The Island Trials

[Necrozma]

Okay, I'm a bit confused.

So like, Captains and Kahuna's are not same things? They seem independent from one another.

But do you get to battle both the Captains and Kahunas? And are Totem Pokemon captain's Pokemon or wild boss Pokemon?

 

[Uhane]

Judging from the video and official site it seems like there will be 2 trials per island and a kahuna afterwards and the first trial seems to be normal

Also Mallow's trial is in Lush Jungle with Lurantis as it's totem pokemon which i think is equivalent to gym leaders ace pokemon

So would it be like fighting 2 gym leaders, then an elite 4 member, and repeat 4x for each island, rather than all 8 leaders then 4 E4

Okay, I'm a bit confused.

So like, Captains and Kahuna's are not same things? They seem independent from one another.

But do you get to battle both the Captains and Kahunas? And are Totem Pokemon captain's Pokemon or wild boss Pokemon?

I agree I'm very confused too

 

[Falconwing]

I really like this change in the typical gym setup. Having to interact with characters in the world and explore around and still get to have an awesome challenge at the end feels more satisfying than just winning a regular battle. Pokemon has been bringing leaders out of the gyms a lot in past years and now we've hit the climax. I'm pretty excited for that.

 

[Kallyle]

In regards to how many Trial Captains and Kahunas there are, I'm guessing we're getting 8 Trail Captains (the equivalent of 8 Gym Leaders), 2 per island, with one Kahuna that you face as the last challenge of each Island (the equivalent to the standard Elite Four, expect for the fact you face them at the same time as the Gym Leader equivalents).

Also, is no one talking about the Totem Pokémon that appear at the end of each trial? I'm wonder what those things are all about, as well as if these Totem Pokémon can be caught.

Spoiler: Theory based on Chinese Leaks

My theory is that the Totem Pokémon are part of a supernatural force that's angry about you trying to replace these sacred trials with the standard Gym Challenge. Also, I think Lillie is working with this force against you, as here dislike of battling could come from the Pokémon League trying to take away Alola's traditions. Also, the leader of these Totm Pokémon and the origin of this supernatural force may or may not Solgaleo/Lunala.

 

[Silktree]

Gyms aside (even though that's more of an asterisk given that Trials aren't gym, but they're also not not gyms either), none of those are really major. peak would be Contests, but i'd lump those as a sort of "major-minor." i think a better rewording of what Silktree was getting as is "when was the last time a core feature was dropped," and gyms (asterisk) aside, the only close answer is Day-Night and even then that was eventually brought back.

Yep. Even Contests were just an optional side activity. They were never comparable to gyms.

And yes, it turns out that gyms aren't indispensable, but it took 20 years for Game Freak to reach that conclusion. I don't think they will revert to gyms when the island challenges prove that they can add more substance to the badge quest formula. We'll probably keep getting something new in every region, but the content will be more similar to the island challenges than to gyms.

In regards to how many Trial Captains and Kahunas there are, I'm guessing we're getting 8 Trail Captains (the equivalent of 8 Gym Leaders), 2 per island, with one Kahuna that you face as the last challenge of each Island (the equivalent to the standard Elite Four, expect for the fact you face them at the same time as the Gym Leader equivalents).

The Kahunas are not Elite Four equivalents, considering that Hala has just three Pokemon. I don't see a reason to expect more Captains, but we'll probably get Elite Four equivalents to go along with the confirmed Champion.

 

[badwolf1234]

What if this is S1M1 and you build the regions league then at S2M2 you battle the league you created and the player from S1M1 is the regions champion then lol

 

[Mitchman]

Wait, what if there are 18 trials, one for each type, to grant you a z-crystal? Further more, what if the 8 first you defeat to have proper recognition from the Kahuna's of each island is the "official" league of the postgame? And the other ten are optional sidequests for fun and region exploration. After all, you would be building a league, would make sense to have a setup you find suitable.

What if this is S1M1 and you build the regions league then at S2M2 you battle the league you created and the player from S1M1 is the regions champion then lol

And this! Bring back Memory link and have S2M2 years later after you made yhe league. Gonna have fun with that one, Steel, Dark, Ghost, Psychic, Dragon, Poison, Ice, Normal league. XD

 

[LeighKetchum]

I think I'm going to like these island trials, it reminds me of the orange league from the anime! XD

 

[Uhane]

What if this is S1M1 and you build the regions league then at S2M2 you battle the league you created and the player from S1M1 is the regions champion then lol

i had this same idea.

 

[Soki]

Okay, I'm a bit confused.

So like, Captains and Kahuna's are not same things? They seem independent from one another.

But do you get to battle both the Captains and Kahunas? And are Totem Pokemon captain's Pokemon or wild boss Pokemon?

This is how I think it goes, going by the info from both the trailers and the website info:

1. On each island you complete the trials (there seem to be multiple on each island). A trial can be a battle or something else (gathering ingredients and dancing have been named as examples), so I don't think you battle each trial captain, only some of them.
   
2. "At the end of each trial, a mighty Pokémon known as a Totem Pokémon will be waiting" (from the website). So after every trial, you beat a Totem Pokémon, that isn't owned by anyone. It's just a Pokémon by itself.
   
