Sun & Moon Speculation Part VII: Rockruff Can… TALK?!

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As mentioned in Part V of this speculation series, July’s CoroCoro made it clear that the starter Pokémon and Rockruff have a secret to discover in the upcoming games. Some have speculated that Rockruff holds the key to a potential “Synchro Evolution,” while others have gone as far as believing it will be the fourth starter for the first time since Generation 1. Discussion has sparked on many gaming forums that Rockruff’s secret may be that it can TALK to Pokémon and HUMANS.

In this month’s CoroCoro reveal, various blurbs with Rockruff by their side were scattered around the photos of Bewear and Mimikyu. Next to Bewear, the following section was translated:

“Woof! (It apparently has the nickname of Fighting King of the Forest. This guy seems strong…!!)”

And by the photos of Mimikyu, the following quote was found:

“Woof! (Argh! What looks like Pikachu’s eyes and mouth are actually drawn on, apparently.)”

While it may be a stretch since these speech bubbles were found in CoroCoro’s magazine, could it be possible that Rockruff can communicate with the player character in S/M? Since it it depicted as sharing its opinions on the new Pokémon in CoroCoro, perhaps it can do the same during normal gameplay. It would certainly take bonding with Pokémon to the next level. Others have speculated that the new Rotom Dex will have something to do with the communication between people and Pokémon. Rockruff is the Professor’s assistant Pokémon after all, so he could be the one to describe its capabilities as the game progresses.

CoroCoro also mentioned that the three starters have a secret, so where could it play into Rockruff’s? Perhaps Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio also have the possibility of communicating with the trainer, or maybe their secret is in reference to the rumored “Synchro” mechanic. These possibilities are also covered in Part V of our speculation series.

In a 2013 interview with Junichi Masuda, one thing he wanted to put into Pokémon X and Y was a machine to translate Pokémon cries. He stated,

“One thing I wanted to put in that didn’t quite make it was a translating machine for Pokémon cries, to find out what they’re saying. So you have this machine, and when a Pokémon cries out something, text would appear telling you exactly what that Pokémon is saying.”

Could the blurbs in CoroCoro mean that Rockruff is one of the Pokémon that can utilize this new “system” to communicate with trainers? The Rotom Dex is the perfect tool for making such a concept come to life, yet there is no concrete evidence that it will serve such purpose. Looking back, there was an NPC in Ruby and Sapphire that stated,
“We’re developing a device for talking with Pokémon, but we haven’t had much success…” Maybe it’s finally time for that concept to come to fruition!

device

It is a stretch to be looking into a primarily children’s magazine and exploring the potential for a brand new feature, but it certainly wouldn’t disappoint! Let us know in the comment section how you would like Rockruff’s secret to play out in Sun and Moon! I haven’t posted on the site in a while, but that will surely change as more information comes to light. Stay tuned for another instalment in the Speculation series!

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393 thoughts on “Sun & Moon Speculation Part VII: Rockruff Can… TALK?!”

  1. Yea. This article is Farfetch’d more than anything. If Rockruff is already “woofing”, how could it talk? The Rotom Dex might be able to communicate with Pokemon. That’s an actual probability. Also, I’m sure their special move is their special ability at this point.

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  2. Mixed reactions as anticipated, but thank you all for reading and considering my ideas. I’ll be working on some more speculative articles soon, so any ideas would be appreciated! 🙂

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  3. So Nick inadvertently gave me an idea
    What if we took a break from super villains invoking legendary powers for new world order and what if our new Vilianous team was a super organized crime syndicate and not just a coverup
    Like a extremely powerful mob boss who’s stealing and selling Pokemon and organized hits on major areas, yes I can see how people would just dub them team rocket 2 but I want to see something other then some group of jerks doing the same song and dance

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    • Ive wanted this for the longest time
      Im sick of evil organizations trying to use legends to achieve their perfect irrational goal. Its just that, irrational. How does a 10 year old catch a legend youve been trying to use for ages when you have a mob of people that can catch it. So lame. I just want actual criminal like this

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  4. So this was pretty fun. I found my shiny regirock. But it either had really low Sp. Def or a critical because I OHKO’d it with a move that usually just brings it down to red.

