New Pokémon, Areas, Trials and 'Z-Moves' Are Revealed for Pokémon Sun and Moon

Ice Vulpix. My favorite Pokemon ever, now in Ice type.

Bless you based Arceus.

Some of the Alola forms remind me of the alternate-typed, palette swaps of Yo-kai Watch. An example is Vulpix and Ninetales.
The Z-moves also remind me of the soultimate attacks too.

edit: Just found out that a Z-ring accessory is being made that does the only thing the Yo-kai Watch toy does, play in-game sounds.

It's kind of ironic really, but exciting none the less! As a fan of both series, I'm more hyped than ever before for Pokemon Sun and Moon!

Also, that Alolan Exeggutor though! lol

gasp wheeze that was too much to take in all at once...

Vulpix looks like they could have just called it a new species. Exeggutor looks to be in rough shape and I'm not sure what to make of Sandshrew. New stuff looks pretty good though and it almost sounds like we get to become 4 island champions which makes me wonder if the leagues and gyms are not present in this game.

Haven't been in love with most of the new Pokémon (I like weirder ones like Garbodor and crew. Also disappointed in the lack of new poison types), but I do love the type variations.

Especially Ice/Steel Sandshrew. That's pretty neat.

I want Alola Sandshrew/Sandslash on my team now.

This trailer completely blew me away. Hopefully these next 3.5 months fly by quickly.

That was an awesome trailer, hyped for usig an ice ninetails

I don't know. Mixed feelings. Certain new Pokémon look great, and while some of the Alola forms look awesome, I'm just not a fan. The series has grown overwhelmingly - Mega Evolutions are as far as I'd have taken it. I'm all for innovation and reinvention, but this kind of overdid it for me. Maybe it's just a lot to take in at the moment, and I'll probably grow to like it somewhat come November, but right now I just think the franchise is an overkill.

Can't unsee Gumshoos as Trump.

Of course, we'll be getting a GameXplain trailer re-upload, 40 minute discussion, and 50 minute analysis video on this new trailer. I wish Alex made discussion videos like them.

Okay this trailer is freaking hype. This finally sold me on Sun and Moon. Seems like the went all out with different Pokemon forms. Also no Mega Evolutions in the trailer is a huge plus.

Also also, Detective Gumshoo

So are the gyms gone now? You know, with Island Challenges and such. Really love all these new Pokemon and forms, though! And I just preordered the Sun & Moon 3DS and steelbox editions! Hype!

Gumshoos looks like Donald Trump..

Those Z-moves, for an old gamer like me, reminded me of Final Fantasy summons - nice animations on powerful beautiful looking attacks!!
Now with a dancing enchanter!!

Haven't been playing Pokémon in my gaming life - partly because I felt out of place for not embarking the franchise evolution, although I'm casually interested - but the timely release of the Game Boy originals and the refreshing breathe of style and news this Sun and Moon is getting my attention!

Hopefully I will also have sometime to play such game, maybe like I was a teenager in vacation!!
Well, probably not!

Nice to see some new things shaking this up a little. But, this will be the last trailer I see. It's always more fun when you know less with Pokemon. I look forward to it.

Looking good! Can't wait!

i'm so excited for these games. I'm glad it's only 3 months and 17 days away. the new Pokémon look amazing but I'm not thrilled with Alolan Exeggutor though

Ice and steel sandslash! Yes please!

My fav trailer so far for the new Pokemon games !!

So many... feelings... right now...

Did they seriously just (finally?) innovate the 8 gyms thing?

Dragon Exeggutor.

Different types variations? Very cool idea, makes the world feel more alive. But what about megaevolutions? Especially Sandslash is a good candidate to get a ME.

