A new Pokemon
Trailer out of fucking nowhere... not that I'm complaining. This time
we got an extended look at the two new legendary Pokemon and the
Alola region, so let's hop right in and watch the trailer.
Game Freak also
released some Japanese Mini Trailer, which showed mostly the same, but
also some new scenes. Sadly I can't read or speak Japanese, so
analyzing them is out of the picture. But our trailer also contained
pretty exciting stuff overall. Both, Solgaleo and Lunala, are well
designed and offer interesting Type combinations. But let's start
with the poster Pokemon for Sun.
Surprisingly
Solgaleo doesn't have the Fire Type but instead spots the Psychic
Steel combination. It's ability Full Metal Body makes it immune
against other abilities with stat lowering effects like intimidate.
An interesting
fact is the great detail the designers put into it's signature attack
Sunsteel Strike. The way Solgaleos body lights up and his mane
rises... This will probably stay exclusive to the signature attacks
of the two Legendaries, but maybe it's a sign of even more fluently
animated battles between Pokemon.
Next up is Lunala
which has the Psychic Ghost type combination. It's ability Shadow
Shield works the same as Solgaleos Full Metal Body.
Also the same goes
for Moongeist Beam, which looks great.
Apart from that I
have not much to say about the new Legendary Pokemon. Their design is
good. As for their role in the Story I don't want to speculate.
Especially with the little information we have, so I'll let it be for
now.
The next part is
much more interesting anyway. Because now we get our first look at
the games overworld, the Alola region.
As we can see the
region consists of four main islands and a artificial one in the
middle. Interestingly Hawai, the real life counterpart of Alola,
consists of eight bigger main islands, so maybe this isn't all of
Alola and there is more to come. It would also make sense to have one
Arena per Island. But for now let's take a look at the four unveiled
islands.
On the
northwestern side we see a familiar sight. The Island which we
already saw in the reveal trailer. I already talked about most on the
Island in my first Trailer Watch, but two things shouldn't go
unmentioned. First there is a structure hidden in the forest on top
of the island.
And one the left
side of the Island we don't have another village, like I suggested in
my earlier Trailer Watch, but what seems to be a mansion (the huge
building with the purpleish roof). The building with the blue roof
next to it could be a Pokemart. My guess would be that this is the
first Gym of the new adventure.
Next let us turn
our attention towards the island on the southwest. This place looks
mostly deserted apart from the interesting looking port a the south
end. Maybe it even houses a whole city. This becomes more likely if
you take a closer look at the red building at the left side of the
structure, which is most likely a Pokemon Center.
A little bit north
of the Port we can spot a structure that looks like some ruins,
before reaching a fork in the road. If we head further north we reach
a pretty vulcanic looking. The black stone and what seems to be steam
emitting from one of the craters, show that this part of the Island
is still ''active''.
The last two
interesting parts of this island are first the huge tree on the
northern coast. It wouldn't surprise me if you could enter it and if
it would contain this islands Gym. There is no other structure, which
could house a Gym on the island after all.
The other
interesting thing brings us back to the ruins I mentioned earlier. If
you turn left after passing them you'll enter a rocky valley leading
you to a strange triangle shaped monolith. I'm pretty sure that this
huge structure is where we encounter the legendary Pokemon. (Be it
for the first time or to catch them.) If you take a look at the
Sun/Moon reveal trailer you can see Solgaleo and Lunala appearing in
front of huge structure, which has a similar form.
The presence of
the ruins and the fact that there is barely any civilization there
makes this island a perfect place for the legendary Pokemon.
Next up is the
north eastern island which is a huge step up in civilization from the
previous one. Once again let us start a the southern coast, where we
see a small island which is set in front of the main one. On there we
can spot a small settlement, but not much more.
Slightly to the
north we see another, bigger, settlement. This city is home to two
bigger buildings, but there is not enough detail to tell what they
are for. Though it wouldn't surprise me if one of them was a Gym.
So for now let us
follow the street along the coastline of the island. After a short
while we reach a white breach crossing the bay and leading us to
another settlement at the south eastern side of the island. First I
thought the brown reddish structure next to it is just a mountain,
but with closer inspection it seems to be man made. But I can't say
what it is.
Directly north to
it is, what seems to be, the biggest city on the island. Two
buildings there have sparked my interest. The huge blue building
could very well be another Gym, or possibly a Laboratory for
geothermal research. The mountains to the north seem to be quite
active, with the whole steam and such emitting from them, and it
would make sense if the Alola region used this activity to generate
power. Also next to the blue building another one can be seen. This
one is surrounded by lots of Grey color, which immediately made me
think of an industrial area. Maybe they use the geothermal energy
from the mountains to power their industry.
The last
interesting part about this island, apart from the small town in the
forest on the western side, lies at the north western coast. A series
of (hot?) springs flowing down across a terrace like structure.
And lastly just
north of that landmark we can spot two more houses.
