On June 2, 2016, The Pokémon Company released new information regarding the upcoming video game titles "Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon" causing a stir of excitement among Pokémon fans across the globe. The video provides a second look at actual gameplay and contains lots of new and exciting information. The games were officially revealed in February of this year and the first trailer footage was seen in early May. Earlier information confirmed the starter Pokémon, the Chinese language addition, and that the games were based on Hawaii. But this new information delves more into a few solidified details of the games.
So without further adieu, here are all of the new pieces of information and even a little bit of personal commentary from yours truly.
1. Box Legendaries’ Types, Moves, and Abilities
To begin, the video confirms the typings, signature moves, and abilities of the two main legendary Pokémon.
Solgaleo, the Sunne Pokémon and mascot for "Pokémon Sun," has the typing of psychic and steel and the ability Full Metal Body, which prevents its stats from being lowered. This lion-esque creature has the signature move Sunsteel Strike, which disregards the opposing Pokémon’s ability and appears to be a physical attack move. According to the details listed on the official Pokemon website, Solgaleo has been considered an emissary of the sun since ancient times and stores energy from the sun throughout its body.
Lunala, the Moone Pokémon and mascot for "Pokémon Moon," is confirmed to have the typing of psychic and ghost with the ability Shadow Shield, which reduces the amount of damage received from an attack when the user has full health, or Hit Points (HP). Moongeist Beam is Lunala’s signature move and also disregards the opposing Pokémon’s ability. From the video footage, the move appears to be a special attack move. Official details discuss how its wings absorb energy from light and how it resembles the night sky.
Like a typical legendary Pokémon dichotomy, these two seem to be fairly equal and opposite. One seems to be a physical attacker while the other seems to be a special attacker and they each represent opposing masses. It’s the same cliche formula of red or blue that most Pokémon games seem to implement.
And while that might not sound rather interesting, the typings of these legendaries is interesting. I was expecting Solgaleo to be at least partially fire, but instead, it received an odd typing of psychic and steel. I found this especially strange for a Pokémon that represents the sun, essentially a giant celestial foundation of heat and fire, because steel-type Pokémon is weak against fire-type Pokémon.
Lunala’s psychic and ghost pairing seems better fitted, but still doesn’t quite add up. Its physical features seem more similar to a dragon or flying type Pokémon, and being based off the moon made me originally think of fairy-types because of their powerful connection to the moon. But when watching the video again, I noticed how both of the Pokémon’s foreheads light up with what appears to be a third eye, thus helping me relate to why both of them would be "all-seeing" psychic-types. Psychic Pokémon do have connections with outer space (remember Solrock and Lunatone?), which makes perfect sense with the two legendaries. I hope the storyline better explains these typings, especially the non-psychic ones because I personally would have chosen different typings for them.
And while the official details claim that they each have unique abilities, they seem awfully similar to the already existing abilities of Clear Body and Multiscale but with different names.
2. Alola Region Map
Aloha, Alola Region!
Based on one of the world’s most famous archipelagos, Hawaii, the Alola Region is comprised of four natural islands and one artificial one. It is said to have a multitude of never before seen Pokémon. The released footage shows the main character traveling through a variety of Alola settings and the updated graphics of the game should provide an even more visually stunning experience for players.
While specific details about Alola haven’t been released yet, viewers can get a fairly good idea of what the region will feel like. Each of the four islands seem to have different variations of biomes, from desert to tundra. In the center of the four islands, there is an intriguing landform that could be the artificial island. From the looks of it, the possible artificial island could be the Pokémon League, an after story battle facility, or something entirely new. And much expected from Pokémon, there are ambiguous masses of land shrouded by clouds which might make a later appearance.
3. Trainer Customization
One of my personal favorites is back!
Originally introduced in “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y” (but then removed in “Pokémon Omega Ruby” and “Pokémon Alpha Sapphire”), trainer customization returns for the generation debuting games. Players can once again choose both the gender and race of their character. Whether or not players can purchase and change their player’s clothes, however, has not been released yet.
In my opinion, I believe that players will be able to customize their player’s wardrobe again. Trainer customization was a really popular feature when it was first released and heavily missed when it was taken away. It is also really nice to see that they have added another skin tone to the selection menu. Proper racial representation is so important in video games and I am sure that nonwhite players are tired of always having to play as a default white character.
In addition, I hope that there will be more hairstyle and clothing options for players because the previous selections were somewhat limited. Although the options were alright in the previous games, it would be nice to have more options. For instance, you could change your hairstyle and hair color in “Pokémon X” and “Pokémon Y,” but there weren’t even any curly hairstyles to choose from. You could only choose from a short list of straight haired hairstyles and a few different colors. The wardrobe options provided a little bit more room for individuality, but were far more limited if you chose the male character.
4. Character Details
These are the new and stylish character options that players have the choice of. The whole story starts when the main character moves to the Alola Region and, from there, the adventure begins! These two look ready to both battle Pokémon and go to a music festival.
- Professor Kukui
The professor is hot. There, I said it.
Now then, this strangely attractive male character is the professor of the Alola Region and, most likely, the person to give you your first Pokémon in the game. He wears his lab coat over his bare torso and is passionate about Pokémon research. To cary on the Pokémon Professor tradition, he is also named after a tree. I can already sense the amount of fan-fiction that will include this character.
- Lillie
Lillie is said to be a mysterious character that assists the professor and loves to read books. It is mentioned that she doesn’t like Pokémon battles and will play a very important role in the story. My guess is that she is either an Elite Four member, the champion, or a secretly evil villain.
- Hau
Hau is one of the main character's first friends and overall rival in the game. But unlike the rivals in earlier Pokémon games, he seems really amiable. His character description talks about his big heart and his love for malasada.
5. Rotom Pokédex
