I shouldn't be getting anyone's hopes up (including mine)....but one of the new Gym Leaders is named Zakuro in the Japanese version and his name can mean Black or Dark. Granted the Dark-type is known as Evil in Japan, but it's a shred of hope.

POKEMON XY INFORMATION EXTRAVAGANZA!

So, yeah, I took about a month or so off an in that time a TON of Pokemon XY information has come out. Having caught up on the anime episodes I've missed, I was about ready to tell everyone my opinion on all the newly released info... when ANOTHER info dump turned up! And as I was today's post up, the English website updated with the newly released information! So now I got a ton of work to do. But before we talk about any Pokemon, Character, or Locations, lets talk about one of the BIGGEST announcements made: Introduction of a new type!

Fairy Surprise:

History Lesson: The first Pokemon games, Gen I, had only 15 types, each interacting with other types in various ways. However all types were not considered equal and by far the most overpowered type was Psychic as, due to a bug, they were only weak to Bug-type attacks and immune to Ghost-type attacks (which they were supposed to be weak against). Not helping the matters is that, even if it had the Ghost weakness, there were no strong Bug- or Ghost-type attacks. And to put a final nail in the coffin, many Bug-types (including the one with the "best" Bug-type move at the time) and ALL the Ghost-types were part Poison-type which was to Psychic. So in Gen I, if you wanted to take on a Psychic-type, you either used your own Psychic-type (also the only type which resisted Psychic was itself) or relied on high damaging neutral damage moves.
Come Gen II where not only did they fix some of the problems above (made Psychic weak to Ghost & introduced stronger Bug- and Ghost-type attacks) but also used this as an excuse to bring in new types: Dark (which was immune to Psychic and Psychic was weak against) and Steel (which resisted Psychic). This bumped up the number of types to 17 and up to Gen V it remained that way. Now all types still weren't equal, Poison was considered something of a joke and Dragon was now the overpowered type (but it was meant to be). However with more and more Dragon-types being introduced, many being Legendary, this intended overpower was not becoming as much as a nuisance as Psychic was in Gen I. However they couldn't really adjust the type chart (a chart which shows how each type interact with one another) they've established for many years, so they did the only other thing they could do: introduce a new type!

The Reveal: Fairy-type is the 18th type making its debut in Gen VI and it plans on flipping the type chart on its head by being Super Effective against Dragon-types while a rumor of it being weak to Poison-types due to a Pokemon Smash! (a Japanese Pokemon show) sketch involving Fairy-type's "star" Pokemon who we'll get to later. As mentioned above, it's been specifically stated by Game Freak that a big reason Fairy-type was introduced was to balance Dragon-types, with a lot of Fairy-types promotional material mentioning and sometimes showing Fairy-type's Super Effectiveness on Dragon-types.


One (type) shall rise, another (type) shall fall.

Re-Type: Now before we talk about the "star" of the Fairy-types (hint: it's one of the Pokemon in the above picture), it was also announced that several Pokemon would be getting re-typed as part Fairy. So far they revealed 3 Pokemon: Jigglypuff (Normal/Fairy), Marill (Water/Fairy), and Gardevoir (Psychic/Fairy). Now it's no secret that Fairy-type seems to very feminine in its presentation, not to mention its color is Light Pink, so it's understandable why Jigglypuff and Gardevoir are being changed to part Fairy-type. But then we have Marill which have confused many people why it was chosen, aside from its cute appearance, until this fact was brought to everyone's attention: Marill is part of the Fairy Egg Group.
That's right, there's an Egg Group which is called Fairy which have many Pokemon which you can argue have a strong chance becoming part Fairy-type. Starting off with the Pokemon who are only in the Fairy Egg Group, being all of them are mono-type, its HIGHLY possible all of them will be getting the Fairy-type treatment:

1. Igglybuff/Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff: Jigglypuff is already confirmed with Igglypuff and Wigglytuff no doubt following.

2. Cleffa/Clefairy/Clefable: Do I really need to explain why the CleFAIRY family is very likely to get the Fiary-type (actually, one wonders why they weren't shown instead of Jigglypuff since, not only does its name reference fairies, but in both Japan and English their species is the "Fairy Pokemon" (except Cleffa who's the "Star Shape Pokemon, but it's evolved forms probably take precedence here))?

3. Happiny/Chansey/Blissey/Plusle/Minun/Audino: Chansey family, Plusle, Minun, and Audino you can make an argument for staying or changing. Being the Chansey family's metagame has it as the strongest Special Wall in the game, the addition of any type could either help or hinder it depending on what its resistances, immunities (if there is any), and weaknesses are. I would say Plusle and Minun would probably benefit from getting the Fairy-type, their gimmick doesn't help with them being weak Pokemon (even when in a Double or Triple Battle with each other) unless they buff the Plus and Minus Abilities (also it'll help them stand out being a bit different than Gen III's Pikaclones). And finally type change or not, it won't affect Audino's role in the games if you can still encounter them in the wild: Experience sponges.


Well, that's the Pokemon who are only in the Fairy Egg Group. However, much like types, Pokemon can be in two Egg Groups and the Fairy Egg Group is no different. In fact, this is where Marill fits into the picture. So let's start this part of the list with it like we did with Jigglypuff:

1. Azurill/Marill/Azumarill: With Marill confirmed than no doubt we also have Azumarill too, but what about Azurill? Azurill is a special case as it's not Water-type like its evolved forms but Normal-type. While Fairy-type won't disrupt this, it'll evolve from being Normal/Fairy to Water/Fairy, it's still something to note in case there's a reason it's a normal type which I myself don't know why. FUN FACT: Azurill's gender ratio is 1 male : 3 female BUT Marill's ratio is 1 male: 1 female. This means that upon evolving, there's a chance Marill will be a different gender from the Azurill it evolved from depending on its Personality Value.

2. Pichu/Pikachu/Raichu: I HIGHLY doubt they'll change Pikachu and its families typing from pure Electric-type. Being Fairy-type seems to be geared more towards girls, they may leave the series mascot alone. Pikachu is already cute enough to attract girls, but also neutral enough that boys will accept it without any problems (this may even be partially due to the anime).

