History AndTheFandomRejoiced / PokemonXandY

** Many of the Trainers will use Pokémon with their Hidden Abilities, which, depending on what they have, can catch you by surprise.

** Many of the Trainers will use Pokémon with their Hidden Abilities, which, depending on what they have, can catch you by surprise.
* Pokémon Bank '''[[http://kotaku.com/pokemon-bank-is-available-now-on-3ds-eshop-free-throug-1516721567 IS FINALLY RELEASED IN NORTH AMERICA.]]''' THANK YOU, NINTENDO!

** Many of the Trainers will use Pokémon with their Hidden Abilities, which, depending on what they have, can catch you by surprise.

** On the nerf side, instead of doing 2x damage, they do 1.5x damage, meaning strategies are less likely to fall apart because of a lucky crit.

* The Battle Maison (the Battle Tower/Subway equivalent) has some new features that make it much more enjoyable than the previous post-game facilities.
** You can now choose between four songs for battle music[[labelnote:*]]the Wild Battle theme, the regular Trainer Battle theme, the Rival Battle theme, and the Gym Leader Battle theme[[/labelnote]]. Cool!
** Previously, you had to win a set number of battles in a row before you can get any BP, and if you lost any of them, you don't get any BP. Now, you immediately get BP each time you win a battle.
** Creator/GameFreak must be feeling really generous this time, you win a boatload more BP overall per fight than previous titles! [[note]]That's up to 7BP for each regular battle at higher streaks, unlike up to 10BP for 7 battles before. And a whopping 50BP for only that single fight with the boss at the 50th, rather than for the seven battles from 43-49.[[/note]]

** Many of the trainers will use Pokémon with their Hidden Abilities, which depending on what they have can catch you by surprise.

** Our other Fossil Pokémon... A sauropod that's Rock/Ice and who's ability makes Normal-type attacks Ice-type instead, and powers them up!
*** It also learns a move called Freeze-Dry...which is an Ice-type move that is super effective against ''Water-type'' Pokémon! Water/Flying, Water/Ground, Water/Dragon, and Water/Grass Pokémon (which were all really solid as far as typings go) have their days numbered.

* The Pokédex has about 150 Pokémon for ''each'' part, leading to a bit over 450 Pokémon total [[SerialEscalation or more than one-and-half of New Unova's Pokédex, the second largest listing as of October 2013.]] It also has some of the best selection of Pokémon in the series:

** There's an area where you can now encounter ''wild Zoroark'' (compared to its predominant event-only status during the first half of Generation 5)!

** The Clefable line and Granbull line are now pure/monotype Fairy Types, because how odd (and disappointing) would it sound if they didn't get changed to Fairy types despite Pokémon like Marill and Jigglypuff being part Fairy types (with Clefairy having "fairy" in its name, and Snubbull/Granbull being identified as the "Fairy Pokémon" species in the National Pokédex)?

** Wait, Entei still doesn't have Flare Blitz?! Come on Game Freak, give the Movie 3 star some.....it knows Sacred Fire? It finally has a strong phsyical STAB Attack!

** After Generation 5 required you to connect online/go to the DreamWorld to grow Berries, you can grow them in-game now. And they [[http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/1of28f/berry_mutations/ mutate]]!
*** It gets better. Now more berries grow per tree meaning you don't have to jump through hoops just to get more than 1 Lum berry per harvest.

** In all five previous generations, knocking out (KO-ing) a Wild Pokémon netted you experience points, but ''catching'' it got you a big fat zero. Not anymore; you now gain experience points for successful Wild Pokémon captures!

** Rock Smash still remains a TM, meaning that if you wanted to, you could replace a TM move of your Pokemon (be careful not to replace a useful move that you'd have to go to the Relearner to though) with Rock Smash, smash any rocks, then give the Pokemon back its rightful TM move.

** In the past, saving your game took a few seconds (or more, if it was Sinnoh). In X & Y, when you save your game, it's NEAR INSTANTANEOUS!

