Well. We've made it to the end of the Vast Poni Canyon.
Altar of the Moone if you're playing Moon, of course. Either way, we're only going to be looking at what we find here in the original SM today.
...No one told me there'd be stairs.
Apparently Lillie got special permission or somesuch from Hapu. It probably helps that she's coming along as an observer.
Side note, I always forget Hapu came this far. Probably because she doesn't really go to the Altar itself until afterwards.
If it wasn't for the fact I imagine the Island Trial is older than anyone alive today, I'd ask if that was the exact same Kommo-o. ...Come to think of it, it might still be.
In SM, there's something kinda weird about the fact the Hapu fight comes before the Ancient Trial, when the Grand Trial is always supposed to be last. USUM moved the Hapu fight aftewards, since Mina now has a proper Trial, but it's not like the Ancient Trial was ever depreciated. If you might recall, when Ilima explained the Island Trials to us, he counted the Ancient Trial.
I am planning on bringing Oatchi with me to the Altar. I just switched it into the lead for this line. Would've felt weird if Woodstock was in the lead and she was talking about my Muk here.
Yeah, I think I have faith in us too.
...Oh, you meant for the Altar, right...
No better way to find out what's going to happen!
...Hopefully they don't give way underfoot.
Hapu gives strangely relevant advice on the way up, albeit advice I'm not 100% sure fits the situation. Sure, yes, parents as people in most cases, but Lusamine's pretty clearly doing this out of spite and selfishness. Meeting her halfway is hopelessly optimistic.
There's something kinda charming about climbing this staircase on foot with that pumping backing track. You are allowed to ride Tauros up, and it won't even change the beat.
Lillie follows up, not that there was any shortcut to take here. She just didn't follow on the overworld.
Nah, that's just sunburn.
...Bold goals. Here's hoping they're achievable ones.
Knowing Lusamine, those might be deaf ears, but there's always the possibility.
For some reason, Lillie holds out her hand here. Didn't she already possess the Flute her mother had?
...I don't think I've practiced flute.
Lillie goes on ahead, and stands on this pedestal on the west side. For some reason, I remembered this differing based on version, but no, Lillie always stands on the west side. I think this is for cutscene framing purposes.
Our pedestal is the one over on the east side.
Lillie will wait until we're in position, not that there's much to do around here without her.
Mostly just admire what look like bite marks in the sides and the weird windows in the canal in the middle. I'm sure those served a function back when this wasn't ruins, but I'm not sure where the door to get down there would be.
It's not, strictly speaking, a point of no return, but we don't get control back until it feels like one. So, do be prepared.
Incidentally, the ceremony will be conducted at the time of day appropriate for your version. If it is currently the other time of day (day for Moon, night for Sun), Lillie will suggest waiting for the correct time. This doesn't have any real time consequences, it just locks the following cutscene in the correct time of day. It will return to the time of day appropriate for your 3DS when the Altar is next loaded.
I dunno why- probably because I always play as the girl- this scene always had kind of a "ceremonial maiden" kinda vibe. Does tie in to Lillie feeling destined to play her Flute, although of course, since both of us aren't Alolan-born, there'd be nothing like that in the worldbuilding.
The flute song they play is pretty serene.
This is one of those scenes that has a backing track tied to the action. Good luck timing it with shots alone.
I imagine it's just the light, although that does make me wonder what the blue stuff in there was. Water would probably have fallen out by now.
Cue dramatic summoning.
It's this scene in particular I think they wanted the consistent framing for. Particularly since what's about to happen would have to be mirrored if Lillie was on the other platform.
Nebby starts to react to the goings on, for the first time since Aether Paradise.
And flies off. For once in his life, staying in the bag.
Well, for as long as it takes to get into the pillar of light himself.
...I hope everything in that bag can be recovered.
I do kinda appreciate the fact that the laser isn't actually focused on Nebby. It's just there creating a field for Nebby to hang out in.
And then, with a swelling of music...
There's a blink-and-you'll-miss it flash of either the Sun or Moon logo, depending on your version. The only clear shot I got of it was this one of the Moon logo. Honestly, I never noticed it in motion until these playthroughs, either.
Well well. Our goal has either been to awaken the Legendary Pokemon or save Nebby.
It seems those were the same thing the whole time.
In both versions, this cutscene ends with a dramatic lens flare. Very fitting for Solgaleo.
Very slightly weird for Lunala. That is a bright moon.
Nebby waits up on the altar. Of course, Lillie already has her bag back. It's amazing, the shortcuts you notice sometimes.
I'm not sure if she means the Aether Paradise thing, or just him jumping into the pillar of light just now. Both of them seem apt.
There's a bit of weirdness with regards to the available information at the time on Cosmog and the box mascots of Sun and Moon. As originally intended, the connection was not revealed in the pre-release information. However, a leak of the Pokedex listing did put Cosmog next to the duo, and keen-eared players of Pokemon Moon might've noticed that Lunala's cry (which plays whenever Start is pressed on the title screen) sounds very similar to Cosmog's.
Like most evolutionary lines, the same is true for Solgaleo, but the bat screech version Lunala has sounds most similar to Cosmog's keen wail than Solgaleo's lion roar.
