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Ultra Sun and Moon tips for returning Pokémasters
It’s one of the biggest Pokémon games to date, but our tips will show you what’s new, and what you need in order to succeed with Ultra Sun and Moon.
It’s the end of an era, really. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon will be the last mainline games in the series to be on the DS family of consoles, with Game Freak and Nintendo’s monolithic series heading to Switch for the next big outing. So it’s perhaps fitting that the final hurrah is such a huge one, encompassing all of the original games and expanding in a multitude of ways.
With so much to do in both Ultra Sun and Moon, and not all of it apparent immediately, we’re here to make sure you don’t lose sight of the new stuff in this superb pair of games. With our Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon tips, you’ll get the most out of one of the best games in the series.
Be kind to Rotom if you want to unlock that second Z-move
One of the biggest changes to Ultra is that you can unlock a second Z-move – just don’t expect to have it out of the gate. Rotom, your handy talking Pokédex, is the key to becoming the overpowered monster that can unleash two Z-moves per battle. Now and again it’ll become chatty, and you can have a little back and forth with it. Be nice to it, and eventually if you get friendly enough, your Pokédex will let you use Rotom’s Z-power. The conversations are rarely taxing and genuinely to basically require you to be nice to Rotom, which isn’t hard, just make sure you do it consistently across the entire game. Unleashing two Z-moves in one fight almost seems unfair, or it would if you were on the receiving end of them, so make sure you’re not.
If you want Mimikyu’s crazy new finisher, search every nook and cranny
Aside being able to use two per battle, lots of Pokémon have new Z-moves, too. In Sun and Moon you wear a Z-Ring that lets you do Z-moves, but in Ultra you have a Z-Power Ring which increases the variety of moves for specific Pokémon .
As usual, these Z-moves can be used when your fighter has a certain type of move in their arsenal already and you combine the ring with a Z-Crystal. For example, in Ultra Moon, a brand new move is present for Solgaleo that requires Solganium Z, while Mimikyu’s Fairy Move, Let’s Snuggle Forever (which allows it to grow to the size of any other Pokémon and hug its target into submission) is activated with Mimikium Z. These crystals can be found as part of the story, but also in areas off the beaten path. Explore everywhere if you want to be able to use every one of the most powerful moves in the game.
If you want Salazzle, you’ll need to go sticker hunting
At the end of every trial there’s usually a Totem Pokémon to fight. These are basically huge, more powerful versions of existing monsters that belong to trial owners – think of them as bosses. However, throughout Alola there are Totem Stickers to collect. These can be hidden in plain sight, or on buildings, and are new to Ultra Sun and Moon, and if you collect enough of them, you can get a Totem Pokémon of your very own and scare your opponents with the sheer size of it.
Pay close attention to the bottom screen in order to play the Roto-loto
Make your Solgaelo last longer with Roto-boost
© Game Freak
As well as being the key to that second Z-move, Rotom’s eyes will also occasionally flash yellow (often around story moments), meaning you can tap them on that bottom screen. Why would you do this, you ask? Well, simply put, a quick play of Roto-loto will net you special items like Roto-EXP, which increases the experience your Pokémon will get after a battle. There’s also Roto-catch, which increases your chances of capturing Pokémon, Roto-PP, which restores the PP of your friendly Pocket Monsters, to let you go further without a Poké centre, and even Roto-boost, which raises all stats of your Pokémon, albeit on a temporary basis.
Photo mode actually buffs your favourite Pokémon
Another new feature for Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon is the Alola Photo Club, which you gain access to reasonably early on. While photo modes in games are very popular, and not a new thing, taking pictures with your beloved Pocket Monsters has more importance than just sharing pictures via your social media. As well as being able to pick your outfit, the camera angle, and even being able to adorn your final image with stickers and frames, this all adds up to improving your Pokémon’s affection towards you. The higher the affection, the better things might happen in battle. Perhaps most noticeably, a higher affection means more EXP per battle. It’s also worth mentioning that taking photos with freshly evolved Pokémon will boost Rotom’s happiness, too, and sometimes cause him to give you a Roto-Loto spin.
If you can’t find a Legendary Pokémon, it’ll be available post-game
Spend hours catching Legendary Pokémon
© Game Freak
One thing that we definitely want to warn you about is that, yes, this is a hugely enhanced version of Sun and Moon, with so much new content it results in one of the biggest Pokémon games ever, but some of the new stuff is for after the story's done. Remember how when you finished Sun and Moon (no matter how many times you did it) there wasn’t a huge amount to do? Well, Ultra adds Team Rainbow Rocket to tackle, the Battle Agency (similar to previous games where you can borrow Pokémon and take on challenges), and, fantastically, loads of Legendary Pokémon. One thing’s for sure, you won’t be bored after finishing the story of this one; there are way more Pokémon in this game than Sun and Moon – you can even meet Charmander in Ultra.
Try Mantine Surfing, get cool prizes and learn moves
As one of the new mini-games, Mantine Surfing lets you travel between islands, but is also a score attack-style fun diversion. This revolves around doing tricks, which is a simple case of doing the corresponding movement on the analogue stick. Once you’ve finished a course you’ll be scored and given BP, but in this case, the BP isn’t Battle Points, it’s Beach Points.
These can be exchanged for moves such as Iron Tail for 8BP (famously used by Pikachu in the anime), or items from as low as 2BP (Zinc, which raises the Sp. Def of a Pokémon ) or PP Up and Rare Candy for 48BP (Rare Candy instantly gains a Pokémon a level, and PP Up slightly raises the max PP of a single move for a Pokémon). All in all, this is a fun diversion that can net you some cool prizes. That said, the rate at which you’re awarded BP seems very stingy, so expect to grind if you want to get the best stuff.
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