WMG / Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Pre-Release Theories

Ultra Beasts aside from Nihilego will play a bigger role in the story.

It's called Ultra Sun and Moon for a reason.

• Possibly Confirmed. New Ultra Beasts will indeed be in the game, more cutscenes of them have been showcased, and one of the new characters actually uses one in their team.

Story guesses.

This is a reality where Colress's research became a stepping stone to something larger. At the beginning he may have been one of the scientists who worked on creating Genesect's Drive system, which was repurposed for Type:Null's RKS system. he utilized Professor Rowan's research on Pokemon Bioenergy as a framework for Type:Null's artificial skeleton. in Platinum, Cyrus mentions that Legendaries that are captured has lessened (but more controlled) power, this explains why Solgaleo/Lunala had the power to go into other dimensions...but they're sister dimensions of your game. you're not actually crossing over from a Sun universe to a Moon universe, however you do bump into a wild legendary that's opposite of your version but stayed at a familiar home. (the temple of the Sun/Moon)

The plot of Ultra Sun/Moon is kind of the same as the originals. this time, Lusamine somehow uses Nihilego's toxins to forcibly fuse Solgaleo/Necrozma or Lunala/Necrozma together. this affects the Pokemon's bioenergy, this distorts their innate realm travelling abilities which they initally gained control over when they evolved. (vs the chaoticness of winding in random worlds, or opening portals directly to Ultra Space as a Cosmog/Cosmoem)

• Most of the game's plot seems the same. Necrozma fuses with the box legends forcibly without any (clear) input by the Aether Foundations. the origin of Necrozma is still left in the air.

The twist is that we're lead to believe that the Ultra Space of this game is actually Earth All Along, Ultra Sun, Moon as well as vanilla Sun and Moon are standard realities. there are 4 realities, and 4 "sister" realities. Sun & Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, and Ultra Earth, a reality where Ultra Space is at its closest. the government of the world as well as Interpol and the Aether Foundation are desperate for survival, many characters may have toughened up or has gone beyond the Moral Event Horizon. the Lusamine of Ultra Earth has became a mindless Dimension Lord. the sudden ambush from Ultra Beasts has pressed down the populace and the only thing keeping them tame is the increased radiation as well as Ultra Lusamine sitting at her throne.

• Confirmed that there are other worlds to explore. The Ultra Recon Squad comes from a world that had its light stolen by Necrozma in the past, though as to if its an entire planet or just a pocket dimension is unknown. also a few Ultra Beasts has been shown to have their own pocket realities. The motives of the Ultra Recon Squad is unknown, as also if there are Ultra versions of existing characters.
• Jossed the ability to see alternate versions of the same characters within an Ultra Space (as an alternate to the main Pokemon World), though Team Rainbow Rocket is a Big Bad Duumvirate composing of Giovanni rounding up all the main villains (and Faba), coming from alternate worlds where their main Player Character never existed, or just failed to stop their plans.
• one reality however is an abandoned Hau'Oli City, inhabited by only 1 person and Guzzlord, however the influence of Ultra Wormholes appear to not have affected the state of the world. maybe an implication that technology was advanced but when the planet's resources collapsed, just about all of humanity left for other planets. besides the Guzzlord (who were apparantly too large to take with them), though as to wherever if the other Ultra Spaces are alternate versions of the same world or not is unsure, though none of the other Ultra Spaces are plot relevant, barring the Megalopolis.

Despite gathering pollution from various shattered realities, Pokemon still thrives. Rockruff, Eevee, Formantis, Yungoos and Rattata now evolves into variants. Rockruff gaining a 3rd Lycanroc forme ("Eclipse"), Espeon/Umbreon will instead gain stat/ability changes as well as adaptional Z-crystals depending on if they're Terranial or Ultra formes. Gumshoos' form would be naturalized towards nighttime, becoming a Big Eater, whereas Raticate would become a Fragile Speedster. it may be possible that there may be Pokemon that evolved differently on Alola might have a cellar structure. To avert Urban Legend of Zelda, Alolan Arcanine/Arbok (opposite rivals of Vulpix/Sandshrew) can only evolve into those forms on Ultra Earth. and although Mankey was formally the opposite exclusive pokemon of Meowth in Red/Blue, there wouldn't be a Alola-Ultra Mankey, due to Alolan Meowth being selectively bred, rather than evolving due to environmental factors. Though maybe they'll become Japanese Macaques? (Water/Psychic, can use scald).

• It's been confirmed that Lycanroc will get a new form in US/UM, but name-wise, it's jossed (it's called the Dusk form).
• Jossed, there are no new Alolan forms.
• Whilst pokemon are unaffected by adapting to Ultra Spaces, Pokemon from the main world will assume their non-Alolan form if evolved there.

Ultra Moon & Ultra Sun will feature new Alola forms of Johto Pokémon.

They're releasing Pokémon Gold & Silver for the 3DS Virtual Console ahead of the games' release, making a good opportunity to add new Alola forms and celebrate GSC. After all, this a new alternative timeline; maybe Johto Pokémon immigrated to Alola instead of Kanto ones.

Gold/Ethan and "Silver" appear like bonus boss in the game.

Just like Red and Blue are Previous Player-Character Cameo in Pokemon Sun & Moon, Gold and Silver decided go to Alola in this timeline to see new Alola Pokémon and battle a new champion.

This game will introduce a darker spin on regional variants.

Specifically, it will feature Ultra Forms. They are the result of innocent Pokemon getting sucked in Ultra Space through random points in the past, and whose descendants gradually (somehow) adapted to the harsh environment of the Ultra Space. As a result, they acquired rather unorthodox typing not unlike their new neighbors. Bonus points if they too follow the Dump Stat theme of several 'true' Ultra Beasts.

• I have some concepts for "Twisted" versions of some famous pokemon like a Snorlax that got trapped in Ultra space and ended up starving and skeletal, desperately trying to consume everything in it's surrounding area in vain to draw nutrients and becoming a Ghost/Normal type or an Dark/Electric type Pikachu.

The Aether Foundation won't be evil.

Gladion, Lillie, Lusamine and Mohn will be a relatively normal family who happen to have - at worst - a neutral alignment in whatever conflict arises in the story.

Team Skull will be the main villains

Except, not having Lusamine around to keep them on a leash, they will end up as a massive case of Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds. Any involvement of any Legendary Pokemon in their plans will be a pure coincidence and/or a case of Achievements in Ignorance combined with Gone Horribly Right and/or Gone Horribly Wrong.

• Jossed. Necrozma took that role.

We will finally see Mimikyu's true form

In the form of a evolution or something like that. And we WON'T die from staring at it funny.

• Alternatively, this form seen will be the animation for an exclusive Z-move, probably coded as an OHKO move, for Mimikyu.

Ultra Solgaleo and Lunala's BST will increase by 100.

They are similar to Mega Evolution or Primal Reversion.

• Jossed-ish. They're Necrozma fusions, though the stat spread theory remains valid.
  • Jossed for real; the fusions' base stat totals increase by 80.

In this version, Ultra Beasts are already common knowledge.

And what's left is solving the mystery of Necrozma.

You will be able to travel to the universe of the original Sun & Moon.

Either as a bonus or for story reasons. If the latter, maybe the plot will involve stopping something that threatens both universes.

The forms are actually a case of Necrozma stealing the legendaries' souls.

The actual cover legendaries (sans the Necrozma armor) are monochromatic, which is much like ghosts in other fictional works. Since Necrozma is partly derived from Necro (meaning death) it wouldn't surprise me if Necrozma stole the souls in order to stop its destructive urges.

• The reason Solgaleo and Lunala look monochromatic is because they're in their Radiant Sun and Full Moon phases, respectively, which they only take on when they use their signature moves. Which could imply that Necrozma is forcing them into their alternate forms.
• Maybe they wouldn't outright say that their souls were stolen, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them heavily imply it, such as Rotomdex saying that they are without spirit when in the new forms.
• Jossed; it's just a fusion/absorption.

Leaf will become "Canon" in this game.

