THE POKEMON X & Y MEGAPOST

Pokemon X & Y is hitting our stores this October. This will be the 6th generation of Pokemon. To date, there's already a whopping 649 Pokemon. The full list of new Pokemon haven't been announced yet, but there will definitely be at least a hundred. Over the past couple of weeks, and over the next few, information has been coming in in drips and drabs. With this post, I'm just going to catch (heh) all the information out there and put them into one place.

The new logos.

HERE WE GO.

Pokemon X & Y

As you can probably tell, there's a break in the pattern here. It's no longer colours! Perhaps they ran out, but yeah, X & Y is some...DNA-related stuff. The two legendaries are Xerneas and Yveltal. These are pain in the asses to pronounce. Anyway, they look mildly bio-inspired, and I've read somewhere that their design has roots in biology.

How is this going to fit into the overarching mythology of Pokemon? Well, it seems like they've got most things covered. We have Pokemon which controls time, space, land, sea, even emotions. Maybe they're man-made Pokemon and they're existence cause a change in the other Pokemons DNA? It's too early to speculate on this one. Some fans are suggesting connections with Norse mythology too.

Meet Xerneas...

...and Yveltal.

Inspired by France?

As you can see from the screenshot below, there's a very French feel to it. The protagonist's fashion sense (or lack of) is very much French, I'm guessing. The aesthetics and locals also carry the same feel. If you squint, you can make out an Eiffel Tower-like structure in the background, and there are even cafes. Black & White was very much inspired by America, and I'm guessing that as with Black & White, X & Y will be French through and through. (Snail Pokemon?)

As usual, the player can choose between a male protagonist and a female one. This time around however, there's the option to adjust the skin and hair colour! This is quite a welcome change - I've always felt like I was being misrepresented in the game. Hopefully, more modifications will be allowed, such as the changing of accessories. I'm not a big fan of the cap with the shades on it. I mean, come on. Even I think it's strange.

Brown people, cheer with me.

The New Pokemon

The starter Pokemon are Fennekin (fire), Chespin (grass) and Froakie (water). The current fan-favourite seems to be Fennekin. I don't really like it though; the head is way too big and there are strange things coming out of it's ears. If Fennekin represents the end of the Fire-Fighting starters though, I'll be glad. Chespin looks way too much like a Digimon. Maybe it's because it's standing on two-feet. I really have high hopes for Froakie's later evolutions.

Inspired by the Firefox logo?

I hope he gets a beard made of bubbles.

Squirrel? Tree otter?

Other Pokemon that have been revealed are Yamchan, the panda-looking creature, Yayakoma, the bird, Elikiteru, the electric lizard and Gogoat. In terms of design, I think that there's way too much going on in this batch of Pokemon, but then again, that's what's been happening in the past few generations, since Ruby & Sapphire. The bird and the lizard are sort of meh for me, but the panda looks cool enough.

What I'm excited about is the goat! It's been revealed that you can actually ride him! That'll be quite awesome! It's something that have been sorely missing in Pokemon - if you can fly on your 'mon, then why can't you ride them as well? In the shots, we see the protagonist riding Gogoat; let's hope that they'll allow us to ride the actual avatars instead of giving us generic ones.

The new Pokedex may also be viewed above - it seems like a slimmer Pokedex which opens outwards; kind of like an S4. The Pokedex have sort of been static in the past years, but maybe they'll surprise us.

The Awakened Mewtwo

'Formes' were introduced in the third generation, I think. These are alternate version of existing Pokemon; in addition to changing in form, they also get new skills and their stats change. Below is an alternate forme of the classic Mewtwo from the very first generation. The design has a lot of strange things going on. I like the halo and horns thing it has on it's head - I think it's a nice tough. But...the ponytail and the chest bone is just...out there. Also, the toes. Got damn it, the toes.

The Awakened Mewtwo may just be the first of many Pokemons with new forms. Maybe it's related to the story-line of X and Y, and how genes play into the game. Perhaps other Pokemon will be 'Awakened' as well; this sort of happened in Diamond & Pearl, where older Pokemon got new evolutions. I hope that they don't go overboard with it. The concept of alternating forms feels too much like Digimon.

...

The Fairy Type?

The last time a new type was introduced was in the second generation with Dark and Steel. Every generation, the rumour mill is abound with rumbling of a new type coming around. This time, the rumbling have more weight to it. The first Pokemon announced after the legendaries and the starters was a new Eevee evolution - Sylveon. The existing Eevee evolutions already cover a whole bunch of types - so where does Sylveon fall into? It's not psychic - maybe it's normal? But it's too radical a step from the already normal-type Eevee.

Rumour has it that it's going to be a Fairy-type! No official word out, but I've read some posts in the forums saying that a whole bunch of Fairy-types will be released. Also, some of the originals will be converted to Fairy-type. Examples are Jigglypuff, Clefairy (duh) and maybe Mew?

Too many ribbons.

So yeah, a new generation, in a new land, with new protagonist, and more importantly, new Pokemon. I've been a big fan since I was 10; I grew up playing this game, and have the dubious honour of having played and completed every game. I even bought a DS just so I can play Diamond and Pearl. It's lots of fun, and I just find the idea of walking around and fighting people with a bunch of monsters really cool. 

This new game will be released exclusively for the 3DS, so make a mental note that you'd need to get one as well if you want to play this. Or find a friend who'll be willing to let you use his. Anyone out there want to be that friend to me? Please? Pretty please with a pokeball on top?

PS - Most images taken from Serebii.net

Random fanart: