Although it's been some 15 years since Pokemon first graced our shores on the Game Boy back in 1998, the monster catching craze shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. Still as popular as it's ever been with the young and young at heart alike, thanks to its addictive blend of catching, training, and battling Pokemon on a quest to "catch 'em all", Pokemon X and Y look set to bring the Pokemon magic to the 3DS later this year, with a huge range of upgrades, new features (including the incredible Pokemon pet mode, Pokemon-amie), and, perhaps most importantly, hundreds of new Pokemon to find and befriend.
In the latest update in their drip-feed of info, the game's developers have released some much needed details about the Pokemon that'll be waiting for you in the game - including the much vaunted Legendary Pokemon. Taking pride of place on the game's box, and usually having some key role in the storyline, the Legendaries are always incredibly powerful Pokemon - and usually equally tricky to catch. With each game having a different collection of Pokemon, including a different Legendary, Pokemon X players will be able to nab themselves the rainbow-antlered deer Xerneas, one of the new fairy types, who can also wield the powerful Geomancy move, which sends out a prettiful coloured blast from the ground to damage his opponents. Yveltal meanwhile is a dark and flying type Pokemon exclusive to the Pokemon Y version, with a special Oblivion Wing move that damages enemies with a massive red laser blast. Both 'mons have complementary special abilities too, with Xerneas' Fairy Aura and Yveltal's Dark Aura powering up moves of their respective types for all your Pokemon in battle.
Information on the legendary Pokemon for each game is all well and good, but the chances are you won't be able to meet either until you've been playing for at least 50 hours, and even then there'll only be a single Xerneas or Yveltal to catch. Perhaps what's more interesting are the ordinary, more mundane creatures that may make up your team and companions for the majority of the game - and the Pokemon Company have revealed information about five more you'll be able to choose from.
Panda-tastic
First off is Pangoro, an evolved form of the previously-revealed Pancham, who's essentially a rather angry looking fighting/dark type panda. Apparently, the leaf he chews on helps him predict his opponents' attacks, which he can then obliterate with his powerful Hammer Arm attack, a move which is made even more powerful by his Iron Fist ability, which ups the damage dealt by all punching moves.
Malamar is more than a little bit creepy...
Inkay is probably the cutest squid we've seen (let's face it though - there's not much competition). A deadly dark/psychic combo, Inkay comes with a rather interesting special ability called Contrary, which takes any potentially stat-decreasing moves it's opponent throws at it and turns them on it's head, raising it's stats instead. Next up is the 'mon Inkay evolves into, Malamar, a strange Ursuala-bird-beast who apparently possesses some pretty potent hypnotic powers, which it uses to control it's enemies. It's the same dual dark/psychic type as it's younger bro, and will also have the same Contrary ability - but that's about all we know.
Fairy type seems to be where all the cute Pokemon end up...
Finally, we have a couple of version-exclusive catches. Players with the X version will be able to find the goofy-faced cloud Swirlix, a critter who loves and eats nothing but sweets - so much so, it's poofy body resembles candy floss. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he's one of the new Fairy type Pokemon and comes with the useful Sweet Veil ability, which prevents your entire team of Pokemon from falling asleep in battle. He's also a dab hand at draining other Pokemon's health with various moves designed to sap your opponent's HP. Spritzee on the other hand is a pretty pink parrot exclusive to Pokemon Y, whose Healer ability gives it a chance of curing an ally's status condition (although it only really comes into play during double or triple battles, where you have multiple Pokemon out at once) - it can also learn the move Aromatherapy, which can remove status conditions more reliably. As with Swirlix, Spritzee is also one of the new Fairy type Pokemon.
As is standard for the Pokemon games, you'll be fighting against a nefarious group of Pokemon trainers once more in X and Y - this time part of Team Flare, dressed in their bright red/orange suits and sunglasses - whilst the long legacy of tree-named professors looks set to continue with Pokemon X and Y's Professor Augustine Sycamore starting you off on your Pokemon journey. Nintendo also have a couple of new features up their sleeves, including the new O-Powers, which are special abilities that give you and your friends a helpful boost. Apparently, you have an O-Power bar that refills each day, which can be used to temporarily increase your critters stats, up the experience points earned in battle, boost prize money or make it easier to catch wild Pokemon - but there's a catch. To encourage you to share your O-Powers with others, it'll cost more of your bar to use them on yourself than on others, whether they're a friend or a random passerby. As well as O-Powers, a new Wonder Trade feature lets you trade one of your Pokemon instantly for another random 'mon from another player over the internet - which may sound alright in principal, but will most likely result in a load of Bidoofs and Rattatas switching hands instead as players try to get rare Pokemon for nothing.
With the release date for Pokemon X and Y creeping ever closer, we're sure more and more details will trickle out of Japan over the next few months, before the game hits 3DS worldwide on the 12th October. Until then, we have a funky new trailer showing off some of the new Pokemon, including the goofy puff-ball Swirlix:
