Pokemon Sun/Moon PLUS ULTRA (Alola Region Games)

[TCB]

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UB-01’s body is composed of a glass-like substance. However, it’s constantly changing shapes, never settling on one.

While evidence of something like a survival instinct can be observed in UB-01, no one knows whether it has a will of its own or any emotions. It’s said that, for some reason, its movements resemble those of a young girl.

So is this what Lillie's "secret" may be referring to? That and the various photos I've seen on Twitter seem to imply this too

 

[Salamander]

If Type: Null is actually Gladion's partner Pokemon, then that changes things.  Since Type: Null seems likely to have been created by the Aether Foundation, that pins him as a possible mole for the Foundation in Team Skull.

I also agree that there seems to be a connection between UB-01 and Lillie.  Could the Ultra Beasts be some kind of clone/hybrid of Pokemon and people?

[TCB]

Also throwing this out there, but Gladion, Lillie and Lusamine all have the same traits of blonder hair ans green eyes; would be interesting if they're all related and if the former of the three uses Type: Null & Lillie has UB-01.

[-Robin-]

Ultra Beasts remind me of the Ba'als from Bravely Second.

 

Given the nature of Ultra Beasts and UB01 seems to be, it's actually not that far off.

[Pawn]

Yet another new Pokémon has been spotted! Cutiefly's evolution pops up in the new Japanese trailer:

 

 

[QuantumEdge]

I do like the scarf on it.  Really cute touch.  Didn't expect it to just turn into a straight up fairy though.  I thought it would make more use of its bug typing.

[Marcello]

I can't find them on the site, but more descriptions were posted on NeoGAF

Time Differences

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A thorough analysis of the secrets of the two different worlds of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon!
Some of the Pokémon that appear in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are different. What's more, there’s a difference in the way time is set in the two games.

Except for a few scenes, time in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon is tied to the actual time. Pokémon Sun operates on the same time as your Nintendo 3DS system, but time in the world of Pokémon Moon is shifted by 12 hours.

Some of the Pokémon that appear in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are different—including Solgaleo and Lunala, which hold the key to the story. It seems that some of the Pokémon that appear as Totem Pokémon in the trials are also different.

Zygarde Cores

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A pair of Trainers investigating Zygarde
Dexio and Sina will show up as you progress through your adventure. These two appeared in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y as the professor’s assistants.

They’ll give you an item called a Zygarde Cube and ask you to collect Zygarde Cores and Zygarde Cells during your adventure in the Alola region. Cores and Cells can be found all over Alola!
New
Collect Zygarde Cores and Zygarde Cells!
Objects giving off light can be found in various locations around the Alola region. These are Zygarde Cores and Zygarde Cells. You can collect them in the Zygarde Cube you receive from Dexio and Sina.

If you collect lots of Cores and Cells, the path to finding Zygarde in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon may become clear.

Poké Finder

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A feature known as the Poké Finder allows you to take pictures of Pokémon you find. It’s loaded into the Rotom Dex. When you use the Poké Finder in certain photo spots scattered throughout the Alola region, you can take pictures of Pokémon.

The pictures you take will be evaluated, and as you take better pictures, more features—like the ability to zoom in—become available.

Message from director Ohmori

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Why I chose “Sun” and “Moon” for the titles
We live on a planet overflowing with life. This earth of ours revolves around the sun, and in turn, the moon revolves around the earth. When you look at the sun and the moon from Earth, they appear to be traveling through the sky in similar orbits, but when you change your perspective, you come to realize that their orbits are completely different. Yet the Earth and the sun and moon are all tied to one another, and life grows and flourishes as they work their influence upon one another. 

Humans also interact with people of all different kinds. They influence one another, and in turn, are influenced by others. It is only through this miraculous balance that we can live here as we do. 

In these titles, what I wanted to express is the brilliance of life and of the relationships between humans and Pokémon as they influence one another. That is why I chose to name them after the sun and moon, which have so much influence over our own Earth.

Why the two titles take place in different worlds
Between Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, there is a time difference of 12 hours. This was our first attempt at making such a great difference between two game versions. In the Alola region, the Pokémon that you might encounter on the same route can vary between day and night, and so this time difference allows players to have a completely different experience. 