Seriously, with all this greatness in Sun and Moon, I don't know how much longer I can hold out until November! Vulpix and Ninetales ook absolutely stunning

From the looks of it Nintendo is taking inspiration from the orange arc. On a minor note, the orioco seems to support this theory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaiL8Z-dSek

Can't decide if what I just witnessed was plain awesome, or (yes yes, I know it's a boken record repeated by many) they ran out of the ideas xD

That all looks pretty awesome, but I'm really not a fan of Z-moves. Just like Mega Evolutions. Just makes it feel like they're trying to rip off the Power Rangers or something, at least to me.
But oh well, I guess I'll live with them. Everything else looked cool anyway, can't wait to adventure through Alola!

@KickButt_Gaming Presidency is how it evolves.

Wait, does this mean I can have Dunsparce use its Z-move and eliminate ALL WHO STANDS IN ITS WAY!? Even if Z-moves can only be used once in a battle feels kinda cheap, honestly...

YES!!! I squealed when I saw Ice-type Vulpix and Sandshrew!! <3 <3 <3 And that Exeguttor…

Region-specific versions of old Pokémon was not what I was expecting, but it's exactly what the franchise needs. Now I'm particularly excited.

I wonder if the gym system will abolished now that there is this trial thing. It's good that they are shaking things up after all these years xD

I was really hoping that Z moves were the new version of HMs. Ones you wouldn't have to worry about taking up one of your move slots

The island's challanges sounds interesting, by the trailer it seems like a typical RPG challange with quests and boss battles which is not a bad thing at all. Sure, gyms were a great thing when Pokemon came out, but after so many years something more classic almost sound innovative XD

And hurray, they finally remembered that Sandslash exist!!!

I like everything seen in the trailer. Funny how they made a Vulpix form that looks like Winter Vulpix from GPX+.

i love the ghost orioco

@KTT I'd say otherwise, it looks like there are lots of new ideas here. I especially like the totem Pokemon fights, hopefully a 2 v 1 totem battle becomes quite the challenge. And the attack animations were gorgeous.

So, those starter final evos that were leaked...
They're pretty much confirmed now.

@GeminiSaint Fire Fighting Oh booiiii

Not sure how I feel about Trials. Totem battles seem nice though Alola exclusive and I like the idea of regional pokemon. Except exeggutor. Poor thing

Oh come on GameFreak! Now I'm excited for this game...really it was everything fine and cool, the new Pkmn were looking weird, the game was looking bland and too easy.
Now the newest pokemon looks amazing, the new additions looks inventive enough, ICE NINETALES, and Sandslash, a new kind of challenge!
The only thing that is missing is a hard mode, or at least a game a little harder. Let's await, but now it's a bit harder to wait.

This game looks gorgeous. I love how dynamic the Pokemon models are.

Interesting to see them taking so much inspiration from other areas of the Pokemon franchise... the Alola forms are basically delta species from the TCG... the Island Challenges are like the Orange League from the anime... and Z attacks are similar to burst attacks from Pokken Tournament.

I really did not like this love pokemon but i feel like its slipping away from me

Don't know why everyones drooling over ice sandslash its designs good but its type and ability is total trash, 4x weakness to both fighting and fire that thing won't last 5 seconds and its weak to ground.

Looks like mega evolution won't be coming back

While I like ice ninetales like everyone else...
Why the hell a fire pokemon became an ice pokemon in hawai? ._____.

I don't like this whole alt form thing, and that included the mega forms. I'd rather have alt evolutions.

I'm actually hoping that the Island Challenge is there in addition to the gyms and not replacing them.

Alright, looking good! Also, I really the idea of region-specific versions of Pokemon (Ninetails looks majestic). Also, Exegguter is 35'09"
http://www.pokemon-sunmoon.com/en-us/pokemon/alolan-exeggutor/
Jesus, that's tall...

For anyone asking "how":

Alolan Vulpix-
Category
Fox Pokémon

Type
Ice

Height
2’00”

Weight
21.8 lbs.

Ability
Snow Cloak

It is said that Vulpix came to the Alola region together with humans, but the Fox Pokémon moved to the snowy mountain peaks to avoid the normal habitats of other Pokémon, and thus it ended up taking on this form.
These Alolan Vulpix live on high mountains that remain covered in snow year-round. They live in small packs of two to five individuals, helping one another survive.
Alolan Vulpix can freeze anything solid by expelling breath at a temperature of −58 degrees Fahrenheit (−50° C) from its mouth. It doesn’t fare well in the heat, but when the temperature gets too high, it produces ice from its tail to lower the surrounding temperature.

