The south exit to Route 3 dumps you on Route 1, right next to the entrance to Iki Town. So then... time for a team check.
Dottie takes the lead, but unfortunately, she didn't quite hit level 13 for Air Cutter. Peck'll be on the off-stat, but I'm close enough I can probably pick it up on the way.
Razzly has a double resist to Fighting. Fairy Wind is pretty bleh, but Razzly can stay in longer than it's used to.
This is the Pokemon we bring if we want to see Peck do its job. Hopefully we won't need it, Oatchi's getting a bit too far ahead.
Sam can serve just as well. It's faster, even.
Zapple will be good for a quick Charm or Thundershock, but I don't think she'll get a good result past that.
Woodstock's not so great, but that heavy bulk could serve him well. Although Poison resists Fighting, Dark is weak to it, so it averages out to neutral.
Sadly, no Normalium Z, but none of these moves really help here.
Eh... I've seen harder, but Woodstock was a huge help.
Nebby congratulates us too. Or possibly left a surprise in Lillie's bag.
In both senses of the word.
Or Fairy. Flying is probably the most accessible choice, and it's also good to pack resists. Never forget your resists.
Hala has a big dramatic moment. Makes him look pretty cool...
Rotom's ocular detectors need repair.
Indeed we are, Hala.
Bring it.
Island Kahunas have their own "encounter" theme that plays in the cutscenes building them up. It's a really nice string piece that combines both Japanese and Hawai'ian aesthetics to suit Hala, in particular, although that mostly means it's stuck for the other three.
As a Fighting-expert, Hala, personally, is a man of the sumo ring.
One thing I find kind of interesting as a trend among kahunas in this game is not looking obviously like they should specialise in the types they do. Although I guess after twenty years of muscular men and scrappy young adults as Fighting experts, you want to be doing something unusual just to not get too repetitive.
I mean... you started me on this challenge. It would be more concerning if you didn't expect me to fight you eventually.
Probably a formality. That was never in doubt for us.
Six versus three. Not that all of my team is ready to face yours.
I really do love how he keeps talking about our partner Oricorio, despite Dottie being the newest team member. We should really be allowed to choose which Pokemon this line talks about. I'd probably pick Razzly anyway.
Hala does his sumo ready animation. Fortunately, we don't have to actually sumo-fight him. We would lose that fight easily.
The Island Kahuna theme starts pretty slow and tense, before transitioning into a more high-intensity battle theme. The main loop kinda loses a bit of a tone of the opening, but that opening is really cool, especially combined with the animation of the kahuna's appearance.
The main loop is timed not to start playing until after transitioning to the actual battle segment, here.
Hala's team is indeed rather acutely trained. Mankey has 31/31/15/15/15/31 IVs, 252 EVs in HP and Spd, Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk) Nature, and the moves Karate Chop, Pursuit and Focus Energy. Mankey adopts a strategy of using Focus Energy, spamming fast Karate Chops (which have guaranteed crit rate with Focus Energy, so Atk drops and Def boosts are pointless), and using Pursuit on anybody who wants to try and escape that onslaught. A pretty tough lead, whose job it is to make the lives of the other two Pokemon easier.
Its weakness is something fast, resistant to Fighting, and able to exploit Mankey's poor defences before it starts its blitz. That's Dottie's job.
Dottie's idle animation is cute, where she does a cheerleader routine. Anyway, she may be low in level, but as a single-stage evolution, she has pretty respectable bulk with her resist.
Focus Energy prepped.
...Should probably have done the crit calculations first, huh?
Fortunately, Hala decided to go with the unresisted Pursuit instead of the resisted Karate Chop. A crit Karate Chop outdamages Pursuit, but I guess Hala doesn't recognise the 100% crit rate. To be fair, Pursuit still has a 50/50 crit rate of its own with just the Focus Energy boost.
How I wish you had Air Cutter. That actually would have odds of oneshotting.
Fortunately, that Growl means Pursuit without a crit still isn't doing much.
Owww... that was his.
A fitting reward. Funnily enough, Mankey has the Anger Point Ability, but so much for it. That's why it's not a great fit for it.
Oh, this guy has a funny build.
Razzly is definitely the mon to bring here.
Makuhita has the IV spread 31/31/15/15/31/15, 252 EVs in HP and Special Defence, an Adamant Nature, and the moves Fake Out, Sand Attack and Arm Thrust. It also goes with Thick Fat, so watch Litten and Growlithe. Arm Thrust is a 20 BP move that hits 2-5 times, and is a dangling threat that could spiral out of control if it's allowed to be. However, notice something missing from that set: Something that isn't a Fighting move.
Once it's burned Fake Out, it's walled by double resists like Razzly and immunities like Eunie.
(Ow, come on, Fake Out...)
Razzly also has the advantage of the Shield Dust Ability. The most common example of "moves with bonus effects" is Flamethrower, a move with a chance of inflicting Burn. Having Shield Dust or Sheer Force simply denies you that chance, but you could always fail to roll it. However, Fake Out is also a move with a bonus effect: It just has a 100% chance of activating. It's not a fundamental property, and thus it is blocked by Shield Dust- so Razzly can take this first action rather than being denied it.
Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared for that max Sp. Def investment.
Silver Wind isn't the way to go- Fighting resists Bug. Bug vs Fighting is, I believe, the only matchup where both sides resist each other.
And here comes the Sand spam. (Also note: Makuhita is slower than Razzly. Not that this is surprising.)
It takes some time to hit through, but Razzly eventually gets off a paralysis. Razzly really should've led with that.
Unfortunately, Hala did cure it immediately, but it did let Sam have a free switch. Very well, let's see that woodpecker in action.
Dang, so close. Pity Dottie was hogging the Sharp Beak.
And here comes the Arm Thrust. Fortunately, we're a Flying... Normal...
Granted, the 5 times hit was very unfortunate, but poor Sam lost what I had planned to be its last major showing due to not having a resist it's supposed to have. The lack of pure Flyings is rather weird, and even with the existence of pure Flyings nowadays with Rookidee, I'm not sure what the early hesitancy was all about.
To add insult to injury, Hala heals that excellent Peck damage off.
Dottie can do most of the way there, while actually resisting Arm Thrust.
Focus Energy does not give the whole team heightened crit rate, that's all luck. But still, ow.
At least I can take it.
Well, now I get Air Cutter... 60 BP, 95% accurate, Special Flying, has a passive +1 crit rate, and hits both opponents on the field. Having this move so early is what makes Dottie an excellent Special Attacking Flying option as opposed to most Flying types preferring to go physical, with Aerial Ace. What Dottie lacks is non-Flying options.
Hala's ace Pokemon, Crabrawler, will always appear last. It has the IV spread 31/31/31/15/15/15, 252 EVs in HP and Def, the Adamant Nature, and the moves Power-Up Punch, Pursuit and Leer. With the Iron Fist Ability, that Power-Up Punch starts strong and gets stronger- the longer it's on the field, the worse your life becomes. Hope you've still got the resources to weather those hits, after everything Mankey and Makuhita have put you through.
(Power-Up Punch is a 40 BP Physical Fighting move with a 100% chance of raising the user's attack after usage.)
The less attacks it gets, the better. Plus, Hala only Full Heals once.
Going for that omnibuff. That Crabrawler has one more trick up its sleeve, and fortunately, Hala does not plan it as well as he might.
Although this Leer does show evidence of forethought.
Yup. Were you expecting anything else? The Kahuna's ace is always holding their Z-Crystal, and they will use their Z-Move more or less as you expect. Fortunately, Hala won't wait for after a Power-Up Punch chain to use his.
An All-Out Pummeling based on Power-Up Punch is rated at 100 BP, rating it as equal in power to Cross Chop. Not the worst hit we could've taken, but we would absolutely have been worried had Mankey actually had the real deal at this stage.
All-Out Pummeling entails a barrage of punches and kicks being sent forth from the sender, crashing into the target, before the user barrels forward in a burst of flame to press them against a rock in the background.
Fortunately, this does not get boosted by Iron Fist, since it is not a punching move.
...22/38 damage against a double-resist was pretty respectable, all considered. Although I did take a -1 Def...
It still says a lot that a dented Razzly could still nearly clean up shop.
Sadly, despite both Bug and Fairy being SE on Dark, only one of those types resists it back, so this was only a normal resist. And I don't think a double resist would've saved it anyway. But still, I really had no choice but to lose Razzly here, and the free damage was better than trying to switch it out and losing to Pursuit anyway.
With paralysis in mind, even Woodstock would've outsped. But do note that Crabrawler, in spite of its reputation, would have outsped Zapple had it not been for the paralysis.
No matter the cause, it did get an action, and a single action was all that was needed to win.
Huh, good for her.
The victory theme for beating the Kahuna is slightly more triumphant than normal, but has the same melody as any other Trainer. Basically the same as a Gym Leader.
Oh, hello Zapple! Zapple happened to already have the required 220 points of friendship needed to evolve, but note that participating in a Kahuna battle actually gives a pretty solid chunk of friendship on its own.
Zapple has now also become a Pikachu! Little bit behind Hau's, but better late than never... being a Pikachu bestows it Ikue Otani's voice, lets its start picking up moves beyond Thunder Wave, and in general makes it usable until the time comes to reach its final stage. I'd like to do it as early as possible, in the spirit of having new Pokemon rather than this old classic, but unfortunately, we have a bit of an issue with Electric moves if we do that.
...Huh, interesting. The first Pikachu we saw was Hau's Pikachu, which was a male, but when we logged Pikachu as "caught", the logged entry shows the female Pikachu's heart-shaped tail, like Zapple has. I'd rather see it anyway, but still.
Anyway, the camera cuts back to Hala having a good laugh about losing even into the overworld, before returning to his more professional demeanour.
I can only hope Dottie and Razzly lead to greater success beyond this battle, too.
