Ilima is the Trial Captain of Melemele Island's Verdant Cavern. He specializes in Normal-type Pokémon.
In the Games
Ilima is a graduate of the Trainers' School on Route 1 and is admired as a hero by the students there. Some call him the "Prince of the Trainers' School". While he typically acts polite and dignified, he becomes a very different person in the midst of Pokémon battles.
The player first meets Ilima alongside Professor Kukui in the Trainers' School after defeating the Teacher there. He later appears at the Marina when two Team Skull Grunts disrupted his conversation with the player. After defeating the Grunts, he challenges the player to a battle.
Ilima later appears as the player's guide to their first trial in Verdant Cavern.
After completing his trial, the player can visit the second floor of his house in the Hau'oli City Shopping District, where Ilima is in his room. He says he is researching on Pokémon battling, and brings the player to the Trainers' School, where he battles the player.
In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Ilima can be fought at Hau'oli Cemetery during Mina's trial to earn the Orange Petal. In addition, after the player has defeated him in a battle during the post-game, he will give the player a piece of Normalium Z to be delivered to Verdant Cavern for new trial-goers. When the player tries to place the Z-Crystal on the pedestal in Totem's Den, the Totem Pokémon of Verdant Cavern will challenge them to a rematch. After the Totem is defeated, the player can place the Z-Crystal on its proper place.
According to his mother, Ilima used to study in the Kalos region in the past.
In the Anime
Ilima first appeared in SM065. In the past, Tupp, a to-be member of Team Skull, got annoyed with him when he began to draw groups of girls to him instead. Later in life, Ilima attended and graduated from the Pokémon School, accomplishing a lot of milestone records; earning the nickname of "Pokémon School Prince". It was even rumored that he could make Samson Oak's Komala open its eyes, but this ultimately turned out to be false, much to the disappointment of Professor Kukui's class. After graduating, he went to Kalos to study abroad and even participated in the Kalos League.
In the present day, Ilima battled Kagetora and won, earning him the Eevium Z. He later returned to the Pokémon School to say hello to Professor Kukui and Samson Oak, and was introduced to Ash and Lillie. After swimming with Ash and his classmates, Ilima showed them his Z-Ring and Eevium Z, and expressed his desire to get stronger with Eevee without needing to evolve it. Ash, finding something in common with Ilima, challenged him to a battle and he gladly accepted. Unfortunately, the two Trainers were interrupted by a gang of Team Skull Grunts, led by a vengeful Tupp. Ilima and Eevee defeated all of the Grunts by themselves, using a Last Resort boosted by Extreme Evoboost to send them flying away.
In SM066, Ilima taught Ash and his classmates how to play Poké Ping Pong before participating in a Poké Ping Pong tournament himself. He eventually came face to face with another expert Poké Ping Pong player, Ikari, in the finals. After an intense match, Ilima emerged victorious. Later that day, Ilima boarded a boat headed back to Kalos.
In the manga
Ilima debuts in the Sun & Moon chapter. He was first mentioned by Mallow, who considered asking him and Acerola to join her, Kiawe, and Lana in raiding Team Skull's base.
Ilima first appeared in person at the Trainers' School on Melemele Island. There, he agreed to help Mallow and the others face off against Team Skull. After the call ended, a Teacher informed Ilima that Hau had arrived to see him. Hau requested to join Ilima and the other Trial Captains in confronting Team Skull at their hideout in Po Town. Hau revealed that a member of Team Skull was a student of Hala's, but that student ended up believing that only victories mattered in battling. Due to this, Hala blamed himself for the formation of Team Skull. After Ilima accepted his offer, Hau went off to buy malasadas, as he believed that with food, everyone might get along easier.
Later that day, Ilima and Hau arrived at Po Town on Ula'ula Island, where they met up with Lana, Kiawe, Mallow, and Acerola. Shortly after entering the area, the group was accosted by several Team Skull Grunts. When Guzma revealed himself demanding to know why his base was being intruded, Hau offered the malasadas to him in the hopes that everyone could eat together. Guzma accepted, but stated that they had to make it to him first. As he says this, a Pheromosa, Celesteela, and Guzzlord appear to attack Ilima's group.
