Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon: Spoilers ahoy ☀

HOHLY SHIT SILVADI LOOKS AWESOME

it seems to be multiple items, a closer picture of the bottom shows Gladion holding three CDs that seem to be Fire, Grass and Water memories - meaning he may secretly be the rival who's strong against you, changing his Silvadi's type to have an advantage over your starter

honestly tho, as small a design change as it is i love it. it goes from being mysterious and and slow and dark and weird to being fucking AWESOME and powerful and bright and triumphant. i just hope 'multi attack' gets a cooler english name

jarango and jararanga are Weird - they may look beter as models, but they look very... cluttered and disconnected thanks to their scales, rn.

also on other news: Ilima, the normal-type Trial Captain and first you encounter, confirmed on Corocoro - their name had been seen before, and their trial seems to involve getting Yungoos out of holes as well as being confronted by Team Skull.

various media sources got the chance to play SM for two hours and a few tidbits:
many of them report about "Seven Trials." I'm.... very confused, since it's all but confirmed three of the captains are in the second island revealed. some refer to seven PER ISLAND, instead, but that seems just as unlikely, so....?
-there's lots of cinematic moments, as suspected, including one during the starter choice
-the games seem to be Easy so far, How Surprising
-salandit may be an earlygame pokémon? meaning it may have an evolution

and finally, a discrete leak happened a few days ago that has just been confirmed. it doesn't have much, but the one Very Important detail it brings is... interesting.

leeeeek:

Jangmo-o evolves into Hakamo-o and then Kommo-o, both Dragon/Fighting with Bullet Proof and Sound Proof; Kommo-o also gets the new attack Clanging Scales, which does damage while lowering the user's Defense. Type: Null's evolution is named Silvally, with its ability getting localized as RKS System, which, combined with the Japanese name and the effect, hints that it was meant to imitate Arceus; it does in fact use different held items for each type, like Arceus's Plates. And sorry Spark, but Multi-Attack is the official English name. Alolan Grimer has been joined by Alolan Muk; they're both Poison/Dark with Poison Touch and Gluttony.

Now for the new stuff that Coro Coro didn't cover. That Cutiefly evolution that got accidentally leaked in that one Japanese trailer has been officially revealed as the Bug/Fairy Ribombee, sharing Cutiefly's abilities of Honey Gather and Shield Dust. We've also learned that Bounsweet is the first stage of a three-stage evolution line, followed by the new Steenee and Tsareena; like Bounsweet, they're both pure Grass-types. Steenee shares Bounsweet's abilities of Leaf Guard and Oblivious, but Tsareena drops Oblivious for the new ability Queenly Majesty, which blocks priority moves.

Finally, we've got a couple new NPCs. Trial Captain Ilima was shown in Coro Coro, but Olivia, the kahuna of Akala Island, was not.

I am positivly surprised by basically ALL those evolutions

The dragons look a bit overloaded, but not enough to actually bother me. Not sure if I am that into the typing either, but it is definitely a mon I could imagine using. Unfortunatly, chances are it is this gens pseudo legendary, and those are usually lategame.

The plants are VERY unexpected to me, but they look really good. Heck, this gen might have enogh neat grass types I like for a mono run.

The fairy bug is not bad, but it feels like it should be a middle stage even though it is presented like a final one. Not too bad in either case, I suppose.

The Type:Null evolution is a bit strange, because it has such a nice, sensible and normal name. I kind of like it, though probably not enough to get over my hatred for Type:Null. Kudos for the RKS ability though, thats pretty clever.

Lastly, I like the typing of the Alolan Grimer/Muk but Grimer looks much worse like this and I haven't made up my mind if Muk looks incredible or annoying.

So the leaks of the starters' final forms has been confirmed. They look a little better as 3D models, but I'm still not thrilled with any of them. Pikipek's final form feels very uninspired to me; you'd think they could figure out something more creative to do with a toucan. I'm not sure whether or not I like that they went very literal with Crabrawler's evolution being based off a yeti crab, but at the very least, props for trying. I'm definitely surprised that Oricorio doesn't have any evolutionary relatives; I was expecting it to be the final stage in a line. Similarly, I thought Ribombee was going to evolve again, but apparently it doesn't. I'm kind of liking the new sea urchins, although I definitely want a better look at them. The diving bell spider is an interesting idea, but the image really doesn't give you a good look at them. Morelull's evolution seems kind of bland. The fact that Salandit evolves gives me some hope that it'll have some kind of place in competitive, although we need type combinations, abilities, move pools, and stats to say for sure. Wimpod's evolution looks really cool, although getting one is probably going to be a major pain. I'm very surprised that Komala doesn't evolve at all, because it looks like it should. The anchor's an intriguing concept, but the image is a complete mess, so I'll have to wait to see this one in action. Likewise, the island guardians are all very intricate; right now, I kind of like the pink one, but I want a better view of all of them soon. I'm really not sure what's up with those weird spherical things listed by Solgaleo and Lunala, but a lot of people are theorizing that they're dormant forms of the version mascots. The Ultra Beasts look amazing, and I'm looking forward to fighting and capturing them. The second event legendary looks pretty generic right now.