*** The Pokémon you can get in the Friend Safari Zone are extremely good too. They always have at least 2 of their [=IVs=] set at maximum, and depending on how far your friend is in his or her game, they might have up to three Pokémon available. Just what sort of Pokémon can be included? It's possible to get Kanto and Kalos Mid-evolution starters, Ditto (which, combined with the perfect [=IVs=], makes it very helpful for breeding), and a slew of other really good Pokémon, all with the chance to get their Hidden Abilities.

** The Pokémon Global Link's attractions allow you to win the EV reducing berries and evolution items, including the ones where only one exists in the game like the Deep Sea Scale and Deep Sea Tooth. It also allows you to win evolution items that can only be bought in the Battle Maison like the Magmarizer and Electirizer. All for just 100 PokéMiles each.

** Pokémon Centers/Marts in one building are back again, returning from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' and allaying fears that the two facilities would be split apart once again come ''XY''.
** The time-saving feature from Generation 5 (since ''Black 2'' and ''White 2'') that lets you automatically use a Repel in the field (without having to navigate to the Bag's menu) [[http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/1o3n0p/my_favorite_returning_feature_in_xy/ is back]]!

** Set levels are returning for online battles. After being absent from Generation 5, it was a ''very'' welcome return. And this is only one part of the long-awaited battle rule customization feature.

** Previous generations were plagued by people {{Rage Quit}}ting when things didn't go their way. Now, if someone attempts to rage quit, it counts as a loss for the rage quitter.
* New type for the first time in 12 years: Fairy. And it's supereffective on Dragon. Also, a new form of bonding with Pokémon, as a Tamagochi-ish game.
** To add to this, the Fairy type means one more option compared to ice (which is fragile and hard to find a decent mon of that type) or risk using its own type knowing it has a weakness too. Dragon mons who neutralized their ice weakness might be in trouble.

** [[WordOfGod According to the developers]], the Fairy-type's whole existence owes itself to (finally) balancing the [[GameBreaker game-breaking]] Dragon-types. So Gamefreak does care about competitive balance after all.
** Additionally, Steel types have received a slight {{Nerf}}. In exchange for being strong against Fairy both defensively and offensively, it now takes normal damage from Ghost and Dark attacks.

* While details are still incoming, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vk_YC0MXJ-0 this video]] confirms a Pokémon that, at the least, bears a strong resemblance to Mewtwo.

** What's more, as long as you have the Mega-Stone, you can mega-evolve at any time in battle with just a simple button -- and it doesn't even cost you a turn!
** The fandom quaked in horror when Mega Garchomp was first revealed, as many felt it would be an overpowered GameBreaker. Thankfully, Mega Garchomp actually has less Speed than regular Garchomp, not only averting this, it gives Garchomp a brand new way to fight.

** That's not all! Like Mewtwo, Charizard has ANOTHER Mega Evolution. It's only on the X-version, and has an awesome black-and-blue color scheme complete with bright blue flames. The best part? It has Fire/''[[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons Dragon]]'' as its typing which not only gives it '''[[OlympusMons Reshiram's typing]]''' [[note]]and Zekrom's palette[[/note]] but also turns its [[ForMassiveDamage 4x Rock weakness]] into a 2x one.
** So significant are Charizard's Mega Evolutions that they've already propelled it from the depths of NU straight to proto-OU for the Gen 6 metagame, making it the 2nd most used starter behind Greninja. Many Charizard fans' pants were soiled when the usage statistics came out.
** You have the option to choose one of the Kanto Starters, which is nothing new. However, unlike previous games, where this only became an option in the postgame, '''Professor Sycamore will give one to you right after you beat the first gym.''' And as if that wasn't awesome enough, they come with their respective Mega Stones, meaning you'll have instant access to their Mega Evolution once they're fully-evolved (unless, of course, you did an insane amount of grinding prior to the third gym, after which is when the player is given access to the feature).
-->'''Professor Sycamore''': [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blhaSxUJ-OU&feature=player_embedded#t=5 It'd be fantastic if you took another Pokémon with you!]]

