The Alola region was a weird time for the franchise. Honestly, when people think back to Generation 7, they usually remember the Z-Moves or the fact that Gym Leaders basically got fired in favor of "Island Trials." But the real shift happened with the Pokemon Sun and Moon legendaries. For the first time, the "gods" on the box didn't just appear out of thin air at the end of a cave. They were part of your journey. They were your friends. You literally carried one in your bag for forty hours before it even had a stat sheet.
Solgaleo and Lunala aren't just mascots. They represent a fundamental break in how Game Freak handled power scaling and lore. Before Alola, legendaries were usually these static, ancient forces of nature—think Kyogre sleeping in the ocean or Dialga chilling in another dimension. In Sun and Moon, the legendaries are weirdly vulnerable. They’re aliens, basically. They come from Ultra Space, they evolve from a tiny, useless "nebula," and they can actually be "consumed" by other entities like Necrozma. It’s dark. It's complicated. And it’s why these specific monsters still dominate competitive play and lore discussions years later.
The Cosmog Problem: Why Being "Weak" Made Them Better
Most legendary Pokemon are born powerful. Mewtwo was bio-engineered to be a beast. Rayquaza is a sky serpent that eats meteors. But the Pokemon Sun and Moon legendaries start as Cosmog.
Nebby.
If you played the game, you spent half your time screaming at a cloud to get back in a bag. Cosmog is technically a legendary, but it has no offensive moves. It’s useless in a fight. This was a massive gamble by the developers because it humanized the legendary. By the time that little puff of smoke evolves into the massive, metallic lion Solgaleo or the skeletal moon-bat Lunala, you actually care about it. You’ve seen it suffer. You’ve seen it grow. It’s a narrative arc that hasn't really been replicated since, even in the more recent Scarlet and Violet titles.
The evolution line is unique: Cosmog evolves into Cosmoem at level 43, then into the box legendary at level 53. It’s a linear path, but the branching fate based on your game version (Sun vs. Moon) feels more organic than just finding a different colored stone. It’s about the "energy" of the world reacting to the creature.
Ultra Beasts: Are They Actually Legendaries?
This is where the community gets into fights. Are the Ultra Beasts legendaries? Strictly speaking, the game code often treats them differently. They have their own beast balls. They have the Beast Boost ability. They come from Ultra Space.
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But look at the stats. Look at the encounter rates. For all intents and purposes, Nihilego, Buzzwole, and Pheromosa occupy the "legendary" slot in the Alolan ecosystem. They are invasive species. If a regular legendary is a deity, an Ultra Beast is a glitch in the biological matrix. They represent the "Alien" side of the Pokemon Sun and Moon legendaries spectrum.
Characters like Lusamine became obsessed with them because they weren't part of the natural world. That's the core theme of Generation 7: nature versus the unnatural. The Tapu guardians—Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Fini—are the natural defense system. They are the "true" legendaries of the islands, acting as a spiritual police force against the interdimensional threat of the Ultra Beasts.
Tapu Koko and the Competitive Meta Shift
We have to talk about the Tapus. If you played VGC (Video Game Championships) during the Sun and Moon era, you know the "Terrain Wars." Each Tapu sets a specific terrain upon entering the field.
- Electric Surge (Tapu Koko)
- Psychic Surge (Tapu Lele)
- Grassy Surge (Tapu Bulu)
- Misty Surge (Tapu Fini)
This changed everything. Suddenly, you weren't just picking moves; you were rewriting the laws of the battlefield the second you switched out. Tapu Lele, in particular, was a nightmare for anyone relying on priority moves like Extreme Speed or Sucker Punch. It just shut them down. These Pokemon Sun and Moon legendaries weren't just cool designs; they were tools that forced players to rethink the entire mechanical foundation of the game. Even now, in modern formats, people still look back at the Tapu meta as one of the most balanced yet aggressive eras of competitive play.
Necrozma: The Real Villain of the Sun and Moon Legendaries
Then came Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. If the original games were about friendship and growth, the "Ultra" versions were about cosmic horror. Necrozma is a monster. It’s a literal light-eater. It’s not just a legendary; it’s a parasite.
The way Necrozma interacts with the Pokemon Sun and Moon legendaries is genuinely disturbing for a kid's game. It forcibly merges with Solgaleo or Lunala to become Dusk Mane or Dawn Wings Necrozma. It’s a possession. And if you manage to trigger Ultra Burst, you get Ultra Necrozma—a dragon made of pure light that, at the time of its release, had one of the highest base stat totals in the entire history of the franchise. It hit a BST (Base Stat Total) of 754. For context, that’s higher than the creator-god Arceus (720).
