Funny that there wasn't a thread for this already, heh. The 20th anniversary games are coming out on November 18th.
This is Alola, the region SM takes place in, which as you would guess from glancing as the art is based on Hawaii. Having the main game consist of multiple different islands is interesting enough, but that's only the tip of the iceberg, they are shaking things up a lot more than they ever have. I have serious issues with Gamefreak but I can't even complain about anyfin so far, it all looks so good, though I don't know what to think of z-moves yet.
But before I go into that, some of the new mons.
Moon's cover Pokemon is Lunala, the emissary of the moon, and is a Psychic/Ghost type. Sun's is Solgaleo, dubbed "the beast that devours the sun" and is a Psychic/Steel type.
The starters this time are the owl Rowlet, the cat Litten, and the sea lion Popplio. Litten is my favorite, but Rowlet is cool too.
Nyow for the more interesting stuff. To start, there's no gyms. Instead we have these things called island trials which are what they sound like, trails that take place....on the islands. Accordingly, instead of gym leaders, there are trail captains. As a long overdue addition, you'll fight totem Pokemon during these trials, which are boss versions of regular Pokemon that can summon minions to assist them. Do note that the list on the site is currently incomplete; there will be more than four trail captains and trails.
Similar to how XY introduced megas, SM introduces another new form for Pokemon, known as Alola variants. They're....unfortunately exclusive to gen I mons, it seems, which is really lame, but uh, what are you gonna do? Maybe we'll get Sinnonian forms or whatever later this gen, a nerd can hope...anyways, there's not much to explain about them, they're just Pokemon that have adapted to certain conditions in Alola. Like, Alolan Rattata and Raticate became a nocturnal crime syndicate as a result of the diurnal Yungoos and Gumshoos being introduced to the region in order to help control the exploding population. Accordingly, they became Normal/Dark. That situation actually parallels what was done in irl Hawaii. Another example is Exeggutor, which as a result of Alola's sunlight, grew into a 35 foot tall meme dragon.
SM also introduces one more concept somewhat similar in nature to mega evolution, known as Z-moves. Similar to mega evolution, they're activated with a device your character wears, known as a Z-ring. If you give a Pokemon a Z-crystal, it will be able to use a move that correlates with said crystal. They're one time use but are clearly very powerful. Some Pokemon, such as Snorlax and Alolan Raichu, have signature Z-moves.
One of the weirdest things so far are the recently revealed Ultra Beasts. The official site hasn't updated with all of them at time of posting, but as you can see in this leak, they aren't Pokemon, rather they're some sort of unholy alien abomination. I should probably avoid posting my own theories in the op in case people don't want to be spoiled on plotstuff, but uh, you might notice similarities...somewhere...
The new evil team is known as Team Skull, and after seeing them in trailers I'm convinced that they will be the most amusing evil team yet. The Aether Foundation helps to combat them, while also working on their own sciencey things on their private island.
Other features:
[Poke Finder]
[Battle Royal]
[Rotom Pokedex]
[Poke Ride]
[Hyper Training]
[QR Scanner]
[12 hour time difference]
Links:
[Official Site]
[Official Pokemon Youtube Channel]
[Reveal Trailer]
[Alola and Box Mascot Trailer]
[Starter Pokemon Trailer]
[Battle Royal Trailer]
[Zygarde 10% and 100% Trailer]
[Alolan Forms and Z-move Trailer]
[Team Skull Trailer]
[Ultra Beast and Aether Foundation Trailer]
This is Alola, the region SM takes place in, which as you would guess from glancing as the art is based on Hawaii. Having the main game consist of multiple different islands is interesting enough, but that's only the tip of the iceberg, they are shaking things up a lot more than they ever have. I have serious issues with Gamefreak but I can't even complain about anyfin so far, it all looks so good, though I don't know what to think of z-moves yet.
But before I go into that, some of the new mons.
The starters this time are the owl Rowlet, the cat Litten, and the sea lion Popplio. Litten is my favorite, but Rowlet is cool too.
Nyow for the more interesting stuff. To start, there's no gyms. Instead we have these things called island trials which are what they sound like, trails that take place....on the islands. Accordingly, instead of gym leaders, there are trail captains. As a long overdue addition, you'll fight totem Pokemon during these trials, which are boss versions of regular Pokemon that can summon minions to assist them. Do note that the list on the site is currently incomplete; there will be more than four trail captains and trails.
Similar to how XY introduced megas, SM introduces another new form for Pokemon, known as Alola variants. They're....unfortunately exclusive to gen I mons, it seems, which is really lame, but uh, what are you gonna do? Maybe we'll get Sinnonian forms or whatever later this gen, a nerd can hope...anyways, there's not much to explain about them, they're just Pokemon that have adapted to certain conditions in Alola. Like, Alolan Rattata and Raticate became a nocturnal crime syndicate as a result of the diurnal Yungoos and Gumshoos being introduced to the region in order to help control the exploding population. Accordingly, they became Normal/Dark. That situation actually parallels what was done in irl Hawaii. Another example is Exeggutor, which as a result of Alola's sunlight, grew into a 35 foot tall meme dragon.
SM also introduces one more concept somewhat similar in nature to mega evolution, known as Z-moves. Similar to mega evolution, they're activated with a device your character wears, known as a Z-ring. If you give a Pokemon a Z-crystal, it will be able to use a move that correlates with said crystal. They're one time use but are clearly very powerful. Some Pokemon, such as Snorlax and Alolan Raichu, have signature Z-moves.
One of the weirdest things so far are the recently revealed Ultra Beasts. The official site hasn't updated with all of them at time of posting, but as you can see in this leak, they aren't Pokemon, rather they're some sort of unholy alien abomination. I should probably avoid posting my own theories in the op in case people don't want to be spoiled on plotstuff, but uh, you might notice similarities...somewhere...
The new evil team is known as Team Skull, and after seeing them in trailers I'm convinced that they will be the most amusing evil team yet. The Aether Foundation helps to combat them, while also working on their own sciencey things on their private island.
Other features:
[Poke Finder]
[Battle Royal]
[Rotom Pokedex]
[Poke Ride]
[Hyper Training]
[QR Scanner]
[12 hour time difference]
Links:
[Official Site]
[Official Pokemon Youtube Channel]
[Reveal Trailer]
[Alola and Box Mascot Trailer]
[Starter Pokemon Trailer]
[Battle Royal Trailer]
[Zygarde 10% and 100% Trailer]
[Alolan Forms and Z-move Trailer]
[Team Skull Trailer]
[Ultra Beast and Aether Foundation Trailer]
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