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3DS

Alola Forms, Z-Moves Announced For Pokemon Sun And Moon

by Donald Theriault - August 1, 2016, 6:43 am EDT
Total comments: 29 Source: Pokemon Company

Plus new challenges, handicap matches and more

The latest Pokémon Sun and Moon trailer has confirmed major changes to the game, including new forms of classic Pokémon and the addition of high-power type exclusive attacks.

Among the old Pokémon shown to be receiving new forms with variant types are Exeggutor (Grass / Dragon), Vulpix and Ninetales (Ice, Ice/Fairy), and Sandshrew/Sandslash (Ice / Steel). Other Alola Form Pokémon may be announced at a later date.

Z-Moves are a new variety of move that can be activated once per battle and vary depending on the type of the Pokémon. Fire, Water, Electric, and Grass moves (Inferno Overdrive, Hydro Vortex, Gigavolt Havoc, and Doom Bloom) were revealed, as executed by Pikachu and the Alola starting Pokémon.

Some changes or additions are coming to the game's structure as well: each island has a specific trial ran by one of four characters, who also focus on different types (Fire, Water, Electric and Grass). Each Trial will end with a battle against a powerful Totem Pokémon, who can call for help to create 2-on-1 battles - a series first, outside of particular late game situations in existing double battles. The islands will also have a Kahuna; the previously revealed Hala will serve in this role for the starting island, Melemele. It isn't clear if this supplements or replaces the existing gym structure.

Finally, new Pokémon were revealed as well:

  • Oricorio is a dancing bird whose first type - all are dual-typed with flying - and style depend on the island where it is encountered. Baile style is Fire, Pom-Pom Electric, Pa'u is Psychic and Sensu Ghost. Its move Revelation Dance changes its type to match the style's, and its "Dancer" ability allows it to copy Dance moves such as Swords Dance and Quiver Dance.
  • Minior is a Rock/Flying type who has the new Shields Down ability, in which it reveals its core (in one of four colors) after receiving a certain amount of damage and lowers its defensive stats to become an attacker.
  • Gunshoos is the evolved form of Yungoos, and will serve as one of the Totem Pokémon.
  • Fomantis and Lurantis are a Grass-typed evolution family, with Leaf Guard as their ability. They learn a new move Solar Blade.
  • Mudbray is the colt form of Mudsdale, still a pure Ground type.

Talkback

WahAugust 01, 2016

Vulpix and Ninetales, Ice/Fairy?
WTF?
O.K ill bite who would this most likely affect battles?

CaterkillerMatthew Osborne, Contributing WriterAugust 01, 2016

YEEEEEESSSSS!!!!


I'll take these older Pokemon adapting to different environments giving them new abilities and stats over Megas any day of the week!


Loving all these new Pokemon!!!! More more more more!

nickmitchAugust 01, 2016

Really curious to see if the Alola versions are formes or if they get their own 'dex numbers.

Also pretty cool that instead of making a "palm tree" Pokemon, they reused an existing tree Pokemon.  And same with a "snow fox" or some kinda "snow mole?".

OedoAugust 02, 2016

The Alola forms are a great idea (Ninetales in particular looks really cool) and I'm assuming that we'll see a fair bit more of these as time passes. It seems like they just wanted to show Exeggutor and the Ice types today and we'll see others show up in subsequent update videos. I really hope Alola forms don't replace Mega Evolutions though. They've become some of my favourite designs in the game and new Mega Evolutions is one of the things I've been looking forward to the most with Sun and Moon. Hopefully the two forms can coexist and we do indeed end up getting a bunch more Alola forms and new Mega Evolutions.

"The Rite of the Island Challenge" sounds like a nice way to mix things up. Maybe they're holding a lot of information back for now so it's hard to tell how far they'll go with it, but given the information they have shared so far, it doesn't sound like it's big enough to replace the gyms. I don't think they'd want to change up the core formula for Sun and Moon that drastically since there's been an obvious push to get old fans back into the series. And, honestly, I don't think I'd want them to replace the gyms with something else at this point myself. There are plenty of ways to add new content and make the games different while still using the gyms as the guiding force.

Oricorio's design, the Z-Moves, and Solar Blade all look great as well. They're really making these regular updates worthwhile by revealing a lot of cool new stuff in each one of them. I'm excited to see the next set of reveals!

by the way, this is worth noting that this essentially confirmed a couple of sets of leaks.

there was a set of chinese leaks in early june that showed concept art of starter final evolutions, and one of the Trial Captains revealed in yesterday's trailer matches up pretty much exact with a sketch of a character that appears in the concept images for Litten's final evolution (which is Fire/Dark, not Fire/Fighting like it would appear to be.)

