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The Rite of the Island Challenge Discussion Thread

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Elementman-Novapoke

Well-Known Member
Ok So, since it says theres more than four trial captains im gonna say that theres probably one for each type, and completing the trial gives us the z crystal for that type, i say this also becuase you can kind of map most of the revealed trail captains to that one island next to melemele
you have the only really volcanic plains area that matches with the bg of Kiawes area
you have wooded areas for Mallow,
in the trailer you can see waterfalls and white rock like the corner of the island for Lanas trial
Sophacles is the only one im not sure about becuz he seems to be mostly inside but it still works

It kind of makes since for the "main" pokemon types (grass fire water, the starter types, and electric which is usually grouped in) to be right after the first island, so it introduces us to the game first so after were comfortable it ships us off and lets us get to know these new powerful mechanics all at once on the next island. Gyms are probably still going to be implemented becuase although puzzles are cool, battling is still at the heart of the pokemon franchise.

Quoted and emboldened (in parts) because I think this is a great idea that seems to have been largely ignored (I often wonder if user rank / post count affects how much attention a user's post is given. Even in a subconscious way. But that's for another place and time...).

There could indeed be a Trial Captain for each type (the completionist in me hopes so), and that is how we get the Z Gems (or whatever we're calling them). Having the Starter Types, plus Electric, would make sense to be the Z Moves we get first. That way, the first time we would use a Z Move would probably be with our Starter - which would make sense from a storyline perspective; our Starters are 'supposed' to be our first partner, the one we bond with most, etc - or an Electric type, aka Pikachu. Because GF and TPC knows that Pikachu is a must. Or has made it a must. Whatever.

The different islands have different sizes and biomes. The larger islands could certainly hold more Trials, and if we come to larger islands later on in the game, this would also serve as an appropriate difficulty curve / would ramp us up toward endgame stuff quite nicely.

The Official Site claims, 'To complete the island challenge, young trial-goers must overcome the trials in store on each of the four islands' - and here, the plurality could be deceptive. If it was only one trial per island, 'young trial-goers must overcome the trial in store on each of the four islands' or '...must overcome the trial on each island' could have been used instead.

Additionally, 'Lurantis is the Totem Pokémon of Lush Jungle, the site of an Akala Island trial' (also from the OS). The use of the indefinite article here ('an') implies that there will be more than one trial on Akala Island, at least.

Furthermore, although we see the Gumshoos Totem in a rocky area / up by a mountain or volcano, I don't think it's been said anywhere that it's the Totem that pertains to Kiawe's trial, has it? Perhaps it's the Totem for a Normal type specialist (plz Whitney no)?

And finally (although I probably could go on), if we were only getting these four, why would they all be revealed at the same time, and this late on? Why weren't they revealed with their corresponding Kahunas too? I'm sure this can't be the end.

FWIW, my understanding of the Trial would be:
The Quest-y / Quiz-y bit -> Totem 'Mon -> Battle Trial Captain (because why mention they're type specialists / the completionist in me would like this).
Repeat for as many Trials / Trial Captains there are for the island. -> Battle the Kahuna.

Well, the backpacker in Kalos did state that Alola has a Champion, so I'm sure there is one. Not sure where it would go, though.

What if this was a cheeky reference to how amazing the playable character is? As in, the NPC comments on how great we are once we've completed the challenge(s), placing SuMo somewhere before XY?
 
I find it hilarious that we might never get a Dark-type gym after all. Of course, that depends on whether gyms make a comeback in later generations.

I'm semi-fine with no gyms, but I really hope there is an Elite Four and a Champion. I really enjoy the feel of battling them with my finalized team.
 

Erron Black

The Outlaw
Quoted and emboldened (in parts) because I think this is a great idea that seems to have been largely ignored (I often wonder if user rank / post count affects how much attention a user's post is given. Even in a subconscious way. But that's for another place and time...).

There could indeed be a Trial Captain for each type (the completionist in me hopes so), and that is how we get the Z Gems (or whatever we're calling them). Having the Starter Types, plus Electric, would make sense to be the Z Moves we get first. That way, the first time we would use a Z Move would probably be with our Starter - which would make sense from a storyline perspective; our Starters are 'supposed' to be our first partner, the one we bond with most, etc - or an Electric type, aka Pikachu. Because GF and TPC knows that Pikachu is a must. Or has made it a must. Whatever.

The different islands have different sizes and biomes. The larger islands could certainly hold more Trials, and if we come to larger islands later on in the game, this would also serve as an appropriate difficulty curve / would ramp us up toward endgame stuff quite nicely.

The Official Site claims, 'To complete the island challenge, young trial-goers must overcome the trials in store on each of the four islands' - and here, the plurality could be deceptive. If it was only one trial per island, 'young trial-goers must overcome the trial in store on each of the four islands' or '...must overcome the trial on each island' could have been used instead.

Additionally, 'Lurantis is the Totem Pokémon of Lush Jungle, the site of an Akala Island trial' (also from the OS). The use of the indefinite article here ('an') implies that there will be more than one trial on Akala Island, at least.