** [[http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/defog.3490309/ Defog]] now removes ''all'' entry hazards on the field, including [[ThatOneAttack Stealth Rock]]. It's like Rapid Spin but better: unblockable and learnable by everything that can fly in the Generation 4 games. Charizard lovers of the world, rejoice.
** Many competitive battlers, tired with the endless "weather wars" of Generation 5, were ''very'' happy that permanent weather Abilities are no more. Now, the weather Abilities work exactly like their move counterparts[[note]]They summon weather for five turns -- eight turns if the summoner is holding a rock specific to their weather effect. Switching the weather-Ability Pokémon in question back into battle while the weather is still occurring won't reset the turn counter[[/note]].

** Lo and behold, along with female Pokémon, '''male''' Pokémon [[http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/1of8dt/sylveon_with_its_hidden_ability/ can now pass on Hidden Abilities]] to their offspring! This change allows for Dream World-exclusive Abilities to become ''much'' more widespread, rectifying a persistent frustration that existed for Pokémon Breeders and Pokémon Trainers alike in Generation 5.

* The Pokémon Global Link's attractions allow you to win the EV reducing berries and evolution items, including the ones where only one exists in the game like the Deep Sea Scale and Deep Sea Tooth. It also allows you to win evolution items that can only be bought in the Battle Maison like the Magmarizer and Electirizer. All for just 100 PokéMiles each.

** You can now suspend your winning streak whenever you like. This allows you to leave the facility and do whatever you want before continuing where you left off. You don't even have to use the same Pokémon.

** You can now suspend your winning streak whenever you like. This allows you to leave the facility and do whatever you want before continuing where you left off. You don't even have to use the same Pokémon.
* Wait, Entei still doesn't have Flare Blitz?! Come on Game Freak, give the Movie 3 star some.....it knows Sacred Fire? It finally has a strong phsyical STAB Attack

** You can now suspend your winning streak whenever you like. This allows you to leave the facility and do whatever you want before continuing where you left off. You don't even have to use the same Pokémon.

* An online Pokémon Bank. It's not meant for in-game money. [[BagOfHolding It's meant for stored Pokémon.]] '''[[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/09/nintendo_launching_cloud_based_pokemon_bank_service_alongside_pokemon_x_and_y Up to a whopping three thousand.]]''' (The fact it has a [[BaseBreaker yearly fee]] does little to reduce the hype.) It helps that this yearly fee is only $5/500 yen, which is less than your average lunch.

** You can now suspend your winning streak whenever you like. This allows you to leave the facility and do whatever you want before continuing where you left off. You don't even have to use the same Pokémon.
* For those who download and access Pokemon Bank before 9/30/2014, a very nice surprise gift will be in store: a Celebi!

** You can now suspend your winning streak whenever you like. This allows you to leave the facility and do whatever you want before continuing where you left off. You don't even have to use the same Pokémon.

** You can now choose between four songs for battle music[[labelnote:*]]the Wild Battle theme, the regular Trainer Battle theme, the Rival Battle theme, and the Gym Leader Battle theme![[/labelnote]]. Cool!

*** You can also select battle music in the Battle Maison (the Battle Tower/Subway equivalent). Cool!

* The early days after the release were tarnished by the discovery of a nasty GameBreakingBug which got everyone paranoid about saving in Lumiose City. Now they issued a free patch on the e-Shop that fixes this glitch, as well as another minor glitch on the GTS. While most early players still surely won't dare save in Lumiose City, it's still a good thing for both the games' and the company's reputation, and lets everyone enjoy the huge content with much less worry.

* Some old Pokémon were given some much wanted changes:
** Clefairy, Clefable, Snubbull, and Granbull are now pure/monotype Fairy Types, because how odd (and disappointing) would it sound if they didn't get changed to Fairy types despite Pokémon like Marill and Jigglypuff being part Fairy types (with Clefairy having "fairy" in its name, and Snubbull/Granbull being identified as the "Fairy Pokémon" species in the National Pokédex)?
** The Togepi line has been changed from Normal-type to Fairy-type. This causes Togekiss (now Fairy/Flying) to be immune to '''Garchomp's''' [=STABs=]. What's more, it means Flying has been paired with every other typing in the game!
** Flareon can learn Flare Blitz now! Why is this such a good thing? Well, Flareon had the misfortune of having its "Attack" power as its highest stat, and most of the STAB moves it could learn were Special attacks (even after the Physical/Special split in Generation IV) or had under 80 Base Power (if it was a Physical attack). Sure, Flare Blitz hits with recoil, but this has been something that fans have been begging for since the ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' era (Generation IV)!