With Ultra Sun and Moon being an alternative timeline of Sun and Moon, there's the possibility that she existed in this timeline instead of Red, although she will still travel to Alola with Blue to meet the new champion.

The Pokémon World Tournament will reappear.

Give this time a chance, with more cameos like Pokemon B 2 W 2 did it.

Lillie and Gladion will swap places

In this universe, Lillie will steal Type: Null from the Aether Foundation, while letting Gladion handle Nebby. However, as the Team Skull Enforcer, Lillie will be fully aware of their ties to the Aether Foundation, and is secretly trying to take them apart from within. She will still be kidnapped though, as in this universe, Lusamine is actually trying to save herself from Nihilego, and so wants Type: Null to stop it. Her lack of inhibitions from the Nihilego will stop her from properly saying this though. This will lead to the Ultra Space plot happening anyway.

• Jossed.

The game will be written by Yoko Taro

Wynaut?

Many characters of Sun and Moon will swap places, positions and even personality

Similiar to theory adove about Lillie and Gladion, but more further explanation about how one thing change completely all characters this timeline and how they're work almost similar.

• Kukui becoming the Team Skull Leader; he's gonna played more serious, Darker and Edgier compared to Guzma.
• Guzma becoming the Alola Professor, or even Kahuna; while he's almost similar personality to his Alternate Self, he'll be a good guy this time.
• Lillie will steal Type:Null from the Aether Foundation, her personality changed drastically to resemble Gladion's.
• Gladion handles Nebby; like Lillie, his personality changes completely, either becoming the new Supporting Protagonist or actually working with the Aether Foundation to help Pokémon.
• Lusamine becomes caretaker of Poké Pelago or another new function; like Mohn, she got lost inside an Ultra Wormhole and came back out with her memories lost, turning into a Nice Girl.
• Mohn remains the Aether Foundation president; he'll be similar to Lusamine, but be played as more of an Anti-Villain, having tried to save his wife (Lusamine) who got lost in an Ultra Wormhole, but ultimately he ends up like her.
• Wicke will be Affably Evil and Faba will demonstrate Good Is Not Nice, subverting their original roles.

Alternatively, with the same idea in mind

• Team Skull or their equivalent is an obliviously evil group who takes the idea of battles bringing out their Pokémon's best and Alolan tradition to the logical extreme, with Kukui replacing Plumeria as the main/top Admin, secretly being led by Colress for his studies.
• Guzma is now a former trial captain/gym leader who trains Plumeria as his replacement, similar to Molayne and Sophocles.
• Lillie is a trainer, who starts her adventure sometime in the middle of yours.
• Gladion will act as your classic Jerk with a Heart of Gold rival who is ahead of you in his adventure.
• Lusamine and Mohn both lead The Aether Foundation as a top secret anti-Ultra Beast group, dedicating themselves to studying Ultra space and how to defend against it. Their latest creation is the semi-successful Type: Full, whom they realize will only achieve its true potential when paired with a loving and experienced trainer.
• Wicke is mainly the same, but acts as a benevolent boss superior to Faba, who's oddly identical to the original up to and including pretending he's the Wicke's boss, although Played for Laughs.
• Nebby is found at a temple/shrine of the moon/sun, as a wild Pokémon who becomes attached to Lillie.

There will be new Mega Evolutions in this game.

At the end of the trailer, when the protagonist adjusts his Z-Ring, the Mega Evolution sound effect is heard. New Megas, anyone? Perhaps for the Johto starters themselves.

Walking Pokemon will return.

We're either getting walking Pokemon, or for some reason, a Wingull is gonna follow us around for a brief part of the game. There's a moment in the trailer where a Wingull is following the protagonist and he turns the corner and it turns with him.

• The most recent trailer shows a Rockruff doing this. It seems walking Pokemon may, in fact, be returning.
• And then the most most recent one didn't. Perhaps it's optional, perhaps it never really happened, who knows.
• Somewhat confirmed actually. There are Pokemon in each island and you have the choice to play with them and have them follow you around the area. You can't keep them since they are already with trainers though.

Colress is new Big Bad or responsible for all events of Ultra S&M.

Thanks to this theory from Tumblr. People suspected him, and this may explain why he's decided to stay in Alola; he has never regretted everything did in B2W2, he believes he can do better this time, trying again by fusing Solgaleo/Lunala with Necrozma, for the glory of science!

• This seems unlikely; not only did Colress have nothing to do with Kyurem's fusion with Reshiram/Zekrom (that was Ghetsis' doing), but his focus is on the bonds between trainers and pokémon.

The universe of this game is the same alternate universe you enter in the post-game of Sun and Moon.

There has to be a reason that particular strange little detail was included in those games; this seems like an interesting potential explanation.

Ultra Space will receive an expanded role in the story.

Despite being important to the story of the original Sun/Moon, Ultra Space itself was disappointingly under-explored. The new games, in compensation, will allow you to explore more areas of Ultra Space, learn more about its nature, and perhaps even find new species of Ultra Beasts to capture.

• At the very least, new Ultra Beasts are confirmed to appear.
• Confirmed. Solgaleo and Lunala allow the player to travel through them in a minigame, and the Ultra Beasts can be fought in Ultra Space.

This Alola plays into the enforced concept of the Pokemon Multiverse

As in all the changes and differences in this variant is another world parallel to the one in Sun and Moon.

Necrozma!Solgaleo/Lunala will get Beast boost as their abilities

Perhaps the infusion of Necrozma will help them access their true Ultra Beast roots.

• Jossed; the fusions retain Prism Armor.

There will be no trials or gyms in this version

Instead, the plot will take the route of Colosseum and XD, where the plot is focused solely on defeating the villains.

• Jossed. A trailer has Mina declaring the start of her trial.

New Ultra Beasts will be introduced.

The titles of the games appear to imply the Ultra Beasts will play a big role, so it would make sense to introduce more of them if that's the case.

• Seems unlikely. We've never seen new Pokemon mid-generation.
• We haven't seen legendary Pokemon that evolve until Gen VII either but here we are. Compatibility issues aside, ORAS did something similar by introducing new Megas and previous games have introduced new forms mid-generation. Its still highly unlikely that it'll occur but it would be a pretty incredible draw if completely new Pokemon were introduced mid-gen.
• Confirmed.

The version of events of this game will focus on Alola being closer to traditional pokemon games

The Enemies in this version will be Team skull or another team trying to use the power of ultra beasts to take over alola and revert it to the way things were done back in the first sun and moon.

• Likely Jossed, given the nature of the Ultra Space Squad, but you never know.

Gameplay changes/updates

feel free to add ideas or guesses

• Alolan Pokemon will get updated/changed stats-With this being an alternative storyline/universe, this can very well allow for Game Freak to fix some of the Mighty Glacier stats of most of the Alolan pokemon or give a more drastic change to the stats of the Alolan form Pokemon to more better differentiate them from their normal counterpart
  • Jossed; the Alolan Pokemon's stats remain the same as last time.

The player is not a newcomer to Alola this time

The First trailer shows a drastically different house for the player

• The house is now colored blue as opposed to grey/unpainted
• The house has alot of fully grown plants
• The garage is open with a Pickup inside as well as a surfboard propped near it
• Also to note is that the nearby Areas are far more lively in terms of flora as well as civilization as the nearby Pokemon center has a matching wall separating it from the first route

With Ultra S&M being an alternated storyline, this time around I think the player characer may either be native to Alola or having lived their most if not all their lives, or they have moved to Alola far earlier before the story picks up. Another possible scenario is that the story picks up later than the original game, potentially your days behind the original chain of events that you would have participated in.

• Jossed.

Nothing will change too drastically.

Or rather, the changes we see in this game will be no different than the changes we saw in Platinum and Emerald, as that's what Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are — the third version equivalents, just One Game for the Price of Two.

• Jossed. The posters and trailers have noted some quite substantial changes.

"Ultra Solgaleo" and "Ultra Lunala"...

