Aether Paradise: The Aether Foundation's Artificial Island of Labs and Ultra Beasts

An entire island, built by human hands. Labs, a conservation area, the president's mansion: the Aether Foundation has gathered its entire headquarters at Aether Paradise. On the very first visit, an Ultra Beast lies in wait for the player, and the story of Sun and Moon, as well as Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, brings them back there later.

Contents

• Aether Paradise, Alola's Only Artificial Island
• The Aether Foundation and Its Key Figures
• An Ultra Beast on Your First Visit to Aether Paradise
• Returning to Aether Paradise: The Story's Turning Point
• What Awaits the Player at Aether Paradise After the League
• On Screen and on Cards
• Aether Paradise at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Aether Paradise, Alola's Only Artificial Island

Of the five islands of Alola, four are the work of nature; Aether Paradise, on the other hand, was built from scratch, out of enormous floating blocks. In the order of the adventure, it's the third landmass where the player comes ashore, whether in Sun and Moon or in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

Everything here serves the Aether Foundation, which built the island to house its headquarters and its research labs. The main entrance opens onto the ground floor; you arrive one floor below, at the dock, and the labs, including Secret Lab A and Secret Lab B, take up the second basement level. Outside, the north side is lined with buildings and the president's mansion, while to the south stretch the pools where you'll find a Miltank. In Sun and Moon, five Zygarde Cells are hidden there: near the pools, beside and inside the mansion, on the roof of a building and in the lab hallway.

One rule sets the island apart from the rest of the archipelago: you can't catch a single Pokémon there. Faba explains why: the island emits an electrical signal that jams the mechanism of Poké Balls.

The Aether Foundation and Its Key Figures

The Aether Foundation presents itself as an organization dedicated to caring for Pokémon, and the conservation area it runs on the island fits that image. At its head sits the president, Lusamine, backed by a Branch Chief and an Assistant Branch Chief.

Faba holds the post of Aether Branch Chief. He battles with a team made up entirely of Psychic-type Pokémon: his Hypno appears in every one of his lineups, joined, depending on the version and the point in the story, by Slowbro, Bruxish or Claydol. The Assistant Branch Chief, Wicke, plays a completely different role: she's the one who keeps handing out gifts to the player from one visit to the next.

The rank-and-file staff, the Aether Foundation Employees, also includes plenty of Trainers. Their teams draw on a wide variety of species: Dugtrio and Muk in their Alolan form, Porygon2 or Magneton on the lab level.

An Ultra Beast on Your First Visit to Aether Paradise

The first stay on the island holds a nasty surprise: one floor up, the player has to cross swords with an Ultra Beast. It's a Nihilego at level 27, a Rock- and Poison-type Pokémon whose Ability is called Beast Boost.

The clock is ticking: if it's still standing on the fifth turn, Nihilego escapes, and keeping it is out of the question, since Poké Balls are useless here, as they are everywhere else on the island. The encounter plays out the same way in all four versions; once the battle is over, Wicke gives the player TM29.

Returning to Aether Paradise: The Story's Turning Point

Spoiler warning: this section reveals a major part of the story. The hero returns to the island once Nanu has been defeated in Malie City: the Foundation is holding captive the Cosmog belonging to Lillie, and the hero has come to rescue it. Hau and Gladion come along too.

Foundation Employees keep the battles coming; in the labs and then on the ground floor, they take you on in Double Battles, fought alongside Hau or Gladion, all the way up to Faba himself, backed by an employee. Outside, Team Skull blocks the way with its Grunts and its boss, Guzma, who sends his Golisopod into battle. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the Ultra Recon Squad is even waiting in the mansion's entrance hall: Dulse in Ultra Sun, Soliera in Ultra Moon, each with a Poipole.

That leaves the president, Lusamine, who is none other than Lillie and Gladion's mother. In Sun and Moon, you battle her outside, facing Clefable, Milotic and three other Pokémon, all at level 41. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon move the showdown to a secret room in the mansion, at level 47, where a Lopunny takes the place of Mismagius; losing there doesn't even make you black out. Either way, Gladion then hands a Master Ball to the player.

What Awaits the Player at Aether Paradise After the League

In Sun and Moon, once the League is won, Gladion entrusts the player with a Type: Null at level 40, a creature developed by the Foundation, along with seventeen Memories, handed over in the conservation area: they change the type of Silvally, its evolution. Wicke adds two Big Malasadas and ten Ultra Balls, and International Police agent Looker pays out one million Pokémon Dollars to anyone who has caught every Ultra Beast.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon reshuffle the deck. Type: Null, at level 60, is offered on the Ancient Poni Path after you enter the Hall of Fame, and Wicke only hands it over at Aether Paradise if the player's party and PC were full at the time. Above all, the post-League game there kicks off Episode RR: Team Rainbow Rocket Grunts take over the outside, Team Rocket's Castle looms over the north of the island, and Lillie teams up with the player against Faba and an employee. Once Giovanni is beaten, Wicke hands out fifty-five Big Nuggets.

Both pairs of games share other rewards, available in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon once Episode RR is wrapped up. In Secret Lab A, an employee hands over three items: the Prison Bottle, the Soul Dew and the DNA Splicers. Faba, for his part, is waiting for a rematch on the ground floor, at level 61 in Sun and Moon and 63 in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, with an Alolan Raichu and an Alakazam in his lineup; beating him earns you a Dubious Disc.

✨ Zygarde and plenty of other legendaries are waiting for you in our Legendary Pokémon collection.

On Screen and on Cards

The anime hasn't forgotten the island: Pokémon the Series shows it most notably in episode 989, which belongs to season 21, Sun & Moon—Ultra Adventures.

May 13, 2017 saw the release in France of Guardians Rising, a Sun & Moon expansion of the Trading Card Game: it introduced a card devoted to the Aether Paradise Conservation Area. Other cards show the island as well.

Aether Paradise at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Where is Aether Paradise?
  In Alola, alongside four natural islands: it's the only one built by human hands. In both Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, it's the third island where the player comes ashore.
• Why can't you catch Pokémon at Aether Paradise?
  Faba explains it: the island emits an electrical signal that renders Poké Balls useless. No catching is possible there as a result.
• Which Pokémon do you battle on your first visit to Aether Paradise?
  A level 27 Nihilego, a Rock- and Poison-type Ultra Beast. If it's still standing on the fifth turn, it escapes, and catching it is ruled out anyway.
• Who runs the Aether Foundation?
  President Lusamine, assisted by Branch Chief Faba and Assistant Branch Chief Wicke. Foundation Employees round out the island's staff.
• How do you get Type: Null at Aether Paradise?
  In Sun and Moon, Gladion gives it to you at level 40 once the League is won. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, it's offered on the Ancient Poni Path after you enter the Hall of Fame; if your party and PC are full at that point, Wicke hands it to you later on the island.

In short

Aether Paradise holds a special place in Alola: an island built rather than discovered, where research, Pokémon protection and Ultra Beasts intersect. You return there several times, and each visit, from the first one to the post-League, changes the way you see the Foundation that built it.