How to Catch Mewtwo in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon: A Comprehensive Guide

Mewtwo, the legendary Genetic Pokémon, remains one of the most sought-after creatures in the Pokémon universe. While it isn’t directly available in the main storyline of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you can still encounter and capture it through the Ultra Wormhole system. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the necessary steps to find and catch Mewtwo, ensuring you’re well-prepared for this challenging encounter.

Prerequisites

Before embarking on your Mewtwo hunt, ensure you meet the following requirements:

1. Complete the Main Story: You must defeat the Elite Four and become the Alola region champion. This unlocks access to the Ultra Warp Ride.
2. Pokémon with High Levels: Bring a team of Pokémon leveled between 70-100. Mewtwo is a formidable opponent, and you’ll need strong Pokémon to stand a chance.
3. Revives and Potions: Stock up on plenty of healing items like Max Potions, Full Restores, and Revives. This battle can be lengthy and demanding.
4. Status Condition Moves: Moves like Thunder Wave (paralysis), Sleep Powder (sleep), or Toxic (poison) can significantly increase your chances of catching Mewtwo. Pokémon with these moves are invaluable.
5. False Swipe: A move that guarantees leaving the target Pokémon with at least 1 HP. This is crucial for getting Mewtwo’s health as low as possible without knocking it out. A Pokémon that learns False Swipe like a Scizor or a Gallade is ideal.
6. Ultra Balls: Bring a large supply of Ultra Balls. These have the highest catch rate of regular Poké Balls. Consider bringing Timer Balls too, if the battle drags on for many turns.
7. A Pokémon with Damp (Optional but Recommended): Mewtwo can use Self-Destruct or Explosion. A Pokémon with the ability Damp, such as a Politoed or a Golduck, will prevent Mewtwo from using these moves. This can prevent an accidental KO and save you from restarting the encounter.

Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Mewtwo

Once you’ve gathered your supplies and prepared your team, follow these steps to find Mewtwo:

1. Accessing the Ultra Warp Ride

After becoming the champion, return to the Alola region’s research lab. Lillie’s mother, Lusamine, will gift you the ability to use the Ultra Warp Ride. This allows you to travel through Ultra Wormholes to different dimensions, where you can encounter various Pokémon, including legendary ones like Mewtwo.

2. Understanding Ultra Wormholes

The Ultra Warp Ride is accessed by talking to Soliera (in Ultra Sun) or Phyco (in Ultra Moon) at the Alola Region research lab. You ride on the back of Solgaleo (in Ultra Sun) or Lunala (in Ultra Moon) through wormholes that appear in the sky. The further you travel, the higher the chance of finding rare Pokémon. The key is to navigate through the Ultra Space as efficiently as possible.

Wormhole Colors and Rarity:

• White Wormholes: These are the most common and contain standard Ultra Beasts and regular Pokémon. Avoid these if you’re searching for Mewtwo.
• Green Wormholes: These contain Ultra Beasts. Avoid these if you’re searching for Mewtwo.
• Red Wormholes: These contain Ultra Beasts. Avoid these if you’re searching for Mewtwo.
• Blue Wormholes: These contain Ultra Beasts. Avoid these if you’re searching for Mewtwo.
• Yellow Wormholes: These contain Ultra Beasts. Avoid these if you’re searching for Mewtwo.
• Ultra Beast Lairs: They usually have some unique landscape (e.g., rocky, volcanic, watery). They don’t harbor legendary Pokémon.
• Rainbow Wormholes: These are the rarest and most valuable. They are the *only* places where you can find legendary Pokémon like Mewtwo.

Wormhole Appearance: The more details a wormhole has (e.g., more rings around it, more sparkling lights), the higher the chance of it containing a legendary Pokémon.

3. Navigating the Ultra Warp Ride

The Ultra Warp Ride minigame involves controlling Solgaleo or Lunala through space, collecting energy spheres to increase your travel distance. The controls are simple:

• Circle Pad: Steer Solgaleo/Lunala.
• A Button: Accelerate.

