>>34860945The fact that Lana, Mallow, Kiawe, and Sophocles were the first four Trial Captains revealed and Sophocles was revealed at the same time as the former three despite being on a different island and not interacting with them in-game makes me think their roles in the anime played a part in their designs
Together with Ash and Lillie, they fill all of your standard "tokens"
>Ash: The token lead male character>Lillie: The token white lead female>Kiawe: The token black guy>Lana: The token Asian girl>Mallow: The token "other" (in this case, native Hawaiian)>Sophocles: The token fat kid 