Alola begins anew

It may only be a year after we were first introduced to the Alola region in Pokémon Sun and Moon… But as a self-proclaimed hardcore Pokémon fanatic, I simply couldn’t resist going out to get the next addition to the series on day one.

I’ll admit, it does help that my Mom agreed to help pay off half the cost as sort of an early holiday gift. I was going to do it anyway, though.

Plus, it also helps that Thanksgiving Break has officially started for me, so I have a whole week to start pouring into some Pokémon when I’m not doing whatever assignments I have.

Or when I’m not writing blog posts like this. I still owe myself one for the three stories I published the week before we left, so hopefully I won’t get too sucked into the game.

That being said, this  post is going to be short and sweet because, frankly, I’m really excited to get into Ultra Moon. Because Mega Noivern for life. Also because Alyson is going to play Ultra Sun given she prefers Solgaleo, as evidenced by her McDonald’s Happy Meal toy from the other day:

I can appreciate the glowing eyes, though Rowlet is still my baby boy so I couldn’t resist not getting him, as you can see in the featured image at the top of this post.

I know the games are going to be fairly different than the originals from all of the pre-release trailers, so now I’m going to see just how different they are, and by extension whether they’re more worth going after than the originals.

To be completely honest, one of the big aspects that might sway that decision for me is how much time and effort the Rainbow Rocket team gets. Seriously Game Freak, you better have added in the original theme songs for each villain team boss or I’m going to be so disappointed in you.

Anyway, all that said, I’m going to go play some Pokémon now. Probably expect a few comparison-type posts in the near future as I work through Ultra Moon, or at least expect a team recap by the end of my journey. I still have to decide who I’m going to use after all, since I’m not going to go with the same squad as I used my first go-around.

Those guys are special to my Moon playthrough. I couldn’t just recreate them.

It does make my job harder since there’s a lot of options that are my favorites now excluded… But I’ll figure it out. Probably going to start with Popplio this time around, I think. Because I’m not sure what other Water-type I would want to use if not Wishiwashi, and because… Well, come on.

How freakin adorable, right? Right.

Sorry Litten, you’ll get your time in the spotlight soon enough. There’s just some other Fire-types I want to give a whirl this time around.

Okay, for real this time, I’ll catch you all later. If you got US&UM like me, let me know what you think about the games! I’d love to hear your thoughts somewhere on the internet.

New Sun and Moon information: Final starter evolutions and endgame content

It’s been a fairly big week for Pokémon stuff so far, or at least for me it has been.  The demo for Sun and Moon has been far more fun than I expected it to be, showing off some cool content and easily succeeding in its goal of getting me hyped for the game by throwing in small secrets to keep me coming back.  Pokémon GO’s Halloween update has gotten me back into playing quite a bit, as I’ve caught at least three Pokémon in the last two days that I hadn’t even seen once in the months before it dropped.  I’m getting close to finally completing the Generation 6 puzzle game Pokémon Picross, which I’ve been playing for literally way too long in my stubbornness about not paying for micro transactions to advance myself.  On top of all that, probably one of the best Pokémon animations ever made in the history of anything was given to the world last Friday.

Then, this trailer dropped.  My god is it a special one, to say the least.

Not only does it officially reveal the final evolutions of the Alolan starter Pokémon (with some plot twists here and there), it also shows off some new Pokémon and a brand new gameplay aspect adding to what already looks like an extensive postgame.  Having a week off from my work on the Daily Titan, I have a little bit of extra time to dedicate to this trailer, but I’ve made myself so busy with other stuff that I’m still a bit late. So, let’s jump into it shall we?

New Sun and Moon Information: Starter Evolutions and an American trailer

I never seem to be on time with these things anymore.  Guess that’s just the nature of my life right now.  It’s not really that much of a problem since technically we’ve only had new things for a few days, and since I’m really just giving my opinions so it doesn’t much matter how timely I am… But still.  I’m hoping it doesn’t annoy anybody out there reading.

Anyway though, we’re not here to talk about my schedule yet again.  No, we’re here to talk about some new Pokémon news.  Some great news at that, if I do say so myself!  Check out my likely over-embellished thoughts below the cut if you want to see whether or not my feelings on the Alolan starter Pokémon have changed in light of recent developments.

August 1st Sun and Moon Information: The Island Challenges

Continuing in the order that’s been set by the new Sun and Moon trailer that was released to the public this morning, it’s time to discuss the new Island Challenges system that will be introduced now that we’ve discussed the additional new Pokémon we’ll be seeing in Alola.

While this section of the discussion might be shorter than the others, it’s still one of the most intriguing things that this trailer introduced – or at the very least, it brings up some of the most intriguing questions.

So how about that Sun and Moon trailer?

Man, it’s been a real busy day.  Work on the Daily Titan kept me busy after my classes between an enterprise story we had about graduation rates on campus and our breaking news coverage of a suspicious package bomb threat on campus.  Though the bomb threat turned out to be nothing, and I’m grateful for that, it was a little unfortunate that I lost so much time.

Because it took time away from thinking about Pokémon.

Now, you may remember I made a post on April 13th where I essentially complained about Sun and Moon news that was scheduled to be announced getting pushed off until May.  I take my Pokémon news very seriously after all, and felt cheated that I’d have to wait another month to hear more about the new games.

Well, time flew by, and it’s time. Boy oh boy was it worth the wait.  The first informational trailer for Pokémon Sun and Moon has been released.  And I want to talk about it.