In the previous Pokémon games, elements played a big part in battles and Pokémon Sun and Moon are no different. As you face off against wild Pokémon over and over again, a helpful battle indicators will be available for you to exploit and make Poke-battles much quicker than ever before.

Once you have fought a certain Pokémon, the game will keep hold of the data and show you certain stats on-screen whenever you come into contact with the Pokémon again. You’ll be able to see how well one type of Pokémon did against another and be able to swap out the less effective ones to do maximum damage. The further into the game you get the more helpful this will be when you are fighting evolved Pokémon and bosses.

A new feature in the menu allows you to scan QR codes you find in the real world which will unlock non-Alolan Pokémon in the game and catch much loved Pokémon such as Mimikyu, Pikachu and more in Sun and Moon.

Each QR code you scan will give you info on a Pokémon that you can’t usually find in Alola, with every 10 you scan allowing you to ran an island scan and it will spawn on of these Pokémon into the islands.

This can be a great way of learning how-to get first and second generation Pokémon into Sun and Moon when you can’t otherwise. So go out and have fun scanning!

Shiny Pokémon are better looking than your average Pokémon but not as rare as legendary ones. To be able to find one though, you need to know how to make them appear in game and can be done after completing a couple of things.

First of you need to decide a Pokemon you want in shiny. Next, you need to teach a Pokémon False Swipe and pick up some Adrenaline Orbs. Then go out and find Pokémon in the tall grass. Once the Pokémon you want attacks, use the Orb to make it more likely to call for help and then use False Swipe to put their HP to 1. This scares them into calling a Pokémon for backup more often. KO the backup Pokémon that come to assist the main one and keep doing this as the more you do, the higher the chance a shiny version of that Pokémon will appear.

Extra Tip: Make sure not to KO the main Pokémon as it will end the battle and you’ll lose the modifier to get a shiny Pokémon.

There is a special Pokémon called Zygarde who has returned back from X and Y but now you can customise your own version of him by collecting certain items around the Alola region. Zygarde Cells are the main part of building one and you can find these all across the game world both during the day and at night.

Make sure to also keep an eye out for Zygarde Cores as these little gadgets can be used to teach your Zygarde Pokémon powerful special moves such as Thousand Arrows, Core Enforcer and Dragon Dance.

A new Pokémon in the the Alola region is Oricorio and it’s one of the most flexible when it comes to battling as it has four different forms which you can change by feeding it nectar from each island.

Once fed, these different variants both turn is behavior and it’s elemental type. You can choose from Baile Style, Pa’u Style, Pom-Pom Style and Sensu Style and each style will be effective against different Pokémon depending on which form you are current in. Be careful though as their form changes they also become vulnerable to different elements.

When you learn how to change the form of Oricorio, they will become a staple part of your team being able to go up against many different Pokémon as you explore.

In the past when your Pokémon were poisoned, paralyzed or put to sleep you would have to use items to heal them or head to the Pokémon Centre as soon as you could.

Pokémon Sun and Moon have added an extra feature called Pokémon Refresh, an advancement on Pokémon-amie, which heals your Pokémon party and is something you will want to use after every encounter. For one step further, you can give them cuddles which will cheer them up and just maybe give them a buff for extra performance in battle.

Similar the previous versions of games in the series, Pokémon Sun and Moon have a day and night system which affects the game world and the Pokémon. Instead of changing the 3DS time setting, there is a much easier way to effect the time of the day in Sun and Moon and this is from within the game itself.

The move the time of the day in Pokémon Sun and Moon from day to night and visa vera, you need to head to the Altar of Sunne/Moone with Solgaleo/Lunala in your party.

Sending your Pokémon into battle to level them up is just one side of the coin when trying to make your Pokémon stronger. You will also need to train your Pokémon before you head into battle and is much more important when heading into bigger boss battles or if you plan to play Pokemon Sun and Moon competitively.

Every single stat counts and you need to check how your Pokémon are, to do this check the status screen for each Pokemon and you’ll see a graph representing the stamina, strength, special attack/defense and more. If you press Y, the graph will show you basic stats and another will show you how high the EVs are for each of those values. If a stat is shining. it means that stat is maxed out in EV’s. A Pokémon’s nature also affects these stats; ones which are coloured blue are lowered bad but the ones in red will be boosted.

Finally, if you want to check out a Pokémons IV’s, after you complete the game and hatch 20 Pokémon eggs, talk to the trainer outside the Battle Tree and he will give you the ability to check your IV’s. This is a hidden stat that can boost stats even further via Hyper Training and can be checked by using your PC. Make sure you have some bottle caps and level 100 Pokémon though or you can’t use this feature.

One of the newer features to the Pokémon series is the Wonder Trade function, put in a Pokémon you wish to trade and it will be randomly paired up against someone else online who is trading one of theirs.

It was first brought into the games in Pokémon X and Y and Wonder Trade can be a little bit of a double-edged sword, you mainly want to use if for Pokémon you no longer need as you can not know what you’ll get in return. Bare in mind that Wonder Trading can actually trigger an evolution in a Pokémon if they evolve via this method.

Hopefully, these tips and tricks will guide you through the land of Alola and make it a pleasant journey much like the one we had. If you have any other tips be sure to let us know in the comments and those who are serious about competitive play, check out our Pokémon Sun and Moon Competitive Corner – Decidueye, Incineroar and Primarina article.