As for the Alolan forms, it looks like they've already blown most of their load. The only ones we hadn't seen already are Persian (which was inevitable), Diglett and Dugtrio (which look hilarious), and the Geodude line (which look interesting). Cubone, Pichu, Pikachu, and Exeggcute don't get Alolan forms. However, Pikachu gets a lot of forms with Ash's various hats, which I am decidedly unhappy about; it's bad enough that we're getting Ash-Greninja.

I'm pretty sure the second event legendary is Marshadow, the one said to have a 'unique typing.' I'm betting on Normal/Ghost myself.

Also, no way those are dormant forms for the legendaries. If we're assuming the toucan is Pikipek's final evo (which it is, I mean, but), then we should assume what the images tell us about those two - it's an evolutionary line, going puff > gem and then splitting off into Solgaleo or Lunala. If they were forms (or separate pre-evos like some are saying), they'd be right by their respective legend, instead of before both of them.

...Also holy SHIT persian's head....

The thing is, there are two different images floating around, and they don't list everything in the same order. I'll link them both for clarity's sake. This one has the Alolan forms, Zygarde forms, extra Pikachus, and shiny sprites, and it groups the orbs together between the island guardians and the version mascots. This one just contains the new species and Ultra Beasts, and it interleaves the orbs with the version mascots. They both agree on the obvious evolution lines, but not much else. Then again, I'm somewhat inclined to assume the first one is actually in National Dex order over the second one, since the second one mostly matches Serebii's list of officially-revealed Pokémon with evolutions inserted appropriately.

See, another thing to me is that it makes sense from a design standpoint - the first one is all poofy and cloudy, being probably a nebula. The second one, meanwhile, looks more like some sort of incubation stage. It helps that the second has the weird lines with both a pink and blue line, which to me seems like it probably points towards the pink and blue details on Lunala and Solgaleo's visors, respectively. And you can certainly see many design similarities between the two legends anyways, more than previous legends, imo.

Finally, I decided to go ahead and check the filedump for the demo proper, and sure enough - Puff is 825/826, ornament is 827/828 and Solgaleo and Lunala are 829~832.

Also - I like that Magearna's normal shiny looks pretty much exactly the same, because the paintjob's already gone anyways.

I hadn't seen the dump yet. What I find just as interesting as the pictures of the new Pokémon is the stuff that's missing. Not only are there a bunch of blank image files interspersed with the others, but quite a few older species have been left out entirely, which raises some major questions.

Well, those are only the Pokémon present in the Alolan dex, I'd imagine (all forms of them)? The rest of mons might not be there.

And on the blank spaces... those are most likely related to totems. There's two after A-Raticate, two after Gumshoos and two after Lurantis, which seems like too much of a coincidence - but at the same time, there isn't one for Wishiwashi... It's possible that Totem Wishiwashi functions differently, being instead permanently in school mode. 

Either way, we can probably expect Salandevo to be a totem (Kiawe's?), Vikavolt as well (Sophocles?) and also Mimikyu (The ghostly girl in the demo's trailer?). Kommo-o too, though we have no clue for its captain.

...Most worrying is that that makes seven known trials... which is a bad number, since a few news sites have been talking about "the seven trials of Alola" - something very weird, seeing as that leads to an uneven split and makes little sense with the apparent locations of the captains (Mallow is confirmed to be in Akala, the only volcano that matches Kiawe's trial is in the same island, and the location seen in the Wishiwashi totem fight is in that island as well). I'm.... very confused right now.

oh goodness, morelull's evolution is my favorite new pokemon in awhile

It was really nice to see that the kids got to have lives after SBURB/SGRUB, and that they were able to repopulate through ectobiology. Also, there is only one word to describe Rose and Kanaya's wedding: DAWWWWWW. Okay, maybe with a minor tangent of "WHY THE HELL DID THEY BUST OUT THE SUCKER AGAIN". Then again, maybe since it was already a happy occasion, it didn't screw with their judgment like last time. And of course Caliborn is still trolling them from his session.

