VIDEO: Pokémon Sun & Moon Z-Moves & Ultra Beasts

This is it; the weeks all of you Pokéfans have been waiting for! Pokémon Sun & Moon finally launch this Friday, November 18 and the wait has been excruciating. For better or worse, the Pokémon Company has been drip-feeding us information about the new games every week.

This time around new Z-Moves and Ultra Beasts have been revealed via a new trailer. We’ve been compiling the trailers and new information in our preview.

Alolan Diglett

Type: Ground–Steel

The Mole Pokémon Alolan Diglett live near volcanic areas, so they have few places to hide themselves away. It’s said they developed the hairlike metallic whiskers which grow from the top of their heads as a survival mechanism for the hostile volcanic environment. Their whiskers enable them to sense surrounding areas without exposing their face above ground. Alolan Diglett can have the Tangling Hair Ability, which is a new Ability that no other Pokémon has previously had. With the Tangling Hair Ability, opponents that hit this Pokémon with a move that makes direct contact will have their speed lowered by one.

Alolan Dugtrio

Type: Ground–Steel

Alolan Dugtrio is the evolved form of Alolan Diglett. Alolan Dugtrio’s whiskers grow throughout its life at a very slow rate, shining with a brilliance akin to that of golden hair. In the Alola region, this Pokémon is revered as an incarnation of the god of the land, and it’s treated with great importance. Removing any of this Pokémon’s whiskers is strictly prohibited. There is a superstitious belief that many Alolan Dugtrio come out of their burrows on a day when a volcano will erupt.

 

Also revealed were the following new Ultra Beasts:

 

UB-05 Glutton

This beast has an astounding appetite, and it will completely devour anything in front of its eyes. It’s said that it devours not only objects, but the ground, rivers, and even the seas. There is a belief that it converts the abnormal amount it eats entirely into energy to sustain itself, leaving no waste product behind. Whether this is true or not is a mystery.

 

 

UB-03 Lighting

Another of the Ultra Beasts is known as UB-03 Lighting. More will be revealed during the players’ adventures around the Alola region.

 

 

 

 

Each of the three Pokémon that you can choose as your first partner during your adventure have an exclusive Z-Move that they can use only after they fully evolve. These moves are:

Z-Move: Sinister Arrow Raid

Pokémon: Decidueye

Decidueye slices through the air together with a hail of arrow quills, crashing into the target before dealing the final blow with its arrows.

 

 

 

 

Z-Move: Malicious Moonsault

Pokémon: Incineroar

With flames spouting from its flame belt, Incineroar leaps high into the sky and dives straight down onto its target.

 

 

 

 

Z-Move: Oceanic Operetta

Pokémon: Primarina

Primarina manipulates a huge balloon using its voice, then causes it to explode over its target’s head, dealing a lot of damage.

 

 

 

Z-Moves are special moves that a Pokémon can use when it’s holding a Z-Crystal that corresponds to its move’s type. Their effects vary greatly depending on whether they’re based on attack moves or status moves. Z-Moves based on attack moves have far greater power than standard moves, but how powerful they will be seems to depend on the power of the original move that a Z-Move is based on. Since Z-Moves are full-powered attacks, they also seem to be impossible to fully ward off with moves like Protect and Detect – they still do some damage. When you use your Z-Power based on a status move, it will be powered up with additional effects. These effects come in many varieties, including raising your own Pokémon’s stats, healing the next Pokémon to switch in and more!

[Source: Nintendo UK]

Craig Majaski

Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.