Nebby's a big boy now.
Nor ours- stories tell of Solgaelo's presence and deeds, but nothing suggests they are or ever were anything other than what they appear to be now.
With that said, the fact that Nebby is where we should've been looking the whole time does not change our objective.
Fortunately, Nebby doesn't seem to have hard feelings with Lusamine over how she treated him, or at the very least values Lillie a lot more.
This starts a second cutscene for us preparing our flight, and this one changes relatively significantly based on your version- entirely as a consequence of Solgaleo and Luna's differing bodies.
Both have this nice little song to accompany it.
Both Solgaleo and Lunala begin by charging up their signature moves, which both do with their glowing foreheads.
Solgaleo starts with his signature move, Sunsteel Strike. This causes him to form a glowing fireball, before barrelling directly onto his target.
As he makes physical contact with the rift, he goes straight through the Ultra Wormhole he leaves in his wake.
Bethany and Lillie spend the whole time on his back, including during Sunsteel Strike.
Lunala, by contrast, uses Moongeist Beam first, opening up the Ultra Wormhole ahead of time.
Before then picking up Noah and Lillie and carrying them through the Wormhole. Not that I'm clear where Noah and Lillie would've clung during Moongeist Beam.
Our appearance in Ultra Space happens the way Lusamine disappeared earlier- by slightly off-kilter fade-in effects. A bit of a weird transition from the dramatic swoop we just started, although it comes off particularly well when paired with the deeply disturbing (and bass-heavy) theme for Ultra Space proper.
It's certainly beautiful, although in a very... otherworldy way. Almost as if the environment was designed to suit aesthetics other than our own.
Much like that, the air here is also not like our own. Fortunately, either people in the Pokemon world have looser requirements on the air they breathe in order to live, or this world doesn't contain any gases toxic to us. All the same, though, it's probably someplace we'd rather not spend time in.
This line does change the response given by Lillie here.
When you say "you're right", she wonders if the Ultra Beasts can really be grouped together with "Pokemon". They probably are, mostly because they obey the conventional battling rules, but including them in the same breath probably isn't a biologically useful definition.
If you ask whether she's scared, it turns out her answer is "things have been happening too fast for me to have time". The time to bail out has passed, though.
There is no direction here but forward.
Nebby has something to tell Lillie before she moves on, though.
Fortunately, these two know each other well enough that Lillie can figure it out.
Presumably, the air here is more unfriendly to Nebby than it is us.
Ignore the fact that Nebby has a particularly favourable type matchup to UB01.
Or, well, with us.
Nebby has all the faith.
Amazingly, it turns out that Ultra Space is absolutely overwhelming enough that it shuts down Rotom's circuits. It'll be a shame not to get his reactions to this stuff, but knowing him, it probably wasn't anywhere near as proportionate as expected.
You can go back to Alola with Nebby, if you really need to readjust your party. If you do so, it will be the 3DS time in Alola, rather than what Lillie changed it to if she needed to.
Don't worry, I set my team before I left.
Did you spot what Lillie has? It blends in with the background there.
Guzma's spent his time in the mystery world hanging out on the weird geometry, although he is, to all intents and purposes, still thinking.
And he's thinking he very much wishes he had never followed Lusamine here.
We hitched a ride on Nebby, same as you. Difference is, we asked nicely.
Guzma's first impression of the place seems to have been much less pleasant than ours.
And we get another flashback! This one actually uses a different format- this time just using a more conventional greyscale flash in and out.
It's also conveyed entirely non-verbally, with Guzma laughing at one of these UB01s.
He charges directly at it, as opposed to throwing a Poke Ball, and phases through it.
Setting him up for an ambush from behind.
From here, the nature of UB01's attack is left to the imagination, but the consequences, less so.
This is... a bit of an odd line, especially when trying to piece together the implications of the plot as I am. Part of it is because this serves as the introduction to an explanation for certain... behaviour, but in the meantime, the game refuses to actually directly explain what it is setting up, which leaves some holes.
The main thing, here, is that what Guzma is describing is not, in fact, what he experienced. This is something that only makes sense when you look at things holistically.
But the short version is, Guzma is lying when he says this line. The only reason Guzma felt fear when he was attacked by UB01 was because he already possessed fear.
The real reason this line gets weird is because of what happens here: They explicitly frame Guzma's changes (which Guzma does not correctly interpret because he's in deep denial) as being equal to Lusamine's changes.
As far as we can tell, the only change that came over Lusamine, particularly when seen through Guzma's flawed perspective, was that she stopped seeing Guzma as useful, and discarded him the way she did her children.
Lillie wasn't stifled by such trifles as "being in the wrong dimension", what's Guzma's half-insane ramblings to get in her way?
And off she runs. Guzma's content to stay here and ponder his life choices.
We're left to ponder our team.
This seemed like a good chance to use Acid Downpour for ourselves. I'll freely admit I'm mostly doing this to show off the Z-Pose. And also because I think I need Gunk Shot to hit.
Dottie's job is to dance. Dance and also be a Flying type.
In hindsight, I wonder if I should've used a Red Nectar and briefly dipped into Ula'ula Form.