Are not forme changes but instead version exclusive evolutions of Necrozma much like how Cosmoem can evolve into Solgaleo or Lunala depending on the version.

• Jossed. They're Necrozma forms that are fusions.

This game takes place in a world where everything happened later

By the time you get to Alola this time, its become a regular region. Trial Captains become Gym Leaders (While still trying to keep their traditions alive), the Elite 4 actually has a champion and is up by the time you get to its location, but you can't enter until you gain all the badges, Mega Evolutions have more a presence, and Lillie just rescued Nebby. The evidence for this can be seen in the more lush flora around your house in the trailer and that in the original games, various cities have empty lots that are suspiciously gym sized.

A Mythical pokemon will be made available to catch in game.

Just like Deoxys in the Delta Episode.

• Jossed.

If this pair takes place in an Alternate Universe from Sun and Moon...

Then we will see people from the original games appear in Ultra Sun and Moon ... as fallers

this game's universe resembles Sun/Moon, but somehow Megas were discovered later

In the BW 2 opening, Colress has a book that resembles that of the Z-ring. but in one universe, Megas were only around because AZ's weapon worked. what if there are more universal divergences such as the Weapon working but leaving no debris for Devon corp to find, or possibly the weapon exploding and killing a sizable amount of Pokemon & People (but still leaves Floette mutated); leading to a timeline where Lysandre couldn't possibly use the weapon for a "noble" use? this timeline would lead to a remake-inspired timeline with minor irregularities such as Wally and Red having aspects of their remake designs, having Red and Green, Gold and Silver and a far-distant Ruby and Sapphire. just that Alola may have been spectators of some sort of grander war, explaining their aversion to Megas. Another thing is that the Dragonid People were only still around because AZ informed them what Mega Evolution was when they saw Rayquaza Mega evolve, had he not told them, then they wouldn't have preserved said information, Maxie/Archie definitely wouldn't have had the idea to use the Meteor machine on the volcano to empower the Red/Blue orb into an artificial mega stone using the force of nature itself.

All universes has a main split with the weapon, then Devon discovering infinity energy. if Anabel somehow got displaced 10 years in time....this is all assuming that all the games doesn't occur at the same point in history across universes. maybe the mass death of People/Pokemon accelerated technological development, similarly to World War 2. Wattson however is his age, but Archie/Maxie were old enough to formally work for Devon when the company were still working out the kinks in Infinity Energy. this leads to ORAS and XY (for real).

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon smooths over some aspects. they're no longer looking at Infinity Energy as a powersource, but rather Bioenergy from pokemon themselves. Dream Energy had just been discovered at the proper point in time (as a standalone BW development. rather than being workable alongside ORAS). Colress eventually recalls the DNA splicers and decides to adapt organic technology on Pokemon themselves to concentrate their power. Maybe Necrozma might be an artificial Ultra Beast? made from organic crystal with an unstable core of energy. the one you see in Sun/Moon may be an escapee from one of many worlds that attempted to create their own armored Pokemon and reformed into a whole being. compare it to the Sci-fi elements of the original 1st generation games to the somewhat magical origins of X/Y and Sun/Moon (mainly the weapon/Magearna) to the hard scientific technology that appears in the backstory of ORAS...this is the route that Ultra Sun/Moon may go, maybe they may even combine elements of development from other realities.

All these universe divergences may become slightly blatant if they outright state that wandering in Ultra Space may eject you into a different time period, or that Amnesia is natural to those who do not have a Ultra Beast to quickly get them through fast enough. however information from other worlds may appear in the form of books or subconscious memories of fallers; this may explain AZ's book and possibly Bonji in the 20th movie. (assuming they are going to pull the "Red is a Faller" card)

Long story short, Ultra Sun/Moon in this universe is like ORAS, except shifted to a point where BW 2 would have occured. Lysandre isn't dead, Yveltal/Xerneas hasn't gotten siphoned. Megas has been discovered on their own in modern times, Dr Fuji (Origins) will be retconned as part of a collective of scientists that worked alongside Colress' father.

We'll get more previous character guest appearances

Including (feel free to add more if you like)...

• Red and Blue, of course, but this time accompanied by Leaf, whose team will be similar to Red's but with a Clefairy in place of a Pikachu and maybe an Espeon in place of a Lapras.
• Pretty much all the previous player characters and rivals, appearing as new trainers in the Battle Tree. Either the male and female ones will both appear or their gender will depend on that of your player character. In the latter case, their dialogue will not change with their gender.
• N Harmonia, either on vacation or looking for/working with Colress. For bonus points, maybe he'll mention having finally been reunited with Hilbert/Hilda (though they would likely not show him with either of them, for obvious reasons).
• At least one previous Pokemon Professor.
• At least one previous Champion who isn't Cynthia.

You will get the National Pokedex this time.

It has been in all games except Sun and Moon.

• In addition, there will be more post-game content, some of which will involve foreign Pokémon.

The final bonus boss will be either Red, Leaf, or Professor Samuel Oak.

In Silver, Gold, and Crystal Red was the bonus boss, so I think it will be one of the above with a Pokémon above level 81.

Wicke will be a battleable trainer in this game

Why not? You never fought her in the original games. They could keep her Token Good Teammate personality and have her become an optional opponent after the end of the game.

The champion, or even bonus boss, will be the PC from the original Sun/Moon.

Since they mentioned the idea of an alternate dimension, perhaps there's a way to cross between worlds with the Ultra Space. Having the final challenge be against the previous player character would be an interesting parallel to the Gold/Silver games and its fight against the previous player character.

Maybe they can even do a gimmick where if you completed Sun/Moon, your Pokemon team and PC's appearance would be saved on the 3DS, and ported to Ultra Sun/Moon as the final boss. If you didn't have data from SM, the boss will have the opposite gender to your current PC, and perhaps even use the opposite cover legendary Pokemon on their team.

The items required to "Ultra evolve" Solgaleo and Lunnala.

They are a hybrid between a mega stone and a z-crystal, so after "ultra-evolving", they can use a unique z-move from their signature moves as the base.

• Jossed for now. Necrozma is the one who becomes Dusk Mane Necrozma and Dawn Wing Necrozma.

Much like with how players could link Black and White to Black 2 and White 2, the player will be able to link their copies of Sun and Moon to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, unlocking content as a result

Said content will include encounters with versions of characters from Sun and Moon in Ultra Sun and Moon, as well as some unique pokemon - not new ones, but maybe unlocking a new area. Maybe even granting access to an exclusive from the other version.

Legenderies from pass gen except gen 4 will be catchable.

Gen 4 legendaries will be reserved for the remakes.

• Jossed. The trailer released in early November confirms that the Gen 4 legendaries are available, some being version-exclusive.

Kahili will be a trial captain/gym leader.

She can be challenged at the golf course that was inaccessible in Sun/Moon.

• Partially confirmed. At the very least, she can be encountered earlier.

Ryuki will be the Dragon trial captain/gym leader.

His appearance seemed like an Early-Bird Cameo in Sun/Moon.

• Partially confirmed. The new trailer at least confirms that he'll have a bigger role in the upcoming games.

We will get move tutors in these games.

In each gen, games other than the initial ones have post-game move tutors, and these will be no different.

• Adding onto the above, moves that were formerly in Gen I and II TMs can be taught here!
• Confirmed; these games will have move tutors, a shiny new battle facility, and a new method of earning BP in Mantine Surfing.

There will be gyms in these games and the league will not be new.

This alternate Alola will be one with a more traditionally structured Pokemon League, with eight gyms required to be defeated. The trial captains might be gym leaders now, in which case someone else is probably in Acerola's place as an Elite Four member, possibly Hapu or Nanu.

The return of the Battle Frontier.

People have noted that there are a bunch of suspiciously empty lots in the various towns of Alola. While people have predicted that its the return of gyms, I'd imagine that they're actually for facilities that provide different kinds of battles, but not gyms persay: Looking at Pokemon Emerald, Most of the contest halls were replaced with buildings known as Battle Tents, which served as a precursor to the Emerald's Battle Frontier. These Battle Tents could easily be set up in those empty lots. Not to mention that Anabel plays a major role in the post-game Ultra Beast plot. Maybe the other Frontier Brains make an appearance here as well.

