[UPD] Pokémon Sun & Moon Demo Pre-Release Hype

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The much anticipated Pokémon Sun & Moon demo is just around the corner, so it’s time for a little pre-release discussion about it! Within the last hour a European press release has revealed two brand-new screenshots of it and shown that we will face Team Skull’s Plumeria as well as get to use Pikachu and its Z-move.

While we don’t know what time the demo will be released on the Nintendo 3DS’ eShop for most areas, we do know that it will be released “late morning” for Europeans.

An important note regarding spoilers: Anything found within normal play of the demo will not be considered a spoiler, however should the game’s file be picked apart and new information/Pokémon/etc be discovered it will be posted behind a spoiler image. Don’t worry!

The paragraph below contains spoilers on the Sun & Moon demo. To read the spoilers please highlight the text.

UPD: A video of the first 15 minutes of the demo played in German has leaked online. For those interested here’s a quick summary of what it showed. Apologies, in advance for the little details regarding dialogue. I don’t speak German…but I can if you’d like:

The demo starts with you checking your mailbox to find a letter from Ash. In it Ash comments on the weather, asks how  your move to Alola went, and how the Greninja he gave you is doing. After reading it, your mom walks out of the house, talks to you, and you are then immediately transported to Town Hall in “Hauholi City”.

The cutscene continues with your mother talking to a clerk, and once she finishes you can finally start to move around on your own accord. When opening the menu you only have access to your Pokémon and your bag – as previously reported you only have the special Battle Bond Greninja on hand. There’s not much else to do in the building, so when you decide to leave Hau will enter.

The two of you leave the building together and are confronted by two Team Skull grunts. Hau and you then separately engage the two grunts in battle. You take on the grunt with a level 25 Yungoos (your Greninja is level 36). After the two of you defeat Team Skull, they run off and you’re able to explore the city a bit until you meet up with Hau again at the Pokémon Center.

Once inside Hau will talk to you about the Pokémon Center, and lets you explore the inside of it. Once you decide to leave Professor Kukui will intercept you and Hau. He talks to you, and once he finishes you’re able to either explore the city more or go north of the Pokémon Center where a man will block you. When approaching him he’ll ask to confirm whether or not you want to continue on to the next area. If you say yes you’ll be allowed to pass and enter a route-like area called “Tenkarat Hill”.

Prof. Kukui will explain something to you and then move on towards the end of the route without you. There is tall grass in this area and one trainer; the player encountered a Pikipek and a Rockruff in the wild, whereas the trainer had a level 20 Rockruff. After you beat the trainer you come to a cave. Upon entering you run into Professor Kukui and a Pikachu.

He talks some more, gives you the Rotom Pokédex and the Pikachu, and tasks you to use the PokéFinder to find some Pokémon. After he finishes talking to you the “Trial Start!” text animation is seen at the bottom of the screen, and you’re able walk around the cave, go to the holes in the wall, and use the PokéFinder to find Pokémon. The player looked through one hole, saw a Jangmo-o using the PokéFinder and defeated it. Before he was able to look through the second hole the video ends abruptly. 

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1,023 thoughts on “[UPD] Pokémon Sun & Moon Demo Pre-Release Hype”

  4. Anyone else think the two pokemon might be a random starter + Pikachu? Battle Bond needs at least two enemy pokemon to be effective, and the trailer that announced it said you were given it. you might get it later on like Glalie (or Steelix) in the ORAS demo.

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  10. Honestly, I fear for the release of this demo. I hope GameFreak took the proper precautions to halt data-miners. That’s what ruined X/Y partially! I cannot wait to play the demo. I want to feel the new game and how it works!

