because he received them from Lysandre, and that he wanted to find them on his own and start from zero just like Ash. Alain and Ash then said goodbye to each other and promised to battle again one day. Alain was later seen talking with Sycamore via a video call alongside Mairin in Frost Cavern, giving him an update on their journey.

Pokemon

 * Charmander → Charmeleon → Charizard ↔ Mega Charizard X
 * Metang → Metagross
 * Tyranitar
 * Weavile
 * Bisharp
 * Unfezant

Trivia

 * If the player has Steven's Shiny Beldum, Steven Stone makes a nod to Alain and Mega Evolution Special II during the Delta Episode in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, mentioning an occasion, a long time ago, when he had the chance to meet and battle Rayquaza alongside a young Trainer who used a black Charizard.