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Trailers and News Discussion

I was kinda using that as shorthand for "8 Leaders + 4 Elites + Champion," since I didn't mention the Kahunas or the Elites.

Certainly 4 Captains + 4 Kahunas would be more manageable. Especially since they each seem to be specific to an island, where we would presumably spend a decent amount of time. Four islands with a Captain and a Kahuna each would be easier to write than the rapid, linear stream of Leader to Leader to Leader.

We don't know if Kahuna = Elite Four at this point though. There could be other aspects of these island trials still to be revealed.

In fact it seems to me like you'll fight them like: Trial captain -> Kahuna -> Trial captain -> Kahuna (etc)
 
I forgot about the Z moves in the rush of everything else they revealed. I do like that the movement your trainer does seem to vary depending on which Pokemon it is and they do look pretty cool too. I like that you can only use the move once per battle and a Pokemon holding a Z crystal means that you can't have a Mega Pokemon using a Z-move, aside from maybe Mega Rayquaza, but they need to find a way to make that less overpowered anyway. It is still a good way to make sure that people can over power their opponents. I'm not sure if Z-moves would be used much outside of the game though. With Mega Evolution, it would obviously be easy to use them in competitive play with how they upgrade older Pokemon, but with Z-moves, you can only use them once in a battle and you lose the ability to give your Pokemon an item in the process. It might tie in more with the storyline itself, which would be neat, but I don't know how useful Z-moves would be beyond that.
 
We don't know if Kahuna = Elite Four at this point though. There could be other aspects of these island trials still to be revealed.

In fact it seems to me like you'll fight them like: Trial captain -> Kahuna -> Trial captain -> Kahuna (etc)

I mean, that's all true. But I'm not trying to say that it will follow the same format (obviously it won't, thank heavens); in fact, the format that it has changed to is very much contributing to my optimism about this. If there are four islands with a Captain and a Kahuna each, I feel like that gives them a little more room to breathe rather than "Okay I'll go to this town, and beat the Gym Leader. Okay, next town, next Gym Leader. Moving on. Okay, that's eight Gym Leaders. Now I've got an Elite to deal with..."

And yes, there will almost certainly be some kind of post-trials League-equivalent fight, but with how much they have shaken it up already, I am not quite expecting it to be something too similar to the traditional E4/Champion mold.

But, indeed, this is a very preliminary stage.

Edit: Although, in the Island Trials thread, they are saying that the Japanese site has a blurb which suggests that there are more than four Captains. In which case, bah. Here we go again. More great designs wasted on more type-obsessed cardboard non-people.
 
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Formantis and Luratis are adorable~ I love both designs!!~ And Sakuraa brought up to me that this and Bounsweet might be version exclusives, with these two in Moon because of being nocturnal, and I could see it~

This better not be true cause I want both on my team :'(

Also, I just have to ruin Alola Exeguttor for y'all. You see here in the Netherlands we've got a theme park with mechanical puppets, called the Efteling, and this is its most famous thing:

Langnek.jpg


Can't unsee.
 
Ohhh man I am so Hyped (as is my girlfriend and she has NEVER been hyped for a pokemon game. Ever.)

Alola Exeggutor: OH MY LORD LOOK AT YOU. It looks like someone rolled you like playdough you poor thing. Dragon Type? Hooboy.
Alola Vulpix/Ninetales: *POINTS AGGRESSIVELY TO MY AVATAR* PINKICETALES LIVES!!! All I need now is for its shiny to be pink and I can have a new avatar. Ice fairy? *throws it at Exeggutor* GO, KILL IT MY PRECIOUS! I love this. They're both so beautiful.
Sandshrew/Sandslash: The name is kinda weird now. Iceshrew and Iceslash it is then.
Oricoro: I love this bird. I love it. Especially the Ghost and Fire forms. Especially the Fire form. I love it the most and I want one.
Minior: Eh. I could go without the outer shell to make it a bit less meh, but eh.
Gumshoos: ITS A DETECTIVE. Someone call Looker we found him a new pokemon!
Fomantis/Lurantis: MY MANTIS POKEMON HAS FINALLY ARRIVED. It's like an orchid mantis kinda! HOORAY! BLESSED LITTLE PINK BABIES.
Mudbray: *angry squint* You don't look like a pony to me. Oh well. You'll evolve into a horse anyway. And you're cute so I like you.