Bernie-Bear can handle herself enough that she gets the Amulet Coin. It turns out that, for hilarious reasons, this negatively affects my strategy. And for even more hilarious reasons, it shouldn't have.
As promised, Oatchi's newfound 100% accuracy, 90 BP Grass move is about to come in real handy.
Razzly's doing the same job she always does- for some reason, be really competent. Her kit's a little weirder than last time I used her, though- I do love how the buffing move is now Psychic and the coverage move is Grass.
K9: because priority Rock moves are cool. His only job is to Accelerock in case of emergency.
As we get to the end, we see the UB01s swarming. Those with a keen musical ear can probably tell who's calling the shots already, though: That's Lusamine's theme playing a keenly horrifying range.
The UB01s stack up, fading out one by one...
And calling forward the woman herself.
...Wow. We're just casually dropping the name after all this time dancing around it, then? UB01, Codename "Symbiont", is really known as Nihilego. This gets... weird, when you try to figure out which groups are giving out both names.
Lusamine is definitely no longer working on standard morals. Either the Nihilego have persuaded her this is all she needs, or she genuinely believes it. And I don't know which is more terrifying.
I think she's talking about Lillie, but also it could be us. It'd be apt for both of us, so perhaps it's collective.
Nebby. Who told you you had the sole say over who got in?
...Also, what's Guzma? Chopped liver? ...Don't answer that.
This Nihilego chimes up. They do like doing that this cutscene.
Oh hey, Lillie cares about him, too. Perhaps not personally, but he does not deserve this.
Whatever "this" might be...
Well, somebody's not interested in civilised conversation.
Of the responses Lillie expected, that was not one of them.
Ultimately, I think Lusamine does kinda have the right idea here, although it's not the one she thinks she's making. At this point, there are two explanations for Lusamine's desire to remain here- she's not in her right mind, or she truly hates Alola so much that she wants to cut ties with it.
Either way, we can't talk her out of this. If it's the former option, we drag her out. If it's the latter, we leave her to it.
As opposed to what you want, Lillie?
Sometimes two people's goals are genuinely in conflict. There just isn't a way to make both of them happy.
Considering the fact that Lusamine has pretty clearly washed her hands of Lillie, finding some place where Lillie didn't have to deal with her in person is one of the less harmful ways she could manifest her nature.
(The Nihilego also seem fond of this party trick where they fade in and out with their teleporting trick. This one's really hard to catch in shots.)
Lillie straightens up, and Lusamine gets to her feet for her own imposing nature.
I am starting to get uncomfortable with the idea that Lusamine's "insane" ramblings are actually a perfectly valid way of phrasing the correct response for dealing with her:
I don't care if you're my mother or not!
I don't care if you looked after my needs or not!
I don't are if you're the most powerful woman in Alola or not!
If you don't care about me as a person, then I don't NEED you!
Oh great. She's got some megalomania to go with her insanity.
I don't think it's physically possible to convey an more of an antipathy to your own responsibilities than that. I mean, she's even discarding the Foundation itself as anything more than a means to an end. She's arguably discarding her pre-existing collection.
Glad someone said it.
There's an entirely new Lillie theme going on here: While Lively Lillie was pretty much "Lillie is happy outside her shell now!", this one manages to convey more of Lillie's angriness. While still mostly being in the triumphant key.
This may not be voice acted, but they really worked to sell her anger through the camera-and-sound work: This line is accompanied by a massive screen shake and a loud thud.
And as much as this is Lillie's triumphant moment to reclaim her sense of self, I do look at this and really start to feel... what, exactly, is Lillie rebutting right now?
(I do kinda love the fact that the camera cuts back to Lusamine, who is more confused than taken aback by Lillie's newfound bravado.)
Lillie has hated being nothing more than a piece of Lusamine's collection, and helped Nebby escape the same fate to the best of her abilities. By all means, they wanted nothing more than to be away from Lusamine.
So why is Lillie placing so much value on going right back?
Considering the circumstances- us trying to drag Lusamine out of her happy place to continue to serve the role of Lillie's mother, a role which Lillie remembers far more fondly than Lusamine herself- I can't help but feel like Lillie is less resentful of being treated like a collectible... and more like she thinks being treated like a collectible is what family is.
She looked at being discarded for the new shiny Nihilego and got jealous of the Nihilego.
This line, and the accompanying thud the camera gives as she yells it, is a beloved classic for Lillie finally standing up for herself and telling Lusamine where she can shove her insanity. I loved it for that too. The fact that USUM goes out of its way to remove this scene is why USUM is hated as much as it is.
...And I'm not sure if that triumphant moment we remembered was ever actually there.
Lusamine nopes her way out of this conversation, and tries a tried-and-true method of justifying-her-villainy:
By comparing her discarding her old toys to us discarding our old team members. There's something to be said about this on the player's behalf, admittedly. Snaggletooth, Sam, Cranky, Haruka, and Kasplashle are no longer in my rotation, and from a mechanical perspective, they now languish in the confines of the Pokemon Storage System, off doing... whatever it is Pokemon do while they're in the Pokemon Storage System.