...Although whether either of them will be fit to battle Tapu Koko is another matter. Their strengths do not lie against that foe.
But no doubt someone on the team will be suited.
The Fightingium Z is now ours.
The Grand Trial animation is the same as any other Trial, but when the hold-up shows, you receive an Island Stamp. This goes on your Trainer Card, and is the real special prize for clearing an Island.
First, though, Hala needs to demonstrate the Fighting Z-Pose.
The Z-Pose composes of a flurry of punches, before one final, big punch. Do not perform when someone is too close to your front side.
With the Fightingium Z dealt with, it is time to cover the benefits of the passport stamps.
Island Stamps are the equivalents to Gym Badges as per obedience. Any outsider Pokemon, from an IGT or a friend, can now be levelled up to level 35 and still listen to us. This doesn't affect our Pokemon in any way, of course, but if you have any outsiders, this is a good boon. Of course, level 30 is enough to battle the next kahuna and get the next stamp.
...Pardon? I appreciate the philosophy, but where are you going with this one?
...Well, I can see where this thought is going. That'll be a good lesson to keep in mind, although to whom it is meant to apply will remain a question until the truth comes out and we realise we should've given it more thought. Hindsight is always the better way to look at it.
He'll probably be the one to meet me.
Speaking of things that keep running in and trying to pick a fight...
It's about time, kahuna.
...
...
What part of "Tauros keeps making a nuisance of itself blocking public roads" leads to the idea that "what if we let a kid ride it" is the solution?
At least it... approves? I think?
For defeating Hala, we have also earned our first Ride Pokemon, a key element of the Alola games that also distinguishes it from its predecessors.
We can now ride this Tauros at any time, regardless of our physical space (well, OK, we can only ride Tauros when he has enough physical space to be generated), and without needing to own a Tauros of our own.
There is no mechanic where this Tauros will attempt to buck us off, thankfully. It is firmly ready to assist us in any way we require of it.
Ride Pokemon is a mechanic "unique to Alola", but considering it's a replacement mechanic for an unpopular one that preceded it, it's likely to pop up in a few later games. For example, it's technically in SV, although the player never properly participates in it.
As mentioned, using the Ride Pager will summon a ride Pokemon no matter where we happen to be in the region. How does it get to us? No idea, but I presume the Pokemon Storage System technology has something to do with it.
These controls are surprisingly incomplete. Pressing the Y Button will open the Ride Pager menu, which will allow you to choose one of the seven Ride Pokemon (of course, only the ones that make sense to summon will be options). While on Tauros, holding the B Button will increase our speed.
Because Pokemon is a series for kids, and also riding a bull is a generally dangerous past-time, we have a special costume for when we are using a Ride Pokemon composed of safety gear. We'll probably still be badly hurt if anything goes wrong, but at least we can cut down on the cuts and scrapes...
Tauros is quite a useful Ride Pokemon: You see, Dashing on Tauros is also the fastest method of running around "on foot".
...What's the point of a Pager if that isn't a thing? Anyway, were you planning on explaining what else Tauros can do, or is that my job?
Never mind, Ilima's showing up now. I imagine that friend was the guy who developed PSS, although I don't believe these two characters have ever interacted on screen. Hell, I don't think Ilima ever interacts with anybody else.
None of my fights used Breakneck Blitz or a Z-Status Move. None of them fit. I'll probably use a few Z-Moves in later fights, but this just wasn't their time.
Ilima: Aren't Z-Powers lovely?
The line if you used a Z-Move. I... maintain I question the sense in that.
In SM, defeating Hala unlocks a battle with Ilima. USUM doesn't have this (the rematch with Ilima is delayed until later), and Ilima instead points you to the next place you need to go to proceed the plot.
And that's the last we'll see of Ilima in the story. He's got his own island to manage, and we're not needed back on Melemele.
Oh, now you mention it. Tauros serves the role of Rock Smash in past games- on the overworld, large rocks that block our path can be destroyed by smashing them with Tauros.
This, meanwhile, is just a present.
...Although, come to think of it, Gym Battles in previous games had the Gym Leader give you a TM as a prize in addition to the Badge. As far as I can tell, these have been personal gifts and not actually league-mandated, but despite Alola's reputation as "everyone helps everyone", the TM thing didn't stick around after the Gyms went away. That... kinda feels like a mistake.
False Swipe is the catching Pokemon move: No matter how high your Attack is and how low your opponent's Defence is, it is incapable of defeating your opponent, and will always leave them with 1 HP. It's a Normal Physical move with 40 PP- do note that it obeys the type chart with regards to Rock, Steel and Ghost types.
Talking to your Mum is purely optional- she doesn't even give you anything, and the plot flags won't tell you to go back and see her. But still, it is a good idea.
Our next destination is Akala Island, and Kukui will give us a ride on his boat to get there. We can take the boat whenever.
