Pokémon Sun and Moon

The seventh generation of Pokémon games. Set in the Hawaii themed Alola region. Surprisingly, this time the plot is not to conquer 8 Gyms and become Champion while stopping a team of bad guys from endangering the world by exploiting the powers of a Legendary Pokemon along the way. Instead, the player character seeks to complete a coming of age ceremony that requires them travel to each island in the chain and complete the trials located there. There is still an evil team endangering the region by exploiting the powers of the local Legendary Pokemon who needs to be stopped, but the circumstances this time are different than usual.

The games mark a major shift in some of the series conventions, such as including a Fairy Companion in the form of the Rotom Dex, more realistically-proportioned characters instead of the stylized caricatures which were used prior, the introduction of new variations on old Pokémon, and the addition of Z-Moves, which allow for any Pokémon to release a powerful attack based on a single type, but can only be performed once per battle.

On June 6th 2017, Game Freak and Nintendo revealed Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon for the Nintendo 3DS, which is an alternate retelling of the story with different Pokémon available, including new Solgaleo and Lunala forms for Necrozma.

Tropes used in Pokémon Sun and Moon include:

Abusive Parents: Guzma may have had these, depending on how you interpret the context clues found in his childhood home. Lillie and Gladion, however, definitely have one in the form of Lusamine.
Addressing the Player: Professor Kukui does this at the start a new game, like every other Pokémon professor before him. Only this time, it's in the form of a video message.
Adult Child: Professor Kukui. It's particularly clear in Japanese where his style of speech is typical of someone way younger and of less authority.
Ambiguously Brown: Averted for the most part since most darker-skinned characters are clearly native Alolans/Hawaiians, though some characters like Plumeria, Guzma, and the player's mom also look like they could easily be suntanned.
Anime Hair: Not exclusive to the humans this time! Alolan Dugtrio boasts impressive, flashy blonde hairstyles on each of its heads.
Another Dimension: Ultra Space, an eldritch dimension that's home to the Ultra Beasts. Ultra Sun and Moon would reveal that there are other dimensions that can be accessed through this one, and each of them serves as a given Beast's homeworld.
Augmented Reality: Certain Pokémon can be obtained by scanning QR codes, such as the Unova starters or Magearna, a legendary Pokémon that can't be obtained any other way.
Badass Adorable: Lana and Acerola, cute little girls who completed their Island Trials and became Trial Captains afterwards. Acerola takes this even further by becoming a member of Alola's Elite Four!
Badass Grandpa: Hala, Kahuna of Melemele Island and a member of the Elite Four!
- Drampa are an entire species of Badass Grandpas (and grandmas). These Dragon/Normal Pokémon look and act like affectionate grandfatherly serpents, but if bullies pick on the kids they're friends with? They burn down the bully's house.
Balloon Belly: While not a proper example, Mimikyu's special Z Move (Let's Snuggle Forever) creates this sort of effect by having it trap its enemy under its disguise, and having said disguise's "belly" balloon up to comically huge proportions while the poor schmuck trapped inside gets the crap beaten out of it.
Bare Your Midriff: As usual, female Swimmers have this going on due to the fact that they're beautiful women in bikinis. Likewise, Olivia and Plumeria wear outfits that show off their navels, as do the player characters themselves. Though in their case, it's only when they wear the ridiculously expensive Lurantis (female) and Kommo-o (male) outfits.
Bears are Bad News: Bewear. These Pokémon aren't knowingly dangerous, but they're gigantic cuddlebugs with enough strength to snap tree trunks with their grip. If a Bewear hugs you, it'll accidentally snap your spine and kill you. Fittingly, Lusamine uses one on her team when you fight her.
Big Bad: Guzma, leader of Team Skull, who even refers to himself as "Big Bad Guzma" turns out to NOT be the Big Bad of the story. That honor goes to Lusamine, the corrupt president of the Aether Foundation. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Team Rocket's Giovanni, the franchise's original Big Bad, returns as the Big Bad of the post-game Rainbow Rocket Episode.
- Bigger Bad: Necrozma is the distant source of the main conflict in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, even taking the mantle of Big Bad away from Lusamine in the climax.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Faba, the Aether Foundation's egocentric and ambitious branch chief. He sells the Aether Foundation out to Giovanni in hopes of making a name for himself, but it backfires hilariously on him.
Big Badass Wolf: Lycanroc, the evolution of Rockruff. No matter if it's the Midday, Midnight, or Dusk form, it's a big, powerful wolf Pokémon and quite the competent battler.