3. After completing all the trials, you get to the grand trial, which is a battle against the Kahuna.

 

[badwolf1234]

This is how I think it goes, going by the info from both the trailers and the website info:

1. On each island you complete the trials (there seem to be multiple on each island). A trial can be a battle or something else (gathering ingredients and dancing have been named as examples), so I don't think you battle each trial captain, only some of them.
   
2. "At the end of each trial, a mighty Pokémon known as a Totem Pokémon will be waiting" (from the website). So after every trial, you beat a Totem Pokémon, that isn't owned by anyone. It's just a Pokémon by itself.
   
3. After completing all the trials, you get to the grand trial, which is a battle against the Kahuna.

I think you will still battle the captain and the totem pokemon belongs to them you see Lurantis is the totem of Lush Jungle which is Mallow's trial and which type is her expertise grass or maybe captains dont capture pokemons but just let them be their friend like how pokemon rangers are but they technically still belongs to them


Aparently the reason why they were called totem pokemon is because they stand on a totem before battle as confirmed by the japanese trailer you will see a Gumshoos jumping from one

 

[Lyrebird]

If there isn't a trial were you getting eaten by a Wailord. Then we all failed. It should be a trial. Hunt for the treasure down Wailord's tummy.

 

[NinjutsuSen]

Care to explain? We'll only know by November how good the trials really are, but so far I don't see the downside.

Less "gym leader" battles and outdoor puzzles (probably) taking the regional routes/places instead of one seperate building in one town. Also harder implementation of story elements and generell restrictions of region design.

May be something new, but something new doesn't mean it's automatically better.

 

[Necrozma]

Less "gym leader" battles.

Let me stop you right there.

- Island Captains.
- Totem Pokemon + their allies.
- Island Kahunas.

 

[PurplePopplio]

Whatever the island trials are, they are just fantastic!

 

[godiego]

Less "gym leader" battles and outdoor puzzles (probably) taking the regional routes/places instead of one seperate building in one town. Also harder implementation of story elements and generell restrictions of region design.

we can't be too sure about fewer gym battles; after all, with just one island and one trial that's three whole battles: one against the Captain, one against the Totem, and one against the Kahuna. knowing that there's at least one per island in Alola that amounts to four Captains, four Totems, and four Kahunas so twelve battles, the same as any other Gym + E4.

i disagree with the design restrictions partially because those restrictions would probably exist regardless of Gyms or Trials. by Gen V-VI, gyms were simply becoming suffocating on the openness of the regions; there were very few instances where you could actually move forward, even if only temporarily, without beating the gym.

May be something new, but something new doesn't mean it's automatically better.

normally i'd agree, however Pokemon has been running the same gig for twenty years now. at this point i'd rather that they take some risks and learn from it rather than deliver yet another reskinned product.

 

[Silktree]

Wait, what if there are 18 trials, one for each type, to grant you a z-crystal?

The current four Captains are associated with Hawaii's colors. I highly doubt that there are any more, nor I do see the need when we have other boss fights in Totem Pokemon and the Kahunas (and whatever challenge goes along with the Champion battle).

 

[Mitchman]

Less "gym leader" battles and outdoor puzzles (probably) taking the regional routes/places instead of one seperate building in one town. Also harder implementation of story elements and generell restrictions of region design.

May be something new, but something new doesn't mean it's automatically better.

Read my post near the middle of the thread. They could possibly tie the Z-Moves to the Totem Pokemon's aura crystalizing into the Z-Crystals as a manifestation of the type. Which would mean there would be 18 trials for each type in this case. Restricted region would bw the opposite of this, were you can freely choose which types you want to be required in the story and which are optional as sidequest, exloration, learning about the characters of the region, and training. It would mean there is a more open ended style of exploration, as you would have to be able to travel freely. Only restriction would be the Kahuna level being the cao of each island. I can see it being
Level 25-30 for Melemele
Level 60-65 for the Akala/Ice Mountain Kahuna's
Level 70-80 for the Legendary Isle.

I think for the other two islands you can travel between em and eventually reach the Kahuna on your own pace, but the first and last are going to be restricted for story reasons.

The current four Captains are associated with Hawaii's colors. I highly doubt that there are any more, nor I do see the need when have other boss fights in Totem Pokemon and the Kahunas.

Read the Japanese site, more are confirmed. More so the badge case equivalent has different colors for thr islands then the captains, so that is definitely not the case.

 

[Necrozma]

Read the Japanese site, more are confirmed. More so the badge case equivalent has different colors for thr islands then the captains, so that is definitely not the case.

I would like a legit translation of the section, it makes no sense for there to be more than 4 Kahunas.

Each Kahuna will likely have an island legendary as the official Japanese site implies by showing Hala with Tapu Koko.

 

[Silktree]

This page does seem to say that "there are more captains than just these four". There are definitely just four Kahunas, though. I suppose that the Kahunas are the ones that give "badges".

I am not sure that we will battle all Captains, especially since battling them wasn't confirmed. If there really is one for each type, that seems like way too many boss fights.