Honestly, I'm not 100% sure how we get back to Melemele Island "on foot" in SM. USUM changed the way to get between Melemele and Akala, and that can be used to go back and forth between islands any time, but I haven't tried it in SM. Possibly the ferry will function properly now that we've beat Hala.
This conversation appears here in SM, but not USUM. It turns out they saved it until later, as it happens.
Lillie decides to share with us her goal, and also Nebby's deal. In many ways, the two are one and the same.
Lillie and Nebby's fates found themselves intertwined, and Lillie is dedicated to helping Nebby any way it can.
Note that this explanation does not touch, in any way, on what exactly Lillie was in danger from, and why she was in danger from them. I am not entirely certain with whom this information has been shared, if it has been shared at all. Yes, this will be a problem later.
Lillie still thinks this is a factor. Admittedly, Nebby is the mother of all Outsider Pokemon, so no wonder its disobedience is so problematic.
Lillie takes a risk, and bets Bethany will give her plans the "Trainer" she needs to get back on the path to finding Nebby's home. A complete stranger, but one who just might be able to to slide right in to the role Lillie needs.
Did you have to ask, Lillie? Of course I'll help!
Funnily enough, saying no won't But Thou Must you. Eventually, you just kinda fall face-first into helping Lillie, but that's mostly because she's following you. Kinda like the Ultra Recons, come to think of it.
I... I understand. Um, but if you ever do learn anything that you think might help Nebby get home... I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me. I'll do my best to look for clues on the next island on my own. And maybe I'll see you there.
Dialogue if you say no.
In USUM, the second half of the conversation becomes entirely about a new feature to USUM that they really fail to sell despite doing their absolute damnedest to: The Photo Club.
They also find the time to slip in mention of something else that opens in both games, but SM forgets about: The Shopping Mall. Granted, the Mall doesn't actually have much useful to us right now, but it's still there!
They're just souvenirs. At least they're free.
Oh yeah, they also get to mention this, since this is going to be important to USUM's additions:
This is Hau's moment to see if he measures up to his grandfather. We'll be off doing our own thing rather than watching him, but I wish him all the luck. That Noibat is only so helpful.
Hala and Hau are in position to be fighting, but their dialogue doesn't reflect it.
Indeed, Hau's ego is going to go rock bottom if he can't manage this.
Oh yeah, we can go to Hala's place. Indeed, a little secret; I went and checked here way before the Grand Trial.
The west room has a bunch of guys running around. I'm not sure who they are, but they shed some valuable light on some parts of Hala's deal that aren't otherwise highlighted.
For instance, explaining what the festival looks like when it's not having a newcomer fight the kahuna's grandson. I'd quite like to see that.
Also some nice Hala/Hau development.
We don't learn what Hala was angry about. I don't even think Hau was the cause of it.
And it sounds like Hau's self-esteem, or lack thereof, may have been deeply rooted in what happened that day, and the actions caused as a result.
Hau was certainly not beating Hala in that. Have you seen Hau? He's made of twigs!
One of the rooms is a bathroom, with a fancy nozzle showerhead... and the toilet on the front side.
Also, is it a problem to have those Pyukumuku there?
This room doesn't have much. although in USUM, you can play with the Slowpoke.
And I swear I should not be close enough to click on it from here.
Hala has a really nice chair on which to sit.
For... some reason, these two NPCs are only in USUM, to comment on your completion of the Grand Trial.
Anyway, on the subject of USUM stuff, the old lady in the far west house is the one to whom the letter we found in Kala'e Bay belongs.
I think you're just asked to talk to women randomly and hope you get lucky.
It certainly sounds like it was written long ago, and the closure it offers is greatly overdue.
At least she learned while she was still alive.
Sometimes, late really is better than never.
And now that it's not her last memories, she can give us this as a prize.
...Something we'll immediately turn around and sell. Couldn't have made it the Soft Sand?
(Soft Sand is the 20% item for Ground moves. The place it's in in SM got slightly rearranged in USUM, so it wouldn't even be out of the question.)
There's letters on both Akala and Ula'ula. I wouldn't be surprised if there's one on Poni, but I haven't bumped into it.
The Ride Pager screen. Say, what's that plus sign?
Ooh, that's nice! The D-Pad, completely unused because movement is entirely on the Circle Pad, has found its use: We can now assign four Ride Pokemon to the D-Pad cardinal directions.
I usually assign Tauros to D-Pad Down and never look back. Rarely do I call a Ride Pokemon from the ride menu, but eventually, we will have more Ride Pokemon than buttons on the D-Pad. Tauros is just too important to remove.
Although there's no special flags associated with Mum, she does still react to us finishing our first Grand Trial.
...I wonder if she has any more.
...
Hau'oli, Mum. I wonder if that's supposed to be Mum still not adapting to the local lingo or a genuine typo.
With Tauros Charge, we can access that place, too. There are plenty of new team options to be found, for more than one of us.
Maybe Sam can come rest here.
Ailey's Mum asked this of her. I don't get the insistence- it feels like a joke, but there's no punchline.
