Pokémon Sun/Moon (Part 4)

Pokémon Sun/Moon: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – Part 6

Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4

We can continue our trip across the third island.

Plaza, Scans, Etc.!

This park kinda looks like... you know the one....
Giant castle and all that...

I make a big deal about how Pokémon Sun and Moon feel empty, but the truth is, they only feel that way due to their Ultra versions blowing them out of the water in many aspects; but both sets of games still share most of their features. And, in fact, there’s a few that I’ve barely mentioned yet!

Well, I did use them a lot, yes. Not so much after I was done
with the game, though...

The Festival Plaza is S/M’s online multiplayer area (…well, it was until the Nintendo 3DS online connection was terminated, but you can still use this mode to connect with local 3DS owners). Battle friends! Trade Pokémon (either on Link Trade, using the Global Trade System, or Wonder Trade)! The place is helmed by Sophocles, and has a level-up system. You earn Festival Coins from visitors to your Plaza, which you can then spend at any of the shops around the Plaza. The Coins also function as “experience” of sorts, so the more of them you collect over time, the more your place levels up. There are little rewards to obtain through leveling up the Plaza, all the way to Rank 100 (but you can keep going all the way to Rank 999). You also earn Coins by playing the mini-games through the Festival Tickets given daily by the hula girl by the castle entrance.

At every new rank, you can report back to Sophocles and gain a new facility. There are seven types, all with their own level, from 1 to 5 stars – the more stars a facility has, the better the rewards are when you play them. You can participate to each of the seven facilities you have set up in your Plaza once a day. Past a certain level, you can even change your facilities based on suggestions from visitors! The facilities include:

In a 1-vs-1 battle, all Pokémon are set back to Level 50.
Or taken up to that Level, depends.

Speaking from personal, limited experience with bouncy
houses, there's way more playing than training that gets
done in there.

-A lottery shop (with the biggest prize, in one shop, being a Master Ball!);

-Bouncy Houses (which increase your Pokémon’s Effort Values in one stat);

-Haunted Houses (the Pokémon you send in will find random items, one or more);

-Food stalls (their food can be used to level up a Pokémon or instantly increase more of their EVs, or even their friendship);

-Goody shops (where you can buy sets of items using your Festival Coins);

-Fortune teller tents (with the possibility of increasing the player’s chance of getting better rewards when using another facility);

-And dye houses (to recolor your Trainer’s clothes).

-The Ultra versions add the Switcheroo, for when you participate to the Plaza’s combat mode, the Battle Agency. That facility will change your rental Pokémon, since that’s the one you battle with through that mode.

The 3DS’s wi-fi connection was terminated, so a few features here are now either nonexistent or limited to local play, but any visitors to the Plaza from back when the connection was open can still spawn around the area, even if you can’t really do much with them.

"Koo!" Adorbs borb. Still my favorite.

Then there’s the QR Scanner. The Nintendo 3DS is equipped with a tool to scan QR codes. Every page in the Pokédex includes a QR code, so you can check a friend’s Dex for species you don’t have registered at all and scan their code to unlock that page (though you’ll still need to catch one to have the info). Shinies have different codes than regular-color Pokémon. Most codes are worth 10 points, but some special ones are worth 20.

It's... Pikablu!

Each day, you can scan codes until you have 100 points. This unlocks Island Scan, which will summon a Pokémon outside of the Alola Pokédex. The Pokémon that’s summoned differs depending on the island you’re on and the day of the week – making for 28 possibilities. Species found this way differ between S/M and US/UM, but none of them are in the Alola Dex, and they may possess egg moves. The downside? It's once a day, and you need to collect the 100 points every time you want to use the feature.

The thing I love about S/M/US/UM: This was the last Generation before Dexit, where not all Pokémon species would be available in future entries. Newer Gens have saved face with DLC packs that “unlock” several hundred more species in every game, so it’s not as bad as we dreaded (even if paying extra is meh), but now there’s Pokémon either still unusable (from Gens 5 to 7), or usable in only one game or set. On Alola, you can have ev-e-ry-one, though species not in the Alola Dex won’t have entries.

The Sixth Trial

Destruction in human form? Nah. Self-destruction, maybe.
Dude looks like a goddamn mess.

