News: No Gyms Confirmed? Introducing Alola’s Island Challenge

[janejane6178]

Omg Im shocked. So no Gyms confirmed??

 

[Hikamaru]

Omg Im shocked. So no Gyms confirmed??

It's safe to say traditional Gyms won't be in Alola just like that one leak said. This is pretty much the new counterpart to Gyms, and the types these leaders are using seem to fit with the islands being themed around the colors red, green, blue and yellow.

 

[Starry Windy]

When I see that The Island Challenge is revealed, I know it would make the Gen VII to be way much different than usual when we used to have Gym matches and all, and I think it works well in Alola region.

 

[jombii]

I don't know what to feel about no more gyms but the trial leader's designs are great! Red one looks awesome.

 

[Hikamaru]

Let's just say the reveal of these Island Challenges confirmed two of our biggest leaks - the "No Standard Gyms" and the starter final evolutions' concept art. The girl that was seen alongside Ash Ketchum in the Litten final evo's art was one of the Island Captains - Mallow.

 

[WingsofBliss]

Omg this is absolutely amazeballs. Game Freak is taking a huge step in a different direction with the no-Gyms thing, because the 8 Gyms + League has always been a staple in the past 20 years. I have full confidence in Game Freak that these games will be truly unique and amazing in their own way.

 

[Hikamaru]

tbh I'm embracing the whole Island Challenge thing. Gyms were boring anyway (assuming they're really gone for this generation), and this seems like a nice way to shake things up a bit.

I didn't mind Gyms but I felt it was time for something new. Something also made me believe Island Challenges might have been inspired by the Orange Islands saga of the Pokemon anime as well.

 

[Lunar]

I'm really surprised Gamer Freak scrapped gyms for this generation, I think it works well in Alola though and I'm looking forward to taking on the Island Challenge.

 

[Z25]

Liking the formula switch up here! No gyms is a neat take, and I can't wait to see how this challenge progresses.

It's surprising how many leaks became real.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

Didn't like it at first, but now I think it matches a lot better. Really like the concepts and it is still similar to gyms. You still have to battle 12 trainers, well 4 of them are pokemon. But you see what I mean. It is also possible that there may be more Captains per island.

I have still failed to see the art with Ash Ketchum and the female. It would be nice if someone posted it in the anime.

 

[BubbleBeams]

This feels very organic to me for Alola and sounds like a nice break from the normal 8 gym formula. It's not too believable if every single region in the Pokémon world all use the same type of structure. It's good to change things up.

 

[blue]

So this pretty much settles the "No Gym" debate. I'd like to learn a little more about this first but it does seem like an interesting new move. I suppose change was going to happen sooner or later, it feels like S/M will be making a few big changes to how the game mechanics work.

 

[Caaethil]

It's safe to say traditional Gyms won't be in Alola just like that one leak said. This is pretty much the new counterpart to Gyms, and the types these leaders are using seem to fit with the islands being themed around the colors red, green, blue and yellow.

'That leak' said that the player would set up a Pokemon League, which seems unlikely since now a completely different end goal has been presented. It seems a bit hasty to start giving leakers credit.

 

[Hikamaru]

'That leak' said that the player would set up a Pokemon League, which seems unlikely since now a completely different end goal has been presented. It seems a bit hasty to start giving leakers credit.

Remember there was that one PokeBeach leak during XY pre-release that predicted some features accurately but not all of them, so while the Chinese leak did get more credibility there's the chance not all of it was predicted to be true.

 

[Caaethil]

Remember there was that one PokeBeach leak during XY pre-release that predicted some features accurately but not all of them, so while the Chinese leak did get more credibility there's the chance not all of it was predicted to be true.

My issue with this is that when GameFreak decided on no gyms, they would have made that decision official already knowing what would replace it. It seems highly unlikely that they would have had any extended period of time planning on having the player create a Pokemon league. Unless of course the leaker intentionally added errors, which apparently they do.

Still, this was already heavily being speculated. It's like saying leaks gain credibility for predicting special moves. A bit silly to give credit for predicting something everybody and their mother had been guessing anyway.

 

[Hikamaru]

My fave of the captains is definitely Lana. It's nice we finally get a major female Water-type specialist other than Misty.

 

[Kenchiin]

I can't believe the no-gym leak was real. Gamefreak is really planning to change stuff (finally).

 

[RileyXY1]

They never said anything about this replacing gyms.

 

[Hikamaru]

Trainers who participate in Alola's Island Challenges receive this charm. One thing I do notice is the colors are red, yellow, pink and purple which are the same colors as the four forms of Oricorio. The question is, we know the first island is yellow-themed so could this prove the colors the other three islands are based on?

 

[Sabrewulf238]

You know, considering we'll likely be battling against the four trial captains (otherwise why would they state their type speciality) and we'll also be battling against the four Kahunas. That's 8 important trainer battles right there.

This is really just gyms with extra bells and whistles added on. (in the form of quests and battles against boss Pokemon)