No, Mum has not finished unpacking. Seriously, Mum...
Ooh. After feeding your Pokemon a certain amount of Poke Beans, you get Rare Candies as a reward from this guy. The thresholds are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 10000 and 100000.
I don't expect you'll get much further than 20. Maybe 50.
Anyway, these are the rocks on Route 1 I think Kukui was talking about, and the first victims of our new Tauros. They're just south of Iki Town, near where the Rockruff is in USUM.
POW! You can only smash rocks during a dash, but you don't even stop moving if you are dashing. So what lies here?
The items aren't actually that great, but there are some cool Pokemon here.
It has been a long time, but at last, Bonsly can now be caught! It has come so late, in fact, that it is nearing its "evolution level"- it evolves when it learns Mimic at level 15, same as Mime Jr.. Bonsly's evolution is all Attack and Defence, with mediocre HP, weak Special Defences, and titanically slow speed. It wants to be a bulky Rock type, but it often doesn't have what it takes to succeed at this job. Still, though, if you know when to deploy it, you can probably make it work.
Bonsly's Abilities are Sturdy (allows it to survive being brought from full HP to 0 with 1 HP) and Rock Head (prevents taking recoil damage). It learns a nice enough suite of recoil moves to benefit from Rock Head, but rather late. Take the Sturdy. HA is Rattled, which boosts Speed if it's hit with a Bug, Ghost or Dark move. I don't think it's fast enough that a +1 will turn the tides, so you've gotta count on taking multiple physical attacks in those types.
Munchlax (Sun): It needs to consume its own weight in food every day. As far as flavor is concerned, it's indifferent.
Munchlax is Bonsly, but better. Hell, they have both been used for the same purpose in the past. Munchlax focuses on Special Defence, but has a monstrously strong HP stat as well. Its Defence is a little shaky (it's the same as Bonsly's Special Defence), but the HP can let it push through a lot better. And in general, being a pure Normal type makes you far better at doing the job of tanking than pure Rock, because it exposes you to different (and far less) weaknesses. Munchlax will find a welcome home on Noah's team, and it will crush anything that is high on Special Attack and low on Defence- which is a lot of things.
Munchlax's Abilities are Pickup (can find items it picks up, changes on evolution) and Thick Fat (grants a resistance to Fire and Ice moves). Thick Fat is pretty tempting, because Normal is lacking in resists, although its other Ability blocks one of its weaknesses, and most Fire and Ice types are Special anyway. HA is Gluttony, which comes as no surprise and is more for lore than it is for utility.
Even if you don't want to use Munchlax, I would highly recommend finding, or at least catching one. Munchlax has a 100% chance of holding Leftovers when found in the wild, a very powerful hold item for tanks. Leftovers will passively heal the holder for 1/16 HP at the end of every turn, assuming you are not already at full. This is another one of those early places to obtain an endgame-quality held item, and note that stealing one from a Munchlax is the only way to acquire one in a reasonable manner through either Alola game.
Happiny (Sun): It carries a round white rock in its belly pouch. If it gets along well with someone, it will sometimes give that person the rock.
Speaking of Pokemon that behave similarly to others, Happiny is a pure Normal type that evolves to become the greatest Special wall in the game, reaching the absolutely ludicrous heights of 255 base HP and 135 base Special Defence. In exchange, it has an absolutely pathetic 10 points in Attack and Defence, and only slightly useful Special Attack and weak Speed. If the job is "wall a Special Attacker", you could ask for no better. Otherwise... it might have over-specialised. A strong enough Fighting move will shatter it, and most other Physical moves won't be far behind. Happiny can only be encountered as an SOS call from any Baby Pokemon- that is, Pichu, Mime Jr., Smoochum, Bonsly, Munchlax, and etc. I like to get mine from Bonsly.
Happiny's Abilities are Natural Cure (when it is switched out, cures it of any non-volatile status conditions it's suffering from) and Serene Grace (doubles the likelihood of a bonus effect occurring from a move). Natural Cure is probably the way to go from a walling perspective, while Serene Grace is better on the offensive. Depends on what you value, really. HA is Friend Guard (allies take 25% less damage in Double Battles), which turns into something worse on evolution. Even if you wanted it (and trust me, I wish situations where Friend Guard comes up were more common), Happiny itself cannot call for help, so you have to chain off the Baby and hope you get lucky with the spawned Happiny coming with its HA.
Rockruff can also be found here in USUM, but it's somewhere else in SM, and I'll be covering it there.
This is not an Advanced Tip.
They really do want us to check that place out. I mean, it is where the cute mascot Pokemon Rockruff is.
(This is a Nugget, by the way).
Kadabra (Ultra Sun): It stares at a silver spoon to amplify its psychic powers before it lets loose. Apparently, gold spoons are no good.
Hello, the Abra I was raising for the Dex entry in Sun has evolved. I'll see what I can do for evolutions, but for a lot of the team, it might be tricky. At any rate, Abra's evolution into Kadabra is one I wanted to show, because Alola's new evolution mechanic causes an error in early copies of SM- this was later patched.
