Pokémon Sun and Moon / Fridge

This section is for Fridge entries regarding the original Sun and Moon versions. For Fridge entries that applies to Gen VII individual species and Alola regional variants, go here. For Fridge entries that apply to Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, go here.

Fridge pages are Spoilers Off by default, so all entries have been folderized as a security measure. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned!

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Fridge Brilliance

Team Skull's flower-based theme naming may seem odd, until you realize that people typically put flowers on people's graves.
Team Skull is full of poor members who failed their trials. They're poor because they're bad at training and battling. When a trainer loses a battle they have to pay the other trainer. The Skull grunts are impoverished because they can never win any matches.
Team Skull is seen as one of the weakest teams - even the grunts mostly use unevolved Pokémon. By the time you storm Team Skull's base, you're just thinking "You guys again?" and are just seeing them as annoyances. That's Gameplay and Story Integration: In-Universe, nobody takes Team Skull seriously, so you know exactly how the people in Alola feel towards them.
Lillie's distaste for battling might come from how she grew up where she could've been exposed to Pokemon seriously wounded in battle, taken in for severe injuries perhaps.
It's pointed out on the character page for the main characters that, for the first time in the series, you can make your character out to be an uncaring jackass if you want. This, along with a number of other details presents an interesting contrast to Pokémon Red and Blue, which the developers made several references back to throughout the game. When you choose a starter, you find your rival Hau, who is really friendly and always has the starter weak against yours. You proceed through the trials and complete them ahead of Hau. And when the Elite Four and the League in Alola is established, you are the one who fights your way through it and becomes the champion. If you were playing Pokémon Red or Blue... you'd probably be playing as Gary/Blue.
Celesteela can only be found in Moon and Ultra Moon. It's based on Kaguya, a figure from Japanese folklore who came from the moon. You do the math on this one.
The idea of a Rotom being incorporated into your Pokédex appears to be a bit out of left field, but it becomes clear when you consider that Rotom was partially based on Pulseman, a game developed and released by Game Freak in 1994. Perhaps Rotom being given this important a role is a shout-out to this overshadowed title? Also, Pulseman has the ability to travel freely between the real world and the computer world, much like Rotom can.
Hyper Training involves trading in bottle caps to increase the Pokémon's IVs. Bottle caps might be similar to POGs, which were invented in... get this... Hawaii.
- Upon launch, it was found that Hyper Training does not raise IVs, but the Pokémon keeps its new stats as if it had better IVs. Thus, Hyper Training is actual training — and not genetic modification at all — that helps the Pokémon reach the full potential of its species.
The first Totem Pokémon differs between versions. In Sun, it's a Gumshoos, while in Moon, it's an Alolan Raticate. Since it's said that Alola Rattata emerged by becoming nocturnal to avoid Yungoos, it makes this version difference a clever nod to the in-game lore.
Why does Alola have no native fossil Pokémon? Hawaii is geologically only a few million years old, and its volcanic geology means it preserves fossils poorly save for the most recent of finds, which consist of coral reefs and some birds. One info box in the game itself (in the Pokémon school) confirms that the Alolan islands were all made by volcanoes and that the Pokémon that live on them arrived there afterward.
- Many have also noted the place that fossil Pokémon are revived in-game is a bit of a Jurassic Park Reference: the movie was actually filmed in Hawaii. It's also interesting to note that all the selected fossil mons in game are based on prehistoric reptiles, though oddly enough not the iconic T-Rex or Sauropod.
The Z-Moves, or rather, the poses you perform when doing them, makes a lot of sense when relating to their Type.
- Normal: Is a fairly standard pose, with your arms making the shape of a 'z'.
- Fire: The way you move your hands up is reminiscent of a fire building up.
- Water: Your arms sway about like waves.
- Electric: You make a lightning bolt shape with your arms.
- Grass: Your arms make the shape of a blooming flower.
- Ice: Your arms make the shape of an iceberg.
- Fighting: You punch the air.
- Poison: You pantomime acid or poison bubbling up and spreading.
- Ground: You spin and then punch the ground if you were creating an earthquake.
- Flying: You flap your arms like they're wings then punch towards the sky.
- Psychic: You perform a Pstandard Psychic Pstance.
- Bug: Your arms resemble an attacking praying mantis.
- Rock: You do a strongman's pose representing the strength needed to hurl giant boulders around.
- Ghost: You bend at the waist, covering your face with your hands, and then sway creepily coming back up, uncovering your face like a ghost scaring someone.
- Dragon: Your arms make a dragon's jaw.
- Dark: You bend at the waist like the Ghost Z-Move, but instead of acting like a ghost, you instead throw your arms up and make a scary roaring face.
- Steel: You punch your fists together, representing clanging metal.
- Fairy: You make a heart shape with your hands, in reference to their Super-Cute Superpowers, and you end on a pose that looks like a fairy in flight.
It's been noted that the Ghost and Dark Z-Move poses are very similar to one another. The characters who give you the Ghostium Z, Darkium Z, and teach you those poses are Acerola and Nanu, who, while not related by blood, are very close. In addition, the two types have very similar offensive match-ups; They're both only super effective against Psychic and Ghost, the only types Ghost is weak to, and the only types Dark resists.
Why does Gladion's Golbat and Type: Null take so long to evolve? Well, both evolve based on friendship, which is decreased if the Pokémon faints. Since they only evolve after you beat them three times (with another for his loss to Guzma), maybe they didn't evolve 'till late game because you always caused them to faint.
- Golbat was also a Zubat at first. It's also possible Gladion did not travel around nearly as much as you did, given that he was mostly seen on Akala Island.
- Also, considering that the Type: Null all went berserk and were stuffed into freezers shortly after they were made, it may imply that nobody knew Type: Null could evolve until Gladion did it. In other words, he might not have known that he needed to do anything special with it. (Also, Type: Null may have been slow to open up to Gladion for that same reason.)
- Gladion was cold-hearted and distant at the beginning of the game, but became a more warm-hearted person after meeting the player. The reason his Golbat and Type: Null took so long to evolve was because Gladion had to learn about kindness and friendship from you first, and treat his Pokémon better as a result.
- It could also be related to Gladion's striking resemblance to Silver from the Johto-based games. They both steal their starter from a lab, are the son of the Big Bad, are initially antagonistic toward the player, help the player take down the Big Bad, end the game on friendly terms with the player, and the last battle you have with both of them reveals that Crobat and Silvally were finally able to evolve, signifying their character growth.
Also, on a side note about Type: Null, it's a destructive genetically-enhanced living weapon in a Hawaii-like setting and only known by a codename until an outcast human kid tames it, befriends it, and gives it a name. Sounds familiar?
During trainer battles, you can now see the Pokéballs that the other trainer(s) used to catch their 'mons, and some of them match well with their trainer types.
- Gentlemen and Madame trainers use Luxury Balls. They're valuable and reflect upon a luxurious lifestyle (if the name wasn't obvious enough).
- Punks use Dusk Balls. Most delinquent activity goes on in the darkness of night.
- Collectors use Premier Balls. They don't have much in the way of use (they have the same catch rate as regular Pokéballs), but you get them from buying in bulk, something a collector would probably do in their quest to get every Pokémon they can find.
- Team Skull members use Nest Balls, and primarily use Pokémon common to early routes. They're low-level, so they can just lob a Nest Ball at them and catch them quickly to give their grunts some ammunition. It could also be an early hint that they aren't as mean and threatening as they first appear.
- Similarly, Pokémon Breeders also use Nest Balls. Given that they breed Pokémon and newborns hatch at level 1, it's a good clue that these are 'mons they've raised from infancy. They also appear to use Friend Balls, which are otherwise exclusive to Gen II and its remakes. Being that they're associated with Paniola Ranch and the violent Tauros there, it makes sense that they'd use an item that makes their catches less antagonistic.
- Scientists use Repeat Balls, which are more effective at catching species you've already caught before. It makes sense that they'd catch many of the same species of Pokémon to study the subtle differences between then.
- More skilled trainers use Great Balls and even Ultra Balls. These also tend to be used on rarer Pokémon to increase the odds of catching one.
