The challenges are called “Global Missions” where players are given a specific task to complete collectively in the game, and so far, Sun and Moon players are 0 for 2. While Game Freak said that drastic of a failure would cause them to rethink future events, their next one didn’t go well either. - In Pokémon players like freedom to do what they want and don’t like being given specific assignments that change their playstyle. - Most players may not even know Global Missions exist as they’re not well advertised or explained in the game. In any case, it’s clear something has to change, or the playerbase will continue to be demoralized and reduce participation in Global Missions even further.

Source: Forbes January 11, 2017 15:57 UTC