* Some old Pokémon were given some well-needed changes:

* Some fans rejoiced at the return of well-beloved features:

** Additionally, Steel types will be getting a slight {{Nerf}}. In exchange for being strong against Fairy both defensively and offensively, it'll now take normal damage from Ghost and Dark attacks.

* Instead of being restricted to one language per game cart or country, you can actually choose the language you play in at the beginning of the game!
* Some attacks like Hyper Beam and Psychic-type moves have their SFX from the first two generations. Nostalgia fans are quite nicely served this game.

* The soundtrack from the games was released on iTunes, '''[[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/08/pokemon_x_and_y_soundtrack_features_212_tracks all two hundred and twelve of them.]]''' Shh, you hear that? That's the sound of the fandom going crazy.
* Many fans' rejoicing was turned into a MassOhCrap when they realized the last time a pair of games brought so many changes was when ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' came out, and we all know that such a massive overhaul in the database came [[NoBackwardsCompatibilityInTheFuture at a high price.]] Well, guess what, [[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/09/poke_transporter_confirmed_for_x_and_y Technology Marches On, and it is glorious.]]
* An online Pokémon Bank. It's not meant for in-game money. [[BagOfHolding It's meant for stored Pokémon.]] '''[[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/09/nintendo_launching_cloud_based_pokemon_bank_service_alongside_pokemon_x_and_y Up to a whopping three thousand.]]''' (The fact it has a [[BaseBreaker yearly fee]] does little to reduce the hype.) It helps that this yearly fee is only $5/500 yen, which is less than your average lunch.
* The Base Power for the move Hidden Power has been set to 60. While that means it has gone down by 10, it also means that you won't need to wrack your brains out over having to breed for the highest possible BP for it.
** This also means any specially-oriented Technician users can abuse it even more.
* In honor of ''Pokémon X and Y'', the "[[GottaCatchEmAll Gotta catch 'em all!]]" {{slogan}} made a triumphant return after ten years of retirement (mostly last seen in the prerelease days of ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire''), with a nifty [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIe7GfaYXoA song]], [[http://gottacatchemall.com website]], and sweepstakes, to boot!
* Pangoro can use Scrappy, making it the first Fighting-Type Pokémon with the ability. This allows it to use Fighting-type moves on Sableye or Spiritomb, both of which were Pokémon with no weaknesses prior to the Fairy type.
* [=HMs=] are less mandatory as ever now. Useful [=HMs=] such as Surf and Fly (and depending on your tastes, Strength) can be considered convenient in battle as well, but [=HMs=] like Cut and Rock Smash aren't even given to you in the main plot, you have to go out and find those yourselves, showing that they're 100% optional and that they're only needed if you're trying to search for hidden items.
** Rock Smash still remains a TM, meaning that if you wanted to, you could replace a TM move of your Pokemon (be careful not to replace a useful move that you'd have to go to the Relearner to though) with Rock Smash, smash any rocks, then give the Pokemon back its rightful TM move.
* Your rival this gen. The Gen 5 rivals are heavy BaseBreakers, with many fans considering them missed opportunities, and the opposite gender rival has always been seen poorly within a fandom. This time the opposite gender [=NPC=] plays your rival instead of being a childhood friend like in [=HGSS=], a new friend like in [=DP=], an irrelevant character like in [=BW=], or a psuedo-rival like in [=RSE=]. They're less of a FlatCharacter than previous ones and they're not a shabby rival either.
* The early days after the release were tarnished by the discovery of a nasty GameBreakingBug which got everyone paranoid about saving in Lumiose City. Now they issued a free patch on the e-Shop that fixes this glitch, as well as another minor glitch on the GTS. While most early players still surely won't dare save in Lumiose City, it's still a good thing for both the games' and the company's reputation, and lets everyone enjoy the huge content with much less worry.

