(1) X/Y Pokemon Direct [9/4]

[Baktwerel]

It does look similar to Absol but it also reminds me of an Alpaca, kinda (with those short legs and long neck). Actually I am betting it's not related to Absol and they just look similar because of the whole dark skin+white fur combination.

I've managed to screencap it too on full screen, not sure if that helps anything since it's the same pose but here's a link: http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/247/2/a/new_pokemon_by_qvi-d6kzstw.png

 

[SkyeVictini]

Am I the only one who LOVES Mega Venusaur to pieces???

Mega Charizard and Blastoise look cool too, but not as awesome as Mega Venusaur!
Seriously, now I'm just more tempted to choose Froakie so I can use the event Torchic and use a Bulbasaur from Sycamore. (Yes, I'm totally aware that I can only Mega evolve one, but it will still be awesome to have a team of three different type starters!)

 

[Zielo]

It does look similar to Absol but it also reminds me of an Alpaca, kinda (with those short legs and long neck). Actually I am betting it's not related to Absol and they just look similar because of the whole dark skin+white fur combination.

I've managed to screencap it too on full screen, not sure if that helps anything since it's the same pose but here's a link: http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/247/2/a/new_pokemon_by_qvi-d6kzstw.png

I thought along the lines of alpaca/llama/goat too, but we already have Gogoat now so a mountain goat is probably out of the question. I doubt theyd make two Pokemon based around the same animal in the same generation that arent related to each other. I cant tell of those are hooves or paws, I think they are paws but I could be wrong.

Anyway if this somehow isn't related to Absol, I really think they should stop making Pokemon that look too much like an already existing Pokemon (Amomomola anyone?) Even if the only similarity is in the coloration, its still a pretty big similarity overall.

 

[ECHOxLegend]

Mega Blastoise can hit targets from 6 miles away, pokedex writers why you so cray cray.

 

[SkyeVictini]

Wait. Take a look at Mega Charizard's arms and White Kyurem's right arm. Strikingly similar shape...

 

[totodilefan31601]

I don't get why everyone is complaining about Pokémon bank its 5 dollars A YEAR that's better then NETFLIX! you also get a 1 month trial you could just use that month to get your Pokémon and undownload it I'm not getting Pokémon box because in my games I go like ash's style by starting COMPLETLY fresh also we got STARTER evolutions but not like we thought we were going to

 

[Baktwerel]

I thought along the lines of alpaca/llama/goat too, but we already have Gogoat now so a mountain goat is probably out of the question. I doubt theyd make two Pokemon based around the same animal in the same generation that arent related to each other. I cant tell of those are hooves or paws, I think they are paws but I could be wrong.

Could be still an alpaca/llama if goat is ruled out :3 A llama Pokemon actually sounds rather fun, we didn't have them before, right? (Arceus will strike me down if I consider it a llama)

 

[AtmosphericThunder]

This looks like it could be the white Pokemon seen in the X/Y anime trailer for a split second a while back.

I'd like to see where I can find that if you know where a screenshot is. I never knew.

Darn, well this beats my discovery of the recolored Vivillon. xD I probably would have caught this too, had I not lagged so much during the presentation... probably skipped right over it (I was PO'ed because my video skipped AS SOON as Venusaur transformed.)

So this kind of looks like an... Absol preform? I don't know what else it could be. It looks too similar to Absol not to be related to it. I cant make much else of a comment on it without seeing official art or a better quality image at least.

Here is a screenshot of the moment in the X/Y anime trailer that shows what appears to be a white, four-legged Pokemon, very similar to the one we see in the Pokemon Direct:

http://i.imgur.com/QxQQ3RX.jpg?1

 

[Shining Raikou]

Mega Blastoise can hit targets from 6 miles away, pokedex writers why you so cray cray.

Who knows what they put in their morning coffee. Must be some good stuff!

 

[Card Slinger J]

Charizard staying Fire/Flying disappointed me a bit, but the fact that it gets Drought makes it up to me. Granted, that raises the question about why Blastoise didn't get Drizzle. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what's up with Blastoise's Ability and I don't really understand what it does. Thick Fat on Venusaur eliminates 2 weakness (Ice and Fire), although it still seems a bit odd that the other 2 get some sweet Abilities while he gets something tons of other Pokemon have. However, Venusaur will now be able to stall like a boss in Drought teams so there's that.