Ride Pokemon: Looks like we'll only be able to ride certain pokemon. Aw man.
Island Challenge: Sounds interesting I guess. I guess this is our new Alola-Gym system? I hope there's still at least eight.
  • Mallow: She's pretty I like her!
  • Lana: Oh god no not another character who doesn't have whites for eyes... at least the rest of their design is cute.
  • Sophocles: I already dislike you. Please tell me I can battle you and stomp you into the dirt. Please.
  • Kiawe: ...Hello nurse. Fire types? Yes please. You are my favorite. I like you.
  • Totem Pokemon: Boss pokemon? Got it. Kinda like how Marowak was the final boss of the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town, only with actual story reasons to exist.
  • Kahunas: So these will either be like new gym leaders, or our Elite Four. Weird to be the elite four if you face them at the end of each island before going to another instead of all at once though if that's the case.
Z-Moves: Alright, a way to power up moves. The dances are cute. That's neat. I don't really care about battle mechanics all that much though.

I'm excited for these changes. It'll breath fresh new life into the pokemon series! And it's gotten my girlfriend excited for a new pokemon game for the first time in the decade+ since I've known her. I love that old pokemon are getting new typings for a new environment. That change is so unexpected and so cool. I can't wait to see how more of the pokemon I love differ on these islands! Hopefully the Island trials will be more fun than gym battles. I mostly care about the designs of the leaders more than the experience of challenging their gym. And, after playing leaf green, I have discovered I kind of hate gyms. Especially ones with challenges like FREAKING MAZES AND WARP PANELS. May those never return and instead we get a bigger area to explore and new unique challenges in their place.
 
Edit: Although, in the Island Trials thread, they are saying that the Japanese site has a blurb which suggests that there are more than four Captains. In which case, bah. Here we go again. More great designs wasted on more type-obsessed cardboard non-people.
Just focus on the Kahunas. They're likely to fleshed out and they aren't type specialists, either.

Hidden Power said:
With Mega Evolution, it would obviously be easy to use them in competitive play with how they upgrade older Pokemon, but with Z-moves, you can only use them once in a battle and you lose the ability to give your Pokemon an item in the process. It might tie in more with the storyline itself, which would be neat, but I don't know how useful Z-moves would be beyond that.
If these moves have around 200 power, they can basically function as OHKO moves under the right circumstances (STAB and good offensive stats) even without a type advantage. Even the Gem items were useful and they only provided a single 30% boost per battle.
 
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I think Gumshoos looks kind of like your stereotypical private detective (hence the name "Gumshoos": a play on "gumshoe," slang for "detective"). Having an ability called Stakeout just sells it.

Mudbray is a donkey-like Pokémon that evolves into a Clydesdale-like Pokémon... Is anyone else reminded of that Budwieser commercial where the donkey joined the pulling team?

I doubt that they're replacing the Gyms with the Island challenge. That would be going a bit too far with trying to be different. I'm assuming that it's a side challenge or something. After all, when have they ever advertised the Gyms? It's a Pokémon game, the Gyms are pretty much a given.

I'm honestly hoping that they aren't getting rid of Mega Evolution. It's an awesome mechanic that gives a lot more variety to Pokémon battles, and there are still a lot of Pokémon out there that could use them.

On another note, are the Alolan forms the ONLY forms those Pokémon have in Sun and Moon? For instance, if you transfer a Ninetales from Gen. VI or the Virtual Console Red, Blue, and/or Yellow, does it stay a Fire-type, or does it get turned into the Alolan version?

