General Discussion & Speculation Thread

[ReneEnjolras]

They can keep Trials for Z-Crystals. But I do want Gym battles back.

 

[lemoncatpower]

I'm honestly kind of disappointed by the amount of people that want gyms back. I'm personally going to be a bit disappointed if they do for the sole fact that I don't want to see old traditions resurfacing.

some people can't deal with change, or just have a preference, or now that we've seen the new trials, wonder what gyms would have been like even though it's the same element as usual.
If they have DP remakes, there'll definitely be gyms so people can wait for those

Also about the trials: it'd been nice if you had to battle the totem pokemon for the crystal, but could also battle the captain right away for a TM. They shouldn't have had you just find these TM's in each trial location imo. The battle with Ilima doesn't really feel natural or like any important battle. I like the idea of trials, but hope they can expand on them and make them more exciting in USUM. By the time they were done with gyms, they really expanded on them. So I can only imagine what they'll end up doing with trials!

 

[Exsception]

I would expect so. More pokémon being accessible deeper into generations has usually been used as a selling point., this including legendaries.
I hope that if we do get any old legendaries that they get proper areas this time, and not just portals stuck around on generic islands like in ORAS.

The complete lack of a National Dex in SM makes me curious how they will handle it though.

They could easily just be placed in the Regional Dex. That's what they did for the Legendary Birds and Mewtwo in XY.

 

[ReneEnjolras]

Anyone think there will be improvements to Pokemons' movesets? Tutors more readily available?

 

[Nerdy McNerdface]

I'm honestly kind of disappointed by the amount of people that want gyms back. I'm personally going to be a bit disappointed if they do for the sole fact that I don't want to see old traditions resurfacing.

I'd personally like it if both Gyms and Trials merged to form a distinct system and a more challenging game. You have to defeat the trial before you defeat the Gym, and when you defeat the Gym you can move to the next area, or something like that.

 

[ReneEnjolras]

I'd personally like it if both Gyms and Trials merged to form a distinct system and a more challenging game. You have to defeat the trial before you defeat the Gym, and when you defeat the Gym you can move to the next area, or something like that.

Not a bad idea there. The Gyms and Trials can work together.

 

[mykalriley]

Ok, so having seen the Direct and the Trailers, and reading through the Thread.. I'm finally ready to throw out my meager 2 cents.

I REALLY dislike the idea of "Alternate Universes". Not just within this game specifically, but as a whole throughout the series. I don't know what it is about it, but it just doesn't sit well with me.
IF by "alternate universe" they mean that the game takes place within Alola, yet after the events of SuMo have taken place, I'm ok with that. IF they mean that USuMo takes place along side SuMo, as in
while SuMo MC is off saving the world, the "new" MC is off on his own adventure, where it's the same place, but each is living their lives at the same time, that's neat as well..

What I DON'T like, is the idea of some parallel universe.

I personally, would love to see the following of Pokemon return, though I can't actually see this coming to fruition. Never know though.

I love the idea that Gyms have since been established, and REALLY like the idea of Gyms AND Trials co-existing at the same time. I think several had mentioned that Trials for Z-Crystals and Gyms for badges...and I really like that idea. Seems like it would almost double the things to do.

I feel like we might see a few new Alolan Forms, and this I really like, and gets me excited. For me, personally, the reason I play the Pokemon games boils down to New Pokemon. I can live with a shitty story, or flat characters, or whatever have you, but catching and discovering the New Pokemon has ALWAYS been my driving force to play. Once I've caught all the new Pokemon, and beat the story, it's really hard for me to keep playing. I know they offer things like Battle Tree and the like, but that isn't enough to keep me playing, so my game gets stashed away and just sits there until a new game is released, and I can go back to catching new Pokemon. So for me personally, if this is a game where just a few things have been tweaked, and they added more flowers and revved up the legendary, and thrown in some additional story plot, that isn't enough to make me want to play. If there are no new pokemon, and no new forms, (aside from the legendaries) I can't see why I would play the game. Running through and catching the same Pokemon I've already caught in the game that was released a year ago (and all the pokemon I've repeatedly caught gen after gen) that just isn't for me. Obviously, this is far from the popular opinion, but it's mine.

I think that for me personally, the games would have to present entirely different, making it feel like an entirely new game, albeit set in the same region, for me to want to invest a lot of time, and a few bucks into playing it.

 

[Hero of Truth]

But everyone forgets about the most important problem S/M have... Why the heck can't we enter NPC houses?! Seriously, in most cities and towns, you see houses with doors alright, but you can't enter them? What madness is this? One of my favorite things in Pokémon games is to enter random houses and talk to NPCs there...

I really hope they fix that and have us enter all those unusable doors or most of them in US/UM.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

All the semantics about what they mean by "alternative" being discussed I'll point this out:

We literally don't know what they meant by it yet, it could be a number of things, nobody is right or wrong yet.

Actually, the USM page on Pokémon.com states that the game will have "new additions to the story and features of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon."

This is essentially a traditional update version, contrary to that of Black 2 & White 2. You can read the full piece below.

 

[Team Volt Grunt]

Actually, the USM page on Pokémon.com states that the game will have "new additions to the story and features of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon."

This is essentially a traditional update version, contrary to that of Black 2 & White 2. You can read the full piece below.

I'm not trying to get any hopes up because I've already reconciled the idea of them just being a traditional "third version" and don't want to set myself up for disappointment, but "additions to the story" could refer to a whole new chapter instead of snippets added here and there. I think they intentionally used vague phrases both on the website and in the direct to keep us guessing.

I'm going to continue to not hope for much and wait for details to emerge until the games are released.