Furthermore, although we see the Gumshoos Totem in a rocky area / up by a mountain or volcano, I don't think it's been said anywhere that it's the Totem that pertains to Kiawe's trial, has it? Perhaps it's the Totem for a Normal type specialist (plz Whitney no)?

And finally (although I probably could go on), if we were only getting these four, why would they all be revealed at the same time, and this late on? Why weren't they revealed with their corresponding Kahunas too? I'm sure this can't be the end.

FWIW, my understanding of the Trial would be:
The Quest-y / Quiz-y bit -> Totem 'Mon -> Battle Trial Captain (because why mention they're type specialists / the completionist in me would like this).
Repeat for as many Trials / Trial Captains there are for the island. -> Battle the Kahuna.

I actually really want this to happen now. It would show love to ALL types and we wouldn't have types miss out on representation.
 

Grey Wind

Well-Known Member
Pretty much, yes.

All that remains unclear is whether we will ever fight the Trial Captains and if there is some sort of final League-esque competition that determines you've become the Champion. Or if just defeating the four Kahunas will make you the Island Challenge Champion by default.
I hope there is, because if the main story line just ends after those four bosses it'd feel kind of anti-climactic. I guess the villain/legendary plot could serve as the climax of the game but I'd much prefer if we had some sort of league equivalent.

FWIW, my understanding of the Trial would be:
The Quest-y / Quiz-y bit -> Totem 'Mon -> Battle Trial Captain (because why mention they're type specialists / the completionist in me would like this).
Repeat for as many Trials / Trial Captains there are for the island. -> Battle the Kahuna.
This makes a lot of sense, and I really hope this happens now (although eighteen trials/gym battles seems like an awful lot...). I'm really curious to see how battling the trial captains fits into the game (assuming we battle them at all); with the totem 'mon appearing at the end of the trial, a second boss afterwards seems kind of superfluous.
 

Elementman-Novapoke

Well-Known Member
This makes a lot of sense, and I really hope this happens now (although eighteen trials/gym battles seems like an awful lot...). I'm really curious to see how battling the trial captains fits into the game (assuming we battle them at all); with the totem 'mon appearing at the end of the trial, a second boss afterwards seems kind of superfluous.

Eighteen may seem a lot, but I think it depends on what task each trial has. A five question quiz, for instance, could only take a couple of minutes. A puzzle of some description could take ten. An item collection task may not take too long, either. Add in the totem battle (10 minutes? 15?) and battling the Trial Captain, which may not happen anyway (again, another 10 or 15 minutes?), and each Trial might only be 30-45 minutes long. So somewhere between 9 and 15 hours, maybe? If the Trials take on a larger part of the story (as I've written elsewhere, because we've not seen much in the way of evil team, etc, yet, I think the Trials may blend Gyms and Story), this may not be too terrible? And some Trials could be doubled up, i.e the Fighting and Psychic Trial could be one that's longer than an individual one, but shorter than two (am I making sense...?).

Having reread the OS, the Totems happen at the end of each Trial. So perhaps battling the Trial Captains could come at the very start of each trial, or even part way through ("Great, you've found all the ingredients! Whilst they cook, how about a battle?"). They wouldn't even have to be an official part of the trial, really. Battling them could serve as battling Gym Trainers, then the Totems as the Leaders (i.e going from a battle to a boss battle), with a gap between the two (continuations of the tasks) to avoid battle fatigue?
 

Trainer Yusuf

VolcaniNO
Can somebody link me to the official word that states there is more than four trial captains?
 

dukemon22

Well-Known Member
Can somebody link me to the official word that states there is more than four trial captains?

Well, there's at least 8. I don't think any word has been given that there's more than 8.

But here's my theory:

-There will be 2 trial captains on each island. That gives us 8 in total. These 8 will become the gym leaders post-game when
you form the league, assuming the leaks are true. Even then, each Trial Captain may offer different trials before moving
on to the Grand Trial.

-The Kahuna's merely change title and relocate to the middle island to form the Elite 4.
 

Janovy

Banned

Grey Wind

Well-Known Member
Eighteen may seem a lot, but I think it depends on what task each trial has. A five question quiz, for instance, could only take a couple of minutes. A puzzle of some description could take ten. An item collection task may not take too long, either. Add in the totem battle (10 minutes? 15?) and battling the Trial Captain, which may not happen anyway (again, another 10 or 15 minutes?), and each Trial might only be 30-45 minutes long. So somewhere between 9 and 15 hours, maybe? If the Trials take on a larger part of the story (as I've written elsewhere, because we've not seen much in the way of evil team, etc, yet, I think the Trials may blend Gyms and Story), this may not be too terrible? And some Trials could be doubled up, i.e the Fighting and Psychic Trial could be one that's longer than an individual one, but shorter than two (am I making sense...?).

