Guzma/Games

Guzma first appears in Malie Garden, taunting Professor Kukui, calling both the professor and himself "fellow rejects who never could become captains". Guzma then criticizes Kukui's idea of building a Pokémon League for Alola; while he agrees that some parts of the island challenge are antiquated, he claims there is no need for a League, as he believes he is the strongest in the region. To solidify his position, his Grunts have been stealing every piece of Buginium Z across Alola simply to deny its use to other Trainers. When Kukui asks the undefined to battle Guzma, the boss takes notice of their Z-Ring, and asks why they're taking on the island challenge before immediately dismissing it and accepting Kukui's terms. The player wins, and Guzma leaves, saying he'll remember the encounter.

Later on, the player travels to Po Town to retrieve a Team Skull stole from a child living at the Aether House. After getting past an army of Team Skull Grunts and infiltrating their headquarters, the Shady House, the player comes face-to-face with Guzma, who is holding the Yungoos in his personal quarters. He returns the Yungoos after losing to the player again, but vows that he will one day defeat them.

However, it is subsequently revealed that Team Skull's kidnapping of the Yungoos was a distraction meant to draw the player away from the Aether House so Plumeria could abduct Lillie. At this point, Gladion openly betrays Team Skull and recruits both the player and Hau for a mission to rescue Lillie from where Team Skull took her — Aether Paradise. As the player, Hau and Gladion fight through the s who, along with Faba, are guarding Aether Paradise on Lusamine's orders, they discover a large group of Team Skull Grunts personally led by Guzma guarding the path to Lusamine's mansion, revealing that Lusamine has been secretly controlling Team Skull. Gladion rushes ahead to attempt to defeat Guzma and open the path for the player, but fails, leaving the player to battle Guzma one last time themselves. Guzma relents and allows the player to enter Lusamine's mansion after falling once more. A short while later, he rushes to Lusamine's side after she opens the Ultra Wormhole using Nebby's powers, unleashing Ultra Beasts all over Alola. Encouraging Lusamine to capture the that appears in the room so it can be used to crush the player and their friends, Guzma ends up in a battle with Hau while Gladion tries to defeat Nihilego and the player fights Lusamine. Upon her defeat, the Ultra Wormhole and Nihilego begin to disappear. Unwilling to let her plans be thwarted, Lusamine enters the portal, taking Guzma with her.

Guzma is not seen again until after the player and Lillie have helped Nebby recover and evolve from into /. The Legendary Pokémon transports the player and Lillie into Ultra Space, where they discover Guzma sitting alone, separated from Lusamine. He reveals that once they arrived in Ultra Space, he tried to capture a Nihilego of his own, only for it to use its parasitic powers to control him. Claiming that he has always lived his life making people afraid of him, Guzma admits that this experience has made him feel true fear for the first time, and warns the player and Lillie that they are stupid for coming to Ultra Space and tells them that Lusamine is too far gone into her insanity to be saved. He sits out and watches as the player battles Lusamine and subsequently separates her from the Nihilego she fused with using the aid of Solgaleo/Lunala and is saved from Ultra Space along with the others when Solgaleo/Lunala uses its powers to return them to the real world. Upon arrival, Hapu meets the group and has Guzma help her take away the unconscious Lusamine on her.

Once the player becomes, it is revealed that Guzma disbanded Team Skull after returning from Ultra Space. To reflect this new start in life, he no longer wears his gold chain bearing Team Skull's insignia, paints a red X over the insignia on his coat, removes his Team Skull tattoos and changes his sunglasses to a symmetrical pair of round lenses. He can be found in his parents' home on, where he tells the player to meet him on Hau'oli City's beachfront. There, he expresses a continuing desire to finally defeat the player and challenges them once again. Upon his loss, Hala appears and tells him that he cannot win because he does not recognize his opponents' strength. Hala promises to make a fine trainer out of Guzma, and Guzma leaves after gifting the player his lucky charm, a Dawn Stone. In Moon only, he appears as a potential challenger and Multi Battle teammate at the Battle Tree. In Sun, this appearance is fulfilled by Plumeria instead.

Throughout the game, the player can discover hints about Guzma's past and motivations. He once earned many trophies for Pokémon battling that are still on display in his parents' home, but at some point after taking on his island challenge, he ran away from home. He apparently aspired to become a captain, but was unable to. At some point, he was part of a group centered around a previous kahuna, but after it was struck down by the wrath of one of the guardian deities, Team Skull would rise from its ashes. Guzma wants to fight back against Alola's traditions and assert his own strength. He ultimately fell under Lusamine's influence because she was the only adult who ever acknowledged his strength as a Trainer, inspiring his loyalty to her until the events in Ultra Space.

In, when the player and Lillie prepare to open the Ultra Wormhole to pursue Guzma and Lusamine into Ultra Space, the pair are thrown out of a wormhole before the player and Lillie can do so. They are followed by, who attacks and absorbs Nebby before opening many Ultra Wormholes and fleeing back to Ultra Megalopolis. When the player returns from defeating Necrozma in Ultra Megalopolis, Guzma has regained consciousness and reflects on the conversation he overhears about working together with others. Later, during the game's credits, he and Plumeria are shown at the Shady House announcing the disbanding of Team Skull to its members.

During Episode RR, Guzma appears at Team Rocket's Castle to assist the player against a pair of s. He mentions that while he has nothing anymore, not even Team Skull, there are certain things he cannot let go of, and by invading Aether Paradise, Team Rainbow Rocket has violated one of those things. He remains in the lobby of the castle, holding off two Grunts while the player defeats the various in the castle en route to Giovanni, who is holding Lusamine hostage. Later, once the player has defeated Giovanni, he appears with Wicke and Colress as Lusamine regains consciousness and witnesses Faba's downfall.

In addition to appearing at the Battle Tree in Ultra Moon, Guzma can be found in both versions near Plumeria's trailer on, promising to protect those he cares about even without being a captain. He can also appear as a potential challenger during Title Defense battles at the.