Pokémon Sun and Moon’s central region of Alola isn’t just one big island, according to its latest trailer. Instead, it comprises four separate locations, and trainers will travel across them to compete in Island Challenge Trials, a new feature introduced in the 3DS games.
These challenges task trainers to demonstrate their Pokémon mastery throughout various tests, not all of which will include simple Pokémon battles. These range from scavenger hunts to dance battles, all up to the discretion of the assigning Trial Captain.
Each island has a Trial Captain, who is a master of a certain Pokémon type. These are Lana, the water-type expert; Mallow, who knows her way around grass-types; Sophocles, the electric-type specialist; and Kiawe, who is Alola’s fire-type champion. These leaders will decide how to test a player’s own Pokémon expertise, deciding whether the trainer qualifies as a true Pokémon champion.
Each of these challenges end with a fight against a Totem Pokémon, which is an especially big, strong monster who can draw on allies at will to help them out. The true last test, however, is a battle against the island’s kahuna — in keeping with the Hawaiian influence — who will be the ultimate judge of a Pokémon trainer’s overall skills. In order to move onto the next island, the player must gain the public approval of the presiding kahuna.
Traveling across the Alola Region to complete the Island Challege Trials gets easier with the new Poké Ride feature, which has been glimpsed in an earlier video. Players can take flight on Pokémon like Charizard — or roam the land on new monster Mudsdale — to both bond further with their team and travel more quickly around the four islands.
Pokémon Sun and Moon launch on Nintendo 3DS this fall. A Japanese trailer also debuted earlier today, showing even more footage of the games ahead of their Nov. 18 arrival.