The "Pokemon that haven't appeared in Alola before" are just old Pokemon that weren't in Sun and Moon's Alola dex.

There are a few rumors that are jumping the gun and proclaiming that brand new Pokemon will be introduced, but I'd say its just and expanded Alola Dex, kind of how Platinum's Sinnoh dex has more Pokemon then Diamond and Pearl's while Black 2 and White 2 had more Pokemon that didn't appear in Unova. But this doesn't rule out that new regional variants won't be included.

There will be an Ice Type specialist.

Out of all the 18 Types so far, Ice is the only one without a Trainer that specialises in that Type. Granted, distribution of that Type is rather limited in Alola, but that does not stop some Trainers using the same Pokémon of a particular Type as other important Trainers when challenging you for your title as Pokémon Champion. (For instance, Kukui, Sophocles and Molayne all use a Magnezone in their teams.)

Potential candidates include.

• Lillie: To tie in with her anime counterpart who raises an Alolan Vulpix. If the games do serve as sequels in the end, she may return from Kanto (and maybe Johto) with a handful of Ice Types on her team.
• Wicke: Some people have noticed her unusual style of clothing when taking Alola's climate into consideration. Then again, she is a scientist.
• A completely new character: Who live in deep within Mount Lanakila. Crabominable is their signature Pokémon, plus their also have Alolan Ninetails and Sandslash.
  • This last one is a little unlikely with Hala already having Crabominable

Ash Ketchum will appear or at least be mentioned by name

Sun and Moon had a few references to him, and the anime is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

• Going to go out on a limb and say he'll be the main antagonist. He got banished into Ultra Space and is looking to escape.

Poke Ride

There will be new riding pokemon or new features added to the existing ones.

• Sharpedo will be able to dive, it is one of the few pokemon with a unique model for dive in ORAS.
• There will be a poke ride for rock climb.
• Confirmed: Mantine Surf! Dodge wild Pokemon while doing awesome tricks! And possibly Solgaleo/Lunala on top of that.

The new champion of this game...

...will be the opposite gender of the player you pick. Probably older.

• Jossed.

The games are prequels

Black and White are the only games other than the Sun and Moon original games that do not occur at same time than another pair of games in the series. Beyond this, the games do mention a villainous team of the past (the ancestors of Team Skull).

The cover legends are not fusions, nor Solgaleo or Lunala.

Necrozma is the Prism Pokemon. And what do prisms do to light?

• This troper will now joss his own theory; they are indeed fusions with Necrozma as the dominant part.

Rockruff will evolve into Dusk Lycanroc at 5 PM

This is because this time is the most likely time dusk would take place and the official website states that Dusk Lycanroc can't really be caught in the wild. Plus, 5 PM is the time in-game when the skies turn orange, which was what the preview for Ash's Rockruff evolving looked like.

• Adding to this, I wouldn't be surprised if you needed the other two forms in your party as well, as both Olivia's Midday and Gladion's Midnight Lycanroc were present at its evolution.
• Not quite jossed, but leaning towards it, as a special Rockruff that would evolve into Dusk Lycanroc was announced for Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.
• It's apparently jossed. The September 2017 Corocoro states that Rockruff obtained during regular play cannot evolve into Dusk Lycanroc, while the event Rockruff is a special one that can.
  • Confirmed for real this time, but it only applies to the event Rockruff.

Necrozma is a catalyst for Ultra Beasts

Its debatable status as an UB despite its many links to Solgaleo and Lunala at first, plus with the new information where it appears it has merged with the Sun/Moon Duo, perhaps suggest that Necrozma latches onto Ultra Beasts, ala Remoraid to Mantine (or something like the Rush Adapter) perhaps it will not just be Solgaleo/Lunala but Ultra beasts in general.

There won't be any new regional variants

It's been 100 days until Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon come out and practically no new information has been revealed since its announcement apart from a new form of Lycanroc. Maybe that means there aren't any brand new additions to reveal. No Alolan forms, no Megas, no new Ultra Beasts. Hopefully I'm wrong though.

• Jossed in regards to no new Ultra Beasts. They just felt like taking their sweet time to reveal anything.

A new Event Pokemon will be introduced to call back to X and Y

It'll be Eternal Flower Floette. With the focus on alternate universes the last two generations, Alola's strong flower motif, and the Zygarde thing in Sun/Moon, it's easy to imagine an event where we encounter Floette. This is an alternate story to Sun/Moon, after all; maybe in this universe, those particular flowers still grow.

Keeping with the Kill la Kill shout outs from the original game, an expy of Nui Harime will show up in Ultra Sun and Moon.

Lilly won't exactly have a very fond memory of her, and even though she's officially just the clothes designer for the Foundation, she has a lot of authority. She'll battle you two or three times, using a mix of Fairy and Poison types.

The light with a pair of eyes is Necrozma.

If you Fusion Dance Necrozma and one of the mascot legendaries, the mascot legendary will don Necrozma's body as armor, but the soul or similar of Necrozma will remain intact. It'll be more of an Accelgor/Escavalier (Shelmet gives its armor to Karrablast) scenario similarity than the Tao trio's DNA Splicers (Kyurem and mascot legendary literally fuse together to become one Pokemon) scenario.

It would make sense, given that Necrozma is based off of prisms and the eyes of the mysterious light bare resemblance to Necrozma.

• Confirmed; to be more specific, it's Ultra Necrozma.

Ryuki seemingly being in Vermillion Gym

is actually a set for a movie he's starring in.Ryuki is a celebrity, after all.

The scene in the trailer of an Alolan Vulpix in an Aether Foundation lab is related to Lillie getting an Alolan Vulpix.

The portal seen in the official map art is actually a portal caused by Giratina.

]Possibly leading into...

The Ultra Beast dimension will be revealed to actually be the same realm as the Distortion World, which will lead into a Sequel Hook of the Sinnoh remakes.

Both dimensions/worlds/realms/whatever are strange, and we haven't seen enough of the Ultra Beast dimension to see what's beyond the Nihilego hangout and you can't stray too far from the designated path by Platinum in the Distortion World.

Kris will appear as a faller from Pokémon Crystal universe.

Like how Anabel is a faller from Pokémon Emerald universe.

Bellelba will appear on a poster or the tv.

She will the villain of the movie Ryuki is starring in and Bellebla will be played by Sabrina.

You will fight the Ultra Beasts on their home turf.

Someone noticed something in the recent trailer: in what seems to be a forest's road that leads to a strangely shaped rock, we can see Kartana, one of the Ultra Beasts, in front of the rock. Leading to the theory that this is Kartana's Ultra Space while what we saw in the original games was Nihilego's Ultra Space. Another theory is that the Ultra Space will match the typing of it's Ultra Beast (or at least one of it's types) If that's the case, then that means that there will be other Ultra Beasts to be fought in their personal Ultra Space. Going with that, Buzzwole and Pheromosa would be in what looks like a giant ant colony (but Buzzhole's might more wrecked while Pheromosa's might be cleaner), Xurkitree would be in the belly of a chaotic machine, Celesteela would be in the sky and Guzzlord would be either in a world of darkness or an empty and desolate place (because it ate everything).

• Guess what? CONFIRMED! Although while Xurkitree's Turf does have a machine look to it, Buzzhole's (and possibly Pheromosa's as well) doesn't look like an ant colony and more like a huge jungle. Only time will tell if Celesteela's will be in the sky or not and what Guzzlord's will look like.

Mega Evolutions will hold a larger role

If they are going to appear in the SM Anime, held by BROCK AND MISTY no less, there could be a marketing reason in the game. It's also a easy enough way of diverging the non Ultra and Ultra SM games.

This version of Lillie is...

