History Anime / PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon

* TroublemakingNewPet: An Alolan Meowth plays around with this when it joins Team Rocket in "Acting True to Form." While it maintains the trope's usual BitchInSheepsClothing act, it is smart enough to only pick on their original Meowth and be genuinely helpful to Jessie and James, bewildering them into thinking the latter is paranoid. When it finds better digs at their boss Giovanni's headquarters however, it quickly drops the act and abandons them, mocking all three through a communicator. Meowth can only sigh IWarnedYou to an infuriated Jessie.

* TroublemakingNewPet: An Alolan Meowth plays around with this when it joins Team Rocket in "Acting True to Form." While it maintains the trope's usual BitchInSheepsClothing act, it is smart enough to only pick on their original Meowth and be genuinely helpful to Jessie and James, bewildering them into thinking the latter is paranoid. When it finds better digs at their boss Giovanni's headquarters however, it quickly drops the act and abandons them, mocking all three through a communicator.

* "One Journey Ends, Another Begins...", which can be considered one of the ''bleakest'' episodes in the series, as it features [[spoiler:the [[NeverFoundTheBody presumed]] [[ADeathInTheLimelight death of an old Stoutland]], who was Litten's primary caregiver.]]
* "Showering The World With Love!" starts off a rather light hearted episode with Poipole bonding with a Minior. As it turns out however, [[spoiler: Minior have extremely fleeting life spans, and at the climax of the episode, the individual degenerates into dust right before a heartbroken Poipole.]]
* "Memories In The Mist!" delves into the backstory with Mallow, [[spoiler: whose mother passed away when she was young, and under harsh parting words. The use of Tapu Fini's magic allows her to meet with her mother's spirit. The aforementioned "One Journey Ends, Another Begins..." is also called back to, with Torracat meeting Stoutland's spirit.]]

* MandatoryUnretirement: Though Charizard itself doesn't seem to mind going into action, Kiawe preferred utilising Turtonator and Marowak for battling purposes initially, only using Charizard as a Ride Pokemon. After they are both captured by Tapu Fini however, he is forced to utilise Charizard in its Secret Test of Character. Charizard's reliability and the reward of Flyium-Z is enough to convince Kiawe to put it in his main battle team full time.

* UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode: While the ''Sun & Moon'' series is seen as the most light-hearted the anime has been in a while, it also has "One Journey Ends, Another Begins...", which can be considered one of the ''bleakest'' episodes in the series, as it features [[spoiler:the [[NeverFoundTheBody presumed]] [[ADeathInTheLimelight death of an old Stoutland]], who was Litten's primary caregiver.]]

* Downplayed to some degree with the Mythicals, Meltan and Shaymin, who ''do'' stick around till the end of the series, but only appear quite late in, with Meltan only evolving in time for the final match in the league. Justified since they are kept relatively mortal compared to other examples.

* OneOfTheKids: Compared to most previous series, the powerhouse Pokemon routinely take part in the antics and playful moments with the cuter ones. Evolved Pokemon also tend to retain their quirks from their younger forms.

* CheatersNeverProsper: Subverted for Team Rocket for once. They go through an official trial per se to get Darkium-Z, but after beating the Totem Raticate, they just steal the crystal without its approval. [[SoreLoser The Raticate and its posse at the very least doesn't think they earned it fair]], and come to get it back, though after one look at [[TheDreaded Bewear]], they decide to just let it go.

* AdaptationDistillation: Ash is only required to defeat one Pokémon per island in order to face the Kahuna so he doesn't receive Z-Crystals he can't use (he receives a Fightinium Z from Hala, but Tapu Koko swaps it out for the Electrium Z since none of his current team know any Fighting type moves, and Lana is the one to take the Water Trial due to Ash having no Water types).

** Unusually downplayed with Lillie and Mallow. Though they get token boosts and Z-Moves like everyone else, their lack of battle and training focus in their limelight means [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome they remain fairly stagnant otherwise]]. They become competent enough to stomp bungling villains and pass the preliminaries of the league, but not much else.

** Unusually downplayed with Lillie and Mallow. Though they get token boosts and Z-Moves like everyone else, their lack of battle and training focus in their limelight means [[RealityEnsues they remain fairly stagnant otherwise]]. They become competent enough to stomp bungling villains and pass the preliminaries of the league, but not much else.

* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Downplayed for once with Team Rocket. Though they remain a chaotic GoldfishPoopGag from start to finish, they do bother gaining access to the region's gimmick and trying to refine their schemes and artillery to the twerps' offences to maintain a slither of NotSoHarmless cred, along with Mimikyu remaining a threat to Pikachu the whole series.

* UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode: While the ''Sun & Moon'' series is seen as the most light-hearted the anime has been in a while, it also has "One Journey Ends, Another Begins...", which can be considered one of the ''bleakest'' episodes in the series, as it features [[spoiler:the [[NeverFoundTheBody presumed]] [[ADeathInTheLimelight death of an old Stoutland]], who was Litten's primary caregiver.]]

* 11thHourRanger: Some main Pokemon appear jarringly late into the series. Sandy, Shaymin and Meltan don't appear until some time into ''Ultra Legends'' the final season. Magearna is the most egregious case, only reactivating and getting inducted into Lillie's team by the ''penultimate episode''.

* Unusually downplayed with Lillie and Mallow. Though they get token boosts and Z-Moves like everyone else, their lack of battle and training focus in their limelight means [[RealityEnsues they remain fairly stagnant otherwise]]. They become competent enough to stomp bungling villains and pass the preliminaries of the league, but not much else.

* AdaptationDistillation: Ash is only required to defeat one Pokemon per island in order to face the Kahuna, so that he doesn't receive Z-Crystals he can't use (he receives a Fightinium Z from Hala, but Tapu Koko swaps it out for the Electrium Z since none of his current team know any Fighting type moves, and Lana is the one to take the Water Trial due to Ash having no Water types).

** Team Skull's involvement with Lusamine and Aether Foundation is virtually zero in anime, unlike in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' where the two organizations [[VillainTeamUp team up]] to open Ultra Wormholes for their own gain. This even extends to Gladion, who is Team Skull's enforcer in the games but is unaffiliated and even hostile towards the villainous gang in the anime.

** Ash's outfit is also different from all previous versions. Shorter pants, no jacket/sweatshirt, and no FingerlessGloves.

* ADeathInTheLimelight: "One Journey Ends, Another Begins..." heavily focuses on [[spoiler:the old Stoutland, Litten's caretaker, who is stricken with an IncurableCoughOfDeath throughout the episode and is constantly compared to a tree losing its leaves, and is taken to a Pokémon Center by Ash after Litten drags him toward their home after Stoutland collapses. Despite being discharged the next day, Stoutland fails to recover and leaves Litten to pass away on its own.]]
* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The very first scene of ''Sun & Moon'' is Ash and Pikachu on vacation, riding on a Sharpedo and enjoying the vast scenery of Alola's wildlife before being surprised by Bruxish, which [[ButtMonkey causes them to topple into the water]]. This sets the tone of ''Sun & Moon'' being more akin to a SliceOfLife show rather than a ToBeAMaster quest that characterizes the rest of the series.

* GoldfishPoopGang: Team Rocket returns, of course. But this time, they have a new competitor for this loser status: [[GangBangers Team Skull]]. This delinquent gang wants to be intimidating as their name implies, but they are easily repelled by anyone who has a Pokémon. They are mostly represented by a TerribleTrio composed of Tupp, Zipp and Rapp, and they are so incompetent as villains that they end up making Jessie, James and Meowth look excellent. The last part is not an exaggeration as Team Rocket has always come on top every time they compete with them.

* MythArc: Based around the region's ancient mysteries and how they affect Ash and his friends in the present day: mysteries such as Z Crystals, the "Tapu" Guardian Pokémon, the legendary Solgaleo and Lunala, and the Ultra Beasts that come from Ultra Space.

** "Showering the World with Love!" reveals that Minior don't really last very long in their core form. [[spoiler:They [[DisappearIntoLight disintegrate into space dust]] after a day or two after breaking out of their shell. The Minior dust becomes food for other Pokémon like Rayquaza]].
* NoSell: In the Sun and Moon episode 43, Sophocles tells Togedemaru to use Zing Zap on Brock's Geodude. Togedemaru's attack hits Geodude straight on, but Sophocles is shocked when Brock's Geodude simply grins and flexes it's biceps. Sophocles forgot that that Kanto Geodude is Rock and Ground-type, and is immune to Togedemaru's electric type attacks.