The trouble is, SM are the first games that start actually asking that question- we have Poke Pelago to go send our Pokemon to. USUM goes a step further and highlights the fact that there are avenues in place to rehome our caught Pokemon after we die. Other media, like the anime, represents the Storage System as "benched Pokemon are under the care of a trusted, non-travelling ally". Honestly, I've caught more Pokemon than most- most players don't even bother a) catching Pokemon to fill Dex entries or b) using a team of more than six Pokemon.
And all of this is merely side-stepping the real counterargument here: when someone who isn't the player discards a Pokemon that is no longer wanted, that Pokemon is, either explicitly or implicitly, told to look elsewhere. The good Trainers are the ones that help said Pokemon find a place that needs them, but either way, the outcome that is better for the Pokemon in the long term is that they also discard their Trainer and find fulfillment with their new lot in life. Translating that back here... and what's best for Lillie is that she stop forcing Lusamine to fill the mother-shaped void hole in her heart, and look elsewhere.
I think this is just a transitional pose between her "evil grin taunting our definition of good people" and "angry yelling of her own", but I love the smug energy she gets out of it.
"Forgiveness" usually implies wrongdoing on the part of the person being forgiven. Lillie did nothing wrong.
("Enough with this useless talk" is also yelled.)
Lusamine working to make it explicit that she directly tied Lillie's attractiveness- which she has frequently stated to be the sole thing that governs Lusamine's value of a person- to her obedience.
I'm here because Lillie asked me to be.
But if you want to make this my problem, I'd gladly remind you what happened at the Paradise.
Both times I was there.
Mostly, the fact the cutscene is still playing Steely Lillie right now is because it doesn't need Lusamine clawing back the focus to go on too long, so it makes the song remain in the cutscene. Although it does lead to kind of a hilarious bit for a few seconds.
This cutscene's theme is called "Lusamine's Revenge", and it's mostly a short song to bridge into the boss theme.
This scene is a bit more dramatic if this is your first time seeing that otherworldly Poke Ball. This is a Beast Ball, which before now in SM, we've only heard about from Lusamine and her underground Aethers indirectly.
The Nihilego in her Beast Ball descends back down on Lusamine, and Lusamine embraces it directly.
The transformation sequence we get is set to silence- complete silence, but for the sludgey sounds of it moving around.
And it disconcerting.
I'm surprised they didn't save the face for the full reveal, though.
This is where the battle theme starts, but mostly because the ominous cue seemed set for a bit of buildup. This theme does include Lusamine's iconic riffs, but is almost entirely subsumed by a more ominous melody.
Not that Lusamine's not doing her part to make this... thing as terrifying as possible.
This is, I believe, the only appearance of Pokemon- or Ultra Beast, as the distinction may or may not be- fusing with humans in the entire series. The only other candidates are Pokemon Reburst (a largely isolated manga that made it its own thing) and Ash-Greninja (a weird psuedo-Mega Evolution between Ash Ketchum and his Greninja specifically). That kinda enhances the weirdness, on some level.
We are thrown right to her encounter wipe. Much like the original UB-01 battle sequence, Lusamine gets her own background and direct-to-camera animation, as opposed to most wild Pokemon, who merely pose on their battle arena.
I don't think there are words to fully describe the sheer and utter disconnect you get after seeing this complicated fusion dance, reminiscent of traditional JRPG final bosses undergoing their transformations into their final forms, starting a battle wipe... and then being reminded this is Pokemon, and we don't do that "violence against humans" thing here. More to the point, I'm amazed that her old team survived the transformation.
And also kind of amazed that Lusamine's "nothing matters to me but Nihilego" rejection of literally everything and everyone that got her here did not stretch to them.
Lusamine making the most out of her screentime as a once-in-the-series-history monstrosity to do a jumpscare with her "throw Poke Ball" animation.
And yes, she still has her sludgey sound effects accompanying her movement.
Lusamine's team is mostly identical to how it appeared in Aether Paradise- same IVs, EVs, Natures, and moves. There are two major differences: first, their fourth moveslot, formerly blank, has been filled (strangely, always with a healing move). Second, they have been infused with a Totem Aura, granting them a free stat buff at the start of battle. In comparison to every other fight one can have with a Pokemon with an aura, this one doesn't tell you what buff they've given, but you can check on the touch screen.
They also have permanent non-standard expressions. I've heard conflicting opinions about what, exactly, these expressions are supposed to be portraying, although when it comes to Clefable, I always see Hat Kid.
Clefable gets a +1 buff to Sp. Def, supplementing its high focus on its Special bulk in its investment. Incidentally, its new move is Moonlight- this heals it for 1/2 HP in normal conditions or during strong winds, 2/3 HP if it's sunny out, and 1/4 HP in any other weather. Why Sunny? It's called "Clear Skies" in JP.
Last time, I brought Flambebe. With that extra Sp. Def, I think I'm gonna need the Physical hitter. Almost brought a Dhelmise to specificially hit this Clefable with Anchor Shot, but Woodstock can handle it.