3. Togepi/Togetic/Togekiss: The Togepi family could potentially get the Fairy-type, the only problem being Togetic and Togekiss being a dual-type already: Normal/Flying. However I imagine no one would complain if they drop the Normal-type to make them Fairy/Flying.
I don't think the Hoppip family, Shroomish family, or Cottonee family will be getting the Fairy-type since they're more strongly associated with being plants. Though with that said, I do think the Roselia family and Cherubi family (or at least Cherrim) might have a chance of getting the Fairy-type. The only hurdle the Roselia family has is being a dual-type Grass/Poison, but the Poison-type isn't doing much for them so swapping it for Fairy-type can't hurt.

4. Snubbull/Granbull: The Snubbull family is definitely getting Fairy-type as their species is, like the Clefairy family, the "Fairy Pokemon" in both Japan and English.

5. Skitty/Delcatty/Pachirisu: The Skitty family and Pachirisu you can take or leave getting Fairy-type. And before you point out that Skitty is a cat and Pachirisu is a squirrel, let me remind you that one of the new Fairy-type Pokemon is COTTON CANDY. I don't think Fairy-type discriminates.

6. Mawile: Mawile has a strong case for it to get Fairy-type, sort of. Actually it has a strong case of being part Ghost-type. Mawile is based on a kind of yokai, a supernatural monster which originated in Japan. They are normally associated with ghosts, though if you categorize them under spirits I can see how you can stretch it to them being fairies. Expanding on this, the yokai which Mawile is specifically based on is a Futakuchi-onna, a woman who has two mouths. In most cases the woman is a normal woman who has been cursed, so this yokai can be interrupted to being alive thus one reason why Mawile may not be a Ghost-type. However now that we have the Fairy-type, a type based on another supernatural creature, it could stand to reason Mawile may get the Fairy-type. Also, since it's based on a female yokai, Mawile looks feminine (though they have a 1 male : 1 female gender ratio) which further adds to its chances.

7. Castform: Castform probably won't get the Fairy-type due to its gimmick. It changes appearance and type upon what weather is active (well, Sunny, Heavy Rain, and Hail weather). While giving it Fairy-type as a secondary type won't really affect this, part of the gimmick is that it's not suppose to share the same weakness and resistances between its other forms unless those types just so happen to share it (like it just so happens that Sunny Form and Snowy Form share a Rock-type weakness). So while it can get the Fairy-type and probably no one would argue, I don't think it will in sake of its gimmick (which, much like Plusle and Minun, doesn't really help Castform from being a weak Pokemon unless they decide to buff the Ability Forcast's effect (and add Forms for Sandstorm and Dense Fog while they're at it)).

8. Snorunt/Glalie/Froslass: The Snorunt family is an interesting case since it starts off with a good reason to be a Fairy-type. Snorunt is based on a yokai (get used to this, being Pokemon is made in Japan it has TONS of Japanese folklore) called the Yukinko which are snow sprites. Well, that's good enough reason to give it the Fairy-type! The problem, though, stems from its evolutions. Glalie is based on an yokai called an Oni which is essentially a demon making you think that Glalie would be part Dark-type which is surprisingly isn't. Now you can still stretch it that Glalie is a Fairy-type, the problem comes with Snorunt's alternate evolution: Froslass. Froslass is based on a yokai called a Yuki-onna which is a malicious spirit who appears before those lost in a snowstorm to kill them by freezing them solid. Froslass is a Ice/Ghost type meaning if Snorunt got the Fairy-type and chose to evolve to Froslass it'll be losing that type since I doubt Froslass will be getting a type change. So my guess is that Snorunt family won't be getting the Fairy-type due to the complications of its evolutions.

9. Phione/Manaphy: Phione and Manaphy I see no problem getting the Fairy-type. Though based on a sea slug, said sea slug are called "sea angels" and you can stretch an angel can sort of be considered a fairy. I can't really see it hurting them that much if they get the type change so I say why not, though at the same time won't be surprised if they don't.

Well that's all for the Fairy Egg Group, but should Pokemon only in the Fairy Egg Group be given the chance to become part Fairy-type? Well Game Freak already decided that they shouldn't as Gardevoir is part Fairy-type so let's take a look at some other Pokemon who might also get the Fairy-type, starting off with Gardevoir who I do need to talk about considering the issue with Snorunt:

1. Ralts/Kirlia/Gardevoir/Gallade: Now we know Gardevoir is going to be Fairy-type, but what about Ralts and Kirlia? Going back to Snorunt, there's another possibility there I didn't mention: they leave Snorunt an Ice-type and make Glalie the Ice/Fairy-type. However, as I mentioned, Glalie is an Oni which are demons thus why I don't think that's going to happen since demon does not equal fairy (well... in modern days at least). However with Gardevoir things are a bit different since it's been confirmed part Fairy-type so that point has been resolved. The question really falls down to Kirlia. Since male Kirlia can evolve into Gallade which are Psychic/Fighting, I don't think they'll make Kirlia, and thus Ralts, part Fairy-type because that'll mean half of them have the potential to lose it. So I think Ralts and Kirlia will remain pure Psychic-types where females will then evolve into the Psychic/Fairy Gardevoir and males will have the choice between that or the Psychic/Fighting Gallade.

2. Mew/Celebi/Jirachi/Shaymin/Victini: I think some of the other Cute Legendaries, otherwise known as the Legendaries who have 100 in each stat, may also possibly get the Fairy-type. While we've already talked about one member, Manaphy, there's still Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Shaymin, and Victini. Now the easiest one here would be Mew because, like Manaphy, it's a mono-type: Psychic. Mew certainly fits the qualification to be part Fairy-type, though one must wonder if they make Mew part Fairy-type would they also have to make Mewtwo... MAYBE THAT'S WHY MEWTWO IS GETTING A NEW FORM! Getting back on track, now we run into problems with the other Cute Legendaries since they are all dual-types. Celebi is Psychic/Grass, though with its VERY fairy-like appearance maybe it should swap out that Psychic with Fairy. Jirachi is based on a genie which they could stretch to be a Fairy-type, once again swapping out Psychic for Fairy. Skipping to Victini, it's partly based on the Roman-Greek goddess Victoria/Nike, which you can once again stretch to swapping its Psychic with Fairy. Now we come to Shaymin where all this ends. Shaymin is unique among the Cute Legendaries because it can change Formes, and when it does it gains an additional type going from pure Grass-type to Grass/Flying. Now, while I would say Shaymin could pass off as a Fairy-type, I don't think it should change (if anything I think its Land Forme should change to Grass/Ground) because its meant to represent the land and air, not a type of mythical creature. In the end I do think at least Celebi should definitely get the Fairy-type replacing its Psychic-type; but as for Mew, Jirachi, and Victini, either way I don't think it makes much of a difference.


