Pokémon Sun and Moon’s Ultra Beasts are yours for the taking

We’ve seen a lot of what Pokémon Sun and Moon has to offer today, monster-wise. But fear not, anxious, spoiler-fearing fans: There are still some secrets left to uncover. We still don’t know what, exactly, Ultra Beasts are, but Nintendo confirmed to Polygon at a recent event that they can be caught.

Perhaps that’s why each one of the eight Ultra Beasts in total — five of which were introduced to us today by dataminers — has both a normal and shiny sprite. We don’t know how or where trainers can capture the monsters, though; it’s unlikely they are simply found in the wild, and we’d imagine there’s only one of each kind up for grabs.

A company representative told us at a recent event that Ultra Beasts will also factor into the storyline, although they neglected to say much beyond that. It’s apparent that these characters are central to the Alola region’s myth by virtue of their mythical status alone, and we know that certain ones are found exclusively in Sun or Moon. But unlike previous mythical Pokémon, we’re still unsure if the Ultra Beasts are even Pokémon at all.

There’s speculation that they are, in fact, transmogrified human beings. On Reddit, fans positioned the sprites both new and officially revealed next to character art of human trainers, hoping to prove their similarities. Characters like Lusamine, the lead researcher of the Aether Foundation group, and enemy trainer Guzma do look a bit like certain Ultra Beasts when placed side-by-side, but there’s no confirmation that these are where these monsters come from.

Take a look for yourself below; note that not all Ultra Beasts — if all of these even are Ultra Beasts — are accounted for. Also, be warned that there are spoilers.

Pokémon Sun and Moon hit Nintendo 3DS on Nov. 18, although the hidden content-filled demo is available now. Come one month from today, we’ll no longer be forced to speculate; we’ll have answers to these few remaining mysteries.