The moment you step outside your house, you’ll be given an Enigmatic Card from a shady man. Open your bag and give it a look in the Key Items section. Hmm, it seems like you’ve been invited to the motel on Route 8 of Akala Island. It’s the one west from the Pokemon Centre.

Inside the guest room towards the west side of the motel, a pair of visitors have been expecting you. Since you’re currently the stronger trainer on Alola, they want your help to contain the Ultra Beasts that have snuck into Alola. But not without giving you a test first.

Pokemon Trainer Anabel¶

For those unacquainted with Anabel, she was the manager of the Battle Tower in Pokemon Emerald.

Like in the past, she leads with Akalazam, a speedy and hard-hitting Psychic-type. Dark-types don’t get a free pass as Akalazam knows the Fighting-type Focus Blast. Therefore strong Ghost or Bug-types are recommended instead.

Mismagius you’ll have seen in Lusamine’s party. This one is a lot more versatile with Grass, Electric and Fairy-type moves. Dark-types are still the choice Pokemon, but they need to be prepared to take a super-effective hit. Muk is good since it takes neutral damage.

Weavile should be another familiar creature, boasting high Attack and Speed. It’s doubly weak to Fighting-types and typically weak to Fire, Rock, Steel, Bug and Fairy-types. Anabel’s Weavile has Bug and Fighting-type moves, plus Quick Attack as a last resort.

Salamence is the final evolution of Bagon a force to be reckoned with. It takes massive damage from Ice-types and good damage from Rock, Dragon and Fairy-types. On top of a strong Dragon Claw, it has Psychic, Electric and Fire-type moves too.

Finally, she uses Snorlax just like back in Emerald. This one has Dark and Steel-type moves and Yawn to annoy the heck out of you. Thankfully, as with Kukui’s Snorlax, it doesn’t have Rest, so you’ll eventually be able to outlast it.

Overall, Anabel’s party is at least on par with Kukui’s, so if you’re struggling then that’s perfectly normal. If it turns out your party’s not up to scratch, you can leave and do some other sidequests until you’re ready. She’ll be waiting here for you indefinitely.

Aether Paradise¶

Your first mission as part of the UB Taskforce is to visit the secret labs in Aether Paradise. When you’re ready, glide to the entrance of Aether Paradise, then use the elevator shaft in the entrance area to reach the lab area.

If you’d like, you may want to visit Gladion at the far end of the 2nd floor conservation area. After listening to his story, he’ll give you a Type: Null , which is very fitting since it was originally designed to combat the UBs. It comes at Level 40, so needs a bit of TLC.

While you’re here, you can also find Faba in the entrance area, standing to the west of the north exit. Chat to him and he’ll ask for a rematch. For more details, please check the Battles and Rematches section later on in this guide.

Once in the lab area, head east to find Wicke. To thank you for listening to her long tale, you’ll be given a Big Malasada and then another. Hang on, does she think you’re Hau? Afterwards, follow Wicke through the door to the eastern corridor, which you visited earlier on in the story.

In the first lab, Secret Lab A, there’s an Aether Foundation Employee in the corner. Speak to her and she’ll unload a bunch of strange items into your bag: the DNA Splicers for Kyurem, Prison Bottle for Hoopa and Soul Dew for Latios and Latias.

Finally, in Secret Lab B, at the far end of the corridor, speak to Wicke to get straight to the point. You’ll be given 10 Beast Balls , which are used to capture the Ultra Beasts. Normal Poke Balls have a very low catch rate, but the Beast Balls will be able to work.

Having acquired everything you need to perform the mission, return all the way back to the guest room in the Route 8 motel. Guess what? Your first real mission has arrived.

UB01 Symbiont¶

While you were away, a UB has been spotted in two locations: Wela Volcano Park and Diglett’s Tunnel. It doesn’t matter which one you go to. Once there, you should notice the area music has been replaced with dramatic music, which means you’re in the right place.

Simply roam around the tall grass or tunnel and there’s a chance you’ll encounter the UB. The encounter music for a UB is different than usual, so it’s easy to tell if you’ve encountered a UB or a bog-standard Pokemon.

If you want, you can use Repels to force an encounter. The level of your lead Pokemon needs to be higher than the ones in the area (around Level 20) and equal to or lower than the UB’s (Level 55) to work.

Ultra Beast¶

You should be very familiar with this UB, formally known as “Nihilego”.

At the start of the battle, the otherworldly creature will receive a big Special Defence boost from its aura. Stat-wise, it has good special stats and decent speed, but poor physical stats. It’s doubly weak to Ground-types and typically weak to Water, Steel and Psychic-types.

If anything, this encounter serves as a warm up because it’s incredibly hard to fail to catch. Still, just to be safe, you should weaken it somewhat. Anything besides Ground-type moves are OK to use, especially if they’re special-based, due to Nihilego’s high Special Defence.

Just be mindful of its Mirror Coat, but it shouldn’t be a problem with the small amount of damage you’re doing. The jellyfish can also cause a fair amount of damage with its Rock and Poison-type moves, so field a Pokemon that resists both if possible, such as a Steel-type.

Once its HP falls below a quarter, you should be good to throw a Beast Ball. With luck, it should be caught in the first Beast Ball; if not try again.

Successfully capture Nihilego and you should report back to Looker in the Route 8 Motel. If you somehow used up all of your Beast Balls, you should also return to Looker. Even though the balls apparently cost millions to make, you can get an endless amount of them from him.

The celebrations are extremely short-lived as another UB is sighted, this time on Melemele Island. You’ll be told to relocate to the motel on Route 2 of Melemele Island. It’s the one halfway between the Route 2 Pokemon Centre and Hau’oli City.