3. Bellossom: I think Bellossom is a good candidate for Fairy-type. Gloom actually loses a type upon evolving to Bellossom, going from Grass/Poison to pure Grass while it would have kept the secondary Poison-type if it had evolved to Vileplume. So with Bellossom already having dropped a secondary type, and has the looks fitting of a fairy, I say make it Grass/Fairy.

4. Misdreavus/Mismagius: The Misdreavus family I'm on the fence of adding. Misdreavus is based on banshees as well "head ghosts/monsters" while Mismagius adds witches to the mix, not exactly anything Fairy-like. However they are feminine in appearance (though, once again, a gender ration of 1 male : 1 female) which has that going for them. Also can you think of anything better for a Ghost/Fairy-type?

5. Beautifly: Now you may think Beautifly is an odd choice, but hear me out. While they have their differences, it's hard not to think Beautifly is an expy of Butterfree. Based on the same animal (though different species), same typing (Bug/Flying), and same Base Stat Total tell you this is just a different flavor of the same Pokemon (Butterfree is more Special oriented while Beautifly is more Offense oriented). However, if they were to make Beautifly Bug/Fairy that'll help separate it from Butterfree a little bit more. Why Beautifly instead of Butterfree to get the Fairy-type? Beautifly is more colorful and a bit more cartoony looking while Butterfree looks more like a real life butterfly.

6. Illumise: Illumise might be Volbeat's mate, but that doesn't mean it needs to be the same type as it. Actually Illumise gets the short end of the stick in the relationship as Volbeat, since it's based on a male firefly, gets Tail Glow while Illumise don't since female fireflies don't have the bioluminescence tail. Giving Illumise the Fairy-type will help at least give it something to work with if it can't rely on its Bug-type.

7. Chingling/Chimecho/Munna/Musharna: I don't think the Chimecho family or Munna family will make a bad Psychic/Fairy-type, it'll at least give them a little something more to the little they have to work it. Then again, considering that Psychic/Fairy seems like a popular typing (I'll talk about that later on), I can easily see them being passed over.

8. Goreybss/Luvdisc/Alomomola: Gorebyss, Luvdisc, and Alomomola are in the same boat as the Chemicho family and Munna family except with them it's Water instead of Psychic (though that can be explained because there are a LOT of Water-type Pokemon).

9. Buneary/Lopunny: If it's not Psychic or Water then it's Normal, as the Buneary family looks like it has what it takes to be part Fairy-type but there are a lot of Normal/Fairy as well (once again, I'll later talk about this along with Psychic/Fairy).

10. Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf: Enough about Pokemon which can be stretched to be fairies, let's go to Pokemon who are fairies: The Lake Guardians. They don't only look like fairies but also have a kind of fairy in their names: UXIE (from "pixie"), MeSPRIT (from "sprite"), and AzELF/AGNOME (Azelf's Japanese name). While I'm not sure they should make Mew Psychic/Fairy, I'm definitely sure they should do that for the Lake Guardians.

11. Cresselia: I'm only putting Cresselia here if Fairy-type is also going to be Super Effective against Dark-types. It's kind of odd to me that Cresselia is suppose to prevent the bad dreams which Darkrai creates. Yet Darkrai is a pure Dark-type while Cresselia is a pure Psychic-type, meaning in battle Darkrai has the clear advantage since it's immune to Cresselia's STAB and its own STAB is Super Effective against it. If Fairy-type does Super Effective damage against Dark-types, this could be Cresselai's chance to at least level things offensively against Darkrai (even better if Fairy-types also resisted Dark-type attacks so that Cresselia only receives neutral damage from Dark-type attacks).

12. Petilil/Lilligant: The Peilil family won't look out of place if they get to be part Fairy-type. They're much like Bellossom in that way, though the reason I didn't combine them with it because I think Bollossom should definitely get the Fairy-type while the Petilil family can do alright without it.

13. Gothita/Gothorita/Gothitelle: Remember The Fair Folk thing I brought up? Well if any Pokemon would fit this I'd think it would be Gothita Family, and not only in the looks department. Have you read some of their Pokedex entries? Gothita stares at things only it can see, Gothorita "makes friends" by hypnotizing people and Pokemon and leads them astray, and Gothitelle can see into the future and knows when you'll DIE!

14. Meloetta: The final Pokemon which I think is worthy of getting the Fairy-type is Meloetta. Why Meloetta is part Normal-type I don't know, but if that swap that Normal for a Fairy then it makes a little more sense. Meloetta is based on the Muses, goddesses of the performing arts (and literature and science, but we're focusing on the performing arts ones). That can be stretched to it being a Fairy-type, also plenty of artwork and stories depict fairies (at least the friendly ones) loving to play music, sing, and dance. So I say replace Meloetta's Normal-type (which is shares between Formes) with a Fairy-type and let it the Muse it wants to be.

New Pokemon: Well it's the part you've all been waiting for, something which we've been waiting for MONTHS to be known. It was our first (technically second, though by appearance it was the first) hint of the Fairy-type whether we knew it or not. It's essentially being used as the poster star of the Fairy-type. I've shown you an image of it taking down a Hydreigon to show how awesome it is. Here once again is everyone's favorite newest Eeveelution: Sylveon!