• One that never left the Aether Foundation in the first place, or failed to escape them.
• The one that fell through the wormhole and lost their memory instead of her father.
• The one that gets corrupted by a Nihilego and goes crazy (possibly from losing her mother or brother to the wormhole?) instead of Lusamine, because how much of a Player Punch would that be?
• More like the anime one, where she loves Pokemon but can't touch them due to a mysterious incident she can't remember (possibly related to the wormhole/Ultra Beasts?).
• Jossed.

Possible Sun and Moon anime references they could make:

• Lillie has a similar backstory of being afraid to touch Pokemon, which she gets over when she acquires an Alolan Vulpix.
• Lana, Kiawe, Mallow and/or Sophocles might mention going to Pokemon School together.
• More emphasis/references to the Pokemon School in general.
• The special Rockruff that becomes Dusk form is said to be from Professor Kukui.
• You run into a stray Litten in town that likes to steal berries.

Instead of Mohn being abducted, it was Lusamine...

...whilst she was pregnant with Lillie. the main timeline of Sun and Moon places the player (and Hau) around 11 years old, whereas Gladion was more 13-14. before the player initally came to Alola, Lille should have already escaped with Nebby and lived with Kukui for about 3 months, sidestepping the issue of dating her birth, as well as determining what their birthdays are. logically Gladion was a few months old and Lusamine was due, sometime after Mohn originally got kidnapped.

Mohn was an untidy, nebbish wreck before Lusamine calmed and refined him out of pure love. but without her around, Mohn became so desperate to get her back that he instead devoted his life into his work rather than his family life. Lusamine eventually started to treat her children as dolls, but since this reality will have Mohn present instead, Wicke will be more of a surrogate, wistfully wondering if Gladion feels that it was his fault that they left without telling him. Wicke herself told Gladion a lie out of keeping him from straying down the same path as his father did but still feels alienated.

Meanwhile, Nebby just straight up cries. not having the Poke(or humanitarian?) ambitions Lusamine had, Mohn instead turns to a group of corrupt scientists (plus Team Rocket?, to secure the funding. they have a lot of leeway) who works on the strange Pokemon in the attempt to breach into Ultra Space. at first it worked, however Nebby almost died within Ultra Space itself, evolving into an Ultra Spacian Cosmoem, noticing the unusual energy readings it emitted, they shackled it down to keep it's power in check (Mirroring Mewtwo from the first movie). After experimenting with other irradiated materials from the Alola region, they noticed that their collections of earth had became new types of evolutionary stones (Unknownst to them, they became Mega Stones).

They'll probably explain the inital origin of the Tapus and the Z-Rings themselves. they just coincidentally remain compatible with Mega Stones that just happened to be discovered in the backstory of the game. by the time the player gets to the climax of the plot, Nebby will have endured countless energy refractions that its body starged to decompose and crystalize, evolving into Necrozma. After hearing the horrifying testimony from Wicke, the player quickly escorts Nebby to the Altar of the Sunne/Moone, due to the (concurrent effects of) Sun and Moon whittling at their reality, causing Ultra Beasts to invade their world.

Somehow, you climb into Ultra Space. Where perhaps Lusamine/Lillie had adapted to the climate, becoming shells of their former selves. or perhaps they have fallen into another reality where Lusamine had been successful with her plot. (similar to the Ultra Earth theory at the top of the page) Necrozma sheds its' armor, transforming into the Energy Being-based form (partially seen on both box arts, namely the eyes), healing it of its torment. the energy-based Solgaleo and Lunala just happened to be refined forms, after wearing the remnants of Necrozma's physical form, becoming (tecnically, by example) reverse-Kyurem. the game will point out that Necrozma's very energy is harmful and has to be contained within a Pokeball, however a contained Necrozma could have access to either of the box legend's moves when it's not an energy being. for competitive balance, you can't have a Unbound Necrozma or the Awakened Legend at the same time, being considered as Preset Megas, similar to Mega Rayquaza.

• All of the above is jossed; Mohn fulfills the same role as before.

Gen 7/SM & USUM was Gamefreak's attempt to try new things and break the mold they'be been following for so many years.

With Nintendo trying to break out of its old reputation, Gamefreak is also trying to refresh pokemon by breaking out of the classic formula. Sun and Moon does away with Gyms with a more story focused plot along with being one of the darkest Pokemon games to date. Along with that they try to make more min-maxed Pokemon for the competitive scene. For Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, as of the September 13 2017 Nintendo Direct, They have done something no one was expecting by dropping two completely new species of Pokemon mid-generation. While they're Ultra Beasts which does differ from actual pokemon, it shows that Gamefreak has again broken away from their usual planing.

There will be a few new Mythic/Event-only Pokémon that debut in these versions

Since there are UB new to them.

• Confirmed, the only Mythical Pokémon is a pure Electric-Type named Zeraora.

The four mysterious armored figures shown on the poster are alternate dimension counterparts to the Aether Family (Lusamine, Mohn, Lillie, and Gladion).

We all know it was going to make it to this page eventually. Possible personality shifts include:

• Lusamine: The Token Good Teammate to the rest of her family.
• Mohn: The leader of the alternate reality's Aether Foundation (which is a Pokemon Wrongs Group in that reality) and a Jerkass, but extremely protective of his family.
• Gladion: Basically the same as his "prime world" counterpart, except without all the sympathetic qualities.
• Lillie: A Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Manipulative Bastard who is rather abusive towards her Nebby.

Alternatively...

• Possibly jossed. The latest trailer imply that they're Ultra Space's very own human counterpart residents.
  • Jossed for real; they're the Ultra Recon Squad.

The four mysterious figures will be the main villains.

If they are alternate versions of the Aether family, then they'll be evil without the prompting of the Ultra Beasts that Lusamine had in the "prime world".

• Jossed. See above.

Pokémon numbers will return.

The introduction of new species to capture in this game may be the reason why numbering was dropped in Early Gen 7.

• Jossed; the National Pokédex still isn't in the game to record the numbers there.

An Ultra Beast apocalypse will start in the game

Just imagine the Scenery Gorn when the Aether Foundation begins to unleash Ultra Wormholes to destroy Alola, leading From Bad to Worse situation. Complete with Shin Megami Tensei-style horror and Spec Ops: The Line level of disturbing. The PC or the Protag will be seeing the biggest and darkest scenes in a kid's game.

• Jossed, however a different apocalyptic scenario is explored: In the Ultra Ruin, accessible through an Ultra Wormhole, it's implied that the world there was devastated by an Alternate Universe Blush Mountain powerplant going critical and suffering a nuclear meltdown which caused an explosion devastating the world. This forced the inhabitants to leave for another planet, except for Guzzlord, which were too heavy to take with them. It's also implied that Guzzlord mutated from another species, or was an existing species which fulfilled a role similar to Alolan Muk in the player's world. In fact, it's also stated that the Guzzlord are slowly going extinct, as they run out of food and start resorting to cannibalism. It's not exactly an "Ultra Wormhole apocalypse," but is perhaps even scarier given that something similar can happen to our world, either by accident or through an act of hate.

Same but different

Ultra Sun and Moon will have for the most part storyline as in order of major events up to leaing to the shrine of the sun and moon where you seem to meet Necrozma (the first sighting of the Ultra beasts, \ battling the Aether foundation, etc) but how and why those events happen are different. For example, Lusamine this time around isn't corrupted by Ultra influences but she and the Aether Foundation does study them in secret, which is causing the Ultra space distortions being discovered by Burnet. Burnet's insistence along with Team Skull kidnapping Nebby and subsequent discovery of some of the twos connection is what causes you, Hau, Gladion and possibly Lillie or Kukui to challenge the Aether Foundation, which leads to the huge Ultra worm hole we see on the new map and forcing you to go to the fourth island and go to the shrine.

Ultra Hau and Lillie Predictions

As of September 22, 2017 a trailer was released that showed the return of trials, more importantly It talks about your friends Hau and Lillie as well as showing off new concept art for them. Lillie is depicted in her "ultra" form, looking happy and confident, while Hau is now depicted with a more serious and determined look on his face as opposed to his original cheery look. Along with this the line "your Friends during the island challenge" as well as showing some scenes that look slightly altered scenes from the original storyline.