Alolan Ninetails-
Category
Fox Pokémon

Type
Ice/Fairy

Height
3’07”

Weight
43.9 lbs.

Ability
Snow Cloak

Alolan Ninetales live on a snowy peak that is revered in the Alola region as a holy mountain. They are treated as sacred emissaries, and people meet them with awe and fear. This Pokémon’s personality is extremely gentle, and at times it has helped humans who seem to be in distress. However, it shows no mercy at all to anyone or anything that dares to damage its territory!
The Alolan Ninetales is able to produce ice crystals from the fur that covers its body. It can use these ice crystals to block attacks, or it can form balls of ice with them, which it fires like bullets at opponents. The power of these ice missiles is great enough to pulverize rock!

Those Z-moves look awesome! Though I'm not sure how I feel about the Island Trials, but 2 against 1 does look like a pretty interesting challenge. I guess you really have to make sure you have different Pokemon types to ensure victory.

Wow. I haven't been excited for a Pokemon game in years, but this is very exciting!!!

This is me right now.

Actual face and expression. I kid you not.
Just how many series' conventions have been thrown out of the water?!

We had Mega Evolutions and now we have Aura and Z-Moves... wth

@SmashbrosFtw1306 On to Yo-Kai Watch!

@Nin10doh Hopefully Yokai Watch 2 will keep me distracted long enough while I wait for Sun and Moon

@Alpha2797 Indeed it's very similar, that said I think that this kind of thing is really dumb in YoKai watch since are so many and the difference between power levels is grotesque. Don't get me wrong I did enjoyed a lot YoKai Watch, but some stuff in the first game is really bad.
And I think that the Rank system (E to S) is really a bad Idea, since you'll ending never using any YoKai bellow A or S in the long run.

@Frank90 You want a hard PokéMon game? Do a Nuzlocke challenge. It completely changes the difficulty.

I'm digging these alternative pokemon forms/species.

@allav866 Oh I tried but isn't my kind of thing, in a game I want to do everything that I can, and Nuzlocke will hold me back a lot so I'll never do, probably. And that's why I want a real hard mode.
...changing the subject sub species means no more mega? I really hope so (only will miss my black dress shiny Gardevoir but I'll pay the price), since I want real evolutions, not just a temporary gimmick.

i really really hope old forms are still in the game or atleast an egg will be either one or the other.

Ok, I'm hyped! The Alola forms look awesome. Z-Attacks are cool, and should shake up the metagame. Love the new Pokemon! Gumshoos looks even more like Donald Trump.

The Island Challenge looks great, and I'm betting it will replace gyms.

Popplio looks so badass here. I also like the new Pokemon. I want the game.

@whanvee This would have been really cool. It seems like the Z-Moves are based on type (one for each type), which would have been a cool way to handle HMs. As in any water type can use the Z-Move to surf, or any flying type can use the Z-Move to fly. Could have finally expanded environmental interaction in a fun and interesting way. In an ice area? Better bring a fire type so you can melt obstacles. All without filling up a move slot.

Anyway, from a strategic perspective, I can see Z-moves being sort of interesting. If you're only allowed to use one per battle, and they actually are based on type, which type's z-move do you use? How does it factor in the individual pokemon's stats? Do dual type pokemon have access to two different Z-move choices?

Not sure how I feel about regional type changes. Ice type is terrible, no matter how cool ice vulpix looks. Maybe I just want fire vulpix. Do I have a choice, or is form change automatic?

So many questions...

Can't wait to try out the new Sandshrew/Sandslash. But I'm still transporting over the original Sandshrew/Sandslash to keep Pikachu in his place....fainted and kicked to the side of the road

Wow that is one skinny exeggutor lol.

I like everything I'm hearing about Sun/Moon so far.

