Kukui (Pokémon Sun and Moon)

Because of some lore and semantics, Kukui is not often viewed as a Pokémon League Champion the same way most of these characters are, as the Alolan region has its own, separate gauntlet it puts trainers through rather than the officially sanctioned Pokémon League we fight through in other games. But fighting Professor Kukui, the man who sent you on your journey, is actually a pretty cool, full-circle moment at the end of Pokémon Sun and Moon

In general, his team’s not too remarkable. One of his Pokémon will be a starter you and your rival Hau didn’t pick, but the rest of the team is made up of some respectable, varied selections that don’t really scream “the best trainer in the region,” but at the very least have more type coverage than the other Champions we’ve discussed already. I would’ve liked to have seen his team change up more depending on which starter he was using, but the Pokémon he has don’t really overlap with any of the starters, which is a double-edged sword because it keeps the modular ace from being redundant but it also means there are just inherent gaps Kukui always has no matter what. Points for variety, but he loses some for not adapting to varied circumstances.