Feature: Getting To Know Pokémon Sun And Moon's Monsters

We are just a mere two weeks away from the launch of Pokémon Sun & Moon and so it's time for another run down of every single thing that we know and today, we are dealing with the Pokémon. We won't be detailing the datamined leaks here, but there will be things from what has been officially revealed so there may still be spoilers - consider yourselves warned! As there are 60 Pokémon, we also won't post all the new monsters but just the most prominent ones.

The Starter Pokémon

Once again, we have the starter Pokémon, but for the first time ever, we have their evolutions fully revealed before launch.

First up is the Grass/Flying-type Rowlet. Rowlet is a cute Owl that can turn its head round. It evolves into Dartrix and then into Decidueye where it gains the Ghost-type, becoming Grass/Ghost and the first ever Ghost-type starter Pokémon. With this evolution, it gains a new move called Spirit Shackle where it shoots a leaf that does damage and prevents the opponent from escaping from battle. Its Speed is said to be astonishing.

For the Fire-type lovers, there's the Pokémon Litten. Litten is a cute Fire-type cat that licks its fur in order to create flaming furballs. It evolves into Torracat and then into the buff Fire/Dark-type Pokémon, Incineroar. When it is happy, while looking cold and indifferent on the outside, it'd often be incredibly contented on the inside. It has the move Darkest Lariat which ignores stat boosts of the target.

Finally is the Water-type Pokémon, Popplio. Popplio is a cute sea lion that is generally quite a performer, spending time creating bubbles. It evolves into Brionne, and then finally into the majestic Primarina, a Water/Fairy-type Pokémon and the first Fairy-type Starter Pokémon. Primarina is a Pokémon that can create many songs, with songs differing based on the region it is from. It has the special move Sparkling Aria which does damage but can even heal the Burn condition off of the target.

Normal Pokémon

The Pokémon of the Alola Region are among the most unique and unusual that any generation has brought. Rather than rattle off a list of all the Pokémon, let's just discuss some of the more notable ones.

First up is Mimikyu. Mimikyu is a Ghost/Fairy-type Pokémon whose true appearance is not known. Instead, after 20 years of Pikachu being loved by everyone, it too wanted to be loved so created a disguise to look like Pikachu so people could love it too. This disguise is actually its ability, essentially giving a free substitute.

Wishiwashi is an unusual Pokémon. It's pure Water-type but once it reaches a certain level, at the start of battle it transforms into a School Form, having called many fish to create this big and menacing fish. However, if Hit Points get too low, the fish will scatter and it will become its Solo Form. This will make it an incredibly interesting Pokémon to use.

Type: Null is a rather unique Pokémon. It was created out of parts of other Pokémon to defeat Legendary Pokémon, but its powers were held back by its helmet. Once it evolves, it becomes the Pokémon Silvally which removes the helmet and can unleash its true powers. With the use of various items, it can change its type to be any of the 18 types and even has an attack that changes type. It is used by the Team Skull enforcer, Gladion.

Oricorio is a unique Pokémon in that it has four different forms, one for each island in Alola. By eating the nectar on each island, it can change forms. These forms completely change the type of it to Fire, Electric, Psychic or Ghost, as well as the Flying-type. Oricorio is a dancer and so has a unique ability where if another Pokémon uses a "Dance" move in battle, it will also use that move!

Rockruff is a cool early Pokémon that you'll find. It's a pure Rock-type Pokémon whose collar looks like a Z Ring. However, as cute as Rockruff is, the interesting part is its evolution. Lycanroc is a unique Pokémon in that it has version exclusive forms. If Rockruff evolves in the day of Pokémon Sun, it evolves into its Midday Form while if it evolves in the night of Pokémon Moon, it evolves into its Midnight Form which resembles a werewolf. Each form has different abilities and even different movesets.

Cosmog is a rather interesting Pokémon. It's small, it's Psychic-type and the Aether Foundation are researching it. It's known as the child of the stars. What's interesting about this Pokémon is that it sounds just like the Pokémon that is in Lillie's bag...

There are so many other cool Pokémon that can be listed here, but we'd just go on for hours and hours and hours.

Region Forms

A new feature in this game are Region Forms - in this region they are Alola Forms. These are Pokémon that have adapted to the climate and living conditions of Alola, changing their appearance, type and movepools. There are 14 officially known Alola Form Pokémon, all of which are from the Kanto Region.

First up is Alolan Rattata and Raticate. They are Dark/Normal-type and live in urban habitats. Also Dark-type are Meowth and Persian, which had been bred specifically for the Alolan Royalty. Grimer & Muk are now Poison/Dark-type and adapted after being brought in to deal with the garbage problem of Alola.

Some Pokémon have also become Ice-type to adapt to the circumstances. Sandshrew & Vulpix have both become pure Ice-type while Sandslash & Ninetales have become Ice/Steel and Ice/Fairy respectively, a huge change to how they were initially.

Some Pokémon have got their regular forms, but their evolutions are the ones that change. Cubone will now evolve into Alolan Marowak, which is Fire/Ghost-type which changed type to deal with the Grass-type predators of the Alola Region. Exeggcute will evolve into Alolan Exeggutor, the hilariously tall Grass/Dragon-type Pokémon which many consider to be the true form of Exeggutor considering it developed this form when exposed to strong sunlight.

Pikachu also is in the game and evolves into the new Electric/Psychic-type Alolan Raichu, which surfs on its tail in mid-air. Nobody knows why Raichu changed, but it is speculated that it's just because it ate a lot of pancakes.

Guardian Deities & Legendary Pokémon

Legendary Pokémon have been somewhat changed up this generation. In Sun & Moon, each island Pokémon has got a Guardian Deity which chooses the Kahuna of the island and helps protect it. There's Tapu Koko, the Electric/Fairy-type guardian of Melemele Island, Tapu Lele, the Psychic/Fairy-type guardian of Akala Island, Tapu Bulu, the Grass/Fairy-type guardian of Ula'ula Island and Tapu Fini, the Water/Fairy-type guardian of Poni Island. Each guardian comes with an ability to activate their respective terrains which makes them a very interesting force in battles.

Back on the standard Legendary Pokémon, players of Pokémon Sun will encounter the Psychic/Steel-type Pokémon, Solgaleo, the lion that protects the sun while players of Pokémon Moon will encounter the Psychic/Ghost-type Pokémon Lunala which protects the Moon. These Pokémon are both unique and have special appearance changes when they use their special moves.

Finally, we have the Mythical Pokémon, Magearna. Magearna is to be distributed via QR Code at some point in the near future. This Pokémon is Steel/Fairy-type and was created over 500 years ago by humans.

Ultra Beasts

Ultra Beasts are a mystery. They're technically not classed as Pokémon, but there are so many Pokémon-like features to these that they can't be ignored in the list. Ultra Beasts are from another dimension and come in to ours through a wormhole. Only three Ultra Beasts are currently known, UB-01, which is a strange jellyfish seen appearing through the wormhole in front of the hero, Hau and Lusamine. UB-02 Absorption is exclusive to Pokémon Sun & UB-02 Beauty is exclusive to Pokémon Moon and both appear on Melemele Island, facing off against Tapu Koko. What types they are, any abilities, their movesets and if you can even capture them remain officially unknown at this time.