I would've liked Mega Charizard better If it had Solar Power instead of Drought like it's Dream World equivalent did, even Blastoise got Rain Dish and Venusaur got Chlorophyll but Thick Fat is much better on that regard as you just pointed out. Mega Blastoise has Mega Launcher which boosts it's moves, that with Drizzle on board with Politoed is about as crazy as getting owned by a Water Spout from Kyogre.

Now for the designs:
Venusaur looks a little bit goofy to me. As someone who never was a big fan of his original design, this doesn't make me like him much more. The flower on his head seems random and nothing else has changed very much. (Grade: C+)

Now Charizard on the other hand looks absolutely SICK. He looks a whole lot sleeker and much more menacing. Wish he would've been Dragon type, but the design itself is fantastic. The spike on his head looks sweet, and the blades on his hand make him look more aerodynamic. I guess I can see why they left him at Fire/Flying. He looks like a much better flier than before and reminds me of a jet. (Grade: A)

Blastoise made me laugh a bit when I first saw it, but it's grown on me quite a bit since then. The cannons on his hands look amazing, and the giant cannon on his back looks extremely menacing (albeit a little goofy). Kind of hoped he would be Water/Steel, but that's not a big problem. It's still kind of weird that he doesn't gain a secondary type at all, though. (Grade: B+)

Charizard's Mega Evolution design looks like a combination of Garchomp and Charizard which I think is what they were aiming for. I think they kept Charizard as Fire/Flying so that you can still use it in Sky Battles cause If it was Fire/Dragon it would be stuck on the ground unless If it had Levitate which is an ability it never had although Flygon can get away with it since it's Ground/Dragon and it's ability never changed.

As for Blastoise's Mega Evolution design, considering that no water shoots out of it's cannons especially in the console games it still looks pretty cool. Venusaur's Mega Evolution doesn't really look all that different compared to it's regular form but at least it got a great ability to make up for it though. I still wanted to see the final evolutions for the Kalos Starters but the fact that you can also get the Kanto Starters as well like you could in HeartGold and SoulSilver after you've beaten the game is a nice feature.

The Bank thing doesn't really bother me too much. $5 a year is almost nothing. A cup of frozen yogurt costs $5. I'm just glad I can transfer my shiny Charizard to X and Y.

Wait...
MEGA SHINY CHARIZARD
Brb need to go change my pants!

It doesn't bother me either but I'd still like to learn more about it, so far it's going to be released in Japan for December so I take it that it will be the same for us as well since Pokemon X and Y are on a worldwide simultaneous release in October?

 

[Baktwerel]

Here is a screenshot of the moment in the X/Y anime trailer that shows what appears to be a white, four-legged Pokemon, very similar to the one we see in the Pokemon Direct:

http://i.imgur.com/QxQQ3RX.jpg?1

I remember that and wow, the tail really does look like that o_o It could be a mistake though, who knows?

 

[Rusty Sticks]

Either they changed the main character's sprite, or you can change your hairstyle. Notice the shorter hair.

 

[DNA]

*wakes up*

We get to transfer and store Pokemon into a gigantic online storage system?

 

[Raptor9229]

There ya go.

could this be absol's pre-evolution?

That does look a bit like Absol. I mean just look at the coloration and body shape there, if it is a new pokemon then that is a pretty awesome coincidence though.

Spoiler: Image

Mega Charizard reminds me a bit of White Kyurem, especially the little wing things on the arms. Could this suggest a Dragon Type ancestor to Charizard's species? Or is it suggesting that Kyurem is Charizard's ancestral species. I can see some theories forming with Mega Charizard's looks as it now looks a bit like White Kyurem a little.

*[mod]Drohn[/mod]: I edited your post to put the image in a spoiler tag (it was a bit too big for the page ).

 

[jdivinity]

So does this mean I can save my Pokemon in the Bank from my first few play throughs of X? This is gold, I always hated having to delete my file and the Pokemon with it because I didn't have the second version to transfer my babies to when I wanted to start a new play through.

