Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon will launch Nov. 18, The Pokémon Company confirmed. After series producer Junichi Masuda teased the news late last week, the studio debuted the trailer above — which also gives a first look at gameplay and its starter Pokémon through the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
The three starter Pokémon keep to the usual grass, fire and water-type trio. This time around, trainers will have a choice between Rowlet, a grass/flying-type owl, Litten, a fiery kitten and Popplio, a water-type seal.
Also seen in the video is a brief look at gameplay, along with the games' cover stars. While these Pokémon don't yet have names, it's not hard to imagine the lion- and bat-esque monsters being Sun and Moon's legendaries.
The Nintendo 3DS games, out this holiday season, were first announced in February. Pokémon fans were treated to the reveal at the end of a short 20th anniversary livestream.
While these games may be the most notable part of Pokémon's big birthday year, The Pokémon Company has been celebrating its franchise throughout 2016. Fans have been treated to a re-release of the original Game Boy games on Virtual Console, mythical Pokémon downloads and, if they could score an invite, exclusive Pokémon-themed parties hosted by Drew Barrymore.
Update: The Japanese trailer is even longer and—dare we say—better than the English-language one. Check it out below to see even more new gameplay, including the return of character customization from Pokémon X and Pokémon Y. It might even bring a tear to your eye.
The central region of the game, called Alola, also draws clear inspiration from Hawaii, as you'll notice in the Japanese footage. That makes Sun and Moon the second pair of games in a row to be inspired by settings in the U.S.; X and Y's Unova region was said to be based on New York State.