Pokemon: Sylveon
Type: Fairy
Species: Intertwining (English)/Connection (Japanese) Pokemon
Height: 1.0 m/3'03"
Weight: 23.5 kg/51.8 lbs
Known Moves: Moonblast (NEW! Fairy-type. May decrease a target's Special Attack)
Based On: Like all Eeveelutions, it has some similarities with foxes, though is given details to make it look fairy-like.
Name: "sylph" (a kind of fairy) and the prefix "-eon" (a long period of time, possibly a reference for how long actual evolution takes to happen)
Thoughts/Opinion: Well I lost my bet of thinking Sylveon is a Flying-type. My thoughts of Sylveon really are my overall thoughts on the entire Eevee family, I like it and the family gimmick. Now my favorite will ALWAYS be Flareon since I'm a Fire-type guy, but Sylveon is still nice though if I was forced to list the Eeveelutions then I wouldn't be putting Sylveon near top. But personal opinions are one things, what's actually good in the metagame is another and the Eevee family has its ups and downs when it comes to that.
Every Eeveelution has a stat distribution with the following number (going from lowest to highest): 60, 65, 65, 95, 110, & 130. This gives every Eeveelution a Base Stat Total of 525. What makes every Eevee different is that those 6 numbers are distributed differently for each Eevee, giving each one their own way to play it:

Eeveelution - Stats (HP, Atk, Def, SpA, SpD, Spd) - Role
Vaporeon - (130, 65, 60, 110, 95, 60) - Special Wall + Special Attack
Jolteon - (65, 65, 60, 110, 95, 130) - Speedy Special Attacker + Special Defense
Flareon - (65, 130, 60, 95, 110, 65) – Offensive Oriented + Special Defense
Espeon - (65, 65, 60, 130, 95, 110) - Speedy Special Oriented
Umbreon - (95, 65, 110, 60, 130, 65) - Defensive Oriented Wall
Leafeon - (65, 110, 130, 60, 65, 95) - Quick Physical Oriented
Glaceon - (65, 60, 110, 130, 95, 65) - Special Oriented + Defense

As you can see each Eeveelution has their own role... unfortunately sometimes their type doesn't fit that role. For example, Flareon's biggest stat is Attack but it doesn't get a lot of high powered Physical moves. Leafeon has its in Defense but Grass isn't a good defensive type, in addition to that there's only a few good Physical Grass-type moves though many of the food Gras-type moves are Special like Giga Drain. However with the bad comes the good, Umbreon is a pretty good wall and Espeon can make a power play, especially if set up right. So in all honesty it really comes down to type + stat distribution to really determine how much an Eeveelution will affect the game (and a good Ability doesn't hurt either). Speaking stats, you may have noticed that no Eeveelution has the same stats. Because of this you can actually make your own guess of what Sylveon's stats are going to be (I'm personally guessing 65/95/60/110/65/130 if it wants any chance of taking down Dragon-types (also assuming a lot of Fairy-type moves will be Special)).

Now before we end our segment on Sylveon/Eeveelutions we got to talk about evolution method. All Eeveelutions have a special evolution method and they usually go by a theme. Gen I Eeveelutions (Vaporeon, Jolteon, & Flareon) use the various Evolutionary Stones to evolve, Gen II Eeveelutions (Espeon & Umbreon) evolve when leveled up with max Happiness and depending on the time of the day, and Gen IV Eeveelutions (Leafeon & Glaceon) evolve when leveled up in a specific area. So how will Sylveon evolve? Well considering Sylveon is the Intertwining/Connection Pokemon, I assume it'll have something to do with Pokemon-Amie, the new bonding mechanic which was talked about when Pokemon XY was announced. Maybe to get Sylveon you need to get a max bond? Well I suppose we'll first need to talk about Pokemon-Amie to fully discuss this.

But there's plenty more Fairy-types where Sylveon came from coming up. In fact, it has just been confirmed that Xerneas is a pure Fairy-type (Yveltal is a Dark/Flying-type) who has an Ability to increase Fairy-type attacks! So expect big things to come from the Fairy-types!

Final Opinion: Time to wrap this up. My opinion on Fairy-type is mixed. My main problem with it is the presentation, I assume that another reason for the Fairy-type is to try and draw in more girl players via putting the cute Pokemon on clear display instead of having to actually look for them. Now that's all and good, but since they made it Super Effective against Dragon-type I would have liked it if they tried making it a bit more gender neutral if they're also going to advertise it as their answer to Dragon-types being overpowered. However only time will tell whether this will be an issue or they'll mesh together with the other Pokemon just fine.
However the introduction of the Fairy-type might have revealed why they don't introduce new types often. As you saw in the Re-type section, many fairy-like Pokemon have been made, especially for Normal- and Psychic-types. Now that they're introducing a Fairy-type, they pretty much have to change all these fairy-like Pokemon into Fairy-types which completely changes how they're played. Such a metagame change must be a bit headache inducing, though I actually encourage changes like that as the same metagame is a boring metagame. So I really hope this isn't the last time we'll ever see a new type, I see there being plenty of potential for other types, even if it might require changing a lot of Pokemon types around.
So in the end I appreciate what the Fairy-type is doing, I just wished it was doing it in a less emasculating way... THIS IS WHY I'M GETTING Y VERSION who's mascot is an awesome looking Dark/Flying-type!... and one of its exclusive Pokemon is a pink perfume bird... Arceus dammit...

Next time... well, I'm trying to figure that out, but when I do it'll be posted tomorrow!

I hope they don't recon too many of the old pokemon into fairies instead they should just leave the larger growth of fairy type to the future generations.

Though I'm someone who normally just lurks around here, I would like to bring something up regarding what Pikachu315111 posted.

Pokemon-Amie:

Bonjour, mon amie! If that phrase sounds familiar, then you probably watched at least one show where the characters went to France and have met a French person who sprinkled French in whenever they talked. For those who don't speak French, "Bonjour mon amie" means "Hello, my friend" (specifically when speaking to someone who's male, but we won't get into that). Now you remember that new bonding mechanic which we were told about when Pokemon XY was announced and how it'll change how we interact with and raise our Pokemon? Also remember this the Kalor region is largely based on France? Well you mix the phrase "mon amie" ("my friend" in English), that talked about bonding mechanic, and Kalos being based off France and you get: Pokemon-Amie!

You'll understand why this image has huge empty spaces in a few moments...

