I played all of Pokemon Sun and Moon recently going through this story for the first time since like 2017 I think and I had some thoughts.
Throughout the game, there's this emphasis on community and culture with how the Island challenge isn't just some optional thing but rather a societal thing that all children go through as a right of passage.
Team Skull are the children who FAILED the island challenge and were unable to meet societal expectations, a home for those rejected by their people. I like how even the grunts show personality at times like the two girls talking about their tank tops or the guy who just goes "Yeah I ain't fighting you, I know my place."
Guzma is their leader and unlike other team leaders, the respect he commands isn't out of fear but rather out of a genuine affection that this community he formed has for him because he gave them a place when no one else did. He has this need to be seen as strong which is also interesting because he specialises in Bug-types which are usually the weakest type, and his ace is Golisopod, a Pokemon with the ability to run away if it takes too much damage.
Despite this Guzma wants to be respected, an ideal which causes him to follow Lusamine, the first person to ever see him as "Strong" in any way, into a completely unknown dimension. Its the affects of a sort-of-parental figure treating him in a positive way and that deeply moves him.
Speaking of Lusamine, she's my personal favourite Pokemon antagonist because of the several layers that her character has.
A woman who lost her husband in a wormhole accident causing her to go insane and obsess over ways to get him back even if it means torturing a Pokemon. Then her two kids steal both said Pokemon and another one designed specifically to destroy the alien-like Pokemon that came from the wormhole
My favourite detail is that Nihilego, the Ultra Beast that Lusamine is so obsessed with, looks very similar in design to Lillie. Meaning either Lusamine, even after disowning her daughter, became obsessed with a creature that looked exactly like her, OR she made sure that Lillie always resembled Nihilego (I believe the 2nd one because it adds to how Lusamine's controlling nature towards her children resembles Nihilego's described ability to mind-control people.)
Also I like how the name "Nihilego" consists of "Nihil" meaning "Nothing" and ego which when combined makes it sound like a being with no personality or "Ego" to get in the way of Lusamine's control unlike how her own children chose to not listen and instead run away.
Of Lusamine's children I've always really liked Gladion. His tough-guy persona isn't him trying to hide any emotions, rather its him taking everything dead-seriously and showing a need to get stronger to make sure he never has to run away again and can protect those he cares about.
I've seen a lot of people complain over the years about how unlike the earlier games, modern games don't give us proper full-blown evil rivals like Blue or Silver, but these games contrast that by giving the protagonist a proper friend-group. In Sun and Moon, Hau as a rival may seem too upbeat and annoying at times to some people (Not me) but he also perfectly balances out Gladion's "I need to take everything seriously" persona by being more relaxed and optimistic.
Also another detail I like is that when Type:Null evolves, Gladion names it "Silvally" with the "Ally" part showing that Gladion doesn't see this creature as some robotic killer designed for a purpose but rather his partner that he wants to fight alongside
Then there's Lillie, who in her own way, is just as much the protagonist of Sun and Moon as you the player. She starts the story as this scared runaway living with her adopted parents while trying to harbor a being with godlike potential in her bag. She's your very first friend and goes through a very powerful journey of her own, learning to express in her own ways and getting over her fear of Pokemon battles.
The story of Sun and Moon doesn't end when you beat the Champion like gens1-4, and it doesn't end when you beat the evil team like in gen 5, rather it keeps going as you are thrown a festival in Melemele Island with all the characters present. You and Lillie return to the bridge where you to met and finally go past it, catching Tapu Koko in the process.
The last proper scene is a goodbye to Lillie, with her heading to Kanto, the same region that its implied the protagonist from, and the same region that Professor Kukui once went to. The same way you truly started your journey in Alola, her's will start in Kanto.
I found it interesting that when Nebby evolves into Solgaleo/Lunala and doesn't want to go away, she doesn't say that "Oh you want to stay with me?" rather she says "Us" as she believes you, the protagonist, to be just as important to Nebby as she is. Her story isn't one of someone learning to be kind, but rather someone choosing to be kind in SPITE of everything she's endured. Despite the abuse, and despite the rejection from her mother, she still chooses to walk alongside you into Ultra Space just to scold her, and when Lusamine is weak and beaten after being separated from Nihilego, she still chooses to be kind, wanted to get stronger not only so she can fight her own battles, but also so she can help her mother.
Anyway yeah thats a lot of the thoughts I had, not all of them I'll prolly eventually think of stuff to say about other characters like Kukui and stuff like Z-Crystals and what they might mean but for now I wanna think about other stuff.
I'll prolly yap about Alola more when I play Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon and finish out all of the 3DS games, having played XY, ORAS, and SM in the past year.
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