Clefable taking its chances on Metronome. Well, we could get Earth Power or Explosion or-
...Toxic Spikes. Huh. And here I am with my Poison type already out. Toxic Spikes is a Poison-type Status move that sets up Toxic Spikes- one layer Poisons any Pokemon that switches in, two layers Badly Poisons them. Flying and Levitating Pokemon are immune, as are Steel types, for obvious reasons. Poison types are not only immune, but will clear the hazard if sent in.
If I didn't give Bernie-Bear the Amulet Coin, I could've had Woodstock fight Mismagius and clean these up. Fortunately, Poison won't be too much of a hassle to grin and bear.
Right, I promised an Acid Downpour, and this sounds like a good time to click it.
The Z-Pose for Poison, incidentally. Bethany kinda does a finger waggle as she raises her right hand, before dropping to the ground. This one's... probably also more Hawai'ian than Pokemon? Not that I'd know how to really reflect "Poison" in a pose.
Acid Downpour is 190 BP when clicked from Gunk Shot.
One absolutely overwhelming bath.
And yet, you may still do the most damage of Lusamine's entire team.
For reasons known only to Lusamine's dangerously-insane mind, the Pokemon with the Atk buff is Milotic and not, you know, the Physical attacker. Milotic's kit has been supplemented with Recover, allowing her to heal 1/2 of her HP no questions asked, but an extra few points in Atk is not going to meaningfully change the calcs on Flail.
Get hit by one too many Hydro Pumps, and that residual damage might matter.
Oh. Well, I guess that won't be an issue!
Wow. That wasn't that much extra damage. I blame the fact that Milotic's level has increased by more than double the amount Oatchi's has.
Running the calcs (and double-checking my kit), it turns out the discrepancy is also partially due to the fact that in the Paradise, Oatchi was holding the Expert Belt- this time, he's holding a Scope Lens, which offers no inherent buff to his damage. Razor Leaf's damage range at the time was 73-88% (and would have been 61-74% without the Belt), while today, Leaf Blade's damage range is 86-102% (and would have been a clean oneshot with the Belt). I stand by my decision to remove the Belt, though.
Recover only heals 50% of her HP.
Now granted, I have no idea why I didn't just click Leaf Blade again- I blame forgetting Recover was an option. Spirit Shackle, as it happens, had no chance of finishing Milotic's remaining HP- it does not even do more damage than Recover heals.
Milotic tried a Safeguard with her last breath. I guess that means no Burning Bewear? It also means Lilligant is immune to confusion- confusion is a weird volatile status ailment like that.
This would be when I send in Woodstock and clean up the Toxic Spikes. No matter, Bernie-Bear doesn't break Disguise thanks to this.
Mismagius won the Speed buff, a bonus that is very nice for a Pokemon who has a weakness to its own coverage. Send in your own Ghost type at your peril, because at 235 Speed, you're not outspeeding it.
Fortunately, Lusamine's definition of "healing move" makes the AI's head hurt. Pain Split adds the current HP of the user and the target, and divides it into two equal portions to be shared.
Lusamine has given this move to Pokemon who can be inflicting far more damage than that with their own attacks, and the AI is absolutely enamoured with the move for reasons beyond mere mortal comprehension. Mismagius is made much more toothless by wasting her turns sharing the pain around.
I don't imagine Bernie-Bear needed Mismagius to chip itself to land that KO.
...Bernie-Bear, I love you right now. Not sure what I'll do with it, but I'll figure something out.
I think Lilligant's angry eyes are most readily apparent. Lilligant has taken its role as cannon seriously, claiming the Sp. Atk buff and using it to make sure her Petal Dances are the queen of power. Her new healing move is Leech Seed, which would be a lot more effective if the player wasn't infinitely more likely to switch to clear it. Oh well, that's not her fault.
...Oof. Lilligant outsped. 142 points, handily beating Dottie's 125.
And extra oof, look at that damage. On a resist. To make matters worse, that was actually a lucky outcome- I had a 4/16 chance of taking that hit.
Ula'ula Oricorio has a double-resist to Grass, reducing the power of Petal Dance to a much more manageable 61-73 damage range. Still, though, an 84% chance at a 2HKO is not a pleasant position for a Pokemon with a double resist to be in.
The news is not all bad. Or, well, perhaps it is. Dottie actually could not oneshot Lilligant with Air Slash- the maximum 1/16 damage roll is 1 HP short, and the low roll does about 83% of her HP. Fortunately, Dottie's Petal Dance happens to land just enough damage that even two low rolls in a row is enough to win.
And here I was thinking I'd have a turn of Teeter Dance or Leech Seed first.
Surprisingly, her ace comes last. And does not seem emotionally interested at all. The +1 Def Bewear gets applies before Fluffy's "half damage from contact moves" thing, making the idea of tackling Bewear with physical might terrifying- and somewhat justifying not switching that buff with Milotic. With its high HP, even Special moves are a bit risky, but it does have one mollifying factor- other than, I suppose, the fact it still has no way of dealing direct damage to Ghosts.
My decision to let Razzly have the Expert Belt is somewhat justified- without it, she still does more than half HP, but a much less comfortable number. Then again, that was a crit, the damage it had to do...