Pokemon-Amie allows you to use the touchscreen and 3DS camera to interact with your Pokemon, similar to how you interacted with Pikachu in the N64 game "Hey You, Pikachu!". You're in a grassy green field with a blue cloudy sky and bubbles floating in the background while your Pokemon stands in front of you ready to be interacted with. From what's been revealed you can pet and feed treats to your Pokemon, them reacting to to the action in a certain way telling you how much they liked it or didn't like it.

If it was good then your Pokemon relax, if it was bad the "touch" appears as a "hit" mark and your Pokemon looks mad.

Use your touch screen to hold the food in front of your Pokemon to let it eat it, it'll only take a few bites and hopefully they'll like it.

In addition to petting and feeding treats to your Pokemon, you can have your Pokemon mimic your head movements (or you mimic theirs, or both, it's not really that clear at the moment) such as tilting your head thanks to the 3DS camera.

You're mocking me, aren't you?

If you've interacted with your Pokemon enough they'll effect your Pokemon performance in battle. The example that was given was when awaiting orders the Pokemon will turn and look at you, though whether it'll effect your Pokemon's stats, EVs, IVs, or other thing which affect how they actually battle is still not known.

Don't take your eye off the opponent!

And don't think this feature only pertains to small Pokemon, Pokemon of every size can get in on the petting, treat feeding, and head mimicking action:

I'm noticing a lack of Gen III here...

Opinion Time: Having just come off playing Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, I can't help but notice the similarity between Pokemon-Amie and how you interacted with the Dream Eaters in that game. Though to be fair, KH3D wasn't the first game which has you interacting with a creature via the touch screen. Nintendo has Nintendogs and I think Disney's Spectrobes also has you interacting with the monsters you acquire. However what KH3D has that those games don't is that its on the 3DS much like Pokemon XY so the comparisons are kind of unavoidable. Besides, Dream Eaters did feel like lesser Pokemon (I and I'm sure many others named their Dream Eaters after Pokemon) so maybe Pokemon is just copying the Dream Eaters interaction as payback.

But enough about who copied who and actually talk about what this could mean for Pokemon XY and the series in general. For years now a common complaint among players have been about two traits known as IVs and EVs. "What are those?" you may be asking instead of clicking on the links I provided. Well to put it as simple as I can, IVs (for "Individual Values") are sort of like a Pokemon's genes and determined how good or bad their stats were, making every Pokemon unique even with member of their own species. EVs (for "Effort Values") are bonuses given to that Pokemon's stat when they level up determined by what other Pokemon they've been battling. Every Pokemon has their own "EV yield" which gives EVs to one or two stats and, when you defeat that Pokemon, your Pokemon gets those EVs to those stats which effects how much those stats raise when the Pokemon gains a level (but not by Rare Candy). If this sounds like it gets complicated... it does. OH does it get complicated. Trainers who want to legitimately train a "good" Pokemon without cheating has to hatch DOZENS (if not HUNDREDS) of eggs to get a Pokemon with at least decent IVs... AND even if it has decent IVs, if that trainer wants to have that Pokemon use Hidden Power, which Power and Type is dependent on IVs, they have to make sure its the type they want and is at a decent power. Then after getting the "perfect" Pokemon, if they really want that Pokemon to be good in certain stats, they have to find a Pokemon who's EV yield is of the stats they want and grind battling those Pokemon for who knows how long. As you can imagine, it's a real pain. Now over the years things have been added to help a trainer get and raise the "perfect" Pokemon, but you still need to know a lot about IVs and EVs which you can't even see. That's right, you don't know what IVs or EVs your Pokemon have. Now for EVs you can look up a guide tow what Pokemon has what EV yield, but IVs you have to go someone who gives you a vague clue at what your Pokemon IVs are. However Game Freak have said they plan or re-hauling the IVs and EVs system to make them more simple to understand and use. Pokemon-Amie could possibly be what they were talking about. Instead of relying on luck of getting the "perfect" Pokemon, instead it depends on how much you've played with your Pokemon with Pokemon-Amie. The more you played with your Pokemon, the better their IVs and EVs gained are thus the better their stats thus the better they are at battling.

Aside from IVs and EVs, this could also effect a Pokemon's Friendship. The more you played with your Pokemon the happier they are, and if you never played with them or are mean to them their Friendship meter might lower. The Friendship mechanic is mainly used in two ways: Evolving certain Pokemon or if using the moves Return or Frustration. I think the evolution thing is self-explanatory (some Pokemon need to have a certain Friendship amount to evolve) though the moves Return and Frustration will need a bit of explaining. The more happy your Pokemon is, the stronger the move Return is while Frustration is the opposite, the more your Pokemon dislikes you the more powerful Frustration is. Generally you'd want to use Return in both in-game and meta game. Getting back on track, with Pokemon now going into 3D and them giving your Pokemon expressions, they can further expand upon the Friendship mechanic. Already we see if the Pokemon likes you it'll turn and look at you during battle, but what if the Pokemon doesn't like you? A low Friendship before never met the Pokemon wouldn't obey you, only traded Pokemon above your badge level will do that, but Pokemon-Amie might change that to assure you do your best to make your Pokemon happy. Even if they still obey, would you want your Pokemon constantly glaring angrily at you, letting you know you haven't been treating it right?

In the end I can see their being great potential with Pokemon-Amie. Something like this wasn't possible before because Pokemon was mainly a sprite game, at least for the main series. But now going into 3D allows for such a bonding system to exist since you're using 3D models which you can program many different reactions for. How much does Pokemon-Amie effect a Pokemon? Will their be mechanics such as Moves or Abilities based upon how well you treated your Pokemon using Pokemon-Amie? Is Pokemon-Amie the way to evolve you Eevee to a Sylveon (you do see Sylveon a lot in the Pokemon-Amie advertising...)? All answers which will probably be revealed upon playing the Pokemon XY.

Pikachu high five!

New Ways To Battle!

