While most major publishers have already gotten out a majority of their big E3 reveals, Nintendo is just getting started. They have already gotten off to a solid start showing off The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and now we have new details for Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon. With three new Pokemon, one new legendary, two never before seen abilities, a new battle mode, AND alternate forms for the games' two main legendary Pokemon, there is a lot of new information to break down, so let's get started.
About a month ago we learned more about the three starter Pokemon that would be available in Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, and today Nintendo revealed three additional new Pokemon. The first Pokemon revealed was Pikipek, a Normal and Flying-type Pokemon whose design closely resembles a woodpecker. Much like the rest of the newly revealed Pokemon from today's Nintendo Treehouse Live show, I think it's safe to assume that Pikipek will probably be one of the first Pokemon that you will encounter in your journey through Sun and Moon. Yungoos was the next Pokemon revealed today, a Normal-type Pokemon capable of having the brand new ability Stakeout. Stakeout allows Yungoos to deal double the damage he/she would normally deal to any Pokemon that enters the fight mid-battle. Lastly, the Bug-type Pokemon Grubbin. Although Grubbin's design doesn't seem all too flattering right now, this is just the larva stage for the Pokemon, so his/her later evolutions are likely to be drastically different.
Next, the brand new battle mode: Battle Royal. Previous games in the Pokemon franchise have all featured battles where one team of Pokemon fought against another team. In later games, four players could all play with one another, but only through 2 v 2 matches. Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon are changing this. Battle Royal is the first time in Pokemon history where players can take part in 1 v 1 v 1 v 1 Pokemon battles. Each trainer brings three Pokemon into battle with them, and the match ends when at the end of any turn, at least one trainer is left with no more usable Pokemon. The winner of each Battle Royal is then decided based on how many Pokemon each trainer was able to defeat, as well as how many Pokemon they had left in the fight when the match ended.
Check out the new trailer for more on the feature in the upcoming Pokemon game:
Nintendo also revealed a brand new legendary Pokemon today, and that legendary was Magearna. Magearna is a Fairy and Steel-type Pokemon, just like Mawile. Magearna will also be bringing the brand new ability Soul-Heart to the table. The Soul-Heart ability raises the special-attack stat of any Pokemon with this ability by one every time a Pokemon in the arena faints. Magearna will only be attainable through a QR code that will be distributed at a later date.
The last substantial bit of Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon news to come out today is the two alternate forms for legendary Pokemon Solgaleo and Lunala. For those of you that don't know, these are the two Pokemon that appear on the covers of each game. In the two images provided, we see the results of what happens when Solgaleo transforms into its Radiant Sun phase and Lunala transforms into its Full Moon phase. Nintendo didn't really specify what needed to be done for these phases to be activated, however.
Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon are both set to release this year on November 18th. Both games are slated to launch on all of the Nintendo 3DS family of handhelds, including the 3DS, the 3DS XL, the New 3DS, and the 2DS.
Find more of our E3 coverage at our E3 2016 Coverage Hub!