Alola forme pokemon and the bird with different types depending on the island, as well as the lack of pokemon league were predicted. so was salandit, so it's looking like the leaks are mostly valid!

As far as other Alola form pokes are concerned, be on the look out for Water-type Growlithe, Bug/Psychic Butterfree, fighting type abra line, flying/fighting Doduo/Dodrio, Poison/Fighting Nidoking and Nidoqueen, and others!

This, of course, reveals the purpose of being able to Pokebank Gen 1 pokemon, as they'll be ways to get pokemon in their original states. possibly even meaning things like Mono-normal Jigglypuff or Normal Clefairy.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnxcWM7WEAAlPzd.jpg:large

http://pokejungle.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/starter-evolutions-rowlet.jpg

http://pokejungle.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/starter-evolutions-litten.jpg

http://pokejungle.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/starter-evolutions-popplio.jpg

and finally, the proof that confirms this leak,

http://nintendoeverything.com/wp-content/uploads/pokemon-sun-moon-starter-evidence.jpg

nickmitchAugust 02, 2016

Quote from: Oedo

The Alola forms are a great idea (Ninetales in particular looks really cool) and I'm assuming that we'll see a fair bit more of these as time passes. It seems like they just wanted to show Exeggutor and the Ice types today and we'll see others show up in subsequent update videos. I really hope Alola forms don't replace Mega Evolutions though. They've become some of my favourite designs in the game and new Mega Evolutions is one of the things I've been looking forward to the most with Sun and Moon. Hopefully the two forms can coexist and we do indeed end up getting a bunch more Alola forms and new Mega Evolutions.

I don't think there's a risk of the Alola forms replacing megas.  The Alola forms seem like they're a permanent change They also apply to the entire evolutionary line; whereas, megas only happen for the most evolved of line.

WahAugust 02, 2016

Lucario is Ready to go to Hawaii!

rygarAugust 03, 2016

I think the z moves look fun. Pairing them with Pokemon that don't evolve (or only evolve one form) would spice those characters up a lot for me.

I like the sound of the island challenges, but I also hope they don't replace the gyms with them. The gym settings are my favorite designs in X and AS. I'd prefer they take away from the villainous team storyline instead if something has to be cut.

rygarAugust 03, 2016

http://www.ign.com/wikis/pokemon-sun-pokemon-moon/New_Game_Mechanics_and_Features

This IGN article explicitly claims that the island challenges are replacing the gyms. I wonder if they have confirmation or if this was just poorly written/edited.

WahAugust 03, 2016

Brace yourselves,
Exeggutor memes are coming.

Like seriously why the hell is a tree literally a tree with no limbs at all, a dragon?

EDIT:
Sorry he has two stubby legs but still. STUPID

nickmitchAugust 03, 2016

Ever since Exeggutor moved to Alola, lost some weight, and started to do well for itself, haters been hating.  Let that Pokemon live!

WahAugust 03, 2016

"started to well for itself"
Who has the bad grammar nickmitch?

nickmitchAugust 03, 2016

Quote from: Lucario

"started to well for itself"
Who has the bad grammar nickmitch?

Your face does!!!

nickmitchAugust 03, 2016

Quote from: nickmitch

Quote from: Lucario

"started to well for itself"
Who has the bad grammar nickmitch?

Your face does!!!

Sweet burn, bro. High-five!

nickmitchAugust 03, 2016

Quote from: nickmitch

Quote from: nickmitch

Quote from: Lucario

"started to well for itself"
Who has the bad grammar nickmitch?

Your face does!!!

Sweet burn, bro. High-five!

Thanks, bro! Fives!!

WahAugust 03, 2016

XD, is that the Exegguto heads talking to themselves? XD

Quote from: Lucario

Brace yourselves,
Exeggutor memes are coming.

Like seriously why the hell is a tree literally a tree with no limbs at all, a dragon?

EDIT:
Sorry he has two stubby legs but still. STUPID

Two words;

Dragon Fruit

WahAugust 04, 2016

Quote from: ClexYoshi

Quote from: Lucario

Brace yourselves,
Exeggutor memes are coming.

Like seriously why the hell is a tree literally a tree with no limbs at all, a dragon?