Pokemon Battling is always changing due to new mechanic being introduced every generation, some of these mechanics involving how the battle is set up. For the first two generations battles were Single Battles, where each trainer had one Pokemon out at a time. Simple. Gen III then introduced Double Battles, a battle where each trainer has two Pokemon out at a time. This brought in a whole new set of mechanics, especially for moves which now require you to select who you want to attack (including your other Pokemon) and some moves hit either both opponents or ALL Pokemon battling (including your other Pokemon). Gen V brought us two more battling styles: Triple Battles & Rotation Battles. Triple Battles can be looked upon as an extension of the Double Battle except now you have 3 Pokemon per trainer and where the Pokemon is positioned matters how some moves work. Rotation Battles can sort of be looked at as an extension of switching out, except you can still attack with the Pokemon you rotated in and for the Pokemon rotated out any stat changes aren't reset, non-volatile status ailments like Poison or Burn don't hurt cause damage every turn, Toxic Poison doesn't turn to normal Poison, and volatile status ailments aren't cured. As you can imagine, with the reveal of Triple Battles people starting joking that Gen VI will have Quad Battles where each trainer battle with 4 Pokemon or even Party Battles where trainers battle with all 6 of their Pokemon. However GameFreak decided to go two different routes:

Sky Battles:

Hope you're not afraid of heights...

First we have Sky Battles, a battle which can only take place between a Flying-type Pokemon or a Pokemon with the Levitate Ability (oh, I have an interesting list to show you about that). Sky Battles are only done with certain trainers who are on cliffs or in distant places. When you walk up to them will have them, they'll ask if you want to do a Sky Battle.

ASKING? What is this nonsense? This is Pokemon! As soon as we lock eyes WE MUST BATTLE!

Sky Battles don't look any different from Single Battles other then that. Of course, this is a battle mechanic only for trainer battles (as far as we know), what have the Wild Battles been up to? Well...

Horde Encounters:

Well, this hardly seems fair...

The story of Double Battles doesn't end in Gen III. In Gen III, Double Battles were only for Trainer Battles. However Gen V introduced Dark Grass where upon walking though you can encounter a Wild Double Battle where the only rule change was that in order to catch a Pokemon you had to knock the Pokemon's partner out first. Well while we made fun of the idea of a Quad or Party Battle, Wild Pokemon didn't and decided to pull a stunt called Horde Encounters. Horde Encounters are where 5 Wild Pokemon appear... against your one Pokemon. That's right, only the Wild Pokemon can have 5 on their side (why you don't send out more Pokemon is anyone's guess). How to engage a Horde Battle isn't known, from what the screenshots show it look to be completely random. Also it's not known how the battling here works, except that moves which hit multiple opponents in Double and Triple Battles are very good for hitting all the Pokemon in the horde at once and the game will take note if you knock out the entire horde all at once.

They might have surprised you, but you shocked them!

Also the question of what if you want to catch one of the Pokemon comes to mind? Is it like with Wild Double Battles where you have to knock out all but the one you want to catch before being able to throw the Pokeball? I ask because another interesting thing about Horde battles is that, though the horde is made up of a majority of one species of Pokemon, sometimes it will have another Pokemon with them. So even if you have the Pokemon the horde is mostly made up of, it still might have a Pokemon you don't have yet (not to mention if one of those Pokemon is a Shiny...).

One of these things is not like the other... (trust me, that's the most CLEAN joke I came up with)

Final Thoughts: Going over Sky Battles first, I think it's an interesting idea. However one of my main problems with it is that, as far as we know, it only allows Pokemon who are Flying-type or have Levitate. The problem with this? Well here is an interesting list of Pokemon:

Beedrill, Venomoth, Magnemite family, Dragonair, Mew, Mewtwo, Mew, Scizor, Heracross, Celebi, Dustox, Shedinja, Volbeat, Illumise, Castform, Shuppet family, Dusclops, Jirachi, Deoxys, Spiritomb, Dusknoir, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina Altered Forme, Darkrai, Arceus (it not holding a Sky Plate), Victini, Munna family, Cottonee family, Yamask family, Solosis family, Frillish family, Klink family, Elgyem family, Litwick family, Golurk, Volcarona, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Meloetta, Genesect, & Spritzee

Why did I list all these Pokemon? Well you see THEY CAN FLY OR LEVITATE. However, because they don't have the Flying-type or Levitate Ability, they can't participate in Sky Battles as far as we know. Oh, however, Pokemon like the Doduo family, Bronzor family (if they have Levitate), Mantine family, Baltoy family, Carnivine, and Tynamo family can participate in Sky Battles... DESPITE NOT BEING ABLE TO FLY/LEVITATE HIGH IN THE AIR! And to add one more touch of crazy, Duskull has the Levitate Ability thus can participate in Sky Battles... BUT its evolutions don't so they can't despite being able to fly just as easily!

While this a good idea and I personally think can be spread to other similar kinds of battles (perhaps Underwater Battles where you can only use Water-types and other underwater breathing Pokemon?), if the only requirement is either being a Flying-type or having the Levitate Ability they're going to both ignore a lot of Pokemon which can perfectly fly on their own & allow Pokemon who cannot technically fly or at least as high as Sky Battles will take place. In the end I hope Game Freak realizes and fixes it so that there's a list of Pokemon which can participate instead of a requirement list.

Moving onto Horde Encounters, there's not enough information for my liking. While Sky Battles also doesn't have a lot of information, it's essentially a Single Battle only using Pokemon which can fly. However Horde Encounters has only one of our Pokemon battling five wild Pokemon, there's gotta be new mechanics here so that your single Pokemon isn't immediately slaughtered. We're only told it's a good way to train, but not told if we can catch any of the Pokemon. Whenever these Horde Encounters happen, are all the Pokemon in the horde going to be lower leveled then Pokemon in normal Wild Battles to compensate for having to deal with so many of them? Will all moves that hit multiple opponents like Rock Slide or Discharge hit all five Pokemon or is the adjacent mechanic in effect here so only some will be hit unless you use moves like Surf or Earthquake? I either need more information or actually experience a Horde Encounter before passing my decision on it.