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  12. Interesting about the late morning thing. I suppose that could make sense. If it releases “late morning” everywhere then that could help people from being spoiled. Let’s say “late morning” is anytime between 10- 11:59. That means that if it releases in the late morning for Japan as well it’ll be night time for much of the rest of the world. So instead of us all being able to see the demo all day today basically, there’d only be a couple of hours where people are usually awake for them to see it. And then in the morning there’d be a limited amount of time between people waking up and the release in their timezone. It’s actually quite genius if you ask me lol

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  15. I know there’s some people who want to be spoiled about the game, but please Game Freak don’t put everything about the Pokemon into the demo

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  16. Hope its a better demo than the oras one. But this lvl 40 pikachu against lvl 36 golbat looks like its gonna be another demo that you just one shot a few things and it ends. But i am excited to see ash greninja

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  17. On the first day of Hypemas GF gave to me! One demo, 2 broken thumbs, 300 pokemon, and a statisfied me! (Ok, it wasn’t elegant, nor did it rhyme, but meh) lol

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  19. I hope the datamine show starters split evos. The starters evo is the only spoiler I really want. Its awful to pick a starter aithout being sure of the final form

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      • No, we re really not sure. We know one of their final forms. But even the chinese ridler saod we dont know everything about the starters. And corocoro specifically said they shared a secret woth rockruff. And that they would reveal rockruff secret, wich was split evolutions. Its just a theory of course, but with pretty solid bases, enough to make people wonder

        Reply

        • No. Someone who speaks Japanese went over this and said it Only says they all have a secret.. Not that the secret is shared. So we already there was a secret because of coro. We are more sure they don’t have split evos because None of the rest do. Minus mega char. So saying split is wishful thinking at this point

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          • Up to this point every generation had gym leaders. And we thought every starter would have megas but they seem to have droped this. Im not saying they will have. But that they might. Saying they wont just doesnt make sense until the game come out and confirm it for a fact. And it would be really poor choice of word saying they all have a secret if its not something similar. Might be eelated to the story, might be the same secret rockruff has. No one nlknows for sure, so it doesnt make sense to say it wont happeb when its actially a 50-50 chance based on the oficial information we have

          • Quite positive it has also been said the secret is related to Z moves or forms. So, the secret won’t necessarily be the split evos people want it to be.

  21. I’m curious: how are you planning on regulating comment spoilers? At the very least you should alert people of how to tag spoilers.

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  22. I figured the Japanese demo would be delayed. I’d say rather than being “delayed” it is just scheduled for the time we have now. I imagine the maintenance part of the reason we have a “late morning” release

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    • Ash will most likely use a starter tho :p

      And we’re almost certainly not getting any of his Kalos Team members because they’re irrelevant (Greninja has Battle Bond and Pikachu has a Z-Move)

      Reply

      • No. Of course he will use a starter. And no kalos pokemon I’m just Saying they are 2 of his pokemon, and Pikachu has thunderbolt, n iron tail. Like Ash. They gave us the most popular to show off New features

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  29. One of the features I’m most excited about is having the trainers in the battles. I might be 23 years old, but dammit I still love feeling like I am a Pokémon trainer and being able to see my avatar during the battles is going to be insanely satisfying and immersive for me.

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  34. all I’m hoping for is any information about the starters being datamined. ;v;

    and I’m hoping we get a couple of surprises in the demo. Who knows what we’ll end up finding in there! =D

    (alolan Onix woul be very….very…
    ONIXPECTED!!!!)
    ((sorry onixpected is like my favourite joke of all time))

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  39. What’s everyone’s biggest ‘wishmon’ for this Gen? Mine is a Normal/Bug Papillon that can have a chance of being the Phalène variant depending on its personality value, which also determines wether Wurmple becomes a Butterfly or a Moth.

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  45. So far for my team I’m thinking:
    Rowlet
    Vikavolt
    Marowak
    Silvally
    Kommo-o

    For the last mon I’m torn between Sandslash and Ninetales. Who should I go with?

    Reply

  47. In relation to the NX, it seems like the system would be able to handle 1080p 60fps rather well! There might be a handheld as well that would do 900p or 720p 60fps that will share most games with the console. Who else is for the 60fps Pokemon Game?

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          • Actually it depends on how the game engine is set up. Doing things the old fashioned way binds the graphics and the physics together, resulting in that effect.

            Modern games usually attempt the superior technique of having physics, logic and graphics running separately (sometimes even in separate threads), which means that even if the frames start dropping the input/physics procesing won’t, and vice versa. That can be a bad thing in some games though, so it’s still a balancing act.

