Light of Alola ==> In-Depth Look

[ShinyPhione19]

Pokemon Sun
Pokemon Moon

LIGHT OF ALOLA

The empty sky broke asunder,
a hole appearing where had been none.
A single beast appeared from in it;
it was called the beast that [devoured the sun|calls the moon].

The king of Alola bowed before it:
the beast that [shone so like the sun|stole all heaven's light].
The island guardians fought against it,
But it the end [the best had won|they lost the fight].

Then did the beast that [devoured the sun|calls the moon]
[shine its light|cast its pall] on the line of kings
Then did the beast that had won
[bring nature's gift to bless all|mark the path for all such finished] things.

Beast of sun and beast of moon.
Through their union, they brought new life.
A fragile heir in Alola born
that island guardians would keep from strife

The ancient kings sang their thanks
for [Solgaleo|Lunala] with song of flute.
Two tones rang out across the altar.
a perfect pair, ever after mute.

____________________________________________________________

So, yeah. That's "Light of Alola", which you can read in the Malie Library. But a few things struck me odd about this/these poem/s.

1: It appears that in either poem, there are two legendary beasts being talked about. For the Sun version, there is "the beast that devoured the sun" and "the beast that shone so like the sun". as in 'a beast that create darkness' and 'a beast that creates light', aka Lunala and Solgaleo. For the Moon version, there is "the beast that calls the moon" and "the beast that stole all heaven's light", as in 'a beast that makes it brighter' and 'a beast that makes it darker', aka Solgaleo and Lunala. And in both poems, it acknowledges that there are two beasts: one of the sun and one of the moon. If only one beast did appear, how would they know about the other one?

2: Can we determine which battle this took place on?

...actually, yeah, it's pretty easy. Keeping in mind that if Acerola is the royalty she claims to be, than in would most likely be on Ula'ula. The city that Team Skull took over, Po Town, was probably the home of the royalty, given the massive walls (probably used to keep invaders out) and fancy homes (built rich by the rich for the rich). As well, Nanu stays close to Po Town because he has some connection to it, as royalty of sorts.

And then there's the line in bottom of the third stanza: "bring nature's gift to all things/mark the path for all such finished things". Looking at the Moon version, it tells us the beast that had beaten the tapu/kings, Lunala, marked its victories. But how, you ask? That's clued in by the Sun version: "nature's gift". Now, the only time I've seen the word 'nature' involved in Sun and Moon is in Nature's Madness, the power the beasts (most likely) gifted the tapus in "The Legendary Pokemon and the Tapu":

THE LEGENDARY POKEMON AND THE TAPU

A great and terrible battle waged between the
tapu and the Legendary Pokemon, but neither
side could claim victory over the other.
Upon finding themselves equals, the Legendary
Pokemon then gifted the tapu with great power
of unknown providence.

Great power of unknown providence? How about the ability to control nature and make it a super Z-move? And what are the two places where weather is weird on Ula'ula? Po Town, home of the kings and eternally raining, and Haina Desert, where Tapu Bulu is located on the other side. Why do I think the beast-vs-tapu battle took place here?

Well, first off, Tapu Bulu is part GRASS type. Why the Feebas would a Grass-type Pokemon purposefully build their shrine in the place where they would get buffeted every time they stepped outside? As well, the land is completely unlivable and would make putting a trial there deadly and confusing. So why is the Psychium-Z there? Because I think there used to be a forest on that ground. As well, every kahuna save for Nanu battled you next to (or at least reasonably near) the tapu's shrine. So why didn't Nanu? Because the desert interrupted tradition. As a side note, in Hawaiian, "haina" means staging and "ha'ina" means "findings" (according to Google). So, yeah. I'm 100% set on this taking place on Ula'ula Island.

3: What is with the last stanza? "The ancient kings sang their thanks" and all that? I'm not sure if thanks is the right word, because this feels akin to the new kings that took the place of the victims of the beasts and used these magic flutes to banish Solgaleo and Lunala to another dimension. And then they wanted to keep them there, because the flutes were never played again...

Well, those are my takes on the Light of Alola. What about you guys? Any theories from yourselves?

 

[Esserise]

1: It appears that in either poem, there are two legendary beasts being talked about. For the Sun version, there is "the beast that devoured the sun" and "the beast that shone so like the sun". as in 'a beast that create darkness' and 'a beast that creates light', aka Lunala and Solgaleo. For the Moon version, there is "the beast that calls the moon" and "the beast that stole all heaven's light", as in 'a beast that makes it brighter' and 'a beast that makes it darker', aka Solgaleo and Lunala. And in both poems, it acknowledges that there are two beasts: one of the sun and one of the moon. If only one beast did appear, how would they know about the other one?

The poem is describing the birth of Cosmog (the "fragile heir"), so I assume that only one beast descended from the wormhole, and then it called out, at which point, the opposite beast "flickered" into appearance, just like what happens in the post-game when you take your game's beast to the Lake of the Sunne/Moone in order to get a second Cosmog. The poem only briefly mentions the opposite beast because it only appeared for a short moment, and with less fanfare than a hole in the sky.

2: Can we determine which battle this took place on?

...actually, yeah, it's pretty easy. Keeping in mind that if Acerola is the royalty she claims to be, than in would most likely be on Ula'ula. The city that Team Skull took over, Po Town, was probably the home of the royalty, given the massive walls (probably used to keep invaders out) and fancy homes (built rich by the rich for the rich).

We can determine that it is Poni Island, because it says it happens at the altar, which is where the flutes are used.

As well, Nanu stays close to Po Town because he has some connection to it, as royalty of sorts.

Nanu stays close to Po Town because Team Skull lives there and he's a cop. He just keeps an eye on them.

Great power of unknown providence? How about the ability to control nature and make it a super Z-move?

I tend to assume the power given to them was the ability to create Sparkling Stones, but I suppose that works too.

Well, first off, Tapu Bulu is part GRASS type. Why the Feebas would a Grass-type Pokemon purposefully build their shrine in the place where they would get buffeted every time they stepped outside?

I doubt that Bulu gets out much. It's described as being very reclusive and lazy. One NPC speculates that it hides in the desert because it wants to be left alone.

 

[ShinyPhione19]

I doubt that Bulu gets out much. It's described as being very reclusive and lazy. One NPC speculates that it hides in the desert because it wants to be left alone.

If that's the case, why is the Psychium-Z just... sitting their? It has an altar, it's all official looking, but it's tucked away in the most confusing and inhabitable place in all of Alola

 

[Derpghost]

If that's the case, why is the Psychium-Z just... sitting their? It has an altar, it's all official looking, but it's tucked away in the most confusing and inhabitable place in all of Alola

To be fair, deserts don't always start as deserts. For all we know, there could have been overfarmed land or some plains there once.