Grimsley's new look in this generation, or rather his new choice of colors. Specifically, he trades his trademark blue suit for a black-and-white kimono, his blue hair is now black, and the hair on his temples has streaks of white. Don't get it yet? Grimsley, aside from Colress, is representing the Unova region and, by extension, the Black and White games.
Verging on Fridge Horror, but you know why Pokémon call for help? Imagine what a battle's like for them: A strange trainer's just suddenly appeared, and it's got maybe 5 or 6 Pokémon with it. You KNOW you're pretty outnumbered, so what do you do? You call for help, in hopes that you could maybe just not be fainted or captured by this trainer.
- On the other hand, in-game lore has consistently said that it is the Pokémon that go after trainers, and often with the intent of testing them with the desire to be captured if the trainer is worthy. SOS battles are simply another test in this sense.
The Pokédex this time around is a slight bit more Darker and Edgier with its entries (ex: Primeape becoming so angry it dies and finally looks peaceful/Drifloon lets out a screaming soul if it pops) this time around. Aside from GF taking a chance to update some old lore, it could very well be your snarky Rotom companion deciding to not filter anything out for you. Or even exaggerating the entries (and turning them into ghost stories) just to mess with and scare you, something completely in character for its species.
In order to even see some species of Pokémon in these games, you'll need a different particular species to call for backup. Some of them are rather clever;
- Corsola that call for help usually end up attracting other Corsola. Sometimes though, they'll attract their natural predator; Mareanie, who'll promptly start attacking the Corsola. Ironically, Mareanie and its evolution can breed with Corsola.
- Carbink does the same as Corsola, where instead of calling over another Carbink, a jewel-hungry Sableye will appear and start attacking it.
- A Cubone (a rather notorious orphaned Pokémon) in trouble will call for help, and sometimes a Kangaskhan will come. This could also be a minor nod to the fan theory that Cubones are actually baby Kangaskhan. On the other hand, a Cubone might also attract the attention of a Mandibuzz, bone collecting vultures whose favorite prey are Cubone.
The term pseudo-Legendary has been used for Pokémon whose stats rival Legendaries, and usually follow some patterns (namely being a three-stage line, usually draconic in nature, with a 600 BST by the end). Take a look at Silvally. Its base stat total also rivals Legendaries (being 570 BST, comparable to a lot of Legendary Pokémon), and its creation and design was meant to emulate Arceus, a Legendary that is basically God. In other words, it too can be considered a pseudo-Legendary of sorts, even if it's not quite following the patterns of the other ones. It's even genderless like most Legendaries and can't breed either.
Several Skull grunts are mentioned to have been failed trial challengers. Interestingly, they also tend to use Pokémon who are connected to the trials: The Yungoos, Ratatta, Salandit, Fomantis, and Gastly families were all used by trial captains as either Totem Pokémon, or as Pokémon you had to fight during your trial. They kept their failure close to heart, and thus were never able to get over it. Guzma, on the other hand, failed at becoming a trial captain. In order to have even been considered for the position, you would think he'd have cleared his own trials first. No one would expect him to teach the class he failed at.
- Guzma completing the island challenge is confirmed by the house on Route 2, which is revealed in the postgame as being that of his parents; examining the photos in the living room draws attention to one of "a tall boy proudly showing off his island challenge trophy".
- There is also something darkly poetic about them using the Drowzee line: a family of Pokémon who eat dreams.
Wicke is noted by many for wearing a sweater despite being in the tropics, but this may have an effect beyond fanservice: Lusamine and other members of the Aether Foundation were affected by the toxins of Nihilego. Her thicker clothing may have made it harder for the jellyfish-like Ultra Beast to inject her with venom compared to the thinner clothing of the other members.
Despite the fact that the Grunts do not like him much, Gladion was said to be a favorite of Guzma and thus had a certain level of protection. Guzma took a liking to Gladion because of their similar backgrounds (and depending on whether he knew who Gladion was, never told Lusamine about his whereabouts).
One of Lusamine's Pokémon is a Bewear, a Pokémon who wants to be loved but ends up harming people when expressing it. The trainer who uses it ended up crazy enough that trying to express affection ended up being harmful, now didn't she?
- Also, people have complained that Lusamine only uses five Pokémon in her final battle, despite that final space being fillable by a Nihilego. Technically, it is filled by a Nihilego — she's shown letting one out of a Beast Ball before the fight. She just fuses with it to power up the rest of her team.
- Additionally, she also has a Lilligant on her team. Given who her daughter is, now we know where she got the name.
A general theme of Lusamine is that whoever she had a hand in raising tends to resemble an Ultra Beast. The fact that Guzma is working for her may be a bit out of left field, until you find the Ultra Beast Xurkitree later, and realize that Lusamine probably guided him into dressing up like it.
When the Island Challenge was first revealed, many expressed remorse that there would be no Dark-type Gym Leader, and the Dark type would be relegated to the Elite Four. However, if the Kahunas are considered Gym Leaders, that makes Nanu close enough to one. It's also a very humourous nod to this trend to have Nanu outright refuse to become an Elite Four member.
At the end of the game, Lillie gives you a PokéDoll. Not only does this signify letting go of her childhood in favor of gaining maturity, traditionally a PokéDoll is an item that lets you run away from a wild Pokémon. And since Lillie is not a Trainer, she probably had to rely on the doll a lot to get out of tight situations.
Hoenn's representatives in the Battle Tree; Wally with Mega Gallade represents Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire while Anabel represents Emerald.
- Tying to the point above is Anabel uses the original Battle Frontier theme from Emerald instead of the remixed version introduced in Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. While it can be argued that it was used for the sake of nostalgia, it also reflects how this Anabel is the one from the non-Mega Evolution timeline, which she originates from.
Here's another one for Nanu. Acerola points out that Nanu could've asked the Aether Foundation for help with Team Skull messing around with Po Town, but instead Nanu chooses to work by himself at the police station on Route 17. It's most likely because Nanu didn't trust the Aether Foundation, and therefore chose to work alone so he could observe Team Skull's activities for himself and see if there was a connection.
When the Player Character, Hau, and Gladion infiltrate the Aether Foundation during the latter portion of the game to find Lillie, the the trio split up to investigate different research labs. Gladion curiously immediately calls dibs on one of the research labs and refuses to allow the Player and Hau to enter it with him. At a later point, you can enter the room, which contains scattered files on Type: Null, with most of them having been deleted. Sounds like Gladion actually knew exactly what was in the room all along, and decided to kill two birds with one stone by erasing most of Aether's research on Type: Null.
- Also, if you talk to Gladion while he's standing in front of the lab, he'll specifically comment on something being missing. If he didn't delete the files himself, then someone else at Aether did, and this could foreshadow the fact that the player won't get to read all of the Type: Null files when they come back later.
- Gladion was talking about Cosmog not being in the room, him saying "It's not here" is just part of his warning to the player to not try to get inside.
Why does Alola have so many Rainbow Motifs? RL Hawaii's state nickname is the "Rainbow State" due to the large amount of rainbows that occur there.
The Zygarde Cores are all located in the homes of the five greatest Trainers in the Alola region: Hala's house in Iki Town, Olivia's shop in Konikoni City, Nanu's station on Route 17, Hapu's homestead on the Ancient Poni Path, and your house on Route 1. Foreshadowing?
Hidden in the data for Pokémon Red and Blue is a battle against Professor Oak, with levels associated with a Champion or post-Champion battle and carrying the starter that was not chosen by any character. Took 'em twenty years to implement it in a different region with a different professor.
Nebby doesn't really listen to Lillie and always escapes from her bag to float around, despite Lillie telling it many times that it's too dangerous for it to possibly be seen by anybody. Given that Cosmog evolves at level 43 and it evolves during the course of the story despite Lillie never using it to fight, Nebby is probably too high of a level for Lillie to command.
- A Pokémon with a matching OT number should listen to its trainer no matter what. Rather, Nebby was too high a level for Lillie to properly capture, meaning that she was forced to keep it in her bag rather than a Pokéball, and when you do properly capture Nebby, it has you listed as its OT rather than her.