Having reread the OS, the Totems happen at the end of each Trial. So perhaps battling the Trial Captains could come at the very start of each trial, or even part way through ("Great, you've found all the ingredients! Whilst they cook, how about a battle?"). They wouldn't even have to be an official part of the trial, really. Battling them could serve as battling Gym Trainers, then the Totems as the Leaders (i.e going from a battle to a boss battle), with a gap between the two (continuations of the tasks) to avoid battle fatigue?
It's not really the time I'd have a problem with, it just seems like... a lot. Like, if the trial part (i.e. the quiz/item collection) is akin to the gym puzzle and the captain/totem are akin to gym trainers and leaders, we'd basically have eighteen gyms spread over four islands. There'd have to be serious padding in between for the near constant trials not to feel kind of tedious. I dunno, maybe it's possible and one for each Z-stone is a really cool idea, but I think it'd be cramming an awful lot in.

I'm thinking the hypothetical battle would be before the trial. Sort of like the unofficial battle(s) against Korrina, where she's just testing you out before you get to the real challenge. A "hey, we just met, let's battle!" type thing. The totem concept is kind of odd honestly, I would've expected them to just have gone with the captains as the end of trial boss.


Can somebody link me to the official word that states there is more than four trial captains?
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/ex/sun_moon/story/160801_01.html
キャプテンは4人以外にも、まだまだいるぞ!


I wonder what types the remaining captains will be. Presumably the Gumshoo trial is Normal, and I could definitely see an Ice trial somewhere on the snowy mountain. Something based around riding Pokemon would work too, maybe with a Ground type captain.
 
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Wulava

danger chili pepper
Staff member
Moderator
Honestly, when I thought that there's going to be just 4 Trial Captains and 4 Kahunas, I was kinda disappointed. Glad that wasn't the case.

I'm guessing the Kahunas are the equivalent of the Elite Four, and the Trial Captains are the Gym Leaders.
I do hope there's more than 8 though, and that there's one specialist per type.
 

Akashin

Well-Known Member
I'm guessing the Kahunas are the equivalent of the Elite Four, and the Trial Captains are the Gym Leaders.
I do hope there's more than 8 though, and that there's one specialist per type.

I hope and suspect this isn't the case, since for one, we can see when Hala challenges you that he only has three Pokemon; unless the E4 is being nerfed even more, that doesn't really line up.

Secondly, I'm assuming that the battle against each Kahuna follows the trials, so they don't really fit the mold of being a final challenge.
 

Wulava

danger chili pepper
Staff member
Moderator
I hope and suspect this isn't the case, since for one, we can see when Hala challenges you that he only has three Pokemon; unless the E4 is being nerfed even more, that doesn't really line up.

Secondly, I'm assuming that the battle against each Kahuna follows the trials, so they don't really fit the mold of being a final challenge.

What I'm saying is, the Kahunas are similar to Elite Four in a sense that they are the four big people you need to seek approval before facing the Champion.

On the old format, it goes by: 8 Gyms > Elite Four > Champion.

On Alola, I believe it goes by:
- Isle 1 Trials > Isle 1 Grand Trial
- Isle 2 Trials > Isle 2 Grand Trial
- Isle 3 Trials > Isle 3 Grand Trial
- Isle 4 Trials > Isle 4 Grand Trial
- Champion

We go straight to the Champion after the last Grand Trial. I doubt we'd battle another set of four important NPCs after the last Kahuna battle.
 

Janovy

Banned
Let's not forget that each Kahuna will likely have an island guardian legendary.

We know Hala uses Tapu Koko, so the others probably use the other three guardians.
 

Akashin

Well-Known Member
No, I understood what you were saying. Maybe I'm just hoping there's more at the end of the Trials than just a Champion though, seeing as the Kahunas don't exactly fit the role of a final set of four challengers prior to the Champion, at least not if they're fought right at the end of each island before moving on to the next.
 

Wulava

danger chili pepper
Staff member
Moderator
Well, I actually think that there could be one more trial before facing the Champion. And it's going to be the Victory Road of sorts.
 

knightwolf09

Well-Known Member
Let's not forget that each Kahuna will likely have an island guardian legendary.

We know Hala uses Tapu Koko, so the others probably use the other three guardians.

Hala never actually uses Tapu Koko. If you're talking about the scene when he is front of Hala, Hala actually looked surprised to see it. Meaning it's not really under his ownership.
 

Janovy

Banned
Hala never actually uses Tapu Koko. If you're talking about the scene when he is front of Hala, Hala actually looked surprised to see it. Meaning it's not really under his ownership.
True, but I think Hala does battle you with it.
 

Akashin

Well-Known Member
Well, I actually think that there could be one more trial before facing the Champion. And it's going to be the Victory Road of sorts.

Hmm. Definitely can't rule it out.

Hala never actually uses Tapu Koko. If you're talking about the scene when he is front of Hala, Hala actually looked surprised to see it. Meaning it's not really under his ownership.

I wouldn't say he looked surprised, and it distinctly looked like it was about to battle alongside Hala.

Though on the other hand, Hala owning and using Tapu Koko doesn't really line up with it being free enough that you apparently seeing it early in the game is a significant thing.
 
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DreamShield

Well-Known Member
I'm super excited by changing things up and the possibility for having to think and strategize more! I do hope there are still plenty of level opportunities if we don't fight trial captains in the story, because gyms with their leaders and grunts were always good for a couple level ups (especially when underleveled)
 
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