    ….

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    • I welcome you, I now how a whopping 13 perfectly competitive to finish breeding and level up then I think I’m going to give X a very deserved break
      Maybe start Dream Team or Dark Moon

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  9. So I kinda wanted to get a little summery
    Specifically what do you use for specific tasks like sweet scenting, grinding low levels, ev training, ability scouting, item theft the works

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    • Vileplume sweet scent
      Machamp training hordes and Pokerus spreader (Sharing Needles joke)
      Gourgeist frisking items and thief
      Sigh….Gardevoir Trace
      Gliscor False Swipe
      Talonflame Egg nanny

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      • Illumise is my Sweet Scent user in OR and Vespiquen in X
        Scizor is my False Swiper
        Magmortar is my egg warmer
        Usually rotate a few Pokemon with surf or bulldoze to horse train

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    • Well there’s a party I currently carry around with me at all time that only slightly changes but they all serve different purposes.
      -Volcarona: My main and also egg warmer if need be
      -Bibarel: HM Slave w/ Waterfall, Cut, Rock Smash, Dive
      -Milotic: Surf
      -Lvl 100 Zigzagoon: Pickup
      -Shiftry: False Swiper
      -Magnezone: Thunderwaver

      I’m aware I could condense a few of these roles, but I like them all and they’re all level 100 (except Bidoof) so that’s why they serve the task of my choosing

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  10. Hola people !! I’m Paulsey and as you might have guessed , I’m new here ! I started playing pokemon at the age of 8 and my first game was pokemon emerald . I’ve also been kinda stalking y’all for about 2 years and let me be honest , this is the only comment section on the internet that i read, every.single.other.comment section is just filled with hate and irony , spammers and idiots ! also started playing pokemon go about a week ago and am level 15 (TEAM INSTINCT FTW !) stopped playing pokemon AS after about 4 month from release , i also really enjoyed pokemon super mystery dungeon and am soooooo looking forward to playing pokemon moon ! I really enjoy the speculation period here and absolutely love reading all about your doubts and hopes , and your marvellous/disastrous ideas ! Im Lebanese and i speak 3 languages fluently and 1 barely i also enjoy playing splatoon and pokemon competitively and if anyone wants to play against me please let me know ! also add me on wii u my NNID is Megapokepaul , for those of you also on Nintendolife , this name can seem familiar .So yeah thats about it hope i didn’t bore you to death ! 😉

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  11. So I’ve noticed that I get better results wonder trading on X then on OR. It could be just Terrible luck on OR but does anyone else have this problem?

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  13. Well I dug into my untouched Y and AS and opened out all 23 extra boxes and released every dud I had and as soon as I finish off to the whole Mileage points thing and buy 192k worth of Rare Candies for my soon to be Hyper Training Ditto

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  14. I imagine it integrated with Pokemon Amie, so you’ll be able to talk with the Pokemon, in a similar way we did back in HeartGold and SoulSilver… but this time with translated cries <3

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          • Tis rough…..lol I imagine the way you train is very similar to how Paul from the anime trained his Pokemon hahaha

          • You kidding me, I’d probably train wrecked entire forests and rock quarries having my team turn trees to tooth picks and boulders to pebbles

            My ultimate training idea is to find a mountain and have them carve out a tunnel until they reached the other side, but don’t get me wrong I care deeply about my team and wouldn’t work them to death
            (Except that one time I made Excadrill and Rhyperior fight until they ran out of PP and fought until struggle caused them to collapse)

  15. So does anyone understand the whole global link Mileage club, because as of right now I have a grand total of 191,871 points, and like 9k up in the bank un transferred
    If I send that into X, Game Sync and send the rest to Global Link and buy almost over 999 Rare Candies for a Ditto

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    • You should just spend all the miles that are on the global link since it will be gone soon. (Miles that are still in the games will stay, though.)

      I’d leave the bank credits untouched for now and redeem that for BP in Sun and Moon instead.

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        • I personally would just take the chance that the bank credits will carry over. 🙂

          And I wouldn’t spend the miles on rare candy and just use the restaurant or Secret Bases to power level. I would spend it on PP Up or Ability Capsules.

