Pokemon Sun and Moon Update II: It’s Almost Here Folks!

Greetings, earthlings!  Are you ready to catch the latest copy of Pokémon Sun and Moon?  Well, much like the upcoming election in choosing between Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump, I’m still not sure.  But since my last update, a lot of new details about the games have been released.  Everything from the starter evolutions, to the bad guys, and of course, all the new Pokémon, there’s no shortage of information to share!  Granted, for this update, I’ll strictly be covering the game’s plot and the starter Pokémon’s’ evolutions-since they’re probably the most talked about, the latter in particular.  So without further adieu, let’s talk about some of the latest updates for Pokémon Sun and Moon!

The Starters

Alright, so being that this has been an especially exciting piece of Pokémon news, I figured I’d start here.  And I’ll start off by saying YES PEOPLE!  THE LEAKS WERE NOT A LIE!

The rumored link that revealed the final starters

If any of you remember my last update, I briefly mentioned that a leak of the “supposed” final evolutions had been circling the web and was causing a lot of sites to be shut down.  Well, as it turns out, those leaks were real.  And I’m definitely happy that those leaks were legitimate, particularly for one starter who deserves some respect now!

Speaking of which, let’s start with Popplio’s evolutions, mostly because this poor little Pokémon has gotten the backhand of the Internet since its debut.  And I’m hoping that those who bad mouthed this little guy are eating crow right now.  Since my last update, Popplio’s new evolutions are Brionne and Primarina.  Popplio’s middle evolution, Brionne, really didn’t have all that great amount of worth as far as specific moves or abilities goes, but it does give us a preview for the final evolution to come.  Primarina has more to talk about in moves and even its typing; while not the first Pokémon with this feature , Primarina is the first starter with the Water/Fairy typing.  To many Pokemon fans, this did not come as a surprise.  Also, Primarina possess a new move specifically for it called Sparkling Aria, a Water type move that heals the burns of its targets.  So overall, I’m pretty excited about Popplio’s evolutions and how they turned out.  What do you have to say now, you Popplio haters?! HUH?!

Moving right along, Rowlet was a fan favorite from the get go, mostly because of its beyond adorable appearance.  Rowlets new evolutions are Dartrix and Decidueye.  Much like Brionne for Popplio, Dartrix didn’t have any moves or abilities worth mentioning, but it supposedly can throw its feathers like darts.  Decidueye, Rowlet’s final evolution, was probably the cooler yet confusing evolutions of the three starters.  For one thing, there seemed to be no graceful transition from shallow, looks-oriented Dartrix to cool and stealthy Decidueye.  Although, why I find that to be a problem is irrelevant and really stupid.  But what stumped me the most was its Grass/Ghost typing.  I felt that this typing made no sense for Decidueye, and that it would have been fine being a Grass/Flying like its previous evolutions.  Still, there are some benefits to its strange typing, among them, a new move.  Decidueye’s signature move Shadow Shackle keeps its target from switching out if hit.  Plus, the archer appearance was very cool.  So while Decidueye is a bit of a conundrum for me for various reasons, it wouldn’t be any surprise why this grass starter would be still be the first pick among those who get the game.

And finally, there’s Litten’s evolutions.  I made it pretty clear in my last update that Litten was my least favorite of the starters, despite the fact that many people really favor this starter as much as Rowlet.  But, I will say, Litten did redeem itself with its evolutions, Torracat and Incineroar.  As mentioned twice already, there really wasn’t anything special about Torracat except for the fact that it’s the middle evolution.  Incineroar, on the other hand, does bring a lot to talk about.  Being the first Fire/Dark starter for the franchise, Incineroar brings with it a pretty gruesome personality.  This Pokemon is said to not fight weak Pokemon, craves attention, and pretty much shows no mercy or restraint in a fight.  Yeah.  That’s pretty scary.  Nintendo just created one of the most unstable Pokémon there is.  That aside, I vaguely understand what Incineroar’s signature move does exactly.  This move, Darkest Lariat, is said to ignore the stat changes of its opponent.  That aside, I felt that the Fire/Dark typing was a good move on the part of the game creators, but given what’s been said about this Pokemon, it doesn’t seem that far off from being a Fighting type.  It wouldn’t surprise me if it was able to learn some major Fighting type moves.  But overall, despite the fact that Litten won’t be my choice for starter, I am pleased-and maybe disturbed- by its evolutions and how they turned out.

Villains and Heroes

As the title for this section implies, one big detail that was revealed following my update was on the new villains of the game.  And to be honest…I was disappointed…and maybe even offended.  The team of villains for the game go by Team Skull, bunch of white gangsta thug-looking guys.  Yeah, you see where I got offened.  And the leader, who goes by Guzma, isn’t much better.  And neither are his top commanders Gladion and Plumeria.  Their true motives are still unknown, though.

The game also added a new twist, a new organization already trying to combat Team Skull.  The Aether Organization serves as a group that tries to create a utopia for Pokémon.  And that’s really it.  But then again, there’s the really hot president Lusamine.

Other Details

One thing about Pokémon Sun and Moon that’s really interesting was that there is no Pokemon League set up in the Alola region (you heard right).  Instead, what they have is the Island Challenge system.  With this, trainers have to go through a series challenges, including a battle with a Trial Captain, until they eventually challenge the Kahunas.  However, there is a portion of the story where previous Champions try to make an effort to establish a League.  This also allows trainers to battle with past generation Pokemon Champions and other well-known trainers.

And speaking of Kahunas, anyone remember Tapu Koko?  Well, one big update is that now he has some buddies in the Alola region.  Each of the islands of the Alola region has a guardian.  These guardians include Tapu Lele (Psychic/Fairy), Tapu Bulu (Grass/Fairy), and Tapu Fini (Water/Fairy).  It also appears that these guardians are part of the Island Challenge.

And then there’s the Ultra Beasts.  Which are…which are…ok, I don’t know what the hell these things are!  They’re not Pokémon, but they are a major part of the story somehow.  And is it just me, or do two of the Ultra Beasts look like characters in the game?  Like maybe a certain president or assistant?  Maybe?  Or maybe it’s just me.

There also a lot of other cool mini games and features that I could talk about as well, but that might take a little too long.  So if you want to know more about what the game has in store, check out Serebii.net to get the latest.  The official Pokemon site doesn’t hurt either.

And so, that concludes my update on Pokemon Sun and Moon!  Like I said, there was so much information that I could have included, but that could have easily taken a while for you to read.  So what do you think?  Who’s your starter going to be?  What do you think about the Island Challenge?  Am I the only one who thinks the army of Slim Shadies should stay seated?  And can someone please tell me what the Ultra Beasts are?  Anyway, that’s all that I have for this week!  Stay tuned for more and send requests if you’ve got’em!

-Hanime on Anime