It also turns out that Bewear totally oneshots Razzly with Take Down. Sometimes I forget those Normal moves are there- I was hung up on the double resist to Hammer Arm I didn't think that would be as much of a threat.
See above about the AI's absolute infatuation with the move Pain Split. Now, granted, Bewear certainly has the right to avoid that Take Down recoil (considering the crit, Take Down recoil would have finished the job). But still... with Pain Split, Bewear steals about 46 points of HP for itself.
Now, Brave Bernie and Oatchi could've humiliated Bewear, but I think that was good enough. But still, I might need a better plan for Fighting types...
As an aside, the game does not assign a unique Trainer class to this incarnation of Lusamine. Internally, the model of Lusamine fused with Nihilego is labelled "MOTHERBEAST", so that's what most people use to distinguish this fight from the original. I always thought calling Lusamine "mother" was a bit of a stretch, but I can't think of anything catchier.
This might be one of the more involved defeat animations in the game, with a zoom-in on Lusamine's face before she lets out a large flail, slimy movements and all.
The model freezes when the dialogue comes up, of course, leading to this hilarious contrasting moment. One thing they do do to keep the appropriate pacing is not award prize money for this fight- a series first. Guess that's what she inherits from her Pokemon side.
In general, I get the impression that the devs wanted to sell this fight by it being a battle with five Totems in sequence. An admirable goal, but one slightly handicapped by the fact that Totems have needed to pack more than just one stage to go toe-to-toe with us one-on-one... and the fact that the scariest Totems were always such because they had good backup. Lusamine has nothing like S.O.S. in this fight- she is a perfectly normal Trainer, albeit one that doesn't seem willing to switch out her Pokemon like she did in Aether Paradise (I didn't explicitly test it by using a move like Dragon Tail, but I suspect these Aura buffs might not interact well with "buffs clear on being switched out").
The defeat of the Lusamine fusion is set to A World Falls Apart, and is actually surprisingly longer than it seems like it ought.
Defeating Lusamine in battle brings her to the point where her body starts to become less stable.
Something that even Lillie is concerned about. To be fair, I'm not sure I want to know what failure states Lusamine is looking at here.
Feels nice to have Nebby be useful. Although I'm not entirely sure what she's got in mind.
Apparently the plan is a lion's roar/bat's screech. This is not backed up by a move in Nebby's moveset, and I wonder what they're drawing on.
Whatever it is, Nebby's managing to get Lusamine stabilised into something that isn't her current form.
...Something which Lusamine is not taking well.
They're really just telling us to go along with it. I'm not sure if there's an explanation aimed at the target audience, but to be fair, I don't think this scene was aimed at the target audience.
The Nihilego is ejected from Lusamine's system-
And returned to its Beast Ball. Presumably, the idea is that Nebby hit Nihilego with enough force to cause it to faint, which broke the fusion.
Now, why it's OK when Nebby does it...
Unfortunate downside of the whole affair is that Lusamine has now also fainted.
...Did I say downside?
Lillie rushing to Lusamine's side gets "Mother and Daughter" as its theme. This is technically a separate cutscene, but I think it's just so they can switch out the song. The tense "World Falls Apart" probably doesn't pair well with the soft piano theme on the soundtrack.
Now then... in what state did Lusamine come out the other end?
Surprisingly alert. I wasn't expecting that until we at least got out of this place and into somewhere a bit more hospitable.
You know, this struck me just enough that I actually looked into it. Lusamine has addressed Lillie by name twice so far in the story- once in the Paradise, once here in Ultra Space. I feel like you can make something out of that, but there's not as much to it as there would be if Lusamine had never done so.
It is worth noting that, as part of making Lusamine less antagonistic in USUM, they upped the count on addressing Lillie by name- she does so six times in the Paradise, and more than once in the USUM equivalents to these scenes.
Lillie accepts her hand gently.
And then nods a bit worriedly- I think the idea is that she's confirming she is, in fact, Lillie.
Lusamine gives a gentle smile, and a little bop on the lips.
When she got away from you.
This is another point that gives me a bit of second-guessing, although that's in large part owing to the pre-existing "beauty = value" metaphor Lusamine is particularly fond of combining with Lillie's redesign. I don't like the idea that Lusamine coming out of her Nihilego-obsessed ravings and having a change of heart about Lillie being attributed to Lillie's newfound beauty.
Then again, I suppose I'm not too fond of a lot of things going on here, so I might be a biased source.
As we are taken out of the animated cutscenes and into the standard state, it seems that something's going on that Ultra Space doesn't like.
Strangely, it's just the normal Ultra Space theme here.
You familiar with the phrase "get out while the getting's good?" Yeah, I think now would be a good time to take that phrase literally.
Ah, that explains things. The Nihilego are taking offense to our presence.
Apparently they were fond of Lusamine in kind.
Nebby gives a roar, and apparently we decide on the "fade out" method of getting out of here.
There's this camera trick where they turn us upside-down before we disappear, although it's one of those really fast ones that's hard to snap.
I do love the fact Lillie shows up first. Nebby knows where his loyalties lie.
This scene is playing a really lovely song called Someday. I think the name of this song and its placement on the soundtrack is based on a later appearance of the piece, which makes me wonder whether the devs remembered they put it here, too.
