My theories on some of this. by
Scapegrace
on 2016-08-02 01:37:00 UTC
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First, Z-moves. One or two trailers ago, we saw a glimpse of the new move selection interface, and there was a big thing at the bottom with a type symbol on it. This is, one assumes, a Z-move; a mahoosively powerful move that can probably obliterate anything standing in its way, hence why each 'mon only get one use per battle. We know it's that because the symbols shown in this new trailer match the ones in the previous one, which makes me think it's very much a move of last resort - a Sashed revenge killer using its Z-move to take out an opposing, heavily boosted sweeper, for instance. Now, this is just speculation, but I think it'd have to be tied in at least some manner to the Pokémon in question's stats, and one assumes typing effectivenesses are the same - though by the same token, I have no idea whether a given Z-move will be Physical or Special in nature. Maybe it'll be whether or not the type is classified as Special under the old system, that'd be kinda neat.
(NB: For them as don't know, prior to Generation IV, moves were always either physical or special, depending on the type being used. This led to the interesting state of affairs in which Hyper Beam was a physical attack while Crunch was special. Always a joy.)
Still, what matters is all the new Pokémon. Ninetales-Alola and Sandslash-Alola look like they'll breathe new life into... less than entirely competitively viable Pokémon. Sandslash-Alola in particular, with a cool typing and maybe different base stats - from the stuff on the site, it looks like it might have lower speed but boosted defences - seems to be a major upgrade. We only know of one ability for any of them, Snow Cloak, but the bumf in Sandslash-Alola's page talks about how it's much faster on snow and ice. Maybe there's going to be a Hail-using equivalent of Sand Rush, Swift Swim, and Chlorophyll at last! Hurrah!
Anyway, still hyped, hope they get some Mega Stones as well. =]
