Pokémon Sun and Moon - General Discussion Thread

[Ophie]

What annoys me more is that there isn't anything in-game that provides you with clues as to where and when the remaining ones are. I compared it to Super Mario Sunshine's Blue Coins, which you had to collect all of for 100% completion but had nothing except a running tally to tell you of which ones you've had.

The first two Paper Mario games had Star Pieces sprinkled randomly throughout the land, but they had NPCs who could tell you exactly where all of them were for a few Coins each. It made it a lot less annoying, because you could pinpoint any of the ones you've missed.

 

[Bguy7]

Which is... unfortunate and inconvenient for those people, I guess?

Would you have them never include any sort of time based events, lest someone somewhere out there finds themselves unable to play at a certain hour or time of day?

You're kind of twisting my words here. I'm only talking about the context of the Zygarde Cell hunt, in which once you miss one on your primary journey, the hunt as a whole becomes extremely harder.

 

[AmbipomMaster]

I have a burning question, and I'm not sure if anyone knows a direct answer, but I'd love some headcanons you have as well!

Where did the Z-Crystals come from?

The thing that made me warm up to Mega Evolution in XY was due to the incredible backstory to their origin- how the ultimate weapon ended up infusing stones with Life Energy, allowing certain species to access this Energy and gain a temporary, more powerful state. I was looking around for some lore about the origin of Z-Crystals, and it seems to have just been retconned with little to no explanation. So if you guys have anything you found, or your own theories, I'd love to hear them!

 

[Aetius]

I have a burning question, and I'm not sure if anyone knows a direct answer, but I'd love some headcanons you have as well!

Where did the Z-Crystals come from?

The thing that made me warm up to Mega Evolution in XY was due to the incredible backstory to their origin- how the ultimate weapon ended up infusing stones with Life Energy, allowing certain species to access this Energy and gain a temporary, more powerful state. I was looking around for some lore about the origin of Z-Crystals, and it seems to have just been retconned with little to no explanation. So if you guys have anything you found, or your own theories, I'd love to hear them!

Long story short, this is how things went IMHO:

1) Lunala/Solgaleo appears from an Ultra Wormhole (opened in a forgotten past by Necrozma) and fights against the Tapu, as it is considered a threat to Alola by them.
2) The misunderstanding regarding Lunala or Solgaleo is cleared and the Tapu pledge an alliance with the former.
3) The royals of Alola celebrate this event by building the Sun/Moon Altar.
4) Before disappearing, Solgaleo/Lunala gives the Tapu a formidable power under the form of stones (Z-Crystals), which are capable of releasing an outstanding form of energy (Z-Power) and leaves the Sun/Moon Flute in the hands of humans, should they ever need its help again in the future.
5) The Tapu decide to give such stones only to those they deem worthy of their protection, creating the Sparkling Stones in the process, which after a process of raffination using human techniques, will become the Z-Rings.
6) Trials are estabilished and the first Kahuna are born, which in turn appoint capable people as Trial Captains.
7) The Z-Power creates an even deeper bond between Pokèmon and Trainers, making the birth of Z-Moves possible.
8) The first UBs met by men wreck havock in Alola (probably by passing through another Ultra Wormhole), only to be stopped by the Tapu and the humans capable of wielding the Z-Power.
9) The UBs are reppelled back to their homeworld and peace is restored in Alola; a peace that will last till the Sun & Moon events.
10) Paver opens many Ultra Wormholes during his experiments, only to remain entraped in the Ultra Space and giving the UBs another chance to invade our world.

 

[XXD17]

The best approach is to follow the list from top to bottom, in order. Do it during in-game daytime, then in-game nighttime.

It's a hassle and it requires a bit of patience, but you're the only one who can help yourself with this.

I got all of them that way, but something that I've noticed is that Serebii's list is wrong when listing some day and night exclusive ones in that they were not indicated.

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

^You should address those to Serebii directly, not through this thread or the Mistakes thread.