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This was the peak of Alola's power creep. Necrozma didn't just want to fight you; it wanted to consume the light of your entire world. It gave the legendary encounters a sense of stakes that felt much higher than the "Team Skull is being annoying" vibe of the early game.
The Silvally Experiment
A lot of people forget Type: Null and Silvally are legendaries. They are. They’re listed in the Pokedex as such. But they’re man-made.
The Aether Foundation tried to create their own "Arceus" to fight Ultra Beasts. They failed, mostly. Type: Null is a chimera wearing a heavy mask to keep its power in check. It only evolves into Silvally when it finds a trainer it actually trusts. It’s a tragic story. It mirrors Gladion’s own journey of breaking away from his mother’s toxic influence. While Solgaleo represents the cosmic and the Tapus represent the divine, Silvally represents the human—our mistakes, our attempts to play god, and our ability to fix those mistakes through empathy.
Marshadow and the Mythical Tier
You can't discuss Pokemon Sun and Moon legendaries without the shadows. Marshadow is a Mythical, meaning you usually had to go to a GameStop or a movie screening to get one. It’s a Fighting/Ghost type, which is an incredible offensive combination. It hides in shadows. It’s small. It’s cute. And it will absolutely ruin your day with Spectral Thief, a move that steals the opponent's stat boosts before dealing damage.
Think about that. Your opponent spends three turns using Dragon Dance to get super strong, and Marshadow just... takes it. It’s a "troll" Pokemon in the best way possible. It added a layer of unpredictability to the Alola roster that kept the gameplay from feeling too formulaic.
Why Alola Legendaries Still Matter in 2026
We’re years removed from the 3DS era, but these designs haven't aged a day. They feel modern. They feel distinct. Unlike some later generations where the legendaries can feel a bit "over-designed" or cluttered, the Alolan lineup has a clear visual language.
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Gold, white, and cosmic purple.
They also bridged the gap between the old-school "hidden" legendaries and the new "story-driven" ones. You don't just find Magearna; you receive it through a QR code that connects to a movie plot. You don't just catch Zygarde (who moved to Alola for some reason); you collect its cells like a scavenger hunt across the islands. It was an experimental phase for Game Freak, and while not everything worked, the ambition was undeniable.
How to Actually Use Them Today
If you’re looking to dive back into using Pokemon Sun and Moon legendaries in modern games like Scarlet and Violet or via Pokemon HOME, you need a strategy. The meta has shifted, but these mons are still viable.
Leverage the Terrains
Tapu Koko is still a speed demon. Pair it with an Iron Valiant or any "Paradox" Pokemon from the newer games. The Electric Terrain can trigger Quark Drive immediately without needing a Booster Energy item. That’s a free item slot for a Life Orb or Choice Specs.
Necrozma is Still a Wall
Dusk Mane Necrozma remains one of the best defensive pivots in the game. Its Prism Armor ability reduces damage from super-effective hits. In a world of "Terastallization," being able to survive a hit you shouldn't is the difference between a win and a loss.
Solgaleo's Full Metal Body
Don't ignore the abilities. Solgaleo’s Full Metal Body means its stats can’t be lowered by the opponent. In a meta full of "Intimidate" users like Incineroar (another Alolan native), Solgaleo just doesn't care. It keeps hitting at full power while everyone else is getting debuffed.
To get the most out of your Alolan legendary team, you should focus on these specific steps:
- Check your Zygarde Cores: If you're playing the older 3DS versions, ensure you've collected all 100 cells. The "Complete Forme" Zygarde is only triggered when its HP drops below half, essentially giving you a second boss-bar mid-fight.
- Transfer via Pokemon HOME: Most Pokemon Sun and Moon legendaries can be moved to the Nintendo Switch. Check the current "Regulated" list for VGC to see which ones are allowed in ranked play this season.
- Hyper Train for Speed: Alolan legendaries are notoriously mid-speed. They aren't slow, but they aren't the fastest. Use Bottle Caps to max out their Speed and Attack/Special Attack stats immediately upon transferring.
- Nature Minting: If you have an old Solgaleo with a "Modest" nature, fix it. Use a Jolly or Adamant Mint in the newer games to make it actually usable in a physical attacking role.
The Alola legendaries aren't just relics of the past. They are the blueprint for the high-concept, story-heavy Pokemon games we have today. They turned the monsters from trophies into characters, and that's something the series can never go back from.