The Pokémon Company has been doing an excellent job of giving fans of the franchise consistent updates about the new games, and today was no exception. We learned about some new version-exclusive Pokémon, Abilities, attack moves, a feature called ‘Pokémon Refresh’, and an update coming to Pokémon Bank. Check out the trailer below, or read on if you’re too excited to learn what’s new!
Pokémon Sun-Exclusive Pokémon
Passimian is a new fighting-type Pokémon, referred to as ‘The Teamwork Pokémon’. It gathers in groups of 20-30 and throws berries at its opponents. It has a new ability, ‘Receiver’, that allows it to take on the Ability of an ally that faints in battle.
Rockruff has a new evolution with two different forms, one of which appears in each of the new games.
Lycanroc (Midday Form) is a rock-type Pokémon that has evolved into this form as a result of the sunlight that is constantly bathing Pokémon Sun‘s Alola Region. It learns a new move called ‘Accelrock’ that always strikes first.
Pokémon Moon-Exclusive Pokémon
Oranguru, ‘The Sage Pokémon’, is a dual Normal/Psychic Pokémon. It lives deep within the Alolan forests and is known to give medicine and food to sick or sick Pokémon. It learns a new move, ‘Instruct’, which makes the target use its most recent move again immediately.
Lycanroc (Midnight Form) is a rock-type Pokémon that has evolved from Rockruff under the influence of the lunar energy of Pokémon Moon‘s Alola Region. It will sacrifice its own safety to strike down its foes.
The trailer also shows off exclusive Z-Moves (ultra-powerful attack moves that can be used once per battle with a special item) for Pikachu and Eevee. They have special animations, and I’m a huge fan of both of them. If you watch the trailer above, you’ll see Pikachu’s trainer throw it into the air so it can slam down on its foe with a burst of electrical energy, while Eevee uses the power of its multiple evolved forms to boost all of its stats at once. This portion of the trailer also confirms that Eevee will not be getting a new evolution in these games. The most recent one was fairy-type Sylveon in Pokémon X and Y.
Just like in Pokémon X and Y, trainers can customize their looks with different outfits. New to these games is the ability to also change your hair, eye, and clothing color to make sure that everything matches just the way you want it to!
In Pokémon X and Y as well as in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, players could pet their Pokémon, feed them, and play three different minigames with them in a feature known as Pokémon-Amie. That feature seems to be returning in a slightly different capacity in these new games. According to the press release (which you can read below), Pokémon Refresh will allow you to groom your Pokémon in different ways, feed them Poké Seeds, care for them, and even cure some of their status conditions. The trailer shows a wet Oranguru being blow dried, and it seems like there will be a number of different ways to interact with your Pokémon pals. Similarly to in Pokémon-Amie, Pokémon that you take good care of it will perform better in battle – landing more critical hits, avoiding more attacks, or lasting through an otherwise devastating attack.
In January 2017, Pokémon storage application Pokémon Bank will receive an update that will allow players to transfer their Pokémon over from the 3DS Virtual Console releases of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. It will also include a ‘National Pokédex’ feature that compiles Pokédex information from all main-series Pokémon games that have been played on that device, making it a little bit easier to finally ‘Catch ’em All’.
Does anything here stand out to you? What are some of your favorite new Pokémon? Will you be picking up the new games on November 18th?
Press Release:
Bellevue, WA—20 September 2016—The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo revealed new information for the latest games in the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. The games launch in North America on November 18 and are available exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.