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          • Hmmmm I guess so….. Just so much to accommodate for
            But honestly I could buy like 35 Ability Capsule….wait can items be put in bank

            Ughhhh so much to figure out, I want to be 100% prepared for Sun and Moon but I don’t want to lose out on all my years of dedicated saving

          • Nah we never could put items in the bank. Also, since Game Freak never let items migrate from gen 5 to 6, I doubt they will let them transfer from 6 to 7… unless trading between gens is confirmed. (Though most likely it will be bank only.)

          • Alright I’ll spend the cash on Rare Candies, PP Up and Heart Scales
            Honestly Ability Capsule never were a go to item for me

            Honestly my only goal is just finding my next Ditto for Hyper Training that way everything new will be clean

  17. Sun and Moon look like amazing games so far, and I have a slightly cynical question. 🙁 😀 What could Gamefreak put into these games that would ruin it for you? Kind of a reverse wishlist, if you will.

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    • Never been a person that focuses on the negatives, and even if I could think of something that would turn me off, I end up either ignoring the negative or ending up tolerating or even liking it.
      I dunno, I’m just weird. Sorry if I couldn’t answer your question xD

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      • Haha yeah I get that. I was trying to come up with a question to keep the discussion going since I love our discussions in this jungle, and I thought this would be a way to change it up. Honestly, for me rn, the only thing that can ruin a game is bad Pokemon designs and that’s never happened (although gen 5 is hit or miss) and gen 7 is knocking out of the water with their designs. XD

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        • Yeah, I get that, no worries xD I’ll just try to contribute to the discussion in some way :3
          And yeah, that could be something that would ruin it, but I always thing something to commend about a design, either by the origins and what they were trying to go for. Although I haven’t used that often with the gen 7 mons, since most of them are pretty well-designed imo

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      • Everything is bad and we know it, never be afraid to point out what makes your stomach churn with salt coated razorblades and let loose your temper
        That’s my take on most thing

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        • Like I said above, nothing really does that for long, since I see the positives in anything.
          Like, I used to not like the concept of Megas and the Fairy-type, but after X and Y, I grew to tolerate, even love them.
          X and Y has flaws, but I still love them as games, despite the problems people bring up.
          I do have a temper tho, but it only comes up concerning certain people and how they act and stuff. Or when I get annoyed with certain things, like crowds of people.

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    • Something that would ruin the games for me? Uh I don’t usually get hung up on things I don’t like in Pokemon games and such things wouldn’t ruin the game for me. I think the only thing that would ruin the game for me would be something horribly offensive(racist, sexist, or homophobic) which is something I don’t think Gamefreak would do.

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    • These wouldn’t ruin the games for me, but I wouldn’t like them to be in the games.

      – Pokemon talking
      – Making the game too easy (I don’t know if this really counts though)
      – Multiple bland friendly rivals (aka XY)
      – Unpolished new mechanics
      – Glitches (though I really don’t see this happening)

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        • Im probably against the majority but i like Hau. He’s silly and seems funny and just happy go lucky. He is honestly like me if i was a character. And i think thats pretty cool, i just hope he is decent in battles too.

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          • I’m not sure what the majority thinks, but I like Hau too, just not as a “Pokemon Rival”, but as an XY-style buddy. Shauna but with more focus. <3

          • As far as he’s been revealed, I still think he’s bland if he’s judged as a “Pokemon Rival”.

            He’s awesome if he’s Shauna 2.0, though, and the rival either doesn’t exist, is Lillie, or is someone else altogether.

    • Making Popplio a fucking Fairy, I’m just so sick of them and the one time I like a Water Starter it has the potential to be ruined by being a Fairy

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    • Two things. An extremely easy game (like gen 6 games), and a broken system with this “new mechanic” that we are hinted at a lot.

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        • I don’t use legendaries and tried turning off exp share but still an easy task. However, I don’t think you should go out of your way to make the game even slightly more difficult. It should be as challenging as past generations (1-5)

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          • Ah, yeah I can understand I wanna make use of everything the game has but still feel challenged. Not Dark Souls of course, but still pretty challenging.

