Pokemon Sun Route 8: Finding Rare Friends

Our team is now getting stronger by the day and raring to challenge the next route.

No time like the present!

Yeah, you know how we got Pokemon Breeding between "arriving in Akala" and Lana's Trial, and then Battle Royals between then and Kiawe's? Nah, Mallow's Trial is literally just up the road.

I know we're gonna be spending a lot of time on this route.

Right after Wela Volcano Park, SM shows off another of it's absolutely hilarious "so, was there supposed to be a thing here?" sessions. I am skipping absolutely nothing here. The difference between these two screenshots is sliding up on the Circle Pad.

The Dividing Peak Tunnel was added as a proper location in USUM, although all it is is a long pathway and a creepy theme. There are two types of visible encounters that may randomly appear here.

Pokemon Generation VII Compilation

The reference list for Pokemon Sun, Pokemon Ultra Moon, and their twin versions:

Melemele Island:

• Introduction
• USUM Introduction
• Festival
• Hau
• Hau'oli Outskirts
• Trainer's School
• Hau'oli City
• Captain Ilima
• Route 2
• Verdant Cavern
• Normalium Z
• Route 3
• Melemele Grand Trial
  
• Fightingium Z
  
• Melemele Cleanup
• Ultra Moon
  
• Melemele Analysis
  

Akala Island:

• Heahea City
• Paniola Town
• Route 5
• Rivals
• Brooklet Hill
• Waterium Z
• Exploration: Water
• Royal Avenue
• Route 7
  
• Wela Volcano Park
• Firium Z
• Poke Pelago
  
• Route 8
  
• Lush Jungle
• Grassium Z
• Dimensional Research Lab
• Konikoni City
• Akala Outskirts
• Akala Grand Trail
• Rockium Z
• Akala Cleanup
• Hano Grand Resort
• Aether Paradise
• Akala Analysis
  

Ula'ula Island:

• Malie Garden
• Hau
• Malie City
• Mount Hokulani
• Hokulani Observatory
• Electrium Z
• Malie Garden 2
• Route 12
• Tapu Village
• Abandoned Thrifty Megamart
• Ghostium Z
• Haina Desert
• Ula'ula Meadow
• Po Town
  

Poni Island:

• 
  

Final Challenge:

• 
  

Postgame:

• 
  

Pokemon Sun Poke Pelago: The Great Tutorial

In Pokemon Sun, after completing Kiawe's Trial, there will be a twelth option on the bottom tab unceremoniously added. It does get mentioned on the next route, but it's a good idea to check in on it now.

As a side note, for some asinine reason, they put it on Page 2 and throw Festival Plaza and the Photo Club to Page 1 even if you rearrange your bottom screen menu to put the empty space on Page 1. This is presumably them setting a default, but seriously, why does the default have Pokemon Refresh on Page 2...

In USUM, you don't get it right after Kiawe, but you have to walk most of the way to the Route 7 barricade instead.

The justification for locking Poke Pelago to this point is that we have to Charizard Glide there, although it has been mentioned a few times before now and some features kinda feel odd to be dropped at this point.

Yup. This will be a feature related to catching a lot of Pokemon. You been wondering why even Noah and Ray have been working on that?

As a side note, Poke Pelago can be accessed anytime, not just in areas that are valid for Charizard Glide. If you are considered "indoors", you spin around in a sort of "warps somewhere" before triggering the Charizard Glide.

Poke Pelago is super bottom screen, but most of the explanations will be conducted on the top screen.

(Whether the proprietor is wearing red or green is based on SM/USUM).

Pokemon Alola Bonus: Firium Z

Right, we're going into this one for Ultra Moon. What are we looking at this time?

Basilissa is racking up far too many jobs for an Ekans to handle. I will be lucky if she manages one.

Chip's Hydro Vortex can hit hard, especially with the Adaptability bonus. Specialisation over coverage, in a way.

I think the fact Callie is holding an Expert Belt when her only offensive move is Dark type should tell you loads about what I expect her to be fighting. Foul Play should be very nice here...

I gave Gorg a shot, but the downsides of Larvitar aren't worth the final result. Which is a bit of a shame, because Ailey is going to want Ground-type Pokemon in the time between now and after the sixth Trial (when she finally gets a different one). Still, though, early Larvitar, might as well.

Chip and Ridley feel very redundant to have, and considering Ailey's team has the most rotating members right now, I'm no doubt going to feel the pressure to commit to one or the other at some point, but I think I like what they each respectively offer.

Can you tell I want to Thief something here? The fact Anna is in the final teamslot says plenty here. In hindsight, I really should have put Anna higher up and added someone like Neo in the last slot to try and benefit from Illusion. At the time, I didn't think it'd be much help: the types we're facing and how they are employed would likely have meant none of my team could bait the correct move.

No changes here. The Trial takes the same form: three "Spot the Difference" dances, with minimal difficulty, and the actual challenge comes with the removal of access to the Bag and Party menu. They did shake up two of the actual dances, at least.

Pokemon Sun Firium Z: The Trial of Wela Volcano Park

A Totem awaits us at the top of a volcano. So what do I have on hand that can help?

To absolutely no one's surprise, the lead will be our (surprisingly still freshly) Schooling Wishiwashi. No Waterium Z, curious.

K9 takes up flank, also holding an Amulet Coin. This Trial is going to be a little weird, and he might as well have it at hand.

That's HP Ground there. Flambebe, in spite of her obvious downsides, has a plan to actually be good here.

I mean, how can you not bring Murphy to a battle with Fire types? Maybe if it was a Fletchling-themed Trial, admittedly. That'd be funny, but the Rock Tomb TM would be too good in that case.

Woodstock is... a peculiar choice, but chiefly it resists the non-Fire STAB we'll be facing, Disable might come in clutch at the right time, and if things ever go south, we can always Infestation our way to victory.

Snaggletooth's job is, and always will be, to slap the enemy really hard. It will say more about the rest of the team if she comes out.

...No, he did introduce himself at the Royal Dome, I'm not mistaken there.

...Also, uh... did you, uh... plug up the crater for this field? Or are we on a different "top of the volcano" here? Just saying, all this steaming around the various holes on Akala is giving me anxieties...

Kiawe is a fire twirler, a kind of dance popular in Hawai'i, and his signature ace is the Alolan Marowak, who can say the same.

He is correct on this matter. We will not have control of our character for the duration of this Trial. No Bag Items to heal between fights, no rearranging the party order to share EXP as we please, nothing. We have our lead, we have our teammates, and we have to carry this team to the Totem through whatever gets thrown at us on the way.

This is the only Trial like this in USUM, although there's a second one like it in SM.

Bring it.