      • I don’t notice much difference either tbh

        30 vs 60 is more notable than 60 vs 120 though.

        What really matters is buffering as far as I’m concerned. Properly buffered graphics are more important than having a particularly high framerate (I almost always play with Vsync on because most games end up with tearing effects.. Though Nvidia’s G-sync does have promise.

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  53. Are people watching the gameplay? Why? In a few hours you’ll be able to play yourself. I feel like it takes the fun out of the demo if you’ve already seen everything.

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  55. I really hope this drops at Midnight so I can play it or at least download it before bed. Tues/Thurs are unfortunately my long days 🙁

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    • Same here. I have three classes on Tu/Th, and an exam to study for on Thursday so it’s gonna be a hella tough week for me. I’ll probably feel guilty for playing the demo haha

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      • Luckily no exams this week for me, although I have two essays due, have to create my schedule for next semester, and any other bs classes throw at me.

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        • Essays are the worst, at least for me anyways since I find them so time consuming. Luckily I’ve taken all the English classes my major requires so I’m good on essay based classes 🙂

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          • I’m more of a creative writing guy so research essays/analyses are a pain in the ass. What’s worse is when professors give page requirements. I just find that ridiculous and it leads to fluff writing.

          • Same here I prefer creative writing as well. Research papers are literally my number 1 enemy, but good luck to you on them!

    • I am not working because my job is a dick, seriously they’re only giving me two fucking days a week, and they cut my hours from 7 to FOUR
      ITS CRIMINAL

      Reply

          • I’ve done nothing but be at their beck and call, constantly doing the heavy lifting and always organizing the return carts since the night guys just pile crap on and I’ll never forget that time I had to sweep up ALL THE FREE SAMPLES OF PISTACHIO SHELLS WHEN THE JANITOR BAILED THEY WERE EVERYWHERE

          • I feel you. My work generally makes me do the trash on weekend mornings and it’s always a pain in the ass because the friday night workers don’t do the fucking trash and also they don’t do half of them during the week so they’re all heavy as fuck and it takes 2 hours to do it all.

  60. To anyone who has watched the demo footage: Without giving anything away how’s it looking? New area not actually in Alola or is a recognizable place on the map? I don’t want to know anymore than that. Just curious lol

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  65. Despite everyone overusing the spoiler tags, I’m glad people finally know how to use them so they don’t spoil it for people like Ithsme and me 🙂

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  89. I hope this division will be fixed in the real dex, since some types got a lot of Pokemon already (fairy, grass, normal) and some got (almost) nothing (dark, ice, poison).
    Bug – 6
    Dark – 0
    Dragon – 5
    Electric – 5
    Fairy – 7
    Fighting – 6
    Fire – 5
    Flying – 5 (1 Oricorio form included)
    Ghost – 5
    Grass – 8
    Ground – 4
    Ice – 0
    Normal – 10
    Poison – 1
    Psychic – 5
    Rock – 3
    Steel – 3
    Water – 6

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  90. The demo looks…..kind of bad
    I’m not sure how long it’s supposed to be but if we are stuck using just Greninja and Pikachu it’s seriously not worth my time.
    The only thing I have left to look forward to is the data mine

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  91. I honestly hope Alolan Persian is one heck of a good design, and has a more ornate jewel in its head, its original is very basic… also its interesting we will probs have to wait until the game comes out to know what it looks like

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      • What’s stopping you? It’s only 14 minutes.
        Nothing much gets spoiled, and most of it is totally expected, fairly reminicent of the ORAS trailer.

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        • What’s stopping me is that I don’t feel it’s worth it. If I saw people hyping about something interesting I probably would. But the fact it’s hardly generated a buzz tells me nothing of interest has been discovered thus far.

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          • Eh, it’s worth it for the graphics and to laugh at the old RPG tropes showing their head. It would be more worth it if it wasn’t in German.

      • I tell myself I’ll be better with the full game, it’s just a demo.
        But my God is this going to be hard, I couldn’t last a day, much less a month.

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    • Also, the demo looks WAY too easy. I mean, I realize it’s just a demo, but a LV 35 and a LV 40 is way too overleveled considering your opponent’s levels.