And it doesn’t stop at Pokémon—some events are also different from one version to the other, so I hope you all can enjoy both worlds to the fullest.

Why we’re so particular about expressing night and evening
To show the Alola region’s rich nature and beautiful towns, we were very particular about the lighting. Thanks to that, the same location can have a completely different appearance depending on the time—sometimes wrapped in the gentle glow of moonlight, sometimes illuminated by the crimson of the sun setting over the sea. 

At times, the same event will feature different natural phenomena in the two versions, which can only be seen in either Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon, so I hope it will be fun for players to compare the two and find these differences. 

We’ve poured ourselves into our work so that you can feel an atmosphere and sense of closeness that makes it seem as though you are in the Alola region yourself.

 

[Radiant Hero Ike]

Huh.

Anyone notice how Lillie, Lusamine and Gladion all have blonde hair and green eyes? You think they're related? And wait, if the theory of Aether creating all these weird Pokemon (like Null) and that UB-01 thing resembling Lillie is relevant...

Oh boy.

[AlphaRuby]

All these implications and theories about the story leads me to really wonder who wrote this one...

[Spin Attaxx]

So it looks like Zygarde's involvement is how I thought it'd play out in a hypothetical Pokémon Z - you hunt for the bits and pieces yourself and effectively build it as you go (only instead of getting one "Prime Core" or something, we're getting CUBE).

But yeah, this "Type: Null" and UB-01 stuff is weird. Definitely think the Aether Foundation can't be trusted. Mainly for that bald scientist guy in large green specs and whose lapel really looks like an evil goatee. That's the kind of design this series only uses for bad guys.

[Radiant Hero Ike]

Just saying.

Oh, and Gladion's partner Pokemon is Type Null, by the way.

[Salamander]

Thought for the day: The official site implicitly does not count Ultra Beasts as Pokemon.  Standard Pokemon, Alola forms, legendaries - they're all on the Pokemon page.  But not Ultra Beasts.

Also, the fluff for Type: Null says that it was constructed to match the strength of mythological Pokemon for "a certain mission."  Looks to me like the Aether Foundation are lining up Gladion and Type: Null to take on Solgaleo/Lunala.

If Gladion is Aether's mole in Team Skull, is Lillie also intended to spy on Kakui's research?  Also, I wonder what's in her bag, now that it looks less likely that she's connected to Zygarde.

Meanwhile, I actually hadn't noticed that the two people who give you the Zygarde Cube are Dexio and Sina from X and Y!  Probably because those two were some of the most bafflingly irrelevant characters who really needed a Pokemon Z to give them a little more depth, but oh well.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Despite its ridiculous name, I think Type: Null has a cool design. I really like Jangmo-o too, cute but it looks tough too. I've noticed I tend to prefer Pokemon who come across as fierce or intimidating in some way, even if they're also cute at the same time.

And yeah, I noticed that the Ultra Beasts aren't referred to as Pokemon too, which actually kind of bothered me at first, but if they're actually humans under a transformation or something, I think that would be very interesting. I just don't want there to be another kind of creature in Pokemon world that are like Pokemon but aren't, but if Ultra Beasts are actually humans in some way, that's a very different situation. I do really like the design of UB-01, I'm a big fan of jellyfish-type things.

[Tori Himemiya]

Weird thought but I think UB-01 is actually cute for what it is. But the Ultra Beasts and Type:Null is really from left field, I dunno if they're even Pokemon at this point. The fact that the Aether Organization is experimenting with Pokemon is rather shaddy, especially compared to Team Skull who just comes off as silly thugs who just don't get Alola's culture.

Alola Raticate looks pretty chubby but I'm glad they showed it. But I'm having a hard time processing everything else right now. lol

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Just now, Crow the BOOLET said:

But the Ultra Beasts and Type:Null is really from left field, I dunno if they're even Pokemon at this point.

Type: Null is explicitly referred to as a Pokemon on the official website (and also appears in the Pokemon section and has Pokemon "statistics" such as type, category name, ability, etc.), while the Ultra Beasts are not and do not show up in the Pokemon section of the sites.