(First, Rotom wants to tell us that 30% Melemele is a milestone accomplishment.)
Kinesis involves Kadabra performing a literal spoon-bending trick, lowering the accuracy of an opponent by one stage. It has traditionally been available only to Kadabra by learning the move at a reminder tutor, but because SM introduced learning moves when you evolve, it became the evolutionary move for Kadabra.
Traditionally, when an Abra has been raised to the lofty level of 16, it is supposed to also learn Confusion on evolving to Kadabra- or, before now, it only learns Confusion. The intended behaviour is that Kadabra attempts to learn Kinesis, and then it attempts to learn Confusion, the move Kadabra is set to learn at level 16. However, Kinesis instead overwrites Confusion. This glitch affects all evolutionary moves, but it hurts Kadabra hardest- now it doesn't get its actual attacking move until Psybeam at 21. I guess that's one way to nerf it?
The Poke Finder spot on Hau'oli Beach. Just passing by.
Although Noah did find Hau here. Weirdly.
I just told my mom that I'm going to Akala Island next! Then she slapped me on the back so hard I'm still feelin' it and sent me on my way!
He also says this, but I missed it. This family shows their affection in weird ways.
Big rocks on Route 2 are blocking a Star Piece- valuable to sell, and worth grabbing if you're passing by.
The real prize is in here, in the Totem's Den of Verdant Cavern.
The TM for Thief. Thief is a 60 power Dark move that, if the user is not holding a held item and the target is, will steal the held item for itself. It can be learned by Butterfree, making it the best way to find and obtain wild held items. It will also be helpful in certain Totem Battles, although note that you cannot steal Trainer items permanently.
This is a random drop, and Ailey picked it up here: Sometimes, when you break a rock, you get an item to drop. It drops as a sparkly spot, like a visible encounter, and makes the same short chime. For now, it's always Stardust, but later on, you can get Star Pieces and Comet Shards. In older games, breakable rocks could have wild Pokemon in them, but it's only selling fodder here.
In my experience, you get more items from the big rocks, although I do not know if this is a correlation or causation.
Rocks on Route 3, near the Soothe Bell guy, give the TM for Infestation. Infestation is a Special Bug move with 20 BP that, when used, applies the "infestation" version of the trapped status, dealing 1/8 damage for four to five turns and preventing the possibility of switching out. Whether you think it's worth applying remains a question solely based on the damage, not the trapping.
SM can also get its Expert Belt now.
Time to investigate Ten Carat Hill.
The guy on the other side merely congratulates you for reaching him, and warns you of the Pokemon inside. He's slightly exaggerating.
Ten Carat Hill is a long cave passageway with plenty of rocks to smash, leading to an area with lots of tall grass. In the Sun and Moon demo, it was the site of the Demo's Trial, but it's just a bonus area here.
Roggenrola (Moon): The hexagonal cavity is its ear. It walks in the direction of sounds it hears, but if the sounds cease, it panics and topples over.
Roggenrola is a pure Rock type introduced in BW, which follows the same evolutionary requirements as the Rock/Ground type Geodude before it. A lot of Unova Pokemon are weirdly similar to Kanto Pokemon, but I comment on this one because it's funny that Alola has given us Abra, Gastly, Machop and a Pokemon that is specifically not Geodude. Wonder why that could be. (Abra, Gastly, Machop and Geodude are the four Pokemon that evolve by trade found in RBY, and have traditionally been thought of as part of a set.)
Anyway, on the subject of Roggenrola itself, Roggenrola stays pure Rock the whole way through, and its final stage happens to be another take on Bonsly- one which has notable improvements in every single stat (except Speed, which is has lost 5 points in). Like Wingull, Roggenrola has also been buffed by the Alola games, having gained a new Ability on evolution which gives it an essential team role. It is a very handy Pokemon, but it is a Trade evolution, and must be judged on that metric.
Roggenrola's Abilities are Sturdy (survives an OHKO hit with 1 HP) and Weak Armour (-1 Def +2 Spd when hit, replaced by something better on final evolution). Go for Sturdy if you're not evolving it, Weak Armour if you are. Its HA is Sand Force, increasing the power of its Rock, Ground and Steel moves when it's sandstorming. Good, but it lost value for Roggenrola specifically these days.
Roggenrola has a 50% chance of holding Everstones, and a 5% chance of holding Hard Stones. Funnily, I got both rolls by accident.
Everstones prevent the holder from evolving, even if it meets its evolution conditions (and have other uses). Hard Stones are the 20% item for Rock moves.
Carbink (Moon): Although this Pokémon is not especially rare, its glittering, jewel-draped body draws attention from people.
