Pokémon Sun and Moon Gameplay

Unlike any other main games series, the game begins with a video call made by Professor Kukui to the player. Professor Kukui helps create a Trainer Passport for the player before the player and the mother move from Kanto to Alola. Meanwhile, at roughly the same time, a young girl is seen escaping what seems to be a lab with an unidentified Pokémon in her bag. As she gets cornered by the workers in the area, the Pokémon teleports itself and the girl away from the lab and away from danger.
Three months later, the player, along with the mother and Meowth, are enjoying their new home on Melemele Island as Professor Kukui enters their home and takes the player to meet the Island Kahuna in Iki Town to get his/her starter Pokémon. As they reach Iki Town, the Kahuna is nowhere to be found, so Kukui sends the player to the Mahalo Trail in hopes of finding the kahuna. On the trail, the player spots the girl that escaped the lab and follows her to the Plank Bridge.
The Pokémon that the girl was holding escapes her bag as they reach the Plank Bridge, happy about the new environment it is in. Suddenly, a flock of Spearow attacks the defenseless Pokémon, leaving the girl worrying and asking the player to save her friend Nebby. Even as the player had no Pokémon to battle the Spearow, the player rushes in and guards Nebby from harm before Nebby uses its power to destroy the bridge. Before the player and Nebby fall to their doom, Tapu Koko flies through the Spearow and bring the pair back to safety. Thankful for rescuing Nebby, the girl gives the player a Sparkling Stone that appeared after Tapu Koko's departure.
The player and the girl then return to Iki town and get greeted by Kukui. Kukui introduces the girl as his lab assistant, Lillie, before the Kahuna Hala returns from resolving a problem on the island. After Lillie explains the encounter she and the player had with Tapu Koko, Hala gets touched by the moment and gives the player the choice to choose Rowlet, Litten, or Popplio as their starter Pokémon. After a short ceremony with the player and the new Pokémon, Kukui gives the player a Pokédex and sends him/her to the mother to show off the new Pokémon.
Hala's grandson, Hau, then appears in the town and challenges the player to a battle using the Pokémon that is weak to the player's starter. After the battle, Hala takes the player's sparkling stone and invites the player to a festival the following day. The next day, Kukui stops by the player's house again and takes him to Route 1 so he can teach him how to catch Pokémon. Kukui then lets the player train before going to the festival.
At the festival, Hala and Kukui reveal that it is an event where Pokémon battles are held in honor of the Guardian Pokémon in Alola. Hau and the player battle once again in honor of Tapu Koko, and this time the entire town watches, including Lillie, the player's mother, and Meowth. After Tapu Koko approves of the battling, Hala returns the sparkling stone, which is now converted into a Z-Ring. Hala explains the Z-ring's powers and the Z-Crystals that can only be acquired by participating in the island challenge, where the player must travel to all four of Alola's islands to become the island challenge champion. Afterwards, the player then returns home to prepare for the next day.
The next day, Lillie visits the player and the two head to Kukui's lab. In the lab, Kukui upgrades the player's Pokédex into a Rotom Pokédex and explains more about the island challenge, which includes taking trials and getting recognized by each island Kahuna. Before taking any trials, the player must attend the Trainers' School to learn the basics of battling. Luckily, the player is able to take on the teacher's assignments and the player is able to take CaptainIlima's trial in Verdant Cavern. After beating the teacher in battle, Ilima invites the player to Hau'oli City after the player trains some more.
When the player meets up with Ilima, Team Skull grunts appear, but they appear to be minor threats to Ilima. After a quick lesson from the player and Ilima, the grunts flee and Ilima heals the player before challenging the player to a battle himself. After the battle, Ilima gets impressed by the player's team and allow the player to attempt his trial. On the way to Verdant Cavern, a wild Delibird drags the player to the Berry fields as more Team Skull grunts are causing trouble with other people. The grunts get defeated by the player, and they announce to mess with Ilima's trial.
As the player makes it to Verdant Cavern, Ilima explains the rules of the trial and lets the player attempt it. Midway into the trial, the grunts from earlier challenge the player again and get defeated. The grunts bother a wild Pokémon in the area, unwittingly helping the player complete the next section of the trial. As the player almost completes the trial, a really large Pokémon ambushes the player and challenges the player to a battle. Upon the defeat of the Pokémon, the player completes the trial.