Tips for Efficient Travel:

• Avoid Obstacles: Colliding with electrical nodes and wormhole obstacles will slow you down and reduce the distance you can travel.
• Collect Energy Spheres: Energy spheres increase your travel distance. Prioritize collecting these to reach further wormholes.
• Aim for High Scores: The further you travel, the higher the chance of encountering a rare wormhole.

4. Finding a Rainbow Wormhole

This is the most time-consuming part of the process. You need to repeatedly travel through Ultra Wormholes, aiming for rainbow wormholes. Persistence is key.

Strategies for Finding Rainbow Wormholes:

• Maximize Distance: Always aim to travel as far as possible in each ride. The further you go, the better the chances of a rainbow wormhole appearing.
• Wormhole Detail: Prioritize wormholes with multiple rings and sparkling lights. These are more likely to lead to legendary Pokémon.
• Patience: Finding a rainbow wormhole can take a significant amount of time. Don’t get discouraged; keep trying.

5. Encountering Mewtwo

Once you enter a rainbow wormhole, you’ll arrive at a unique location. This is where legendary Pokémon reside. Mewtwo’s location is in a cave-like area, typically with a distinct aesthetic.

Saving Before the Encounter: Before interacting with Mewtwo, **save your game**. This is crucial. If you accidentally knock Mewtwo out or fail to catch it, you can reset your game and try again. Soft resetting is done by pressing L+R+Start (or Select) simultaneously.

Battling and Catching Mewtwo

Now that you’ve found Mewtwo, the real challenge begins. Mewtwo is a level 60 Pokémon in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, with high stats and powerful moves. Here’s how to prepare for and execute the battle:

1. Team Composition and Strategy

Your team should be specifically designed to handle Mewtwo. Consider the following Pokémon and strategies:

• Pokémon with Status Moves:
  • Paralysis (Thunder Wave): Paralysis slows down Mewtwo, making it easier to outspeed and attack.
  • Sleep (Sleep Powder, Spore): Sleep is highly effective, giving you several turns to heal, set up, or throw Poké Balls. Breloom (with Spore) and Parasect (with Spore) are excellent choices.
  • Poison (Toxic): Poison slowly damages Mewtwo each turn, but be cautious as it can eventually knock it out.
• Pokémon with False Swipe:
  • Scizor: A strong Bug/Steel type that learns False Swipe. It resists Psychic-type moves and can deal significant damage.
  • Gallade: A Psychic/Fighting type that learns False Swipe and has access to status moves like Hypnosis.
  • Scyther: Similar to Scizor, but less defensive.
• Pokémon with Damp (to prevent Self-Destruct/Explosion):
  • Politoed: A Water-type Pokémon with good overall stats and the Damp ability.
  • Golduck: Another Water-type Pokémon with Damp, and it learns good support moves.
• Tanky Pokémon:
  • Blissey/Chansey: These Pokémon have incredibly high HP and can absorb a lot of damage, allowing you to heal your team.
  • Snorlax: A bulky Normal-type that can take hits and dish out decent damage.
• Type Advantages (Use Cautiously): Mewtwo is a Psychic-type Pokémon. While Bug, Ghost, and Dark-type moves are super effective, Mewtwo’s coverage moves can easily take them out. Therefore, relying solely on type advantages isn’t recommended.

2. The Battle Strategy

Here’s a step-by-step battle strategy for catching Mewtwo:

1. Start with a Status Condition: Immediately use a status move like Thunder Wave or Sleep Powder. If using Sleep, switch to your False Swipe Pokémon once Mewtwo is asleep.
2. Use False Swipe: Bring Mewtwo’s HP down to 1 using False Swipe. This maximizes your chances of catching it without risking a knockout.
3. Heal When Necessary: Mewtwo can deal significant damage. Don’t hesitate to use Max Potions or Full Restores to keep your Pokémon alive.
4. Throw Poké Balls: Once Mewtwo’s HP is at 1 and it has a status condition, start throwing Ultra Balls. Be patient, as it may take many attempts.
5. Timer Balls (Optional): If the battle drags on for many turns, switch to Timer Balls. Their catch rate increases with the number of turns passed.
6. Be Patient: Catching legendary Pokémon is a matter of luck and persistence. Don’t give up, and keep throwing Poké Balls.