- Alternatively, Lillie did say she had lots of Repels on her so wild Pokémon would stay away from her. And since Nebby isn't in a Pokéball and has to be near those constantly inside the bag...
- Another point on Nebby's level: it can use Teleport at the very start of the game, albeit not well. That means that it has to be level 23 at the time Lillie rescues it, which vastly outdoes anything on Melemele Island with the exception of Tapu Koko or Necrozma. Furthermore, since Nebby manages to reach level 43 by the end of the Ula'ula section of the game, it's very likely that it was level 42 or close to it from the beginning. During the Poni section, it gets all the way to level 53! No wonder Lillie's Repels are effective, if Nebby counts as "the first Pokemon in her party list". She's never in an area where there's a higher-levelled wild encounter than what she has in her bag!
Nanu having an Alolan Persian and a large number of Alolan Meowth makes more sense when you remember Acerola claiming to have royal blood. According to game-lore, Meowth were imported to the region by Alolan royals.
The pre-release trailers for the game foreshadowed Gladion being Lusamine's son by introducing him alongside the Aether Foundation instead of the rest of Team Skull, who were introduced in an earlier trailer.
Much like almost every previous generation where it is available, Absol can be once again found in an area of impending disaster. This time, it's a rare encounter in Tapu Village, which Tapu Bulu destroyed before the game's events.
- Also, much later in the game, Celesteela can potentially be found in the Haina Desert, which is right near Tapu Village. Considering what the Ultra Beasts are capable of, it's quite fitting that Absol is near where one of them can be found.
Guzma seems to have set himself up as a kind of false trial captain at his base in Po Town, whether it was a conscious decision or not. Trials usually involve doing a task that will usually end with multiple battles (the password pieces you need to get and the grunts that guard them) and then fighting a stronger Totem Pokémon (Guzma considers himself incredibly powerful and has a fairly strong Golisopod), earning a Z-Crystal in the process (Guzma's room has a chest filled to the brim with Buginium Z, from which you get to take one after you beat him). The grunts even try to block your path with repurposed trial barricades.
- Tying into this somewhat are the trophies in Guzma's room at his parents' house. They are all bronze, except for one silver. It's evident that failing to become a trial captain was just one instance in a long history of failure for Guzma, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never win a gold in anything. As the leader of Team Skull, he's decked himself out in gold bling: his watch, the frames of his sunglasses, and most damningly, the Team Skull emblem — a gold medal worn around his neck.
- Ironically, his "fake trial" where you fight through Team Skull mooks to get at Guzma himself might actually feel more akin to battling your way through a (particularly dilapidated) Pokemon Gym, seeing as how Trials primarily have you fighting wild Pokémon, not teams belonging to other trainers. He may have failed at becoming a certified Trial Captain, but he just might've made a really good Gym Leader if he'd been in a different region.
- Adding on to the previous point, there are seven trials in Alola - one less than the number of gyms in the other regions. Add in Guzma, and you are at the eight normal dungeons in a pokemon game.
What the Nihilego's "neurotoxin" actually is. If one takes a second to think about it, what it actually is becomes clear: a psychoactive drug. It's pretty clear why Pokémon didn't use the proper term in-game, given the rating, but the proper term explains the behavior of the Big Bad significantly more. Lusamine was an addict. She was a good parent until she got hooked to the Nihilego's drug, which reduced her inhibitions and almost certainly made her feel good. When Gladion took the Type: Null (a clear attempt at replicating Arceus) from her, he deprived her of a way to get more of her drug of choice, hence her worsening behavior with Lillie. When Lillie did the same with Cosmog, Lusamine got (more) unhinged. Even her collapse after the final battle is explained: she was no longer subjected to a constant dose of the drug from the Nihilego. The drug itself was not a narcoleptic, she was just crashing from the huge dose followed by being so completely cut off.
Ultra Beasts not being able to breed could be another layer that parallels them to Legendaries in-game. However, it could that these Beasts just don't have the DNA that a local species, like a Ditto, can breed with on account of them not being a part of this universe at all, coming from an entirely different dimension instead.
- It's also possible that the conditions they need to breed are simply not present in the main Pokémon universe.
  - The nature of how you get your own Cosmog supports this: Documents at the Aether Foundation imply that Cosmog is an Ultra Beast for all intents and purposes, so it isn't too much of a leap of logic to assume that its evolved forms count as Ultra Beasts too, or are at least closely related to them. In the post-game, if you take your cover legendary to the Altar at a certain time of day (daytime in Moon, nighttime in Sun), you can travel to another world where you can meet the other cover legendary, and together they generate a Cosmog for you to take. The book Lillie reads in Malie Library all but outright states that Cosmog is their offspring, but you can't just stick Solgaleo and Lunala in the Nursery and expect a Cosmog egg — the conditions needed for them to reproduce are far more specific. So it's not too much of a stretch to assume that the same holds true for other Ultra Beasts — they can breed, just not in the traditional sense.
During the after-credits legendary hunt in ORAS, some of the legendaries use unremixed versions of their battle music, even if they had more modern versions. With Anabel retaining her old theme in this game, and the implication that this Anabel is the one from Emerald and not the ORAS timeline, this hints that some of those legends came from the other timeline.
The beginning of the game appears to be a clear nod to the first episode of the Pokémon anime. In the United States, at least, the Pokémon anime was released a few weeks before the games were. Since Sun and Moon are intended to be the main features of Pokémon's 20th Anniversary, it makes sense why they'd make the beginning similar; they're basically making a homage to many long-time fans' first introduction to the franchise.
Kahili, a golfer, being a Flying-type specialist may confuse some. However, once you realize there are bird-related golf terms (birdie, eagle, albatross...), you notice a distinct connection between her type choice and sport.
Why is Bagon easier to find in Kala'e Bay (10% encounter rate) than on Route 3 (1% encounter rate)? If you want to use lore as the reason, it's possible that it jumped off the cliffs on Route 3 (because of its dream to fly) and can't climb back up as a result.
- On a related note, you can encounter Salamence from SOS battles with Bagon on Route 3, and Shelgon in SOS battles in Kala'e Bay. Once a Bagon falls down there and realizes it can't get back up, it trains to evolve so it can fly back up.
Sparkling Aria heals the target's burn, like Smellingsalts heals paralysis and Wake-Up Slap heals sleep. However, unlike the latter two, Sparkling Aria doesn't deal double damage on a target with the status effect that it heals. This is likely because being hit with Smellingsalts or Wake-Up Slap wouldn't be particularly pleasant even if it does heal you, but water on a burn would, so any bonus damage that Sparkling Aria would otherwise do would probably be canceled out by that.
The invasive lines of Ratatta and Yungoos are found in pretty much every area of the game except for a select few areas: many of them the places in real life that such creatures would be eradicated, including protected areas (Wela Volcano Park), isolated islands (Exeggutor Island), and public land (the area around the Trainer School).
- Also, the original Raticate entry in Sun mentions that regular Raticate has webbed feet and cross large bodies of water. Not only is this how real life rats can spread to new locations, but it also ties in to how the regular Ratatta line was spreading in the islands in its original form and only became its Alola form after Yungoos was brought in. Also, because of the adaptions in the Alolan form, including heavier fur and larger weight, it probably is not as good a swimmer as before, hence the line being in the original Raticate's entry.
Silvally's movepool, among other things, contains Air Slash, Razor Wind, and Steel Wing, even though it can't fly and lacks wings. However, its head crest resembles one and maybe is one, given its nature.
Professor Kukui's team is made up of evolutions of Pokémon found in Melemele Island (Lycanroc, Braviary, Magnezone, Snorlax, the stronger starter) where he lives. The only exception is Alolan Ninetales. Most likely, he caught it to easily defeat Dragon-type Pokémon, considering he had lost to Lance while taking on the Indigo League.
- It was also noticed how Alolan Ninetales resembles Professor Burnet's hair; perhaps it's also to help him feel like his wife is with him when they're not in the same place?