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  101. I’m more excited for the data mine than the actual demo.

    I just want a list of pokemon and types but not story details.

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      • We need that. GF is so weird. They give us like hundred fire-type monkeys and bug-type butterflies but giving us a flamingo or a dolphin is too much to ask.

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          • To quote Bulbapedia:

            “Its perfumes and avian qualities and origins may also mean that Aromatisse and Spritzee are based on plague doctors, who used various perfumes held in bird-like masks to drown out the scent of the plague and deceased.”

            It has dancing elements, but the beak is clearly inspired by Plague Doctors. Plus its abilities Healer and Armoa Veil match Plague Doctor lore.

          • To quote Bulbapedia:
            Aromatisse appears to share some traits with a flamenco dancer and a can-can dancer; it seems to draw particular inspiration from the idea of French dancers scandalously revealing their legs. Given the white round area on its face and the adornments on its head it may also draw inspiration from traditional carnival masks and costumes used in central and southern parts of Europe, and masks worn at masquerade balls. Based on its looks, abilities, species name, and general association with scents, Aromatisse was most likely also based on perfume bottles, and shares the “hourglass” figure many fancy perfume bottles also have. Its “beak” also more than likely represents a perfume nozzle, considering the “scent line” extensions on its head as well as its placement on the top of the body. Its fluffy lower body may also be based on powder puffs or other cosmetics applicators.

            IMO, Aromatisse is a mix of a dancer and a perfume. It may being inspired by plague doctors, but it design ended up being a can-can dancer

          • At what point did I deny it has dancing elements?

            When you imagine a plague doctor Pokemon you’re probably imagining a creepy SCP-style Dark type. Real plague doctors weren’t creepy, they were just people doing a job and they probably smelt very nice.

            I must admit though, I’d definately lean more towards the masquerade balls than the can-can, it looks to sluggish to dance to the infernal galop.

          • Yeah, I wont lie I do imagine the creepy dark style when it comes to plague doctors. but with your explanation I can see the mask being more doctor oriented and not masquarade oriented

          • Fair enough, everyone does, it’s all SCP’s fault ; n ; (And all those creepy drawings.)

            Yeah, GF did that thing where they take a concept and subvert it. Like Lurantis being an orchid pretending to be a mantis instead of a mantis pretending to be an orchid, except in this case they focused on the beak, the scent and the fact PDs were trying to help/heal people instead of focusing on the macabre drawings. Kind of like how Vultures try to eat you until they’re sure you’re dead but they still get a bad rep.

            The plague was nasty, the doctors were nice. http://img06.deviantart.net/c517/i/2012/018/d/6/plague_doctor_by_sandofsahara-d4mqyyq.jpg

          • Aromatisse isn’t a flamingo or a plague doctor. Maybe my History teacher and my History book was wrong. Who knows.

          • It’s a plague doctor.

            “In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some doctors wore a
            beak-like mask which was filled with aromatic items. The masks were
            designed to protect them from putrid air, which (according to the miasmatic theory of disease) was seen as the cause of infection.”

            And its abilities are Healer and Aroma Veil. Need any more convincing?

          • Hmm wow, that is Incredibly weird. How and why? My head is just blowing up. Maybe because the design doesn’t fit it to well.

          • I just wish I knew if miasmatic theory or the four humour theory came first.
            I think four humour was first, but I could be wrong.

            (Yay, I paid attention in history, sort of)

  104. Sometimes I ask myself: Is it worth it?
    This is one of those times.
    Honestly I’m having second thoughts about my spoiler-avoiding plan. Ugggghhhh.

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  108. So, guys I will need your help in the future when the games are released. Because I’m a “noob” in the competitive scene. So I will need some tips amd tricks about some abilities and moves. And i wanted you guys to help me whenever you can. I’ll just post here my question, and hopefully you can answer. That’s all I guess.