Newly revealed Pokémon include:
Passimian
Type: Fighting
The Teamwork Pokémon Passimian attack by throwing Berries at their foes. They tend to live in troops of 20–30 Passimian, who all follow one leader. These tribes work in teams to train and improve their skills. This Pokémon has the Ability Receiver, an Ability which no previous Pokémon has had. With the Receiver Ability, Passimian can inherit the Ability of an ally who faints in battle. Passimian only appear in Pokémon Sun.Oranguru
Type: Normal/Psychic
The Sage Pokémon Oranguru live in the solitary deeps of the Alolan forests and, in fact, were once known as ‘the people of the forests’. Oranguru hold a fan-like object made of leaves and are known to be kind to other Pokémon in the forest, often giving injured Pokémon medicine or hungry Pokémon food. This Pokémon can exclusively learn the new move Instruct, a move which can make the selected target use its most recent move again immediately. Oranguru only appear in Pokémon Moon.The previously revealed Puppy Pokémon Rockruff can evolve into a different form depending on whether you are playing Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon.
Lycanroc (Midday Form)
Type: Rock
In the world of Pokémon Sun, Rockruff is bathed in profuse amounts of solar energy, and Solgaleo’s influence causes this Pokémon to evolve into Lycanroc’s Midday Form. This form is known for speedy movement which can confound its opponents. A very loyal Pokémon, Lycanroc Midday Form dodges opponents’ strikes whilst attacking with the sharp rocks of its mane. Lycanroc Midday Form can learn Accelerock, a new move unique to the Pokémon, which is guaranteed to strike first, damaging opponents by slamming into them very quickly.Lycanroc (Midnight Form)
Type: Rock
In the world of Pokémon Moon, Rockruff is bathed in an abundance of lunar energy, and Lunala’s influence causes this Pokémon to evolve into Lycanroc’s Midnight Form. This Pokémon will sacrifice its own safety to strike down its foes. The stronger an opponent is, the more excited Lycanroc Midnight Form becomes, its eyes glowing with the thrill of battle. This Pokémon feels a deep trust towards a Trainer who can draw forth its true power.Two new Pokémon-specific Z-moves were also announced for some fan-favorite Pokémon:
Pikachu
Exclusive Z-Move name: Catastropika
Pikachu’s exclusive Z-Move, Catastropika, is a super-powered attack move where Pikachu borrows its Trainer’s strength, wraps itself in extra-high-voltage electric power, and charges into its opponents. This is Pikachu’s most powerful attack.Eevee
Exclusive Z-Move name: Extreme Evoboost
Eevee’s exclusive Z-Move, Extreme Evoboost, gathers together Sylveon, Jolteon and more – all of the eight Pokémon that Eevee can evolve into – and grants their powers to Eevee. This highly powerful move raises Eevee’s Attack, Defense, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def and Speed by 2.The popular character-customization feature makes a return in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Personalize your character’s clothing, hairstyle and eye color as you venture through the Alola region. Now, you can even dye your fashions to change their color and make sure you pull off your favorite look whilst out adventuring.
The Pokémon Refresh feature lets you care for your Pokémon. After a battle, Pokémon can sometimes end up rumpled and dirty. Pokémon Refresh lets you clean them up, care for them, feed them Poké Beans and even cure status conditions like poisoning and paralysis that were inflicted on them in battle. Pokémon that have been looked after in Pokémon Refresh can grow very affectionate and will battle to the utmost for you. This means that sometimes they may avoid attacks from opposing Pokémon or even hold out when they’re on the verge of fainting. Take good care of all your Pokémon in Pokémon Refresh, and they will be great allies on your adventure.
The Nintendo 3DS downloadable software Pokémon Bank, an application that enables players to put Pokémon they’ve been on past adventures with into internet-based storage boxes, will be receiving an update in January 2017. This update will give the Pokémon Bank application compatibility with Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon and include a new National Pokédex feature. The Pokédex feature reads saved data from any compatible titles you connect to Pokémon Bank and collects information about all the Pokémon you have caught. You can then check out all of this information in the Pokémon Bank application and even see Pokémon that don’t natively appear in the Alola region. Poké Transporter will also be updated to make the Virtual Console versions of Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue and Pokémon Yellow compatible with Pokémon Bank. This means that Pokémon players caught in the VC-original Kanto games will be able to be transferred across into Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.