Big Damn Heroes: The player does this by coming to the rescue when Nebby's being attacked by a trio of Spearow on a rickety bridge. And once the bridge breaks, Tapu Koko gets in on the action by catching you before you fall to your death.
Big Eater: Hau, who's often talking about how hungry he is when he isn't shoving malasadas down his throat. Mina is also noted to be a huge glutton by her parents, while the Ultra Beast Guzzlord is noted to eat literally everything in its path, including mountains and buildings.
Bishonen: Ilima, a pink-haired pretty boy who serves as Melemele Island's sole Trial Captain.
Blond Guys Are Evil: Gladion, a thug who works as an enforcer for Team Skull. However, it quickly becomes apparent that he isn't evil so much as he is an angry, abused kid who fell in with a bad crowd. When he starts to come around, his mother Lusamine turns out to be an example herself. And unlike her misguided son, she's absolutely rotten to the core.
Character Customization: Like Calem and Serena before them, you can dress up Elio and Selene in all sorts of different outfits.
Coming of Age Story: For both the Player Character and Lillie.
Dark Is Not Evil: Nanu is a Dark-type specialist and incredibly sullen to boot, but he doesn't have a single evil bone in his body. He's just depressed and unhappy with Tapu Bulu forcing him to serve as his island's Kahuna.
Demo: The game's demo gives you a sneak peek at what the Island Challenge has to offer, including a fight against Plumeria of Team Skull as well as a warm-up trial that pits you against a Totem Hakamo-o. Your prize for beating it is none other than Ash-Greninja straight from the anime, which can be transferred to the actual games.
Disc One Nuke:
- Brick Break, a powerful Fighting move with a base power of 75, can be obtained way earlier than in other games. As in, during the very first Trial. Several Fighting types are available at this point, and all of them can learn it and destroy every single Normal type fought during the Trial, Totem Pokémon included, in one shot. Even if you're not looking to use any Fighting types, many physical fighters can still get a lot of mileage out of it.
- And speaking of early-game Fighting types, Hawlucha becomes available very early on in the Ultra games, and is a freaking monster. It's a powerful, speedy Glass Cannon with stats that will keep it relevant through the entirety of the game, endgame and postgame included, and will help you breeze your way through the first Trial and Hala's boss fight. It's also a godsend against Totem Lurantis since it resists each and every one of her attacks, and can potentially KO her in one hit before things get really nasty thanks to the Flying Z-Crystal (and thus, Supersonic Skystrike) being available a lot earlier than in vanilla Sun and Moon.
- The demo for the original Sun and Moon has Ash Greninja, the Greninja Ash used during the Kalos seasons of the anime, which is unique among his froggy brethren in the sense that he has what may as well be a Mega Evolution in all but name. Beating the demo will let you transfer him over to the full games, and he joins your party at a whopping level 37 and can do so very early on. While he won't listen to you for a while, the gigantic difference in levels between him and the early-game Pokémon you'll be fighting ensures that he can survive whatever they throw at him before finally deciding to cooperate and attack, and he's got quite the impressive moveset: the powerful Night Slash and souped up (in his Ash Greninja form) Water Shuriken for STAB, Aerial Ace to hit several of his weaknesses for super-effective damage (Grass, Bug, and Fighting), and Double Team to make him untouchable.
Eldritch Abomination: The Ultra Beasts. Every last one of these things is a dangerous interdimensional alien with powers beyond that of your garden variety Pokémon. It turns out later that they are Pokémon from different dimensions, but that doesn't make them any less eldritch or abominable.
- Mimikyu is strongly suggested to be one. Taking so much as one peek at its true form under its cloth disguise will frighten you to death, and whatever it is, it's definitely some kind of shadow monster with grasping, clawed hands.
The Fair Folk: A lot of the new Fairy types are dangerous and malicious. Morelull and Shiinotic, for example, are creepy parasites who lure prey into the woods so they can drug them up with their spores and eat them. Then there's Mimikyu, which is something lurking underneath a Pikachu disguise that is so horrific, that you'll die if you get a look at its true form.
- The Tapus may be guardians of Alola, but they're fickle and unreliable at best, and malevolent at worst. The citizens of Melemele Island have it good since Tapu Koko is merely choosy about when he wants to appear and help others in their time of need. The otherwise benevolent Tapu Bulu is willing to level entire villages if they're built on sacred ground, and Tapu Lele is a bonafide sociopath who will hurt people for her own amusement. Tapu Fini goes out of her way to isolate herself, but if humans intrude on her domain, she's willing to mess with their minds in retribution.
For Science: Professor Kukui does this often, even unleashing Z moves in his own house just for science.

