Leaks/Rumors Discussion Thread

[Hikamaru]

I also just remembered CoroCoro is coming out next week, and will likely start leaking in a few days so we'll have to consider stuff being revealed there as well as the trailer coming out next Saturday.

 

[EC]

In all honestly, I truly wouldn't be surprised if there isn't an 8 gym quest this time around. The islands seem too small for any serious grinding/level curve that wouldn't be outrageous.

Also, where was it confirmed that we would get a trailer on the 16th?

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I also just remembered CoroCoro is coming out next week, and will likely start leaking in a few days so we'll have to consider stuff being revealed there as well as the trailer coming out next Saturday.

I can't believe you forgot Corocoro xD. It would probably leak between my sister's birthday (11) and mine (15).

And now we've got yet another set of leaks. This time, from a user by the name of Mundoragon, who made a Q&A thread on 4chan in regards to Sun and Moon. Here's what he's said:

According to him:

Spoiler:

- There are more than 100 Alola Pok?mon
- Start final evos are Grass/Flying (archer) with Gale Wings (HA?), Fire/Poison (just a tiger) with Strong Jaw (HA?), Water/Fairy (mermaid) with Serene Grace (HA?)
- Cutiefly evolves twice, and it reminded the leaker of the Florges line.
- Drampa is a standalone Pok?mon.
- Bruxish is a standalone Pok?mon.
- Pipeak line remains Normal/Flying.
- Yungoos line remains Normal.
- Ruffrock line remains Rock.
- Komala's evolution is Normal/Grass.
- Ghost/Psychic Grimoire Pok?mon
- Bug/Dark firefly
- Water/Dark Otter
- Dark type rat
- Fairy/Water Dolphin with a Fairy/Ice evolution
- New fossil Pok?mon are Rock/Ground and Rock/Fire (leaker shows images of what they look like)
https://67.media.tumblr.com/5838cc627f2a92524a2c28fffe7577c6/tumblr_ni2mzjTcpg1s5f2yxo1_1280.png
https://3a09223b3cd53870eeaa-7f75e5...nment_02_temp-1364395216-515304d0-620x348.jpg
- Two base evolution Steel/Dragon line
- Grass/Fairy hibiscus monkey
- Fire/Fairy Flame with eyes that evolves into a group of them
- Grass/Dragon that looks like a Hawaiian
- Pseudo legendary is Flying/Electric
- The other 3 guardians consist of Grass, Fire, and Water
- Solgaleo and Lunala will share the exact same stats
- Marshadow is Dragon/Psychic
- Flying/Posion elf legendary with a scary face
- New Megas: Meganium (Grass/Fairy with Regenerator), Typhlosion (Fire/Dark with Speed Boost as a guess), Feraligatr (Water/Fighting with Tough Claws), Electivire (Electric/Dark with Technician), Magmortor (Fire/Fighting), Avalugg (Ice/Ground with Refrigerate), Mew with Magic Bounce, Scrafty with Moxie, Machamp (Fighting/Steel with Iron Fist), Golem (Rock/Fire with Flame Body)
- We're still getting the 8 badge quest (sorry, colours), but gym leaders become harder postgame.
- There's a "bonds" feature that serves as a mini-Mega, boosting your Pok?mon's power temporarily by 50 in some stats (which are customizable). They work for all Pok?mon (including NFE ones), but they do not work on Pok?mon already holding a Mega Stone.
- There exists special bond evolutions, which Ash-Greninja is categorized as, which boosts stats by 70 instead of 50. Only a special Rockruff could achieve this form.
- New items:
Immortal hammer (?)
Once you use the user attack a protect, or any other protection. The protection will move will be disable.
Shield behind (?)
x1.25 in defense and special defense when the user is not attacking
Charm of legend (?)
If theuser is between 1% and 5% HP, it restore all health
Frozen necklace (?)
Increase the chance of freezing by 10% for an attack that can freeze
Powerful soul (?)
Give a second chance to a self fainted user (Like explosion, self destruct, but not healing wish) but with half the current HP and a decrease (-2) in all stats (except precision and evasion). Single use.
Assault Shield (?)
Increase Defense but can only do attacking moves
- Rotom Dex is only an item, so it can be used in battle.
- Evil Team is Team Eclipse
- The protagonist of the opposite gender will be your other rival but won't be seen as much.
- We will not return to Kalos
- Another Looker side quest
- Old legendaries are catchable postgame, but Ho-oh and Lugia do not get Megas or Primals.
- More mini-games for Poke Amie
- Bonus mini island postgame
- No Battle Frontier
- Zygarde side quest
- Team Plasma side quest

I'm sure Xander and zoroarkrules25 can confirm this since they too lurk through 4chan.