Carbink are found in Alola, but Diancie isn't despite being derived from a sudden mutation of Carbink. Perhaps the main reason is that Sableye prey on Carbink so much that virtually no Carbink can make it to the point where they could transform into a Diancie.
Why isn't Hapu part of the Elite Four? Because she only became Kahuna recently, with the previous Kahuna having passed away a few years ago. Kukui presumably knew about the latter and contacted someone else instead.
During the Eeeveelution sidequest, you battle all the retired Eeveelution users whose Pokémon are all Level 55...except the Sylveon user who is only Level 54. This fits perfectly with the fact that you don't directly fight the actual Sylveon user herself, as she had already passed away in the present, and in her place you battle against her granddaughter who had inherited her Eeveelution instead. Considering her granddaugher is still too young (she has the overworld model of a preschooler), it is likely possible she does not yet know how to properly train the Sylveon yet and/or the Sylveon user passed away a long time ago.
- After battling all of them, you battle against Kagetora in order to finish the sidequest — and he uses an Eevee that's at Level 57, which is a couple of levels higher than the Eeveelution trainers' Pokémon. This correlates well with his admiration and original goal of wanting to defeat said Eeveelutions trainers during their prime.
The Chansey line only comes in during S.O.S battles. Given their healing nature, one can assume they came because they heard a Pokémon in distress and wish to heal that Pokémon.
There's quite a few first stage Pokémon who can rarely call in their fully-evolved counterparts when they're in trouble against you, examples including Dratini, Bagon, Trubbish and Zubat. It's fully possible that the fully evolved 'mons are the younger 'mon's parents, or some of the elders of that particular population they belong to.
Guzzlord is said to never stop eating, and its highest base stat is HP by a much larger margin than any other Ultra Beast.^note Fitting, given that the Characteristic for a potentially near-perfect (30/31) HP IV is "Loves to eat". Why doesn't it necessarily fit the definition of the max IV Characteristic, "Takes plenty of siestas"?^note It still doesn't have the highest base HP of all Pokémon — it's third place behind Chansey and Blissey.
Speaking of Guzzlord, why is it able to learn Stockpile and Swallow, but not Spit Up, while most other Pokémon that learn Stockpile tend to learn all three? Since everything it eats is implied to disappear, turned into energy, and its droppings have never been found, it can't spit out edible energy that it stockpiles, only swallow it to convert into energy.
Each island except for Exeggutor Island are named for the official colors of their inspirations: Melemele (yellow) for Oahu, Akala (pink) for Maui, Ula'ula (red) for the Big Island, and Poni (purple) for Kauai. If Exeggutor Island followed the naming convention of the other four, it would be named Ke'oke'o Island, since that's the Hawaiian word for white, the official color of Niihau, which Exeggutor Island is based off of.
Lillie is said to have gone to Kanto for her mother to receive treatment from Bill, who had formerly fused with a Pokémon. Until after the Elite Four, the last you see of her is her leaving on Poni Island. Now, who runs Poni Island's battle facility? Red, the same person who saw Bill fused with a Pokémon and ran the Cell Seperation System to de-fuse him. Likely, before leaving Poni Island, Lillie must have met Red somewhere and told him about Lusamine's predicament (though how Red managed to tell her is an entirely different story).
Being a Milestone Celebration, SuMo is full of nostalgia callbacks, especially to Gen 1 and other things that were happening in the franchise around that time: the Indigo arc of the anime, the TCG up to Jungle, etc. A big part of engagement with a property you love like Pokémon is, of course, creating fanworks, and many people out there have nostalgia for their old fanfics, even if a lot of it was Self-Insert Fic about being Trapped in Another World. With Anabel's return and the fact that she's the one from the first timeline, not the current one, and was dropped into the latter through a portal, the stories grown players wrote as kids and that younger players are still writing now fit more easily into canon!
Almost every Trial Captain you talk to mentions having trained up the Totem Pokémon of their respective Trial. The Dragon Trial doesn't have a Trial Captain and therefore has no-one training the Totem Kommo-o. That's why it's an Anti-Climax Boss, particularly why it's even weaker level-wise than the trainers you fought to get to it.
Kartana's Defense seems awfully high (higher than things like Dialga, Gigalith, and Golem) for a foot-tall piece of paper, but paper actually is pretty strong stuff, capable of suspending loads many times its weight, and then because it's Steel-type it's also partially made of metal (or perhaps made of extra-dimentional metal that resembles and has the physical qualities of paper), enhancing its defense further. Of course, paper is still rather easily burned, soaked, and whatnot, explaining its low Special Defense.
Lillie being accosted by the Murkrow in Vast Poni Canyon is meant to be a Call-Back to the Spearow attacking Nebby on the Mahalo Trail bridge, but unlike Spearow, who are fiercely territorial and attacked Nebby for intruding on their land, Murkrow are Thieving Magpies who like brightly colored things and prefer to run away from danger. Lillie, with her blonde hair and white outfit, must have been exceptionally bright and vibrant against Vast Poni Canyon's dull brown and orange stone, which caught the Murkrow's eye and prompted them to come down for a closer look. This is also why, unlike the Spearow, they made no real attempt to attack her — they were more curious than hostile.
The Trial Captains and Kahunas of each island match the Tapu that resides over them.
- Ilima is noted to love Pokémon battles and Hala is a Big Fun Fighting-type master, matching Tapu Koko's Blood Knight nature.
- Lana likes to play tricks on trial-goers, Kiawe is The Comically Serious, Mallow is well known for her delicious-smelling but occasionally harmful cooking, and Olivia is a Nice Girl who likes to help people. Tapu Lele is a relatively silly prankster and likes to give its energizing scales to people, but more often than not it ends up hurting people more than helping them.
- Sophocles is nice, but noticeably has No Social Skills, Acerola is a cheerful Friend to All Children and is a surprisingly powerful member of the Elite Four, and Nanu comes off as a rather lazy kahuna. Tapu Bulu is the nicest of the Tapu, but prefers to stay away from both people and Pokémon alike and, even though it's very powerful, it dislikes fighting, leading to people calling it lazy.
- Poni Island is very unique in many different ways; for example, it only has one Trial Captain, Mina, who is noted by her father to spend most of her time in the wilderness and doesn't even have a Trial, instead just giving Trial-Goers her Farium-Z. The Dragon-type trial doesn't have a Trial-Captain and for a long while the island didn't have a Kahuna either, before Hapu was blessed by Tapu Fini during the course of the story. Tapu Fini is noted to dislike humans the most out of the Tapu, only helping those who it finds worthy — likewise, Hapu made friends with the main character after they help her drive off some Team Skull thugs.
- The Kahunas of each island also wear their Tapu's colors — Hala with his yellow coat, Olivia's whole outfit is pink, Nanu wears a black jacket over a red shirt, and Hapu's purple bonnet and pants patches.
Of the Tapus, Tapu Fini is the Stone Wall of the bunch, with the highest defenses and a Healing Factor in the form of Aqua Ring and auto-summoning Misty Terrain. The Tapus are said to often battle each other to see who's the strongest, and Tapu Fini has the greatest disadvantage due to being weak to two others — the part-Electric Tapu Koko and the part-Grass Tapu Bulu — thanks to being part-Water. It has to be the bulkiest to not be the first to fall in these battles.
The islands where the Ultra Beasts are in the post-game seem to tie them to the resident Tapu, either by stats or by nature:
- Nihilego is found on Alaka Island, whose Guardian Deity is Tapu Lele. The scales that Tapu Lele is said to scatter — on top of being able to heal — are also said to stimulate whoever touches them. However, touching too many scales at once can be dangerous or even fatal. Nihilego's neurotoxin excites the host and removes their inhibitions, but a massive enough dose can put them in a coma.
- Buzzwole and Pheromosa are found on Melemele island, whose Guardian Deity is Tapu Koko. Tapu Koko is the most outgoing and battle-hungry of the guardians, fitting with Buzzwole's nature as a Large Ham Boisterous Bruiser. Tapu Koko is also a Speedy Glass Cannon with Speed as its highest stat but the lowest defenses of the Tapus, much like Pheromosa has insane offensive stats and speed but pitiful defenses.