Carbink is a Rock/Fairy type, and one of the weirder ways to build a wall they've gone for. It has 150 in Defence and Special Defence... but 50 in everything else, including HP. Having high Defence and low HP is passable, but easily circumvented by fixed damage and generally not as good as actually having workable amounts of both stats. HP also can't be fixed by Nature and stat stages, which hurts it. Aside from Stealth Rock at 21, it doesn't really get a ton of moves to sell itself with, either, so it's unlikely to become a team member. Which is a shame, because Rock/Fairy is a cool typing- shame about the double weakness to Steel, though.
Carbink's only normal Ability is Clear Body, which makes it immune to opposing stat stage drops. A wonderful tanking Ability, and a fitting one for a diamond. Its HA is Sturdy, an even more appropriate tanking Ability. I'd go with Clear Body, though, personally.
Carbink (Ultra Sun): Some say that deep beneath the surface of the world, a pack of Carbink live with their queen in a kingdom of jewels.
I think this is a reference to the Carbink that appear in the movie "Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction" in the anime- the games reference the anime on only rare occasions, and even then, the details between the anime Carbink and this rumour are a little sketchy. Nevertheless, it's possible.
Sableye (Ultra Sun): It digs through the ground with its hard claws and crunches down gems with its thick pointy teeth. Carbink is its favorite food.
Sableye is a Dark/Ghost type that can only be encountered in response to an S.O.S. call from Carbink, and is the first example of a unique kind of S.O.S. encounter: predation. Sableye has not come to help Carbink- it has come to eat it. As a result, its first actions will be to attack the Carbink until it's KOed, before fighting you properly. This can make it a tricky prospect to chain Carbink (for either Carbink itself or a good Sableye), so keep an eye on it.
As a Pokemon, Sableye is a support team member, having a pretty terrible set of stats, but knowing plenty of useful Status moves and other horrible conditions to inflict on its opponents. Unfortunately, considering something mentioned in the above passage, it is only really good with its Hidden Ability. Without it, it's still usable, but it has lost its luster somewhat. When it was first introduced, it had no weaknesses- Dark and Ghost perfectly resisted each other's weaknesses- but the introduction of the Fairy type gave it one.
Sableye's Abilities are Keen Eye (prevents accuracy from being lowered and ignores opponents boosting evasion) and Stall (an Ability unique to Sableye that makes it always go last in its priority bracket). I have no idea why you would want Stall, it's already slow enough. Its HA is Prankster, which gives +1 priority to all status moves it uses. Ooh boy, does it love having Prankster.
Mawile (Ultra Sun): A cunning and terrifying Pokémon, its cuteness makes opponents let down their guard- and then it swallows them whole with its huge jaws.
Mawile is a Steel/Fairy type found only in USUM, and it happens to be one of my favourite Pokemon- although sadly, it suffers quite a lot from circumstances here in Alola. It was originally designed as a pure Steel type that was version exclusive with Sableye, and it got slightly better Atk/Def for slightly worse Sp.Atk/Sp.Def. A cute design wasted on a terrible mon. However, come Generation 6, and it got the perfect solution to its problems- a solution which wreaked havoc in competitive play. The problem with Alolan Mawile is that it doesn't have access to that solution, nor any really good physical Steel or Fairy moves until relatively late (Steel) or really late (Fairy). It's hard to recommend it with that review, but I'll probably give it my best. The extra Fairy typing itself is pretty nice paired with Steel.
Mawile's Abilities are Hyper Cutter (prevents others from lowering its Attack) and Intimidate (lowers the opponent's Attack on appearance). Go for Intimidate, Intimidate is the answer to everything. Its HA is Sheer Force (increases the power of moves with bonus effects)- as nice as that is for the main story, it's not that worth it.
5%. I have no idea why. The Iron Ball halves the holder's Speed and grounds Pokemon that are otherwise airborne- it's an item you want to give to your opponents more than you want to use it yourself, although some use cases exist.
With a Repel up, running down this hall, smashing every rock, can get pretty fun.
Some litter up here.
And this boulder. This boulder is one of the bigger differences between SM and USUM on a mechanical level, and it is a doozy.
USUM replaced it with Tauros rocks- which means we can get the goodies behind it as soon as we beat Hala, as opposed to rather late into SM.
There's a litter item here, but that's not why we're here.
We're here for this. The first optional Z-Crystal in USUM (second in SM- there's only three).
Flyinium Z allows users of Flying type moves to use Supersonic Skystrike. This is an incredibly useful thing to have on hand, especially when you consider some of the bosses we'll encounter in the near future while our Z-Crystal count is still on the low side. Having access to this is a huge boon for Ray and Ailey, and practically a buff to every single Flying type from here to the end of the second island.
After picking up Flyinium Z only in USUM (SM didn't have it even when you do get access), a character shows up out of nowhere in order to teach you the dance. I wonder if making this accessible is part of them making Ten Carat Hill more rewarding, especially since Rockruff itself is no longer its own reward.
Note that you do not see the dances of the other two optional crystals in either game.
The dance involves flapping your arms like a bird, crouching, and then pulling up in one big movement to punch the air.
And off she goes to be relevant elsewhere in the game. This character appears in both SM and USUM, serving an important lategame role, and it is fitting that she would demonstrate the Flying type dance. The fact she appears at all is super weird, though.