To end today's post, I want to ask one last question: Will we see more cross battling styles? Double Battles used to only be for Trainer Battles, but then Gen V introduced Dark Grass which allowed for Wild Double Battles. Could we see Wild Triple, Rotation, and Sky Battles? How about Trainer Horde Encounter Battles? If your already have the mechanics set for that kind of battle it should be easy enough to make it so that both Wild and Trainer battles can use any kind of battles. Oh, and a final request: when theirs a Wild Battle where you battle multiple Pokemon, can we PLEASE catch a Pokemon without having to knock out the other Pokemon first? Actually it'll also be great if we can catch multiple Pokemon, if not all of them. It always annoyed me in Wild Double Battles whenever I choose a Pokeball the game tells me I don't know which Pokemon to throw it at. Excuse me? I don't know? I perfectly know which Pokemon I want to catch, so let me throw my Pokeball and catch it! It's not like I have to go after the Pokeball, you can make it so that those Pokemon are teleported to the PC upon capture even if you have room in your Party so that you don't have to go and retrieve the Pokeball amongst a group of angry Pokemon. This especially would be handy when you have an NPC character Tag Battling with you. Okay, let me end this post now.

NEXT TIME: Connecting With Other Players!

I wonder what happens if you select no to a sky battle does it go to a normal battle or do you just not fight. I can see the horde thing being annoying although I wonder what the chances are to run into a horde of shinnies

that's not too bad I think there will be an eventual picture of a horde of shinnies, 10 internets that its a horde of magikarp (if its possible)

No info about the level of the traded pokemon in wonder trade? is it the same lower cause I can imagine the frustration of someone trading a level 30 golbat and getting a level 5 bisharp. I bet there's a "catch" with the wonder trade like after so many bad trades you get a good one.

Places & People:

Vaniville Town: It wouldn't be a Pokemon game if you didn't start off in a small town/city with only one land route leading in/out. Much like the other home towns/city it's a peaceful place with paved paths with connects you to your neighbors houses and to the obvious archways which they might as well hang a sign over saying "this is where you get out". It also looks to have a restaurant or at least some sort of sitting place where you and your friends like to meet up, though we'll get to that later. It's name comes from "Vanilla" and "-ville". Oh, one more thing, your family own a Rhyhorn which sits out in the front of your home on its pad (gee, at least built it a shelter in case it starts to rain! At least it has a beach ball to play with).

So... why am I not taking the family Rhyhorn with me on my Pokemon training journey? There's only a limited amount of uses I can think to use a Rhyhorn for and none of them is for house work.

I'm guessing this must be the town square, and that hiker over there is the town registered sex offender.

Freedom! FREEDOM!

Friends/Rivals: But what will a local starting town be without friends/soon to be rivals? And looks like we're already copying previous storyline elements, this time from the Gen III's Hoenn games. That's right, you're family has just moved into Vaniville Town thus all the town's goods want to meet you which looks to happen as soon as you step out of your home.

Let me guess, for the first 30 minutes of the game it's going to be 90% cutscenes and 10% gameplay. I can't get through those gates soon enough...

You may notice the two friends in the picture above are two characters we've already seen. One is the female playable character (without her hat and sunglasses) and the other is the girl we saw following you in the first XY trailer through a forest. Well, there's actually four friends so let's meet them now:

Shauna: The girl we saw following in the first XY trailer is named Shauna. She's energetic (annoying), outgoing (overactive), friendly (suffocating) and is eager to discover her dreams (indecisive). She's also curious (nosy) about her friends progress in their travels (stalker)... SO in other words she's Bianca. Her speech box color is pink and her name means "sunshine" and brilliance" (HAHAHAHAHA!) in Arabic (as you might have guessed, I think they were going for the "sunshine" meaning).

Yeah, she screams "I use the new Fairy-type and other cute Pokemon".

Oh, she also forces you to come up with a nickname for yourself which only she'll probably use. Wanting to get to that archway gate is looking more tempting by the second...

Tierno: Can't have a group of friends without a fat kid, can we? Tierno is burly and nimble, and his goal is to create a dance team with his Pokemon (ah, the gentle giant). He pays close attention to Pokemon when they battle to see he if he can incorporate their actions into new dance moves (Pokemon Musicals returning confirmed! (just kidding... possibly)) and will tell you his ideas and even show off a couple of dance moves (or, in other words, the animators showing off the 3D graphics). His speech box is orange and his name is Spanish for "tendor" (furthering his gentle giant persona).

Gee, I wonder if he uses the Vanillite family...

Hmm, dancing, I will not consider him a true dancer unless he has a Ludicolo on his team!

Trevor: And the smart kid, we're sticking closely to that five-man band trope. Trevor's goal is to be the first of the group to complete his Pokedex and is the one who gives you you're Pokedex (but now the only thing the region Professor has to do is give us our starter, nice work jerk). He's a great student, bursting with curiosity, but he admits that he has much to learn to become a great Trainer (we already copied Bianca point per point, we don't need to do the same thing with Cheren). His speech box is green and his name possibly comes from "trouver" which is French for "to find".

You'd think it would be the Pokedex around his neck... unless he has a different model. YOU'RE HOLDING OUT THE BEST MODEL FOR YOURSELF, AREN'T YOU!

So... the Pokedex has gone from being a tool the Professor gives you to help them with their research to a dictionary toy... kind of a demotion.

Serena/Calem: Kind of odd to see the girl's name first, though since I'm going to be playing as the boy that makes sense for me at least. Now in a previous screenshot you saw the playable characters were named Xavier (male) and Yvonne (female). Well as it turns out that was only for the E3 conference, their official names are Calem (male) and Serena (female). However this won't be just a trivial fact as the one you didn't choose is the last of your friends. We aren't really told anything about their character (whether it'll be the same no matter which gender it is or if they will act differently), instead using the space to tell you that all your friends are starting their journey the same time as you (so do we know we're going on a journey as soon as we moved in or are they dragging us along?). Also they made sure to remove their hat and sunglasses because THERE ONLY FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER (which is you)! Serena's speech box is red (well, suppose to be, but it looks more brown) and her name comes from "serene". Calem's speech box is blue and his name comes from "calm".

Okay, 3 starters among five friends, how is that going to work out?

