#polycoly

So out of....pretty much nowhere today, we got a new Sword and Shield trailer! It showcased new Pokemon, new characters, and a new battle mechanic called Gigantamaxing.

Pokemon

One of the ones they officially revealed was Yamper, but I’ll skip over him since I talked about him before. Of the new ones, my favorite is Alcremie. It’s a Fairy type with the ability Sweet Veil. It’s known for producing a soothing, tasty cream which it can also use in battle

Then there’s Rolycoly, a Rock-type Pokemon with the abilities Heatproof or Steam Engine, a new ability that raises the Pokemon’s Speed stat drastically when hit with a Fire or Water type move.

Finally, there’s Duraludon, a Steel/Dragon type (Pretty col typing IMO I think it’s the first ever one?) with the abilities Light Metal or Heavy Metal.

Characters

They revealed something interesting today regarding the gym leaders. For, as far as I recall, the first time, the gym leaders you face will be different depending on what version of the games you get. In Sword, you go up against the Fighting type user Bea (WHO IS ADORABLE BTW) and in Shield you go up against the Ghost-type user Allister (Ironically enough, I named my Decidueye last gen Allister 0_0)

How the gym challenge and Championship Cup operates were discussed as well. They are all televised competitions with plenty of sponsors. In fact you need to have some kind of sponsor to be involved in the gym battles at all. In the game’s story, Leon, the current Champion and local cool dude, sponsors you and Hop. Two characters introduced today were Chairman Rose, the head of a large, vague “company” in the Galar region who currently runs the competitions. He was the one who originally sponsored Leon to become the Champion. 

Also introduced was Rose’s secretary Oleana, a calm, cool, collected woman who does most of the work around Rose’s company.

I don’t know why but I’m getting like....”surprise twist villain” vibes from these two...Maybe I’ve been watching too many Disney movies. But something about them being so heavily involved in Dynamaxing and also being “obvious corporate” characters makes me think they’re gonna be up to something shady but....I guess we’ll see.

Gigantamaxing

The new mechanic introduced today, called Gigantamaxing, is actually a little confusing. Gigantamaxing is something like Dynamaxing, but not all Pokemon can do it. Hell, not even all Pokemon of a SPECIFIC SPECIES can do it! Take Corvinknight for example. Corviknight is a Pokemon capable of Giganamaxing. BUT NOT ALL CORVIKNIGHTS CAN DO IT! Only special ones that you get from Max Raid Battles will be able to do it, and even then apparently the ones that can be captured are rare. In short, all  Pokemon can Dynamax, only some species of Pokemon are able to Gigantamax, and only some members of those species are actually able to do it, and they are very hard to find. Got it? Good.

Once Gigantamaxed, the Pokemon will change size and appearance and their moves change to G-Max Moves. Corviknight, Drednaw, and Alcremie are the only Pokemon currently known to be able to Gigantamax. Corviknight has the Flying type G-Max Wind Rage move which deals damage and also removes field effects (Reflect, Light Screen, Spikes, ect.). Drednaw has the Water G-Max Stonesurge move which deals damage and puts sharp stones around your opponent (essentially dealing damage and setting up Stealth Rocks). Alcremie has the Fairy G-Max Finale move which heals Alcremie’s allies as well as deals damage to opponents. As stated before, their appearances change as well.

Exclusives and Pre-Order Bonuses

Finally, they revealed some Pokemon that will be in the games, but exclusive to one or the other. Larvitar and Goomy are exclusive to Shield, and Deino and Jangmo-o are exclusive to Sword. All of these Pokemon are found pretty late in their respective games. HOWEVER! If you pre-order the Double Pack, you will get a code for special items called Dynamax Crystals. By using those codes, you will be able to have access to Jangmo-o in Shield and Larviatar in Sword through Max Raid Battles. You will also be able to encounter them much earlier that usual. 

There are also Plush keychains that you can get with a pre-order of either Sword or Shield.

Thoughts

I’m really digging the designs of the Pokemon this gen so far. They have a kind of “original 151″ feel to them. I couldn’t describe what exactly that feel is so please don’t ask xD But they’ve all been creative and fitting to their type. I’m really liking the human characters too! Everyone is so gosh dang cute! I also love the idea of making the gym leaders different in the games too. I feel like it adds more weight to the increased price tag in purchasing both. They feel more like different games, and therefore gives the player more incentive to buy both. 

I hope I am wrong about Rose and Oleana though. It’d be pretty disappointing if I could guess their twist based only on the “Corporate = Bad” trope. 

Gigantamaxing is...interesting albeit confusing. I’m hoping the rarity of it keeps it from being too easily abused.