Totem Pokemon

[Coconutteh]

With the recent news footage from August 1st, it's been revealed that each island will have a "Totem" pokemon - a stronger, tougher version of an existing pokemon that can call on it's friends to help in battle - almost like Mega Kangaskhan, or a double battle.

Personally, I think this is going to be a fun part of the story, and I hope that we can catch these pokemon. It's also been listed on the Pokemon site: "Lurantis is the Totem Pokémon of Lush Jungle, the site of an Akala Island trial. It will overwhelm trial-goers with the powerful combos it unleashes with the Pokémon allies it calls."

So now we know Gumshoos is the totem pokemon for one of the Mele Mele Island trials, and Lurantis is for the new Akala Island.

So... thoughts! Speculations! Hopes! Fears! Share them here!

I'm hoping for a Salandit evolution as one of the totem pokemon, or even Drampa. I think that'd be cool!

 

[MegaKuriboh]

I really really love this, and it gives me Persona vibes, having to fight a similar monster that you have fought before, but much stronger and sometimes call upon for reinforcements? THAT'S SO COOL! I hope these Pokemon are challenging, like say the Gumshoos has a lot of defense and takes a while to take down, and maybe one Totem Pokemon can have sky high attack so you'll have to play defensively.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I can also imagine the allies giving the Totem mon berries to restore it's health...

 

[KillerTyphlosion]

Yes I always wanted boss battles in pokémon and this seems to be a great thing.

 

[Ducolamia]

I love the idea of Totem Pokemon, but I have shitty luck at games like these. I just know I will struggle trying to take out 1 Pokemon without having to grind first XD. I hope this adds a variety of challenge to the......Island challenge. Honestly, I can see the saltiness of people when this happens. Remember when you got wrapped in generation 1 and couldn't attack or how you got paralyzed, confused, and leaf-seeded at the same time? Imagine this scenario if you will:

A younger kid of this generation picks up a copy of Pokemon Moon. They decided to try the game because they want to be cool with their friends. They boot up the game and think it'll be pretty easy. The only other game they played related to Pokemon is X and Y and those were abysmally easy. They figure this game is the same. After all, you collect 8 gym badges, defeat the Elite 4, the usual. It's the same thing over and over again. The kid believes they can defeat the game in no time flat.....until they realize this isn't Pokemon X and Y, it's completely different. You have the island captains, kahunas and most of all, Totem Pokemon. Totem Pokemon cause this player a lot of distress. Stab moves, automatic stat boost each turn, bulkier and harder to take down, stronger attacks, and worse of all you can only have one Pokemon out at a time.

So get this, this kid gets to the Totem, they struggled through sweat, blood, and tears to strategize and find a way to defeat this monster of a Pokemon. Their team is utterly destroyed left with no healing items and only one Pokemon left. Thankfully though, it's not too much of a problem. The Pokemon is about to faint. Just one more hit and it's done you might say, and that young kid thought that too. Their pain would finally be over. All of his effort would finally be worth it. Until...the SOS appears. At first, the kid is totally dumbfounded by the actions. However, that dumfoundedness quickly turns into hatred as suddenly, from total hindsight another Pokemon is called for help and not only does it heal the Totem Pokemon erasing any trace of the damage you've done to it, it completely demolishes your last Pokemon....causing them to rage quit XD.

Knowing myself at this game, this young kids outcome will surely end up like mine lol.
However, I at least have some experience in dealing with hard battles Cynthia and I hope the same is here too. Knowing that a kid like me might go through the same difficulty I did as a kid reminds me of my Sinnoh days. Hopefully, the Pokemon put up a decent fight and not die in one hit. Seriously though, In that trailer, that Gumshoos was buffed as hell.

 

[François2]

Not sure I care for this a huge amount. I don't dislike it but I don't think I'll really be able to think of this as an epic boss battle, and the totem pokémon seem unlikely to come across as intimidating or strong but rather just lazy and unfair. I want to lose to someone like a champion or a legendary pokémon because they were too strong or were too smart, but throwing loads of buffs on a random pokémon and calling it a boss is so "OK, you can beat me if you cheat a lot, but I could do the same to you". I know in this game it's difficult to create challenge beyond simply making the enemy overwhelming in stats but still, I think this will feel kind of cheesy and lazy for me.

 

[Entermaid]

Lurantis will destroy us all with doubles sunny day + solar blade.

This is not just about luck, you have to be resourceful and strategic in order to win. Bring in a pokemon that taunts, maybe switch out into a pokemon that can take advantage of the two-turn wait, especially one that knows a buff move + healing move. Or maybe you can followup taunt with toxic + protect to avoid damage from both pokemon while taking down the totem threat. All-in-all these seem like pretty fun challenges.

 

[Jacrad]

The one thing I think is going to suck is if a Totem Pokemon summons a shiny Pokemon and you can't catch it.

 

[janejane6178]

Not sure I care for this a huge amount. I don't dislike it but I don't think I'll really be able to think of this as an epic boss battle, and the totem pokémon seem unlikely to come across as intimidating or strong but rather just lazy and unfair. I want to lose to someone like a champion or a legendary pokémon because they were too strong or were too smart, but throwing loads of buffs on a random pokémon and calling it a boss is so "OK, you can beat me if you cheat a lot, but I could do the same to you". I know in this game it's difficult to create challenge beyond simply making the enemy overwhelming in stats but still, I think this will feel kind of cheesy and lazy for me.

