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Additionally, a new group introduced is the Ultra Recon Squad, consisting of individuals from an alternate universe whose light has been stolen by Necrozma, and you can travel through Ultra Space by riding Solgaleo/Lunala, even visiting the respective home dimensions of many Ultra Beasts as well as areas implied to take place in other regions in the "non-Mega" timeline.
Alternate Universe: This set of games is described as an "alternate re-telling" of the story of Pokémon Sun and Moon, which is similar to the third games of Generations I to IV. However, Mewtwo uses its Pokémon X and Y theme (unlike the Legendary birds who use the Red and Blue version), which might indicate it comes from the 'Mega' universe. It's heavily implied that the Legendaries available in Ultra Space are from the 'non-Mega' universe that Zinnia suggested due to the usage of the original themes. Giovanni himself is seemingly from the same world as the player, judging from some Rainbow Rocket grunts' comments about how they have been "reborn" and the fact that he invades the Aether Foundation in order to gain access to other worlds.
Maxie and Archie, in particular, seem to be from variants of the original universe before Mega Evolution was introduced, given they use their "classic" character designs. By their accounts, they each succeeded in their various plans, but were suddenly transported to this world by an Ultra Wormhole to serve on Team Rainbow Rocket.
The villainous team leaders who join Team Rainbow Rocket are not the same ones the players have met in the past games. Some are more obvious than others, such as the one Guzzlord inhabits. Alternate Dimension: The various worlds on the other end of Ultra Wormholes are alternate versions of the world the game takes place in. All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Team Rainbow Rocket takes over both the Festival Plaza castle and Lusamine's mansion to use as their headquarters. Alliterative Name: New Z-Moves include Splintered Stormshards, Searing Sunraze Smash, and Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom. It is implied by the only human left that this meltdown happened a very long time before the player arrives, given Guzzlord being in the world before he could even remember and his grandfather being opposed to the power plant project. After the End: The Ultra Space world in which you can catch Guzzlord, the Ultra Ruin, is actually the ruins of an alternate Hau'oli City, after a catastrophic power plant meltdown took place and the survivors escaped the planet, leaving only one person behind. Advanced Tech 2000: Subverted: The Colress machines appear to use this format, but the number actually determines how many their titular creator made at the time of writing, meaning at this point, he has literally invented over one-thousand Colress machines. She is sad, but she decides to let him go so that he will be happy. Additionally, she does get to see Mohn again, but he no longer remembers her. When she disowns Lillie and Gladion, she looks disappointed and hurt that they would steal Type: Null and Cosmog, and it's made clear that she's very distraught about the disappearance of her husband.
In this game, however, Lusamine is given more sympathetic qualities. Adaptational Sympathy: In the original games, Lusamine cruelly disowned her children and it was mentioned that Mohn (her husband) went missing, but it wasn't an aspect that was bought to the forefront.Also, the developers have described the game's plot as longer than the original games. Adaptation Expansion: We see the Island Kahunas (besides Hala) about to face the Ultra Beasts, an event that was mentioned but not shown in Sun and Moon.