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          • OU if I’m not mistaken is a SMOGON tier and from what I have heard they ban things that are a little too cheap and I am assuming it is because it has Protean allowing to to become almost any type. I do not play by smog rules myself because they are a little too linear in their classifying of things, even though we all know 100% that the Mega Rayquaza/Primal Groudon/kyogre is way too OP and frankly overdone, so one thing I can say if you’re looking to get into competitive, please don’t be that person 😛

          • Ok, i don’t even like legendaries in the competitive scene, this year in VGC they were overused. And was boring.

          • I know, thankfully we have seen a lot of pokemon with really cool competitive abilities that I think will change up the VGC scene, pokemon like Tsareena and Oranguru are definitely going to see some use, and thankfully Mega Kangaskan got a bit of a reduction so it should be more interesting

    • usually most of here follow smogon standards but we are not very strict when it comes to banning moves, abilities or pokemon

      Reply

    • Here is my team building guide and just over all battling tips. Not complete, final or I guess the be all end all, just some stuff that helps me.

      1. Pick one pokemon then base your team around that.
      – Every pokemon has its strength and weaknesses. Every pokemon has a job, or multiple jobs it can do very well. So when you choose a Pokemon, really look into its move set, stats and ability to find out what it can do. For me, this pokemon is often my mega evolution, but don’t force yourself into using megas. Actually with megas being banned in the next VGC, chances are other battle styles like Smogon may follow suit in one way.
      – Once you decide what pokemon you want to use and know what role it will play, choose pokemon based around supporting that. I usually look at what types it has a disadvantage against and use that as a basis for beginning to look for my next pokemon. You should be looking at what will most easily take down your main pokemon and find a way to protect against that. For example, say your main pokemon is a normal type who will get walled as soon as soon as a ghost type is sent out against it. Something to switch into to counter that pokemon is what you need
      – Once you have one or two pokemon to cover your main pokemon’s weaknesses, find pokemon to cover those pokemon’s weaknesses, preferably while also being able to cover for your main mon. Keep following this pattern until you have 6.
      2. Pokemon tend to fall into certain roles.
      -Every pokemon has a role on its team. The main ones are
      * Walls (Defensive pokemon, usually focusing on minimalizing and/or absorbing damage)
      * Attackers(Pokemon that deal damage)
      * Sweepers (Subset of attackers. Sweepers can deal lots of damage at once and can usually kill a pokemon in 1 or 2 hits. Their main job is to take out multiple pokemon quickly. Their draw backs are that they tend to need setting up before attacking leaving them vulerable for those turns and that they tend to have a hard time if they are slower or at a type disadvantage)
      * Set Ups (A pokemon whose main job is setting up. This can include weather effects, field hazards like Stealh Rock or Leech Seed, or stat buffs. These pokemon are usually send out first and are often defensive as to give themselves just enough time to set up. Some of them might use Baton Pass to hand over stat changes to another pokemon and some might not even have attacking moves!)
      * Gimmick (Pokemon that have a risky or odd strategy. They may fall under multiple of these categories or none at all. They usually have strategies that are dangerous to pull off but if you succeed, it can be devastating for the other team)
      – Attacking and Defensive pokemon fall under three categories. Physical, Special or Mixed. Mixed is a combination of Physical and Special and a good example of one is Lucario(Non-Mega). most pokemon however should stick to one or the other and this is where stats really come into play
      3. Practice
      – Chances are, your team won’t be very good the first time around. This is why http://pokemonshowdown.com/ is essential for competitive battling. Build your team on here first then start battling.
      – After a battle, showdown has a button that lets you rewatch your battle. Use this. Watch the battle again. Pay attention to your opponent’s moves, think about the thought process behind why they used it. What effect did it have on the battle as a whole? Was it smart? Look at what you did. If you lost, watch where you went wrong. Think about what you could’ve done differently to get closer to victory.
      – On top of looking at how you could use your pokemon better, look at if a certain pokemon wasn’t contributing like you hoped. Reconfigure their moveset or if you have to, replace them all together. Don’t be scared to restructure your team a bit if you have too. It will go a long way.
      4. Predict
      – This is more of a battling tip and you will get better with experience, but when battling predict what the opponent will do. This will last through out the entire match. The game gives you a team preview before a match. Use that time to predict what each pokemon’s role is, how it interacts with the other team members and what your opponent is going to send in first. Change your strategy accordingly. This is hard starting out but as you battle and start learning the common jobs of each pokemon you will get better
      – Each turn, think about what the opponent will do next. Put yourself in their shoes and think about what move they think will most be effective. Pay attention to their moveset too. This is probably the hardest prediction you will make. If you really aren’t sure, go with the safe option
      – Something to note: Showdown will show you alot of information if you hover over the pokemon. Use that info.
      5. Don’t Give Up
      – I started competitive battling a few months before X and Y came out and I’m just now getting to where I can get a decent amount of wins. It’s tough but don’t be discouraged. I’ve noticed that people improve at this at different paces and hopefully this guide helps kickstart you into it a bit.

