Nintendo has finally delivered on showing some Pokemon Sun and Moon footage and there a number of pretty big things to take away. First off, trainer customization from X & Y is returning with different genders, skin colours and outfits.
Secondly, gone is the games chibi style. Your main avatar and the rest of the world are now all full size, similar to how the trainers used to appear outside of the games over world in X & Y. Third, the region is called Alola and is based on a tropical island, seemingly taking a lot of inspiration from Hawaii.
We also have five brand new Pokemon designs including the 3 starter Pokemon which retain their classic grass, fire, water typing and the two main legendary Pokemon which will no doubt be integral to the story.
First up is Rowlet, which is of the fairly rare Grass/Flying typing. This Grass Quill Pokemon can attack without making a sound! It flies silently through the skies, drawing near to its opponent without being noticed, and then lashing out with powerful kicks.
It can also attack from a distance using the razor-sharp leaves that form part of its feathers. Rowlet also learns a brand new attack called Leafage, which we are guessing will just be a low damage physical grass type move.
If you’re a fire type fan then Litten is your Pokemon. This Fire Cat Pokemon can attack with flaming hairballs! Its fur is rich in oils and immensely flammable. Litten grooms itself by licking its fur, and then uses the collected fur as fuel for fireball attacks! When the time comes for Litten to shed its old fur, it all burns up in a glorious blaze.
If water is more your style then you’ll be looking to start with Poppilo, the Sea Lion Pokemon. Popplio can snort out balloons made of water! Watch it spin water balloons into a playful battle strategy!
Both frivolous and hard-working, Popplio can easily get carried away—unleashing enough power in battle to make quite a spectacle! But Popplio’s determined spirit means it can usually be found practicing hard on its balloon skills. Unlike previous games, these starters will know more than just tackle and growl, with each knowing it’s respective elemental move when you receive them.
The final two Pokemon revealed have yet to receive official names but were shown on both the games cover art and in some in-game footage. I think you’ll be able to tell which one represents the Sun and which represents the Moon pretty easily. It looks like both Pokemon are outside some sort of Sun/Moon temple.
We also have an official release date. Pokemon Sun & Moon will release on November 18th worldwide except for in Europe where the release date is shifted back five days later to the 23rd with no reason given as of yet. Australains rejoice, we have not been lumped in with Europe this time around and we will get the game on the 18th as well as confirmed by the official Nintendo AU Twitter.
The game is exclusive to the 3DS console and we believe is compatible with Pokemon X & Y, Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, Pokemon Bank and as mentioned previously, the virtual console versions of Pokemon Blue, Red and Yellow. You can watch the new trailer below and be sure to let us know what you think of these new Pokemon designs in the comments below. Personally I think these are the worst designs for the starters yet but maybe they’ll grow on me. I’m still excited to see what they’ll do with their 1st and 2nd evolutionary stage designs.
