Orphalesion
Well-Known Member
Assuming it is the first Gen VIII mon (and even if it is a new Pokemon, that's harder to say with certainty now that USUM has set the precedent for new Pokemon mid-Generation), I'd sooner compare that to Magearna (and on a technicality Zygarde 10%/Complete Forme and Ash Greninja, but they don't really count) pre-dating the announcement of Gen VII by a couple months rather than calling it the start of pre-release. But I guess that's semantics.
Yeah that's what I meant, I always considered the pre-release period for Sun/Moon to have started with Margearna's reveal, but yeah that's semantics. It could even be argued that since Pokemon 2019 was kind-of announced already we're already in the Pre-Release phase.