#I didn't include much regarding the z-crystals because Ugh

[ranseiuniter-archive]

so here's the thing: USUM has a lot to work with in its lore that I think just.... wasn't executed well. contrary to b2w2, which anyone who knows me is aware I am not fond of. b2w2 had shit lore that honestly retconned more than it added to the lore and story of bw, but given the black/white kyurem thing, I guess it's fair to say I cant think of a better way to bring those into play; having plasma return under ghetsis was perfectly fine when you're looking at it from a perspective of purely plot beats, it's just the story pacing and failure to live up to the thematic potential that made it Meh. And the stupid lore additions. But that's beside the point here and a rant for another day.

the thing with USUM is that it had a good foundation. in a different story, the changes it made would've been super interesting. It took the building blocks it set up with Necrozma and made something believable - i.e. that this fucking legendary pokemon that consumes light was responsible for another dimension's destruction (or just misfortune, whatever) and also the reason solgaleo and lunala even came to the "main" pokeworld. so, like, here's what I propose:

firstly: make USUM a direct sequel instead of glorified third versions. have it pick up right where SuMo left off: lillie is in kanto, because she already got a complete and satisfying character arc and USUM just made it dull with cutting things out. lillie's story is resolved so theres no reason to give her more than a postgame appearance to battle or some shit to that effect. doesn't matter, the point is lillie isn't here.

the protagonist could go either way--either we have a new protagonist, or the SuMo protagonist. there would be no reason to rehash the island trials, so it really doesn't matter. regardless, the game refuses the memory link from b2w2 because that was actually a good concept. Either way the game begins with a cutscene/short playable segment of the SuMo protag, champion of alola, following up on the very end of the postgame where looker points you in the direction of necrozma. the protagonist has their team from the previous game via memory link at this point, plus nebby (lunala/solgaleo) replacing the last party member. basically, they go and fight necrozma, which is stirring from the increased ultra wormhole and UB activity. regardless of the battles Actual Outcome, in the following cutscene Necrozma wrecks the player's shit, either incapacitating the champion themself until postgame or simply incapacitating their pokémon, thus forcing the player to have a clean slate for the game.

necrozma also absorbs nebby/lunala/solgaleo and starts consuming the light from alola, thus plunging it into darkness. needless to say, this is not good. now if the protagonist is not the champion, they're a young trainer in alola who is gonna be affected by the shit going down. obviously. they basically insist on wanting to help to kukui who, with burnett, brings the protag and hau to the aether foundation.

sun and moon also set up that whole fucking parallel alola with another cosmog you could get and did absolutely nothing with it, so of course I'm taking advantage of it. necrozma is too powerful to take down alone, so using aether's technology, protag has to go to the alternate alola and retrieve the parallel world's cosmog. (given adjustments to its moveset, growth rate, etc., it would function as the players starter, essentially, because fuck you. alt-nebby has a sort of yellow version pikachu thing going on where they walk with the player and such. again, because fuck you.)

the plot essentially follows protag and alt-nebby on an interdimensional adventure as they try to outrun necrozma until nebby is strong enough to fight it and return to your alola; this is where you can introduce the ultra recon squad, probably as a more significant organization beyond the whole four members we see in USUM. they could function as a stand-in for the island trials/gyms, testing protag as they adventure through the great wide multiverse. this functions similarly to the wormhole bits in USUM but with better, larger maps and environments. there are different pokemon and ultra beasts to be found in each dimensional area and the protag can have a sort of hub/homebase in ultra megalopolis, who, heading your plight, wish to help you fight necrozma. your selection of pokeballs and other items expand as they're developed in ultra megalopolis. the exploration portion is gonna be a big deal.

of course since this is a sequel and we miss the previous characters, the recon squad also sets up a way for you to communicate with folks back in alola. this way you can see the story going on there--how guzma and the reformed skull are helping to hold off necrozma, as are the kahuna and tapu, hau taking a more active role and acting as a mentor / adviser to the protag and undergoing his arc of wanting to be a more "serious" trainer (he would likely have his doubts about what hes able to do to help and express that to protag, and we'd be able to see him come to the decision to work harder like we get in USUM.) We could also get Lusamine's redemption arc without, you know, completely handwaving her treatment of her children.

the story of course comes to a climax when the protagonist fights and defeats necrozma for good with the help of not only the efforts of the people of alola but help from the ultra recon squads technology and the now-fully-evolved alt-nebby. necrozma is defeated, possibly caught by the player, possibly sent back spiraling through ultra space or whatever.

depending on the protag either you have, like in USUM, hau challenging you for the championship with newfound confidence in himself as a trainer, or if it's a new protag, a red-mosque battle where you get to fight your damn self (again, memory linked team, albeit with capped levels because lord fighting myself with my full lv 100 team would be a bitch.) for added endgame longevity you would have free roam across alola with trial captains and kahunas wanting to battle you to see how you've changed (or how strong the trainer that helped save alola is, again, depending on protag).

or--alternatively--the new protag chooses to stay in ultra megalopolis and become champion there, thus leading to a cute subplot postgame involving establishing the ultra space pokemon league, because it'd be cute. Thank you good night.