** You can trade for Pokémon you've never even seen just by typing in its name.

* Some attacks like Hyper Beam and Psychic-type moves have their SFX from first the two generations. Nostalgia fans are quite nicely served this game.

* You can select battle music in multiplayer battles!
** You can also select battle music in the Battle Maison (the Battle Tower/Subway equivalent). Cool!

* The Kalos starter Pokémon start off with a STAB move (a move that shares the same elemental type as the user)! Less painful slogging through the early game with Tackle!

* Clefairy, Clefable, Snubbull, and Granbull are now pure/monotype Fairy Types, because how odd (and disappointing) would it sound if they didn't get changed to Fairy types despite Pokémon like Marill and Jigglypuff being part Fairy types? (with Clefairy having "fairy" in its name, and Snubbull/Granbull being identified as the "Fairy Pokémon" species in the National Pokédex.
** The Togepi line has been changed from Normal-type to Fairy-type. Togekiss (now Fairy/Flying) is now immune to '''Garchomp's''' [=STABs=]. What's more, it means Flying has been paired with every other typing in the game!
* Flareon can learn Flare Blitz now! Why is this such a good thing? Well, Flareon had the misfortune of having its "Attack" power as its highest stat, and most of the STAB moves it could learn were Special attacks (even after the Physical/Special split in Generation IV) or had under 80 Base Power (if it was a Physical attack). Sure, Flare Blitz hits with recoil, but this has been something that fans have been begging for since the ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' era (Generation IV)!

* Pancham can use Scrappy - a Fighting Type Pokemon that can hit a STAB attack on Sableye or Spiritomb, which both of them were Pokemon with no weaknesses prior to the Fairy type.

* Competitive players were greatly pleased with the following changes:

** Much like ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', Combee can be found in the wild! Remember how frustrating it was trying to find that female Combee after waiting several hours for the honey?

* In all five previous generations, knocking out (KO-ing) a Wild Pokémon netted you experience points, but ''catching'' it got you a big fat zero. Not anymore; you now gain experience points for successful Wild Pokémon captures!

* Set levels are returning for online battles. After being absent from Generation 5, it was a ''very'' welcome return. And this is only one part of the long-awaited battle rule customization feature.

* Pokémon Centers/Marts in one building are back again, returning from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' and allaying fears that the two facilities would be split apart once again come ''XY''.
* In the past, saving your game took a few seconds (or more, if it was Sinnoh). In X & Y, when you save your game, it's NEAR INSTANTANEOUS!
* The Experience Share (Exp. Share) is now a Key Item that allows ALL of your Pokémon to gain experience!
** Not only that, but unlike the Gen I version, which did the same but split the Exp between all six Pokemon, Pokemon who battled gain full experience, while the rest get half. This makes grinding ''much'' easier.
* A Pokémon evolved via evolutionary stone normally doesn't learn any more moves save for a few level 1 moves... Kalos Pokémon evolved by this method can relearn ALL the moves their previous evolution had/would have learned!
** And that's not all that can be relearned; a Pokémon can also relearn any Egg Moves it once knew!
* Until now, receiving a Gift Pokémon necessitated a free spot in your party; if you didn't have one, you wouldn't get the gift Pokémon until you went all the way back to a PC, put one of your party in, and went all the way back to the Gift. Now, though, if you receive a Gift Pokemon while your party is full, you're given the option to send one of your party to the PC right then and there!
* After Generation 5 required you to connect online/go to the DreamWorld to grow Berries, you can grow them in-game now. And they [[http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/1of28f/berry_mutations/ mutate]]!
** It gets better. Now more berries grow per tree meaning you don't have to jump through hoops just to get more than 1 Lum berry per harvest.
* The time-saving feature from Generation 5 (since ''Black 2'' and ''White 2'') that lets you automatically use a Repel in the field (without having to navigate to the Bag's menu) [[http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/1o3n0p/my_favorite_returning_feature_in_xy/ is back]]!
* The "IV checker"/Stats Judge returns, ''and'' [[http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/1oeczc/found_the_iv_checker/ tells you if you have any bad IVs]], too! This an Arceussend for those breeding for Trick Room, where a low Speed IV is ''extremely'' desirable.