* SliceOfLife: Unlike previous series, which primarily focuses on [[ToBeAMaster traveling across the region seeking new Gym Battles]], ''Sun & Moon'' has Ash stay in Melemele Island (specifically the Pokémon School and Kukui's residence house) and often has episodes focus on his daily life with his fellow classmates and neighbors. Anytime Ash travels to another island, it is treated like a one-day field trip event. Consequently, battles are downplayed in favor of comedic shenanigans with expressive animations, and important events like a Grand Trial only happening once in a blue moon.

** In a similar vein to Mega Evolutions, Z-moves are extremely powerful techniques that a Pokémon can perform if its trainer has the appropriate Z-crystal. Z-moves can very easily turn the tide of a battle if performed correctly, but using the powered-up move leaves the Pokémon exhausted. Like Mega Evolution, the limits in the anime aren't the same as the game - The only limit on Z-moves appears to be how much energy the Pokémon has, while in the games Z-moves can only be used once per battle and require it to be holding a Z-Crystal.

** The most literal example of this trope happens in "The Sun, the Scare, the Secret Lair!", when Team Rocket finally manages to defeat Ash in battle. Jessie's Mimikyu even tries to attack Ash's Pikachu while it's down, and the only thing [[StatusQuoIsGod stopping Team Rocket from making off with it]] is the [[DeusExMachina wild Bewear that was following them around]].
** "A Team-on-Team Tussle!" had Team Rocket successfully obtain a Darkinium Z-crystal by defeating a Totem Raticate.
** Z-Crystals are useless on their own though, so how do they remedy this? Not only do they manage to obtain a Z-Ring from Nanu, but James's Mareanie learns a Dark-type move (Knock Off) and successfully preform Black Hole Eclipse. They also obtain a Mimikum-Z so Jessie's Mimikyu can preform its species exclusive Z-move Let's Snuggle Forever.

** Averted, surprisingly. After previous series have either merged the two versions of the games or created a new story altogether in the past, it is almost surreal to see the ''Sun & Moon'' series choose ''VideoGame/PokemonSun'' as its primary storyline to adapt; such as Ash facing only Totem Gumshoos for the first island challenge, Nebby evolving into a Solgaleo, and our heroes gathering at Altar of the Sunne with no hints of an Altar of the Moone. While Lunala does appear, it's long after Ash and friends have rescued Lusamine from the Ultra Space.
** Subverted with Totem Raticate; while Ash didn't fight this ''Moon''-exclusive Totem Pokémon, Team Rocket did in a MeleeATrois, fighting fellow GoldfishPoopGang Team Skull (loosely adapting an event in the middle of the same trial) over who gets to fight Totem Raticate. [[TeamRocketWins And they actually win]], with their reward being Darkinium Z.
** Played straight with Ash's Lycanroc. Instead of Midday or Midnight Lycanroc, Ash's Rockruff would evolve into a ''third'' evolution, Dusk Forme Lycanroc, way ahead of its debut in the remake, ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon''.
* TroublemakingNewPet: An Alolan Meowth plays around with this when it joins Team Rocket in an Alola episode. While it maintains the trope's usual BitchInSheepsClothing act, it is smart enough to only pick on their original Meowth and be genuinely helpful to Jessie and James, bewildering them into thinking the latter is paranoid. When it finds better digs at their boss Giovanni's headquarters however, it quickly drops the act and abandons them, and mocks all three of them through communicator.
* UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode: While the ''Sun & Moon'' series is seen as the most light-hearted the anime has been in a while, it also has "One Journey Ends, Another Begins...", which can be considered one of the ''bleakest'' episodes in the series, as it features [[spoiler: The [[NeverFoundTheBody presumed]] [[ADeathInTheLimelight death of an old Stoutland]] who was Litten's primary caregiver.]]

* AdaptedOut: There's enough here for the overall anime to have [[AdaptedOut/{{Pokemon}} its own page]], but here are some specific examples for this series:

* Season 21: ''Sun & Moon: Ultra Adventures'' (Episodes 44-??)

* ''Sun & Moon'' (Episodes 1-??)