Also, I doubt that the Ridable Pokémon are meant to replace HM moves. I mean, I didn't see anything that was able to climb up waterfalls, did any of you?

Finally, if they DON'T announce a dolphin-based Pokémon this generation, I will be really sad. This is the perfect region to introduce one!
 
Just WOW. I felt that SM would be by far the greatest games, but after today's realease I'm even more astonished.

I like very much the idea of the new Alola forms of old pokemon. I would prefer a Mega Nitetales (Fire/Fairy) but Ice/Fairy isn't that bad. Alolan Exeggutor is just hilarius! I love it. Way better than the old design. It was the first I saw in the trailer preview on YouTube, and firstly I thought it was Mega Exeggutor :)

I like all new pokemon except Trump, and I LOVE the concept of the island trials. Very glad we will not have gyms anymore, it became quite boring.

In the other hand, I don't like Z-Moves. It will have negative effect on the balance of the battles.
 
I am blown away by the news. I have never expected older pokemon to have different forms due to the climate. I be a bit disappointed if there is no gyms but I would give the Island Trials a chance. Z moves and Z Crystal got me interested. Why do they a Z? Does it have something to do with Zygarde or just coincidence?
 
It will have negative effect on the balance of the battles.
I think it's too early to say if the Z-moves are going to have a negative impact on battling or not. Sure, they might seem op, but you can only use them once in a battle on just a single pokemon, and not to mention that you have to use the item slot for a Z-Crystal. They don't spell to me the imbalance of battling(not that it was really balanced in the first place, but eh, you get the point).
 
Crazy theory what if instead of megas since they might be gone the megas are in there as those Pokemon's Alola forms?

Alola sceptile would be mega sceptile with grass dragon Alola charizard will be mega charizard x/y depending on version Alola glaile will be mega glaile and etc
Oh...my...arceus...YES

The positive: The leaked starter final evolutions are real and I REALLLLLLY like the starter evolutions, especially Popplio's.
??? WHAAAAAAA?!?!?!?!?!?? When was this mentioned and can someone give me links to these pics?!?!?!?!?
 
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I think another reason why I'm so mixed on the Alola forms is that they're so drastically different that they might as well be brand new Pokemon instead of new designs and type combinations of older Pokemon. This is especially the case for the Vulpix and Sandshrew lines. The designs are cool and I am curious about other Alola forms we could have, but it seems like they could have been brand new Pokemon instead if they didn't want to give these Pokemon Mega Evolutions.
 
I think another reason why I'm so mixed on the Alola forms is that they're so drastically different that they might as well be brand new Pokemon instead of new designs and type combinations of older Pokemon. This is especially the case for the Vulpix and Sandshrew lines. The designs are cool and I am curious about other Alola forms we could have, but it seems like they could have been brand new Pokemon instead if they didn't want to give these Pokemon Mega Evolutions.
They're still close enough to me to feel like old Pokemon. This isn't like calling Woobat "Zubat Unova Form".
 
That's what worries me also about the Alolan forms. They might not only take away attention from the new Alola Pokemon like Megas and the abundant previous generation Pokemon did, but there could also be a very small Pokedex just like Gen VI...And its possible a large amount has been revealed to us like in Gen VI.
 
They're still close enough to me to feel like old Pokemon. This isn't like calling Woobat "Zubat Unova Form".

I don't know. They still have similar enough physical features, like the spikes and tails, but with such different typing for them, it just makes me think that they could have used these concepts or at least the type combinations for brand new Pokemon instead.

Admittedly, I wouldn't be too upset if we got another small amount of Alola region Pokemon like we did with Kalos, mainly because of how good most of the designs are, but I can understand the annoyance and worry with that possibility too.
 
Really cool news today. Wasn't expecting anything big but this is such a shocker.