My favorite Pokemon (Persian) seems to be left out again though. I want a Dark/Steel Persian. XD

Thoughts:
New versions of old Pokemon'- I wasn't too fond of this at first, but the idea is growing on me. How there are alternate types of the Ninetales and Sandslash lines is beyond me, but maybe we'll find out why.
Z-Moves - This is an interesting concept. I'm excited to learn more about it! I wonder how it will change the game competitively?
New Pokemon - I like a lot of the completely new Pokemon revealed this time around. Gumshoos especially since the name is so "punny". XD
Riding Pokemon - Self-explanatory and definitely welcome!

I'm also excited to see that the games may be changing up the gym challenge formula. There was nothing wrong with it, but I will be neat to see something new.

All in all, not a bad batch of info!

@ShikabaneHime13 It should, I heard that it is way better than the first one. I personally like the different play style, and battle system compared pokemon, which hasn't hanged...ever.

@Yorumi I was thinking the same...
I mean, ice ninetales and ice sandslash look cool (lol pun non intended xD) but that typing , almost abomasnow level of "D="

and... when they say... riding pokemon and we see the character calling a charizard to fly, does that mean that we won't need fly anymore?

Big question: Does Mega Evolution return?

At first I was positive that they return, now I'm not so sure. Z-Moves, and the fact that you see the trainer calling upon a Charizard to ride on him in an animation that looks a lot like the Soaring animation but no Mega Evolution makes me question it.

On a side note, that Charizard bit makes it appear that Soaring will be back!

Kiawe, the Fire type Trial Captain, apparently is close to his Marowak. Fire-type Alolan Marowak confirmed?

They couldn't have made new ice types? I mean I love vulpix and nine tails but still.

Does this mean they've replaced gyms or are the Kahunas the gym leaders?

I love the flower mantis. I know there are mantises who do that! I want the ghost and fire dancing birds too! Ooh and the baby mudbray is sooo cuuuuute!

Alolan Ninetales is majestic!

Hoping Z-Moved will mean a wider variety of Pokémon get used again. Mega evolution was a cool concept but it meant people went back to using a small set of Pokémon again, which felt like a huge backward step to me.

On the whole this all pleases me. Though SANDshrew having a version that isn't part ground type does seem odd, I like this way of extending the old design's lives. I've actually wanted somethings akin to this since that episode of the anime where there were Vileplume with different markings and the characters were like "obviously they look different, this is a different region". I thought that was so cool at the time

Also that dancing bird is ace!

Yesssssssssss Minior is amazing. I was already sold on Sun and Moon but this just took the cake.

AT LAST! The donkey pokemon has cometh!
We can now have a democrat vs. Republican pokemon battle!

@Frank90 I think I know what could possibly fix it. Every yo-kai rank B and below should have an evolution.

This has made me hyped for the game. The ice Ninetales was my favourite part of it, and these new forms reminds me of subspecies in Monster Hunter.

As for the island challenge, it looks ok, but I'll need to wait and see. It looks like there's more to it than gym battles, but there's only 4 main islands and there used to be 8 gym leaders.

What does alola form means ? Can someone explain me please ? Like they will change only at a certain area ? And they go back to the original form after leaving this area ?

@Nin10doh I know it is. I have all the Japanese versions of the games including the newest ones that came out this year

(hand inches close to wallet) SMACK bad hand! Bad!

@ShikabaneHime13 I need some peanut butter....

Alola forms? Pokemon is eating itself.

@whanvee Service Pokemon seem to be taking over the need of HMs.

Wow, they just gave a decent physical defender in Sandslash an absolutely horrible defensive typing! Enjoy eating those x4 Fire and Fighting attacks, buddy.

@IceClimbers I'm pretty sure they wouldn't just discontinue an important game mechanic like that. Although, it does appear that we may not be getting any new Megas this gen or any in-game trainers who use them.

@BulbasaurusRex That's probably more likely.

