Sun and Moon Pokémon Refresh, friendship and time
Care for the party while keeping affection, evolution friendship and Moon’s clock offset distinct.
Original Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon for Nintendo 3DS (2016). Sun and Moon differences are labelled. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have a different story, expanded Pokédex and altered trials.
Refresh heals and raises affection
Pokémon Refresh lets you groom, pet and feed a partner. After certain battles you can remove conditions such as poison or paralysis through care. Poké Beans raise affection; Rainbow Beans provide a large boost. Affection can improve story-battle performance through bonuses such as extra experience and occasional survival or status recovery. These bonuses do not replace reliable healing and ordinary battle preparation.
Friendship is a separate value
Friendship supports evolutions such as Type: Null to Silvally and Golbat to Crobat. Walking, levelling, the Konikoni massage and a Soothe Bell help build it; repeated fainting and bitter medicine can reduce it. Feeding Refresh Beans does not directly mean an ordinary friendship evolution is ready. Sylveon instead needs the relevant affection level and a Fairy move, while Espeon and Umbreon depend on friendship and time.
Sun and Moon use different clock relationships
Sun follows the Nintendo 3DS system clock. Moon is offset by 12 hours, making its daytime occur during the system’s evening and night. The games use daytime from 06:00 to before 18:00 and nighttime for the opposite interval according to their in-game clock. Encounter slots, selected evolutions and some Zygarde sparkles depend on this distinction. Check the game’s visible period before searching repeatedly.
Use the alternate world deliberately
In the postgame, the appropriate cover legendary allows travel through the altar’s portal during the required original-game period. The alternate world reverses the usual time relationship and is part of obtaining the second Cosmog. It provides another way to plan a day/night search without repeatedly changing the console clock, which can interrupt timed event progression.
These guides cover original Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon (2016). Check the version and in-game time before planning an encounter.