This.

 

[Hikamaru]

I think Angie (aka our first official mod here) has a point in that Totem Battles are similar to Horde Battles in that you are ganged up on by more than one Pokemon, but the difference here is the Totem Pokemon is stronger than usual members of its species (we've seen Gumshoos and Lurantis so far) and the fact it can get its own teammate to fight you is what makes it more interesting than the Horde Battles in 6th Gen. And like ORandAS said the Totem Pokemon being given boosts by its ally is definitely not out of the question.

The thing I'm intrigued with this is how potentially hard it could be to Nuzlockers of Sun & Moon.

 

[clbgolden]

These Totem Pokémon sound like they could be difficult...

I LOVE IT. Recent games haven't really proved a challenge, but these games definitely could, especially with the Totems.

They get buffs, which is wonderful. Gumshoos just gets defense, but who knows, maybe others will get multiple boosts! Heck, maybe there will be drastic raises.

SOS Pokémon make it sound even more challenging. Just imagine, what if one of them is a Vikavolt, and then summons a Charjabug (who, to refresh your memory, has the ability Battery which raises their ally's Sp. Attack)?

It'd be even better if they could use Z-Moves... >:D

 

[Hikamaru]

I came across another leak (might share it in the leaks thread when someone posts there again) that claims that defeating the Totem Pokemon will be how the player will collect the Z-Crystals, and each Totem Pokemon will give you a certain type. It's said that Gumshoos, Lurantis, Vikavolt and Bewear will be among the Totem Pokemon, along with a few other names of currently unrevealed Pokemon.

If you ask me, that would actually give one incentive to defeat these Totem Pokemon if they want to try out the new Z-Moves.

 

[Rivvon]

Xatu. Wait hold on that's not the totem Pokémon we're talking about...

Really though I'm just wondering if these were really...necessary? Like maybe I'm misunderstanding but they're just... battles with "wild"(??) Pokémon and they have a small friend and they battle you. Okay... This isn't anything spectacularly new like the Battle Royals or the Horde Battles in gen 6... Like yeah it's claimed that they use a strategy and such, but we've had Double Battles with Trainer AIs before and they're never that hard... I guess that's my problem, I can't imagine these "wild"(??) Pokémon having such an advanced AI, so I feel like these battles are just 1v2 battles, with the issue being that 1v5 is already easy to deal with.

 

[Desert Stream~]

Xatu. Wait hold on that's not the totem Pokémon we're talking about...

Really though I'm just wondering if these were really...necessary? Like maybe I'm misunderstanding but they're just... battles with "wild"(??) Pokémon and they have a small friend and they battle you. Okay... This isn't anything spectacularly new like the Battle Royals or the Horde Battles in gen 6... Like yeah it's claimed that they use a strategy and such, but we've had Double Battles with Trainer AIs before and they're never that hard... I guess that's my problem, I can't imagine these "wild"(??) Pokémon having such an advanced AI, so I feel like these battles are just 1v2 battles, with the issue being that 1v5 is already easy to deal with.

The 1v5 battles are easy when the pokemon are 40 levels below you, but if they are at the same level that could get crazy

 

[Hikamaru]

The 1v5 battles are easy when the pokemon are 40 levels below you, but if they are at the same level that could get crazy

You have a point since they handicap the Hordes by making them very low-level. I could see the same thing happening with the Totem Pokemon, have them at a lower level to compensate for their buffed stats and moves so that they don't completely wreck you easily.

 

[Hikamaru]

Here's the leak if you're wondering: https://s31.postimg.org/a2htkwxij/0198eca9_22dd_48f4_b7a7_160c17841512.jpg

Mentions a lot of interesting stuff, including some names of new Pokemon that are currently unrevealed. Gumshoos, Bewear, Vikavolt and Lurantis are among the Totem Pokemon mentioned.

Other notable stuff in the leak include the starters and Rockruff having four split evolutions and also what the villainous team's role could be.

 

[clbgolden]

Here's the leak if you're wondering: https://s31.postimg.org/a2htkwxij/0198eca9_22dd_48f4_b7a7_160c17841512.jpg

Mentions a lot of interesting stuff, including some names of new Pokemon that are currently unrevealed. Gumshoos, Bewear, Vikavolt and Lurantis are among the Totem Pokemon mentioned.

Other notable stuff in the leak include the starters and Rockruff having four split evolutions and also what the villainous team's role could be.

Hm, I don't think it's legit. It mentions multiple evos for the starters, even though its already confirmed that the starters only have one final evo. Unless he meant different looking forms, but even then the typings/small descriptions he mentioned seem to differentiate too much to still be counted as the same Pokémon. :s

I guess we'll have to wait and see, though. The stuff mentioned about the Totems sounds nice.

 

[Akuryou Inushii]

So I'm kind of worried. I had never encountered a Mimikyu before the Ghost trial. And I went into the abandoned supermarket to catch a female one to MM a shiny. I checked my dex and according to the entry, I've seen a shiny one. I noticed that the Mimikyu during my trial was more of a grey-ish color but didn't pay much mind to it. I get the feeling I encountered the shiny then, but I couldn't catch it because it was the Totem Pokemon..