"He never stops researching moves. Not even...Inside the lab itself. Looks like we'll have to patch the roof again...

—Lillie

Gotta Catch Them All: While this is the case for every other Pokémon game that came before, this is especially noteworthy for Ultra Sun and Moon because they were the last games where you could catch every single Pokémon to have ever be made.
Haunted Technology: Your Pokédex, believe it or not! As a series first, it's possessed by a friendly Rotom who serves as a friendly companion on your travels.
Hot Mom: Lusamine, the mother of Lillie and Gladion. She's over 40, but looks like she could be her kids' older sister. Your mom is also very pretty, but that's to be expected given the track record established by the moms of past generations.
In Universe Game Clock: Unusually, Moon and Ultra Moon have a clock offset 12 hours from Sun (and the real world).
Just Think of the Potential: The reason why Lillie's so afraid of other people seeing Nebby? She's afraid they'll try to harness his power over opening wormholes into Ultra Space for their own selfish ends. This ends up being exactly what happens when Lusamine gets her hands on him.
King Mook: Totem Pokémon are bigger and stronger than normal members of their species, and will sometimes command their pre-evolutions in battle.
Lethal Lava Land: Averted. Wela Volcano Park is perfectly safe for children to explore, despite some areas flowing with red hot lava.
Life Meter: Along with your Pokémon's health bars, there are Pokémon Refresh-specific meters that track how happy, affectionate, and hungry they are.
Mon Machine: The Z-Ring, which allows trainers and their Pokémon to gather Z-Power and use Z-Moves. The bracelet is made by refining a Sparkling Stone, and the user can slot in a Z-Crystal along with others is not in use. It's also capable of inducing Mega Evolution when a Key Stone is inserted, much like a Mega Ring.
More Deadly Than the Male: Female Salandit. Male ones are useless and never evolve, but the females eventually become Salazzle, a lightning-quick Glass Cannon of a seductress.
Pet Owl: Rowlet. Being an owl and the region's grass starter, it's an adorable little bird that serves as the perfect first Pokémon for brand new trainers.
Poltergeist: Rotom, who inhabits your Pokédex.
Power Nullifier: Unless one is using specialized Pokéballs, Aether Island's technology and electric fields render them useless.
Pretty Fly for a White Guy: The rank-and-file Team Skull Grunts and their boss Guzma are white (or on the lighter-colored side of Ambiguously Brown), and act like American street thugs complete with ghetto slang.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: All three starters, Pikipek, Alolan Raichu, Oricorio, Cutiefly, Ribombee, Comfey... like usual, adorable Pokémon are very much not in short supply.
Rite of Passage: The Island Trial, which Alolan trainers undertake to prove their worth as a Pokémon master.
Rope Bridge: A rickety, flimsy one can be found just outside of Iki Town. Predictably, it breaks when the player crosses it during the beginning of the game.
Secret Keeper: Lillie asks the Player Character just to keep the secret of Nebby the Cosmog, and anything concerning him. She also has an inner circle of secret keepers, which includes Professor Kukui, Hala, and Professor Burnet.
Scenery Porn: The Alola Region is a beautiful tropical paradise, and perhaps the most gorgeous region to date.
Shout-Out: The guy who runs the Fossil Restoration Center wants to resurrect prehistoric Pokémon and place them in a zoo that he calls the Dream Park.
The Sociopath:
- Lusamine, who fits the bill in the original Sun and Moon. She's manipulative, sadistic, abusive towards her children, and her idea of "love" is a twisted and self-serving appreciation for creatures and people that she forces to love her back.
- Tapu Fini, despite being a Pokémon. Granted, all of the Tapus seem to be some flavor of Sociopathic Hero, but Lele is known to be a malevolent, amoral troublemaker who enjoys using her powers to make people and Pokémon destroy each other.
- Faba, a self-absorbed, child-hating slimeball who only cares about himself and couldn't give a shit about anyone else. Not only is he okay with being involved in the far less ethical experiments that the Aether Foundation keeps under wraps, but he's willing to sell out his own organization and universe so he can cozy up with Giovanni's new and improved multiverse-conquering Team Rocket. While he turns over a new leaf, he doesn't actually regret anything he's done and still looks down on others.
- Ghetsis, as usual. Not only is he trying to manipulate Giovanni the way he did with N, but his murderous tendencies make themselves known once again when he tries to kill Lillie, a 10 year old girl, with his bare hands.
Solar and Lunar: Take a wild guess.
Supreme Chef: Mallow, one of Akala Island's Trial Captains. While most people can't handle her cooking (not because it's disgusting, but because it's ridiculously spicy), it is beloved by the Totem Lurantis she watches over.
Take Over the World: Subverted, unlike the previous terrorist groups that appeared in past Pokemon games, Team Skull are not interested in world domination. Team Rainbow Rocket, however, definitely does. And not just your world, they want to dominate the multiverse itself!
Turtle Power: Turtonator, who's exclusive to Sun and Ultra Sun. It's a powerful Fire/Dragon turtle with beefy defenses and the ability to use its shell as an explosive weapon.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: Professor (Samson) Oak looks like exactly like his more famous cousin except for being heavily tanned. The official website notes "The two could practically be twins!"
- Also Lillie, Gladion, and Lusamine. It's the clue-in that they are a family.
Video Game Caring Potential: You can use the "Refresh" system to brush, groom, and even feed candy and beans to your Pokémon.
Virtual Paper Doll: Like in X and Y, you've got plenty of outfits to dress up in.
Wake Up Call Boss:
- Totem Gumshoos/Alolan Raticate (depending on the version) is the very first Totem Pokémon you fight, but they're no pushover. While they don't utilize the brutal strategies that make later Totems a pain to fight, their boosted stats mean that you'll likely be unable to just sweep them with a super effective move and call it a day. Further more, after a turn passes they'll summon a Yungoos/Alolan Rattata minion to back them up, forcing you to adapt to fighting enemy Pokémon 2 on 1. Almost every single Totem past these guys is some flavor of That One Boss, so you need to put some serious thought into your team composition and battle strategies going forward.
- The fights with Archie and Maxie make it clear just what you're in for during Episode RR: brutally tough fights against opponents who will use powerful Legendary Pokémon against you! If you find yourself struggling against these guys, that might be your cue to grab a Legendary/Ultra Beast of your own to even the odds.
The Western: The entire area encompassing Paniola Ranch and Paniola Town. It's Alola's comfy little slice of the Wild West, complete with sprawling farmland, era-appropriate architecture, a showdown with Hau (that can potentially take place during High Noon), and tons upon tons of Miltank and Tauros.
Zettai Ryouiki: Lillie. Both her outfits include a pair of spiffy white thigh-high socks.