Albert Baby Cat

Cover legendary status and box art

Solgaleo (Pokedex slot 791) appears as the cover legendary of Pokemon Sun on the Nintendo 3DS, released worldwide on 18 November 2016. The Psychic/Steel-type Sunne Pokemon is the first major lion-design legendary in the Pokemon franchise, and its counterpart Lunala fills the same role for Pokemon Moon. The two share evolution lineage from the protagonist's gifted Cosmog (later Cosmoem), with Sun players naturally obtaining Solgaleo and Moon players obtaining Lunala. Both Solgaleo and Lunala served as primary cover art across the games' marketing campaigns and were prominently featured in the Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon rerelease in November 2017.

Sunsteel Strike and Ultra Wormhole lore

Solgaleo's signature move Sunsteel Strike is a 100-base-power Steel-type physical attack that bypasses the target's ability, a mechanic added specifically to address defensive abilities like Sturdy, Multiscale, and Disguise that would otherwise wall an attacker of Solgaleo's base 137 Attack. The species' lore role is to open Ultra Wormholes — interdimensional portals connecting Alola to the parallel Ultra Beast realm. This world-jump mechanic became the structural backbone of Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon (2017) and was later referenced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's area-zero lore.

Story progression and competitive use

In the Sun and Moon main story, the protagonist receives Cosmog as a gift from the Aether Foundation's scientist Mohn (revealed later in the plot to be the in-game father figure), raises it through Cosmoem, and battles Solgaleo at the summit of Mount Lanakila during the climactic Ultra Necrozma confrontation. The species also appears in the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime as a transformation of Ash's companion Nebby, in the Pokemon GO Season of Light raid event (October 2022), and in Pokemon Masters EX. Solgaleo has been used at the Pokemon World Championships only sparingly because its Banned-tier status restricts most VGC formats — competitive use is largely limited to the Ultra Series and unofficial Anything Goes ladders.