This thing is about to wimp out- er, I mean, about to
conduct an emergency exit. I think that ability would be
funnier if it was called "Tactical Retreat".

We find Kukui facing Skull grunts at Malie Garden. The Team’s boss shows up: Guzma. The two argue about tradition version making something new, and Nic gets pulled into their debate. Guzma takes on the Trainer. He’s a Bug-type specialist, and his key Pokémon is Golisopod, which retreats to its Pokéball at half health, forcing another one out. It looks cool and dangerous, but like its pre-evolution Wimpod, it’s a coward that flees when things get tough. Sounds like I just described Team Skull and Guzma himself. (To be fair to the guy, there are implications that he was abused as a kid for not being good enough, which is why he eventually created Team Skull to regroup the youths put down by society. …Didn’t expect a story about parental abuse in Pokémon, did ya?)

Okay, I love that every species-specific Z-Move involves
the Trainer in the picture before the Pokémon strikes.
(Can confirm, the same happens with Decidueye.)

Gee, good thing it's got a saddle.

When he’s defeated, Guzma leaves with his cronies, and as thanks, Kukui gives Nic the Z-Crystal for his Starter. In turn, Nic hands over the Royal’s mask. Lillie arrives with Acerola. Heyy, she’s made a friend! She leaves the Trainer to his island challenge to go back to shopping. Nic goes down Routes 11 and 12 but encounters impassable terrain. No worries! Hapu shows up with her trusty Mudsdale. She gives the Ride Pager for the horse, which can cross that terrain with a Trainer on its back.

About mysterious Pokémon? Not yet, we're discovering them
as we go along, that's why we're doing the Island Challenge!
Yes, I am playing dumb.

There’s a secluded beach South of Route 12, but it’s uninteresting until the Ultra games, and the same can be said about the Power Plant accessible by Blush Mountain. Route 13, however, opens with Nic and Hau encountering Gladion, who says Team Skull is looking for Cosmog. Lil’ Nebby isn't strong, but it has the power to summon dangerous creatures. The teen asks the Trainers to protect Cosmog. (And, by extension, Lillie.) Route 13 is an oasis with RVs around it. The desert is blocked until we beat the next trial. And so is Mount Lanakila’s entrance in Tapu Village – there’s a construction team there. Kukui’s hard at work making his Elite 4 dreams a reality!

Toucannon has the permanent silent judgement stare down.
It hates everyone equally.

Past it is Route 15. Nic and Hau can enter the Aether House, where Acerola lives along with toddlers. The purple-haired girl is the sixth trial captain, and her trial takes place in the abandoned mall south of Tapu Village. The place was left in ruins after it was attacked by Tapu Bulu. Nic heads out, only to see Lillie bothered by a Skull grunt trying to steal Nebby to sell it off. (Looks like they upgraded to "Team Rocket Knockoffs".) Still a pathetic guy with just one Pokémon, easily beaten. While Lillies goes inside the House, Nic follows the captain through Route 14.

The way she talks about it, this place doesn't need a
photographer, but rather the Ghostbusters!

Leave the guy alone, he's having fun. Also, am I the only one
seeing this trial and being reminded of the first anime
appearance of these ghosts, in the tower of terror?

Acerola explains the goal; we use the Poké Finder to snap photos of Ghost-type Pokémon in the mall, which will eventually anger the Totem and lure it out. The Trainer walks in, investigates bizarre happenings, whips out the camera to take it on film, the offending Pokémon comes out to attack. Coupling a new feature of the Gen to one of its trials is a clever idea, and I wished they had done more like that; in fact, a lot of trials feel somewhat half-baked. I’ve been writing my reviews for S/M and US/UM concurrently, so I see the difference between the two, and it’s shameful just how often the set-ups and events of many trials are massively improved in the Ultra versions. One example is Sophocles' trial, which is a cheap sound trivia on a black screen here, and a fun puzzle minigame involving Charjabug in the rereleases.

Further proving the entire point of this review: Pokémon Sun and Moon are perfectly serviceable games on their own, with tons of new features that shine across the Generation. But they were blown out of the water by their rereleases just one year later. Those made us see what could have been right from the start.

Hey what's up little bud? You lost your way to Pikachu
Vall-...oh...