@peeks I'm assuming it's a completely different line on that specific Pokemon's chain and not a temporary form change ALA a legendary holding a random item or Mega Evolutions. I assume Vulpix and Sandshrew (and their evolved forms) are native to the Alola region. Whereas if you traded one of them from a previous game (i.e previous region), it will look like its old form

I just want to add that Oricorio is probably my new favorite flying Pokemon. Such cool variations

Selfishly speaking, I hope the islands point to a more open-ended game with earlier focus on competitive battling. I love the Pokemon endgame, but generally hate slogging through the gyms (not to speak of the routes between them).

But that's not a game breaker for me. I'll play the gyms if they're there because I want to get to the sweet competitive endgame. It'll just take...forever.

I have a love hate relationship with this trailer. It feels bottom barrel scratching. These new forms should have either never happened and introduced a new evolution line for older Pokemon, or happened a looong time ago, like Gen 3/4.
This feels like they're trying to hard. Megas, alt forms, Z-power.

I'm sure it'll be okay in the end.

"We're bringing back CLONES! You'll notice the moveset of each fighter is the same!"

I'm really disappointed and now entirely considering not getting the game. It seems like there are no gyms, and this is a deal breaker for me. I want to play a Pokémon game and for me, gyms are a core part of this. It's such a shame, everything else about this game looked so promising...

@Yorumi But in ORAS the post game content still too easy, it's so easy that is beyond boring, and in XY there's no post game content. So the last game with at least a little challenge was BW2.
And that's worrisome =/

@Alpha2797 Hell yeah! Evolution is much better than a pallet swap that is better in every way but you can get only on the crane machine.
Is just disappointing, and that's the kind of thing that keeps preventing Yokai Watch reach higher highs.

Just read about the Z-ring having a real-life toy that will release along the games. Says it will react when you activate the item in the game! Must have!!!!

That cheerleader bird. I don't know what to say.

Z attacks seem kind of like Mega Evolutions, where it seems like an interesting idea on paper but I don't know how well it does per adding to the strategy of the game. I admit I'm not a huge pokemon fan though beyond the first couple of games, but that's my 2 cents.

The ice sandshrew/sandslash and vulpix/ninetales are pretty sweet though, conceptually and visually per the gameplay footage.

The Aloha Trials remind me of the Orange Island Leauges Ash had fought in before. Which is a pretty sweet addition. I don't much care for the Aloha evolutions or the Z moves.

To everyone hoping that z moves will replace HM's they have already shown something in the trailer: the Pokemon ride thing! When the guy rode his tauros he could break through the rocks, when he summoned his Charizard it was like the eon flute for oras and in the last trailer he was riding other Pokemon. Maybe the only condition to ride pokemon is that they are fully evolved and can actually do that?

This is most hyped up that I have ever been for a game in really long time. It seems that they are really trying to experiment and shake things up with this entry. Can't wait to play it in november.

@World It might be more open-ended. From the trailer, it seems that HMs "might" not be needed anymore with the Pokemon transportation service in place. It might suggest that you can tackle the islands in any particular order.

I'm surprised there hasn't been some evil-ish organization revealed yet though.

@Ernest_The_Crab Having a non-fixed order to tackle the gyms or gym-like equivalents would definitely make that part of the game a lot more fun.

I'm sure they'll manage to sandwich in an antagonist somehow. Given the more "natural" setting, I wonder if it'll be something pollution related (although honestly I could live without it).

Geez, it almost seems like they're making this game a little too needlessly complex.

If Nintendo's using Pokemon GO to eventually get people into the main series games like this one, this is gonna be one hell of a learning curve for them.

@Yorumi Personaly, I never liked the competitive part of the post game in Pokemon. I allways wished for more exploring and discoveries

@Yorumi I know. Just wanted to add another view at the post game. For me the that part is mainly a marathon of endless battles with AI that knows your team and moves, and throws pokes effective against yours. And Ice Fangs that make flinch 2x in a row and then freeze, ugh.
I get more fun battling real people... ... but you know, shiny maxed out legends everywhere.
Yet, higher AI and higher oponents' levels would be much appreciated.