Back in the olden days of 1996, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue came out concurrently. Though they were broadly the same game, each had a set of Pokémon exclusives to that particular version. It was probably to encourage players to trade with their friends. If you owned Red, the only way for you to get a Scyther or an Electabuzz was, supposedly, if you had a buddy who had Blue. Of course, some of us just owned both versions of the game instead, because who needs friends, anyway?
The series has continued this tradition of divvying up Pokémon into separate games, so to complete your Pokedex you'll need to find a way to get your hands on some of these Pokémon Ultra Moon exclusives. Here are some of the best and worst of the bunch.
10 10. Worst: Oranguru
You would think that after the disaster that was the Pansage/Pansear/Panpour trio, we would have been done with monkeys for awhile. And yeah, Oranguru isn't technically a monkey. Based off the orangutan, he's actually an ape. But it's all kind of the same thing with Pokémon, really.
Oranguru doesn't evolve into or from anything, and standalone Pokémon tend not to be very powerful. Its typing also doesn't help: Normal/Psychic. Which means it can't even reliably counter Fighting-type Pokémon, like any Psychic Pokémon should be able to do, because Normal is weak to Fighting. So what is Oranguru even for?
9 9. Best: Shieldon/Bastiodon
One of the fossil Pokémon from Generation IV, Shieldon is definitely the better of the duo. It looks something like a triceratops, but instead of focusing on the horn it turns it's entire face into an unbreakable shield. That's way more interesting than just being a Pachycephalosaurus but blue. Plus they're really cute. Bastiodon's design is busier than Shieldon's, but it just looks so happy, how could you stay mad at it.
8 8. Worst: Petilil/Lilligant
A lot of Sun and Moon's exclusive Pokémon are actually carry-overs from previous generations, specifically Generation V. It's a little weird, since Alola is supposed to be a place with a lot of species diversity. Generation VII didn't add too many new Pokémon to the canon though, so they had to go back and grab earlier Pokémon to round out the roster.
Petilil and it's evolved form, Lilligant, aren't terribly unique even among their own generation. There are quite a few Pokémon that are basically "pretty ladies except they're plants." Petilil isn't quite so bad, since it's just a little onion that grows restorative herbs, but Lilligant doesn't do anything unique. It just joins the ranks of Pokémon like Roserade, Tsareena, and Florges.
7 7. Best: Vullaby/Mandibuzz
This little baby vulture is such an interesting design that it doesn't even count against it that it comes from a previous generation. The fact that it's wearing a cracked skull as some kind of diaper is such a weird choice that it's instantly recognizable and tells you something about the Pokémon. It's also great that because the skull is upside down, the nose turns into a little heart. How grotesquely adorable.
Vullaby and Mandibuzz are an entirely female species and act as a kind of counterpart to the entirely male Braviary line, even though the two Pokémon apparently have nothing to do with each other. That's just fine; Mandibuzz doesn't need no man!
6 6. Worst: Basculin (Blue)
It's a shame they wasted a version exclusive spot for something as boring as Basculin. It's just a fish. No evolution, not even anything visually interesting about it. They're just really mad fish that hate everyone, especially their own opposite subspecies. You can find the blue-striped Basculin in Moon, while Sun gets the red one. Blue is slightly better because of the more interesting eye-shape, but not by a lot. But hey, at least they're delicious!
5 5. Best: Archen/Archeops
One of the cooler fossil Pokémon, this line is based on the prehistoric Archaeopteryx. It's nice when the fossil Pokémon get to be something a little different than regular old dinosaurs (no offense, Shieldon!) since so many garden variety Pokémon are just dinosaurs already.
Instead we get this neat little missing link. Archen is so cute with it's massive head and little clawed hands, and it's great that Archeops doesn't just look like a bird. It has a very snake-like scaly head and tail that make it look appropriately prehistoric. Fun fact: Even though it's Flying-type, it's actually faster running than in the air. It can even outrun a car!
4 4. Worst: Drampa
Being Dragon-type used to mean something, okay? They were supposed to be rare and mystical creatures. Mysterious, powerful, and difficult to find. Now it seems like they'll slap Dragon onto any old thing. We've got birds, bats, and giant trees that are all apparently dragons.
And then there's this thing. Drampa. Dragon grampa. And even the game knows he's an underwhelming Dragon Pokémon! He's Normal/Dragon-type, something no other Pokémon in the whole series is. It doesn't matter how much we love Falkor from The Neverending Story, this guy just doesn't measure up.
3 3. Best: Alolan Sandshrew/Sandslash
Alolan Sandshrew put these guys up here all on its own. Now, there's nothing wrong with the Ice/Steel Sandslash variant. It's appropriately menacing and it has absolutely massive hooked claws and looks like it'd be a real pain to step on. But it just doesn't have the creativity of its pre-evolution. A little snowy armadillo that has an igloo on it's back? How sweet. They also slide on their stomach like little penguins to move more quickly!
2 2. Worst: Stakataka
Despite having a very satisfying name to say out loud, Stakataka is just a brick wall. It's a brick wall with legs, sure, but a wall nonetheless. It is pretty cool that it's a colony made out of many small Ultra Beasts that come together to form this behemoth, but it doesn't really feel like a design that's wild enough to stack up against the weirder extradimensional Pokémon. It also isn't the strongest, despite looking like it would require a wrecking ball to put a dent in it. As a Rock/Steel-type, it has some serious defensive weaknesses, and it also has one of the lowest Speed stats of any Pokémon.
1 1. Best: Lunala
She's beauty, she's grace. Lunala really is the crowning jewel of the Generation VII legendary Pokémon. Not only are bats just cool in general, but, well, look at her. She has a really elegant design that manages to be spooky at the same time. The glowing red eyes, the visible wing bones. The blades on her wings resemble crescent moons, since she's the lunar counterpart to the sun lion Solgaleo. Her transparent skull, showing the Cosmog-esque nebula inside, doesn't stand out as much as it does on Solgaleo's design, but pretty much every other aspect is much cooler.