- Xurkitree is also found on Alaka Island. It and Tapu Lele have the highest Special Attack of the Ultra Beasts and Tapus, respectively.
- Celesteela and Kartana are found on Ula'Ula Island, whose Guardian Deity is Tapu Bulu. Tapu Bulu is the most well-rounded of the Tapus, with good offences and defenses, only lacking in speed, much like Celesteela. Also, both Tapu Bulu and Kartana are a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass; Tapu Bulu is thought to be lazy, and you wouldn't expect a foot-tall origami model to be able to do much more than give you a paper cut, yet both can pack a very powerful punch when the situation calls for it.
  - Celesteela and Kartana are based on Plants and stuff made from plants, so they'd beeline for the Island that is maintained by the guardian who specializes in nourishing plants.
- Guzzlord is found on Poni Island, whose Guardian Deity is Tapu Fini. Despite having relatively frail defenses, Guzzlord is hard to take out due to its insane HP. Tapu Fini, while lacking in HP (and being the only one to not rely on an offensive stat to compensate), is hard to take out due to its high defenses, making it sort of a Foil to Guzzlord in that regard.
The Tapus are all related to each other in some way in gameplay. For one, give them their corresponding Seeds and tweak their natural movesets a bit and they all have incredible synergy with each other, especially in Double Battles. Also, each one has some advantage other at least one. Tapu Koko can slap Tapu Fini silly with Electro Ball and possibly Agility or Choice Scarf/Specs, Tapu Bulu resists two out of three of its cohorts and has defensive and specially defensive stats to match both of them. Tapu Lele can nullify the priority moves of its friends, especially Tapu Fini, giving it an edge over it as Fini relies on its health restoring moves to counteract its mediocre HP.
Fitting their status as Outside Context Problems, many of the Ultra Beasts are based on species that in real life are quite invasive (Jellyfish, Mosquitoes, Cockroaches, Bamboo, and Crabs like the Chinese Mitten Crab, which is actually the same color as Guzzlord). However, the two inorganic ones, Xurkitree and Kartana, do actually fit this theme: they are based on electricity and swords, and in real life both of these technologies were outside context problems for the races who first discovered them by being attacked by electric-powered devices or metal swords.
The Poké Doll that Lillie owns (and later gives you) is a Clefairy. She says it's her childhood toy, so she probably received it from a parent. What is her mother's main Pokémon? Clefable, Clefairy's evolution.
A lot of players who wanted to use Ash-Greninja in competitive play were annoyed when they found out that Greninja came E.V. trained with max E.V.s in Speed and equal E.V.s in both attack stats. Of course it's E.V. trained that way; it was trained by Ash, who regularly uses special training with his Pokémon and mainly focused on hitting fast and hard in XY and XY&Z.
The last choice of meals in Sushi High Roller is described as being for food-lovers, and apparently not many young people like it, but the player loves it. Considering that the player moved from Kanto, the food at Sushi High Roller is probably very similar to the food they used to eat back home.
Mina having no trial already fits well with her laid-back and Cloudcuckoolander character, but there's another element to it. Trial Captains are all people who have themselves completed the Island Challenge, and Mina also knows Vast Poni Canyon intimately. Therefore, Mina knows that Poni Island has a "natural Trial" set up that doesn't need a Captain. While she's still expected to come up with one of her own eventually (however long it takes), there's probably a lot less pressure to do that when she knows perfectly well that Totem Kommo-o is picking up the slack for her, and she can probably justify it to herself with the fact that island-goers are only expecting seven trials.
The game’s theme of parenting, caring for another life, and how your family life shapes who you are is rather fitting when you remember Sun and Moon marks the series 20th anniversary. Chances are the players who followed the series from the beginning have, or are starting, families of their own today.
Part of the reason Rockruff is a Rock-type may be due to it being based on werewolves. Since Rock is weak to Steel, and werewolves are famously vulnerable to silver bullets...
Magearna's regular shiny form does not change. However, the original Magearna coloration's shiny is black, while the usual color for an original color Magearna is red. The reason why Magearna is mostly gray in the present is because of its color disappearing over the years. The alternate colors of shiny Magearna faded away over the years, just like what happened with regular Magearna. That's why shiny Magearna barely changes.
Kommo-o's purpose of "fighting the darkness" makes particular sense once the Ultra Beasts start appearing. In particular, Guzzlord shows up on Poni Island, and with their dragon/fighting typing, they help to mitigate and counter Guzzlord's own dragon/dark.
Only East Sea Gastrodon can be encountered in the wilds of Alola, with its West Sea counterpart being unavailable outside of a single in-game trade. Then you realize the real life location of Hawaii when compared to Japan answers this reason.
At one point, Rotom says it's afraid of ghosts, despite it being a Ghost itself. This makes sense, though, when you realize that Ghost-type Pokémon are weak to Ghost-type moves.
There's a major physical similarity between Lillie and Nihilego: until Lillie changes her clothes, her outfit resembles Nihilego: her large white sun hat resembles the Ultra Beast's bell, while her hair and the details on her clothing resemble its tentacles. Not only that, but the Pokedex entry mentions Nihilego often acts like a little girl. It seems weird at first, until you remember Lillie's comment that Lusamine was still picking her clothes out for her: Lusamine intentionally made her daughter dress like the Ultra Beast she was so obsessed with.
On higher difficulties, Battle Royale opponents tend to gang up on the player above anyone else. Out-of-universe, it could be dismissed as a simple case of Gang Up on the Human... but in-universe, you've probably got quite a few wins under your belt to get to those difficulty levels, leading to a certain amount of notoriety among your competitors. Furthermore, you've probably also become the Champion of the region, so it's no wonder the others would team up on you to both knock out what they see as the biggest threat and for the bragging rights of having beaten the Champion in battle.
Guzma specializes in Bug-type pokemon, with his signature being Golisopod the giant wharf roach. It stands to reason bugs, especially scavengers, would feel at home with someone who themes himself after a skeleton.
Acerola's cat smile seems an odd character trace, as it is usually for mischievous characters. While a Ghost-type trainer who could pull it off, she doesn't have the trait at all. However, there is another connection: Acerola's a descendent of the Alolan royal family associated with Alolan Meowth, or actual cats. It's a royal trait, not one about mischievousness.
The Champion Battle Theme for this game is a remix of the opening theme to Pokémon Red and Blue, which also makes it musically similar to the Champion theme from Pokémon Gold and Silver—which featured Previous Player-Character Cameo for a Final Boss. Now remember that in this game, you technically become Champion as soon as you beat the Elite Four, and your "champion battles" are actually title defenses. That's your theme song that's playing.
Gladion's Theme seems to be a remix of Run Away, Fugitives from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team. Just like you and your Rescue Team partner, Gladion and his sister Lillie had to run away from home in order to save themselves.

Fridge Horror

Following on from the Fridge Brilliance entries on the types of Pokéballs opposing trainers use, the Aether Foundation lab workers use Repeat Balls (which are better at catching species you've caught before). Think about that for a minute. This could imply they routinely go through masses of the same Pokémon in their experiments.
While it's undeniably awesome that you can catch Pseudo-Legendaries in the wild, one of these extremely rare encounters, Salamence, can verge on Fridge Horror when you think about it too much. While most of the Pseudo-Legendaries are found on the later islands (and thus, later on in a trainer's Island Challenge from an in-universe perspective), wild Bagons (Salamence's first stage) can be found on the very first Island of the Alola Region. Imagine being a young trainer, finding a rare but friendly Bagon in the grass on Route 3, attempting to catch it only to see the little guy calling for help... only for the extremely territorial and unpredictable Salamence to answer the baby dragon's cries. Perhaps that's Bagon's mother or father. How many trainers do you think might have come to harm from this unexpected meeting?
Yungoos were brought in to deal with Rattata, another invasive species. This is based on how in the real world, rats accidentally introduced to Hawaii became highly invasive, with predators brought in to deal with them becoming invasive too.
Zygarde has access to its Complete Forme this time around. Assuming it has a relation to the plot and isn't a Legendary to be caught post-game, it's safe to say that something may very well make it cross the Godzilla Threshold.