After hearing that Lillie has gone missing, the player heads to Route 3 and into Melemele Meadow, where the player finds Lillie. Lillie again loses Nebby and the player has to go find it. After finding Nebby, the player returns to Lillie and leave the meadow to be greeted by Hau and Kukui. After hearing that Hau and the player passed their first trial, Kukui sends the player back to Iki Town for their grand trial with Island Kahuna Hala.
After defeating Kahuna Hala, the player receives another Z-Crystal and is given a Ride Pager in order to ride Pokémon like Tauros in the Alola region. The player makes way to the next island, Akala Island. On Akala Island, the player attends the trials of Lana, Kiawe, and Mallow before battling the Island Kahuna Olivia. On Akala Island, the player once again encounters Team Skull and encounters new people like a neglected member of Team Skull named Gladion who owns a Pokémon called Type: Null, and Hapu, a wanderer traveling the region with her Mudsdale. After defeating the Island Kahuna, Faba invites the player and Hau to Aether Paradise.
At Aether Paradise, the Player and Hau meets the Aether Foundation President Lusamine and learn that the company is responsible for making Aether Paradise a sanctuary for abused Pokémon. In the middle of the meeting, a weird creature from another universe attacks the player and after a short battle retreats to its own world. Lusamine becomes interested in the odd creature and sends the duo to Ula'ula Island to complete their island challenge.
On Ula'ula Island, the player prepares for the trials of Sophocles and Acerola. While taking these trials, the player learns about a Pokémon League under construction and is challenged to participate in it as soon as the player completes the Island Challenge. After completing the two trials, the player meets the Team Skull leader Guzma and visits their base at Po Town. After defeating the team in Po Town, Police officer Nanu and Acerola thank the player for rescuing a stolen Yungoos and head to the Aether House.
Upon entering the house, Hau tells the player that Team Skull's Plumeria kidnapped Lillie and Nebby. Gladion overhears the conversation and demands Hau and the player to travel with him to the ferry terminal for their next destination. Before the trio leave, Nanu challenges the player as an Island Kahuna. Nanu gives the player another Z-Crystal and asks Gladion what he is depending on Team Skull for before departing. Gladion reveals to the player and Hau that they have to return to Aether Paradise to rescue Lillie and Nebby. Despite the crazy story, the player and Hau tag with Gladion to Aether Paradise.
At Aether Paradise, employees begin to attack the team as they believe they are intruders. They eventually reach Faba and Faba indeed hints that there is something unusual about Aether Foundation. After a battle with the player, Faba redirects the trio to the lower level of Aether Paradise, with the trio unaware that it is a trap to buy time. After learning of the trap, they head back up to find Faba, who brought reinforcements to battle them. Wicke then appears to them and says that Lillie might be with the President, but it would be hard to get to them. Faba then ambushes them again with more employees. The team defeats the employees and Faba again, resulting in Faba giving them access to the president's office.
The trio then spots Team Skull and Guzma in front of where they need to go. Gladion immediately takes on Guzma while Hau and the player take out the grunts. After taking out the grunts, Guzma takes down Gladion and the player takes his place in battle. Guzma gets defeated by the player again and is forced to let the team move onwards. The player then runs into Lusamine and Lillie. The player witnesses a darker version of Lusamine and learns that Nebby is being sacrificed to bring back the beast from earlier. Lillie tries to reason with her mother but fails to do so, resulting in the player going after Lusamine.
Gladion and Hau catch up to the player and Gladion tells his mother not to open the Ultra Wormhole, but again, Lusamine ignores her children and opens the wormhole anyway. This results in many Ultra Beasts being spread out in Alola. With the help of Guzma, Lusamine tries to put a stop to the team, but they put both of the villains and the beast to a stop. As the Ultra Wormhole closes, Guzma, Lusamine, and the beast retreat to Ultra Space while Lillie checks on Nebby, who has now transformed into a new form.