If you're wondering where Lusamine is, apparently over there. I do notice this is pretty similar to the arrangement we were in in Ultra Space.
If you're wondering why Hapu's here, apparently she noticed something weird and came to be of assistance.
The spirit was there, but there wasn't exactly much for Hapu to attempt.
"Unharmed" is a brave word. Me and Lillie, yes, but these two losers?
Lillie goes right to worrying about her, like the loyal daughter.
That does not sound like she is entirely OK. Guess that little wakeup was a temporary thing.
Ah, there we go. Not sure who's treating her, but honestly, the best candidates are probably the people in the Foundation. They're probably the only ones with good notes to rear.
Hapu just casually telling Guzma to do her dirty work.
And he does it. I think we won't be seeing him get up to mayhem until he's sat down and comprehended what's happened to him.
Admittedly, his effort seems to be limited to putting Lusamine on Mudsdale. I trust Hapu more anyway.
Whoa, whoa, what's with this "though"? The main reason she needs a guide is because she's not a Trainer.
The vibes this conversation gives off... there's just something about this whole stretch that I'm not entirely here for.
Besides, weren't you going to go ahead and get Lusamine to a medical facility? I'll get Lillie along on her time.
Lillie's reason for lagging behind is that she wants to speak to Nebby as Nebby, in light of certain revelations.
Nebby, ultimately, showed more of an interest in helping Lillie than looking after what Lillie has been assuming are its own interests.
And Lillie does want to thank him appropriately.
Nebby shares with her his true wishes, with that bond only the two of them share.
Nebby's gotten himself attached. He's not planning on heading back to his own home- if he even remembers it. He's going to continue to be our companion- if in much less need of being protected from robbers.
Nebby'll make an awesome companion, even if I'm not sure it's as much of a snuggle-buddy as it looks.
Arguably a better brother than Gladion, but that's mostly because he ditched his responsibilities for the past two years.
Lillie's happy to have Nebby stick around, too.
Lillie also takes the time to acknowledge the people who helped her most, although largely those from the start of her journey.
Her adoptive parents, the man who did the most legwork to set her up, and the boy her age that helped her get her bearings in those first three months.
And, of course, the kid who pushed her to the point of being able to do something about not only Nebby, but also herself.
Just throwing Olivia, Hapu, Acerola, and everyone else who she met on the Island Trial in one pile. At this point, they mostly helped "us", collectively, rather than her specifically.
I'm not sure how much more there is on the Alolan islands, although there's a good argument for looking further afield as well.
Nebby's taking that old chestnut to heart, even if he's the Pokemon in the whole "so long as you have Pokemon" bit.
And now we get to the part of this conversation that has a bit more of a bittersweet feeling.
Nebby's desire for adventure and broadening horizons are at fundamental odds with Lillie's desire for some stability in her life- and also her lack of experience.
Which is why she entrusts the entrusts the responsibility of giving Nebby the enrichment he craves.
Not how I was expecting to be entrusted with him...
Starting with RSE, Pokemon has given you an opportunity to catch the box legendary on the beaten path. Starting in BW, catching said box legendary has also been a mandatory objective. It will be impossible to progress the story until we catch Nebby.
If you have managed to fill all 966 positions in your party and boxes with Pokemon, you will be required to release one (or deposit it in Pokemon Bank/Home) before you can proceed with the story. The games have been kind of inconsistent with what they do in this situation thus far- starting with XY, they've usually been fond of giving you an additional box only once you make the mandatory capture, but SM decided to forgo this solution. To be fair, ORAS did something similar, too.
Well... no offence, Nebby, but I'm going to need to cycle my team first.
That should do it. Zapple is the only really important member of the party- everyone else is just here to help.
What do you mean, this is where the Fly point for the Altar of the Sunne is?
Mumble grumble.
Anyway, standard practice when the time comes to obtain a legendary Pokemon, save your game. Solgaleo has a forgiving catch rate of 45, specifically so this won't be a massive roadblock, but it can be incredibly frustrating to get the process wrong.
This whole bit with legendaries requiring setup to catch is part of why people think the catch formula could do with a rework. There has to be a more rewarding way to catch legendaries than this.
Now then, Nebby... I think it's about time you got in the ball.
Solgaleo (Sun): It is said to live in another world. The intense light it radiates from the surface of its body can make the darkest of nights light up like midday.
Zygarde may have stolen the wind from Solgaleo's claim as our first Special Pokemon, but Solgaleo is happy to make an excellent first impression for the real kind. Solgaleo has a BST of 680, which it has invested to have some massive HP and Atk values, more-than-appreciable Def and Sp. Def (it's weaker Specially, but 137/89 is hardly a weak bulk), and while he's clearly going for the "slightly slow" stat spread, its Speed stat of 97 is hardly slow. Solgaleo's typing is Steel/Psychic, giving it a pretty robust set of resistances, even if it is weirdly weak to Fire for a Pokemon based on the sun.