Also, MEGA CHARIZARD YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! So, basically we get three starters this gen. Kanto, Hoenn, and Kalos. Hmmm.. certainly interesting. I may use the hoenn and kanto starter on my team during my first playthrough but thats it.

 

[charizardfan27]

It may just be me but i see a shark inspiration going into the charizard mega evolution. what with the dorsal fin on his back the arm fins they far mor streamlined appearance and even those spikes at the end of his tail are reminiscent of shark aesthetics in japanese art.

also im am very happy that the bank exists and five bucks isn't bad.

and I'm all for the kanto mega evolution (never did like the bulbasaur line much though and mega venusaur only slightly improves my opinion of them.)

 

[Raptor9229]

So does this mean I can save my Pokemon in the Bank from my first few play throughs of X? This is gold, I always hated having to delete my file and the Pokemon with it because I didn't have the second version to transfer my babies to when I wanted to start a new play through.

Also, MEGA CHARIZARD YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! So, basically we get three starters this gen. Kanto, Hoenn, and Kalos. Hmmm.. certainly interesting. I may use the hoenn and kanto starter on my team during my first playthrough but thats it.

Who says it is only going to be just three? What if it turns out to be Six?

 

[Drokas]

Either they changed the main character's sprite, or you can change your hairstyle. Notice the shorter hair.

Spoiler

You must be able to somehow, since there was also a clip in which the trainer had it's hat completely off.

Well yeah, character customization was confirmed for a while now. xD

 

[Shining Raikou]

Either they changed the main character's sprite, or you can change your hairstyle. Notice the shorter hair.

You must be able to somehow, since there was also a clip in which the trainer had it's hat completely off.

 

[FT10]

Pokemon Bank is a paid service with an annual fee. It will be a long-term service and will be compatible with future titles. Update: The service will cost 500 yen a year ($5). There will be a free one month trial period until January 31st. You'll apparently have to pay the annual fee after that. So you have a month to move all your old Pokemon over to X and Y if you don't want to pay the annual fee.

Pokemon Bank/Transporter is an extremely reasonable service. I don't get why there's such an uproar. You get one free month of it. If all you have is a few Pokemon to transfer from your older games, you can do that no problem and never use the service again. If you are a person who collects Pokemon or completed whole dexes, the $5 might be worth it to pay for a year of access. You don't have to pay $5 if you use your one month wisely. It's worth $5 if you want a place to store a ton of Pokemon without cluttering up in game boxes.

As for the Mega Evolutions, I'm pretty pleased with them. Venusaur is the least favorite out of the designs for me, but it was before it mega evolved too. I actually really like Mega Blastoise. Charizard gets even more awesome without being overwhelming. Actually reminds me of some fan art I created when I was younger. I feel like while many people won't completely accept some of the mega evolutions, Nintendo could have done a lot worse. This is pretty darn nice if you ask me.

I couldn't agree more about what you said about the new mega designs. Venusaur was always my least favorite, but I still found it pretty cool. I'm happy it got an ability that will make it relevant again. Charizard has always been my favorite, so I'm really stoked about the new design/ability combo. I even love the nostalgic, cartoonish look they gave mega-blastoise. It reminds me of the armadillo boss in Donkey Kong 64!
However, these new megas raise just as many questions as they answer. Can we now expect all starter pokemon to receive a mega-evolution? If not, how will GF explain this partiality?
Also, if I understood correctly, we receive a kanto starter from Sycamore early on in the game? If so, that's awesome. I've always been a fan of fire types, and now I almost have too many to choose from (Fennekin, Torchic, Charmander, Litleo, Talonflame). My team is gonna be so unbalanced

As for Pokémon Bank, I can understand why many people here are against the fact it's a paid service. But, its only $5/year, and you could take advantage of the free trial and never pay again. Its a reasonable price if you take into account the maintenance of the server that will be involved. If you're the type of person who does a lot of transferring of pokemon, though, this service is pretty cool, and eliminates the need for more than one game system. I typically like to start fresh, from scratch, with brand-new pokemon in each new game, so this announcement isn't a game-changer for me.

All in all, I'm happy with what we've been told today. This is gonna be the longest month or so ever until October 12th!