* Legendary Pokémon now always have at least 3 perfect [=IVs=].
* There's a new item called the Ability Capsule that allows you to change your Pokémon's Ability.

* The Pokemon Safari is back. It's no longer a ScrappyMechanic either; it works by gathering your friends, and you can battle those mons there like normal.
** The Pokémon you can get in the Friend Safari Zone are extremely good too. They always have at least 2 of their [=IVs=] set at maximum, and depending on how far your friend is in his or her game, they might have up to three Pokémon available. Just what sort of Pokémon can be included? It's possible to get Kanto and Kalos Mid-evolution starters, Ditto (which, combined with the perfect [=IVs=], makes it very helpful for breeding), and a slew of other really good Pokémon, all with the chance to get their Hidden Abilities.
** [[BaseBreaker Some people happened to have liked the original Safari Zone and dislike the Friend Safari]], but it is FREE, so that's something good about it.
* A minor one, but where all previous games required you to have all eight Badges before Poké-Marts would sell you Full Restores, with ''X & Y'' you only need five.
* While you're choosing what to do in [=WiFi=] battle, after a bit of idling the game starts to show some information about you and the opponent, such as the amount of BP you earned, how many Pokémon you obtained, or the registered location. It's quite interesting to learn something about the player you're facing.

* You can use Gogoat, a new Pokémon, as a mount. You can also ride Rhyhorn to traverse rocky terrain, Mamoswine to plow through snowy terrain, and Gogoat's pre-evo Skiddo to jump over ledges.[[labelnote:*]]You can only do this in one area, but it's still pretty cathartic considering how often those ledges taunted you[[/labelnote]]
* You can fully customize your character!

* For the first time in the main series, you can walk diagonally.
* [[MundaneMadeAwesome Sitting]]. You can '''sit''' in Pokémon games now. What's next, lying down on beds?

* The soundtrack from the games is being released November 2013 on iTunes. Shh, you hear that? That's the sound of the fandom going crazy.
** '''[[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/08/pokemon_x_and_y_soundtrack_features_212_tracks Two hundred and twelve tracks.]]'''
* You can run from the very start of the game!
** Screw running. You get roller skates near the very start that makes you move even faster!
* While there are some people that miss the song that plays [[BackgroundMusicOverride when a Pokémon's health gets too low]], pretty much everyone is glad that the [[CriticalAnnoyance beeping]] only plays for a second now.

* The minisprites are redesigned for lots of old Pokémon (from Kanto to Unova). Some look really [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130906231132/es.pokemon/images/3/39/Comparaci%C3%B3n_minisprites_nuevos-viejos.png great]].

* Apparently, the Base Power for the move Hidden Power has been set to 60. While that means it has gone down by 10, it also means that you won't need to wrack your brains out over having to breed for the highest possible BP for it.

* Clefairy, Clefable, Snubbull, and Granbull being pure/monotype Fairy Types, because how odd (and disappointing) would it sound if they didn't get changed to Fairy types despite Pokémon like Marill and Jigglypuff being part Fairy types? (with Clefairy having "fairy" in its name, and Snubbull/Granbull being identified as the "Fairy Pokémon" species in the National Pokédex.

* You can use Gogoat, a new Pokémon, as a mount. You can also ride Rhyhorn to traverse rocky terrain, and Mamoswine to plow through snowy terrain.

* A new mechanic called Super Training lets us EV train outside of battles, and it can track the Effort Values for us. Yes!
* Remember Gogoat? And how it's a rideable Pokémon? His pre-evo is also rideable. And those ledges you can jump over only from one side normally? They can be jumped over from anywhere with a mount. YES.

** Some fans at the Pokémon Game Show [[http://pokebeach.com/2013/08/actual-xy-music-updates-cries-for-old-pokemon managed to get some audio from the demos]], and it already sounds awesome. Listen closely to the first video, too -- those cries are Crobat and Mewtwo. Old Pokémon from Generation 1 and 2 finally getting new cries? Score!
** Not just those Generations. Even Pokémon from Generations as recent as Generation V have updated cries.

