Whoever thought that walking diagonally would ever be counted as an improvement? Apparently, the countless masses who have been playing this series that stretches all the way back to 1996, with over a dozen titles just on Nintendo's handhelds alone, and close to 700 little pocket monsters at last count. It's gotten to the point where the games are now counted in generations, and the upcoming Pokémon X and Y will be the sixth generation to grace the handhelds of all you monster hoarding gamers.
Announced back during January, Nintendo had a slew of details on the two new titles at this year's E3, including changes in navigation, new locations, new Pokémon, new gym masters, and a whole bunch of other upgrades. Let's get to it, shall we?
Changes to the Battle System
Gone are the days of civilized, one on one combat. Trainer on trainer, pokémon on pokémon, fighting each other in an exhaustive battle until one trainer's pokémon stands victorious against the captured pokémon of their adversary. It seems that now wild pokémon have learned strength in numbers. A new change is that now a single pokémon can take on as many as five, but only in the wild. That's not in succession either, that's all at once.
Going along with this, certain pokémon are now blessed with attacks that can hit multiple targets, adding a new level of challenge and strategy to your choice pokémon. Difficult? Sure, but there are added rewards to those who emerge victorious, like increased XP won from the battle. Also new are aerial battles, fought high above the ground, reserved for flying type pokémon.
New Pokémon
With each new generation of Pokémon game, new Pokémon have come with it, and Pokémon X & Y is no different. Japanese magazine CoroCoro recently shared some new ones, as did Nintendo:
* Yancham - A "mischievous" fighting-type Pokémon with a technique called "Parting Remark."
* Yayakoma - A "Ryukyu Robin" normal/flying-type Pokémon that can use the fire-type technique "Flame Charge."
* Elicitel - A "generation" electric/normal-type Pokémon that uses "Parabola Charge," which heals its HP while damaging surrounding enemies.
* Gogoat - A "ride" grass-type Pokemon which uses the "Horn Leech" technique, recovering HP equal to half the damage the move deals. Players can ride/mount this Pokémon in the field.
* Helioptile - a Normal- and Electric-type Pokémon, knows Parabolic Charge, a brand-new move where Helioptile attacks everything around it. Helioptile's HP is restored by half the damage taken by those hit.
* Fletchling - a Normal- and Flying-type Pokémon, sings with a beautiful chirp that is sure to delight any Trainer. Usually friendly, this personality fades once in battle. It uses its Fire-type move Flame Charge in battle, in addition to doing damage, Fletchling's Speed increases every time.
* Pancham - a fighting type Pokemon capable of learning a brand-new move, Parting Shot, which not only lowers an opponent's Attack and Special Attack, but also allows Pancham to switch out for another Pokémon in a Trainer's party during battle.
* Shishiko - a fire type, black bear cub that can use 'Battle Cry' to cripple an enemy's attack power
* Vivillon - a Bug Type Pokémon that evolves from Kofukimushi and Kofuurai
* Furabebe - one of the new Fairy-type Pokémon, capable of a move called Fairy Wind
* Pansy - set to debut in the Pokémon cartoon
Pokédex Adjustments
With the number of Pokémon growing more and more massive with each generation, obviously some changes had to be made to the cataloguing system to keep all these little creatures straight, the Pokédex. In order to help with the organization, the Pokédex has been split into three separate parts, or regions of the new explorable world, Karos: Central, Coastal, and Mountain.
The World of Karos
It's this world that players will encounter "beautiful forests, thriving cities, and many never-before-seen Pokémon." The central city is Lumiose City, a metropolis featuring a tower that is "set to become an iconic structure in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y." The main hub of Karos is Miare City, and a bug-type trainer named Viola belongs to a gym in Hakudan City.
More information is sure to spill out in the coming days. Pokémon X and Pokémon Y will release on DS and 3DS this fall, October 12. Check out the latest trailer below.