EDIT:
Sorry he has two stubby legs but still. STUPID

Two words;

Dragon Fruit

still stupid, his heads are clearly meant to resemble coconuts, coconuts are not dragons.

MythtendoAugust 04, 2016

SMH, Alola forms are beyond stupid. This is basically them saying "we ran out of ideas for new Pokemon, so here is a blue Vulpix and Exeggutor with a long neck". At least Mega Evolutions were kinda cool, these are just lame and an excuse to not come up with new Pokemon.

Quote from: Mythtendo

SMH, Alola forms are beyond stupid. This is basically them saying "we ran out of ideas for new Pokemon, so here is a blue Vulpix and Exeggutor with a long neck". At least Mega Evolutions were kinda cool, these are just lame and an excuse to not come up with new Pokemon.

I'm afraid I have to STRONGLY disagree, sir.

while new designs or proper evolutions for old pokes are the most preferable thing, Alola Form pokemon do not turn Pokemon into shite digimon. they do not unbalance and centralize the meta in ways that Mega Evolutions do. Especially given the fact that the descriptions for Alolan Sandshrew and Sandslash mention that they are slower but sturdier than their counterparts in the rest of the world, that means that Alolan formes have new Base Stat distribution, New move pools, new abilities, and new aesthetics. besides possibly a National Dex number and name, these pretty much are new Pokemon.

This isn't tied to some crappy mechanic, and I imagine that this gives the folks at gamefreak somewhat of a mark unto which to design pokemon without a blinding amount of power creep muddling with their vision. also, given that there are plenty of examples of sub-species of animals and plants IRL evolving to adapt to a new environment (desert palm trees are short, squat, and clustered together to hold more water and such. tropic palm trees are incredibly tall so they don't get swept away in tropical storms), I would say that this works a hell of a lot better than stupid disgusting shojou anime bullshit.

WahAugust 04, 2016

Mega evolutions did add a new layer of strategy to most battles, however.
But it nows seem they have gotten lazy with the Alola, the new Ninetales is just a copy'n'paste, change colour. That I could do in 5 mins top.

nickmitchAugust 06, 2016

I kinda like the Alola forms.  It shows that Pokemon can be found in different regions having adapted to the different environments, like real world animals.  I would kinda like to see more of it, but that might take some retconning.

WahAugust 07, 2016

I like it too but the tree-never-speak-his-name, is pissing me off in terms of design.

KhushrenadaAugust 07, 2016

Quote from: nickmitch

Your face does!!!

Quote from: nickmitch

Sweet burn, bro. High-five!

Quote from: nickmitch

Thanks, bro! Fives!!

Multiple posts involving a conversation with one's self? That's some Khushrenada level posting right there!  ;D


Now steal my schtick again and you're banned for life.  >:(

http://hiphopnewssource.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Diddy2.jpg

And having Lucario call you out for bad grammar? That's pretty objectionable. Do I have to revoke your attorney's licence?

nickmitchAugust 07, 2016

Quote from: Khushrenada

Quote from: nickmitch

Your face does!!!

Quote from: nickmitch

Sweet burn, bro. High-five!

Quote from: nickmitch

Thanks, bro! Fives!!

Multiple posts involving a conversation with one's self? That's some Khushrenada level posting right there!  ;D


Now steal my schtick again and you're banned for life.  >:(

http://hiphopnewssource.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Diddy2.jpg

And having Lucario call you out for bad grammar? That's pretty objectionable. Do I have to revoke your attorney's licence?

First, an image of the prestigious Mr. Combs is quite the ironic visual to accuse me of copy-catting.  P. Diddy is a known and admitted employer of what is known as "ghostwriters" or individuals paid to write songs and not receive credit.  To quote Mr. Daddy, "Don't worry if I write rhymes! I write checks!"

Second, typographical errors are commonplace, and clearly Lucario is lashing out after that one time I corrected him about apostrophe use.

WahAugust 07, 2016

no sh*t.
Really? never would have guessed!

KhushrenadaAugust 07, 2016

It wasn't about the person in the pic. It was about the attitude displayed by the person in the pic as representin' my attitude behind my message.

... wait, Khush has mod powers? and judicial powers?!?

nickmitchAugust 08, 2016

Quote from: Khushrenada

It wasn't about the person in the pic. It was about the attitude displayed by the person in the pic as representin' my attitude behind my message.

Whatever.

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