Five Things That Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Needs To Fix

You could say that I’m an extremely dedicated Pokémon fan, having gone so far as to work on a Pokémon Crystal remake project since I was fourteen and being one of the two or three people in my village that still plays Pokémon Go.

Some fans have been quick to judge the 7th generation of Pokémon, but I really enjoyed the direction that Nintendo has taken Pokémon Sun and Moon and feel the RPG adventure game and the new Pokémon that came with have reached new heights. Just on a technical level, we saw gorgeous camera angles and mechanics that we had never featured before, and it will be great to see how it is developed going forward with Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon.

However, despite some great moments in Sun & Moon, there were significant issues with the game and for that reason I’m hoping things are a little different when the revised version of the game, Ultra Sun & Moon are released in November, but for now let’s talk about what should change.


1. More Islands, Trial Captains & Contests

Despite giving players a region with beautifully diverse areas to explore, Sun and Moon felt a little shorter than previous games, with just four captains to beat before challenging the Elite Four and Champion.

This was a significant change from traditionally having eight Gym Leaders to beat before the Pokémon League challenge, a change that in hindsight wasn’t all that welcome, despite people wanting it to begin with. Having only four significant battles before challenging the Alolan Pokémon League felt way too short. Even increasing this by two captains somehow would give the upcoming game the length it deserves.

A bonus would be to re-introduce Pokémon contests from earlier games too, as they were a great way of killing time between major battles and exploring.

2. More Mega Evolutions & Alolan Forms

It’d be nice to see more Alolan forms of existing Pokémon from prior to the 7th generation of Pokémon. Pokémon migration is suggested across multiple games, so seeing a lot more altered forms is to be expected. Not only that, but new Mega Evolutions would make sense, since Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon are set in a completely different Alolan timeline.

In terms of wanting specific Pokémon, our very own Dave would like to see a Water/ Electric Alolan variation of Arcanine in Ultra Sun & Moon, and I’m hoping to see Mega Feraligatr or an Alolan form Pokémon that just so happens to have a mega evolution too.

Regardless of what new forms are coming after the new Lycanroc form announcement, we’re hoping to see a similar reshuffling of Pokémon types as we did in the original Sun and Moon.

3. A Better Post-Game Experience

All the original Sun and Moon had as a post game feature was the super short Ultra Beast quest, which involved catching roaming legendary Pokémon across Alola and the return of a battle practice facility called the Battle Tree, from Pokémon Black & White.

We’re hoping to see a different area to explore, rather than quests which involve farming legendary Pokémon that are simply way too easy to catch. This should give the game a little more replayability. I mean, there was time where Nintendo game featured two regions in one Pokémon game, so it’s no surprise if people are disappointed with having to settle for a quest and a building as post-game content.

4. Natively Catch Unobtainable Pokémon

In Pokémon’s 20-year life span, there are many Pokémon that you cannot get in the latest Pokémon games without using older games and Pokémon Bank to transfer them across. It’d be much nicer to have additional objectives and the ability to get these in game, but with different Pokémon between the two versions. Event Pokémon can still be given away, but should at least made Shiny or given a normally unobtainable move set.

5. Different Methods of Shiny Chaining

In Sun and Moon, you can significantly increase the rate of finding rare and shiny Pokémon by going into battles where wild Pokémon will call for help. After a few (or an insane) amount of calls and having  repeatedly knocked out the wild Pokémon, players often find a shiny. You can also breed for shiny Pokémon if you’re lucky. This actually isn’t a bad feature, but I’d like to see the return of previous shiny hunting methods for variety and accessibility for players that aren’t so lucky.

In generation 6, players could fish for shinies by fishing in the same spot without moving, and prior to this players could use a Pokéradar to find these rare creatures in sparkling patches of grass. While it may not be a big issue to the average player, collectors like a bit of variety for mundane tasks like shiny hunting.


If you take one things away from the points made and suggestions, it’s that we’d like to see the game lengthened and with more variety in its objectives. Sun and Moon was widely criticized for its lack of things to do after the slightly shorter story. We already know that the Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon will be set in an alternative Alolan timeline, and that could easily lead to some of the significant changes that we hope to see. As Nintendo ramp up their marketing campaign once more, it seems we have much more to find out too.

Written by
I am a gamer with a passion of all things relating to it. I co-develop a ROM Hacking project called Pokémon Liquid Crystal with a team of experienced developers and also have written for gaming and tech news outlets such as Neowin and Dashhacks. In my spare time, I wreck scrubs at Destiny and trophy hunt.