First off, we got the final forms of the starters, which is really surprising. Rowlet's final form is named Decidueye, and somehow it became Grass/Ghost; its new move Spirit Shackle prevents opponents from switching out. Litten becomes the Fire/Dark Incineroar with the stat-change-ignoring Darkest Lariat move. Finally, Popplio becomes Water/Fairy as Primarina; its new move Sparkling Aria does damage but removes Burns. We also have the remaining island guardians, which all share a unique Z-move, Guardian of Alola, as well as similar abilities based on their types. Tapu Lele is Psychic/Fairy with Psychic Surge, Tapu Bulu is Grass/Fairy with Grassy Surge, and Tapu Fini is Water/Fairy with Misty Surge. That little mysterious puffball from the leaks has also been revealed as Cosmog, a Psychic-type with Unaware; no apparent link to Solgaleo or Lunala, but it is said to be the child of the stars. Finally, there's Alolan Persian, which is pure Dark with Fur Coat and Technician.

We also found out that Alola is trying to put together a league of its own where powerful trainers can battle with and against each other. Notable trainers showcased were Cynthia, Wally, Red, and Blue.

Okay, I was hoping I would like Incineroar more once I saw it in 3D and in motion, but.... I really don't. Drega pointed out in sin chat that its name is pretty fakemon-esque and I totally agree with him. He teeth and hands too big for he gotdamn body and he moves really jerkily and cartoonishly, which totally contrasts with how Litten and Torracat move and act. Not into him at all.

I always liked Decidueye's design, and I LOVE his name, but now that we know that A) that's a hoodie and not a creepy shroud or cloak, and B) he's... a ghost type for some reason, I think he's actually pushed through to become my favorite of the three starters. That said, if I pick him, my projected team will have three Grass types if Morelull's evolution keeps Grass (I'm also using Tsareena) and I'm not to keen on that idea. I'd definitely use him on a replay, though.

Primarina is fantastic and I love it. You couldn't really get a clear look at the eyes with just the concept art and model, but they're really strange and strange eyes are like 100000% my aesthetic. I really just like the whole design a lot. Water/Fairy is a dope typing and itll be interesting to see a more defensive/support oriented thing with that rather than an offensive Azumarilly mon. Proud to have it as my starter pick!

lol persian

Also... Cosmog? Hmm. Intriguing.

Tapu Lele is adorable!! Its lore is also fascinating. Tapu Bulu is kinda weird looking but in a good way, and I'm a fan of its funky nose ring. Fini is a bit.... hm. I like it but it reminds me a bit too much of a bakugan that z-move is fucking wild tho

Also important: Tapu Bulu = bull
Tapu Lele = a sacrificial altar in hawaiian
Tapu Fini = fin
Tapu Koko = ....,,,,,,,,,,,, C O CK

meanwhile, incineroar's personality in the bio and typing have endeared me to it. it's so GOOFY and perfectly over-the-top wrestler-like, i love it

Rowlet Fucking Died and became awesome - worth mentioning that spirit shackle is a physical ghost-type move, so... physical attacking decidueye?

and i honestly can't care that much for primarina still :0 the move can have some potential, i suppose. assuming it works like wake-up slap and smelling salts and deals double damage when it removes the status condition (for, most likely, 140 damage) it could have some a'ight synergy with scald I suppose?

cosmog is adorable, according to the site it's a very recent species that has been studied by the aether foundation. also idec if there's no announced link to them yet there's no way it isn't related to Solgaleo and Lunala :v also it seems to be the 'mon in Lillie's bag according to the japanese trailer

red looks fucking weird, also, other trainer predictions in terms of who might show up: maybe N or cheren, Lance? probs steven stone, sycamore probably diantha as boring as she is tbh

GUARDIAN OF ALOLA LOOKS EVIL

but it's actually a move that always deals 75% of the enemy's health

OH and the festival plaza apparently does replace the PSS, and rotation and triple battles seem to be gone bc they're not an option online anymore (battle royals are tho, both with friensd AND on battle spot)

finally: alolan persian is apparently considered incredibly beautiful in alola. ....i'm not sure i trust their judgment anymore