[E3 2016] Pokémon Sun and Moon: new trailer, new Pokémon, new battle format

As announced a few days ago, Nintendo kicked off its Nintendo Treehouse Live presentation with a Pokémon Sun and Moon presentation with Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori. During that presentation, some new elements and Pokémon were revealed. Shortly after, the official website was updated… and a new trailer uploaded!

Let’s start right away with the new trailer:

Head after the break for details about the new Pokémon, and the new battle mode!

New Pokémon

Here’s three new Pokémon that will appear in Pokémon Sun and Moon:

Pikipek

Pikipek can strike 16 times a second with its beak. These strikes are powerful enough to not only drill through hard wood but even shatter stone. The noises made by their blows can signal others. Some of these signals have been identified as warning signals and greetings among allies. Pikipek Trainers have grown to recognize them as well.

These Pokémon drill holes in trees and store food in the holes. They also like small, glittering objects and will tuck them away in their food stores, too. It’s often said, “Something lost, something missed, check inside the Pikipek nest.”

Pikipek will attack distant opponents by zipping seeds at them. These shots have enough strength to embed the seeds in tree trunks.

Yungoos

Yungoos is a big eater that is never satisfied. The majority of its long body is given over to its stomach, and its digestion is swift, so it’s always hungry. It has strong fangs, so it can crush and consume the hardest of objects.

Each Yungoos chooses its own particular route for searching out prey. It stalks along this route searching for food until it’s exhausted, at which point it drops and sleeps wherever it may be. It’s thought that these Pokémon decide their routes based on safety, so that there’s no risk in falling asleep at any time.

Yungoos is not a Pokémon that is native to the Alola region. It was brought to the region to help deal with the explosive population of a certain other Pokémon, and now Yungoos are commonly seen around the Alola region.

Some Yungoos have an Ability that no other Pokémon discovered has previously had. This Ability is known as Stakeout. With the Stakeout Ability, this Pokémon’s moves can deal twice the normal damage to any Pokémon that switch in or enter the field mid-battle.

Since this Pokémon is so common in the Alola region, it’s easy to catch one. But this Pokémon has a terrible temper when it’s hungry—and it demands a whopping amount of food.

Grubbin

Grubbin relies on its sturdy jaw as a weapon in battle and as a tool for burrowing through the earth. Grubbin loves electricity, which is why it can be found near power plants and substations. By wrapping tree branches in the sticky threads that it spews from its mouth, Grubbin can swing around like an actor on suspension wires!

Magearna

Magearna is a Mythical Pokémon that was created by a scientist of uncommon genius 500 years ago. Magearna has the power to perceive the emotions, thoughts, and feelings of other Pokémon. If a Pokémon is injured, Magearna will feel the other’s pain and suffering and will try as hard as it can to save that Pokémon.

Magearna’s real body is the spherical construction in its chest called the Soul-Heart, created by a scientist who gathered the life energy from Pokémon.

Magearna has the ability to transform itself into the appearance of a Poké Ball! It does so when it sleeps, and apparently also when it’s sad.

Magearna’s Ability is the Soul-Heart Ability, a new Ability that no previous Pokémon has had. Soul-Heart has the effect of raising Magearna’s Sp. Atk by 1 each time another Pokémon in the area faints. This is a new Ability—one that can be put to good use in battle.

The official website explains that to get this Pokémon, you will need to scan a special QR Code. Unfortunately, we don’t quite know how it will be distributed in Europe and North America.

Legendary Pokémon

As you can imagine, Solgaleo and Lunala (the two Legendary Pokémon) will play a major role in the story of Pokémon Sun and Moon. It turns out they have a special form, that they take whenever they release their powers. Those forms are called the Radiant Sun phase (for Solgaleo) and the Full Moon phase (Lunala). Unfortunately, that’s all we know about that for now!

Battle Royal

Battle Royal is a new battle format introduces in Pokémon Sun and Moon, which was introduced during the Nintendo Treehouse Live segment. In this new format, battles are not 1 vs 1 like in previous entries, but instead, you have 4 trainers battling against each other. And there’s no alliances: it’s everyone for themselves!

Battles take place in a special stage, which implies you will only be able to take part in them at specific places (not in the overworld). During battle, you can see the ranking of each side on the screen, which lets you know if you’re doing well or not.

Here’s the rules of Battle Royal:

• each trainer choses three Pokémon, but send only one at a time
• the battle ends when all the Pokémon of one of the trailer have fainted
• the winner is declared based on the number of Pokémon they defeated, and the number of Pokémon still standing in their team

The rules are pretty simple, and should lead to radically different strategies compared to regular battle. After all, you have to predict who will attack whom, and plan your own attacks accordingly. You may chose to help a player in a pinch, but who know if they will help you back?

Pokémon Sun and Moon (3DS) comes out on November 18th in Japan and North America, and November 23rd in Europe.

Source: official website