This is the moment you remember that Mimikyu is part-Fairy,
so your hunky Dark-type might not fare so well.

Nic battles Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, then finds the backrooms where he spots a Mimikyu, the Totem. It can summon members of the Gastly line that can put your team to sleep, and has its own ability, where its disguise will shield against the first attack it would have been hurt by. Upon its defeat, Nic leaves the mall, is greeted by Acerola who confirms our success with the picture of Mimikyu in our roll, and she gives the Ghostium-Z. (This opens Haina Desert, which hides a Psychium-Z if you decide to go look for it. The Tapu ruins are at the end of the desert, too.) They return to Aether House, only to find Team Skull camped in front of it. Uh oh.

Assault on Skull Hideout

Lady, come back whent this is a Crobat.
Maybe then you'll stand a chance.

Always defending her Team, Admin Plumeria challenges the player. Just two Pokémon? Not great. The defeated Admin says that her team kidnapped the toddlers' Yungoos, and that if Nic, a constant thorn in their side, wants it back, he must come to their hideout alone. Geez, good thing they missed Cosmog! Team Skull lives in Po Town, located beyond the watery Route 15.

Legendary(?) Pokémon Get! Well, sorta.

From a weirdo in a kimono on the beach (Grimsley, the Dark-Type specialist of the Unova Elite Four), we obtain the Sharpedo Ride Pager. Think Tauros’, but in the water, Rock Smash included. Doesn’t look comfy to ride, though. On this Route, we meet Dexio and Sina in a trailer. Remember the cells and cores? Chances are, you’ve collected more than ten, which means you can restore Zygarde’s 10% form. Now that’s a good doggo! At 50 pieces, there’s the slug, and with all 100, you get the Complete Forme.

Sure, dude. I'm not the one living in a desert town under
perpetual rain right now.

Route 16 goes through the island’s meadow, which includes the ruins of the Lake of the Moone; then it’s Route 17, and then, Po Town, Team Skull’s hideout, finally. Man, those thugs are real salty towards any kids on the island challenge, huh. Sore losers much? Maybe they should just try it again instead of being small-time criminals. The guards at the town’s entrance won’t let Nic through after he defeats them, but some gloomy cop-looking guy comes by and lets Nic in. The road to the manor is barricaded, but there’s always a way around and grunts to beat. These guys are pathetic. They’re nice enough to heal your Pokémon at the town’s Center, albeit at a (tiny!) fee. Previous Teams all had multiple “dungeons” to themselves; Po Town and the Shady House are the only one for these guys.

Ariados? Really? That's Route 1 early game crap.

The grunts have stolen every single Buginium Z, so that only Guzma can have access to it. The player must explore the place and gather three passwords to gain access to the hall leading to Guzma's room. Their leader awaits there, with the stolen Yungoos and still just two Pokémon to his team. He is defeated, and we rescue the mongoose. After the boss and the grunt present have left, we can “borrow” a Buginium Z from the stash. 

Nic leaves the Shady House, to be greeted by the gloomy cop at the exit, who thanks him for dealing with Team Skull. This is Nanu, as we learn from Acerola who runs onto the scene. Nic and Acerola return to the Aether House, but while the trainer was away, Plumeria had returned to the House and left with Lillie. But not by force! Lillie was called out about stealing Cosmog, and instead of hiding, through the backbone she started to develop, chose to follow Team Skull instead.

Lillie is also more successful at it than you guys.

Expect nasty tricks from a Dark-type user. Then again, this
guy lives next to Team Skull, he needs to be able to show
them manners once in a while.

Gladion arrives at the House; he has heard everything, and in a rage, battles Nic. He loses, but tells (rather, forces) Nic and Hau to come with him to help in rescuing Lillie and Nebby. When the team gets to the pier, they meet Nanu. The guy would rather do nothing, but he was chosen by Tapu Bulu to be Ula’ula’s kahuna. He doesn’t want to, but saying no to the Tapu is impossible. Nanu is a Dark-type user, with a team composed of Sableye, Krokorok, and Alolan Persian.

When Nic wins, he is awarded the Darkium-Z, and the stamp proving he can move on to the fourth island. However, we’re stopping elsewhere first. We have business with the Aether Foundation. 

Well, I guess we can continue in Part 5!