      6. Random stuff
      – USE SMOGON. While your movesets may not be very unique, it is so helpful starting out. Be sure to actually read the text that comes with it. It really helps you understand HOW to use it
      – Watch competitive battling. Just watching high level players battle and thinking about what sets and moves they are using is a great learning exercise
      – Be a good looser. You are going to loose alot. Keep yourself together and keep going. If you get to the point where you are angry, take a break. You probably wont win if you are already angry. Leave and do something easy and relaxing like watching TV or reading a book. Something other than games.
      – IDK I might edit this to include other random things but hope this helped!

      Reply

  114. I almost started watching the demo but I realized I want to go in tomorrow surprised at what I see. I cannot wait to play it.

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  118. Do we have a guess as to when the demo will be launched in America? I saw PJ’s tweet that said maybe around 7 JST but I couldn’t do the math XD

    Reply

  120. Hi, I am new here but has anyone finally realized it has happened? The generation where we can have A full princess Pokemon team?

    Reply

  125. UPD: A video of the first 15 minutes of the demo played in German has leaked online. For those interested here’s a quick summary of what it showed. Apologies, in advance for the little details regarding dialogue. I don’t speak German…but I can if you’d like:

    The demo starts with you checking your mailbox to find a letter from Ash. In it Ash comments on the weather, asks how your move to Alola went, and how the Greninja he gave you is doing. After reading it, your mom walks out of the house, talks to you, and you are then immediately transported to Town Hall in “Hauholi City”.

    The cutscene continues with your mother talking to a clerk, and once she finishes you can finally start to move around on your own accord. When opening the menu you only have access to your Pokémon and your bag – as previously reported you only have the special Battle Bond Greninja on hand. There’s not much else to do in the building, so when you decide to leave Hau will enter.

    The two of you leave the building together and are confronted by two Team Skull grunts. Hau and you then separately engage the two grunts in battle. You take on the grunt with a level 25 Yungoos (your Greninja is level 36). After the two of you defeat Team Skull, they run off and you’re able to explore the city a bit until you meet up with Hau again at the Pokémon Center.

    Once inside Hau will talk to you about the Pokémon Center, and lets you explore the inside of it. Once you decide to leave Professor Kukui will intercept you and Hau. He talks to you, and once he finishes you’re able to either explore the city more or go north of the Pokémon Center where a man will block you. When approaching him he’ll ask to confirm whether or not you want to continue on to the next area. If you say yes you’ll be allowed to pass and enter a route-like area called “Tenkarat Hill”.

    Prof. Kukui will explain something to you and then move on towards the end of the route without you. There is tall grass in this area and one trainer; the player encountered a Pikipek and a Rockruff in the wild, whereas the trainer had a level 20 Rockruff. After you beat the trainer you come to a cave. Upon entering you run into Professor Kukui and a Pikachu.

    He talks some more, gives you the Rotom Pokédex and the Pikachu, and tasks you to use the PokéFinder to find some Pokémon. After he finishes talking to you the “Trial Start!” text animation is seen at the bottom of the screen, and you’re able walk around the cave, go to the holes in the wall, and use the PokéFinder to find Pokémon. The player looked through one hole, saw a Jangmo-o using the PokéFinder and defeated it. Before he was able to look through the second hole the video ends abruptly.

    Reply

  126. Ok so literally ONE minute ago someone on 4 c*** got the key. Happy Datamining, it starts now! I wanna wake up to everything tbh

    Reply

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