- Turns out it's because Ultra Beasts are the ultimate invasive species, seemingly capable of a lot of destruction. Is it any surprise that the worst one has a 4x weakness to ground types?
- It's not just Nihilego, either. All of the Ultra Beasts, except for Buzzwole and Pheremosa, are weak to Zygarde's STAB Dragon and Ground moves. (Keep in mind that Zygarde's Secret Art Thousand Arrows can hit Flying-types such as Celesteela.)
I'm pretty sure it's not that commonly mentioned that ice types can't stand heat at all, since many seem to have some kind of auto-cooling thing going on. But this isn't the case for Alola Vulpix, not to mention even Hoenn wasn't this close to the equator... How painful is it for the poor thing to travel around and battle in a hot, constantly sweltering region like Alola? Yeah, it says that it does have some way to cool off, but what does that do in the perpetually 90 degree heat? Heck, how do the ice types survive outside of the mountain areas?
- Breathe its own inner ice to cool down the heat/keep itself cold? If Vulpix's ice is as remotely powerful as its normal fire, it can do a lot to the environment, and certainly enough to cool itself down for periods of time, before returning to the snow-cold mountaintops or a Trainer's Pokéball.
- Taken directly from Serebii: "It doesn’t fare well in the heat, but when the temperature gets too high, it produces ice from its tail to lower the surrounding temperature." So it does use its own ice powers to cool itself off, just not its breath.
- Actually, assuming that Alola has the same climates as Hawai'i, then it won't be hot all the time — even in summer. So Alola could be in only the seventies plus trade winds.
If you use an Ice-Type in a battle and end up having to use Pokémon Refresh, they may have water dripping from them. This could be interpreted as melting.
Poké Pelago sounds like a nice idea. Pokémon that were just sitting in the PC boxes forever now can go to an island and do a bunch of things like harvest berries and beans, dig for treasure, pump iron... What is this, a paradise or a prison complete with hard manual labor?
- At least now they can do something while in the prison besides being in stasis until they rejoin your team. It's also presented as fun adventures for them, not manual labor.
Rockruff is based off the long-extinct Hawaii Poi, a breed of dog that, when not used as living lucky charms for children, were used as food...
- Combining this with Fridge Brilliance, this could be why it's rock type — the surviving generations of the species evolved (in the Darwinian sense) to be less palatable.
If (and this is a big if given how flimsy the evidence is) Ultra Beasts destroyed the pre-Gen VI universe, then there must be something really wrong with this world that makes it horrifying and terrifying about it. Ask yourselves, why did the Ultra Beasts destroy it? For this world, Arceus and other Legendary Pokémon, Humans, and beyond.
- This is assuming, of course, that it had nothing to do with the parasitic jellyfish that, among other things, induce aggression. Nobody committed a crime apart from "exist when the Nihilego population is booming".
- The difference is the universes that have access to Mega Evolution and Z-moves give their residents a fighting chance when Beasts breached through.
- Meaning strong Pokémon weren't enough? Nihilego has a 4x Ground weakness for instance. Plus Legendaries do exist, some of them being the guardians of their land, and even then, the Ultra Beasts weren't invincible. At least half of the known Ultra Beasts are weak to Fire, for instance.
  - The Ultra Beasts got stats/stat distributions that rival the legendaries, while there being multiple of them and their ability Beast Boost could easily snowball out of control against any weaker opponent. Also, the Gameplay and Story Segregation between what the Ultra Beasts do in battle vs. what the Pokédex claims they can do is rather large. Guzzlord can supposedly devour an entire ocean and can turn all that it consumes into energy; the entire ocean disappearing would be the end of the world by itself, even without there being multiple creatures cleaving skyscrapers in half, burning down entire forests, or causing riots and paranoia through a neurotoxin. There is a reason why the international police was afraid of the UBs, and there is a reason why a Pokémon Preservation Group would make a creature for the sole purpose of killing them (Type:Null/Silvally).
  - If you go by Pokédex, the Ultra beasts doesn't have a chance and will just be beaten within seconds. Dialga and Palkia can create and destroy universes easily (and they almost do, in Platinum), Giratina is as powerful as them; the combined might of Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit is equal to either Palkia or Dialga and let's not forget Arceus who created all of them and is more powerful. So that's seven universal power and as long as they are benevolent, there isn't a single threat that is dangerous to the world apart from something caused by one of them. Even without them, you have Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza who can destroy the whole planet with their power, as well as Xerneas and Yveltal who had enough power in them to charge a weapon powerful enough to destroy the planet too.
  - Keep in mind, though, that there's plenty of Gameplay and Story Segregation in play when it comes to the legendary Pokémon, too. (Entei can supposedly make volcanoes erupt just by roaring, Yveltal can literally drain the life out of things... Dialga and Palkia's control over space-time would give them a big advantage, too.) "Normal" legendaries should at least have a fighting chance against Ultra Beasts.
  - An above fridge brilliance feeds into this horror: the fact that many of the legendaries that were fought in ORAS in the post game had their old themes, just like Anabel. That hints that at least some of these legendaries were the ones from the timelines where those themes existed, if not all of them. With that in mind, it is possible that the world of those legendaries was deprived of the Johto, Sinnoh, and Unova legendary Pokémon except for the Mystical Legendaries. That is a lot of firepower lost, and even with a few tough ones like Mewtwo and Arceus left, that still is like having Superman and Wonderwoman go fight a galactic conquering threat, after 90% of the Justice League went missing without a trace. Nice Job Breaking It Hoopa. Though this is likely overthinking things, especially when non-legendary Pokémon in the story of the games themselves can hold off Ultra Beasts.
  - Don't forget a lot of those "non-Legendaries who can stand against Ultra Beasts" are Pokémon that have been specially trained and (in some cases) bred to be the apex example of what their species is capable of. Perfect natures, IVs, EV spreads, held items, move sets, and team combinations are not commonly found among the average Hiker or even Ace Trainer. How many Youngsters have we seen with bags stuffed full of Full Restores and Revives? Swimmers struggle to hold onto just 1-2 pokeballs, so you'd probably never catch them with a full team of six. Most trainers in general don't have boxes and boxes of spare Pokémon like the players do. Take away the Legendaries' firepower and you probably have a lot of what was described on the Nightmare Fuel page for these games: A low-level newbie wanders into a safe place akin to Ten Carat Hill, and suddenly something like Necrozma finds them.
Think of it, if Lusamine had succeeded, either the Post-Gen VI World becomes a Assimilation Plot mixed with World of Silence at best, Omnicidal Maniac with Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum at worst. Though as has been mentioned elsewhere, the idea that her plot could have had any effects beyond potential damage to the Alola region doesn't really have any evidence to support it. She tears open wormholes but the most anyone worries about is the region getting flooded with violent Ultra Beasts, not the world or universe getting damaged/destroyed.
The survival of Lusamine is probably one of the worst things that could happen to her. Besides whatever damage having a combination steroid/neurotoxin applied to her constantly for over a decade is going to cause, how do you think she's going to react once she realizes what she's been doing to her Foundation and family? Worse, Nihilego don't directly control their hosts, and she knows this — so on some level, she knows that almost all the horrible things she did were partially done of her own free will.
- Apparently not that bad actually. During the celebration for you becoming the Alolan League's first-ever Champion, Lillie mentions that Lusamine recovered from the neurotoxins enough that she tried to come to the celebration for you, but she couldn't (or Lillie wouldn't let her, she doesn't specify) because she was still too weak. She might still be incredibly remorseful, however, but we haven't seen her after Lillie takes her with her to Kanto. In addition, Lillie alludes that Lusamine doesn't quite understand what she was even doing wrong or why it was wrong yet.
- Since Lillie mentions going every mile to get Lusamine medical help, chances are good she's already booked some counselors. Here's hoping she also remembered to hire some for herself, Gladion, the Aether staff, and Guzma...
