As announced earlier this year folks, Hoenn is confirmed. What wasn’t confirmed however was its official date of release. It has recently been confirmed that both Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire versions of the game will be on shelves in the United States on November 21st, 2014! The announcement was made by way of nifty little trailer that can be seen below.
The trailer starts off with a live action segment that appears to be a young boy exploring the Hoenn region – trusty bicycle and map in tow. In fact, for a split second even a Pokéball can be seen in his knapsack! As he delves into a cave he comes upon a mural on the wall. It is revealed that it is of none other than the region legendaries themselves, Groudon and Kyogre. What follows is a short CGI clip before thrusting you straight into gameplay – exactly what we’ve been waiting for! Hoenn looks beautiful and the mega evolutions of all three starter Pokémon are shown as well as brief segments of our trainer walking through the region, going through gyms, interacting with friends, engaging in battles, and much more!
What is also revealed towards the end is what shall be known as the “Primal Reversions” of Groudon and Kyogre – the Pokémon shown on the official box art. Thus their names are Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. The lore behind it (in the words of the Pokémon Company and Nintendo themselves) is:
“These two extremely powerful Pokémon clashed in an epic battle that once sent Groudon into a long slumber within the magma beneath the planet’s crust and drove Kyogre into a deep sleep at the bottom of the ocean floor. The awesome transformation is a result of Primal Reversion, when Groudon and Kyogre reclaim their original power from nature’s energy and obtain even greater power than they already have.”
The connection between Primal Reversions and Mega Evolutions are yet to be revealed and this might be one of the plot’s focal points in the coming game.
As for the details of what exactly these Primal Reversions are in terms of aesthetics and stats, the Pokémon Company and Nintendo offered a little insight of theirs to help us out:
“· Primal Groudon is brimming with energy, which pours from its body as magma. The magma burns at such an extreme temperature that its body is always shimmering ruby red from the haze of its heat, giving off light in the darkness. Through Primal Reversion, Primal Groudon becomes much larger and adds Fire type to its Ground type, raising the power of Fire-type moves it can learn. Primal Reversion greatly boosts Primal Groudon’s Attack. Its Ability may get a boost during this epic transformation, too.
· Primal Kyogre, a Water-type Pokémon, is awash with energy that spills from its body as seawater. Its blue skin shines like a sapphire and is half-translucent like the sea. Primal Reversion greatly boosts Primal Kyogre’s Special Attack. Its Ability also seems to get a boost, although this information cannot yet be confirmed. Primal Kyogre is massive, growing to be more than twice Kyogre’s size.“
And they most certainly are not lying. The size comparison charts they’ve offered show them to scale and they are indeed quite impressive.
Finally, in addition to the 27 Megastones already discovered as of Pokémon X and Y, it has been confirmed that there will be more Megastones to be found yet in the Hoenn region. Speaking of which, we at Haruhichan were given some additional photos and content (as displayed above – all these awesome photos of concept art and screenshots!) One of which was particularly fun to look at – the map of the region. Finally some official art to look at and enjoy! The wait for this remake was definitely worth it.
All the original cities, routes, and special attractions can be seen in this detailed top-down view of the map. It looks absolutely gorgeous. What’s even more stunning however is the concept art that follows. A beautiful scene from one of the beaches in the region. This one was a particular favorite from the set we were provided we can’t help but to want to get our hands on the game even more after seeing it.
In addition to this, we were given several other official in game screenshots and various works of concept art as well as the official box art seen before. For more news and updates on Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire make sure to visit the Pokémon official website regularly as well as stay tuned to Haruhichan for more exclusive news, photos and trailers. We’re certainly hyped for this game. If you haven’t already, make sure to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL or 2DS soon! Also bear in mind that this may come with a bundle or special edition at some point in the future so keep your eyes peeled!
