Pokémon Sun & Moon: 10 Exciting New Things You Can Do

If you’ve ever been looking for evidence that Nintendo are increasingly aware of the grown-ups playing Pokemon, look no further than their renewed approach to the ways players can build competitive Pokemon.

Last generation made breeding those perfect IVs easier through the Friend Safari and Destiny Knot, whilst the always available and highly beneficial Super Training mini-game let you EV train any Pokemon with previously unseen ease.

That gulf between the casual and elite player is going to be narrowed even further thanks to Hyper Training, a system that lets players train up a Pokemon’s IVs. For those not in the know, IVs (Pokespeak for individual values) are like a Pokemon’s DNA, the barometer for its potential from birth. A Pokemon with subpar IVs is never going to breach certain ceilings, so competitive players breed for only the best to join their team.

Hyper Training throws that out the window; using a new item called Bottle Caps. Players can get a vendor to improve the IVs of their Level 100 Pokemon all the way to max, putting any team at the top of its game.

This is great news for all Pokemon fans, as the more casual players will enjoy being able to enhance the strength of their favourites even further than normal and will make it on the whole easier for them to prepare tournament grade Pokemon without needing to IV breed for a whole day.

For the top players though, there are enough caveats included to keep their mountaintop wide open. The necessity of payment will stop players performing Hyper Training on every Pokemon they acquire, though it remains to be seen how available these will be, and Pokemon will need to be at max level anyway. It’s likely breeding will still factor in to competitive builds, but Hyper Training should excite players no matter how they plan on playing.