Opinion On Vaniville Town & Friends/Rivals: Vaniville Town seems like your basic starting home town, which is a shame really. Making the your starting home in Black 2 & White 2 a city with a Pokemon Center, Trainer School, and a GYM was a nice break from tradition. In addition to having a Lookout point, Aspertia City felt like an important place to the beginning of your adventure instead of being a small town which once you left you never came back to (though to be fair it was a plot point you had to go back to Aspertia City). Aside from the sitting place which you'll probably spend 10 minutes in as your friends introduce themselves thus never want to come back to, I don't see it as anything special. Heck, it doesn't even have the Professor's lab!
As for the friends, I kind of like you have a five-man band going on, even if it's a bit generic it's new to Pokemon. Speaking of generic, though the 3 friends are cookie cutter, it's probably to immediately get your attention in the beginning and they'll expand upon them as the story unfolds. This especially goes for Shauna who right now seems a bit too much like Bianca though probably less self-doubting... which was the thing which made Bianca an interesting character. However your other two non-playable character friends have interesting goals which sets them a bit apart. Tierno's goal of creating a dancing team sounds like an interesting goal and may even come into play if they decide to introduce an additional activity which involved Pokemon dancing like the Pokemon Musicals. Trevor's goal is actually interesting because I don't recall a previous rival who's goal was to complete their Pokedex, at least not as their main or first goal. We had May/Brendan though they weren't really the rival in Gen III Hoenn games, in fact they pretty much quit being a trainer as Wally takes their place. Then we had Bianca who decided she'll make it her goal to complete the Pokedex in Black & White, but that's post game as during the main game she didn't know what she wanted to do (and also her reason to complete the Pokedex is because she decided to become Professor Juniper's assistant). The Pokemon Special Manga had Kris's goal being completing the Pokedex, but that's the manga as in the game, if the player didn't choose Kris to play as in Pokemon Crystal, she pretty much never exists. So yeah, Trevor is really the first game character who's sole goal is to complete the Pokedex. Finally I do hope they give Serena/Calem different characteristics. While they still filled similar roles, in the Gen IV's Sinnoh games you could find Lucas playing slots in the Veilstone Game Corner and I think Dawn in the Veilstone Department Store post game which was a nice touch and made them feel like different characters with different interests. In addition, they were both given different dialogue to say when visiting the player in Platinum's Villa. Little things like that helps make them not seem like robots who both have the same programming just different skins depending on the one the player didn't pick.

Next up is the next town... which has the first Gym!

Santalune City: So according to the Kalos Region wallpaper, after leaving Vaniville Town you pass under a manor, over a bridge, through a forest, and across an open field to the 2nd populated destination: Santalune City! The centerpiece of the town is the large Roselia fountain (I'm seeing a lot of Pokemon decorations in XY but none of it is Gen VI Pokemon), however what you're probably be more interested is that this city is where the first Gym is! But it looks like before you can even enter the Gym you'll need a pair of Roller Skates! Yes, through out the city there are people on Roller Skates and there looks like there's one right in front of the Gym who talks about the wonders of Roller Skating, which means you might as well get a pair, right? The Roller Skates looks to be replacing the Running Shoes as now you probably run by default as well as walk by gently pushing the 3DS's Circle Pad. Of course, now the question comes has the Bike also been replaced by the Roller Blades?

Gee, this would be a great place for a Photo Spot...

Railroading at its finest... does this guy even work for the Gym?

So you finally got your Roller Blades making the game happy enough to let you inside the Gym. The outside of the Gym looks normal enough, besides from the giant Pokeball "G" logo Gyms now use since Gen V attached to the side. It's not until you go inside when you find out the type the Gym Leader is as well as the Gym Puzzle: Bug-type and spider we maze.

Well this look innocent enough... OH MY ARCEUS! GIANT SPIDER WEB!

If you remember from the first XY trailer, the playable character falls onto the center of the web which tells me as soon as you walk through those doors there's a pit fall (because there's no such thing as OSHA compliance in Pokemon) with only a spider web net with HUGE GAPS IN IT the only thing keeping you from smashing into the floor. The puzzle itself is no better as you're still least a dozen feet high off the ground as you need to run around on thin web threads. The spider web is a maze where you can only walk on the solid white threads, with the camera spinning around following you. There's also at least two platforms with trainers on them which may or may not be required, but some more experience before the Gym Leader never hurts, right? Also there are water droplets on some threads though I don't know if they're for decoration or are some sort of obstacle. Though after navigating through the web you'll find the first Gym Leader of the Kalos Region:

Santalune City's Bug-type Gym Leader, Viola

And you thought Bugsy was the only female Bug-type Gym Leader... what do you mean Bugsy was a boy?

Yeah... I have a Fire-type Fennekin, I won before even entering the Gym.

In addition of being a Gym Leader, Viola is also a professional photographer (get it? She's a "shutterbug"! HA HA HA!) who takes pictures of Pokemon. Suffice it to say, if you picked Fennekin like you should you're golden though if you picked Chespin you may have some problems if you want to use it to battle. While we don't know any members of her teams, being she's the first Gym Leader, it's not hard to see her using the Scatterbug family, at least a Spewga and at most a Vivillon.

After beating Viola and exiting the Gym you'll then meet someone who actually just appeared in the anime (well, the Japanese version): Viola's older sister, Alexa. Alexa is a journalist who works in Lumiose City though travels all over the world for her job.

You can see the family resemblance from the hair curl.

"Faced"? Your little sister is the first Gym Leader there's great no shame in saying any trainer leaving the Gym has beaten her.

Going back to the anime, no, Ash is still in Unova (sorta, their exploring another chain of archipelago islands) but him, Iris, and Cilan have recently run into Alexa who's in the Decolora Archipelago doing journalist stuff. And of course what early bird cameo be without Pokemon as she has brought along a Helioptile (who charges her equipment, though its also very shy) and a Gogoat (who carries her equipments... and also reminds her where she put certain equipment). She'll be traveling with Ash & co. for a few episodes, one which will also involve a Noivern.

Unfortunately the dub is still about 13 episodes (thus 13 weeks) behind.

And in case anyone missed my announcement on the anime thread, it has been confirmed Ash is going to the Kalos Region:

BUT enough about the anime, this is about the games and we're done in Santalune City! Next up we quickly go back to Lumiose City and from there we'll go over some other new characters.

Doesn't chespin learn Rollout early might tip the scale of advantage with the first gym