 

[Taodragon]

I'm not trying to get any hopes up because I've already reconciled the idea of them just being a traditional "third version" and don't want to set myself up for disappointment, but "additions to the story" could refer to a whole new chapter instead of snippets added here and there. I think they intentionally used vague phrases both on the website and in the direct to keep us guessing.

I'm going to continue to not hope for much and wait for details to emerge until the games are released.

I think that's reading more into it then they actually intend. When B2W2 were revealed, they didn't really disguise the fact that it was a sequel, these games they use terms like 'alternate' or 'additional', which don't imply a completely new story, it implies a similar story with some of its own twists and changes.

I do understand the desire for sequels over third versions, but the wording does not suggest sequels by any means. So it's best to assume the worst and go with what's been stated then trying to twist words into meaning what you want them to mean.

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

So would Past Gen Legendary Pokémon popping up Post Game be good?

Examples:
Groudon - Volcano
Lugia - Basement in a Sea Cave
Regice - A Ice Cave by Pokémon League
Mewtwo - Near Battle Tree

Yeah, sure, but like Wulava I dunno about the logistics. Maybe you use Nebby to open Hoopa-style portals in the overworld after completing certain requirements?

I don't see the cover legendaries being available, but possibly the others. Especially if they turn the UB storyline bigger and say more legendaries come to help with the battle (wishful thinking), but it'd be cool.

I agree, though objectively speaking only Black 2 and White 2 refused to have mascot legendaries catchable. All other end of generation games made mascot legendaries catchable in some form or other, and all third versions had catchable legendaries from previous generations.

 

[Team Volt Grunt]

I think that's reading more into it then they actually intend. When B2W2 were revealed, they didn't really disguise the fact that it was a sequel, these games they use terms like 'alternate' or 'additional', which don't imply a completely new story, it implies a similar story with some of its own twists and changes.

I do understand the desire for sequels over third versions, but the wording does not suggest sequels by any means. So it's best to assume the worst and go with what's been stated then trying to twist words into meaning what you want them to mean.

I'm not reading into something more than intended, I'm pointing out an "alternate" way to infer a sentence. I already stated that I've accepted that these are not sequels.

"New additions to the story" literally means they are putting in content that didn't exist in the story before. A sequel is more content that didn't exist before. But so are small, extra bits of content here and there. We can't decipher any more than that at this point. We have to wait for details, which I'm hoping we will get during E3. I'm only saying that we can't technically rule out USUM being sequels yet, however unlikely it looks.

 

[SinnohEevee]

Does the Japanese say new story or alternate story?

 

[Everlasting]

I'm honestly kind of disappointed by the amount of people that want gyms back. I'm personally going to be a bit disappointed if they do for the sole fact that I don't want to see old traditions resurfacing.

It's really all about preferences, really. Trials were disappointing for me: a silly, too-easy quest followed up by a laggy battle with rather terrible music and no real sense of challenge or experience gain. Compare it to Gyms, where a multitude of trainers had to be fought before the leader, which was great for experience and building up excitement; then you get to the leader, whose battle kicks in most of the time with AMAZING music (namely BW/B2W2's, oh dear), who often finishes with the strongest Pokémon that usually has a trick up their sleeves, and when you're finally done, rewards you with a cool-looking badge, a decent TM and a sense of accomplishment.

I dunno. I would not mind a new trial experience if they make trials decently hard and gratifying. We'll see, I suppose!

 

[SinnohEevee]

I don't see the need for Gyms if we have Trials unless you go to another region post-game.

 

[mykalriley]

It's really all about preferences, really. Trials were disappointing for me: a silly, too-easy quest followed up by a laggy battle with rather terrible music and no real sense of challenge or experience gain. Compare it to Gyms, where a multitude of trainers had to be fought before the leader, which was great for experience and building up excitement; then you get to the leader, whose battle kicks in most of the time with AMAZING music (namely BW/B2W2's, oh dear), who often finishes with the strongest Pokémon that usually has a trick up their sleeves, and when you're finally done, rewards you with a cool-looking badge, a decent TM and a sense of accomplishment.

I dunno. I would not mind a new trial experience if they make trials decently hard and gratifying. We'll see, I suppose!

Definitely agree with this! Gyms FELT like a challenge. There were numerous times, throughout the years, that I really struggled with a certain gym leader, unable to defeat him/her, sometimes more than once. When you FINALLY make it through, and you take them down, the feeling of " Hell yea! I did it!" was amazing. With the Trials, I never got that. They are a neat concept, and I think that they could be useful in say, distributing the Z Crystals, but for that to be the main challenge, it didn't feel challenging.

 

[lemoncatpower]

Definitely agree with this! Gyms FELT like a challenge. There were numerous times, throughout the years, that I really struggled with a certain gym leader, unable to defeat him/her, sometimes more than once. When you FINALLY make it through, and you take them down, the feeling of " Hell yea! I did it!" was amazing. With the Trials, I never got that. They are a neat concept, and I think that they could be useful in say, distributing the Z Crystals, but for that to be the main challenge, it didn't feel challenging.

If you don't use exp share than it's a much harder challenge imo.

 

[Team Volt Grunt]

I don't see the need for Gyms if we have Trials unless you go to another region post-game.

Definitely agree with this! Gyms FELT like a challenge. There were numerous times, throughout the years, that I really struggled with a certain gym leader, unable to defeat him/her, sometimes more than once. When you FINALLY make it through, and you take them down, the feeling of " Hell yea! I did it!" was amazing. With the Trials, I never got that. They are a neat concept, and I think that they could be useful in say, distributing the Z Crystals, but for that to be the main challenge, it didn't feel challenging.

I miss having more trainer battles. The trials are cool, but it reduced the number of trainers leading up to the prize. I'd like to see both in USUM.

 

[SinnohEevee]

Gen 6 and Gen 7 are too easy.