Loving the speculation. I agree with a lot of these. Some of which I especially love (Lycanroc with Moxie and Scrappy for Crabrawler, for example)!
I do have a few disagreements though.
- Sandyghast: Arena Trap.
- Pallossand: Arena Trap.
When I first saw these Pokemon I figured it would fit right in with the ant lion and wack-a-mole families with having access to this ability. Especially with the official art of a Palossand swallowing Pikachu into a swirling vortex of sand.
- Turtonator: Ignite, which turns all Normal-type moves into Fire-type moves.
I came up with this one a little while back in a discussion about new abilities. It fits Turtonator's landmine theme, and who can NOT want a Fire-Type Explosion? Steel types traditionally absorb this powerful attack pretty well. Not to mention meddlesome ghosts! Let's make this move one to be feared again! Time to return to the grave, Aegislash.
- Alolan Sandshrew: Heatproof.
- Alolan Sandslash: Heatproof.
As someone who really loves the Sandshrew family, I was never fond of their abilities. I like including Sandslash on my team casually as a Ground-type, and the abilities the line got always made that a sub-optimal build. When Alolan Sandslash was announced I was incredibly excited, but that was tempered a bit when I saw its new ability was one again dependent on the weather. So I've switched out Ice Skater (not a bad ability - Hail teams could really use abilities like this) for Heatproof. Having two 4x weaknesses is going to be rough. Reducing Fire to a 2x weakness (the only 2x weakness Alolan Sandslash has is Ground) will help a great deal I imagine. Plus, I think it fits the whole "cold steel" kind of theme going on. And Sandslash is formerly from hot places, and used to kick all kind of Fire butt.
Thanks
I had to think for a while about some of them, but Lycanroc and Crabrawler were two that just fit immediately.
Arena Trap is definitely another appropriate possibility for Sandyghast and Pallossand, so I wouldn't be surprised if that ends up being correct.
I'm all for more Pixilate/Aerilate/Refrigerate-style abilities, and I can see why a Fire-type Explosion would make a lot of sense for Turtonator, but I don't see how it would make sense for its other Normal moves to become fiery. Then again, I suppose there's not really a lore explanation for how the other abilities in that vein change the type of Normal moves, so I can live with it. I think it needs a different name though, as they seem set on continuing the -ate trend. Incinerate jumps to mind, but is already a move, so maybe not. Flagrate maybe? Although that word isn't really used outside of Harry potter lol.
Heatproof is a really interesting ability that I would like to see on other Pokemon, but I suppose it is superseded by Thick fat in most cases. A-Sandslash is Steel type, and I had always assumed that Bronzong is supposed to be "heatproof" because of its tempered metal nature, so I guess that works. Your explanation makes more sense than any I've heard for Bronzong anyway! I am biased towards Ice Skater though, as I really want more Hail-based abilities to exist. I think it would help in getting Ice to finally work.
EDIT: Bulbapedia has enlightened me wrt the origin of Heatproof. It apparently comes from a Japanese folk tale about a woman who donated a bronze mirror to be melted down into a bell, but regretted it for vain reasons, and so the mirror refused to melt in the furnace until she killed herself. Gruesome, but a pretty cool mythological origin for what previously seemed nonsensical.