| Lillie | |
|---|---|
| Pokémon character | |
 Lillie, as seen inPokémon Sun andMoon | |
| First appearance | Pokémon Sun andMoon (2016) |
| Created by | Satoshi Tajiri |
| Designed by |
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| Voiced by |
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Lillie (Japanese:リーリエ,Hepburn:Rīrie) is a character inNintendo andGame Freak'sPokémon franchise, introduced in the 2016 video gamesPokémon Sun andMoon, being a central character in the story, and has appeared in numerous Pokémon media.
Developed byGame Freak and published byNintendo, thePokémon video game series started in Japan in 1996 through the release ofPokémon Red andBlue forGame Boy.[3] In the video game series, the players take on the role of aPokémon Trainer whose goal is to catch and train pocket creatures known as Pokémon. Players use the special abilities of these creatures to battle against other Pokémon, both those found in the wild and those often used by other Pokémon Trainers.[4]
In the Japanese version, Lillie uses 'watakushi', a personal pronoun which, when used outside of formal situations, makes a character seem either "prim and proper", "cultured", or "snobby".[5]
Like various other protagonist characters in the Pokémon video game series, Lillie does not express verbal dialogue in the form of voice inPokémon Sun andMoon and their sequelsUltra Sun andUltra Moon.[6]
Lillie first appears inPokémon Sun andMoon. At the start of the game, she escapes from the Aether Paradise, a conservation area owned by theAether Foundation, with theLegendary PokémonCosmog, whom she nicknames Nebby. Professor Kukui takes her on as his assistant after this, providing shelter for her and Nebby. After Nebby wanders off and the player character rescues it, she helps the player on their Island Challenge around theAlola region, while researching Nebby's origins. Later, Nebby is captured and brought to Aether Paradise. The player, their rivals Hau and Gladion, and Lillie, break into the Paradise to rescue Nebby, confronting the head of the organization,Lusamine, who is revealed to the player to be her and Gladion's mother. After Nebby evolves intoCosmoem and Lusamine disappears through a portal to the Ultra Space, a realm that links to numerous dimensions, that she forced Nebby to create, Lillie and the player head to the Altar on Poni Island, where using the mysterious items, the Sun Flute and the Moon Flute, they are able to get Nebby to evolve into eitherSolgaleo orLunala, depending on the game version. They follow Lusamine into Ultra Space and rescue her. She departs for the Kanto region alongside her mother at the end of the game.
She later appears inPokémon Ultra Sun andUltra Moon, where she has a more prominent role and acts more as an assistant character than inSun andMoon.[7] In these games, she does not depart for Kanto, and instead becomes a trainer in Alola, assisting the player in stoppingTeam Rainbow Rocket in thepostgame. She also appears in mobile gamePokémon Masters, paired withClefairy, and has alternate pairings withRibombee, Lunala,Polteageist, andComfey.
Lillie appears in thePokémon anime series, as a classmate ofAsh Ketchum and a student of the Pokémon School. Lillie first appeared in the first episode ofPokémon the Series: Sun & Moon. In the anime, she has a fear of Pokémon, but slowly grows to become used to them. She partners with anAlolan Vulpix nicknamed Snowy, which hatched from a Pokémon egg, as her main Pokémon companion. She also appears in the second episode ofPokémon Evolutions, which recounts the events that took place at the Altar on Poni Island as they are depicted in the Ultra games. Just like the games, Lillie plays the Sun Flute. In manga, Lillie appeared in theSun, Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon chapter ofPokémon Adventures as a shy preteen girl who stays with Professor Kukui's wife Profesor Burnet. She is later revealed to be the younger sister of Gladion.
The companyGood Smile has produced multiple figurines of Lillie. ANendoroid figurine was released in November 2017 depicting Lillie and the PokémonCosmog.[8] She received another Nendoroid figurine as well as aFigma figurine, both of which were revealed at Wonder Festival 2018.[9] People who pre-ordered the Figma figurine from either Good Smile or Pokémon Center Online got a hand dryer or hair brush respectively as well.[10] Lillie has also appeared multiple times in thePokémon Trading Card Game in itsSun and Moon expansion sets.
Since her appearance inPokémon Sun andMoon, Lillie has received mostly positive reception. She is a popular character for fans ofSun andMoon.[11] Chris Carter ofDestructoid regarded her as one of the best aspects ofSun andMoon.[10] Alex Donaldson ofVG247 found Lillie "endearing", citing the "snappy" English localization for this.[12] While Nick Wanserski did not think her decision to give up her "pacifist" ways to be justified, he nevertheless found the resolution with her mother to be well executed.[13] Allegra Frank and Simone de Rochefort ofPolygon regarded Lillie as one of the best women in video games in 2016. They note the emphasis the games put on her story, and how she works to overcome her limitations and comes out of her tribulations stronger.[14] Frank also praisedUltra Sun andUltra Moon for expanding on her story even further.[15] She gave her praise for her appearance in the 999th and 1000th episodes of thePokémon anime, praising how it handles her fear of Pokémon and calling her "sympathetic."[16]
Dan Van Winkle ofThe Mary Sue expressed hope that a followup to theSun andMoon games would star Lillie in the setting ofPokémon Red andBlue.[17] Fellow contributor toThe Mary Sue Paige Lyman regarded Lillie as the highlight of the game due to her character arc and the friendship that developed between the player character and Lillie.[18] Meanwhile, Emily Reuben ofBall State Daily criticizedSun and Moon for devoting too much time to Lillie and taking away from the player character's story. She further criticizedUltra Sun andUltra Moon for expanding her significance.[19]
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