Day 29: Mother Beast Lusamine
Back when Pokémon Sun and Moon came out, I think almost everyone expected Lusamine, as well her the grand majority of the Aether Foundation, to be the surprise twist villain, what with her obsession with Ultra Beasts, the Ultra Wormholes, and that whole spiel about how 'children should always listen to adults'.
Me: You know what, I take what I said earlier back, I don't think almost everyone expected Lusamine to be the twist villain…Literally everyone knew she would be the twist villain. What is it with Pokémon having twist villains in their main series games as of late?
Lyra: If I had a nickel for every major franchise that had a major twist villain that really wasn't much of a twist…I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice, right?
Me: Yeah, Pokémon Company and Disney need to cut that shit out.
The one thing I'm sure nobody saw coming with Lusamine, however, is what happens towards the endgame.
After confronting Lusamine at Aether Paradise, she and Guzma escape in the Ultra Wormhole that Nebby the Cosmog created. Fast forward a little bit to Poni Island, where you reach the end of Vast Poni Canyon, A.K.A Generation 7's real Victory Road before Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon gave a damn. Once there, you reach the Altar of the Moone/Sunne where Nebby becomes Solgaleo and/or Lunala, and you and Lillie travel into Ultra Space to save Guzma and Lusamine.
You eventually find the crazed Lusamine, and she and Lillie lay into each other over their respective actions that they've done over the course of Sun and Moon's story. This eventually culminates to a battle where Lusamine fuses with one of the Nihilego and turns into Mother Beast Lusamine!
Lyra: Oh my God, that is so cool! We get to fight a human for the first time in the Pokémon series.
Me: We unfortunately don't get the pleasure in actually fighting her.
Lyra: Boo!
Me: But the battle is still interesting.
As far as her team goes, it's still the same as when you first fought her at Aether Paradise, that being Clefable, Mismagius, Bewear, Milotic, and Lilligant. Hell, these five Pokémon still have the three moves they had before.
Cosmic Power, Metronome, and Moonblast for Clefable
Power Gem, Mystical Fire, and Shadow Ball for Mismagius
Baby Doll Eyes, Hammer Arm, and Take Down for Bewear
Hydro Pump, Flail, and Safeguard for Milotic
And Stun Spore, Teeter Dance, and Petal Dance for Lilligant.
These are good moves that cater to each Pokémon's strengths, and the status moves they have can be very annoying to deal with.
In this fight, they get one more move to play with. And all five of these moves are so they can regain some health. Clefable gets Moonlight, Milotic gets Recover, Lilligant gets Leech Seed, and both Mismagius and Bewear get Pain Split. With strong attacking and stat moves, as well as moves that can heal themselves up, this fight can be quite tasking if you're not prepared.
Also, as a result of fusing with Nihilego, Lusamine's five Pokémon get a stat boost for their strongest stat for as long as they're out on the field.
Clefable gets a boost to her Special Defense, Lilligant gets a boost to her Special Attack, and Mismagius gets a boost to her Speed.
The only ones that don't make sense is Milotic, who gets a boost to her Physical Attack, and Bewear, who gets a boost to her Physical Defense. Last I checked, Bewear hits like a truck, and Flail isn't exactly one of Milotic's best moves. But that's honestly the only bad thing I can say about this fight.
Lyra: Aside from the fact we're not fighting Lusamine herself.
Me: You can be very violent when you want to be, you know that?
In conclusion, by giving us an interesting concept with human fusing with Pokémon, an interesting battle with souped up Pocket Monsters, and having a delightfully demented version of Lusamine's original battle theme playing throughout the fight, Mother Beast Lusamine is easily a highlight of Vanilla Sun and Moon.