* An online Pokémon Bank. It's not meant for in-game money. [[BagOfHolding It's meant for stored Pokémon.]] '''[[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/09/nintendo_launching_cloud_based_pokemon_bank_service_alongside_pokemon_x_and_y Up to a whopping three thousand.]]''' (The fact it has a [[BaseBreaker yearly fee]] does little to reduce the hype.)
** It helps that this yearly fee is only $5/500 yen, which is less than your average lunch.

* Many competitive battlers, tired with the endless "weather wars" of Generation 5, were ''very'' happy that permanent weather Abilities are no more. Now, the weather Abilities work exactly like their move counterparts[[note]]They summon weather for five turns -- eight turns if the summoner is holding a rock specific to their weather effect. Switching the weather-Ability Pokémon in question back into battle while the weather is still occurring won't reset the turn counter[[/note]].

* The Effort Value (EV) cap per stat has ''finally'' [[http://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/1of0rp/complete_guide_to_super_training_evs_and_ivs/ccrfwnk been changed]] to the more logical '''252''' Effort Points, rather than the 255-point maximum from past generations. Since the games had previously only used the first 252 out of 255 Effort Points anyway, this quirk meant that you could potentially waste up to 3 Effort Points while EV training (255-point maximum per stat, and no more than 510 points per Pokémon, meaning that 2 stats could be maxed out, potentially giving a 1 stat point bonus to any non-maxed stat) if you were not paying attention.
** Better yet, [=EVs=] were made ''much'' easier to work with, now using a sort of minigame that is actually fun. One of the functions in this minigame is, '''thank Arceus''', to ''reset all of the [=EVs=]'' if you mess up (or prefer to use the Pokemon in the main game so you can reset it after getting a bunch of junk [=EVs=] during regular gameplay).

* [[http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/defog.3490309/ Defog]] now removes ''all'' entry hazards on the field, including [[ThatOneAttack Stealth Rock]]. It's like Rapid Spin but better: unblockable and learnable by everything that can fly in the Generation 4 games. Charizard lovers of the world, rejoice.

** [[BaseBreaker some people happened to have liked the original Safari Zone and dislike the Friend Safari]], but it is FREE, so that's something good about it.

* While details are still incoming, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vk_YC0MXJ-0 this video]] confirms a Pokémon that, at the least, bears a strong resemblance to Mewtwo.
** Resemblance, nothing -- it's [[http://www.pokemon-movie.jp/pokemon/long.php a new form]] for Mewtwo. The fandom lost it.
** And it's a Mega form for Mewtwo, as if to make it even ''more'' [[GameBreaker ridiculously powerful]].
** AND IT HAS TWO: one for each version. Y is the one we have seen before, while the X version is more closely designed to its original form.
* A post for 11th May on Serebii revealed some [[http://www.serebii.net/index2.shtml new news]] has finally come out, with new Pokémon revealed, region name confirmed (Kalos) and things such as customisation (limited, admittedly, but it's a first). Even better? It's scanned from Corocoro, which makes it genuine information.
** The updated site also confirmed we would be able to change clothing. The fandom exploded.
* It seems that games allow you to walk diagonally. Finally.
* You can use Gogoat, a new Pokémon, as a mount. They've also confirmed you can ride other Pokémon too such as Rhyhorn, with other ones presumably due to be announced.

* Another update came out not long after the Fairy-type was revealed. It revealed a few new Pokémon which was cool, then it went on to show two new battle types; one was "sky battles" which will be exclusively for Pokémon that are Flying-type or have the ability "Levitate". The other? [[ZergRush Horde encounters]], meaning you can finally fight more than three Pokémon at once. And they're apparently optional as well, meaning that you've got no obligation to do them, averting it being a ScrappyMechanic.
** For fans who care about them, it will also be a great way to [[StatGrinding gain EVs]] from the same mon quickly at later levels.

* At the end of second trailer, Yveltal shoots some beam... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziue9ePsnKM#t=2m6s and you hear the ol' good Hyper Beam SFX from first two generations.]] Hyper Beam retaining its old SFX? Score!
** Related - Psychic's old SFX has returned, too. Nostalgia fans are quite nicely served this game.
* You can select battle music in multiplayer battles. Hell yes!

