The Alpha and The Omega - Getting Bigger and Better

Writing blog entries is somewhat therapeutic. When the writer comes across a new myriad of extraneous variables, they are inspired in a sense to go out and articulate their opinions. Having somebody else come across them from time to time is an added bonus.

The eternal sunshine monologue aside – new information about the two new Pokemon games Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire has made its way onto the interweb and as such I have been itching to write about it. I did take my sweet time in pondering at length over the new additions but its worth the indulgence. Jumping right in.

The Hoenn starters receive their much-anticipated Mega Evolutions. Sceptile becomes part Dragon type and gains the ability Lightning Rod. Swampert gains Swift Swim while maintaining its type combination and Blaziken we’ve already gotten a taste of in the past year.

Sceptile now has the capacity to boast a unique type combination previously unheard of and should be a welcome addition to competitive battling considering it was slightly lack luster in the original series with both Mudkip and Torchic getting an extra typing upon evolution. Grass alone rarely cuts it and this is GameFreak’s way of remedying this. Well done.

The more suprising turn of events would have been if GameFreak decided to not go ahead with this move as granting Mega Formes to starters was not a pre requisite for the completion of the games to begin with. But hey, we’ll take what we get and we’ll definitely like it.

The most exciting element of this news is what it undoubtedly infers. Slowly but surely, GameFreak has set itself on a path where one day all Starters would be able to benefit from a Mega Evolution – and as satisfying Mega Sceptile surely is, one can’t help but wonder how amazing one day Mega Typhlosion, Mega Empoleon and Mega Serperior would be. A point of curiosity materializes when we consider how will they manage to keep these Formes version exclusives. I’m not a pro hacker but if these Formes were present in X and Y then we would have surely heard about them (like we did with the Lati twins).

Diancie got a Mega Evolution too. I could care less. No, really. Of all the base stat legendaries you gave Diancie a Mega Evolution? It’s fine. Not nitpicking. Again if it means anything and this is the direction that the franchise is headed then I am already excited about Celebi, Jirachi and the all powerful Mew to get theirs someday in the future. Mega Diancie – I could learn to live without it.

It is a highly individualistic state of affairs but everyone has their own favourite version mascots. Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, Ho-oh and Lugia. This time around, my all time favourites Groudon and Kyogre make a comeback. To add to the nergasm, they come packed with new Formes.

In a process called Ancient Devolution where the two behemoths “regress” to their more prehistoric inclinations we finally get to see what forces of nature are Primeval Groudon and Primeval Kyogre really are.

With the Legendaries benefitting from this Mega Evolution/Devolution mechanic, GameFreak is setting a bar per none to its predecessors with the hopes of instilling within all of us the chance to one day see all our favorite legendaries in their primordial state. If you think Primal Groudon looks hench, I can only imagine what Dialga or Lugia might do to our nerve wracked minds. And dare I say it, a PRIMAL RAYQUAZA! Those are some maddd expectations in this trainer’s mind.

Sableye gets a nice little giveaway in the form of its Mega Evolution. Again, the inference has a lot more weight to it than the actuality. The internet’s abuzz with Ludicolo and Shiftry getting their own Mega Evolutions as well.

I had been thinking about the collection element of the games with the new Formes, and how would GameFreak be able to achieve this – some Pokemon have TWO Mega Evolutions/Not one. Charizard and Mewtwo being the core examples. Does this mean that in due time ALL the Mega Stones have a duality to them? An X Stone and a Y Stone? PokeDex completion has nothing to do with it at the moment and this form change seems only relevant to battling. Will all Pokemon have the capacity to have a dual Mega Evolution. Seems like quite a bite to take from the developers part. It’s risky business considering they don’t want to make it too common an affair. Look what happened to Zubat’s in caves. No one cares.

The two criminal teams come back. Team Magma and Team Aqua receive aesthetic overhauls to their wardrobe and despite the custom which led many people to believe they might incorporate the Emerald storylines into each game were proven wrong. Both the Teams remain version exclusives so I guess the big Sootopolis battle scene won’t star a certain green dragon type. But that’s okay. Could a possible Emerald version be in the mix? Only time will tell.

Brendan and May

Brendan and May return in 3DS capable glory, sporting their Emerald attire as does Steven Stone. 

I for one am wondering how he did not make an appearance sooner. You bring in Mega Stones and you say where’s the only character who cares about collecting stones so much?  The return of Steven and his penchant for stone hunting makes for a reasonable addition.

GameFreak at this moment is being horribly limited in their exposure to the game which I kinda get. Well guess what? It’s working. Really well…