Solgaleo's only possible Ability is Full Metal Body, which prevents the opponent from lowering its stat stages directly. This is a clone of Clear Body (Deep Blue's job feeling a mite taken right about now), except unlike Clear Body, it cannot be bypassed by Mold Breaker and other moves like it. It can, however, still be bypassed by suppressing it with Skill Swap or Gastro Acid.
Most legendaries (the exceptions are usually the earliest ones) have a unique battle theme to sell their fights. Solgaleo's is a pretty charming bassy-electro theme, and quite possibly my favourite theme in the game.
Wow, Nebby, way to rush ahead of the pack! As a serious opponent, Nebby has no prior investment- its IVs and Nature are generated randomly, like any other Pokemon. As a legendary, three of its IVs are guranteed to be perfect, but there are no guarantees on which. If I wanted to fight Nebby to a KO, I could do it fairly easily. With that said, Nebby's starting kit is pretty good.
You always want to inflict status conditions on legendaries. At their catch rates, this is the only way you're getting reasonable numbers. Usually, you'll need to land paralysis- sleep wears off, and the odds are generally low enough that you probably won't catch it before it wakes up.
Wow, if that was a NVE hit, I shudder to imagine a better one.
...Cut Zapple a bit of slack, that was Volt Tackle. You really need T-Bolt.
...That would be a SE hit. Sorry, Zapple.
Lord Huggington's Brick Break is neutral and hitting Nebby's better Defence. That's an unfortunate outcome, but one we're gonna have to work with.
Nebby has a signature move it comes with, Sunsteel Strike. This is a 100 BP Physical Steel move that ignores any Abilities that might prevent it from landing its damage. There aren't a ton of them, but this includes Sturdy and Multiscale- worthy enough to make this a good move even if it didn't have a higher BP than Iron Head.
It was also the move Nebby used to open the wormhole to Ultra Space, so it gets an extra-long animation to go along with it.
It's not quite the same as it was in the cutscene, but it's fairly close.
Know what else Sunsteel Strike ignores? Fluffy. Lord Huggington's back to relying on its own not-inconsiderable bulk here.
Fortunately, Lord Huggington's reduced him to red HP, so we're good to start throwing some Balls.
The odds are around 57% at this HP approximation with an Ultra Ball. Now imagine if the catch rate was 3!
It only took a few Ultras, thankfully. It's Ray and Ailey who have to worry about 3s.
Solgaleo, of course, gets a lot of pomp and circumstance to accompany its registration in the Pokedex. Strangely, Solgaleo and Lunala do not occupy the same page.
Rotom has a comment for catching a Legendary- surprisingly, not a comment for catching Nebby in particular. Nebby is another Pokemon who is registered in the Alola Pokedex, but none of the island Pokedexes.
Nebby will be Bethany's Legendary Pokemon. I did try to fit Lunala on a team, but I wanted Noah using Zygarde and Ailey using something else. Ray could've fit it- you know, if he was playing Moon.
Nebby's stats and base moves. Nebby has surprisingly little upwards potential move-wise, but it started with moves so good that it's hard to call it out. 5 PP on Sunsteel Strike is a bit of a pain, though- might give that a PP Up.
When you catch Solgaleo, Bethany tries to offer it to Lillie, and she gives a short refusal.
Lillie gets one last namesake track: Lonely Lillie. Pokemon seems to like its piano themes for the endgame heartstring-tugging moments.
I have memories of Lillie actually addressing Nebby/Solgaleo by the nickname you give it, but in looking into it, I found nothing of the sort. I find most people, whether they plan to use Nebby or not, do tend to keep the nickname Nebby- after so long in Lillie's company, you pick up the habit.
This speech is... more than a bit strange, especially if you're playing as the girl. Lillie chooses this moment to make it textual that her connection to Nebby was, in her mind, that of mother and child, before then sharing that her passing Nebby on to us is us taking parental custody over it. On its own, kinda weird, but it does explain why Lillie never thought to entrust him to someone else.
Lillie's passing of Nebby onto us is accompanied by her admitting her not being the most capable mother for his needs, although she did try her best.
You can count on me.
I'm slightly concerned by the whole "my Nebby" thing, but spending that long with something that was abused before it got in your hands does really shore up the attachment issues.
Lillie, after going through an experience putting herself in the shoes of a parent to the point where she finds herself giving up her child, decides that the time is ripe for her to return to her own mother.
Her own mother that was responsible for Nebby's suffering.
There's something about Bethany's blank stare here that really kinda hammers home the implications of what Lillie just said. Lillie, we went to all that trouble to shore up your self-esteem to allow you to move on from your mother's grasp.
And you're going back there?
As she walks away, she stops and turns around for a bit of extra mother-henning Nebby.
Fortunately, that's not a mechanic we have to worry about. Since we're considered Solgaleo's Original Trainer, Solgaleo will never disobey us in battle.
It's a 230 kg lion. Nebby could probably literally flatten us if he gets too excited.
We cannot even go to Ultra Space even if we wanted to in this game.
You know, if you wanted to stick around, my door's always open.
...Well, maybe not where I'm going, but still.
...I do kinda wonder if she should maybe have done the Alolan wave, although the short curtsey she does remains adorable.
So long, Lillie. Try not to get too close to Lusamine again.
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