"Pokemon Sun & Moon," like many "Pokemon" games in the series, can easily be beaten with a solid team of any six Pokemon trained to a high enough level. But the PvE world is designed to be really easy; it's the post-game and PvP metagames that are generally harder, because players are better trainers than AIs.
There are three tiers when it comes to ranking Pokemon in the games, especially "Pokemon Sun & Moon," according to Ranked Boost. The first tier is Tier 3, for the weakest Pokemon in the game, usually with Pokemon in the first stage of their respective evolution trees. Pokemon such as Geodude, Vulpix, and Sandshrew are in this tier, and even the first form of the games' legendary Pokemon Solgaleo and Lunala, Cosmog, is in this tier.
The next tier is obviously Tier 2, where most second-stage Pokemon and other evolution lines that end after one evolution are. Interestingly, despite Pokemon such as Marowak and Graveler being in this tier, the starter Pokemon of "Pokemon Sun & Moon," Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio are here, along with their respective second stages Dartrix, Torracat, and Brionne. There are also a few first-stage Pokemon in this tier, such as Crabrawler and Salandit.
The third tier is Tier 3, for the strongest uncommon and rare Pokemon in "Pokemon Sun & Moon." The final evolutions of the starter Pokemon, Decidueye, Incineroar, and Primarina are in this tier, as well as many other final-stage evolutions. Almost all the Alolan versions of the Generation 1 Pokemon are in this tier as well, such as Raichu, Exeggutor, Muk, and Golem, among others.
There's actually a fourth Tier of Pokemon in "Pokemon Sun & Moon," the Godlike Tier reserved for Legendary Pokemon. Obvious candidates such as Solgaleo and Lunala, as well as Zygarde, and the rest of the huge roster of Legendary Pokemon are in this tier. However, one interesting inclusion in this fourth tier is the Ash-Greninja players can get from finishing the "Pokemon Sun & Moon" demo, which you can find out how to get here via GameSpot. Happy battling!