Lillie: Possibly this time around Lillie may have not been traumatized by her family's downfall in this version, maybe in this Lusamine hasn't been corrupted/gone completely insane and Lillie lived a more relatively normal albeit sheltered childhood by the time you meet her. as oppose to her (justified) shyness and emotional distance, this time she's a cautiously curious and happy girl finally getting to learn more about the region she's never really explored and possibly even a trainer at some point in the story, same person, different character.

Hau: This time around rather than taking time to enjoy the adventure, Hau will now be more active in partaking in trails, He'll still fulfill being your best in-game friend, this time around he treats as a friendly rival, being quicker to realize his flaws but and actively attempts to change them as the story goes. From the start he'll be classic Hau, as the story progresses his trials and tribulations force him to become a far more competent and skilled trainer to not be left in your dust. To sum it up, He's going to make you work for those battles. Along with that, more of his battles can become lose scenarios for you, as in the first game he had one unique battle where if you lost, you lost and he acknowledges his growth and the game progresses.

• Seemingly confirmed. He took levels in badass and you fight him for the position of champion this time around.

There's at least one Mimikyu hiding at Pikachu Valley

Knowing the comedy and jokes they often pull in this series, not doing this would be a missed opportunity.

• Confirmed, it can be spotted on the top of the island, as well as popping out of the RV at random.

All rivals and protagonists from the first three regions, as well as X and Y, will appear in the Battle Tree

Main rivals will appear in both versions (Silver, Wally, Trevor, Tierno, and Shauna), while protagonist pairs will be split between versions (Leaf/Green, Ethan, Brendan, and Serena in Ultra Sun, and Kris, Lyra, May, and Calem in Ultra Moon). Rivals will draw on whatever they use in the games except for starters, protagonists will use their games' starter Pokemon, plus whatever else they used as rivals. Meanwhile, Leaf and Kris's teams will make use whatever was unavailable in their repective third versions (Japanese Blue and Crystal respectively), plus Suicune for Kris.

• Jossed; the lineup is the same as before; the only new additions are Lillie, Professor Kukui, and Sophocles.

Ultra Megaopolis is the hub world for the entire multiverse of the games' canon.

At some point in the story, one of the Ultra Recon Corps will mention any or all of the following:

• There are multiple universes not unlike the one they (URC) came to, but they've all evolved in ever-varying ways, using the example of AZ's Ultimate Weapon, and potentially Teams Magma or Aqua achieving their plans resulting in several different branches, all resulting in several different universes.
• Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma are considered ordinary Pokemon to the inhabitants of Ultra Space, as opposed to their Legendary status in the world of humans, albeit the former two are bred for their ability to open Ultra Wormholes, even allowing the player to ride into Ultra Space on their personal Solgaleo/Lunala in order to pursue Dusk Mane/Dawn Wings Necrozma to save Nebby. They will comment on Pokemon such as Pikachu and Yungoos looking totally alien from their point of view.
• The Necrozma that stole their world's light is one of two that originated from the USUM universe, and the other one escaped into the Sun/Moon universe to flee the URC, ultimately being captured by the Sun/Moon player after the Ultra Beasts were dealt with.

The Ultra Recon Squad are not really human.

They've been described as coming from a world beyond an Ultra Wormhole and their base is a world where Necrozma took away its light. They also have names that aren't normal sounding and seem to follow a naming convention from Pokémon Colosseum. Plus the only exposed parts of their bodies are their hair and faces.

• After some research, their names aren't that unusual as they're named after types of Seaweed and aquatic plants (which follows the general Floral Theme Naming the Pokemon series follows). But having blue skin is quite a bit unusual.

The Ultra Recon Squad role

They will be your actual allies in stopping Necrozma but one of them will betray the group. They could start out legitimately trying to contain Necrozma for whatever reason but as time goes on, the members you interact with become attached to Alola. By the time Necrozma is capable of being stopped with the help of the Ultra recon squad, you'll be betrayed. Depending on version, Dulse reveals an intent of having Necrozma steal Alola's light with the intent of giving it to his own people's light which had long since disappeared, while in Moon, Soleria intends to take Alola's light both to provide for her world, but mostly out of jealousy.

• The 'Allies' part is supported by the fact in one trailer the player character can be seen to run past them while they apparently watch your back. There is great possibility that they will be an example of Not Evil, Just Misunderstood, what with the nature of conflict and Ultra Beasts.

Pokemon that can be found in the expanded Alola Dex

Its been stated that the Alola Dex has been expanded to 400+ Pokemon. Most likely they're returning species that weren't in the original Sun and Moon games. Since, Larvitar, Mareep, Houndoom and Manectric were shown off in the trailer, I can deduct that Pokemon with Mega Evolutions are guaranteed to show up as the Mega Stone Mystery Gifts are supposed to end at the end of October.

• Confirmed and jossed at the same time. The only non-event Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution that isn't available in these games is Camerupt.

The villainous team

We know for a fact that Team Skull isn't returning as the villains, partly on account of their reformation, and I highly doubt that the Aether Foundation will be the bad guys again. As such, I think that the villainous team will be a team that seeks to aid Necrozma in it's goal of stealing the world's light.

They'll likely try to stop authorities from interfering with Necrozma, thinking that it's doing good, and that it should not be interrupted. The leader will probably see Necrozma in a semi-religious fashion, worshiping it as a god.

But here's the twist: this team is actually a cult, hypnotized or brainwashed by Necrozma itself into doing the Prism Pokemon's bidding. Necrozma uses these people as a distraction, while it draws power. Once Solgaleo/Lunala interferes, it absorbs them, and the player will be forced to separate the merged creatures, and capture Necrozma, ending it's schemes and reversing the brainwashing. Of course, to prevent the inevitable Disc-One Nuke, Necrozma will have to be turned in to Looker and/or the Aether Foundation, so they can try to pacify the Prism Pokemon naturally. Once the Elite 4 is beaten, Necrozma will be returned to the player, and be much less violent.

• Jossed.

Post-Release Theories

The Necrozma from Sun/Moon is formed from fragments of the Necrozma from USUM

When the Ultra Recon Squad's ancestors made their grab for Necrozma's power and destroyed its body, its fragments fell into a separate Alola from where the original Necrozma did and ended up battling the tapu and Solgaleo/Lunala, much like it fell into Mt. Lanakila after you defeated it at Megalo Tower. The difference is, they ended up in Ten Carat Hill, where they formed, much like a real prism, into a separate Necrozma, undisturbed until Lusamine unleashes Ultra Beasts onto Alola.

The Shiny Zygarde that'll be available in June.

In 2018, Pokémon will be celebrating a year of Legendary Pokémon and they'll give legendaries out as promotions. One of these is a Shiny Zygarde and is the only way to get one legitimately as Zygarde is currently Shiny-locked. Most likely this Zygarde will have Power Construct as its ability since if it had Aura Break, there's the chance that the Zygarde Cube can be used on it to disassemble it and delete it from existence.

Guzzlord is the scavenger of the Ultra Beasts.

Guzzlord is found in the Ultra Ruins, a place wrecked due to some sort of nuclear catastrophe. While this could imply Guzzlord is a result of this, it could be that it merely followed this. Guzzlord is almost a living black hole, and constantly consumes everything it can get. It's also got the suffix "lord" or "king", suggesting it has an important role in the Ultra Beasts. It's possible one of the main reasons the Ultra Beasts even travel across universes is because of Guzzlord. As it is constantly searching for food, it will exploit Ultra Wormholes and even try to make them, so it can go to these new universes to find new food. The Ultra Ruins suffered an apocalyptic event, but this now barren place is pickings for Guzzlord. It doesn't cause disasters, they just follow them because there's a lot to scavenge. Though given it's voracious nature, it's a really bad idea to come close to it.

