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

[MegaKuriboh]

What I'm hoping is that the Captains are the Minibosses who are basically the new Gym Leaders but under a different name because of Alola's culture, and the Kahunas are the real bosses, who are no longer restricted to specific types, which sounds AMAZING because now you can't steamroll all the bosses with one Pokemon anymore. It might be the difficulty I've been looking for in a Pokemon game again (at least harder than XY). It wouldn't make sense for Hala to have Tapu Koko and specialize in a type, because what would he use? We already have an electric Captain, and it would be pretty lame to have two electric type bosses, and Hala doesn't look like a Fairy specialist, unless the Guardian Deity Pokemon is the wild card, or Hala fights you twice, once using his own Pokemon and another using Tapu Koko.

Anyways, if there's at least 4 Captains on one island, it seems like there's gonna be a lot to do in this game, that's so exciting! I hope this game has a whole lot of content because XY just felt so short and empty. I love how SM is shaking up the formula finally, and putting so much work into the region and features, and it feels like we still know nothing about these games.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

I also thought they were all on that island. With it being pointed out, I am even more aware of it now.

It is possible that all 18 types could have a Captain. This would make the game pretty long.

We could see 2 on the first island. 4 on the island listed above. 6 to 8 on big island. 1 or 2 on the legendary island. 1 or 2 on the Artificial Island. And possibly the remaining ones on the island that is missing from the Alola Map compared to Hawaii map. And remember, the missing island is fairly large. Even bigger than the island with the 4 Captains on it.

But if it is 4 per island, that suggests 16. But I am doubting all the islands can fit the same amount.

 

[Hikamaru]

We already have an electric Captain, and it would be pretty lame to have two electric type bosses, and Hala doesn't look like a Fairy specialist, unless the Guardian Deity Pokemon is the wild card, or Hala fights you twice, once using his own Pokemon and another using Tapu Koko.

I'm pretty sure it's likely that the Kahunas will have the Guardian Deities as their aces, if Hala using Tapu Koko is anything to go by.

 

[Phoenix7540]

There are 4 Islands, so I'd say 1 Island challange on the Island from the island challangers and 1 challange to leave for the next Island through the trial captains. If the Elite 4 has their own seperate Island it would work out as subtitude for 8 gyms.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

There are 4 Islands, so I'd say 1 Island challange on the Island from the island challangers and 1 challange to leave for the next Island through the trial captains. If the Elite 4 has their own seperate Island it would work out as subtitude for 8 gyms.

There is more than 1 trial per island. And it has been confirmed on the Japanese site that there is more than 4 captains. And I am kinda doubting that there will be 1 trial per captain. You see Lana in multiple places, along with Mallow.

 

[blue]

If three of those four characters are found on the first island then it is more than likely there are more yet to be revealed. By having only four in total would mean it would make much more sense to place one per island and going by image above, it seems as though there is more than one for the first island alone. If they are replacing the 8 Gym mechanic then it would make sense for them to replace it with something that is equivalent to that challenge by having 8 different island challenges or whatever they want to call it.

 

[Hikamaru]

Since the four island captains revealed so far all seemed to be encountered on the starting island (Melemele) it's a likely sign we could have four captains on each island, and maybe we just haven't seen much, if anything of the other islands yet.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

Since the four island captains revealed so far all seemed to be encountered on the starting island (Melemele) it's a likely sign we could have four captains on each island, and maybe we just haven't seen much, if anything of the other islands yet.

Don't think it is Melemele. The first island is the one with the starting village where you get your starters.

As pointed out above, all of these look like they are on the 2nd island that has the volcano, layered waterfall, and graveyard island.

 

[Mark Kamill]

This is amazing. With 18 types and 4 Kahunaks that comes out roughly to 22 bosses for the island trials alone, even if 18 of those are Totem Pokemon. Kahunaos should be tough to beat without a type to tie them to, so I hope they have some interesting strategies. Its going to be a long trek across each island, definitely hapoy with this outcome.

 

[Hikamaru]

Don't think it is Melemele. The first island is the one with the starting village where you get your starters.

As pointed out above, all of these look like they are on the 2nd island that has the volcano, layered waterfall, and graveyard island.

Melemele is the island where the protagonist starts their Alola journey, since it was the first island to be shown.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

Melemele is the island where the protagonist starts their Alola journey, since it was the first island to be shown.

Yes I know. But where the Captains were shown, it is not Melemele. They are on the second island. There is no Volcano, Electric Building, or Forest on Melemele. The only one I can see being on Melemele, if any are on Melemele that we have seen, it would be Lana.

 

[Mawa]

I love the new stuff on Sun and Moon, but this one is the only one I have some difficulties with..
Don't get me wrong, I am curious about this. The no gym isn't that bad, but no league... I have to say goodbye to something I love. But hey, since I have not played Sun and Moon, I can't judge.

 

[Mawa]

Hold on! Don't jump to conclusions, now. :o We're not entirely sure how the league works yet! Just because there might be no Gyms doesn't mean that there's going to be no Elite Four or Champion. We'll see how the challenge unravels over the next couple of weeks, when more news starts to come out.

True

But I do feel like it's not really clear what's going on now. I think we need more information.
But if we got "a league", it won't be the same kind probably.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I'm surprised by the lack of gyms this time around. I think this is a step in the right direction of breaking the traditional formula. Something tells me each island trial is the equivalent of doing 2 gyms.

 

[Hikamaru]

That's fair enough yeah; from what most of us can speculate, it seems that the Trial Captains + Kahunas make up the "League" of Alola, so to speak. After what the Elite Four is going to be like, well, I guess we won't know either until a month before the game launches or until launch. .-.

I'm with you here. Elite Four usually never gets revealed until after the release as far as I'm aware.

 

[Desert Stream~]

It would appear that some of the totem pokemon can be found on pokemon.com.
Lurantis is the totem pokemon of Lush Jungle on Akala island.
It doesn't say which island gumshoos is the totem of, but I think that's melemele.
for the other 2 islands well have to wait and see.

 

[blue]

I have a feeling the Elite Four will be situated on this island in the centre of the Region:

Spoiler:

It would make sense to traverse between the outer tropical islands before being allowed access to the artificial island where those battles would take place. It doesn't look like any of the four main islands contain the Pokemon League, so if there is an Elite Four then my guess would be for that scenario.

 

[Rivvon]

Well there's definitely a Champion in Alola. The XY Hiker mentions them in one of his randomized lines.

But I am a bit concerned about the state of the Elite Four. As in, if the Island Challenges are our "new Gyms" (which, by the sound of the mundane tasks they make you do, may very well be easier than your average Gym), would that make the Grand Kahunas our Elite Four, and we're essentially fighting the Elite Four as we progress on our journey? If that turns out to be the case, I wonder how the Champion would be challenged with no Elite Four to guard them.

 

[Diarkia124]

It seems that there are maybe 4 trials. If that's the case, then I hope the gap between the four is large since we're having a reduction in bosses. I also hope we can return to an Elite 4 with a specified order, but we're probably going to have a freedom in the order in which we fight them.

 

[TheKojo]

It seems that there are maybe 4 trials. If that's the case, then I hope the gap between the four is large since we're having a reduction in bosses. I also hope we can return to an Elite 4 with a specified order, but we're probably going to have a freedom in the order in which we fight them.

There more than four. The four they've shown are only on one island. And they've stated there's at least one for each island.