All of the new gym leader character designs for Pokémon Sword and Shield are great. One recently revealed trainer in particular has been racking up the fan art. Say hello to Allister.
Here is the character’s official description:
Allister is a talented Trainer of Ghost-type Pokémon who has taken on the mantle of the Ghost-type Gym Leader at a young age. He’s extremely shy and fearful, and he always hides his face with a mask when around other people. He rarely makes public appearances and apparently spends most of his time around ruins or in cemeteries.
The character is a Shield-exclusive gym leader, so let’s see how Allister compares to previous Ghost-type gym Leaders.
Yikes! The letters on his shorts, 291, are a wordplay and can be read as ni (“two” in Japanese), ku (or “nine”) and i (which sounds like a long “e” in English but refers to “one” as in ichi. Said together, you get the word nikui (憎い), meaning, “hateful,” “horrible” or “spiteful.” But people don’t seem to hate Allister, and even folks who are not into Pokémon dig this spooky emo trainer.