The Ultra Beasts' Pokédex entries mention them doing such things as burning down entire forests, destroying dump trucks, possessing people on the streets, raiding power plants, swallowing entire oceans, and cutting down skyscrapers. This, while creepy, may not make sense at first, seeing as how there is no sign of Ultra Beast-caused chaos in Alola, and had they attacked other regions, someone would have noticed the entire ocean disappearing, and Alola would have felt the same impact. Then it hits you; the entries may not be talking about this universe at all. They might be dropping hints at exactly what fate befell the pre-Gen VI universe(s) (assuming that they actually were attacked) and how it happened. The "eyewitnesses" said to have seen the attacks may be Fallers similar to Anabel.
There is something dubious from the get-go about recruiting an 11-year-old child to wrangle and keep an inter-dimensional parasite creature that is known to affect people on a neurological level, along with the other Ultra Beasts. It gets worse, however, when Looker outright admits to recruiting you as bait — you're a Faller, like Anabel, and he wanted to use you to distract the UBs from her. That is... kind of messed up. The fact that the International Police has a history of exploiting Fallers makes it even more troubling that they won't stop when children are involved (granted, said child is a powerful trainer, but still).
- Not just a powerful trainer, but the regional champion who has already tangled with Ultra Beasts before. On top of that, not only do they possess the cover legendary at this point, but they likely have a guardian deity and could potentially have a Pokeémon tailor-made to deal with Ultra Beasts at their disposal. They could have done a better job of forewarning you of the dangers, no doubt, but with so many advantages, recruiting you regardless of your age isn't a bad idea in and of itself.
The very concept of what Nihilego does to whatever gets injected with its neurotoxins. It exacerbates natural qualities and leads to a lack of inhibition. From this, we can gather that Lusamine was most likely a strict, but not abusive mother. But imagine if the venom were to be injected in someone who was already a rotten person, such as Ghetsis? Or hell, even Cyrus, Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, or, heaven help us all, Ardos. And of course, we have to thank our lucky stars that this is a series for kids, because otherwise, Lusamine could have done a lot of worse things. Remember, Lusamine has been compared to Ragyo Kiryuin. And we all know what Ragyo did to her kids.
During the post-game, you can return to the lab area of the Aether Foundation and you can find an employee who gives you the DNA Splicers, Prison Bottle, and Soul Dew, before mentioning Lusamine planned on adding those Pokémon. Two of these items get a little more significant when reading into the implications. Lusamine likely read up about Hoopa's abilities to open portals and drag out anything on the other end and considered that a possible way to access Ultra Space, while the Splicers may have given her the idea to fuse with Nihilego. Also considering her collection, this was likely what she intended to do with Hoopa and the dragons.
It's revealed in this game that Mega Evolutions cause all manner of physical and psychological torment to those who transform. Lucario turns into a complete Blood Knight who sees nothing but the battle (pretty much what Korrina's Lucario goes through during her character arc in the X&Y anime), Sharpedo's yellow markings are scars caused by injuries from its unleashed combative instincts, Salamence may turn on its trainer and fell them with a single stroke of their wings at any waking moment, Metagross becomes a Combat Pragmatist who will do anything to win, Glalie's jaw is both unhinged and broken, and Garchomp undergoes Body Horror as its skin melts off to expose its bones and fuses its arms and wings together. Even a docile specimen like Lopunny is already known to become very aggressive as a result of Mega Evolution. Professor Sycamore dedicated his entire research to Mega Evolution. If he found out that these Pokémon are in so much pain, he'd be absolutely devastated. How come the possibility of a Pokémon's discomfort is never explored until he's already out of the picture? For that matter, why vilify a dedicated game mechanic?
- It was already mentioned that mega evolution broke Glalie's jaw when it was introduced. This isn't new, it's just more graphic about it.
- Considering Rotom is speculated by many to be writing the Pokèdex entries for you, this may be more of an inside look as to how other Pokémon view Mega Evolution than what is actually going on. After all, if you were battling a trainer as a wild Rotom, and you suddenly saw their Pokémon start changing and mutating in seemly grotesque ways, wouldn't you need a new pair of trousers?
- In hindsight, remember that in a cultural way, Alola and Kalos are very much different. As such, they may have different ways of constituting what may be discouraged and what's a friendship bond. For example, Z-Moves may be considered the ultimate bond between the Pokémon and the Trainer in Alola the same way that Kalos believes Mega Evolution is the ultimate friendship bond. For Kalos, Z-Moves could be unnecessarily brutal moves that could possibly kill trainers' Pokémon while Alola believes that Mega Evolution does more damage to the Pokémon itself than the Z-Moves do. Might fit in Fridge Brilliance, but it's more just a cultural argument than anything else.
- Consider this; if Mega Evolution turns Pokémon into merciless fighting machines, what the hell does it do to Mewtwo, who's already a savage Blood Knight with nary a shred of compassion towards foes?
- Conversely, consider that Pokemon are generally intelligent enough to make informed choices on their own. Given that Mega Stones are held items, it stands to reason that capable Pokemon would be able to refuse Mega Evolution by simply divesting themselves of the Mega Stone. The fact that they don't implies that it isn't nearly as bad as the Pokedex entries imply- or, if it is, the Pokemon trusts their Trainer enough to discount their own comfort in the pursuit of victory.
  - Looking at the sprite animations for both Mega Mewtwos, it's entirely possible that their mental state goes full circle, looping past overly vicious and violent into a state of almost zen-like focus. This may be because of them overcoming their preexisting rage, or it could just be that Legendaries don't suffer the same negative effects. After all, Mega Rayquaza is never described as going berserk either (at least, not to my knowledge).
- One could argue, and Korinna's Lucario in the anime backs this up, that the ultimate friendship bond of Mega Evolution isn't the simple act of Mega Evolving, but a trainer and their Pokémon overcoming what Mega Evolution does to it and becoming all the more stronger for it.
Cosmog might be an Unwitting Instigator of Doom, since it's mentioned that it creates portals as a defense mechanism. This means that it might be responsible for the destruction of those universes as it ran away from danger, but left a door open for Ultra Beasts to come in through.
- Though as has been repeatedly noted, there is no real evidence Ultra Beasts destroyed any worlds, let alone universes. Plus Cosmog's normal defensive portals last a very short amount of time, it had to be forced to produce ones that could let a number of Ultra Beasts through.
So... Where's the third Type:Null? Is it still frozen? Did it escape? Is it dead?
- It's probably just to give them a flexible explanation for an in-game Type: Null gift for future installments.
- Given its connection to Arceus, it could be a plot hook for an eventual DPPt remake.
On Route 2 of Melemele Island, there is a house with a sad father who has regrets about the hurtful things he has done concerning his son, who has left him. In the corner of the living room is a bag full of bent golf clubs. The implications of having beaten his son with the clubs are hanging in the air. It gets worse when you later find out that that was where Guzma grew up. Yes, Guzma, who was once a promising Trial-goer, who had won some awards for his abilities. It makes you wonder just what led his relationship with his father to crumble that badly. But then you notice that all of the trophies are either silver or bronze, not a single gold one.
- Taking into account that Guzma failed to become Trial Captain, even though his room was filled with trophies...
- It was mentioned by said father that he couldn't do anything about his son and his son beat him.
- Of course, the line is something like he tried to "set him straight but got beat instead", which implies that it may have been self-defense.
- Tying in with this and the below point, just look at the signature ability of Guzma's ace, Golisopod: Emergency Exit.
- And obviously, no child becomes violent and runs away from home for no reason. It's interesting to note that his father's decision, when he heard his son wanted to leave, was to "set him straight" instead of maybe talking about it like a reasonable parent. The abuse implications don't stop here, especially with how Guzma always screams at himself when he loses. Not at his Pokémon, no, he places the blame at his own feet. In third person, even, as if he is repeating in some way what he had to hear during his childhood. He also says that 'violence is all he knows' in a swagger-like manner, which becomes darker when combined with the other implications.
  "Guzma! What is wrong with you?!" (Guzma, screaming at himself when he loses to the player)
  - The worst thing, though, is when he comes into contact with Nihilego's poison, he says that all he experienced was overwhelming terror. He then claims to never have felt fear before... but the thing is, Nihilego only enhances the native traits of its victims. While Lusamine went utterly nuts in her desire for control, Guzma was consumed by fear, giving the impression that being afraid must have been a central part of his life for quite some time.