I think they're fakes. Team Plasma side quest? That would be cool, but unlikely. Team Flare would be more likely.
Also was this a badly done translation? There are a lot of misspellings such as 'Rotom Dex is only an item, so it can be used in battle.' It says that Rotom is an item, but that it CAN be used in Battle?! It should instead say CAN'T.
I trust the leaks posted on Smogon more.

 

[blue]

Unnecessary? I disagree with that, removing Gyms would be a welcome change in my book! Ever since the dawn of Pokemon gaming, the concept of obtaining 8 gym badges and becoming the Champion has (aside from beating the evil team, that is) been the core of the plot, every single generation, and while I agree that it's a tried and true formula, it's a formula that is, at least in my opinion, getting a little stale.

Why not have a player build their own league? That definitely seems rather crazy and rather radical for a change, but then again, it wouldn't be the first time we've had radical change in a Pokemon game (Mega Evolution, anyone?), so it wouldn't be unprecedented, at any rate.

I do see that there is always a chance that drastic changes will be made, but for me it feels like Gyms and Elite Four are just something that will remain constant for as long as Pokemon is around.

Mega Evolution was a new mechanism of battle, but it didn't completely revoltionise the way battles work. Building your own league does sound like a cool concept but I think it is a drastic change that would be too risky if it meant removing Gyms entierly. I'm definitely not saying it's impossible, just for me I don't think it would be a wise move on their part.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I think they're fakes. Team Plasma side quest? That would be cool, but unlikely. Team Flare would be more likely.
Also was this a badly done translation? There are a lot of misspellings such as 'Rotom Dex is only an item, so it can be used in battle.' It says that Rotom is an item, but that it CAN be used in Battle?! It should instead say CAN'T.
I trust the leaks posted on Smogon more.

My bad, that was my doing; it was suppose to be "can't." I was typing all of the things this leaker said under a time limit of my account getting logged off automatically for staying inactive while online for too long.

And also, colours, the badge quest is the main core formula of the Pok?mon series. Every long-running franchise has a main formula no matter how much they change the gameplay mechanics from its predecessors. It's also why I wasn't fond about Resident Evil 7 compared to Resident Evil 4.

 

[Hikamaru]

While creating your own league would be a fun concept, the fact that it could come at the expense of Gyms being absent altogether would be too much of a drastic change that it just wouldn't feel like a main Pokemon game anymore.

 

[Desert Stream~]

Typical "I just got fired" or "I beta tested this" from 4chan. Really not worth listening to until it's confirmed by an official source. Now if they show us some gameplay videos, I'll be more inclined to believe it.

I've seen at least 20 of these already. I refuse to believe it until Nintendo confirms it.

 

[Hikamaru]

I strongly disagree here. Pokemon games are more than just the gyms, and if that alone defines Pokemon gaming for you, then I'm not sure what to say. Pokemon gaming was always about the adventure, was always about catching as many Pokemon as you can and establishing bonds with them (they shoved this in your face in Gen VI, really). The world is bigger than that of gyms and their leaders which is why I feel S&M would be fine without them.

Now that I think about what you said here, maybe removing Gyms altogether might create well-needed change for Pokemon since I know loads of long-time fans abandoned the series due to repetitive formats and maybe they might get back into playing if they hear Sun & Moon are doing changes that are so big that it'll make them "unique and different".

Also, Sun & Moon's story could take place long before the other games and maybe establish that there was a time that Gyms didn't exist and people became strong trainers by overcoming a different kind of challenge that may have eventually inspired the Gyms of contemporary times.

 

[clbgolden]

I really think the concept of no gyms is just ridiculous. They've always been a staple to the series, a big part of the game's plot, and it feels like there would literally be no valid reason to remove them. Plus, how would the anime work without them?

The fact that there aren't any visible gyms on the map means nothing, look at the Kalos map. You can barely identify one or two gyms there.

 

[clbgolden]

Since when do the games have to follow the anime?

The games may not follow the anime, but the anime follows the games. How would Ash's journey work if Alola doesn't have any gyms?

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

The games may not follow the anime, but the anime follows the games. How would Ash's journey work if Alola doesn't have any gyms?

Ash might defeat Alain in the finals, and go on to defeat E4 and Diantha or however the anime will handle it. So Ash will complete his dream...and that'll be it for Ash's saga.

Anyways, as this thread is showing, getting rid of Gyms will be a base breaker, some will love it, and others will hate...and the funny thing is that it's not confirmed yet and we're already at each other's necks.

 

[Karous]

The games may not follow the anime, but the anime follows the games. How would Ash's journey work if Alola doesn't have any gyms?

Rebuttal 1:

Rebuttal 2:

Personally I think the anime is a poor excuse for changing up what many consider to be a stale element of the games. Colosseum and XD sure did fine without them.

 

[clbgolden]

Rebuttal 1:

Rebuttal 2:

Personally I think the anime is a poor excuse for changing up what many consider to be a stale element of the games. Colosseum and XD sure did fine without them.

