RUMOR: Chinese Image Teases New Features

I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again: rumors are not facts. We like to talk about rumors, discuss possibilities and mull over whether things feel like legitimate Game Freak-esque additions to the game. That’s all.

Recently some of our loyal readers in Taiwan and China have contacted us about some information that allegedly comes from an internal working demo. Again, I must state quite plainly, this is absolutely hearsay until we have verifiable evidence. We won’t be posting any images, but we can break down what seemed to be shown along with some generalizations we can draw from it.

Seen:

  • PokéRide seems to be coming back, or at least the concept of riding Pokémon in the overworld. Similar to Pokémon X & Y, the trainer is riding a Lapras to navigate a water-based route. The bulky gear that Lapras wore in Generation VII is gone, and the trainer doesn’t appear to have the Pokéride gear (or a specifically sporty outfit) on.
  • Following Pokémon may also be coming back. Whether any Pokémon can follow you or just a select few remains to be seen. In the demo an Eevee is perched on top of its trainer’s head while surfing on Lapras. It’s hard to imagine something bigger having that much leeway or how it would be handled. Our source followed up and said that Eevee would stay outside of its Pokéball and follow the trainer when they docked back on land.
  • Battles start by running into a Pokémon; or atleast it seems like it. Unlike previous installments in which players would randomly trigger battles while walking through grass, or surfing across the water, the water visibly and clearly show Pokémon models on the route swimming underneath and around you. Whether they aggressively try to chase you down or not also remains to be seen.

One more thing… the route looked suspiciously like one we’ve traveled before in a previous game. Hmm…

Again, remember, this could be an elaborate hoax to fool Pokémon fans. Don’t emotionally invest yourself in these rumors, just read them and let us know how you feel about them below!

We’ve seen a still from it personally and there were no other sources when reverse image searched, but it has a long way to go to proving its legitimacy. The graphics seemed adequate in nature for a December 2018 release, but definitely won’t excite fans.

When we see more we’ll update you!