- Plumeria mentions that Lusamine was apparently the only adult to give Guzma any respect, which is why he's so loyal to her. If the group of adults who never respected Guzma includes his own father, then it's not hard to see why he would latch onto Lusamine's apparent kindness. Of course, she's just manipulating him, and has been badly mistreating her own children as well. It's sadly rather common in the real world for abuse survivors to keep getting into abusive relationships of all types because they simply can't tell what a good relationship is like.
At the game's climax, the player visits Ultra Space and finds multiple Nihilego floating around, which could suggest that they are Com Mons there. What if they are just the Ultra Space equivalent to Tentacool? Something as powerful (albeit indirectly, thanks to its toxins) as Nihilego is just something common in Ultra Space. It then begs the question, what would be the Ultra Space equivalent to Tentacruel, or an equivalent to a truly powerful Pokémon? It may be something too powerful to comprehend.
- Not to mention that some Legendaries in the games' native setting have some powers that can wipe life off the planet when they want to, it begs the question of just what exactly an Ultra Space Legendary can do, with their Com Mons having ridiculous min-maxed power already.
- Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon might have an answer in the form of Ultra Necrozma. By the time we get a hold of it, it is crippled and still has a BST that surpasses Arceus and it is regarded as a Single Specimen Species that was worshiped. If it's not a legendary, it's probably the Ultra Space equivalent of Volcarona.
Whilst the most prominent UB wormholes in the game were opened by Lusamine by torturing Cosmog, the lore establishes that UB wormholes have constantly opened throughout Alola even before the incident; the Tapus are stated to have battled the Ultra Beasts a very long time ago, Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma all arrived to the normal dimension via the wormholes a long time ago too, and Guzzlord was released from a wormhole at least 10 years prior to the game, when Lusamine was still likely sane. So basically, any day, at any time, these things can randomly come out of holes in the sky and cause massive destruction. Crapsaccharine World much?
- Not quite crapsaccharine given how the natural wormholes are noted to be very rare, and ultra beasts passing through them even rarer, to the point that most Alolans didn't even know about the ultra beasts, or if they did, had never seen one.
- However, it's also said that Nihilego and Guzzlord were the only Ultra Beasts that had appeared in Alola before. Presumably, we can take from this that wormholes can open whenever, but it's still a fairly rare event.
If Looker's comments about the main character are anything, Lillie and Lusamine are likely also Fallers. Now, let's just hope that they don't encounter an Ultra Beast anytime soon, especially while Lillie is still a newbie at training and Lusamine is still weak and recovering...
- This would likely also apply to Guzma as well. While he can probably defend himself a lot more easily than Lillie and Lusamine can, it's still worrying to think about what might happen if he had more prolonged exposure to something like Nihilego than he did in Ultra Space. It's implied that Guzma is at least starting on a Heel–Face Turn post-game, but considering he already has some violent tendencies, one can only hope he doesn't encounter the Ultra Beasts again.
- Even more unsettling, this post on r/pokemon states that had they stayed behind, they would have almost certainly been used as bait by Interpol, despite having very little combat abilities (and look what happened the last time someone with little combat abilities was used as bait). That's right, Lillie and Lusamine leaving for Kanto saved their lives.
Sandygast controls people who put their hands into its mouth into unwillingly building its Palossand form. Now, who is likely to stuff their hands in its mouth while playing with sandcastles on the beach? That's right, Sandygast's slaves are without any doubt almost exclusively children.
Sure, we are all happy that Anabel is back, and that she's actually the same one from Emerald, but what's going on in her home universe, in reaction to her disappearance? Not to mention that she was a kid in Emerald, and (assuming that wormholes do not also displace people by time) seeing as how both Kanto and Hoenn both take place 10 years before SM, she likely fell into the wormhole not long after Emerald's events.
Just who was the Faller killed by Guzzlord? Looker's remarks about her imply that she passed through the wormhole from another universe, just like Anabel (as opposed to simply having wormhole radiation from encountering one). And seeing how we already knew Anabel before, it is very possible that the unnamed Faller was someone we knew from previous games, and their ultimate fate was being eaten and converted to energy by a monstrous alien.
A minor gameplay example: Cosmog cannot be bred. Which means it's going to be a lot more difficult to fill out the National Pokedex in future installments, seeing as how most people evolve it to become Solgaleo/Lunala.
- This has culminated in Pokemon Home with lots of people asking for Ultra Sun and Moon's Poipole in its GTS, who suffers a similar situation. Humans Are Morons indeed.
In the prologue of the game, sure, the player is safe but, since it was said that the Tapus are quite fickle at times in story, what if Tapu Koko chose not to save them and Nebby during that time? It was a good thing that this is a game for kids so it didn't really happen, but just the thought of it brings horrifying implications.
- It's pretty much stated in the ancient lore that part of the agreement between the Tapus and Solgaleo/Lunala is that the Tapus would from then on do all they could to protect any Cosmog that showed up in the future, and judging by how the Tapus served the kings of Alola loyally until their powers were misused it would seem the Tapus do have a code of honor they adhere to provided their abilities are not abused. Tapu Koko taking action was thus a foregone conclusion even if it hadn't recognized something special in the player character — all that would have changed if it hadn't is that you wouldn't have gotten the Sparkling Stone.
Maile City has a heavy Asian influence. It's located on Ula'ula Island, where Sandshrew (the Pokemon equivalent of a pangolin) live. Now read up on how pangolins in Asia are under threat.
Mother Beast Lusamine's Pokémon each gain a new move while she's in that state: Two learn Pain Split, one Flail, one Stun Spore, and finally Moonlight. Given both their overall odd appearances during the battle and later their trainer's condition after said battle, it paints a somewhat unsettling picture.
We discover in the post-game that Totem Pokémon are the result of Pokémon absorbing the energy of Ultra Wormholes, which is why UBs and Lusamine's Pokémon get the same visual effect as Totems for the stat boosts: it's the exact same thing. This energy apparently stays with the Pokémon long-term, even after the wormhole/source disappears. Therefore, even once she's completely healed of Nihilego's poison and power, Lusamine will still have a full team of what are basically Totem Pokémon. YMMV on whether or not this is a good thing.
- On a related note, the Ultra Beasts tend to show up very close to the Totems: Nihilego can appear in Wela Volcano Park; Buzzwole shows up in Melemele Meadow, which is right next to Verdant Cavern; Pheromosa appears inside Verdant Cavern; Xurkitree can be found in Lush Jungle; lastly, Guzzlord appears in the Vast Poni Canyon. The only two who don't do this are Celesteela and Kartana. The Ultra Beasts may have been drawn to the trial sites for the same reason they're drawn to Fallers... in which case, the player might well have saved the Totems from being attacked by them.
If you speak to the lady at the reception desk of the motel Gladion is living in, she'll imply that he's been having some financial issues and that Team Skull haven't been paying him very much (which makes sense, given that they're impoverished to begin with). Now look again at how skinny Gladion is. It doesn't look as if he's been able to feed himself properly, either.
There is a Stufful on Route 15 waiting for its trainer. In Sun and Moon it dies by the post-game. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon you can reunite it with the trainer in the desert. With the trainer nowhere to be found in the original Sun and Moon it probably means they are dead too.
- Adding onto this, when you find the Stufful's trainer in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the trainer is begging for water and has to be given a Fresh Water. So in Sun and Moon, Stufful's trainer died from dehydration while exploring Haina Desert.
Out of Alola's four main islands, Akala is the only one with no meadow area; instead its signature pink flowers and nectar are found in artificial flower beds in Royal Avenue and the Oricorio variant for the island are found on Route 6 just outside the entrance. Considering the game's recurring theme of the islands being urbanized and commercialized into a tourist trap, and the implication Royal Avenue hasn't been there very long, it's a pretty reasonable assumption that there used to be an Akala Meadow, but it was bulldozed to build Royal Avenue in its place.

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