 

[YonaNoveau]

Long story short, this is how things went IMHO:

1) Lunala/Solgaleo appears from an Ultra Wormhole (opened in a forgotten past by Necrozma) and fights against the Tapu, as it is considered a threat to Alola by them.
2) The misunderstanding regarding Lunala or Solgaleo is cleared and the Tapu pledge an alliance with the former.
3) The royals of Alola celebrate this event by building the Sun/Moon Altar.
4) Before disappearing, Solgaleo/Lunala gives the Tapu a formidable power under the form of stones (Z-Crystals), which are capable of releasing an outstanding form of energy (Z-Power) and leaves the Sun/Moon Flute in the hands of humans.
5) The Tapu decide to give such stones only to those they deem worthy of their protection, creating the Sparkling Stones in the process, which after a process of raffination using human techniques, will become the Z-Rings.
6) Trials are estabilished and the first Kahuna are born, which in turn appoint capable people as Trial Captains.
7) The Z-Power creates an even deeper bond between Pokèmon and Trainers, making the birth of Z-Moves possible.
8) The first UBs met by men wreck havock in Alola (probably by passing through another Ultra Wormhole), only to be stopped by the Tapu and the humans capable of wielding the Z-Power.
9) The UBs are reppelled back to their homeworld and peace is restored in Alola; a peace that will last till the Sun & Moon events.
10) Paver opens many Ultra Wormholes during his experiments, only to remain entraped in the Ultra Space and giving the UBs another chance to invade our world.

You know, I had completely forgotten there was a lore behind the Z Crystals and the Trials... Guess the whole UB crisis really consumed the story for me =P. You sure it was Necrozma the first Ultra Wormhole opener BTW? Just wondering, given there doesn't seem to be anything about that pokemon in the games aside that it looks like an UB, that it came in the distant past and its apparent hangover.

 

[BCVM22]

The poster said it's their interpretation of past events.

 

[YonaNoveau]

I didn't explain myself well, I meant if he/she had found some pointers or hints for his/her interpretation's basis or to piece together that theory.

 

[Aetius]

I didn't explain myself well, I meant if he/she had found some pointers or hints for his/her interpretation's basis or to piece together that theory.

I'm male by the way. XD
As for what I worte above, it's just a theory that I made up according to some hints I found in the game.
Necrozma is said to have come into the Pokèworld in ancient times.
How ancient we don't know, but I've got the feeling that it was way before Solgaleo and Lunala arrived at Alola.
Another thing is that Ulta Wormholes seem to be initially invisible to normal people's eyes (and probably only those who came into contact with the Z-Power can do such a feat), which means that the number of these portals could be potentially infinite.
To conclude, all that we know about the UB's appearances in ancient times and games' events are the following facts:

1) The first UB called Necrozma comes into the world by opening (intentionally or coincidentially) an Ultra Wormhole, but keeps its presence a secret and leads a life of seclusion.
2) The Z Power coming from the Ultra Wormholes created by Necrozma opens other portals, from one of which Lunala and Solgaleo come out.
3) After Solgaleo and Lunala disappear, the first invasion of Alola conducted by UB happens, giving origin to the legends that we heard from Burnet.
4) In modern times, Paver opens many Wormholes during his experiments, gathering information about the Ultra Space and the UB living in it, but he gets lost in one them, losing his memory as a result.
5) Guzzlord uses one of Ultra Wormholes opened by Paver and arrives at Alola, at Poni exactly, where Nau, Looker and their colleague face it in battle, repelling it away, but at an high price, as the female Faller dies in battle.
6) After that, Guzzlord probably takes refuge in Terminus cave, while Lusamine, discovering her husbands' documents, starts researching the Ultra Wormholes, in order to get her husband back, only to be infected by Nihilego's neurotoxins and becoming obsessed with the UB.
7) Type: Null is created in order to face effectively the UB, but the program comes to an halt when Gladion takes the Pokèmon away from the Aether Paradise.
8) Lusamine is enraged and because of that she uses the Cosmog left behind by Paver to further her reasearch, only to force Lillie to escape with the little Pokèmon.

 

[JKG2]

Hi all,
New user here, hope this is an OK place to post a link?
I made a video with my sons' help, documenting in-depth a quick and easy (well, easy anyway) %100 repeatable process for catching Mareanie in either Sun or Moon.
Great for getting that Merciless/Regenerator collection!

[video=youtube;jhOZbn9SAZ4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhOZbn9SAZ4[/video]

It's our first Pokemon how-to video, we had fun making it and we hope you enjoy it!