Anyway, north of the path to the Flyinium Z in both games is the entrance to the main part of Farthest Hollow, a massive area filled with litter items, a nice TM and new Pokemon. Just outside of it is an Ether in SM, but an Elixir in USUM. You know, just because.
Including the freebie Hard Stone as soon as you walk in, just in case you felt proud of the 5% one from Roggenrola.
This is the place where wild Machop spawn, if you don't want to use Hila's- or you're USUM and you don't have one at all. While we're talking about it, its HA is Steadfast- gives it +1 Spd when flinched. Far too rare, and +1 Spd isn't useful enough to it.
I didn't screenshot it, but you can find Carbink out here, too. Note that the outside ones don't call Sableye when they call for help- if you want a Sableye, you have to use one of the ones inside.
Rockruff (Moon): This Pokémon has lived with people since times long ago. It can sense when its Trainer is in the dumps and will stick close by its Trainer's side.
At last, the time has come to talk about Rockruff, the Pokemon chosen to headline Pokemon Sun and Moon and a Pokemon that earned that spot. Rockruff is a pure Rock type, but built more for offense than defence. When it evolves, it has high Attack and Speed, making it an efficient sweeper. It has some unfortunate downsides, though- movepool ain't great, particularly in SM, and its evolution has two possible forms, which are mutually version-exclusive. All of the positive qualities I've been ascribing to Rockruff apply to the form found in Sun, while the Moon version tried (and arguably failed) switching 30 points in Speed for 10 points in the three bulk stats. Ultra Moon shored up the difference by giving the Moon form more moves, but the damage is done.
Rockruff's Abilities are Keen Eye (prevents accuracy loss) and Vital Spirit (prevents sleep). Neither is great, although the Sun form gets a different one in place of Vital Spirit. HA is Steadfast (+1 Spd after flinching)- better on Rockruff than it is on Machop, but still not great unless you're getting it from Fake Out. The Moon form has a different HA- it might've liked Steadfast, but the one it got isn't so bad.
Spinda (Ultra Moon): Each Spinda's spot pattern is different. With its stumbling movements, it evades opponents' attacks brilliantly!
Spinda is a gimmick Pokemon based on one of the weirdest mechanics to be thought of as worth making a gimmick of: the personality value. This is an unsigned 32-bit integer assigned to every individual Pokemon introduced in RSE, and took on the job of determining which gender, Ability, Nature, Shininess, and a host of other minor mechanics to assign. The four spots on Spinda's face are randomly determined based on the four bytes of the personality value, giving it a massive total of 3,945,136,128 possible patterns (there are 4,294,967,296 possible personality values, but because of the way the spots are placed, some of the visible patterns look identical). This makes it a cute novelty, but little more- nobody is committed enough to assemble an army of every possible Spinda, no officially released Pokemon storage system has the space to hold them all, and even with perfect RNG, the time it takes to actually catch all of these Spinda is measured in years.
"Cute novelty" also describes it when you attempt to use one in battle. It has flat 60s in its stats, and its moveset was apparently designed by someone as unable to think in a straight line as Spinda itself. It is pure Normal. Its Abilities are Own Tempo (blocks confusion, ironically), Tangled Feet (doubles its evasion when confused), and its HA is Contrary (reverses stat stages).
(Also, for the technical pedants, Gender, Ability and Nature are no longer determined by the personality value, and many of the non-Shiny mechanics were offloaded onto an additional 32 bit integer added in XY called the encryption constant- Spinda spots included. As far as the player is concerned, all this really means is that the important visible qualities do not influence the chance of Shinies one way or the other.)
Rather than dynamically generating the Pokedex art, Spinda's Pokedex entry uses a fixed spot pattern based on its official artwork. I don't know if we have an official default value for this, but HOME considers it to be 7A397866. You know, good luck generating one of your own.
Miscellaneous litter items. Burn Heal, seriously?
SM players don't have their Flying types too terrible, since they get the powerful TM for Acrobatics here. Acrobatics is a 55 BP Physical Flying move that doubles in power if the user is not holding a held item. Note that this counts if you had one, but consumed it earlier in the fight. Acrobatics is powerful when obtained early enough that held items are few and 110 is ridiculously high. Unfortunately, it doesn't stack with any Z-Moves, since Z-Crystals aren't consumed on use.
USUM, perhaps to make up for the Flyinium Z, downgraded it to Smack Down. Smack Down is a 50 BP Physical Rock move that grounds the target if it wasn't already. The effect is decent at best, and the move is more useful for having a 100% accuracy rating uncommon among Rock moves- as well as being early Rock coverage for many non-Rock types.
SM players get Smack Down at the start of the third island, while USUM players get Acrobatics relatively late into the third island.
I didn't get much interesting in the moves I learned from TMs here, although apparently Woodstock can learn Infestation. I decided to go for it, we'll see how this turns out for it.
Next time: A lot of events.
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