* Mega Evolution for Charizard! Many are rejoicing already!
** It has the ability ''Drought'' too -- the ability that was exclusive to Groudon and singlehandedly made Ninetales OU.
** To quote a site: "it's only fitting that the best starters get the best mega evolutions". You heard that right: ''all'' the first generation starters are getting one. Even better, just when you thought Blastoise couldn't get any more badass, his mega evolution has one cannon on the back and one shielded cannon on each arm. ''Even better'', apparently the first generation starters are obtainable early into the game!
** That's not all! Like Mewtwo, Charizard has ANOTHER Mega Evolution. It's only on the X-version, and has an awesome black-and-blue color scheme complete with bright blue flames. The best part? It has Fire/''[[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons Dragon]]'' as its typing which not only gives it '''[[OlympusMons Reshiram's typing]]''' [[note]]and Zekrom's palette[[/note]] but also turns its [[ForMassiveDamage 4x Rock weakness]] into a 2x one.
** So significant are Charizard's Mega Evolutions that they've already propelled it from the depths of NU straight to proto-OU for the Gen 6 metagame, making it the 2nd most used starter behind Greninja. Many Charizard fans' pants were soiled when the usage statistics came out.
** You have the option to choose one of the Kanto Starters, which is nothing new. However, unlike previous games, where this only became an option in the postgame, '''Professor Sycamore will give one to you right after you beat the first gym.''' And as if that wasn't awesome enough, they come with their respective Mega Stones, meaning you'll have instant access to their Mega Evolution once they're fully-evolved (unless, of course, you did an insane amount of grinding prior to the third gym, after which is when the player is given access to the feature).
-->'''Professor Sycamore''': [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blhaSxUJ-OU&feature=player_embedded#t=5 It'd be fantastic if you took another Pokémon with you!]]

* You can fully customize your character! FINALLY!
** Options also include Facial Hair.
** The limit for the number of characters/spaces in names has been increased from seven to eight. Finally names like "Consuelo" and "Samantha" don't have to be shortened!

* An IGN review has confirmed that set levels are returning for online battles. After being absent from Generation 5, it was a ''very'' welcome return. And this is only one part of the long-awaited battle rule customization feature.

* Baby[[labelnote:*]]Rather, the young Pokémon found in the Undiscovered egg group, meaning they can't breed[[/labelnote]] Pokémon can now be found in the wild like Riolu and Azurill! What's more, they will always carry [=Three=] stats with max [=IVs=]!
** They've actually been catchable in wild since G3 (like Wynaut on [[ThatOneSideQuest Mirage Island]]), but the [=IVs=] thing is new.

* Several old pokemon are having their stats updated.

* The Global Trading System has made ''a lot'' of improvements since the previous generations:
** You can now search for as many Pokémon as you like instead of being limited to seven.
** There is now an option to filter out special requests, meaning you won't encounter anyone asking for hard to find legendary Pokémon.
** You can filter results so you only get people who want a Pokémon you have.
** You can trade for Pokémon you've never even seen just by typing in its name.

** The Pokémon you can get in the Friend Safari Zone are extremely good as well. They always have at least 2 of their [=IVs=] set at maximum and depending on how far your friend is in his or her game, they might have up to three Pokémon available and they may even have their hidden ability. Just what sort of Pokémon can be included? Its possible to get Kanto and Kalos Mid-evolution starters, Impostor Ditto and a slew of other really good Pokémon, all with the chance to get their hidden abilities.

* Also there's fact that while you're choosing what to do in [=WiFi=] battle, after a while of idling the game starts to show some information about you and the opponent, such as the amount of BP you earned, how many Pokémon you obtained, or the registered location. It's quite interesting to learn something about the player you're facing.

** In previous generations, a common annoyance when breeding for Egg Moves was to constantly remove your Pokémon from the Day Care and rearrange its moveset as it levels up, or else it will forget the desired Egg Moves and waste your time. While Pokémon still forget their moves as they level up, the changes only apply when they're removed from the Day Care, meaning you don't need to pull them out all the time anymore.