The legend about The Blinding One and its fall from grace is actually false

Rather than Necrozma being whatever was left of The Blinding One after supposedly the ancient Megalopolis people wrecked its body, it was a fully sapient (to the point of being capable of human speech), perhaps even malevolent, entity who came to ancient Megalopolis as Ultra Necrozma and wreaked havoc until it was significantly damaged and became the black prism creature it is now.

The (admittedly far-fetched) basis of this speculation comes from Gen 8: Eternatus, a dangerous crystal dragon entity from another world with an ability to "corrupt" existing pokemon with its power, shares too much similarity with Necrozma, hinting that they are similar beings.

Team Rainbow Rocket

Giovanni gathering all the other villains will backfire spectacularly on him

Seriously, Giovanni gathered together five villains, all with mutually exclusive goals. Not only that, but Maxie and Archie already underwent Heel Face Turns prior to this, Cyrus has a god complex, Ghetsis is as mad as a hatter, and Lysandre could care less about what others want and is only out for himself.

• I assume he has something on them. Or he chipped Ghetsis like a Suicide Squad member.

Alternatively, it will backfire for a completely different reason

People all of them have personal beefs with are on Alola—Red and Blue, who defeated Giovanni the first time, Silver who is Giovanni's son, Wally who opposed Aqua/Magma, Cynthia the Sinnoh Champion who helped take Team Galactic down, Colress who had to put up with Ghetsis' crap for a while, and Professor Sycamore's assistants, who likely won't be pleased to see that the guy who betrayed their mentor is there on Alola. And this is disregarding the possibility that there will be more people from previous gens on the archipelago—wanna see what happens if N meets dear old daddy again?

Giovanni and/or the other old villains from the team up are from alternate universes

Most of them have reasons why they shouldn't be involved. Maxie and Archie reformed, Cyrus was trapped in the Distortion World, Ghetsis was mentally broken by his defeats, Lysandre was literally buried, dead or otherwise. Their being the Alternate Self would work around that, and explain why Ghetsis has his old uniform.

• Confirmed; the team leaders Giovanni recruited are from worlds where they fulfilled their goals.

Adding to the above, they're all from alternate universes where they won

This was suggested on Youtube once and I thought they were onto something. The idea of a world where Cyrus, Ghetsis or Lysandre won, however, is still truly terrifying.

• Supported by this trailer, as Ghetsis has Zekrom. Which begs the question...how did he get that?
• Confirmed by this interview.
• And doubly comfirmed in-game, at least from what Maxie says in this 30-minute preview which GameXplain did on the Rainbow Rocket storyline.

Cyrus will foreshadow or set up his role for the Diamond/Pearl remakes

The Rainbow Rocket scenario is all a Virtual Training Simulation.

One thing I noticed about the official promotional image for the Rainbow Rockets is that Sophocles is there (underneath the protagonist and his Pokemon). Its a little strange that he's a part of the image and might play a role in its plot. It might also explain why all these villains that were soundly defeated (and in some cases put out of commission) in the past are showing up and are working together.

• Jossed. The villains are all from worlds where they won. That said, Sophocles does program a boss Trainer based on Giovanni into the Battle Agency.

The Team Leaders will double cross each other. Multiple times.

See the WMG of this backfiring on Giovanni. It'll only be a matter of time until their personal goals clash with one another and something gets compromised.

• Given that Maxie and Archie still hate each others guts? Possible.
• Semi-confirmed? While they don't actively betray each other, All the Team Leaders have their own desires that results in a Teeth-Clenched Teamwork. The fact that most of them (Aside from Ghetsis, who is the only one who declare his intention to double-cross Giovanni) help you, the player, progress through Team Rainbow Rocket after being defeated could be considered as a betrayal.
  • Archie and Maxie do try to fight each other, but can't even get their Pokemon out of the balls before Colress intervenes.

Red will show up to help fight Giovanni.

With both of them now appearing in Alola, who better to stop the leader of Team Rainbow Rocket than the trainer who did the same thing 20 years ago?

• Sadly jossed, Red however is somewhat mentioned, Giovanni talks about a scenario in which a 10-year old fighting with him is "somewhat familiar to him"

Ghetsis' Hydreigon will have Flash Cannon.

His Hydreigon was known for its nasty moveset. Since it picked up double weakness to Fairy since Generation VI, it would be logical for it to have a counter-move to this typing, and Flash Cannon is the only special attack it can learn and fairy types are weak to it.

• Jossed. Its coverage attacks are Hyper Voice and Surf in addition to its STAB attacks.

All of the main evil leaders will have one legendary Pokemon in their teams.

Not just Giovanni, but the rest too will have a legendary Pokemon that corresponds to the region they came from. Hazarding a guess:

• Maxie: Groudon
• Archie: Kyogre
• Cyrus: Giratina
• Ghetsis: Kyurem
• Lysandre: Yveltal
  • The Maxie/Archie bit is more or less confirmed by this trailer at the very least, while Ghetsis is shown with Zekrom. Also, Lysandre may vary depending on the version (Xerneas in Ultra Sun, Yveltal in Ultra Moon).
  • Maxie confirmed to have Groudon through this preview.
    • Mostly confirmed, but whether Cyrus has Dialga or Palkia, Ghetsis has Reshiram or Zekrom, and Lysandre has Xerneas or Yveltal depends on the version.

Giovanni specifically attacked the Ultra Sun / Moon Alternate Universe because he thought there was no protagonist.

A miscalculation, Sun and Moon look different, but they're still the 10-Year Old Who Saves The World. He's looking for worlds that don't have this.

Most of Team Rainbow Rocket's leaders suffered a Meaningless Villain Victory, which is the reason why they teamed up with Giovanni despite their conflicting desires.

The premise of Team Rainbow Rocket is that the leaders won in their timeline because the protagonist of their games never existed. Except when you recall the plot of their games, a lot of them lost due to reasons outside the protagonist's control. Maxie and Archie's goals of expanding the land/sea were flawed from the get-go and Groudon and Kyogre's powers exceeded their plans. Cyrus mentions a shadowy Pokemon interfering, which matches with Platinum in that you fail to free Dialga and Palkia, but Giratina steps in to save the day. Not to mention their legendaries are in Master Balls, which in the original Sinnoh games Cyrus explicitly doesn't use because they prevent the full power of the legendaries being used. The reason these leaders joined Giovanni is because even without the protagonist interfering they weren't able to truly achieve their dreams they way they wanted to, but Giovanni, who always had the simplest and most straight-forward goal and had his plans more directly foiled by the protagonist than them in the main timeline, would be a reliable way to go about it. Even Ghetsis and Lysandre wouldn't necessarily have a stable power base as the former's goals would probably not get any farther than Unova and the latter would probably run afoul of another legendary or the worlds' governments before the Ultimate Weapon could completely wipe out all other life on the planet.

New Pokemon/Ultra Beasts/Forms Introduced in USM

UB Assembly is a colony of brick-shaped creatures rather then one individual.

I noticed that most of the bricks appear to have eyes on them that flip out to see things. Also, the code name chosen for it, "Assembly" may not only refer to it being assembled as a tower, but may also be an assembly of creatures.

• Confirmed. "While UB Assembly may appear to be made up of stones stacked atop one another, apparently each “stone” is in fact a separate life-form, and this UB is made up of an assemblage of these life-forms."

UB Burst and UB Assembly are Ghost/Fairy and Ghost/Rock respectively.

Burst seems heavily clown-inspired, and many people view clowns as creepy. It also used an unknown, presumably signature move that was super effective against Decidueye, which supports this theory. Fairy types are also somewhat associated with silliness and trickery, which are commonly associated with clowns. Assembly's multiple glowing eyes gives it a ghostly vibe, and the Rock typing speaks for itself. It also should be noted that the current two version exclusive pairs of UBs share a type with their counterparts.

• Jossed for both. UB Burst is Fire/Ghost while UB Assembly is Rock/Steel.

UB Assembly will be a pure Steel Stone Wall.

Sure, its stone bricks make it look like it'll be Rock-type, but it's a poor defensive type. This Ultra Beast will have a defensive stat distrubution complemented by a defensive type.

