Leinani Koa

Leinani Koa is the main character of Ascending Alola. As of the beginning of Ascending Alola, she is age 11. She is Kaiko Koa's older sister.

Ascending Alola
At the beginning of her adventure, Leinani had every intention of choosing Litten as her partner Pokemon. However, after her classmate and rival, Enoka Wahilani, chose Litten and Ulani Alo chose Popplio, Leinani went with Rowlet. She immediately challenged the Malie City Gym Leader, Uhuli, who rejected her and told her to go and battle the Po Town Gym Leader first. When preparing for her adventure to Po Town, her mother convinced her to nickname her Pokemon, so she named Rowlet DJ. Leinani was joined with her younger brother, Kaiko, on her small journey throughout Ula'ula Island. She caught a Sandshrew at the entrance of Mt. Lanikala, and named it Shure. She intended to enter Mt. Lanikala, but was forced to go back by Tapu Bulu. While exploring the Lake of the Sunne and Moone, Leinani met Enoka once again. He challenged and goaded her into a battle, which she ended up losing. She kept her battle and loss a secret from Kaiko.

The next day, she had her first ever gym battle against Guzma. Guzma did not take what Leinani said lightly, and he defeated her with only one Pokemon, Pinsir. He told her to come back after she had trained for a bit. A little while after, she met Ulani once again, and the two trained together for awhile. Leinani learned to use the flow of her music in battle, and DJ learned Shadow Sneak. In her rematch with Guzma, she managed to win with DJ's new abilities. Although she knew she would be overpowered by Uhuli and his Ice-type Pokemon, she still challenged him and prepared by teaching her Pokemon new moves from TM's and TR's (which she had received from her mother). With new moves and more stamina, she managed to defeat Uhuli to earn her second badge. Afterwards, she was awarded with her very own Z-Ring.

On Akala Island, she befriended and caught a shiny Sandygast that she named Vinyl. Afterward, she successfully challenged gym leader Xerxes on her first try. She took part in a Battle Royale alongside a returning Ulani. They were placed in a battle against the Masked Royal, who was removed from the battle after Leinani made it look like he was cheating.

Personality
Leinani is brash, loud-mouthed, and cocky. She loves her music, and she hates when people interrupt it. She thinks there's value to all kinds of music, and only openly dislikes the music that was made famous in Driftveil City, but even then, she says there are some good songs. She wants to be a rapper/producer, and she wants to find ways to implement music and Pokemon battling. She says that her main dream is to become the Alola Champion.

She's overall a competent battler, and was rated as one of the highest ranking students in all of Alola. However, she does let her nerves and emotions get to her, which make her freeze up and second guess herself. She is driven to win though, and can be harsh on her Pokemon.

Current Team
DJ (Rowlet) - (Received in AscA Track 1 - "Legend Has It")

Shure (Sandshrew) - (Caught in AscA Track 2 - "From Out Of Nowhere")

Boombox (Charjabug) - (Caught in AscA Track 8 - “8 Steps to Perfection” - Evolved in AscA Track 13 - "It's Tricky")

Vinyl (Sandygast) - (Caught in AscA Track 11 - “Bye Bye Blackbird”)

Mixtape (Wishiwashi) - (Caught in AscA Track 15 - "Brass Monkey")

On Hand
Buginium Z - (Received in AscA Track 6 - "Get It Right")

Icium Z - (Received in AscA Track 9 - “Midnight Crusade”)

Psychium Z - (Received in AscA Track 13 - "It's Tricky")

Grassium Z - (Received in AscA Track 19 - "Far Away")

Trivia
Leinani's name means 'beautiful child'

Leinani is half Unovan and half Alolan. Her father is a scientist who originates from Unova, and her mother runs a barbershop in Malie City. When her parents married, her father took her mother's name.

Leinani's favorite rap group is Jewel Runners, a play on the real-world rap duo Run the Jewels.

Leinani's favorite rock group is Robot Swan Dance, a play on the real-world rock band Dance Gavin Dance.