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The Pokemon world is host to a plethora of amazing creatures. There are creatures whose bodies produce continuous flames across parts of them. Characters who are capable of generating immense amounts of electricity. There are even Pokemon that perpetually toe the line between life and death. Yes, the creatures that reside within the Pokemon world are truly fantastic, but some are truly bizarre.
While there are Pokemon with truly strange designs, the ones that tend to stand out the most belong to a group known as the Ultra Beasts. These Pokemon are aliens in every sense of the word. They aren't originally from the Pokemon world, making them a completely different species despite their 'official' designation. Because of this, there is confusion as to what an Ultra Beast truly is.
Ultra Beast Vs Pokemon
For all extensive purposes, Ultra Beasts are Pokemon. They have typings like the average Pokemon, though their combinations are rather rare, they experience the effects of moves that are effective and ineffective, they feel emotion and pain, and they require food and drink like any other living organism. Ultra Beasts can even be captured in a typical Poke Ball, though the Beast Ball is more effective. The only true difference between Ultra Beasts is where they're from.
Ultra Beasts aren't found in the average forest or cave. No, these creatures come from a completely different dimension. Every Ultra Beast comes from a plane of existence known as Ultra Space. They are aliens or, more specifically, an invasive species. Most documented sightings of these creatures come from the Alola Region though they have appeared in the Max Lair in the Crown Tundra.
The Light Trio
The Ultra Beasts aren't the only creatures with extraplanar ties. While their true origins are unclear, the Legendary Pokemon of the sun and moon are heavily connected with the Ultra Beasts as well as their place of residence. They, like the other Ultra Beasts, are capable of traveling between the dimensions, leading early scientists from the Aether Foundations to believe that Solgaleo and Lunala, along with Cosmog and Cosmoem, were Ultra Beasts.
Additionally, Necrozma was also mistaken as an Ultra Beast when it first appeared, labeling it as UB Black. Both the Pokedex and various NPCs from the games state that Necrozma is "reminiscent of the Ultra Beasts", though neither it nor Lunala nor Solgaleo appear on the equipment the International Police was using to track the Ultra Beasts. These three Legendary Pokemon also lack the signature abilities of the Ultra Beasts, Beast Boost.
Impact on Alola
As is the case with most invasive species, the Ultra Beasts had an overwhelmingly negative effect in the Alola Region. Most Ultra Beasts, while not inherently evil, are wild and unpredictable, more so than most Pokemon. They caused chaos and destruction wherever they went, causing mass panic and hysteria throughout Alola. The situation was so bad that the International Police, the Pokemon world's global police force, had to get involved. Even the guardian deities, the Legendary Pokemon devoted to protecting Alola, clashed with the Ultra Beasts on numerous occasions.
Due to the Ultra Beasts wild and destructive power, which rivals some Mythical and Legendary Pokemon, humans decided they needed a better way to fight these creatures. The Aether Paradise, along with creating the Beast Ball, started a project known as the Beast Killer project. This project was an artificial Pokemon that, as its name suggests, was designed to fight and kill these Pokemon. It was this project that led to the birth of Type: Null and Silvally.
Ultra Space
The realm of the Ultra Beasts isn't nearly as whole as the Pokemon world we all know. The topography of this dimension is almost like the world map of Kingdom Hearts. That's to say that Ultra Space very much lives up to its name as it is a seemingly endless void filled with portals to the various 'areas' of Ultra Space.
Each area of Ultra Space acts as its own isolated world. Each of these worlds is completely cut off from all the other ones that reside within Ultra Space and the only way to travel between them is through the use of Ultra Wormholes. The Ultra Wormholes serve not only as the 'doors' to the various homes of the Ultra Beasts but also the backbone of Ultra Space, connecting the various realms.
Necrozma's Part In Ultra Space
Necrozma wasn't always a rampaging monster determined to swallow the world's light, plunging the world into perpetual darkness. Centuries before the events of Pokemon Sun and Moon, Necrozma was a benevolent being. It resided within Ultra Space, giving off light that shone through the Ultra Wormholes, illuminating the various worlds of Ultra Space. This changed, however, when humans grew too greedy.
The people that resided within Ultra Megalopolis at the time sought to steal the light Necrozma held for themselves, but only ended up shattering Necrozma, sending shards of the once great Pokemon through Ultra Space. As a side note, Professor Kukui believes that the Z-Crystals are pieces of Necrozma's body that found their way to Alola.
Back in Ultra Space, Necrozma was suffering. No longer capable of generating light, Necrozma began to display incredibly violent and erratic behavior. It began stealing light, sending Ultra Megalopolis into darkness. Fearful for their lives, the people of Ultra Megalopolis imprisoned the rampaging Legendary within Megalo Tower, where it would reside until it would break free during the events of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.