Pokémon Sun/Moon: New Trailer Shows New Pokémon, Features, Special Demo

In addition to evolutions of the starter Pokémon (and confirmation of a huge rumor), this new trailer also highlights a ton of new and returning features. Let’s dive right into them, shall we?

Festival Plaza

In the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon games, communication features are gathered together in the new Festival Plaza. Players will be able to see other people playing near them, or other players that are connected to the internet to battle or trade. By talking to people and listening to their requests in Festival Plaza, players can receive Festival Coins. There are cool stores to spend Festival Coins in, such as dye houses, goody shops (where rare items are obtained) and even bouncy castles for Pokémon to train in. As players gather more Festival Coins, their Festival Plaza will rank up, yielding rewards and making more activities available. Players will even gain the ability to host missions, where multiple players can work together to try to achieve certain goals.

Poké Pelago

Another new feature that was announced was Poké Pelago. In Poké Pelago, Pokémon that are stored in a PC Box can explore a variety of isles, play on athletic equipment and enjoy other fun activities. If players send many Pokémon to Poké Pelago, they can develop more facilities on the isles and also develop new kinds of isles. As these isles are developed and increase in number, they will allow players to obtain items and even raise Pokémon.

Mega Evolution Returns!

Mega Evolution is making a return as well. Pokémon that were able to Mega Evolve in previous Pokémon games will also be able to Mega Evolve in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. The Mega Stones for Pokémon with the capability to Mega Evolve that appear in the Alola region may be received from characters in the game or obtained from special shops.

Pokémon Global Link Update

The Pokémon Global Link will be updated for Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon and will be available from the games’ launch date. The updated PGL site will have new features, including new Online Competitions, global missions and more. More information and features on the upcoming site can be found here: http://www.pokemon-sunmoon.com/en-us/new-pokemon-global-link-features/.

Special Demo Version and Ash-Greninja

The Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon Special Demo Version was also unveiled and will be available to download directly from Nintendo eShop or via the official Nintendo website starting from October 18. The Special Demo Version introduces players to the Alola region and features Ash-Greninja, the Pokémon that appears alongside the hero Ash in the animated TV series Pokémon the Series: XYZ. Players will be able to transfer their Ash-Greninja from the Special Demo Version to their full version of Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon once purchased when the games launch on November 18.

Talk about a lot of information to soak in at once! I was growing concerned that Mega Evolution would be left out of the new games (Game Freak has a bad habit of introducing cool new concepts and then forgetting about them in new games – looking at you, Secret Bases and Pokémon Contests). I’m excited to see exactly what can be done in the Poké Pelago and Festival Plaza, but the trailer suggests that they will provide alternatives to EV Training (which helps to raise specific stats of your Pokémon and was immensely more complicated until Super Training was introduced in Pokémon X and Y). I’m also excited to be able to play as Ash-Greninja in-game, as he was a really cool part of the most recent season of the anime.

A ton of information was revealed after the trailer was released, and you can read it all here: https://nintendofuse.com/2016/10/05/pokemon-sunmoon-demo-file-size-ice-stone-new-info-october-14th/