Now let us move to
Alolas biggest island found in the south east. We start at the place,
where you most likely will start your adventure on this island, the
city on the eastern side. The most interesting thing there is the
park containing the huge tower like structure. This could be modeled
after the Aloha Tower on Hawaii, which greets incoming ships at
Honolulu harbor. Here it could serve as battle tower or Gym. Apart
from this Landmark the city doesn't sport anything special, but the
rest of the island is packed full with interesting sights.
It sports two huge
mountains, so let us start with the smaller one in the north. On top
of it we see an interesting looking building. I think this could be
another Gym, simply because of the fact that a Pokemon Center is also
present at the top of this mountain. The red roof slightly below the
building is unmistakable. The mountains on this island are clearly
inspired by Mauna Kea, Hawaiis highest volcano. Mauna Kea is one of
the worlds most favorable locations for astronomical observations. So
maybe this building on top of the mountain serves as observatory. It
would certainly fit the Name of the games.
Next let us focus
our interest towards the north western coast of the island. It seems
to be a town enclosed by a wall. Maybe this was build to keep
invading wildlife outside, but I have another theory. I think this
town is based upon a leper colony. Hawaii is home to one of the more
famous leper colonies, Kalaupapa. Of course a Pokemon Game won't
directly reference something like that, but it's possible that this
settlement was inspired by this.
If we then move
south through the jungle we find a strange structure. It seems to be
a stone ring enclosed by water. Next to it is something that looks
similar, but without water.
After leaving the
forest we see a Pokemon center and white bottle like structure.
The next
interesting landmark is at the south end of the island. A big house
on top of a hill. Interestingly the beach south of it seems to be
pretty dead. At least it looks that way. Maybe the mansion houses the
Ghost or Dark Type Gym. Also in the water south west of it we can
spot a square stone structure.
Now let us take a
look at the biggest feature of the island. The huge mountain in the
middle of it. On it's southern base we can spot a Pokemon Center. If
we follow the path east this then leads through a barren plane (with
the exception of the small oasis in the middle) and towards another
larger building with purple roof.
Directly north of
the Pokemon Center we can see another structure, which seems to be
some kind of way of getting up the mountain, because we can see the
exact same structure on top of the mountain slightly to the right.
On the peak there
is another Pokemon Center and lots of snow. Something that I found
interesting is the fact that the snow on the northern end of the
mountain is ''bluer'' than the rest. Maybe another settlement hides
beneath the ice. It certainly would make for an interesting sight.
And now for the
finish let us turn our attention towards the eastern side of the
mountain. There we can spot a big desert. Interestingly some of the
sand seems to flow down towards the purple house in the south. So
maybe there is something like a waterfall made out of sand...a
sandfall.
There are also
three tower like structures next to the desert on the right side, but
I can't tell what they're for.
And now as finish
let us talk about the artificial island in the middle of the region.
I think this is the location of this games Pokemon League. It would
make sense.
Also on the north
eastern edge of the picture we can spot a small island partially
covered in clouds, but we can't see enough to get definitive clues of
the function it serves.
Lastly let us talk
about the transportation. On the picture we can spot several ships
traveling between the island and I think this will also be the means
for the player to change from one island to another. I don't think
we'll use our Pokemon for that. The ocean between the islands seems
rather empty. There is no sign of the countless rock formations,
which would need to exist to restrict the players movements between
the islands. I think surfing on our Pokemon will be restricted to the
parts of the Island, where such barrier rocks exist.
That was that and
now lets continue with the Trailer. Next up is something which we
already knew from the Japanese Trailer. Character customization
returns and it's great. Let's hope that you can also change your
clothes once again.
Next up are
characters. We start with the newest Pokemon Professor Kukui. He is
named after the Candlenut which was used in ancient Hawaii as a
lightsource. The high oil content of the fruit allows it to be used
as candle.
Kukui is the
protagonists cousin, which we know from the earlier trailer .He seems
to dress rather casually and another interesting detail about him is
the wedding ring on his left hand.
Then we have Kukuis
assistant Lillie, which is the German name for lily, so the flower theme continues. She has quite the stern look, which
makes her a natural opposite to Kukuis casual appearance. Also it's
pretty much a given that she will play a bigger part in the story.
Maybe you'll even have to battle her at some point.
And lastly there
is Hau your friend and rival. It's clear that Game Freak is once
again going the route of friendly rivalry. Like in the first trailer
he gives of a carefree vibe and seems to be quite cheerful. The
person next to him, which I thought would be the Professor of this
game, could be his father, or what I think is more plausible, the
first Gym Leader.
This already
brings us to the last part of this Trailer Watch. Your Pokedex now
is home to a Rotom, which powers it. It is described as a completely
new way of Pokemon and Humans to communicate. This has interesting
implications. Maybe your Pokemon will be able to tell you directly,
what they think. Maybe your Pokedex will be able to battle. Rotoms
other forms are able to do that. At least we got a look at one of the
new functions on one of the Japanese Mini Trailers.
It seems that the
lower screen of our 3DS will serve as a kind of navigation system,
always showing you were to go next.
And that concludes
this Trailer Watch.
And as always
thanks for Reading
Source of all Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW14HO7C1Dg
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