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

I have this crazy, on-going theory which keeps getting proven true; every odd numbered generation of Pokemon introduces a new major battle format. The first introduced Single Battles, the third generation introduced Double Battles which have proven to be a serious staple of competitive play, and the fifth generation gave us Triple and Rotation Battles which… well, it was a weird time for the series, okay?

With the seventh generation we’re looking to get two new battle formats. The first is the Battle Royal, a four-player free-for-all where players bring up to three Pokemon and fight until one team is completely eliminated, the winner being determined by a score based on Pokemon knocked out and Pokemon remaining. It promises to be a chaotic mess of fun, but it’s going to be hard to thread into regular gameplay. Information to hand indicates this type of competition will only happen in the Battle Royal Dome, so much like Triple and Rotation Battles could only be a novelty, but one that could evolve into that kind of insane fun many Nintendo games become when you bring along friends.

The other is SOS Battles, almost a polar opposite to Battle Royals. SOS Battles will be exclusively against wild Pokemon who can call on additional ally Pokemon during the battle to gang up on your Pokemon. It’s not unlike Horde Encounters in that regard, but the Pokemon you’ll be facing in SOS Battles will be far more similar in level to your team for a greater challenge. And while this mechanic will appear in several instances, it’s been tied heavily to Totem Pokemon to give the encounters weight and importance to players we haven’t really had since the early days of Legendary Pokemon.