Generation 6 is almost here, but what does Gamefreak have in store for us?
Another region, three new starters and eight new gym leaders. The sixth generation of Pokémon is upon us. What can we expect from the newest installments and why are Pokémon fans as excited as ever?
The Kalos region
As is expected with a new generation, we have been introduced to a brand new region. The Kalos region is based off of France and is bigger than any other region in the franchise. According to Serebii.net, the region is so big that the pokédex is split into three sections; Central Kalos, Coast Kalos and Mountain Kalos. Like every other region there will be gyms and a villainous team causing trouble. The villainous team of the Kalos region is Team Flare.
More Pokémon and the introduction of the fairy type
The new games will introduce numerous new Pokémon and type combinations but what has really captured people’s attention is the new fairy type. The newest Eeveelution, Sylveon was one of the first fairy type Pokémon introduced. The fairy type are super effective against the Dragon type who were previously only weak to ice and itself. What has baffled the fans even more is the introduction of the Mega evolution. Mega-evolved Pokémon are stronger and evolve in battle using an item called a mega stone. Pokémon who can mega evolve include Mewtwo, Blaziken and Absol amongst others. Pokémon like Gogoat and Rhydon can be ridden and will destroy rocks in the players way, hopefully this will replace the need of having a Pokémon know rock smash.
Pokémon Amie
Pokémon Amie is kind of like a Nintendogs mini game where you can feed and pet your Pokémon and by doing so you increase your Pokémon’s friendship level. This feature may be a nice break from constant battling.
General improvements
The game is in full 3D and has done away with the sprites featured in every other generation. Not only has it done away with the sprites, but the four-way grid too, and has replaced it with an eight-way directional grid. Finally, Pokémon will feature diagonal walking. This may sound like such a basic feature but it’s something that has been needed for a very long time.
X and Y will also introduce sky battles; flying Pokémon and Pokémon with levitate are able to battle in the sky as opposed to the floor. A feature called “super training” will be introduced, which will allow players to easily improve EV values of their Pokémon. Hopefully this will discourage people from hacking Pokémon into the game and instead make competitive battling more enjoyable. Hopefully the days of battling Shiny Pokémon with event move sets and perfect EV & IV values are over!
Nintendo has played it safe in previous generations, so it’s nice to see them take a risk–if all of these risks pay off, then it could possibly be the best Pokémon generation of them all.