The main point of the anime is to market the games. Why would they just make up gyms for Ash to challenge? Yes, the anime has made up gyms before, but all we see of those are badges and nothing else. With Ash they'd have to make up the leader, theme, and type specialization, which would be misleading as they're not in the games.

Also, Colosseum and XD were spin-offs.

 

[Karous]

And what I'm saying is that the games are not beholden to the anime. If they get rid of the gyms and it makes a better game, then no one cares. Also, the Decolore Islands arc had nothing to do with gyms and it managed fine for a whole season, not to mention the long periods of filler episodes and other random crap in between the scarce gym battle episodes. The anime will go on and the writers will figure something out.

"Spinoffs" that have very similar gameplay and are compatible with the main series games.... @_@

 

[WingsofBliss]

"Spinoffs" that have very similar gameplay and are compatible with the main series games.... @_@

This is why I had brought up those games as examples earlier. Yes, they are side-games. BUT, they run exactly like the main series games. Right down to the battle system, moves, and the Items. The only differences there are is the evolution method for Espeon and Umbreon(due to no night and day cycle), the Gyms and League being replaced by Mt Battle, and the method of capturing Pokemon. But everything else is exactly like the main series games.

 

[clbgolden]

And what I'm saying is that the games are not beholden to the anime. If they get rid of the gyms and it makes a better game, then no one cares. Also, the Decolore Islands arc had nothing to do with gyms and it managed fine for a whole season, not to mention the long periods of filler episodes and other random crap in between the scarce gym battle episodes. The anime will go on and the writers will figure something out.

"Spinoffs" that have very similar gameplay and are compatible with the main series games.... @_@

The Orange Island arc wasn't very long, it was only roughly a season, whereas here it'd be an entire series. But yes, I suppose the games aren't "tied down" to the anime.

And on the Colosseum and XD thing, that still doesn't change the fact that it's a spin-off.

 

[Karous]

The Orange Island arc wasn't very long, it was only roughly a season, whereas here it'd be an entire series. But yes, I suppose the games aren't "tied down" to the anime.

And on the Colosseum and XD thing, that still doesn't change the fact that it's a spin-off.

I said Decolore Islands. Hence me posting a giant ass logo for the BW series in question. But I'm not going to continue arguing with you, since you continue to ignore valid points being brought up.

 

[clbgolden]

I said Decolore Islands. Hence me posting a giant ass logo for the BW series in question. But I'm not going to continue arguing with you, since you continue to ignore valid points being brought up.

Whoops, sorry, I don't know how I read that as Orange Islands. But regardless, that was also only a season and not an entire series.

But what points am I ignoring?

 

[Karous]

Whoops, sorry, I don't know how I read that as Orange Islands. But regardless, that was also only a season and not an entire series.

But what points am I ignoring?

You're dismissing arguments out of hand for really arbitrary reasons, as well as utilizing appeals to tradition.

"It's only a season and not an entire series" - so what? I don't understand how you think a team of salaried, professional writers experienced in churning out hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of episodes with unique elements for nearly 20 years is incapable of going on with the anime simply because there are no gyms in the games. In fact, I think the anime might be more interesting if it were changed from "spend 20 filler episodes to get from gym A to gym B" because the vast majority of the anime episodes are already not about the gyms or gym leaders.

Not to mention, I would argue that a very small fraction of the game playing audience actually regularly follows the anime, and it would deeply upset a lot of people to discard new and interesting game mechanics simply because of the anime.

"Colosseum/XD are spinoffs" - again, so what? They are relevant to this discussion because unlike the vast majority of other spinoffs, they are mutually compatible with main series games and the core gameplay is an RPG in a similar vein to the main series games, minus Pokemon acquisition and the gyms. They still managed to make an incredibly unique and compelling game that in my opinion should have some elements carried over to the main series games.

My main point is that everything will be fine if there aren't gyms. We not only have small precedents but you are doing a ton of game developers and professional anime screenwriters a disservice by assuming they can't do their jobs. The series keeps evolving, in fact many less hardcore fans have complained that the 8 gym-E4-champion format has gotten stale, and I wouldn't disagree with them as the past couple of generations have been fairly linear and with decreasing difficulty. So for those reasons, I strongly support the idea of more freeform gameplay and "well they haven't done it before" is a rather poor excuse imho.

You are entitled to your opinion - if you love the gyms, great! Different strokes for different folks. But I strongly disagree with your reasonings for it.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Colosseum and XD were also kinda "eh" to mainstream gamers like Yuriofwind because of how different it was to the mainline games, due to Game Freak not being involved in developing them, despite using the exact same game mechanics. The only people who enjoyed those games are either hardcore Pok?mon fans or gamers who only play for the story.

I really don't understand why these fans have to be so vocal in support of one part of this leak, because I believe it was already mentioned by Game Freak themselves in an ORAS interview that they'll still continue using the badge quest, which contradicts the China leak from Smogon.