It’s another week, which means another batch of brand new Pokémon Sun & Moon info — including new catchable critters and some familiar features as shown in the most recent trailer.
First off, the first two version-exclusive Pokémon have been revealed – Passimian, a lemur-looking Fighting type and Oranguru, a Normal/Psychic type that obviously resembles an orangutan.
The former attacks opponents by throwing berries at them and has a brand new Ability called Receiver, which allows it to inherit the Ability of an ally that faints in battle, which makes it incredibly useful for Double Battles. It will only appear in Pokémon Sun.
The latter is a much kinder creature that helps injured wild Pokémon. It is the only Pokémon to learn the move Instruct, a brand new move that can make its target use its most recent move again. It will only appear in Pokémon Moon.
The games will also feature the first ever version-exclusive Evolutions… sort of. Depending on which version you own, the previously established Rockruff’s evolution, Lycanroc, will take on a different form – Midday Form for Sun and Midnight Form for Moon.
In Sun, it becomes an agile creature, dodging opponent’s attacks and responding in kind with strikes from the sharp rocks in its mane. It learns a unique attack called Accelerock, which is guaranteed to always hit first.
In Moon, it’s much more aggressive and excitable, though it apparently feels a deep trust for its Trainer. There’s currently no word on if this form will have an exclusive move or not.
Aside from that, fan-favorite Pokémon, Pikachu and Eevee, will be able to learn unique Z-Moves (super powerful attacks that are brand new to the series). For Pikachu, it uses a move called Catastropika to borrow strength from its Trainer and charge into opponents whilst wrapped in high-voltage electricity.
Eevee, meanwhile, can use the move Extreme Evoboost, which sees Eevee channel the power from all eight of its possible evolutions and gain a boost to all of its stats.
Fans will also be pleased to know that Trainer customization from X & Y will return, allowing you to change your Trainer’s hair color, hair style, clothes and even eye color. You’ll even be able to dye your clothes. Like a certain T-shirt but aren’t fond of the color? Well, you can just change it.
A new feature called Pokémon Refresh is also being added, and functions similarly to the previous games’ Pokémon Amie feature. Here, you’ll be able to tend to your Pokémon — clean them, feed them and even cure status conditions that have been inflicted on them during battle. By taking care of them, they’ll become more affectionate towards you and this will increase the chances of them avoiding attacks in battle or even surviving attacks that would otherwise knock them out.
Finally, Pokémon Bank, a separate application that allows you to store away your Pokémon, will be updated to be compatible with Sun & Moon and the Virtual Console re-releases of Red, Blue & Yellow. This means that you’ll be able to transfer any Pokémon you caught in Kanto into your copy of Sun & Moon.
Pokémon Sun & Moon will be released on the 3DS worldwide on November 18th, followed by a European release on November 23rd.
