>>34236668I'd feel no need to bring the Gym system into the region of Alola, the Trial Captains act pretty well as perfectly appropriate equivalents.
It seems like the Totem Pokemon are raised specially by the Captains, making their station just more than mere words alone.
As for who replaces them, it seems like the Kahunas might be in charge of that.
I might be inclined to see the idea of Totems akin to the idea of Kami, or Gods of a location.
I dunno, it might just be a stretch, but they are powerful Pokemon that are stronger than others of their type. They seem to be given special abilities, protected, and test us for our worthiness for the Z-Crystals.
So it would make sense that if something happened to a Totem Pokemon of a location that another would be chosen based on their capacity to handle the innate power of being a Totem.
For the Elite Four, I would want it to act as a main means of communication with other Elite Fours across the Pokemon World. It would feel naturally sufficient. If a Kahuna feels they are reaching an age they cannot perform their job to their capacity, they should consider finding a successor to take their place.
Preferably a Trial Captain that would be capable of taking up the Kahuna mantle since they would already have sufficient experience in battling so there would only have to be some shadowing and mentoring on Kahuna training before the actual torch is passed.
I would treat this as a job, but it would also be something that is steeped in tradition and rules. There would need to be some restrictions, I just feel like if you wish to make it big enough to encompass the Elite Four, you need to incorporate more into it to make it more worthy of that distinction.
Young Kahunas like Hala wouldn't be possible in my system, because she wouldn't be able to inherit the role.
Tapus are purely defensive Pokemon that protect a region, I wouldn't let them be fought or captured to help stabilize that area from harm.
