Pokémon X and Y

[Twig]

Hah you can pet the pokemans. Nice.

 

I like those animations.

 

This'll be the first Pokemon game I get in years. Mostly because I am always commutin' these days, but also mostly because I want to see if I'd still enjoy it.

[Dewar]

I care about Pokemon a lot more now that my wife bought a 3DS. I may yet get to play this (if I can pry it out of her hands.)

[tegan]

Now that these games are starting to garner interest amongst the Thumbs, I thought you might like Serebii's list of all known new Pokémon.

 

Quick and dirty guide to known version-exclusives:

 

X: Clauncher (Water), Swirlix (Fairy), Xerneas (Fairy)

 

Y: Skrelp (Poison/Water), Spritzee (Fairy), Yveltal (Dark/Flying)

 

 

 

 

Also worth noting: that cute little bird from a few pages back, which is almost assuredly available early on, evolves into a Fire type. I'm pretty pleased with this, since Fire is kind of notoriously lacking in recent generations. For example: in Gen IV, you either picked Chimchar as your starter or you caught Ponyta. Those were the only two available before beating the Elite Four.

[tegan]

So according to a possibly fake (but very convincing) leaked issue of Corocoro, there are now "Mega" Pokémon, stronger alternate forms of preexisting classics.

 

 

 

Pictured: Mega Blaziken, Mega Lucario, Mega Absol, Mega Mawile, Mega Mewtwo, and Mega Ampharos. I have no idea if these work like alternate forms or if they're actually a new evolution stage or what. Most interesting are Blaziken and Ampharos, because those were both already the third stage of their respective evolutionary lineup. A Pokémon going through four progressive stages is completely unheard of.

...They're kinda' dumb.

 

 

Also revealed: the pre-evolved form of Gogoat, a Normal-type rabbit, and the traditional electric rodent that comes with each generation.

 

[JonCole]

Mega Ampharos OMGGGGG. Easily one of my favorite Pokemon, but it got fairly short shrift compared to it's high SP ATK + high SPEED Electric type competitors. Interested to see what this interesting(?)/dumb(?) evolution(?) holds for it.

[tegan]

New trailer!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YTHgE0vtOXU

 

 

So basically, Mega Evolution is temporary (it's only in effect in-battle rather than all the time) and only happens if the monster is holding a certain item. And a Torchic holding its Mega Stone will be distributed when the game is released!

[tegan]

Oh, and I forgot to mention before: Mega Pokémon get certain stat boosts, type changes, and different abilities. Specifically, they get the rare, crazy game-breaking abilities previously reserved for only a select few. MegaBlaziken gets Speed Boost (raises its speed one stage every turn), MegaMawile (which is now Steel/Fairy, as is regular Mawile) gets Huge Power (doubles attack stat), MegaAbsol gets Magic Bounce (reflects everything other than damage-dealing attacks, like a built-in permanent Magic Coat), MegaMewtwo has Insomnia (prevents sleep), MegaAmpharos changes to Electric/Dragon and gets Mold Breaker (negates all abilities that would negatively affect it), and MegaLucario gets Adaptability (increases same-type attack bonus from 1.5x to 2.0x).

 

I can't wait to see Absol go from a complete nobody to suddenly becoming the most useful monster ever.

 

 

EDIT: oh, and I guess there's something called "Super Training" now which is basically a minigame that lets you adjust Effort Values however you want, so the metagame just got a whole lot easier.

[JonCole]

Thank god. EV training has always been a huge nightmare slogfest, if they even make it marginally easier I'll be eternally grateful. If only they had an in-game IV calculator or something.

[tegan]

So at the Pokémon World Championships, they revealed MegaKangaskhan. The parent is exactly the same, but now the little baby Kangaskhan that was always kept in its pouch is out and about, and looks significantly more resilient. Check out the crowd reaction. Apparently it has a new ability that will let it attack twice (once with the parent and once with the child), so that's gonna' be a thing.

[Yasawas]

Here's the type of question I'm having increasingly more these days that makes me feel like my granny - what's the difference between X and Y?

 

I've never played a Pokemon but I kinda want to and I've noticed they always release two related versions simultaneously. Help me understand.