The next day, Gladion gives Lillie the Moon FluteS/Sun FluteM and helps the player and Lillie get to the final Island of Alola, Poni Island and recommends finding the Island Kahuna. The player and Lillie eventually find Hapu again, who reveals the island has no Kahuna. The three then travel to the Ruins of Hope where Tapu Fini grants Hapu the honor of becoming Poni Island's kahuna after they both teamed up to take down an ultra beast. Hapu then talks about the Legendary Pokémon SolgaleoS/LunalaM and how there needs to be a ceremony at the Altar of the SunneS/Altar of the MooneM involving two particular flutes. Lillie shows Hapu the flute Gladion gave her and are told the other flute is on Exeggutor Island. Lillie and the player then head to Exeggutor Island to obtain Lillie's flute counterpart.
After the player takes the other flute, the player and Lillie return to Poni Island and head to the Altar. On the way to the Altar, they get ambushed by Team Skull. Team Skull battles the player in order to try and get them to talk about where Guzma disappeared to, but Plumeria puts a stop to the battling. Plumeria apologizes for her actions and lets them continue onwards in hopes of rescuing Guzma. Soon after, Hapu challenges the player to a Grand Trial and the player attends another trial soon after. With both trials complete, the player completes the island challenge. The only thing left to do is to rescue Lusamine and Guzma from Ultra Space.
The player and Lillie reach the Altar and both prepare to play their flutes and either wait until dawnS or duskM to summon the legendary Pokémon. After playing their flutes, an odd power in the Altar forms and takes Lillie's bag to the source of the power. Nebby is taken from the bag and evolves into SolgaleoS/LunalaM. With its new power, Nebby takes Lillie and the player to Ultra Space. The two then run into Guzma, who seems to be possessed by the ultra beasts. Lillie continues to find her mother, and soon the two find Lusamine with the creature called Nihilego. Lillie again tries to convince her mother to return, but Lusamine eventually pushes her daughter's buttons and even calls her ugly. Lusamine calls out a captured Nihilego and merges with it, leaving the player to battle Lusamine until Nebby separates Lusamine and Nihilego from each other. Nebby then grabs the trapped people and brings them to the Altar, where Hapu takes Lusamine and Guzma to safely.
Nebby, still wanting to travel with Lillie and the player, gets rejected by Lillie as she believes that Nebby will not be able to get the adventures it wants with her as she is not a real trainer. Lillie then recommends Nebby should be captured by the player. The player gets into a battle with Nebby and eventually captures it. Lillie is thankful that Nebby will now be taken care of by its new parent and leaves to help out her mother. Nanu then appears at the Altar to let the player know that the next step is to battle all four Kahunas in a row. However, with the new Pokémon League opened in Mount Lanakila on Ula'ula Island, Nanu takes the player there to complete the final trial.
When the player reaches the Pokémon League, Professor Kukui greets the player and gives him the choice to battle any of the four members of the Alola League in whatever choice the player decides. The members include island kahunas Hala and Olivia, who use Fighting-type and Rock types respectively, Trial Captain Acerola, who uses the Ghost-type, and Kahili, a former island challenge champion and golfer who uses the Flying-type. After the player defeats the Elite Four, the player takes a seat in the Champion's chair before Professor Kukui surprises the player with a final battle before becoming the first Alola League Champion. After becoming Champion, the player is invited back to a big festival in Iki Town to celebrate the big accomplishment.
During the festival, Lillie pulls the player to the side and the two revisit the Mahalo Trail and cross a rebuilt Plank Bridge to the Ruins of Conflict, hoping to get congratulated by Tapu Koko for finishing the island challenge. The player touches the statue in the Ruins of Conflict and gives thanks to Tapu Koko. After touching the statue, Tapu Koko challenges the player to a battle, which allows the player to either capture it or show the Guardian Pokémon the power of the new Alola Champion. After the battle, the two return to the festival. Shortly after returning, Lillie tries to tell the player of her next steps but decides to instead let the player enjoy the rest of the festival.
The following day, Hau visits the player and drags the player to Hau'oli City. Hau and the player catch up to Lillie and Professor Kukui before the departure, and it is revealed Lillie is going to Kanto to help make herself and her mother get better and stronger. Lillie gives Hau and the player a gift before she sets sail to Kanto, leaving Hau in tears. The Professor shares some words with the player and Hau to show respect to Lillie's decision and soon after, the three make their way back home.