• Jossed. Stakataka is instead a Rock/Steel Mighty Glacier.

Burst will be UB-03 in Ultra Sun, while Assembly will be UB-05 in Ultra Moon.

They will be version exclusives that replaces Xurkitree and Guzzlord, respectively.

• Jossed. Neither Blacephalon nor Stakataka are number-coded.

Alternatively, both Burst and Assembly are coded UB-02 in their respective versions.

The in-game cutscene shows them appearing in the same manner as Buzzwole and Pheromosa did in Sun and Moon (appearing in front of Hala and accosting them). So they might have more story relevance then Xurkitree and Guzzlord did.

• Jossed. As stated above, they're unnumbered.

Necrozma is the main antagonist.

Without getting into full details, Necrozma seems to really shout "Evil." A near pitch black prismatic and angular being that rains down lasers of seemingly light and is explicitly said to have a violent disposition. The Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon trailers seem to play this up a bit more, seeing as it catches Solgaleo/Lunala in it's claws to become Dusk Mane/Dawn Wings Necrozma. Necrozma could possibly be out to assimilate the both of them, succeeding in getting them in their respective games. Perhaps it could be the one responsible for Lusamine's insanity in this game, which could make it out to be a Greater-Scope Villain or Big Bad Duumvirate.

• Possibly confirmed, the latest trailers talk about Necrozma stealing Alola's "Light". (There's also a preview of a scene with Lusamine telling someone to flee and calling whatever hurt her a monster.)
• He also crushed the sun in one of the trailers.
• Seemingly confirmed, if the title "Strange Evil" in the commercial trailers is anything to go bye.
• Confirmed, as the final antagonist you have to face in the main campaign. The part about Lusamine's insanity is also correct.

Potential ways to get Dusk form Lycanrock in future games.

• You need to have both a Midday and a Midnight form Lyacanrock in your party. (Based on how Ash's Rockruff evolved in the anime after getting energy from both forms.)
• Needs to evolve at a very specific time, most likely sunset.
  • Second method confirmed, specifically for the event Rockruff.
• You can only access it in versions where you can evolve Rockruff into either Midday or Midnight forms, unlike Sun and Moon where you are locked to one of the forms.

Those "new" UB in these versions.

They are really alternate forms of previous Ultra Beasts.

• Jossed. They are separate species.

The new UBs are Psychic/Rock and Psychic/Fighting

They do seem to be the USUM counterparts of Pheromosa and Buzzwole, and since Pheromosa and Buzzwole both share the Fighting type, it would make sense for them to share the Psychic type.

• Jossed. Blacephalon is Fire/Ghost and Stakataka is Rock/Steel.

UB: Burst and UB: Assembly will not share a type

They won't follow the pattern established by the other UB pairs.

• Confirmed. Blacephalon is Fire/Ghost and Stakataka is Rock/Steel.

UB Burst will take Buzzwole/Pheromosa's place, and UB Assembly will take Kartana/Celesteela's

This will be to necessitate either trading for them or playing Sun and Moon to near-completion after Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon launch. There will be two Bursts in Ultra Sun, and four in Ultra Moon, with the reverse being true for Assembly.

• Doubtful that Burst and Assembly will be played that way because it's been established that Burst will be exclusive to Ultra Sun, while Assembly will be exclusive to Ultra Moon.
• Jossed. The most recent trailer showed that we can fight Buzzwole in it's Home Turf just like the others, confirming one of the pre-release theories (even if Buzzwole's Turf is different from what the WMG entry predicted: a jungle instead of a hive), and it's safe to say that Pheromosa will be fought, too.

We'll get two more Ultra Beasts alongside Burst and Assembly

The main numerical motif that the creatures of Ultra Space seem to have in common is that they all have prime numbers. This is displayed most prominently in their base stats, but how many of them may also be represented by a prime number. We started with seven of them (a prime number), but two more would make it nine (which isn't a prime number). Another two might be added to make it eleven.

• Confirmed. They are Poipole and its evolution, Naganadel.

UB: Adhesive will have a signature trapping move

The move will both trap and poison the target.

• Not just poison—it's badly poison the target!
• Jossed. No new signature move.

They will be an Alolan form Onix and Steelix.

Onix will be a pure Ice type and Steelix will be an Steel/Ice duel type. They will be based on the Crystal Onix from the Orange Islands arc.

• Jossed. There are no new Alolan forms.

Clefairy and Cleflabe will get Alolan forms.

They will be Fairy/Dark types or Fairy/Ground. They will got the new forms to get revenge on Pikachu for stealing their role as the Mascot of Pokemon.

• Jossed. There are no new Alolan forms.

Vikavolt will finally get a rhino beetle counterpart.

• Jossed. According to their Pokédex entries, Heracross is already its rhino beetle counterpart, having an enemy relationship while Pinisir is Heracross's buddy counterpart.

UB Adhesive is a lesser ultra beast.

Having less BST than others, they are more easily catchable, so they are the one accessible to the Ultra Recon Squad.

• Confirmed. Its highest form, Naganadel, has BST of 540 when UB's BST are usually 570.

UB Burst is a physical Xurkitree.

Identical stats, except attack and special attack are swapped. Perhaps swap out the defenses for some speed. Orr..

• Jossed. Blacephalon has a higher special attack.

UB Burst is a special Kartana.

Albeit, less focusing on special defense like Nihilego.

• Close enough. Blacephalon's stats is similar to Kartana, but it has higher Attack stat, rather than either defence.

UB Assembly will be able to change forms.

It’s unique gimmick is that it can change into other forms for other purpose, perhaps in or out of battle, i.e a cannon.

• Jossed. Stakataka does not have any additional forms.

UB Adhesive has Mew-like stats.

Except, you know, it’s 570, but still, even all across.

• So the exact same stats as Silvally (95 in everything).
  • 95 isn't a prime number though, so if they keep with the theme of prime numbers, this won't work.
• Jossed. Poipole's stats are 67/73/67/73/67/73, totaling 420.

UB Adhesive is a pre-evolution.

An actual evoluion will raise it’s stats to 570, or even higher.

• Confirmed, though Naganadel's BST is 540.

If the Oddish line have an Alolan Form, Bellosoom will not have it.

Alolan forms being exclusive to Gen I is Status Quo Is God. It can work two ways:

• If their grass typing is removed, then Alolan Gloom will not be able to evolve into Bellosoom.
• If their grass typing is retained, then Alolan Gloom will evolve into regular Bellosoom.
• Jossed. There are no new Alolan forms.

Rotom will get a new form to use in battle.

It will be it's Pokedex form, which will allow Rotomdex to fight for you in battles.

• Close enough. Its battling forms are still the ones it had since Platinum. It still cannot fight in its Rotomdex form, but its Rotom Powers can be used in-battle.

Eternal Flower Floette, Spiky-eared Pichu, and Cosplay Pikachu will all be distributed via events.

They all have menu sprites, and they all are the only Pokémon with form differences that are unavailable. Eternal Flower Floette even has a Pokédex entry!.

Zeraora will have bigger involvement in the 8th gen games.

You can still get it through event near the end of USUM, but it has to be then transferred to 8th gen games to activate an event there.

Zeraora has a species-wide version of temporal displacement, the same condition that Tracer has.

This is the main reason why it only appears in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Unlike the other Ultra Beasts, that were simply not encountered or documented in Sun and Moon, Zeraora only exists in certain timelines of the main Pokémon world. In some timelines, nothing exists of it, in others its regarded as just a myth but a well known one, and a few have it as a regular Pokémon. Some time in the past, the whole species was Unstuck in Time, causing it to disappear from some timelines while still existing in others.

As for the Tracer comparison, I thought they kind of look similar and have similar abilities, especially both being Fragile Speedsters.

The Chief of Seafolk Island is a descendant of Briney.

Capt. Briney is the ferry captain from the Hoenn games, and has a Wingull named Peeko.

The Chief of Seafolk Island could be the son, or even a grandson, of Briney. And his Pelipper could be an evolved Peeko.

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