Thanks!

 

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Are the Legends and whatnot shiny locked in the game?

 

[BCVM22]

Every one of them.

 

[Nerdy McNerdface]

^^^ JKG2, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty certain that's advertising, and it isn't allowed.

 

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Every one of them.

Oof. Here's hoping they're all apart of events in the coming year then!

 

[cl94]

Yep. Every legendary, including the UBs, is shiny locked. Far more than they've had in any previous game. In fact, Gen VII has about as many shiny locked Pokemon as there were in all previous games combined.

 

[Sαpphire]

The sheer volume of shiny locks does have me just a little worried that we'll never get some as distributions and their shiny versions will remain unobtainable via legitimate means. I mean, it's already happened to Celebi, Victini, Keldeo, Meloetta, and Zygarde if I recall correctly.

 

[Baggie_Saiyan]

The main mascots I ca understand fair enough but everything yeah pretty excessive especially considering Legends will always be full odds.

 

[Jirachi100]

It's only the second day I've had Sun and I already caught a shiny Spearow! Loving the game so far. Unfortunately, I already know most of the story because my brother got Moon last month.

 

[Paladin of Arceus]

A lot of the streamers I follow tout Pokémon Sun/Moon as the best Pokémon games in the series, and after having beaten my copy of Sun version, I'm inclined to agree! It, admittedly, does lack some of the nicer features of previous titles, but it makes up for that by changing the standard, main-series Pokémon game formula that had been established over the past 20 years, and it does so in a way that's both original and refreshing. The only complaint I have about this generation, is the limited number of choices for reliable shiny-hunting methods. SOS-chaining, Masuda Method, and soft-resetting are the only viable options, and for my shiny-hunting streamer friends, only having three options is starting to get dull.

I loved the supporting characters in this game! Lillie has got to be the most adorable co-star ever! I really think that her and the player had a budding romance going, but it's probably not scripted that way as the female character. Hau is a great rival, and his battle music is really upbeat and relaxing. Hau's music actually makes you WANT to fight him! Most rival battles are a bothersome chore, but not Hau! Gladion... I think there's something wrong with his wrist? I dunno, but he keeps clutching it with this pained look in his eye... At least his backstory is interesting, and his mother is one insane-o-mac witch of a woman! Guzma and Team Skull, tho... I can't get over how "albino hoodrat" they are. I know it's racist, but for Arceus' sake, their battle pose is similar to the stereotypical, "monkey-scratching-its-armpits" pose! I can't bring myself to even find them mildly funny.

The captains and kahunas are really unique and memorable, mostly because some of the moments in their trials can be really thrilling! Like when that Wishiwashi leaped out of the water and tried to eat you, or when the Lurantis tried to sneak up and stab you in the back, or when that Hiker photobombed the Marowak's dance routine! Acerola is super-adorable with her child-like mannerisms, and even Nanu--the grittiest of them all--is a really interesting and likable character with a great deal of backstory and development. We even get to see Salon Maiden Anabel again after the debacle of the ORAS Battle not-Frontier! Look at how much she's grown!

Looker is also a welcome sight in any Pokémon game. His character's backstory is really exceptionally gritty, despite him not really sharing a lot of it at any one time. Piece his career together, though, and you start to see a man who's gazed into the abyss his whole life, and the grim toll he has paid by the abyss gazing also into him. Looker's missions bring an essence of maturity and grit to an otherwise kid-friendly game--"something for the dad," as it's known in the industry.

Speaking of "something for the dad," how 'bout that sssssssmokin' hawt bod on Olivia? They can't seem to stress enough how single and available she is. Besides trying to not-so-subtlely sexualize her in an otherwise kid-friendly game, what purpose does that emphasis serve? Your character is 11 years old, for Arceus' sake! Show some restraint, Japan!

All in all, Sun/Moon is hands-down, the best generation of main-series Pokémon games, in my opinion. It has an epic, gritty story, an incredible cast of well-developed characters, and a lot of amazingly creative innovations for the platform it's on. I really hope the Switch port solves a lot of the lag issues the 3DS suffers from, because they really drag some of the more graphically-beautiful moments down in enjoyability.