[Vec]

Well...With the sun/moon theme going around in this gen...I suddenly though that maybe the UBs represent stars, thus completing the sun/moon/star theme (Even though UBs aren't reffered as pokemon as of yet)

[Dejimon11]

Calling it now the Aether Foundation are evil while Team Skull is just a red hearing. As for the new Pokemon they look nice I'm baffled by Type: Null's name tho just sounds ridiculous as. As for Lillie being UB-01 it wouldn't be the first time seeing a Pokemon disguise itself as a Pokemon look at Zoroark and Zorua when you encounter them in BW. However if Lillie was a human that was transformed into a Pokemon that would be an interesting twist. 

[Tori Himemiya]

Well related to my recent status but I did notice a couple of similarities from the new info and Undertale.

Spoiler

Firstly an benevolent group of scientists that conducted experiments on Pokemon really echos what Alphys did in the past. Time will tell if this is a dark secret or if Aether is an antagonist or not we'll see. But for exact comparisons...

Both created by using presumably multiple body parts from others, not that the other Amalgamates aren't or anything. Just a notable example.

Blobs of IDKWTF.

So yeah. Its there. Time will tell if they'll let the game crash.

 

[Kuzu]

This story is turning out to be something, what's with Game Freak getting into more mature themes as of late lol.

 

Lusamine, Gladion and Lille are pretty clearly related, characters don't usually have the same hair and eye color unless they are. And Aether aren't really suspicious yet, but the fact that Gladion is helping team flare with a Null and Lille baring a striking resemblance to UB-01 are pretty big flags. 

 

As for the Pokemon themselves, Alolan Raticate is hilariously based on a Don and Remy from Ratatouille, lol. Jangmo-O reminds me of Bagon with the "dream of being X" thing and the fact that it lives off secluded kinda makes me think its this Gen's Pseudo-Legend (Soundproof, lol Gardevoir Hypervoice) Type: Null looks like a Chimera, which uh...gives me unsettling flashbacks from FMA.

[Salamander]

After seeing a tip-off online, I watched the Japanese version of today's trailer.  There are lots of Pokemon from various generations visible in the streets and buildings...  Notably, appearing in the trailer are the standard Kanto versions of Hypno, Poliwhirl, Slowpoke, Horsea, Alakazam, and Wigglytuff - tentatively deconfirming them for Alola forms.  (I mean, they could just be there for demonstrative purposes, or brought over by tourists.)  I've also heard that a drawing of vanilla Butterfree is visible somewhere, too.

Quite aside from that, though, the Japanese trailer also contains many beautiful views of the Alola region and particular music tracks which simply don't feature in the western trailers.  I honestly recommend taking a look; it's more interesting than what we get, frankly.

[Celestia]

So basically, we're getting a Team Rocket-esque evil team and a group that's (probably) up to some really messed up stuff? Though it already seems like there might be some kind of connection between them--maybe it's kind of like Team Snagem and Cipher from Colosseum and Gale of Darkness? The former being ordinary Pokemon thieves and the latter using those stolen Pokemon for experiments. We could have something similar here, with Aether distancing themselves from Team Skull for the sake of PR.

Though all of that seem so obvious that I'm hoping there's some kind of twist. I think it'd be interesting if Team Skull were genuinely former Aether employees who left when they found out about whatever they're up to, and there's an Aqua VS Magma-ish thing going on here.

Edit: I love the comments you get for photos. Now here's a comments section we can all actually enjoy.

The "Hmph!" person sure seems dismissive despite still giving a thumbs up.

[Vec]

lol. Things happen really quick on the Internet XD

[Pawn]

The unusual shape of Lusamine's hair and the diamond on her chest suggest that one of the Ultra Beasts will resemble her too (and, given Gladion's own distinct hair, perhaps him as well).

I'd honestly love it if they, along with Lillie, were members of some interdimensional species that you had to fight off. It would be a nice change of pace.

 

[Sonictrainer]

Here's some official artwork

Plus some things people pointed out.

Personally, I think the collar is based on Arceus

[Salamander]

1 hour ago, Sonictrainer said:

Forget those stores, I just noticed Murkrow on the roof!  Photo opportunity, or just one of the many examples of Pokemon visibly out and about in the wild in this title?  I really like how Sun/Moon are doing more to make Pokemon into proper elements of the environment.