            They better have Gen 5’s challenge mode only we don’t need to beat the game first.

          • But then again I had my own rival in High School
            This asshole named Jordan, picked on me, ever since he learnt the word pester he used it as a way to bug me, FROM FREAKING 7th TO 12th
            Ergo this guy would use Dark Types, Grass and Poison

            I hope this guy is dead

          • I mean, when did Barry dislike you? xD Not saying it’s a possibility, but I never saw that in Barry.
            What you described sounds like Hugh to me. (and it’s why I love Hugh) He means well, but he uses your friendship as a means to an end, but realizes what he’s done throughout his journey and fixes it.

          • No worries, I was just honestly confused. I mean, anythings a possibility.
            But I agree with you. I definitely want something in the middle, like Hugh. I’d think it would please most people that way.

          • Definitely 🙂 even with the Quilfish hair xD, I’m still a sucker for his eyes, as I feel it definitely suits him 🙂

          • Cheren needed more personal change, I’d feel. (at least in BW, B2W2 had the invisible change before the game started)
            I like Hugh better out of the Unova rival boys xD

          • Well at least BW1 Cheren was a jerkish competitive guy I can relate to. Blue/Gary would also have worked but he didn’t have as much development as Cheren did.

            Hugh was crazy though. Cheren and Gary just edge him out slightly so I’d put him at third after the ORAS rival (who wasn’t jerkish, but the fight under the cycling road was memorably hard when I was a kid).

        • Sorry but I prefer the nice rivals, who are your friends. I despise assholes to the max (Though I have learned to tolerate a select few.). Gary/Blue drove me nuts with how rude he was. 😛 If it were me on the actual journey I personally would want my friends as my rivals, because they would be more likely, and willing to come to your aid if you needed it. Instead of ignoring you, or making you feel like a total waste of space, or make you feel stupid. 🙁 No sir That kind of rival is just junk. 😛 If you like it fine but I like the new rival system. Yeah sure if you have a group like in X and Y, fine make one an asshole, but if there is only one rival, don’t make em an asshole, they don’t necessarily have to be your friend, but don’t make them a hate-able piece of shit that you wish you could kill. (like in Gen 2. OMG I hated him with a passion. >:( )

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          • I kinda like Cheren, at least he still feels like a buddy even though he’s consumed with “WHY CAN’T I WIN!!!”

            And we’re probably in the minority but I did like the X/Y friends, but I don’t call them “rivals”, though. The actual rival, Serena/Calem, was just a bad Cheren.

            Haha Silver. That guy.

            Gary had a memorable catch phrase at least.

        • I’m pretty sure Silver and the anime’s Paul were hated because they were just that and mostly only that.

          Blue (and not necessarily the anime Gary) at least felt like he learned something at the end after he received an earful from his grandfather.

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          • Anime’s Paul was Hated because he was just that? You clearly haven’t watched DP anime then. Paul is the best rival in all of Pokemon.

        • Yes.

          Blue was terrible. No characters growth at all.

          Hugh was awesome. Because he wasn’t always an asshole, but still felt like a rival.

          Silver was great too.

          Cheren was average.

          The rest suck.

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      • I fear that x and y being aimed towards children (and thus the lack of difficulty, etc) is a sign of the future of Pokemon. I’m scared.

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        • It’s also meant for lapsed Pokemon fans. The amount of Gen 1 fan-service means something you know. Plus, on Reddit, these adults ask a lot of simple questions like how the type chart is too confused and etc and etc.

          If GameFreak only appealed to us, what will happen when we are gone? With no other audiences to appeal to.

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    • Easy game
      Battle tower rererereremake
      No post game
      No place to train higher level pokemon
      Empty characters
      80 or below new pokemon
      Fusions

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  18. Do you know what pisses me off, the one time you have the un-killable Set-up that bum blasted everything and they turn tail and run before I could get a freaking 6-0 sweep

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  21. Lol , so apparently, parents are naming their newborn(s) after pokemon ! Names like onyx , roselia , eevee and stari have had a huuuge bump in popularity thanks to the actual pokemon Go craze ＼(^o^)／

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