Z-Moves | Geekscape

Nintendo’s 3DS focused Nintendo Direct presentation couldn’t have gone on without some new Pokemon news. As expected, the highly anticipated Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon got their share of the spotlight, with a new version of everyone’s favorite candy and stardust fodder, Rattata. Alongside some new moves and a bonus for early buyers, the reasons to get excited keep on piling up!

First, following the trend of giving the original 150 new forms, Rattata now comes as a dual type, adding Dark to its typical Normal typing. Standing in a bipedal stance and seemingly wearing armor, the things look as terrifying as you would expect a giant rat would. Coming equipped with either the Gluttony or Hustle, the Route 1 mainstay will either eat its equipped berry faster, or have increased attack at the expense of physical move accuracy. We can only assume that a new form will follow for its evolved form, Raticate, but we’ll have to wait a bit longer for official confirmation.

Next, you know those fancy Z-Moves that we’ve been talking about? The super attacks that are supposed to be type exclusive? Well, now we’ve learned that some Pokemon will now have Z-Moves exclusive to them. Showing off Alola Form Raichu’s Stoked Sparksurfer attack in the trailer below, (as if the surfing themes surrounding it weren’t strong enough), Pikachu’s evolved form will ride its tail through the sky, only to crash down for a devastating electric attack. While without its own Alola Form, Snorlax will squash opponents flat with its Pulverizing Pancake, bringing new meaning to the phrase, “throwing your weight around.”

Speaking of Snorlax, early purchasers will receive a special Munchlax. The pre-evolved version of Snorlax holds Snorlian-Z, a special item that allows it to tap into its most powerful move once evolved. You’ll have until January 11 to redeem it, so make sure you don’t sleep on it.

We must ask though, are Z-Moves completely replacing Mega Evolution? They work similarly by needing a hold item to activate, and the Alola forms seem to cover new versions of old Pokemon. Considering we haven’t heard a peep about Mega Evolving throughout the entire build towards the Sun and Moon release, will it make a return at all? We’ll surely know once we get closer to the game’s November 18 launch, but until then, let’s keep speculating!

In the latest trailer for Pokemon Sun/Moon, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company dumped so much information on us, we had to turn off tracking to keep our brains from overloading. Including new forms for old Pokemon, new evolutions and characters making their debut, and some serious format changes are making the next generation of Pokemon look like the most varied yet.

Let’s start with the most interesting reveal. Many of our old favorites are getting huge makeovers thanks to their new Alola forms. Shown in the trailer were Eggsecutor, who goes from being a coconut tree to a giant, long necked coconut tree. If a pile of eggs becoming a tree wasn’t strange enough, its new form changes its typing to a Grass/Dragon type. How that thing is a dragon, I have no idea. Then again, I stopped looking for logic in the series years ago.

Speaking of not making sense, fan favorite Pokemon, Vulpix, has gone from a Fire Type to an Ice Type, with a beautiful redesign to match. Its evolved form, Ninetails, becomes an Ice/Fairy type, making a Pokemon who got new life in X/Y even more interesting going forward. Lastly, Sandshrew and Sandslash are going from Ground types to Ice/Steel, which will ironically make it week to its original typing.

Old Pokemon have been getting a lot of attention between this and Pokemon Go!, but that doesn’t mean that the new Pokemon don’t have plenty of room to shine. I mean, how could you not with great creatures like Oricorio, a dancing bird that changes its style of dance and type based on which one of Alola’s islands it’s on. How this will work in competitive battles hasn’t been said, but this is something to keep an eye on, since its ability to gain stat boosts from dance attacks used by enemies will be a great counter to dragons. Other interesting inclusions such as Minior and its apparent ability to use one free Substitute, Formantis and Lurantis, who have a brand new Solar Blade Grass attack, and Gumshoos, the evolved form of Yungoos, who doesn’t help its first form’s Donald Trump resemblance. I mean, just look at it! Who doesn’t love Gumshoos? Everybody loves it, they tell me all the time.

New characters and forms aren’t the only changes coming however, since the trailer is hinting at some major changes to the game’s formula. Apparently replacing gyms are Island Challenges, where trainers will have to accept special missions from Trial Captains. Once completed, trainers will end up battling Toten Pokemon, powered up versions that can call on its friends for help. With the Totem Pokemon defeated, we’ll have to square off against one of the four island’s Kahuna, which we’re guessing is a new type of Gym Leader.

With so much danger to fend off, we’ll be given an extra advantage thanks to Z-Moves, single use special attacks that vary depending on a Pokemon’s type. These screen clearing moves have the potential to completely change how we’ll approach battles going forward, much like Mega Evolution did in 2013. Z-Moves aren’t the only tricks the Pokemon have learned this time around, since riding them seems to be a bigger feature this time around. With Tauros and Charizard featured, let’s hope we can become even more immersed by using our favorites to help us in the field. Could this be replacing HMs?

Watch the trailer below and watch all of these details for yourself. What do you think of this new direction?

Tag: Z-Moves

Alola Form Rattata, New Z Moves, And An Early Purchase Bonus Revealed For ‘Pokemon Sun’ and ‘Pokemon Moon’

New Pokemon, Alola Forms, Donald Trump, The Death Of Gyms & Z-Moves Featured In Latest ‘Pokemon Sun/Moon’ Trailer