Why does all the news drop when I'm at work...
NEW POKEMON:
Nuikoguma: (
It's very popular among women and children, and tops the lists of Pokemon people want to meet. It hates being touched and will kick and struggle to resist. It's very powerful, but once it evolves into Bewear it truly gains herculean strength.)
There's that contradictory dex descriptions again. So hates being hugged which everyone wants to do with it and its evolution wants to hug everything but everyone's afraid of it. Cruel irony... or sweet revenge?
"Oh, you guys liked to squeeze a poor defenseless Pokemon? *Bewear breaks a log hugging it* WELL WHO WANTS A HUG NOW?!"
Though due to that I think it should have remained pure Normal-type, like the reason no one wants to hug Bewear is because it gained the Fighting-type making it strong enough to break stuff. *shrugs*
For design, hmm, it's cute and a visible mouth makes it look less like a stuffed animal; still the face is a bit awkward. Also I'm alright with it just being a bipedal version of Bewear, a lot of Pokemon are like that like the Slowpoke family.
Hmm, I wonder what its English name will be, it should also be a pun. Adorabear/Abearable?
Sunabaa & Shirodesuna:
Aww, they're adorable (Yes, I find the sandcastle cuter than the Pokemon which was suppose to be cute)!
Dex Info said:
Sunabaa: A grudge that dwells inside a pile of sand turns into a Pokemon. Truly a terrifying creature.
Shirodesuna: It steals the life force from other Pokemon. Those Pokemon's grudges turn into a new Sunabaa.
Oh yeah, Ghost-type.
And once again we see how a Ghost-type Pokemon sort of duplicates itself, the other time being Phantump & Trevenant with the latter making people get lost with the former being the result of this when it happens to kids. :P
I like their design, brings to mind the simpler designs of Gen I. I like how the random shovel in Sunabaa's head becomes part of Shirodesuna's design. And that image of it capturing Pikachu is delightfully creepy and nightmarish. "Sorry Pikachu, but my friend Mimikyu wants you out of the picture..."
Possible Ability is definitely Arena Trap, even in the Japanese name doesn't exactly match (though the Diglett family also gets Arena Trap).
Yowashi:
No dex info, but its gimmick is more then enough to draw some discussion from. So its a single small fish but can summon other fish from somewhere to become a fish school which looks like a bigger fish.
I'm curious what this means for this Pokemon's stats and Ability (we know its pure Water). Also, I wonder if maybe it could possibly learn Vespiquen's Signature Moves, before it made sense only Vespiquen to learn it but now that we have another Pokemon that can summon a swarm of Pokemon...
Anyway "Single Form" (I would have gone with "Guppy Form") is just a small fry fish, nothing that special except maybe the water pupil eyes. However "School Form" is the main attraction here. It both looks amazing and tacky with how they made a giant fish out of smaller fish; my favorite part if the fish-shaped eyes and barely complete tail fin.
ALOLAN POKEMON:
Alolan Meowth: (
Alolan Meowth developed after being bred by the royal family of Alola.)
At first I was surprised to see an Alolan Meowth, but thinking about it having both the normal Meowth (due to player and their mother probably being from Kanto) would be a good way to introduce Alolan Pokemon in the games. You have your mother's normal Meowth but suddenly this darker fur Meowth with pointer whiskers appear and Professor Kukui explains the Alolan Forms.
Meowth becoming Dark-type makes sense, even though its sort of copying Purrloin. Interested in seeing what the Alolan Persian looks like, especially since sadly Alolan Meowth's appearance doesn't change all that much. At least it now has a stronger Night Slash.
Also first Alolan Pokemon to have its change be mainly due to human breeding them.
So in the anime do you think they'll have an episode where Team Rocket's Meowth falls in love with a female Alolan Meowth or maybe have a villainous Alolan Meowth to be a rival (or maybe both)?
Alolan Marowak: (Alolan Marowak developed in response to its natural predators in order to resist them.)
As predicted, Marowak is given an Alolan Fire-type form... and part Ghost-type? Hmm, not so sure about that change, especially when we learn why it changed. But Ghost/Fire is still alright and a nice little reference to Gen I's Ghost Marowak even though I don't think it quite fits.
Alolan Marowak changed forms in order to deal with its natural predators to resist them. Its natural predators would probably have the type advantage over them so Fire makes sense to handle Grass and Ice-types, but what about Water? What predator of Marowak is resisted by Ghost (which is Bug & Poison; Normal if you count immunities), shouldn't it had become part Grass, Water, or Dragon? Or maybe Electric.
Let's see, Ghost/Fire would drastically change how it plays. Flare Blitz + Rock Head sounds like fun though would it keep Rock Head? Not sure what other Ability it would get, maybe at least one Fire-based one like Flash Fire?
Its design is a simple change but I like it for what it is. As predicted its based on a fire dancer. While the ghostly flames look interesting I think it would have looked better if it was normal fire. Also its arms and body has become longer, probably to better spin and do tricks with its flaming bone staff. The marking on the skull is kind of bland (watch it now be a Hawaiian symbol with special meaning), kind of wish they were a bit more decorative with it.
Curious if Cubone gets an Alolan form, it would only make sense as this Marowak is an extreme departure from a normal Cubone.
POKEMON OTHER:
So next month CoroCoro is promising the reveal of Rockruff's evolution secret. Hmm, interesting it just mentions Rockruff but not the Alola Starters which they said holds a secret with Rockruff. Now one of the leaks said they'll have multiple evolution which I disagree with... at least for the Alola Starters. Now I'm wondering if maybe Rockruff might change evolution depending on Starter you have. Its an odd relation to have especially with Rockruff being Rock-type (seems likea gimmick for a Normal-type) but I'm interested to see where they go with it.
VILLAIN TEAM:
DARN IT! Huh? Oh, no, I'm not mad we have one. I feel rather neutral whether we had one or not (as long as we had an interesting story to make up for a lack of them). What I'm mad about is that in the Unpopular Opionions thread we were discussing villain teams themes and I got to thinking what possible team would be attacking Alola. I thought pirates but didn't both mentioning it since I thought that was pretty much Team Aqua's theme. *Sigh*
Alola is under siege (or will be) by pirates, makes sense. Team Skull, huh (get it, because a popular pirate flag if the "Jolly Roger"). Could this be the return of just an evil group trying to profit off Pokemon instead of taking over the world? Here's hoping, though remember, we thought the same of Team Flare but they then turned into a doomsday cult.
Not really much to say about Guzma and Plumeri (or the grunts) for now. Going to wait for better & fuller images (I think I see some interesting clothing bits on Guzma, possibly a Z-Ring?) and more info on them. Though from what I see I like their style, while the grunts look like classic pirates, Guzma and Plumeri look more modern (opposed to Team Aqua's leaders, thoguh I did like Archie's captain's coat).
Well that's all I got to say for now! Not a major reveal (also weren't we promised a tour of the Alola region?) but still just as welcomed to get.