Alola Forms
I like that GF canonically accepted different species. It helps with the immersion factor and overall it's pretty neat. My only issue is that we just got Mega Evolution last gen which was already giving us new forms of old Pokémon. As long as we don't get a pure Dragon Charmander though I think I'll be fine.

Riding Pokémon
Hell yes. No need to say more.

New Pokémon
All really neat, and I actually love all of the designs. All of them feel like there was a good deal of thought put into them, and I love how they reflect the region they're found in.

Z-Moves
Kinda dumb if I'm being honest, especially because it "works" the exact same as Mega Evo. Besides, if using the moves takes a great deal of power, then should Pokémon really still be able to battle afterwards? Doesn't make much sense and feels very gimmicky. Also the names are really strange. :I I mean "Bloom Doom," really?

Island Trials
Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic idea. We need a little change every here and there and this is exactly the type of thing I was looking for. Plus the trial guardians (or whatever they're called, didn't watch the English trailer) all look really cool. Only issue is that so few of them look like they could be from a place based off of Hawaii. :v Not a fan of that, GF.


Overall a cool batch of info. Excited because S&M are going to feel very fresh and original rather than another bland gingerbread cookie.
 
Ehh... How can I say this properly?

I'm just gonna go on record and say that this was a complete dud for me. None of the new Pokémon caught my eye, I'm not sure what I think of those rebranded gyms, and I could do without these Alola Forms if it turns out that they're only going to serve as incentive for trading with Gen I VC to get the standard forms. I personally prefer Ninetales as a Fire type.
An inferior Alola Gengar would be just the thing that prompts me to remain with ORAS and Gen VI for the duration.

Same here. I'm not as excited for SM as I was prior to today, however I will be getting at least Sun just to stay in the loop and hopefully we get Sinnoh remakes, but this might be the first time I skip getting both paired versions.
 
Alrite, so now thoughts on everything else~

Island Trials sound cool, but I am hoping that since these do seem to be the Alola Gyms that there is a good amount of battling involved since it seems like the trails itself are more about small quests than fighting your way to a final boss~ The Totem Pokemon are interesting and calling for backup could make for a pretty decent challenge

Lana looks cute, Mallow is my fave, design-wise~ Sophocles looks nice, design wise, but I wish he was more than just a Clemont 2.0 in terms of personality~ Kaiwe looks WILD! Plus I also am expecting a Fire Alolan Marowak from him~

Riding mons is always cool, and the possibility that they may replace some TMs will defs be loved by majority of the fans~

Finally, Z -Moves look OP as hell and I strongly doubt they're gonna be allowed in competitive, but in game, they look AWESOME and I want to learn more about it, ASAP, though it does essentially seem the same as MEGAs~Can't wait for them Anime teas when I use them mega ultra power beams in-game~
 
I'm the opposite. Today's news has only increased my interest. I wanted them to either focus less on gyms or try something new, and they seem to be offering us something like that with the island challenge. Sure it might not end up being all it's cracked up to be, but I'm just SO glad they finally broke the stale formula and are trying something else. Trial Leaders don't seem to be gym leaders under different names since their challenges aren't just battling, we're getting a fun pest-style boss with the Totem Pokemon and Kahunas seem to be the big boss of each island.

Alolan forms are fine too. For a game based around creatures "evolving", adaptation likes this makes sense. We already have forms previously too like with Wormadam, so it's not a huge leap and is just retroactively adding them in as adaptations. I'm cool with it as long as they extend beyond Gen I Pokemon, the Gen I pandering gets beyond annoying at times.

Though I don't understand what makes the new Ninetales Fairy, the new Sandslash Steel and the new Exeggutor Dragon. I feel Ninetales and Sandslash would have fit as pure Ice, the Fairy and Steel feel tacked on and going from pure Fire and Ground into dual Ice with Fairy and Steel feels a bit off to me. But I like the idea and I'm looking forward to more changed up designs. Of course Exeggutor has turned into meme!
 
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