Buying guide
Pokémon Sun & Moon — buying the Alola cartridges
Generation 7 is Alola, an island region modelled on Hawaii, and it came in two waves: Sun and Moon (2016), then the expanded Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon (2017). Four 3DS cartridges, one region, and two questions every buyer has — which one to get, and whether an import will actually run on your console. Both answered below.
The short answer
Playing Alola once: Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon — the same region with a longer story, more Pokémon and a real post-game. Want the original, quieter telling: Sun or Moon. And mind the region: the 3DS is region-locked, so an American cartridge will not start on a European 3DS or 2DS. Every listing of ours states the region.
Sun & Moon, or the Ultra versions?
Sun and Moon opened the generation and broke with the classic gym structure: instead of eight gyms you complete the island challenge, a series of trials that each end in a powerful Totem Pokémon, and you fight with Z-Moves. Alola also introduced regional forms — familiar Pokémon in a tropical variant, such as the ice-type Vulpix.
Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are the complete version of that same adventure: a longer story built around Necrozma, more Pokémon to catch, new areas, the Ultra Beasts and a far deeper post-game, with a different ending. They are a revision rather than a sequel — you can start with either pair without missing anything, and if you only want one Alola game, Ultra is the one.
Sun or Moon?
Within each pair the split is the classic one: version-exclusive Pokémon, some of the Totem Pokémon, and the cover legendary — Solgaleo in Sun, Lunala in Moon. One thing is unique to this generation: in Moon the in-game clock runs twelve hours behind, so an afternoon session puts you in Alola at night. Evening player? Moon matches the time of day. Beyond that the difference is small.
The import trap: the 3DS region lock
Unlike the DS, the Nintendo 3DS only starts cartridges from its own region. A cheap American Sun or Moon plays on an American 3DS and on nothing you own in Europe — the most common way these games get bought wrong. We stock PAL/European and loose USA versions side by side and state the region in every listing. The cartridges themselves play on the whole family: 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL, 2DS and New 2DS XL. A DS, DS Lite or DSi cannot read them.
The authenticity check, in order of certainty
- The save test. Save, power off, restart. 3DS saves live on flash memory — a genuine cartridge keeps your progress; there is no battery that can run empty.
- Label and weight. A fake feels light, and its label print is glossy and slightly blurred where an original is sharp and matte.
- The card itself. A genuine 3DS card carries a crisp Nintendo stamp and a neatly moulded serial with a region suffix that matches what the seller claims.
Counterfeits are rarer on the 3DS than on the DS and GBA generations — the card format is technically harder to copy — but rare is not never, so every copy goes through the checks from our full fake-cartridge guide. Since the 3DS eShop closed in 2023, a physical cartridge is the only way left to play these games; the online services went in 2024, but local trading and battling between two consoles still work.
Buy them already tested
Every Alola cartridge we sell has been through the label, card and region checks and a real save test on hardware — and now and then the Nintendo 2DS Sun & Moon Edition joins the shelf. We have been doing this since 2019, with 1400+ verified reviews at 5.0★, and we ship tracked from the Netherlands to all 27 EU countries — no customs inside the EU.
Questions we get asked
Sun and Moon, or Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon?
Ultra, if you only play one. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon (2017) retell the same Alola adventure as Sun and Moon (2016), but with a longer story built around Necrozma, more Pokémon to catch, new areas, the Ultra Beasts and a much deeper post-game. Sun and Moon remain worth having if you want the original, quieter version of the Alola story — and they are usually the cheaper pair.
What is the difference between Sun and Moon?
A handful of version-exclusive Pokémon, some of the Totem Pokémon, the cover legendary — Solgaleo in Sun, Lunala in Moon — and the clock: in Moon the in-game time runs twelve hours behind, so playing in the afternoon puts you in the game at night. If you mostly play in the evening, Moon fits the time of day better. In play the difference is small.
Will an American Sun or Moon cartridge work on my European 3DS?
No. The Nintendo 3DS is region-locked, so a cartridge only starts on a console from the same region — a cheap American import will not boot on a European 3DS or 2DS. That is the most common way to buy these games wrong. We stock both PAL/European and loose USA versions and state the region in every listing, so you know it plays on your console.
Which consoles play Pokémon Sun and Moon?
Every model of the 3DS family: 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL, 2DS and New 2DS XL. They are 3DS cartridges, so a Nintendo DS, DS Lite or DSi cannot read them.
Can I still trade or battle online?
Nintendo switched the 3DS online services off in 2024, so trading and battling over the internet no longer work. Local trading and battling between two consoles in the same room still works as before, and the full story and everything you do on your own are unaffected.
Is there a battery inside that can run empty?
No. 3DS cartridges save to flash memory, so there is no battery to run flat and no save that disappears after a few years — unlike the Game Boy and Game Boy Color Pokémon games. That also makes the save test a reliable authenticity check, and we run it on real hardware for every copy.
Are fake Sun and Moon cartridges common?
Rare, compared with the DS and GBA generations — the 3DS card format is technically harder to copy. Every cartridge we sell still goes through the same authenticity check and a real save test before it is listed, because "rare" is not "never".
What is the Nintendo 2DS Sun & Moon Edition?
A Nintendo 2DS in the Pokémon Sun & Moon design, sold as a bundle when the games launched. It is a working console and a collector piece at once, and it plays every 3DS game. We have one on the shelf now and then — it shows up in the list below whenever it does.
Where Alola fits in the series: all Pokémon games in order — the generation before it, X & Y, runs on the same 3DS, and the full Pokémon 3DS list has every title.
Dutch reader? Pokémon Sun & Moon kopen — dezelfde gids in het Nederlands.