3. Mewtwo’s Moveset and Counterstrategies

Mewtwo’s moveset in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon can include:

• Psychic: A powerful Psychic-type move that can deal significant damage.
• Aura Sphere: A Fighting-type move that always hits.
• Shadow Ball: A Ghost-type move that can lower the target’s Special Defense.
• Recover: Mewtwo can heal itself, making the battle even longer.
• Psystrike: A special Psychic-type attack that calculates damage using the target’s Defense stat instead of Special Defense.
• Ice Beam: An Ice-type move that can deal significant damage to Flying types.
• Thunderbolt: An Electric-type move that can deal significant damage to Water and Flying types.
• Self-Destruct/Explosion: This is a last resort move, but very dangerous. Use a Pokemon with Damp to prevent this move from being used.

Counterstrategies:

• Psychic: Use Pokémon with high Special Defense or those that resist Psychic-type moves.
• Aura Sphere: Use Pokémon with high Defense. Ghost types are immune but have lower defense stats.
• Shadow Ball: Use Pokémon with high Special Defense.
• Recover: There’s no direct counter to Recover, but maintaining status conditions and consistently dealing damage can negate its effect.
• Psystrike: High defense Pokémon are preferred.
• Ice Beam/Thunderbolt: Water/Flying, Ground, Grass, Dragon, and Electric types are vulnerable.

Tips and Tricks

• Synchronize Ability: If you have a Pokémon with the Synchronize ability (like Abra or Ralts) in the lead slot of your party, there’s a 50% chance that Mewtwo will have the same nature as that Pokémon. This can be helpful if you’re looking for a specific nature.
• Nature Choice: The best natures for Mewtwo are Modest (increases Special Attack, decreases Attack) or Timid (increases Speed, decreases Attack), as Mewtwo is primarily a special attacker.
• Shiny Hunting: If you’re looking for a shiny Mewtwo, the process is the same. However, be prepared for a long grind, as the odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon are very low (1/4096 normally, 1/1365.33 with the Shiny Charm). Remember to save before the encounter each time to reset if it’s not shiny.
• False Swipe Alternatives: If you don’t have access to False Swipe, moves like Hold Back or Super Fang (though not as reliable) can be used to lower Mewtwo’s HP significantly.
• Check IVs After Catching: After catching Mewtwo, check its Individual Values (IVs) using the Judge function. While you can’t influence IVs directly before the catch, knowing them can help you decide whether to invest in Hyper Training to maximize its potential. Hyper Training is performed in the Hau’oli City shopping mall, accessible after beating the Elite Four.
• Consider a Master Ball: If you are only going to catch one legendary and are having immense trouble with the others, it is perfectly acceptable to use your Master Ball.

Troubleshooting

Can’t find a Rainbow Wormhole: Keep trying! The Ultra Warp Ride is random, and it may take many attempts to find a rainbow wormhole. Maximize your travel distance and prioritize wormholes with multiple rings.

Mewtwo keeps knocking out my Pokémon: Adjust your team composition and strategy. Use Pokémon with higher levels, better defensive stats, and appropriate resistances. Make sure you are properly utilizing status moves and healing items.

Accidentally knocked out Mewtwo: This is why saving before the encounter is crucial. Soft reset your game (L+R+Start/Select) to reload your save and try again.

Conclusion

Catching Mewtwo in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon is a challenging but rewarding endeavor. By following this comprehensive guide, preparing your team, and employing the right strategies, you can add this legendary Pokémon to your collection. Remember to be patient, persistent, and well-prepared, and you’ll eventually succeed in capturing Mewtwo. Good luck, and happy hunting!