[JonCole]

Releasing multiple versions has always been their attempt to foster multiplayer, because each version has exclusive Pokemon that must be traded to complete the Pokedex. There is always a small degree of variation in the story as well, usually involving catching the exclusive Legendary Pokemon displayed on the front of the box.

 

So really, the only consideration you'd want to take is buying a different copy than any friends you might play with. Or which one has a cooler looking Pokemon on the cover.

[Yasawas]

Ah nice one thanks. I'll just pick my favourite letter then, I think it's Y. 

 

I'm expecting some kind of sweet StreetPass features with this, wonder if that'll tie into the trading aspect.

[Dewar]

I think it's more likely it will save their team and then you can fight them like they were another in-game trainer.

[tegan]

So this video was shown on screens at a Pokémon event in Japan. It's just a cute little visual history of the Pokémon games, but it ends with a super mysterious shot of a battle scene that the 3DS clearly couldn't render. Possibly a hint at a new Wii U game.

 

 

 

edit: oh, and also there's a super nostalgic anime special airing a few days before X and Y launch that folks think might show off new Mega Evolutions (Charizard?).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_Lyi2RSVxqg

 

and absolutely nobody on the internet has noticed that the video also demonstrates Fairy being added to the TCG by way of the previously unseen bright pink type icon clearly visible in the video.

 

[tegan]

Footage from Gamescom:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5g4c7n6WUO8

 

 

 

Also, Gamefreak trademarked the names "Pokken Fighters" and "Pokken Tournament" just recently, so maybe that mystery screenshot is from an upcoming fighting game spinoff or something.

[Squid Division]

Now that you can see more of your character, is there any character customization?

[tegan]

Now that you can see more of your character, is there any character customization?

 

Yes! You start out being able to pick hair and skin colour and get new clothes and accessories as the game progresses.

[tegan]

Just in case anyone else is up this early, there's a Pokémon Direct in 45 minutes. I predict that there's going to be a reveal of whatever the heck "Pokken Fighters" is as well as X/Y news. Wii U fighting game maybe?

[tegan]

So there were two announcements: One is Pokémon Bank, a paid (annual fee) cloud-based storage system meant to supplement the in-game PC that can hold up to 3000 Pokémon and can be used to transfer monsters up from the Gen V games; and Mega Evolutions for the Kanto starters. Looks like you get a Kanto starter fairy early in the game, which is cool. I don't really like Mega Venusaur, Charizard, or Blastoise though. Those three have such classic simple designs and it's weird to see them with a bunch of stuff tacked on. You know that scene in The Iron Giant where they disguise the giant by adding a bunch of crap and making him look like one of Dean's junk sculptures, and then Annie saying that he doesn't look as thought-out as the other pieces? It's like that.

[JonCole]

Oh man, I didn't need super wanted a service like this. I was contemplating the wisdom of transferring all my Diamond, Platinum, and SoulSilver Pokemon to my copy of Black, considering it always seemed a tedious, arduous process with little gain at the end. If I can transfer them all to Black and then move them to this cloud service, I could easily see value there. That said, paying money to store my Pokemon seems super dumb but I'll super do it. I'm just hoping there's some Wii U Colosseum/stadium tie-in that can also access this library, which would really seal the deal.

[tegan]

Apparently they intend to support Pokémon Bank for years to come, so that's why they're going with a paid model. Future releases being able to access it seems likely.

[tegan]

I found a picture!

 

 

Mega Venusaur has the ability Thick Fat (reduces damage from Ice and Fire attacks. Score), Mega Charizard has the ability Drought (automatically invokes Sunny weather. Also score), and Mega Blastoise has a new ability that I'm sure will also be pretty overpowering.

[SecretAsianMan]

In what is likely to be my only contribution to this thread, here are some Pokemon balloons from PAX

[Squid Division]

I found a picture!

 

The other two look fine, but man, Blastoise looks kinda dumb with the cannons moved to the arms and the turret.

[ihavefivehat]

Holy shit Mega Charizard! I wish I could send this picture to myself 15 years ago and watch the reaction!